Medea's Anomaly

"Mom, you really stayed on our island for over ten thousand years, all the way until now?" Oceannus knelt before Doris, looking at his familiar mother, yet it all still felt somewhat surreal and unreal.

Doris kept her gaze fixed on her son, unwilling to look away even for a moment.

She nodded gently.

"I'm sorry, Mom." Oceannus lowered his head guiltily.

"What are you apologizing for?" Doris scolded him with a chuckle. "This was Mom's own choice. You merely gave Mom the chance to make that choice, didn't you?"

"But it's so wonderful to see you again. Before, I sometimes thought about no longer living on, but now I feel that staying alive is wonderful." Doris placed a hand on Oceannus's large head and rubbed it, smiling as she did. "Even though you're a Servant now, your hair still feels exactly the same as it did before."

Oceannus said nothing. He simply remained kneeling there, allowing Doris to stroke his head.

"Did the final battle hurt?" Doris suddenly asked.

Oceannus nodded. "It did. I'd never been in that much pain before."

"But I did it." An excited smile appeared on Oceannus's face. "I made that bastard hurt even more!"

"And we fought together. The five of us killed Poseidon together."

"Oh, right, Mom! Did you know? When I was first summoned to this Singularity, that sea bastard Poseidon came out to stir up trouble again. But the moment his presence appeared, I—"

Doris watched the grown man excitedly and endlessly recount the events of his summoning to this Singularity. Her thoughts drifted, as if she had returned to the shore of that small island more than ten thousand years ago, when this strong child had knelt before her and excitedly told her that he had hunted a Scylla in