Redrum, Redrum, Redrum!

Despite the pounding in his head, Redrum felt a sense of trepidation and surprise wash over him as his mother caught him in a hug. He could feel them both swaying, so he leaned into her embrace, her warmth a comforting anchor in his disorientation. And a good support to keep himself from falling over to boot.

As she spoke, her words pierced through the haze of his pain, each syllable a reassuring caress to his wounded spirit. Her belief in him echoed in his ears, beginning to dispel the doubts that lingered in the recesses of his mind. He nodded, unwilling to meet her gaze as his golden eyes began to well up with tears he refused to shed. His chest felt tight. She pulled away from him, and he remained still, head hung between his shoulders as he reclined back onto his haunches as well. He never thought she would scold him for not being enough, but… but it was still a fear. An irrational one.

But she didn’t stop there. She kept going, and before he even knew it he had raised his skull to meet her gaze, and those treacherous tears had begun to fall after all. He stared into those warm blue eyes, as his mother spoke to his soul “M-mo-th-er…” The vermillion boy choked out, his voice broken and desperate as he searched her face, or perhaps committed her expression – her smile – to memory. “Red will– keep trying, still. Redrum promises– to make Medusa– even– prouder!” The boy blinked and wiped at his face, so that he could give her a crooked grin as he fought to compose himself.

And as his mother placed a kiss on his face, the boy returned it with a nuzzle of his own, trying to push into her space and give her a big hug from her not so little boy. A boy who still needed his mother, despite how often he’d gone off to prove himself. For that moment, despite the ache in his body and mind, Redrum was at peace.