Chapter XXIII

I stretched my arms upward as my family and I went through the arrival gate at the Los Angeles international airport.

"Ugh, even in first class, sitting in a chair for over almost twelve hours is killer," I groaned, wincing when I felt several pops in my back and neck. I was starting to regret not taking the private jet. But then again, we were on vacation, the homunculi included. Though the five homunculi had left for Los Angeles earlier than we did to secure transport and our hotel rooms in Los Angeles.

"Sometimes, it makes me wonder how you can stand it," said Dad, "considering how many travel miles you accrue traveling on a plane while working for Barthomeloi."

"Ugh, don't remind me," I sighed.

"It can be quite tiresome," Atalanta agreed.

"Speaking of planes," Mom chimed in as she carried a lethargic Lin in her arms, "that so-called breakfast they served wasn't exactly filling. I'm gonna go get us some proper breakfast. This place must have a decent place that offers real tea. Atalanta, would you like to come with Lin and I?"

"Of course," Atalanta smiled with a nod. "Faelan, I assume you want a blueberry donut and an earl grey tea?"

"Please," I smiled at her.

"We'll get the bags," said Dad, patting Lin's back when she released a sleepy yawn. "C'mon, son, you and Atalanta can make goo-goo eyes later."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, yeah." It was better to not rise to Dad's bait.

It didn't take Dad and I long to grab all our bags from baggage claim and rejoin Mom, Lin, and Atalanta after grabbing some real food for a quick snack from a cafe. Though I wasn't surprised to see that Lin had fallen asleep. It was evening back home after all. Going through the exit of the airport, it didn't take me long to spot Colby wearing casual clothes while waiting next to a minivan.

"Hi, Colby," I nodded to the homunculi. "How's Los Angeles?"

"Unruly," Colby answered with an impassive shrug, he was always the more refined one among the homunculi, before nodding to my parents. "Lord Galen, Lady Aella. How was the flight?"

"Unremarkable," Mom replied with a smile. "Is everyone else doing well?"

"Yes, my lady," Colby nodded as he moved to help Dad put all the luggage in the back of the minivan. "Albine and Ljubica have secured the rooms while Ela and Blaine have installed temporary security measures." You'd think we were being overcautious, but ever since Romania, we weren't going to take any chances. Not with Lin anyway.

"Good job, Colby," Dad nodded at him.

"Of course, sir," Colby replied as he took the last bag from me and stacked it atop the others before closing the trunk door.

Colby was the one who drove us to the hotel and I was glad that he was the one driving given how tired the rest of us were. Though Atalanta probably wasn't all that tired, given her status as a Servant. But then again, it's not like she had the Riding Skill for her to even use to drive a car. Plus, she'd probably run to a destination a lot faster than a regular car ever could.

"California is certainly a lot hotter than England is," Atalanta observed as she ate her bear claw pastry.

"Romania was pretty warm back during the Grail War," I raised a brow. "And so were Spain and Italy if I recall."

"Indeed they were," she replied with a small chuckle. "However, this heat must be unbearable during heat waves." Here, she grimaced. "It's a shame that one will be roaming in soon."

"Yeah," I agreed with a shrug, remembering the weather report on my phone, "so it's a good thing we scheduled a trip to go to the beach." Though, there was a good chance that there would be a lot of people at the beaches who had the same idea to escape the heat.

Atalanta gave me a smirk before she drew closer. "I think you just want to see me in a bikini, Faelan," she whispered in my ear.

My eyes widened for a moment. Well, I admit, the thought of her in a bikini was certainly enticing and… a little arousing. "I certainly wouldn't argue against it," I grinned at her. "That one you wore back in Romania, Baile Herculaine, looked really, really good on you."

"So you were looking," she fluttered her eyes. "I thought you were."

I raised a brow at her, a grin on my face, "You didn't say anything about it."

"I was preoccupied with Lin," she shrugged before she averted her gaze, biting her bottom lip rather shyly. "And I… may have enjoyed you watching me…"

"Is that so?" my grin widened as I drew closer.

"Oi! Stop flirting back there you two!" came Dad's voice from the front passenger seat. "We still have a minor in the car!" This caused Atalanta and I to stiffen in embarrassment. "And I don't want Lin to wake up and start asking us about the birds and the bees!"

Atalanta's face flushed while I coughed a bit before clearing my throat.

"It's a good thing we have our own room," I whispered to my girlfriend.

"That's putting it lightly," she grumbled back.

…

I'm not gonna lie, I hate jet lag. At least when I was working, the time difference was only a matter of a few hours or so. With my internal clock all screwed up and was now forced to be in a different time zone, I spent the first couple of days in Los Angeles sleeping, though it was the same for my family too. The only ones who didn't have to deal with jet lag were the homunculi and Atalanta, though the latter was for obvious reasons.

When I woke up on the third day, I blearily opened my eyes to find Atalanta sitting beside me, leaning back against the headboard as she watched something on the television from the sounds of it. Taking in a deep breath, I turned my head to glance over at the flatscreen television on the wall to see that Atalanta was watching the local news.

"Humans really are such sad creatures, aren't they?" Atalanta commented, no doubt she noticed the moment I woke up when my breathing rate changed. "Useless politics used by politicians who think they have more power and entitlement than they really have."

I laughed, "Yeah. I'd love to be a fly on the wall if they ever find out how insignificant they really are." While the Clocktower tended to avoid mundane people as a general rule, most mages avoided mundane politicians and government officials even more so. At least Clocktower politicians had actual power to back their words up. After all, mage politicians with weak magecraft didn't really get to live long while in office.

Though there remained only one exception to that rule.

Shaking her head, Atalanta turned off the television with the remote and placed it aside before she turned to me. "Are you over your jet lag?" she asked with a smirk.

"More or less," I replied as I stretched in bed. "Ugh, at least we didn't fly to Australia or New Zealand. Then it would've added a few more hours to our flight." Though at that point, I would've insisted to Mom and Dad that we take a layover to rest. It was then I noticed Atalanta's gaze over me. "Atalanta?" Not getting an answer, I followed her line of sight to… my waist? Grinning, I shifted so that she looked me in the face. "See something you like?"

Her cheeks flushing, she shook her head. "I, um," she bit her lip. "You don't have baggy shirts, do you?" Though it was phrased as a question, it sounded a lot more like a statement or an observation instead.

"No, I don't think so," I looked up at the upper corner of my eye in thought. "Should I start buying baggier shirts?"

She surprised me when she rolled over to straddle me. "No," was her rather intense answer as I noticed her tail curling around the bottom of my right knee. She then leaned down to press several light kisses against my lips, of which I happily returned. "I rather like your fitter shirts."

"Is that right?" I chuckled against her lips.

"Very much so," she purred as she laid herself on top of me before pressing her forehead against mine.

"You know, it'd be nice to stay in just to enjoy ourselves today instead of me getting over my jet lag," I said as I wrapped my left arm around her waist to pull her tighter against me as my right hand drifted over to her thigh and drew random patterns on her skin. An act of which Atalanta seemed to appreciate if her breathy sigh was any indication.

"I wouldn't be averse to that," she replied, the purr rumbling from her throat as she enjoyed my light ministrations, before pressing a kiss to my jaw before nuzzling it. "It has been a long time since we were alone like this and we didn't have any pressing matters to attend to."

She, unfortunately, had a point. Our time hunting down Barthemeloi's hit list over the past nine months didn't count because we had little to no time to actually have fun between us. Though I do admit that the nonstop Sealing Designate and Dead Apostle hunts did allow us to become even closer.

I gave a chuckle at her words, however, before I could respond, there was a knock at our door. Which caused both of us to let out groans in annoyance.

"Ugh," I gave a small sigh, letting my head fall back on the bed. An action that Atalanta shared as she let her head fall onto my shoulder with a sigh as well. A glance at the clock on the nightstand made me think it was probably one of the homunculi to remind Atalanta and I about the plans we all had for today. "That's probably Lijbica or Blaine," I sighed. "I'll go get it."

When I saw Atalanta's peeved look on her face, I chuckled before I leaned up to kiss her and rolled her over onto her back. When I pulled back, I smirked at the desire I saw reflected in her eyes, "C'mon, we should get ready before whoever that is gets Lin as reinforcements. She can be patient for only so long."

She looked up at me for a moment, debating it for a moment before she sighed, "Fine."

I chuckled at the rare moment that Atalanta was a bit more selfish before I pressed another kiss against her lips, though it was more chaste. Getting off the bed, I walked over to the door and I wasn't surprised when I saw that it was actually Ela on the side of the door, who was standing patiently.

"Lord Faelan, good morning," she nodded in greeting. "I wished to tell you and Lady Atalanta that breakfast at the hotel restaurant will close in less than two hours if you wish to eat before we leave."

"Thank you, Ela," I replied, hearing Atalanta enter the bathroom and also hearing the shower turn on. " Have my parents or Lin eaten yet?"

"They have, they woke early this morning and are currently getting ready for the day," she answered. "A reminder, today we have the visit to Griffith Park on our schedule."

"Something of which I'm sure Lin is ecstatic for," I shook my head in amusement.

"To say the least," Ela nodded. "If you'll excuse me, I have to help Albine finish making everyone's lunches for today."

"Of course, I'll see you later."

Ela gave a small bow before turning on her heel to leave.

…

"Come on, you guys are so slow!" came the voice of Lin further up the trail.

I chuckled as the rest of us were about ten meters behind her. We were taking one of the hiking trails in Griffith park and Lin was as happy as a clam, breathing in the clean air. The only way to make her happy is if we went to the nearby zoo at the end of our hike. Which it was, or else we'd have a very upset five-year-old at the end of the day.

"She's certainly happy," Atalanta observed in amusement.

"We're out in the woods, she couldn't be any happier," Mom shook her head as she adjusted one of her backpack straps.

Dad laughed as he passed by with the homunculi, "Our trip to the L.A. zoo later might say otherwise."

"Which might or might not be worse given it's right after lunch," I couldn't help but comment aloud, just as amused as everyone else. "All that energy and it'll go right into running around the zoo."

"At least on the trip back, we'll have a very exhausted five-year-old in the car," Mom smiled as she watched Lin look at some plants at the side of the road. "The last time she was going to be this exhausted was her first magecraft lesson."

That drew my attention. "And how are her lessons going?" I asked as subtly drew some runes to prevent anyone besides the family from hearing our conversation.

"As well as you could expect," she sighed. "Your father says she has all the theory behind the family thaumaturgy down. However, all that magical energy in her circuits and with her minimal control, it frustrates her after every lesson."

I sighed, "Yeah, I figured." An average amount of magical circuits but high in capacity quality-wise, it was as I suspected, Lin was going to have a few tough months ahead of her. I knew Dad was taking it slow with Lin due to that lack of control and had transitioned most of her lessons to quality control instead of the family magecraft itself. Though, when Lin did get it all down, she was going to be a force to be reckoned with. I knew Mom and Dad were considering giving one of the Relics that we kept in the Vault to Lin when she progressed significantly in her mage training. Perhaps the Failnaught bow since Lin was showing an interest in playing an instrument or perhaps an Azoth sword if not a relic, such a blade would work wonders for her.

"She'll get it," Mom nodded resolutely. "I have faith." She then glanced over to Atalanta, "Faelan didn't take to his mage education at first either."

My girlfriend raised a brow, definitely interested. "Oh, is that so?"

A chill went up my spine.

"Mmhmm, yeah," Mom grinned. "And it was so cute when he'd cross his arms and pout, getting all frustrated. In fact, I think I transferred one of those pictures to digital," she paused to fish out her smartphone, "and I'm pretty sure it's in my gallery right now."

"Oh, I'd love to see it," Atalanta shared my mother's grin.

"Of course," Mom replied as she began scrolling.

Yeah, and that was for the reason for that chill. If there was an upside to Barthomeloi's constant deployments for me, it was that Atalanta and my mother never got to talk much.

"Ah, here it is!"

"Aww, you were adorable, Faelan!" Atalanta just gushed.

"Wasn't he?" Mom was about the same level in gushy-ness.

"All right, I'm leaving," I grumbled as I fast-walked out of there.

"Ah. He's pouting the same way as he did back then!" came my mother's delighted voice behind me.

Catching up to Dad and three of the homunculi, I released a sigh as I fell into step with them.

"Your mother giving you a hard time?" Dad grinned.

"More or less," I shrugged, fighting the urge to upturn my bottom lip. Which was certainly not a pout! "After dealing with Barthomeloi's constant hunts, I forgot about the threat of Mom showing Atalanta the family photobook."

"The dangers of the digital age," Dad chuckled, grabbing his water from the side of his backpack and taking a swig. "Just be glad she doesn't have any baby pictures of you on her phone, Faelan."

I nearly froze at the thought. "Wait, are you sure that she doesn't?"

Dad frowned in thought, "I think so? To be honest, I'm not so sure, kiddo."

"I freakin' hope so," I sighed before looking ahead. "Hey, where's Lin, Ela, and Colby?"

"Lin ran off ahead," Dad replied. "So I sent Ela and Colby after her to keep an eye on her. The last thing we need is her trying to bring home a coyote or a mountain lion."

I snorted in amusement, "And I'd feel sorry for said coyote or mountain lion."

I could picture Lin grabbing one of those animals by their neck and pulling it along like some abandoned puppy or kitten a person could find on the street. Despite my mother's exasperation over the few times Lin came home with an animal in her arms begging to keep it, it was obvious where Lin got her enthusiasm from and even Mom couldn't help but feel a little proud of it. Even if Mom liked to deny it sometimes.

Dad shared in my amusement as he barked out a laugh.

Though Albine and Ljubica seemed to be confused by our amusement though. I didn't blame them, they have been around for a short time and most of the time that was lugging Atalanta and I around Europe hunting down Sealing Designates and Dead Apostles, so their personalities didn't have much ample opportunity to grow much beyond some stuff they had taken an interest in. Hopefully, more of their personalities can eek out and develop on this trip. And if not, they could learn to relax, they did deserve to go on vacation too after all.

Though I was glad that Ljubica seemed to take it in stride, even managing a small smile.

As we continued to trek on the path, it wasn't long before we got to the Old Zoo picnic area and settled down for lunch. Said lunch consisted of sandwiches prepared by Albine and Ela along with homemade cereal bars as treats. After lunch, we all lounged around while we rested, though the homunculi were merely standing vigil, probably not knowing what to do with themselves since I had to order them to relax. Especially Ela.

"And what exactly do you think you're doing?" Atalanta raised an amused brow at me after I laid my head on her lap.

"Payback," I replied with a shrug, getting comfortable as I slid my hands on the back of my neck. "For conniving with my mother earlier."

She laughed, a sound that I obviously liked.

"Is that so?" she smirked down at me, shifting a bit. "Speaking of, I learned quite a lot from her actually. About yourself in particular."

"Really?" I raised a brow. I hope to the Root that Dad wasn't mistaken and that Mom didn't have the entire family photo album saved to her phone.

"Oh yes," her smirk widened a smidge. "I found it quite adorable when I saw the pictures of you as an infant, crawling around the house in your diaper while wearing a cape. Perhaps this is why Achilles thought you were capable of becoming a hero."

I froze, feeling my cheeks burn before I turned my head to glare at my father's back. Both he and my mother were keeping an eye on Lin as she rolled around in the grass, playing with a group of kids composed from other families.

"Dad! You said Mom didn't have any baby pictures on her!"

"I said I wasn't sure!" Dad laughed, his arm around my mother's shoulder as they sat at the picnic table we took to eat lunch. "It's not like I snoop around on your mother's phone."

Mom raised a brow at Dad, "You better not, Galen."

"Come now, Faelan," Atalanta chuckled, tilting my head so that I could look back at her, "don't be so embarrassed. As I said, you were an adorable baby. I quite enjoyed the pictures your parents took of you. Though, seeing you almost cause the house to go up in flames was an amusing sight."

I scoffed in amusement, "Yeah, I don't remember much about that incident obviously, but Mom and Dad tell me that I had quite the fire elemental affinity way back when. They used to think about which fire-aligned relic we have in the Vault to give me back before when I was the designated heir for the family magecraft."

She frowned. "Wait, what do you mean by used to? I thought a mage's elemental affinity didn't change."

"They don't," I shrugged, "under normal circumstances anyway."

She still frowned for a moment before realization reflected on her face. "Ah, I see. New Mexico."

"Yeah," I drew the word out with a sigh. "My elemental affinity and origin changed from what they originally were before the New Mexico incident. The boss lady thinks it's a result of the… Entity." It was weird referring to Lobo and the Amaroq as a single existence despite knowing the contratriary, but then again, not many other people knew otherwise.

Atalanta began playing with the white lock of my hair, loosely twirling it around her finger as I noticed her eyes dim a little. If there was one thing I noticed about Atalanta, it was that speaking about what the Cult of Marduk did to me pained her. I never asked her about it, but I always assumed it was because it reminded her of what Faust did to me in Romania.

"Do you mind if I ask you what your origin and elemental affinity used to be?" she asked quietly, her eyes finding mine once more.

I took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "No, I don't mind. My elemental affinity used to be fire and my origin used to be Artifact." It worked well with the Ashford family magecraft attribute of Power due to the centuries of study of Noble Phantasms, crystalized legends. It was why Mom used to teach me what she knew of the Argantiuss family magecraft when I was the Ashford heir. Said magecraft into metallurgy and metal manipulation was invaluable.

"Fire and artifact, eh?" Atalanta mused. She thought about it for a moment before she shook her head. "Hmm, no. For some reason, I can't picture you being a scholar. To be honest, I can see you as a little arsonist, a hellion that your mother had to chase."

I rolled my eyes, "Maybe, but I didn't burn everything down as a kid, Atalanta."

"Your mother's first kitchen would say otherwise, kiddo!"

I gave an annoyed sigh at my father to which Atalanta chuckled at.

"So if your Origin and elemental affinity changed, to what were they changed to?" she asked after a moment.

I bit my lip before I glanced around. "Not here."

She frowned for a moment before her expression softened, "As you wish."

Before either of us could react, Lin barreled in and landed on my stomach. "Agck! Lin!" I winced with a strained gasp. "Why…?"

"Fae! Atalanta! When are we going to the zoo?" she grinned at us, unperturbed by the pain she afflicted on me.

"Patience, little one," Atalanta chuckled. "Why don't you go over to your parents and ask them?"

"Mm," Lin pouted, but a pat on her head from Atalanta turned it upside down. "Okay!"

I gave a grunt when Lin pushed herself off of me and bounded over to our parents. "The world will never be the same when she grows up and becomes a force to be reckoned with," I sighed, laying my head back down on Atalanta's lap.

"You mean when her current threat potential rises," she corrected with a smirk.

I opened my mouth to retort, but unable to think of one, I closed it. "Yeah, good point," I conceded with a frown.

…

From the comfort of her hotel room, one Luvia Edelfelt was lounging in her chair reading a tome before the smartphone beside her rang. Answering the call without looking at the caller I.D., she closed her book before she brought the device to her ear as she already knew who it was.

"Yes, good evening, Lord El-Melloi." Aware that it was past dusk back in England at the moment.

…

She said nothing when she heard the professor sigh.

"Good afternoon, Miss Edelfelt."

Luvia glanced at the clock sitting on the nightstand. "I didn't miss my check-in, I assume that this would be a social call. If not, I have a few familiars tailing the target right now, currently, he's in Griffith park."

"Is that so? Then we have a problem."

The blonde woman raised a brow, "Oh? And that is?"

"There has been word that a Holy Grail War is going to happen in one of the states neighboring you. The state of Nevada I believe."

Luvia frowned, "Oh, don't tell me that a Holy Grail War is going to occur in Las Vegas of all places."

"Thankfully no, given the amount of tourist traffic that city has, the secret of magecraft would've been exposed almost immediately after a Holy Grail War would begin there. The word is that the family organizing the Grail War is still debating the stage that their little War would take place."

"They do have a lot of ground to choose from," Luvia sighed. "The Mojave desert itself is a sufficient ground to hold a Holy Grail War on. The leylines alone would sustain the now regular five Servants summoned for the lesser Grail Wars quite well."

"Indeed, the Great Basin desert would work just as well. But then again, perhaps our intel is wrong and it will be held in the Sonoran desert instead. Either way, be wary. The last thing we need is you getting caught up in a Grail War while on assignment."

"Of course," she replied. The importance of her mission was better left unsaid. "I assure you, Lord El-Melloi, I will complete my mission."

"Good. Enjoy the rest of your day, Miss Edelfelt."

"And you enjoy the rest of your evening," she said before ending the call. Setting aside her phone, she picked up her tome and started where she left off. "I will complete my objective… no matter the cost."

…

Watching over Lin was really a full-time job.

Her curiosity knew no bounds and teaching her magecraft just poured fuel on that particular fire. Lin's curiosity of the world had doubled, knowing that there were two worlds that contained mysteries. I almost envied her for it. She still had that child innocence despite knowing that the hidden world of mages and mysteries was also fraught with death. More so than even the world of the mundane. Yet, in spite of this, she had a love for the world of magecraft because she knew that myth and legend were once real and she was excited to see such marvels. But she still had a love for the mundane world despite it being covered in a facade only known to a fraction of the world's population. She still breathed in nature and enjoyed being around it all. She loved the prospect of the miracles left by legends in the world's history.

She also loved trying to get into the lion pen at the zoo…

Wait.

"Lin, no! Lin, come back here!" I scrambled from the bench I was sitting on to go after my baby sister.

The little brat was already more than halfway up the first fence of the lion pen and was on her way over the top when Atalanta had gone after her and grabbed Lin by her waist.

"No! I want to see the lions!" Lin definitely had Mom's stubbornness as she clung to the fence.

"You already can see the lions, Lin!" I joined Atalanta in order to help her with trying to pry my sister off the chain-link fence. I didn't know if Lin was using Reinforcement on her arms, but I wouldn't be surprised if she were. Adrenaline can only take a person so far.

"No, I can't! The fence is in the way!" Lin struggled to hold on.

"Little one, this behavior is childish," Atalanta grunted as she continued to pull.

In all honesty, Atalanta could've easily pulled Lin off the fence for despite her low rank in Strength, for as a Servant, her strength was leagues better than the strongest human alive. But then, that would've raised a lot of questions given we were in public.

"But I am a child!" was Lin's snappy comeback.

You know, I used to think that Lin having her terrible two tantrums used to be the worst thing. Such tantrums left my parents and I completely exhausted at the end of the day. I won't lie, whatever bullshit obstacle course my mother cooked up still gave me the shivers, but Lin's tantrums were on a different level. Ones that I thought were behind us. Guess the joke's on me because now, Lin can talk back and her speech had been starting to be a little fiery as of late.

I continued to tug Lin off the fence, "Lin, come on, you have to stop."

"I don't wanna!"

I shared a weary look with Atalanta. Now, I was starting to regret making the offer to my parents that Atalanta and I would take Lin to the lion exhibit while they had gone off to the food area to get some cold smoothies to help cool us down in this hot weather. As for the homunculi, they had been eerily and uncharacteristically enthusiastic about the zoo and had gone off on their own when I gave them permission to take their leave. Though, going back to my parents…

"Lin, don't make me call Mom," I sighed.

And just like that, Lin let go of the fence, crossing her arms as she pouted, not meeting neither Atalanta or myself in the eye. I hated playing the Mom card, but Mom really was the only person Lin would listen to without question or fail for she knew that she could only get away with so much with our mother. Maybe Dad and I did spoil Lin too much.

"Little one, you know you shouldn't have tried to climb over the fence," sighed Atalanta as she carried Lin in her arms away from the fence.

"But I wanted to see the lions, Atalanta," Lin complained. "I couldn't see them because of the fence!"

"Lin, both Atalanta and I would've picked you up to give you a better view if you had just asked," I gave my sister a disappointed frown.

"The fence was still gonna be in the way," she mumbled, her gaze still averted from mine as she basically slumped in Atalanta's arms.

I sighed, fighting the urge to pinch the bridge of my nose. Technically, she was correct. The secondary security fence that actually bordered the exhibit did obstruct any clear view into the lion's pen making any picture of the animals moderately passable at best. Which I had the sneaking suspicion was the reason why Lin had done what she had almost climbed over that fence. I had initially thought about the safety precautions being there for a reason, but then again, since when did any magus display a regard for safety? Hell, my whole job was based on the fact that someone screwed up somewhere without a notion for safety for either themselves or those around them.

Regardless of the fact that Lin was right or not, what she did was stupid and dangerous. And while she did have an affinity with animals, I wasn't willing to find out if that affinity also included wild and dangerous felines.

…

There was a joke about Atalanta there somewhere. But I wisely kept my mouth shut and didn't voice that thought aloud. After sharing a room with Atalanta for months now, I've come to the realization that my girlfriend could make my life hell if she had the motivation to. Mostly by talking with either my boss or my mother. And honestly, the last thing I would need is all three of them pissed at me for one reason or another all at the same time.

"Nonetheless, what you did was still wrong, little one," Atalanta gently admonished.

Lin sniffed. "Are you guys gonna tell Mom and Dad?" she whispered.

Atalanta and I shared a look.

Technically, we should. But that would ruin the atmosphere for the vacation for quite a bit since Lin was the heart and soul of this family. If her spirits were down, so were everyone else's. Well, except for maybe the homunculi. And that was merely because they still hardly understood human social norms and behaviors.

The decision is yours, Faelan, was Atalanta's telepathic reply.

I gave another sigh before looking down at Lin's anxious face. "No, we won't tell them this time," I said, crossing my arms. "But if it happens again…" I trailed off in warning.

"It won't!" Lin nodded her head resolutely.

But I knew my sister. More likely, she was in actuality promising not to get caught. And for some reason, I couldn't really decide how I felt about that.

"Alright then," I shook my head. "Com-"

I froze.

That face.

In the crowd, I knew that face. But it couldn't be, they all died. I was sure of it.

"Faelan?"

I blinked and as if I never saw it at all, that face disappeared as the crowd continued to go forth and back, similar to the waves of an ocean. When I looked back at Atalanta, I saw her looking at me in concern.

"Faelan, are you alright?" Atalanta placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I…" Unable to formulate an answer, I trailed off. It was a trick of the mind, it had to be. Barthomeloi herself confirmed that all of them were dead. But why…? I cleared my throat, giving Atalanta and Lin with what I hoped was a reassuring smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

And given the frown that continued to mar Atalanta's fair features, my smile wasn't.

We will speak of this later…

Was the voice that reverberated in my head from her and I had to suppress the urge to wince at the sound of her tone. It was clipped and reflected what could've been if Atalanta had not been abandoned as an infant and was instead raised as a princess of Arcadia. Or maybe… she started getting that kind of tone when she became my Servant.

I know…

Was my reply back to her. And I wish I had been reassuring because Lin was picking up on the negative atmosphere as I noted her looking at the both of us with an uneasy, anxious look.

"Hey guys, you look glum, something happen?"

We all turned to see my parents, with Dad struggling to hold four large cups in his arms while Mom was drinking her slushie through a straw.

"No," Atalanta spoke up, "the heat is simply getting to us."

"Then we've come at the perfect time," Dad laughed. "All right, I got Lin's Blueberry Lemonade."

"Thank you, Daddy!" Lin's face immediately brightened up as she wrangled herself from Atalanta's grasp and took the slushie from Dad and began drinking it wholeheartedly.

"A Strawberry-Orange for Atalanta."

"Thank you, Galen," Atalanta nodded and gave a small smile in thanks.

"And finally and not least, Faelan's Nerds flavored slushie. I still think it's weird that you'd want the one that tastes like candy, son."

…

"Son?"

"Hmm? What? Sorry, got lost in thought."

Dad raised a brow, "Anything you'd like to share?"

I opened my mouth, almost telling him what I saw, but I closed my mouth and shook my head. "No, it's nothing. Thanks, Dad." Taking the slushie from him, I placed the straw in my mouth and started sipping, if only to have a decent reason not to speak anymore.

But I did note that Mom and Dad shared a look between them.

Great, now my parents were picking up on it. Before either of them could say anything about it though…

"Ah, here you all are."

I was saved by the bell. Or rather, one of the homunculi.

"Mister Faelan," Ela acknowledged with a small nod of her head, thankfully she was mindful of the mundane people within hearing distance with how she referred to me before she addressed all of us. "If you'd like, the sea lion show is going to start in ten minutes. The others and I thought you all might enjoy it."

I should give the woman a raise. And yes, I did pay my homunculi workers. Not that they did much with the money I gave them.

"How about it, Lin, wanna see some sea lions?" Dad grinned down at the little girl.

"Yes, please!" Lin eagerly nodded, a smidge of slushie at the corner of her mouth.

"Then lead the way, Ela," Dad looked back at Ela with a broad grin.

"Of course, please, right this way," Ela gestured.

I moved to follow, but it was then I noted my mother's intense stare at me. She definitely knew something was up. And I was really hoping that the face that I saw was indeed merely a trick of the mind and not what I was dreading.

…

If only I actually believed in that hope.

AN:

Happy Halloween! And if you don't celebrate Halloween in whichever country you're from, well, happy Sunday/Monday I guess.

A little fluff before the first conflict hits and I think a few more Faelan x Atalanta moments were needed to flesh out their relationship a bit more. Especially since they are on vacation. Again. As for the homunculi, they were initially were going to be stoic and apathetic like a majority of the other Yggdmillennia homunculi, but I had some fun writing out their bios, which will be released as an interlude at a later date. I've already hinted at the personalities of a few of them. And their roles had grown from simple butlers and maids when they were first thought out.

In FGO news, Saber Wars II finishes up today so go finish any leftover bounties and collect any materials you want from the store now. And Skadi will be getting her rate up soon too, so if there are any of you who are going to be rolling for her, I wish you luck. Root knows how much use she's gotten from me. Hell, I've been slowly trying to get her to Bond 12, the first time I've done it on a Servant. Unless if you're saving up for Chad Orion, in which case I still wish you luck. I, for one, will be ignoring both rate ups as I will be saving up for Castoria, Morgan, and Koyanskaya. Sure, I know I have some time to save up, but hey, money doesn't grow on trees.

I won't be posting the next chapter until this story's first birthday. Kinda hard to believe that this story is almost a year old. After that though, I will be going back to some of my earlier chapters and refining them a bit because I don't like how I left them, especially the Camden fight.

As always, stay safe, stay healthy, and you all have a great day.