Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Sorry for changes in perspective, following chapters won't be like that.


A Moon's Reflection

A young girl laid unmoving in the air as the magic circles around her moved and glowed, signifying the activation of her powers, the ability to grant any wish. That did not matter to Miyu Emiya though, as her attention was focused on only one thing, or rather one person, who means the world to her.

Shirou Emiya was on the ground of the cave surrounded by blades of all kinds; his body was cut up and the wounds were steadily bleeding, leaving him near death. But still there was only one thought going through his head.

'Not yet, I've sacrificed too much to fail now.'

Standing right in front of him was his strongest enemy, the greatest doll made by the Ainsworth family. These dolls are made through the Ainsworth family's unique spatial magecraft, which forces the soul of a recently deceased person into a special human shaped container. The container then takes on the form of the person, gaining their abilities and personality, while also forcing the person into the servitude of the Ainsworth. Doing this, the Ainsworth were able to make themselves the sole participants in this holy Grail War, ensuring they would be the ones to use Miya's wish granting abilities.

The only issue with dolls is that when the spirit of a dead person is transferred to the special container, something is always lost. Some of the dolls lose their memories, others lose their rationality, and for the doll before Shirou Emiya, Angelica Ainsworth, it was her emotions.

Angelica was fighting to ensure her brother's wish was achieved, but in the end she was doing it not because she felt it was right, but because she thinks it's what would feel right.

"This battle is over, faker," Angelica spit out towards her opponent, pretending to feel anger towards him. After all, Shirou Emiya did kill her father and betray her brother's trust, who won't hate someone like that?

"Why don't you stop projecting your fake emotions on to me, it really ruins your appearance," Shirou managed to rasp out from his place on the ground.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"A faker can see another faker, the only difference between us is that my bond with Miyu makes me real, while a tool like you will never stop bring a fake."

Angelica turned away from Shirou without responding. She was not at all concerned about him, his body was beyond damaged from trying to block EA, the greatest noble phantasm in existence. His skin was even tan in some places, and parts of his hair were turning white, both signs of overexerting magic circuits. While Angelica was right that Shirou Emiya's body was broken, she failed to understand how far past one's limits love can push someone.

As Angelica turned to stop the grail ritual before it cast Shirou Emiya's foolish wish, the love for the only person that validated his existence and provided him purpose beyond being a tool for justice, gave Shirou Emiya the will to make one final attack on Angelica despite the pain he was in. He used his tracing magecraft to project Rule Breaker, the noble phantasm of the caster card servant Medea of Colchis, which is the ultimate anti-magecraft noble phantasm capable of resetting the condition of the target to the state before magic was used on it.

At the same time as he was tracing Rule Breaker, Shirou jump up towards Angelica, reinforcing his body as much as he could to close the distance before she could realize his plan. He aimed Rule Breaker not only at Angelica, but the space around her too.

By targeting the space around Angelica, Shirou was able to remove her omnidirectional defense spatial magecraft, preventing Angelica from teleporting him away. Due to being surprised by Shirou's sneak attack, and her body's weakness after using EA, all Angelica could do was watch as Rule Breaker pierced her chest. This caused Rule Breaker's ability as a noble phantasm to activated again, not only severing the contract between Angelica's archer card and the heroic spirit inside, but also the contract binding her soul to her body, causing her soul to start dissipating.

Meanwhile, Shirou collapsed on the ground unable to move, his last attack having made his wounds even worse. Even in death Angelica didn't give up on ending Shirou. Using the last of her strength she used a simple Flash Air spell the teleport one of the nearby swords high in the air above Shirou before releasing it to allow gravity to finish the job. As the sword plunged into the faker's chest, Angelica's sight turned black, she embraced the darkness, knowing she did all she could.

As her soul dissipated though, flashes of her life before becoming a doll played, leading to something she had not felt since becoming a doll, happiness.

She didn't feel happy because of her death or Shirou's, but because of a memory of her and her brother Julian practicing their families magecraft together, ignorant of the pain they would have to endure. With her last thoughts being of her brother, the person known as Angelica Ainsworth died for a second time.

The same can be said for Shirou Emiya, the sword in his chest fading with with the destruction of the true archer class card.

'Even if I'm a villain who would kill and sacrificed an entire world for the sake of one person, I don't regret a thing. I can pride myself as a brother who was able to protect his sister. I won Kiritsugu.', Shirou thought as his attention turn to see his sister floating in the air her powers about to activate and grant his wish, for her to be brought to a place where she could live happily and claim her own little slice of happiness.

As Shirou's mind turned to darkness, his head shifting to see the full moon overhead, the battle having destroyed just enough of the cave roof for it to become visible, causing one last image of his sister setting next to him under the light of the full moon to reappear in his mind, even as he died.

'This can't be, I can't let it happen,' Miyu thought as she looked on in horror at her brother's corpse, panic and despair filling her. 'Please, save Big Brother,' Miyu earnestly begged her powers to find some way to save her brother, tears streaming out of her eyes.

Miyu then felt part of the energy used to grant her brother's wish be rerouted, which could only mean one thing. She managed to control her powers and her brother's live will be saved. Miyu started to smile, her consciences fading as her brother's wish was granted. 'At least now I know Big Brother will live, Big Brother deserves a life of happiness more than anyone else,' Miyu's feel asleep, happy that she got to protect her Big Brother for once.

Unfortunately, things were not that simple. Shirou's wish to transport Miyu to another world used up a vast amount of the magical energy collected to power Miyu's abilities. And, while Miyu's wish asked to save her brother, his physical body had already died, the effects of multiple Noble Phantasms leaving it unable to be repaired. Miyu's power was only able to save his soul. In order to save Shirou now, his body would have to be restored, and the third magic would be required to return his soul to his body.

It might have been possible to revive Shirou at the cost of Miyu's life, but that would conflict with the first wish of finding happiness, as one can't find happiness if they're dead. And that wish takes priority due to it being the true wish. The only way to save Shirou Emiya, without killing Miyu, was to allow his soul to reincarnated, while maintaining his memories, even though it won't save the physical Shirou Emiya; it will save the mental and spiritual part of the existence that was once known as Shirou Emiya.

The intelligence behind Miyu's wish granting power released Shirou's soul into the cycle of reincarnation surrounded by magic that will protect the core of Shirou Emiya. In order to ensure whoever Shirou becomes survives after being born, Miyu's power guided Shirou's soul to reincarnate into a world that's much kinder than their world.

And with this Miyu's abilities dissipated, having granted both wishes they were meant to, and all the energy gather from the holy grail war having run out.

Thus ended the tale of Shirou Emiya, as he and the others in the cavern disappear from their world, all enjoying one last moment of relief at the end through their familiar bonds, one who found happiness in the past, the next taking pleasure in knowing their sibling was ok now, and lastly the little girl who thought of the future happiness of her sibling.


A new mother was sitting in a hospital room having given birth to her first child but a few hours ago. Her baby was being cradled inside her arms, fast asleep. The father watched from the side lines, wanting to hold his child, but not acting on this desire. He felt it was better to let the mother hold their child for now, since she would be forced to separate from the baby soon enough. Besides, waking up the baby right now would distract them from the conversation they would need to have.

The Mother looked to be in her early twenties with black hair. Her appearance was enhanced by the contrast between her black hair and her silver eyes, making her look beautiful beyond compare. Her face was mostly expressionless, yet it seemed to convey an aura of natural serene beauty that gave the sense that her being very expressive would be wrong. Yet, despite the lack of emotion on her face, there was no denying the warmth in her eyes as she held her daughter.

The Father also looked to be in his early twenties, but had a more average appearance, wearing a bright blue shirt and blue jeans that contrasted heavily with the subdued all white outfit the other occupant in the room was wearing. He had a stressed look on his face, as he thought over everything, mentally making sure he prepared everything necessary to bring his newborn daughter home.

'Oh well, no matter what I won't be ready to be a father, but still I need to do my best,' a smile formed on his face, 'especially since I'm going to have to make sure our daughter takes more after her father than her mother, otherwise she's going to never smile.'

After a couple more minutes of silence, the father decided to start a conversation with the woman in front of him. They need to discuss their plan for raising their daughter.

"Artemis, how long are you going to be staying with us? I might need your help. I wasn't expecting you to show up out of nowhere saying your about to give birth."

Artemis in turn only gave him a withering emotionless stare, her eyes having lost their warmth, she was clearly angry that her time with her daughter was being interrupted. "Poly, I told you months ago that I was pregnant, you should be prepared."

"How do you expect me to get ready to raise a Demi-god?! Besides, I have to do a lot of damage control to make sure our daughter grows up right. And, there are some things I won't be able to teach Atalanta."

Artemis just looked at Poly with a serious expression, clearly worried about her daughter, "What do you mean damage control, and what things will you need help teaching Atalanta?"

"I'll need to undo all the damage being your daughter will cause to her personality. And I'll need to try and teach Atalanta how to control her powers."

Artemis glared at Poly, "Demi-god's naturally take after their godly parents and while some gods, like Aphrodite, may cause personality defects in their kids, my influence won't. And traits caused from being my daughter will be intrinsic to her, and are brought about from her very soul, you won't be able to change thdm without changing the very fabric of her soul."

"Well then I just need to hope she does not inherit many traits from you. But that does not answer my question on how I going to teach Atalanta to control her powers? Or hell, how am I going to get her to listen to me in general?"

"Camp half-blood will train her. And are you really so pathetic as to not be able to get your own child to listen to you?"

"Hey, the reason I'm worried about Atalanta listening to me is because she's also your daughter. What if she inherits your hatred of men? Even though I'm her father, she'd hate me for being a man," Poly responded indigently.

"Poly, what's Atalanta name?" Artemis asked, though she was clearly not happy about having to help Poly.

"Well since you decided her first name by yourself but don't have a last name, I'm going to guess she's taking mine. So, her name is Atalanta Moonlit."

"That is right, her first name is from me, her mother, while her last name is from you, her father. Her last name stands as proof that you are her father, and as her father, Atalanta will respect and listen to you, just as she will for me being her mother. All you need to do is make sure you don't do something to destroy that respect." Artemis's forehead was starting to wrinkle slightly, a clear early warning sign of an early-stage Artemis anger attack. It seems that in trying to make sure Poly was the best possible father for Atalanta, she had accidentally said something that could be misinterpreted as saying Atalanta will love and respect both equally.

A petty part of Artemis could not allow that, especially since Artemis is the one who went through the pain of childbirth, and, as a goddess, was clearly above Poly in everything. But Artemis was still worried that Atalanta would love Poly more than her, since Poly is going to have far more time with Atalanta, thus more time to gain her affection.

'Stop that, focus on now instead of the future,' Artemis berated herself before feeling a slight movement in her arms, she quickly looked down to make sure she didn't accidentally wake her child. Only to find out she had unfortunately had, Artemis looked into her daughter's small silver eyes.

'Maybe I should check her soul, and make sure there's no irregularities since I last checked,' Artemis thought while ignoring Poly, who was staring shocked at Artemis. He needed more time to process Artemis willing giving him good advice.

The baby was looking confusedly at her mother, wondering what her mother was saying. She might have been able to understand her mother, if only she had access to the memories of her past life, but right now she doesn't even know they exist. Her newborn brain was not yet developed enough to access her past life memories from her soul.

The only aspect of Atalanta's past life currently being expressed was her personality. It will take three or four more years for her brain to develop enough to access memories of her life as Shirou Emiya.

Artemis moved Atalanta from her cradled position to a laying down position on the bed in front of her. Atalanta had a cold expression, but her eyes were looking around everywhere, until they settled on her father. Poly, noticing his daughter's eyes, smiled back, deciding to take Artemis's advice to heart.

Atalanta didn't start to giggle, nor did she have giant smile, but the sight of her father's smile caused the baby's lips to curve upwards slightly.

"Thanks for the advice Artemis," he politely thanked her, "by the way, what are you doing?"

"I'm checking her soul, just to make sure everything is alright," Artemis responded while ignoring Poly's thanks.

"Hey, is that safe, I mean you're not a god with powers over the soul right?! I'd rather you not mess up Atalanta's soul."

"Do you really think I would risk hurting my daughter, no, any girl, like that?", Artemis responded while reaching out to Atalanta's chest. Atalanta looked back at her mother and tried to grab her mother's hand. Artemis let out a small smile in response, "I normally would not be able to check someone's soul, but Atalanta is different since she falls under my authority over maidens, and since I used my authority over childbirth to check her soul before she was born and during her birth, giving me a basic understanding of her soul's layout. Besides, her soul should be compatible with my powers since she's my daughter."

Artemis focused her powers into her hand, causing it to slightly glow white, as her hand touched her daughter's chest. Artemis could feel the baby's heartbeat as her energy entered Atalanta's heart. Atalanta started to involuntary smile at the pleasant feeling caused by Artemis's powers resonating with her soul.

Artemis dived into her daughter's soul and smiled at what she found.

'Good, nothing is out of place. It seems that Atalanta Moonlit has already been engraved as her true name. Oh, we forgot to choose a middle name, I'll need to pick one and get it on her birth certificate without that idiot realizing it.'

"Hey, stop smiling, it's creepy."

Artemis continued to look at her daughter's soul, hoping to see what kind of authorities she might have inherited. Ignoring Poly, who was still trying to mess with her.

'This feeling, the white glow of her divinity is extremely strong, but it feels so cold, almost like I'm walking through a field of snow. Maybe that's caused by her strongly inheriting my authority over the moon? Authorities over the moon are cold, to the warmth of authorities over the sun,' Artemis guessed, not realizing she was feeling the cold air of the world that exist inside Atalanta's soul. Artemis continued further into the little girl's soul, to see what powers the girl might manifest.

'Good, it seems like Atalanta managed to inherit all my authorities, just like I would expect from my daughter. Without a doubt, she has most strongly inherited my authority over the moon. The serine feeling of her moon authority alone is stronger than any of her other authorities. It seems though that her authorities over the wilderness and forest, along with the authorities over hunting and archery, seem to have mixed, there still the same authorities as mine but it seems like the formers almost devour the latter ones when Atalanta's authorities where being developed. At least her inherited powers over radiance, maiden hood, and childbirth are normal, though slightly weaker than her other authorities. But it feels like there's something more to her soul, it feels like I am being prick by something when I dig too deep into any one of her authorities.'

"Uhm, hello, Artemis. Are you just going to keep sitting there, with your hand on our kid's chest, while staring her in the eyes? It's starting to actually be creepy."

Artemis let out a sigh of announce at Poly, and retracted her powers from Atalanta soul, deciding that everything's alright with Atalanta's soul, and that the pricking feeling wasn't anything to worry about. Atalanta meanwhile had a cold neutral expression on her face, the good feeling from her mother's power no longer causing her to smile.

"Will you quiet down?! I've reached the limit of my ability to endure your stupidity." Artemis coldly told him while picking up Atalanta. she laid back on her hospital bed and cradled Atalanta in her arm.

"So, what's the results of your test."

"Her soul is perfectly fine; in fact her soul is very powerful. Her soul must be very compatible with the divinity she inherited from me."

"What's does that mean? And can you explain souls to me, I don't really understand what they do." Poly asked while he walked and sat in the chair next to Artemis.

"A person is made up of their body and soul, both of which are intertwined with each other and effect the other. Their relationship begins in the womb, when a person's body starts to form. Early on in the pregnancy, a random soul enters into the womb becoming bound to the body, thus uniting the two parts that will makeup that person for the rest of their lives. The blank soul and the still forming body then grow together in the womb, with the soul serving as the blueprints for the body to grow," Artemis stopped to take a breath. She took a second to look down at her daughter, taking a deep look at Atalanta's face.

'It's a good thing that it looks like your going to grow up to look like me,' Artemis thought smugly.

"Wait, that doesn't answer my question, and how does the soul serve as the blueprints for her body?" Poly asked again, before Artemis had a chance to start resume her explanation.

"Stop being so impatient, I'll answer your questions. The soul takes on traits from both parents to form a blueprint, which in turn forms the appearance of the child. This means that if a soul is moved to a new body, then the body will try to take the form imprinted on the soul. The most important thing you need to understand is how divinity ties into the soul. Not all souls are the same, even blank ones, they may have their own unique traits or compatibility that makes them exhibit some of their parents traits more strongly than others, or make it so they don't exhibit any traits at all. Atalanta's soul just so happens to have a strong compatibility with my divinity specifically, meaning her divine powers are going to be immensely powerful. But it also means she's going to attract monsters more than weaker Demigods, and it will be easier to identify her as my daughter.", Artemis said not realizing the irony that Atalanta was just about the only people born without a blank soul.

Atalanta's soul is filled with the memories of her past life and her past personality. The memories in her soul remain unchanged, and her personality from her past life is already in effect. What has changed is the true name engraved on the soul, and she gained divinity and authorities.

The name on her soul has changed from Shirou Emiya to Atalanta Moonlit. Her soul's previous name started to be removed off her soul when his soul returned to the root, where most of the energy protecting the soul was around his memories and personality. The name Shirou Emiya completely faded off the soul after it was anchored to the body, being worn down by the influence of Artemis's divinity and authorities during that time. And while that was happening, Atalanta's soul was also changing due to it being soaked in Artemis's divinity, causing it to take on similar characteristics to Artemis's soul. In many ways this is when Atalanta truly become Artemis's daughter. No matter where Atalanta goes now, even once she dies and goes to the underworld, the silver glow of her divinity will always mark her as Artemis's child.

"So, when your say more monsters are going to attack her, just how many more monsters will attack her?" Poly asked after thinking over what Artemis said and deciding that was the most important part

"The more powerful the Demigod, the more monsters try to attack. Monsters determine the strength based on the smell each Demi-god gives off, and what they smell like. A weaker Demigod, born of a weaker god might go unnoticed, or just be simply ignored by monsters, most child of Aphrodite are like this since all they can do is speak French and put on makeup," Artemis said while make a dig at the Olympian she might hate the most. "Atalanta on the on there hand, is a child of a powerful goddess, and is a powerful Demigod, thus monsters will attack her often."

"If the issues just her smell can't we just put some perfume on her or something?"

"No, you idiot, that won't work. I am trying to create a magic item to give to her that'll slightly mask her smell, but it'll take a while to create. But there is no way to completely hide a Demigod's smell forever," Artemis responded angrily, annoyed at the fact he thinks there is some easy solution.

"So, does that mean monsters are going to be banging on the hospital room doors any minute now?" Poly asked while looked at the door wearily.

"If they did, I would throw you towards them in a heartbeat," Artemis responded with an annoyed expression on her face, "Atalanta has a strong divinity for a Demigod her age, but she's still a newborn, so her divinity is still too weak for monsters to come after her. The issue is that Atalanta's divinity will continue to grow with age, and eventually monsters will start to come after her."

"Which is where that Camp Half-blood place you mentioned earlier comes into play right?"

"Yes, Demigods go to Camp Half-Blood once monsters start to attack them. They receive training to survive in the world. I don't know when Atalanta will have to go to Camp Half-Blood, but I think she might have to go when she is around 9 or 10. But, that's only if we make sure she does not learn about her godly heritage. And before you ask, a Demi-god's scent grows when they learn they are a Demigod"

"Ok, what happens if a monster attacks before then, I don't think I could beat a monster."

"Of course you couldn't, I won't be surprised if Atalanta could beat you by the time she was five," Artemis told Poly, "When I visit Atalanta, I will try to see how strong she is and try to train her without her realizing it. Her natural battle instincts should allow her to survive against weaker monsters."

"Hey, you make it sound like Atalanta is the only reason your going to visit, do you really hate me that much?"

Artemis just ignored Poly, choosing to instead poke Atalanta in the stomach, enjoying what little time she will have her daughter. Atalanta meanwhile had a neutral face, but Artemis could tell she was annoyed.

'Good, you should always keep a cool face in the presence of annoyance,' Artemis thought proudly, happy her daughter is already showing the same cool head personality she has.

"Just how many times are you going to visit?"

"I don't know, I want to visit Atalanta whenever I can, but I can't let the other gods find out about Atalanta."

"You can't, or don't want them to know?", Poly asked Artemis, who's face had was even more blank and cold then normal, "Listen, Artemis, I understand that this is hard for you, but I need to know if you don't want the other gods to find out about Atalanta because they will react badly to her, or if its because you don't want them to know." Poly ask her, being truly serious for the first time in the entire conversation

"It …", Artemis started, thinking as her face became conflicted, "If the other gods learn about Atalanta's birth and the circumstances around it, then it will cause issues that I can't deal with. Not only that, Hera and Aphrodite might try and use this as an excuse to take away my authority over maidens and virgins. Still though when the time finally comes, I will claim Atalanta.", Artemis said resolutely.

"Good! It would probably hurt Atalanta one day if you decided to denounce her or refused to acknowledge her as your daughter. As for visiting, why don't you try to visit on special occasions?"

"You make it sound like I have a choice of when I can get away from everyone, but I will do my best to visit on her birthday, it should be easier since her birthday is on the winter solstice and everyone will be preparing for the winter solstice meeting of the Olympians. Other than that, I will try and visit Atalanta when I can, but that might only be three or four times a year since I also have to go around my hunters."

"How are your hunters?"

"That is none of your concern," Artemis responded coldly, "I'm only answering your questions that are about Atalanta, and even then I'm only doing it so that you can be prepared to be a father to a Demigod."

"Wow, that's some big talk about preparing me to be a parent, from the lady who's not even going to be paying child support."

"No god would ever pay tribute to a human. Besides, I already helped to make raising Atalanta easier."

"It's not tribute, and I won't call brainwashing everyone I know into accepting you and Atalanta, as helping raise our daughter."

"I also prepared Atalanta's baby room, and I answered all your questions. That should be more than enough for you to raise Atalanta when I'm not around."

"Wait, Atalanta's baby room? What do you mean by that?"

"I prepared some things for her room."

"And where did you place all these things?" Poly asked reluctantly, his warning sense going off.

"I put them in the room you were using as a man cave, I figured the space would be better used as Atalanta's room than as your man cave. As for the old stuff in the room, I figured you did not need any of it, so I threw it away."

"When did this happen? I was just in that room yesterday, and all my stuff was still there," Poly asked while slumping down at the lost of his man cave.

"I did it while I was telling you I was about to give birth," Artemis responded without any shame. She truly didn't feel like she did anything wrong.

"How?"

"I'm a goddess, such things are easy for me."

"You know, I already had a room picked out," Poly muttered with a pout, "and what if Atalanta was a boy? Then she would have approved of my man cave."

"I would never give birth to a boy."

"What? Wouldn't you love our daughter if she was a he?"

"There's no point thinking about something that won't happen."

"Either way, you must be relieved that Atalanta is a girl. Imagine the other gods reactions to your only child being a boy," Poly laughed. "They would never let you live it down."

"One more comment, and I will curse you," Artemis growled.

Atalanta frowned at her mother's hostile expression.

"Fine, sorry. I didn't realize you were so touchy," Poly tried to inch away from the goddess. "But you should calm down, you're bothering Atalanta."

Artemis looked down to see Atalanta's frown, guilt crossing her face.

"Sorry, little one," Artemis gently cradled her daughter. "I'm not mad at you but your stupid father."

Poly had an annoyed expression on his face. "Anyway... are there any other things I need to know about raising our daughter? Will she be super strong? Maybe super smart?!"

Poly became excited at the benefits of having a genius daughter. "Please tell me she'll skip potty training."

"Atalanta might end up getting smart very quickly, since I grew up fast enough to help deliver my idiotic twin brother."

"Good, I hope that I don't have to potty train her."

"Just make sure you do your duties as her father."

"You don't have to tell me that. I will do everything that I can to be the best possible father."

Artemis didn't react to Poly's resolve.

"Poly, I have to go to the meeting between the Olympians tonight, but I will come back for the next three or four days."

"Great, so I get to deal with the goddess of grumpiness for the next half week, let me guess, you're going to take my bed."

"Never," Artemis growled. "I would rather die then sleep in your bed. I am going to be sleeping in Atalanta's room."

"That's good, I won't want you in my bed either."

Meanwhile, Atalanta's eyes were starting to droop, her tiredness starting to overtake her will to stay awake. Her newborn body requiring lots of sleep. Her bright silver eyes were looking around the room, seeing her father sitting across from her, and then eventually looking into her mother's matching silver eyes.

Atalanta's last sight, before she gave into her drowsiness, was her mother's face.

Within her, unknown to anybody, a singular flame was starting to burn anew in Atalanta's soul.

Her inner world was in a state of flux, changing in response to this flame. The empty sky of her inner world was being filled as a new moon started to form, its gentle light covering the darkened world. A promise to protect that moon, no matter what, was etched onto her very soul.


Years later.

A five, soon to be 6-year old, Atalanta was lying on her side, a white comforter covering her tiny body as she slept. She turned in her bed, as she started to stir from her sleep.

'Ugh,' Atalanta mentally moaned, as she started to wake up. The child clearly wasn't ready to wake up yet. She sat up and grabbed a cup of water from her bedside table. After taking a sip, she placed the water back down and started to stretch in bed.

'What's today?' Atalanta started to rub her eyes, 'Wait, it's the 20th, right?' Atalanta was suddenly awake at that realization.

She quickly got up and grabbed her calendar.

'It's the 20th," Atalanta smiled. 'Mom's visiting today. I need to get ready,' Atalanta thought while setting her calendar down.

Atalanta walked towards her bedroom mirror to look at her reflection.

The reflection was that of a young girl with mostly black hair, that went down to her shoulders. The hair that covered her left eye, was snow-white.

Atalanta's face was almost an exact match for a younger version of her mother's face. The major difference between between the two faces were their eyes. Atalanta's eyes were the same as her mother's, silver, dull, and emotionless. The shape of her eyes were completely different from her mother's.

Atalanta inherited her father's round, large, eyes. This ironically gave her a far gentler appearance than her mother, who's sharp eyes gave her a hostile aura.

She was wearing a long sleeve white shirt, and white pajama pants with green lines on them. Many adults called her adorable, much to her annoyance. Atalanta found it embarrassing to be called adorable.

'I need to brush my hair,' Atalanta thought as she pulled out a hairbrush from her desk. She started to brush her hair, 'I wish that my hair would stop getting tangled up.'

'Tomorrow's going to be my sixth year in this world, my sixth year as Atalanta. And I still haven't found out why I can remember my past life, nor have I figured out what I want to do with this life.' The former Shirou Emiya grimly thought. She had no idea why she could remember her past life, and she hasn't figured out what she wants her new purpose to be.

'The only thing I want to do right now is protect Mom and Dad; I refuse to fail them like I failed Miyu and Sakura,' Atalanta frowned. 'But will that be enough to give me purpose? Will that help me feel real?'

Atalanta spent the entirety of her last life trying to be real. To be something beyond a hollow shell. Family, friends, justice, these were all things she pursed in a desperate attempt to become something real, dying in the process.

Shirou Emiya's existence as a hollow shell has slowly infected his reincarnation. These thoughts and feelings have been going on in a loop inside Atalanta's head since she started to regain memories of her past life.

'The magical energy in this world is far greater than in my past world, its at the level that the world was at during the age of the gods,' Atalanta mused as she finished brushing her hair, brushing it straight. 'If that's true, then there should be monsters and gods in the world. Mom and Dad will need my protection. My happiness, becoming real, comes second.'

Atalanta took one last look in the mirror as she put her hairbrush into her desk. 'Huh, I wonder if I'll ever get use to this appearance.' Atalanta placed her hand on her reflection on the mirror, 'It feels wrong to part of me, like this is not my true face, while another part of me can't see anything else as my face. It's like part of my soul refuses to accept me as Atalanta Moonlit, while my core is telling me that I am Atalanta.'

Atalanta took one last breath and removed her hand from from the mirror.

'I need to change out of my pajamas," Atalanta thought while looking down at her clothing. She went to her closet and picked out an outfit for the day

'It might be possible for me to become a hero of justice in this world, without hurting my family. Unlike before where I had to choose between my sense of justice and Miyu,' Atalanta shook her head at that thought before taking off her shirt and switching to a clean one. She put on a small white jacket that she got from her mother. It had a crescent moon embroidered on the back.

'I have no right to claim or even try to become a hero of justice after I chose to protect a single person and doomed an entire world in the process,' Atalanta took on a depressed stare as she finished changing. She changed into a pair of white pants that matched her white shirt and white jacket.

'Mom must be obsessed with the color white. I mean, all the things she gets me are either green or white,' Atalanta questioned as she put her dirty clothing in the hamper she keeps in her room for dirty clothing. She then went to her window and opened the curtains covering it. Atalanta took a long look outside.

The sky was still dark, but the sun was starting to raise, and dawn was starting to break. She looked at the forest outside her home, feeling a warm feeling in her heart from the view.

'I should go make breakfast, before Dad tries to cook,' Atalanta thought as she started to walk towards her door.

'Maybe instead of trying to be a hero of justice, I could try to help the people around me. But some part of me doesn't feel satisfied with that, it's like there's something else I want to do. Still, being a doctor would probably be something Miyu would approve of.'

Atalanta's mood dropped even lower as the memories of her little sister play in her mind.

'It's been over half a decade since I last saw Miyu. I'll probably never see her again, she's most likely not in this world, and even if she was, what are the chances I run into her in this new world.'

'Miyu could be dead for all that I know, if only I could find a way to che…' Atalanta's regularly scheduled chain of depressing thoughts were interrupted by her father standing on the far side of the hallway outside her room, which was not strange in of itself, as their home was a one story red brick western style home with 5 bedrooms and 2 baths. Atalanta and her father's room's were located in the same hallway, along with one of the other bed rooms.

What was shocking, or more accurately, repulsive, was that her father was wearing a red Santa hat, with the tackiest Christmas sweater Atalanta had ever seen, she was quite literally blinded by the sheer light produced by the large amount of attached Christmas lights.

'If I don't do something then that ugly jacket will destroy my eyes. I must use my secret technique, puppy eyed begging, it's the only way to save my eyes.'

Atalanta quickly cried out in her little girl voice, purposely filling it with as much false emotion as possible. At the same time, she made her eyes look as big and cute as possible. "Dad, please turn of the lights! There hurting my eyes!"

Her father look amused her reaction before switching a switch in his jacket sleeve to turn off the lights on the jacket. He then looked at the emotionless expression on his daughter's face before speaking, "So, my adorable little moon, want do you think of my jacket? I made it to enter the ugliest sweater competition at my work."

Atalanta, despite knowing her father was trying to mess with her and wanted to get a raise out of her, could not hold back her snark as she responded. "You might win the competition, Dad. But you might have a better chance if you loss the lights, that way the judges can see your face, the ugliest part of you." Atalanta said that as she tried to walk past her father to go to the kitchen, which was located at the front of the house.

"Not so fast, don't think you can just walk away after insulting me!" Poly quickly blocked the way to the kitchen.

"Dad, what are you doing? I need to get to the kitchen to cook our breakfast and prepare your lunch," Atalanta stated with a glare.

The child has slowly taken over the kitchen throughout the last year. She has also forbade her father from cooking. Within the confines of her mind, Atalanta has ranked her dad's cooking as the third worse she's ever eaten. The only people who were worse at cooking were Kiritsugu and her mother.

"You're not going anywhere until you apologize," Poly gave his daughter a smug smile, enjoying the look of annoyance on Atalanta's face.

"Why would I say sorry to you for telling the truth. In fact, you should be thanking me for being truthful," Atalanta declared with a huff.

"Thank you? For insulting my face? Hum, it seems to me that you might need to be punished," Poly nodded his head. "That might help you remember how to be respectful to adults."

Poly then acted like he was thinking hard about something. "I know! How about this punishment! You're not allowed to come with me to work until after Christmas. That means you'll have to stay home alone for two full days!"

Atalanta's father started to smile.

'Besides, Artemis should be visiting the house today. Knowing Atalanta and Artemis, those two tsunderes are looking forward to seeing each other. The best way to let then see each other, for longest amount of time, is for Atalanta to stay at home until Artemis comes.'

"Wait, Dad, you can't do that," Atalanta pouted.

"Why not? I'm your father can punish you in a way I deem fit as long as the punishment does not break child abuse laws." Poly responded, still messing with his daughter, even while trying to help her.

"But I'm 5 years old, you can't just leave me home alone." Atalanta said matter of factly, trying to make sure she can go to work with her father.

Atalanta was fighting to go to work with her father because he's a park ranger at a national park, and Atalanta loves the park. She loved the beauty of the natural world, that didn't exist in her old world.

"You're mature enough to be left home alone."

"Fine, I'm sorry for insulting you, Dad. I love you."

"I accept your apology, and I love you too. But you're still grounded."

"You better watch your lunch today," Atalanta warned her father, while trying to express her anger, but only coming off as adorable due to child body.

"Nah. I don't have to, you would never mess up a meal on purpose," Poly said to Atalanta, as he let her pass by him and go to the kitchen.

Atalanta just ignored her father's statement and went to the kitchen to cook breakfast for her and her dad. She also made a smaller than usual lunch for him.

"What are you going to do today, my little moon?" Poly asked while walking behind his daughter.

"I thought I was going to go to work with you for a little while, at least until Mom came by and picked me up. I even got dressed."

"Well, make sure you don't go around insulting adults, then your plans won't fall apart. You've inherited your mother's attitude, and it's my job to curb that attitude."

'But my attitude doesn't come from Mom, but my past life, so I guess you don't have to try and change it,' thought Atalanta with twisted logic as she reached the kitchen.

"Curb?" Atalanta repeated will raising one of her eyebrows, "not get rid of?"

"Oh, my little moon, I love you just the way you are, attitude and all," Poly's smirk turned into a smile. "But, I can't let you go around insulting everyone."

Atalanta blushed, "I only insult people who deserve it. Anyway, when's Mom going to get here?"

"She should be here in the next 4 or 5 hours."

Atalanta let out a rare smile, delighted at the mere chance to spend time with her mother.

Seeing his daughter smile was enough for Poly to stop messing with his daughter. His smile became fatherly, as if he was watching her from a far.

"Huh? why are you smiling? What are you planning?" Atlanta asked, worried that he was planning to turn back on his portable weapon of mass destruction. She was prepared to grab her father's hand before he could activate the light switch in his sleeve.

"I was just enjoying your smile, its just so rare to see you smile like that," Poly stated while reaching down to pat his daughter on the head. Causing Atalanta's face to turn even redder.

"Hey, you're going to mess up my hair."

Poly started to laugh at that.

"Now what's so funny?"

"Its just that you almost sound like a girl just now instead of the tomboy you normally act like."

Atalanta's blush deepened, causing her to be redder than a tomato. She removed her father's hand and grab a frying pan to begin cooking.

"Whatever, I'm going to make breakfast, don't distract me."

"Ok, sweetie."

And just like that, the father and daughter pair spent their morning in each other's company.


A short while later, Atalanta 1st person point of view-

"Atalanta, I'm going to work. Your mother should be here in an hour or two," my annoying father told me as he finished putting on his shoes.

"Ok, have a good day at work," I told him while he grabbed his car keys. "Hey, don't forget your lunch."

"Thanks for reminding me, my little moon," he thanked me while walking around the counter to grab his lunch that I had in my hands. I had to look up to see my father, until he kneeled on one knee.

He took his lunch out of my hand. My body tensed, knowing what was coming next. I felt him kiss me on the forehead. I still can't deal with even a fatherly kiss on the forehead, it just feels awkward to me. Especially since Dad is only slightly older than me mentally.

"I wonder where you get your cooking skills from, I mean I know you don't get it from your mother. Especially after the last time she tried to cook."

Dad's statement caused me to wince. Just the memory of that day sends shivers down my spine.

"It's not like you're much better, I don't think the two of you together could toast bread."

"Hey, that's not true."

"Yes, it is, and if you're going to be late to work if you don't get going." I told him while looking at the clock on the oven.

"Oh yeah, I can't be late. Stay safe till your mother gets here, don't burn down the house. Love you!" Clearly he needs to leave for work earlier if he has to run out the house to not be late. In fairness though, work does start later for him today due to it being Christmas season, and it's not like anyone will care if he's a little late.

"Love you too," I responded too him as he shut the door. I then let out a sigh of relief and started to walk to my room now that he was gone.

It just gets so hard to deal with him when he keeps messing with me, sometimes it feels like he's the child. Its like his ultimate pleasure is drawing reactions out of me, whether they're good or bad. Still, I can understand why he does what he does. It's just like my relationship with Miyu, I tried so hard to turn her emotionless face into one that's always smiling, and that's Dad's goal. To see me smile.

From his prospective, I, his child, almost never smile or show emotions like other kids, normal kids. All his jabs, jokes, and goofiness is his way of trying to help me enjoy my second childhood. The thing is, I don't see the point in faking my emotions, and Dad's perceptive enough to know if I was faking my emotions any way. Truthfully, my idiotic father isn't funny enough to make me laugh, but I do appreciate the effort. Besides, he does manage to get a pity laugh out of me every once in a while.

He's the exact opposite of Kiritsugu, and has been a better father to me than Kiritsugu ever was. Not that being a better father than Kiritsugu is a high bar. But it is still annoying impressively how far into my heart Dad's managed to worm his way in. He's reached so far into my heart that it's impossible for me to not say, "I love you too." Even if he's constantly dragging me into his antics.

I reached my bedroom and opened the door, before quickly entering and locking my door. I don't want Mom to enter my room while I'm testing my magecraft.

I walked over to my window and pulled my curtains to cover the window. Then I sat down on my bed, with my legs crossed.

Since getting to this world, I have been constantly watched by someone, making it impossible for me to check the state of my magecraft. Now that I have an opportunity to test it, I'm going to try and make the best of it.

First, I imaged the hammer of a gun, the mental trigger activating my magic circuits. I felt the sensation of my magic circuits opening, I continued to focus until I felt all my magic circuits open in their entirety. It felt like I was opening them for the first time. A bluish-green circuit like pattern appear across the left-side of my body. My magic circuits were causing me to feel uncomfortable.

That uncomfortableness disappeared almost immediately, a new feeling taking its place. I started to blush as I felt my body adjust to my circuits, pleasure seeming radiating from them. The way the pleasure seemed to spread out from my magic circuits, then retreat back to them, reminded me of the tides along the ocean.

The first time I opened my magic circuits as Shirou Emiya, it burned and was painful, as they should have. Magic circuits alway cause discomfort to magi due to their very nature as unnatural. Yet, my magic circuits felt like a natural part of me.

Once the pleasure started to dull, I tried to come up with an explanation for why my magic circuits felt so different.

I could only come up with three possibilities.

The first possibility is that my magic circuits were supposed to be like this, but were messed up due to living on a dying world. Or, alternatively, they've change because of how strong mystery is in this world. The issue with either of these theories is that magic circuits are painful for humans because they are unnatural to humans. Meaning all humans should feel some sort of discomfort when using their circuits, regardless of the strength of mystery.

The second theory is that whatever force responsible for my reincarnation also messed with my magic circuits. But I don't know enough about reincarnation magecraft to know if this is even possible. I can say that this theory is unlikely though, since I only know of one user of reincarnation magecraft, and he's dead.

The last theory is that my magic circuits were influenced by my bloodline. My bloodline having non-human blood in it would explain why my magic circuits feel so different. There is also the possibility that my bloodline is fully human, but we poss special magic circuits. I'm not sure which possibility is worse.

My body finally finished adjusting to my magic circuits. The pleasure was still there but it was muted.

I focused on my internal magical reserves, guiding it towards my magic circuits to be converted into magical energy. My magic circuits started to change again, their soft glow becoming a silvery-white as the energy from my life force spread throughout them.

The size of my internal energy was greater than I even thought possible. A vast majority of magus will, at most, used their internal life forces as a lesser source of magical energy, only meant to start a spell before switching to a greater source to maintain it. This is because a person's life force is simply unable to support costly spells, and over use of one's life force can have serious side-effects, including death. But my current internal energy is enough to support several high level spells.

Despite that shocking revelation, there was thing that had all of my attention.

Why are my circuits white? Could it have something to do with my internal magical energy being so large? Is it some sick cosmic joke?

I shoved those thoughts to the back of my mind. I turned my focus outwards, switching my magic circuits to absorbing the mana of the world, my magic circuits quickly converting it into magical energy.

The rate at which I was absorbing mana from the world was extraordinary, and it was refined in an instant. The refined magical energy gathered inside of me, merging with the magical energy I converted from my od.

Even after keeping my circuits running at full speed for almost five minutes, my magical capacity wasn't even close to being filled.

And just like with my internal energy, the rate I was absorbing mana from the world and refining it was extraordinary. Not only that, but my capacity to store magical energy has gone up exponentially.

If I had to guess my maximum magical energy capacity, it could be as high as A++ or EX. At the very least, my magical energy capacity is greater than a high tier caster.

In terms of circuit quantity, I still only had 27 magic circuits, but I think the sub-circuits inside my magic circuits has increased greatly. The quality of my magic circuits were with out a doubt top tier.

This is not normal. I need to be careful if I encounter any magus families, they might try and force me into an arranged marrying.

I still remember what Kiritsugu taught me about magecraft inheritance. A magus's magic circuit quantity and quality are set from birth. It's almost impossible to increase those things, so magus resort to breeding better heirs.

When trying to breed better heirs, those sick monsters look for magic circuit quantity in men and quality in women. A magus's magic circuits are influences by their parents circuits, but men more strongly influence magic circuit quantity, while women have a greater influence quality.

And given the quality of my magic circuits, many families would kill to get their hands on me. Weather I like it or not.

My face contoured at that thought, disgusted at the mere idea of my body being used that way.

I need to check my projection magecraft, and reinforcement. If only to distract myself from that thought.

I should check my reinforcement first. I grabbed the empty cup of water from my bedside to test my reinforcement. It's best to run the first test on something other than myself, after all, it will be much easier to explain why a glass cup broke than for me to explain why I had a broken arm.

I focused my magical energy on analyzing the cup, and then reinforcing it. Reinforcement was one of the first spells Kiritsugu taught me, it's a basic magecraft that's simple in principle, but difficult in practice. It works by filling an object with magical energy to enhance the existence of an object, it allows a magus to make a knife sharper, make food more nourishing, and in people, can make them stronger.

But adding too much magical energy will cause the objecting being reinforced to break, like a balloon being filled up with too much air.

I tried my best to limit the amount of magical energy I put into cup, but too much magical energy was coming out despite my best effort. The glass cup broke into pieces on my bed.

I looked at the broken pieces of glass on the bed, at least I chose to practice on something else first. Otherwise it might have been my body in pieces. I don't want to image what Mom or Dad would think if they found me in such a state.

It seems that my control of my magical energy is not good enough to manage the vast amount of magical energy I now possess, especially with how quickly it is refined and released.

If we were to compare it to a car, as Shirou Emiya I was driving a minivan, but now I'm driving a race car. If I put the same amount of pressure of the petal to go 60 mph in the race car, as I did in the minivan, then I'm going to end up going way over 60 miles per hour. And the petals of the race car are so much more sensitive that they're going take awhile to adapt to.

I going to need to practice reinforcement and refine my control for several years, at least until I reach the level I was at as Shirou Emiya.

Either way, I need to test my projection magecraft. Even if can't use reinforcement, I can rely on my projection magecraft to fight.

I should probably practice with normal objects first. I tired to project a butter knife; I felt a shocking amount of magical energy being pulled from me to project the knife, which took a surprising amount of time. This went beyond just my lack of control; the cost was to high for a simple butter knife. Not only that, but it feels like I'm missing something when I'm creating the knife. But I don't know what I could be missing.

Even if I don't know why I feel like I'm missing something, I can at least confirm my reality marble's existence. Since I can only use projection at this level due to Unlimited Blade Works. Maybe my rebirth somehow affects my reality marble?

Either way, all that matters right now is getting strong enough to survive and protect my family.

I need to test my projections for other non-sword related objects. Sword objects are easier for me to copy due to having an aligned origin and element of sword, making the projection of blade weapons far easier than anything else.

I looked around my room to see if there was anything I need, then I remembered the broken pieces of the glass cup sitting in front of me. I need to throw them away, and I don't want to cut my hand on them.

A towel should do fine, I decided to project a towel to pick up the pieces. I focused my mind on the production and projection of a towel. And after a couple of seconds I felt a white towel in my hands.

White, why did my mind default to making the towel white? Has Mom's obsession with the color white infected me?

Color aside, it was strange that the cost of projecting the towel was the same as the cost of the butter knife, when it should have cost more.

I let out a sigh as I picked up the pieces of the cups I broke and threw them into the trash, along with the towel. Then I dispelled the towel. I could see silver motes of lights coming from the towel being dispelled. A small headache started to form, why did the motes of light of my ability change from blue to silver?

Not that I don't like the color white, in fact I like it, but in no way should everything around me be white.

I decided to try and project some other objects, including a green notebook, some pencils, a shirt, and a glass cup to replace the one I broke. The objects were solid and stable, but just like with the butter knife, it was like I was missing something critical when creating the objects, but I wasn't doing anything different than what I did in my past life.

Then I tested my ability to project Noble Phantasms next, it would probably be best to try and practice with a Noble Phantasm I'm familiar with.

Weapons like Rho Aias, Harpe, and Durindana came to mind. Wait.

Why would Harpe and Durindana come to mind, they may be in my reality marble, but I've never projected them before.

The weapons that should have come to my mind were Kanshou and Bakuya, my most used projections.

I just ignored my brain going straight to Greek weapons and decided to trace Kanshou.

The image of the familiar black blade appeared in my mind. I started to trace the Noble Phantasm, my magical energy was decreasing rapidly. It cost way too much to project Kanshou, it's the same thing that happened with the butter knives. I finished projecting the Chinese sword and looked at it with a bead of sweat beating down my head.

At this point, I can probably trace ten sets of Kanshou and Bakuya. I need to deal with the high waste of magical energy whenever I'm casting a spell. And the time it took me to trace Kanshou was too long, it took ten seconds for the blade to be completed, when it should have been instant.

The issues with my trace must be linked to the feeling that I was missing a step in the tracing process. If I'm going to get strong enough to stop any threat to my family, I must fix my tracing and magical energy cost.

I tried to pick up the blade with one hand but found that it was too heavy for me to pick up with one hand. I really need to start working out, especially since I don't want to risk breaking my body with reinforcement yet.

Using both of my hands, I managed to pick up the blade. It took a couple of seconds, but a blueprint of the blade appeared in my mind. Structural analysis always a magus to grasp something by sending magical energy through it. Due to my reality marble, it should be very easy to grasp Kanshou, but it wasn't. I had to concentrate far more than I should have to analyze the blade.

I let out a sigh.

Why can't things ever be simple?

I dispelled Kanshou, it would not be an easy conversation to explain where I got an ancient Chinese sword from, and I don't want to use memory manipulation on my own parents.

It's going to take a long time to get my abilities up to the level they were in my past life, but I still have the combat skills I gained from the archer class card.

Either way, at least I know where I stand in terms of power, and what I need to improve on. Now I just need to find a way to train without Dad realizing what I'm doing.

I got up out of my bed to put my traced objects up, when I heard a knocking at my door.


Artemis's 1st person point of view, A short while earlier

The Mall of America is one of the largest, if not the largest, malls in the United States. It's the perfect place to fulfill my goal, finding a gift for Atalanta.

Last year, I gave Atalanta some books on endangered species, which ended up being a horrible idea. Apparently, I overestimated her reading ability by getting her college level books. The worst part about it was how she tried to act like she loved them.

Knowing Atalanta, she would rather something practical. But what?

I walked past several clothing stores, not even sparing them a second glance. Atalanta should already have enough clothing, and I don't think she would want clothing for her birthday.

There was also a cooking shops that sold cook books and cooking utensils. Atalanta did try to help me cook last time I visited, and cooking is a skill that will be useful in her future when she's questing.

No, Poly should have any of the utensils they would need to cook, and Atalanta probably wouldn't sit down to read a cookbook. Especially if she has ADHD or dyslexia like most Demigods.

Besides, while I think Atalanta likes cooking, she only really needs basic cooking skills in life.

After wandering around the mall, I eventually stopped at a hunting goods store.

It's about time I test Atalanta's abilities to see how strong she is. I could get her a bow, it's never too early to start training. Not that my daughter would need much training in archery.

I walked into the store, looking at the store's stock. I walked past the clothing at the front of the store and looked for the archery section.

The archery section was at the very back of the store, and only had a small handful of bows, arrows, and targets. It seems that the idiots in charge of this store think guns are better than bows.

Atalanta better not ever use a gun, those are only for the weak and unskilled. Using a gun is an insult to archery, and therefore it would be an insult to me and Atalanta.

It might be time to punish gun manufacturers again, driving Sarah Winchester insane did satisfy my anger, for a while.

I finished glaring at the gun section as I reached the archery section. Looking at the small selection of bows, I determined their quality with a single glance. And my eyes fell on a small bow, that was on the bottom self.

I picked up the small bow, Atalanta should be strong enough to use the bow. The bow was also sturdy enough for Atalanta to train with for a year or two.

This bow would make a fine birthday gift for Atalanta, I grabbed two dozen arrows to go along with the bow. There is no point in buying a target, since Atalanta can practice by shooting into the trees outside her house.

I walked towards the counter with the items and saw that the cashier was a guy in his early to mid twenties. The man had a disgusting lecherous glare, pointed directly towards me.

It seems that he want to die young.

"Hi! How are you today?"

"Fine." I said while putting the bow and arrows on the counter. I'll give the man one chance before he feels my wrath.

"Are you trying to get into archery? You know this bow is a little small for you, I can help you pick out a good one. I also have some skills in archery if you need any help."

Implying I chose the wrong bow, saying he could help me with my archery, and trying to hit on me.

I placed a curse on the cashier, making it so that all wild animals in the area will try to kill him for the next 24 hours. If he can survive until the curse ends, then I will forgive him for his transgressions.

"No, this bow is fine. It's not for me."

"Oh, is it for a younger family member? A little sibling, or cousin?"

"No, its for my daughter, her sixth birthday is tomorrow."

I took in a great amount of pleasure in the way his smile disappeared in an instant.

"Wait, you have a six-year-old. Just how old …", the foolish cashier said while he finished scanning my things, stopping himself from finishing that statement.

Maybe I should double the time to 48 hours?

"I'm sorry, it was wrong of me to ask that," the man lowered his head in apology.

"Fine," I said while paying in cash, deciding not to increase the curse to 48 hours. There's no point in wasting my godly powers on him when he won't be able to survive the initial 24 hours.

"Thank you for your patronage, please come again."

The cold expression on my face never changed. I didn't honor the cashier with a response.

I walked out of the store, where I was then hit by a realization. I could have just made a bow for Atalanta, and I wouldn't have had to spend any money on a gift.

Whatever, I'm sure that Atalanta will be fine with this bow. And I'm willing to spend money to make her happy.

I exited the mall and focused the mist so that mortals won't notice me. Using my scenes, I reached out to see if Poly had gotten to work with Atalanta yet.

Ugh, I have to deal with Poly first before I get to spend any time with Atalanta. I was surprised to see that Atalanta was not at Poly's workplace. Maybe Poly decided to stay home with Atalanta until I visited.

As soon as I found Atalanta's presence at Poly's house, I teleported over to the front of the house.

It seems Poly can do something right occasionally after all, since now I don't have to stop by his work and deal with his co-workers to pick up Atalanta.

I looked around his drive and noticed something missing.

Where's Poly's car? Did he leave Atalanta home alone?!

Spreading out my senses as I entered the house, I didn't sense anyone home other than Atalanta.

That idiot really did leave a 5-year old demigod home alone! I must have been out of mind to think, even for a second, that Poly can do anything right!

I hide the gift I got for Atalanta as I walked towards her room at the back of the house.

The house was suspiciously clean. There was no sign of dust anywhere, and the floors were spotless. I know that Poly couldn't keep anything this clean, and I know he wouldn't hire someone to clean the house. Is Atalanta doing all the cleaning?

humh, I don't know how I feel about that. Atalanta enjoys housework, for some strange reason, so I'm glad that she's doing something she enjoys. At the same time, I'm annoyed that Poly is having Atalanta doing the housework. It's unbecoming of my child.

I could sense Atalanta's divinity better as I got closer to her room. It seems that its presence has increased since the last time I visited. She probably only has two or three more years before monsters start to attack her regularly.

A slight chill ran down my spine at that thought. I wish I could let Atalanta live in safe ignorance for the rest of her life, but that's not possible. She'll never know a life of peace because she's my daughter.

I reached Atalanta's door and went to open it, but found it locked. Why did Atalanta lock her door?

Knocking on the door, I called out to Atalanta, "Atalanta, open your door."

I hope that didn't come off as to commanding, maybe I should have asked nicer, but then she might not respect my commands if I'm too nice. No, Atalanta would not stop respecting me, our bond is too strong for it to break down that easily.

"Coming," I heard a familiar voice respond to my statement. I shook my head as I heard Atalanta unlock her door and begin to open it.

I need to stop worrying, and just let raising Atalanta come naturally. I won't fail her, as her mother, I'll raise her right. I'll make sure she can stand strong against anything life throws at her.

There can be no other outcome, I've already lost too many of my huntress to lose anything else.


3rd person point of view

Atalanta quickly threw the objects she traced under her bed.

"Coming," the silver eyed girl responded to her mother, moving quickly to unlock her bedroom's door.

"Hi, mom," Atalanta told her mother, after opening the door. She then hugged her mother, genuinely happy to see her mother.

"Hello," Artemis responded while hugging her daughter back. "Happy birthday, Atalanta."

"Thanks."

"Is everything alright?" Artemis asked while releasing her child from there hug and standing up. She then started to move towards Atalanta's bed.

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Your door was locked," Artemis replied while sitting down on her daughter's bed.

"Oh yeah. I locked my door to keep idiots out," Atalanta responded as she sat down next to her mom.

Artemis shook her head. "Your father would be able to get through that door."

"Dad's an idiot, but not the one I'm trying to keep out."

"Then who..." Artemis was interrupted before she could finish that question.

"By the way, how've you been?"

"Decent, but I've missed you." the goddess responded after shaking her head.

"I've missed you too," Atalanta sadly added.

Artemis looked at her daughter somberly, wishing that she didn't have to stay away from Atalanta all the time. "Anyway, how's school going? i trust your doing well."

"Yeah, I've gotten perfect scores on almost everything, except english," Atalanta told her mother. "I'm still having trouble with it."

"Why?" Artemis asked, seeking confirmation for her theory.

The brains of Greek demigod are hardwired for Greek, making it hard for them to read any non-greek language. This is also the cause for their ADHD.

"Some of the letters get mixed up, and I just can't understand some words. It feels like I'm trying to read a different language. The doctors said it's dyslexia."

"It's alright, plenty of people have dyslexia. Even if you can't get rid of your dyslexia, you can still learn to live with it," Artemis tried to comfort her daughter.

"Thank you, but don't worry, my teachers are helping me," Atalanta responded. 'I don't want to bother Mom with my problems. No, I don't even have the right too.'

"That's good, but don't grow complacent, you must always try to improve."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Artemis's mouth pulled into an arrogant smile. "Excellent, you should always take my advice to heart. By the way, where's your father?"

"Dad went to work."

"Without taking you along?"

"He said it was a punishment for making fun of him." Atalanta responded, while inwardly laughing at her revenge against her father.

'That idiot left Atalanta home alone for such a stupid reason!'

"Mom?" Atalanta innocently called out as her mother unconsciously gave off an invisible aura of anger.

'Mom's really mad... Ha, this'll teach you, Dad.'

Artemis took a breath to help calm herself. 'I should enjoy my time with Atalanta. Poly will get what's coming to him.'

'Atalanta hasn't changed much since my last visit. She has grown to look even more like me, in a few years we might even start to look less like mother-daughter and more like twins, except for that small streak of white hair. She might need a new white moon jacket in a year or two. By then, my special divine gift for Atalanta should be done.'

Atalanta slightly squirmed under her mother's stare.

"Do you have an issue with people staring at you?" Artemis was maintaining a cold exterior, not letting her amusement show.

"Only when I feel like people are judging me," Atalanta stated with an annoyed tone.

"Well, don't worry, I wasn't judging you. I was just seeing how much you've grown."

"You could have just asked. I've grown an inch since the last time you visited."

"A whole inch, impressive," Artemis said while towering over Atalanta.

"Shut up! My growth is normal, unlike you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You've never aged. No matter how far back I try to remember, you've never changed one bit."

"You make it sound like you can remember what I looked like years ago."

"Of course, I know what you looked like; I've known you all my live after all. You've looked the same for over half my life. Huh, I bet you spend hours in the mirror trying to keep your appearance." Atalanta thought back to her earliest memories of this life, that start when she was two and a half.

Artemis glared at the small girl, before quickly standing up.

"Just as I thought, no response," Atalanta smugly told her mother, who was now standing right in front of her.

Artemis meanwhile picked up Atalanta like she weighted nothing.

"Hey, what are you doing!?" Atalanta asked while her tiny legs kicked the air uselessly, Artemis's steel grip unshakable. 'Why can Mom pick me up so easily? Just how strong is she? Or how small am I?'

"Atalanta, were you trying to make fun of me?"

"Huh, of course not, I love you too much to even think about making fun of you, so can you please put me down Mommy." Atalanta tried to appeal to her mother's maternal instincts.

Artemis narrowed her eyes, ignoring her maternal instincts that were ringing at her daughter's pleas, "Atalanta. Lying to your mother is wrong."

Atalanta felt a dark pressure press down on her. 'What is this pressure, how does Mom do this?'

"Tch, you're way to persistent, besides, you were messing with me first. Why can't I mess with you back?"

'Because I'm a goddess,' Artemis thought to herself. "Atalanta, being overly sarcastic and rude will make gaining allies impossible."

"I don't need allies," Atalanta respond before her eyebrow twitch slightly. 'And you have no right to lecture me, I probably have more friends then you. Even if they are as smart as a pile of rocks. But I shouldn't be too hard on them since they're real 5-year-olds.'

Artemis set Atalanta down on the bed and huffed. "Just remember what I said earlier, all of my advice is meant to help you."

"Fine, Mom, what'd you want to do for the rest of the day?" Atalanta asked, trying to change the subject.

"Let's go for a walk in the woods, but you'll need to put on heavier clothing. After words we can eat lunch and then watch a movie. By the time we do all that, Poly should be here with your birthday cake, and then you can open your birthday gift."

"Ok, I'll cook lunch," Atalanta smiled.

"You you think that you're a good enough cook to make me lunch?" Artemis provoked her daughter.

"Of course, otherwise we'd have to eat your terrible cooking."

Artemis did not respond to Atalanta's childish comment, having come to grips with her cooking skills long ago.

"Fine, lets see how much you've improved since last time." Artemis thought back to the last time she had some of Atalanta's cooking.

'Her cooking was decent, nothing compared to Hestia, most nymphs, or Athena's kids. But, she's still young, she has time to improve. She could surpass Athena's kids, or Aphrodite's kids. Ha, Atalanta is probably smarter, stronger, and more vicious than any of Aphrodite's kids.' Artemis's face broke into a smile as her thoughts trailed off to imagery of her daughter beating Aphrodite's kids.

"Mom, I'm ready."

Artemis's mind returned to reality, having missed Atalanta putting on a scarf, an extra jacket, and shoes.

"Let's go then," Artemis walked beside her daughter as they left the Atalanta's bedroom to spend the day together.


Artemis's pov

I followed my daughter as we walked around the woods surrounding Poly's house.

There was a happy air around us.

As we were walking through the forest, I noticed a curious expression on Atalanta's face.

"Do you wish to ask me something?"

"I was just wondering what your job is. You've never told me."

I see, she wants to know more about me. I can't tell her about my divinity, but I can tell her my false background.

"My job is to protect forest and wildlife, through political lobbying. I spend most of my time oversees, protecting the ancient forests of Europe."

Atalanta eyes seemed to gleam.

"So you approve?" I asked my daughter after seeing her expression.

"Of course, Mom, it would be terrible if all the forest are destroyed," Atalanta's face scrunched up. "But why don't you stay in the US? There are plenty of forest in needs of protection."

I didn't say anything as I tried to come up with a lie.

"Oh, I get it," Atalanta face twisted into a self-deprecating smirk. "You just don't want to see me, do you?"

"That's not true," I started, before being interrupted.

"Oh, then it's to avoid Dad, isn't it?"

"Atalanta, I work overseas because someone has to protect the forests of Europe. Not having to see your father's face is just a bonus."

Atalanta looked at me suspiciously, almost as if she could tell I was lying. After a moment though, the suspicion disappeared from her eyes, released by her normal eyes. They were cold, and melancholy, but filled with love.

The trust she has in me was enough for her to cast away all her doubts.

"How'd you meet Dad anyway?" Atalanta asked me.

"We meet in a forest," I responded coldly.

Atalanta had a distant smile, "What, were you and Dad protesting deforestation? Trying to protect an endangered species?"

"I guess you could say that," I completely lied, not wanting to destroy my daughter's smile.

Atalanta was suddenly distracted by something, the smile on her face disappeared.

She walked towards a dying tree. She looked at it sadly.

"This tree has been slowly dying," Atalanta needless explained to me.

I sighed, understanding Atalanta's reaction better than she could.

The forest is a part of us, and its pain is our pain.

"Hey, Mom," Atalanta called out to me as she touched the tree. "Why was I named Atalanta?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because something's name defines it. It makes the thing unique, real."

I frowed at my daughter's question. I didn't know she was thinking about such complex concepts, or such sad ones.

"I was the one of who chose your name. Atalanta was the name of an ancient hero. I named you after her because I wanted everyone to know you're their equal."

"I see," Atalanta said while taking her hand of the tree. "Mom, do you know if it's possible to save this tree?"

"Don't worry about that, I'm sure it will be alright," I said while healing the tree.

"How do you know?"

"I just do, have faith in your mother," I responded with a smile, knowing I didn't have to say that.

As a god, i know when someone has faith in me, and I know how strong their faith is.

Her faith in me is greater than anyone else's.

Atalanta scoffed, "Fine, I'll take you at your word, just this once."

She stood up, and started walking again. I was walking just beside her.


3rd person point of view

Artemis and Atalanta finally finished their walk through the woods. It was around noon.

"Atalanta, I'm going to help you cook," Artemis told Atalanta, not feeling comfortable letting her child cook her lunch while she sat around doing nothing.

"Fine. But I'm in charge," Atalanta responded in a tone that left no room for debate. She would not have any insubordination.

"Ok, what do you want me to do?" Artemis asked, with her lips slightly turned up from her daughter's arrogance to tell her own mother to follow her lead.

Atalanta stared at her mother with cold eyes, all love gone. "Can you grab me a bowl from that Cabinet?"

She pointed at a cabinet that was far out of her reach. "Dad placed all the cooking equipment out of my reach."

Artemis opened the cabinet and grabbed the bowl, a serious expression on her face. She didn't want to disappoint her daughter.

Atalanta grabbed the bowl from Artemis, "How unexpected."

"What?"

"I expected you to somehow mess up. I'm happy to see I was wrong, now let's get to work."

The mother-daughter pair got to work making lunch, Artemis following her daughter's orders, not realizing that Atalanta was giving her pointless orders so that she would not mess up the lunch.

It took them an hour to cook lunch and set the dinner table.

Artemis pulled out a chair from the dinner table to sit down.

Atalanta had a prideful aura around her. 'I've been working hard to improve my cooking skills; there's no way Mom doesn't love it.'

"The meal looks decent, Atalanta."

"Thank you, but what really matters is its taste."

Atalanta and Artemis started to eat lunch.

'Its alright, its no where near the food served on Olympus. Hestia's cooking is way better, so are most nymphs, but it's still decent and far better than what I would have expected from my daughter.' Artemis reviewed her daughter's cooking from a neutral standpoint, not letting any emotion appear on her face.

Atalanta meanwhile was looking at her mother in disappointment, having put her all into cooking their meal, yet she hadn't been able to get a single emotion out of her mother.

'I put my all into making that, yet Mom only looks slightly impressed. Everyone always has had a positive reaction to my cooking, Miyu, Sakura, Julian, even Kiritsugu enjoyed my food. What kind of food is Mom use too, that it makes my food looks average?!' Atalanta thought as a small pout to form on her face.

"The food was better than I expected," Artemis said upon seeing the small pout on her daughter's face.

The pout on Atalanta's face slightly dissipated, but she was still slightly dejected.

"You didn't show it."

"I'm used to good cooking at my job place."

"Yea … aaahhh," Atalanta started to yawn, interrupting her statement.

"It sounds like you're tired, well no matter, you can take a nap while we watch a movie."

Artemis walked to the living room while Atalanta followed behind fuming about how tired she suddenly was.

'Damn this young body making me tired so easily. I hate how I have to keep taking naps,' Atalanta thought, thinking about the main negative effect of this new body.

"You should stop fuming, or the rest of your hair might gray."

Atalanta tried to respond with a scowl, but a yawn stopped the attempt.

"Now, what movie should we watch?" Artemis asked herself.

"How about we watch Bambi," Atalanta said jokily, not really interested in any of the children movies they have at the house.

'I wonder how Mom would react to Bambi's mom being shot, Mom likes animals a lot after all.'

"Ok... oh the movie's about wild animals and the forest, seems interesting," Artemis stated while looking at the DVD cover.

'Yeah, I hope I can stay awake through the whole movie. Just to see Mom's reaction. Afterwords, we can watch Brother Bear.'

Atalanta went to grab a blanket from her room, grabbing her white comforter off her bed, while she was doing that, Artemis put the movie into the living room DVD player and turned off the lights.

"Are you ready to watch the movie?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," Atalanta said while her eyes started to become droopy, her tiny body was wrapped up in the comforter, she was using her mother as a pillow.

Artemis started Bambi using the TV remote, and she placed her arm around her daughter.

Atalanta's eyes were already closed, but she was still slightly awake.

Which is why she got to enjoy her mother's reaction to the beginning of the movie.

"Is she dead?" Artemis was shocked but was then disgusted, "They killed her for no reason."

'It seems that Mom felt the death of Bambi's mom, ha." Atalanta smiled as she fell asleep, enjoying the warmth of her mother's embrace.

Artemis turned and glared at Atalanta, about to complain to Atalanta about her movie choice, only to see her sleeping. Artemis's expression softened at the sight of her tiny child.

'She looks so adorable and innocent right now. If only she could stay this way forever.'

Artemis quietly watched the movie, with a smile on her face.

This last for a couple hours, until a certain man entered the house.

Poly walked into the home, and yelled into the home, "Atalanta, I'm home!" He continued into the house, only to see Artemis glaring at him.

Atalanta started to wake up upon hearing her name, rubbing her eyes.

"Huh, Dad?" Atalanta yawned after saying that, rubbing her eyes.

"Oh, sorry for waking you up."

"Try to make sure you don't do this again in the future, Poly."

"I already said I was sorry."

"You did, but you haven't apologized for leaving Atalanta home alone."

"It really was horrible, being left home alone," Atalanta added fuel to the fire.

Poly had a betrayed look on his face. "Wait! I left her home alone so you could spend more time with her."

"That's not what Atalanta said, she claimed that you left her home alone as a punishment."

"Hey, that was just me messing with her, even you should be able to understand that. But I guess it is too much to ask for your brain to match your beauty." Poly's expression become one of complete regret.

Atalanta look between her mother and father. 'I wanted to mess with Dad, but I didn't want for it to go this far. I need to put a stop to this. Wha- what is this?'

"Atalanta, I need to speak to your father alone, go to your room until I call for you."

The silver-eyed girl shuddered in terror. She quietly got up, following her mother's orders. Her final act was to look pitifully at her father.

She knew who she would bet money on in a fight.

"Hey! Why are you looking at me like I'm already dead?"

"Dad, I want you to know that I truly loved you," Atalanta then walked out the room with her white comforter. Ignoring her father's calls to her, fearing he would drag her into any punishment he got from her mother. He had a good run

Poly's eyes almost started to water at the sight of his daughters retreating form, one thought forming in his head as he felt a cold hand grab his should.

'So, this is how I die.'


Atalanta's Pov

I was sitting in my room quietly, meditating on my bed.

How long is Mom going to, uhm, talk with Dad? Mom has to leave tonight, and I would rather spend some more time with her.

I've really enjoyed today, getting to spend time with Mom is fun, despite some of the moments where she mocked me.

I enjoyed walking through the woods, despite the snow, which should have made it hard to walk, but for some reason me and mom didn't seem to be affected by it at all.

Besides, I found a new goal today, cooking a meal good enough to make Mom smile. My dignity as a chief is on the line.

It was kind of embarrassing when I unconsciously snuggled up to Mom like I was some sort of kitten. It just felt like everything would be alright, I couldn't resist the warmth that came from it. I guess this is truly the feelings caused by a parent-child bond.

"Atalanta, you may come out now," Mom interrupted my thoughts, finally calling out to me to leave my room. I'm almost scared to leave my room, who knows how bad the carnage is.

I walked out of my room, moving to the living room. I found my father sitting in the leather armchair, his head was down. Mom must have really dug into him.

"Huh, I thought it would be worst."

"I decided to have mercy on him after he started to beg for mercy."

"Wow, Mom, you really are merciful!" I told my mom with mocking excitement.

Now that I know my father is ok; I can now make fun of him for this. I let out a smile in his direction. He deserves it.

"Yes, I am. Now it's time to celebrate your birthday."

"Oh, did Dad get the cake?"

"Hey I wouldn't forget something that important!"

"Of course, your father did his job for once, and didn't leave your cake alone for an hour."

"Ok, let's go eat."

"Hey, are you guys ignoring me. Stop it!"

Me and mom ignored my father's whining.

Mom moved to the dinning room, while me and my father followed behind.

I saw a cake on the dinning room table. It was a mostly dark blue, which was meant to represent the night sky. It seems like there was lots of white dots around the cake, meant to represented stars. And on the middle of the cake was a white moon with a green six on it.

I really like the cake's design.

I should thank Dad for getting me such a good cake.

"Thank you for getting me this cake, Dad."

Dad smiled, "Your welcome."

Me and my family sat down to enjoy the birthday cake. It tasted really good, but I know I can cook better. I'll pay Dad back for my birthday cake by making him a great birthday cake. But for now, I going to follow Mom's lead and ignore his babbling.

"Alright it's time for you to open my gift," Mom left the room and came back with something wrapped in white wrapping.

I was interested in what kind of gift she would get me since she seemed really excited, at least for someone with such a cold exterior. I could easily understand her because I have experience with cold exteriors from dealing with people like Kiritsugu and Miyu.

Mom set the gift in front of me on the dining table.

I moved to open the gift, and started to unwrap the i..

My mind stopped at the sight of what Mom got me.

It was a bow with arrows. My mind flashed back to memories from my past life; of the last time I held a bow. I killed Julian's father, the user of the saber card. But he was just my one of my victims.

"It's too dark right now to go practice, but I'm sure you'll do fine. Once you get good enough, we can go hunting together."

My heart was confused by the feelings, on one hand the guilt for my actions in my past life were causing me to feel horrible. While my heart also started to beat in excitement, when I heard her say she would take me hunting. Why did I feel this way? I've never enjoyed hunting before, why would I enjoy killing other things now?

My confusion must have shown on my face because Mom had a concerned look on her face.

"You don't have to go hunting if you don't want to."

"No", I said before I realized what I was doing. "I want to go hunting with you."

Mom gave me a motherly smile as she reached out and patted me on the head.

"I bet you'll do great."

Of course, I'll do great, I'm skilled enough with a bow to qualify for the archer class, and the last thing I hunted was far more dangerous than some wildlife.

I looked at my family in this life, with the neutral expression I usually have.

I wonder if they would still love me if they knew I was a murderer. I wonder if they would fear me if they knew, while I feel guilty about the killings, I don't regret my actions in the least. I would kill all those people again without a moment of hesitation and doom a hundred worlds for the sake of my family.

I started at Mom and Dad; all I really know is that I don't want to lose this

"Thank you. Both of you for the cake and birthday gift," I said with slightly watery eyes as I enjoyed the night with the two people, I care about most in this world.


AN:

This is my first fic, sorry for any errors in the writing or grammar. And I have not edited the author's notes at all, so I'm double sorry for any grammatical errors following this.

This fic will diverge from canon, the only three things that I plan on happening are the lightning thief, the final battle for Olympus and the start of the Kane Chronicles.

Yeah, this fic will include the Egyptian gods, Greeks, Roman, and possibly the Norse gods (I'm not sure at this point on the last one, I've never read their book series.)

Right now, Carter Kane appears before camp half-blood, and Jason appears before Percy.

The seven heroes of Olympus will be different from the canon one sense I found the plot lacking. I want to make the battle between the giants and gods seem more like an actual war.

I was influenced by all the other fanfics (like Auburn Hair, Son of the Huntress, The place I belong, etc.) with Shirou as the child of Artemis, but I saw most of them don't talk about it affects him, or they skip ahead to the start of the lightning thief. And I wanted to write a fic that focuses on the mind and relationships between characters over fights. (Not that there want be fights, in fact the first fight should be in the next chapter.)

Oh yeah, I don't plan on having any other Fate characters crossing over.

Also, sorry for all the changes in perspective, when I first wrote the chapters, I accidently change perspective a lot. I try not to do that in the future, I don't think I do it again following this.

Lastly, I killed off all the dolls so that Miyu could live in peace. Miyu and Shirou's world will now die, without any chance of being saved, and Miyu will live her life without ever seeing her brother again. Just in case you were wondering why I changed that.

Have a great day, and thank you for reading.