Chapter XXV

"These… these are…" Luvia looked down at the back of her hand in amazement.

"Command Seals, yup," I sighed, glancing down at the ones on my left hand in annoyance before deadpanning, "Congratulations, you're now participating in a Holy Grail War."

I didn't know one was going to happen in America of all places. America was a newer country compared to others, such as the ones in Europe or Asia, so there weren't that many Heroic Spirits to try to summon in order to gain a boost in power due to fighting on a home-field advantage. And Barthomeloi had been doing backflips to make sure that I didn't get dragged into one of the Lesser Holy Grail Wars while on assignment, so she wasn't going to be happy that I got dragged into yet another one. On vacation again no less. She might stop authorizing my time off requests at this rate.

"But it was supposed to happen in Nevada," Luvia whispered, still staring at her Command Seals in wonder, which were formed in the shape of a crown with a single jewel in the middle.

Wait, what?

"Come again?" I looked back at her in alarm. "You knew about this?"

Luvia stared back at me startled for a moment, but she calmed down near instantaneously. "Um, yes. Lord El-Melloi warned me that a Holy Grail War was going to happen in Nevada," she coughed into her fist. "As you know, these Lesser Grail Wars can only take qualifying mages within a certain small radius. I thought neither of us or your family would be chosen since we were hardly within that radius, but I did plan to tell you and your family about it once my mission was complete, Faelan."

I looked at her suspiciously. On one hand, I couldn't really begrudge her for that, it was better to deal with a mission as incognito as possible to minimize any outside interference. Sometimes the worst person who could stumble in on an operation or mission isn't even a mundane person, but another magus. It was pretty standard to kill a mundane witness and blame it on a local serial killer or make it look like an accident as an operating procedure. Root knows that I've killed more than my share of accidental mundane witnesses. But having another magus interfere, well, that made things difficult. Which is why mages in Europe tend to give whoever owns the land that they're going to visit a heads up.

"Well, looks this might not be a regular Lesser Grail War," I decided to let Luvia's actions go. What was done was done. What could I do? Scream at her? I'm not the screaming type. "That or maybe two of the candidates got killed during an experiment or something."

Luvia merely gave a nod to show her agreement. After all, it wouldn't be the first time an experiment-gone-wrong had thrown a wrench in someone's plans. Which is why I'm kinda glad that I'm an Enforcer and not a full-fledged magus, my applications of magecraft were already dangerous enough compared to other studies of magecraft by other mages.

"So, what's the plan then?" Luvia asked after a beat of silence passed.

I looked over to her, "What do you mean?"

"Well, this is a Grail War," she shrugged, rubbing her hand up and down her other arm as her gaze drifted off to the side, unable to meet my own.

Oh, right.

She probably wanted to win.

"You can have the Grail if you really want it, Luvia," I rolled my eyes. "Hell, I'll even help you get it and even loan out the Servant I'll summon to you if you want." I've already got one Servant, not that Luvia knew, and I could support two Servants because Atalanta still had the Holy Grail from Gilgamesh in her and sparingly took my magical energy in order to maintain our connection to each other. Plus, Servants in these lesser Grail Wars were typically low-powered, so I wasn't really worried about the magical energy consumption, even if I ended up summoning a Berserker.

"My goal is just coming out of this whole thing alive when Barthomeloi finds out I've been dragged into another Holy Grail War again."

Luvia's eyes widened for a moment before she gave me a look of pity, "Oh, you poor dear…"

Yup, pretty much.

"Yeah, not a conversation I'm looking forward to," I grimaced before I decided to accept my fate because there wasn't really anything else I could do. I looked back over to the blonde Finnish girl with a sigh, "So what do you plan to do?"

"Meaning?" she raised a brow.

"You've just been selected for a Grail War that you haven't prepared for, much less without a catalyst to even summon a Servant with," I replied. "I can always just ask Barthomeloi to send a catalyst over if only because she would want my participation in this Grail War to be over with as soon as possible." Though she'd probably lord it over my head for a long while until I got back in her good graces. Oh god, the amount of work she'll expect of me after this Grail War so that I could get back into those good graces is gonna suck… "You, on the other hand, don't have such a luxury. Coming up with a catalyst on such short notice will not be easy."

"A fair point," she mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest with her bottom lip upturned in thought. "Hmm, I have a few ideas, but I think I'll check them over first."

"Alright then," I shrugged.

Silence once more settled between us and I could tell Luvia wanted to say more. But before I could, I felt Atalanta's presence as she turned from behind a tree, wearing her modern clothes. Well, there goes any chance of Luvia not knowing Atalanta is a Servant.

"Ah, Faelan, here you are," Atalanta gave me a tight, strained smile.

Uh oh.

"I don't see that magus who attacked us, did he escape?" the huntress asked, keeping herself turned to me, all but outright ignoring Luvia as she invaded my personal space.

Normally, I had no problem with Atalanta in said space, but I was really starting to feel like prey who was caught in a corner and a predator. Which kinda made sense twice over given that Atalanta was a huntress and had once been a lioness given her lion features, even if they were hidden away at the moment. Still, I couldn't help but look into Atalanta's green eyes and not because we were having a tender moment, but just to wait for her to break her gaze so that I could run the hell out of here.

"Um, no?" I didn't mean to make it sound like a question as I felt a chill run up my spine. And I swear I felt a bout of sympathy come from Lobo of all people. Which did not help at all. "I was, um, chasing the guy down into the woods here when, uh, Luvia here ambushed him."

"Is that so?"

I swear I saw a downward twitch at the corner of Atalanta's mouth as she turned her attention to the blonde woman.

"Good evening," Luvia, bless her heart, gave a humble greeting as she gave a small, yet respectful bow of her head. A rare moment given how prideful and outright haughty the Edelfelt heir typically behaved around others, which momentarily surprised me for a moment. "I am Luviagelita of the Edelfelt family," she continued, cordial and polite. "Would I be correct that you are a friend of Faelan here? Any friend of his is a friend of mine. Though I'm sorry to say, I don't think he has mentioned you…?"

"Atalanta," the huntress supplied as she gave a bow of her head in turn, though I noted it was stiff and halting. "And yes, I am a good friend of Faelan's."

"Atalanta? A Greek name, yes?" Luvia mused before eyeing me with a brow raised with unveiled amusement. "I did not know you had gone out there for missions, dear Faelan. I thought that the mess with their Grail Wars with catalysts for Greek heroes of legends made anyone, even Sealing Designates, avoid that country."

What was going on? Luvia was a magus, an extremely competent one, she must've recognized that Atalanta was a Heroic Spirit, even with her lion features hidden away. And especially so since Luvia had Command Seals and was now a Master in a Grail War. So why was she playing along with Atalanta's… whatever it was my girlfriend was doing?

"Um, ahem." I tried to formulate a response, but my senses were all but screaming at me to get out of here with Lobo wholeheartedly agreeing and the Amaroq was oddly quiet this whole time. "Uh."

"Something wrong, Faelan?" Atalanta's tone was accusatory, her arms crossed with her eyes narrowed at me.

"Did Kyle harm you?" Luvia gave me a look of concern. "I have some remedies on me if you're injured, Faelan."

I looked between the two of them and I was regretting not listening when Lobo was yelling at me to leave the area. And put thirty kilometers between myself and the two women before me. At minimum.

"Um, I'm gonna go back to the hotel," I cleared my throat, "check on mom."

"Was your mother injured?" Luvia's concern doubled. "By all means, Faelan, go on and make sure your mother's alright. Atalanta here and I will make it back without issue." She turned her head to the two-toned haired huntress. "Isn't that right, Atalanta?"

"Of course," Atalanta replied, a brow raised almost haughtily. She then turned to me and for the first time in this instance, she smiled brightly at me. "Go, aid your father in healing your mother. I'll be back to help distract Lin."

I blinked, "Um, okay."

And with that, I couldn't leave the area fast enough.

…

"You are a Servant, aren't you?" Luvia watched Faelan leave, her tone losing her politeness as it turned biting. "Don't even bother denying it, it would make sense why Barthomeloi started deploying Faelan on back-to-back missions after the debacle in Romania. Why would she have to worry about her prized weapon when a Heroic Spirit of all things is watching his back."

Atalanta's gaze narrowed as she regarded the blonde woman. "I am," she replied, her own tone droll and mocking. "Would you like a gold star?"

"Ho ho ho, is that a genuine offer?" Luvia grinned, the tip of her fingers were pressed to her top lip to make the show of a dainty laugh, but ended up looking and sounding haughty. "I think a gold star would adhere me to dearest Lin quite well and perhaps I could give her one as well since she is no doubt progressing well with her magecraft training, she is a smart little cookie and we'd be matching."

Atalanta scowled at her.

"And I must say it's so very cliche that you've fallen in love with your Master," Luvia continued as she scoffed with a laugh. "I've watched many shows and films that have the same premise as that and even more countless novels that have the same plot. Not that I blame you, Faelan is quite the catch. Handsome, strong," She paused to look to the side, conjuring an image of the man, "mm, those arms of his."

Atalanta almost gut-punched the other woman.

"He's also rich, powerful in combat, well connected," Luvia continued to list Faelan's attractive attributes with a fond, appreciative smile. "and unlike most mage men, loving, given the way he dotes on dearest Linnet, making him a man good with children. Why any woman would be fortuitous to have him."

"Thank you and yes I am indeed quite lucky to be with him." Feeling victorious at being handed a victory by her… rival, Atalanta regarded her with a triumphant smirk. Though she loathed to even consider the blonde as her rival in the first place. "Being with Faelan has been short of a marvelous dream. No, it is a marvelous dream."

But to the huntress' confusion, Luvia smirked as well. "Ah, yes, well, all dreams must end when we wake, do they not? And you are a Servant, Atalanta, Huntress of Artemis, even if Faelan supplies you with magical energy, and I'm sure having Independent Action from being an Archer must help, to remain in this world, you will eventually fade."

Atalanta bit her lip vexation, she could say nothing because this Edelfelt woman was unfortunately right. Even with the Holy Grail in her supplying her magical energy and her class skill in Independent Action, the World was trying to correct that she existed as she was. She could sometimes feel it here and there, which was when she would draw magical energy either from the Holy Grail within her or from Faelan.

"And I'm sure Faelan will mourn your eventual departure," Luvia gave a wave of her hand, grinning victoriously. "And I will respect the relationship between the two of you by abstaining for a time, for I will give Faelan all the time he needs to mourn you and move forward. Then, I think, I will be spending some time here and there, always waiting for him at the Clocktower after one of his assignments from Barthomeloi, I will get closer to him, and well…" She gave a chuckle, "I'm sure you know how it goes. Perhaps we'll name a daughter after you. Being one of the two heirs of the Edelfelt family does mean I can have more than one child for my family's magecraft heir."

As if struck by a revelation, the blonde brought a hand to her mouth in a delighted surprise. "Oh, perhaps even more, now that I think about it. The family Faelan's mother belongs to doesn't have a designated heir anymore ever since his uncle's death. I'm sure Faelan's grandparents wouldn't mind a great-grandchild inheriting the Argantiuss family crest."

Atalanta's teeth were all but gnashing together. She was very tempted to drop the fact that she had a Holy Grail in order to help stabilize her presence in the world. But she wouldn't let this… bitch win by showing her own anger. "You have everything planned out, don't you?" she scoffed with her arms crossed and her nose upturned. In the back of her mind, she knew she was drawing on her foregone position as a Princess of Arcadia. Something of which would've disgusted her, but right now, she didn't care. "How absolutely mage-like of you. Are you sure Faelan would find that attractive? He does use modern technology after all and his mindset is not that of a typical mage."

"Which makes him all the more attractive," Luvia laughed, flashing the Archer Servant a superior smirk. "He is abnormal compared to my fellows at the Clocktower. He is unique, an absolute gem in the face of all the others. I should know, I do use gems in my magecraft and Faelan is indeed quite the prized diamond. So much so that the political fallout between our two factions would be worth it."

Atalanta's fist nearly trembled in the rage she felt at this moment. She could kill this woman, as a Heroic Spirit she had the power to, but this… Luvia was also a friend of Faelan's. Even if she could keep Luvia's death a secret, she was sure that Barthomeloi would find out somehow and drop the information at the opportune moment in order to test Faelan for whatever reason.

Oh great, now she was starting to think like a magus.

"Anyhow, you can run back to your Master, Servant," Luvia daintily flicked her wrist and her fingers in a shoo-shoo motion, taking the Archer's silence as a victory. "I'll get back to my hotel well enough. I'll be sure to send Faelan a message to tell him when I get back safe."

Atalanta's lip lifted in a snarl and she was about to snap back a retort and materialized her bow upon hearing the emphasis on the terms Master and Servant… but she abstained. Doing so would've meant that the Edelfelt was worth her effort. Which she wasn't. Instead, she gave the blonde a scoff with as much hate into her glare as she possibly could before she turned on her heel and dematerialized, making a beeline for the hotel where she and the Ashford family were staying at.

But if she had turned around before she left, she would've seen Luvia's victorious smirk as she watched the Servant leave.

"I wonder if I should get Lin a gift while I'm shopping for Sakura's," Luvia hummed, a finger to her chin in pensive thought.

…

"How's my mother?" I immediately asked Ela, who had waited near the elevator on our floor.

"Unconscious," she replied as she fell into step with me as we made our way through the hall to where our rooms were located. "Your father is with her right now with Ljubica, applying deep healing magecraft."

I looked over sharply. "What? Why? I got the debris out of her leg."

"I know," she nodded, "however, there were a few contusions on her body, no doubt from the blast and from when she landed. A scan said that some of her bones were fractured and your father wanted to be safe than sorry."

I nodded before asking, "And Lin?"

"Still asleep," she replied.

I gave another nod, going over the new information. But that didn't change the fact that neither Atalanta, my mother, or I caught the explosive in time. If Atalanta couldn't see the explosive and Mom and I couldn't detect it, it meant that Kyle went out of his way to conceal it with methods that were outside the norm, even my mage standards. Maybe I could give Emiya a call, as far I knew, he was the only one who used mundane explosives as a magus, so he might be able to give some idea of who else is using his schtick.

"The zoo we went to, requires cleanup by the way," I said to Ela.

She nodded, "Understood, I'll have Albine, Blaine, and Colby sent over there to sort out the damages shortly."

"And could you have them collect some samples as well?" I added.

"Of course."

"Thanks, Ela," I smiled at her.

"My pleasure, Lord Faelan," she nodded again before turning to the rooms where the other homunculi were rooming in.

Once I was alone in the hall, I breathed out a sigh as I ran a hand through my hair in frustration. Lowering that hand, I realized it was the hand with my new Command Seals printed on the back of it. My mind was about to race through many thoughts over what occurred tonight, however, I realized the best thing right now was to go to my room and get some rest. These issues wouldn't be going anywhere.

Changing out my mission gear into a shirt and a pair of shorts, both black in color, I lounged on the bed, reading a book on my phone as I waited for Atalanta. Half an hour passed by before Atalanta materialized, though the look on her face was stiff and sharp, causing me to hesitate.

"Hi, Atalanta?"

I swear it wasn't my intention to make it sound like a question. "Are you okay?" I continued, ignoring my little misstep.

"Fine," her tone was short as she grabbed a set of clothes and went into the bathroom.

Ah, yes, that universal answer that actually meant the opposite.

Getting off of the bed, I leaned against the wall beside the bathroom door while Atalanta was getting dressed. "Come on, Atalanta, talk to me, please. It's obvious that something is bothering you and I want to help."

Now dressed in a pair of black leggings and a simple green shirt, Atalanta sighed as she gave me a guarded look. "Nothing is wrong, Faelan. As I said, I am fine. It's been quite the night, can we just… shelve this for tomorrow? Right now, I just want to sleep."

My brows furrowed as I regarded her carefully for a moment. "Okay," I relented before following her to the bed.

She curled on her side, facing away from me, the blanket brought up to her shoulder. My frown deepened before I tentatively scooted behind her, spooning her. She didn't move away, but at the same time, she wasn't receptive either. Wrapping an arm around her waist, I nuzzled the back of her neck.

"I love you, Atalanta," I whispered against her skin.

A moment passed before she leaned back against me, her lion tail curling around my knee before she gave a sigh.

One win at a time I guess.

…

When Atalanta heard Faelan's breathing even out as he fell asleep, she herself couldn't fall into the realm of Morpheus. Her thoughts were too jumbled, raced too fast for her to even attempt at sleeping. The reason was clear and loath as she was to admit it, but the Edelfelt's words stuck with her far too much for her liking.

The future was never set, one of the many lessons that she learned in her previous life. Even if she had Faelan's Grail that he found in the Gate of Babylon, there was no telling if her spirit core might become too heavily damaged in some battle or another to remain in this world, regardless of said Grail. However, this wasn't the issue that was plaguing her thoughts and preventing her from sleep.

No, the issue of her mortality was merely an aspect of her problem. What truly troubled her was the fact that she was a Servant and could never give Faelan a child. She used to lament the fact that her vow to her patron goddess, Artemis, meant that she could never have children of her own, to love and to raise. Now, it was the fact that the Grail, which allowed her to come to this world in this modern era and remain with the young man whom she felt so affectionately for and hopefully fully abandon her vow of celibacy with, is the reason that caused the same issue of not having children.

And she so dearly wished to have children.

Linnet was a dear, loveable child that she would always adore, even as she would age into a teenager and then an adult. However, she wanted the bond that she saw that Lin had with her own mother, how she loved and felt safe with the woman who gave birth to her. Now, where she was free to do so, she desired so much to hold a child of her own. One with Faelan's dark hair perhaps or his eyes. His now ruby red irises were lovely, however, she was fond of the dark grey that he had been born with, his mother's eyes.

It was a shame that the Grail inside her, providing her with magical energy, was not a wish granter like the Greater Grail that she had fought for in Romania and allow her to wish for reincarnation. No, hers was merely just a repository of magical energy. Still, she was not ungrateful, but she so sorely wished that her Grail was otherwise.

…

There was a pun to be made there.

Chuckling to herself, Atalanta then breathed out a sigh before she looked over her shoulder at Faelan's sleeping face. Smiling to herself when she saw Faelan's mouth parted a little as he slumbered, he reminded her of a dog sometimes when he was asleep. Especially when he… ah, yes, his leg was kicking a bit in his sleep again. Chuckling again, she turned around so that she was facing him and in doing so, she caught a glimpse of the fading scars that ran on the inside of his arm, evidence of what had been done to him by the Cult of Marduk.

Gently running a finger over the scar tissue, she sighed as she beheld her beloved. Her beloved who had been through so much, who has fought so much, who has done so much in the first portion of his life. And fought Achilles of all people for a pointlessly stupid reason. She was still annoyed that the Hero of Troy forced Faelan to fight him for such an inane justification.

"Oh, Peleus, your boy must've taken after his mother," she muttered to herself.

Whether it was in response to her or it was just a reflex, but Faelan gave a small chuff-like snort before he moved closer. Smiling a little, she cuddled in closer as well, taking comfort in Faelan's warmth and his scent.

…

The next day, I was standing next to Atalanta while she was sitting in one of the chairs that were in my parents' hotel room. The homunculi were out with Lin, trying to distract her while the rest of us talked about what happened last night after Atalanta and I had brought up my parents up to speed and Albine, Blaine, and Colby gave us their findings.

"This is sooo embarrassing…" Mom griped, wincing in pain. "I know that I got rusty after not being in the field for a while, but…"

"Don't feel bad, Mom," I assured her. "Atalanta and I missed the explosive too."

"This is concerning," said Dad, who sat at Mom's side, as he looked at the remains of the explosive that Albine salvaged. "The Kyle family is barely into its second generation, how would Elijah Kyle be able to use methods that would escape the gaze of an Archer Servant and two seasoned Enforcers?"

What was worse is that the explosion also wiped out any evidence of tampering, magical or otherwise, that would've given us a clue.

"He must've had help," frowned Atalanta, picking up one of the bomb fragments and giving it a sniff. "Did Kyle participate in one of the Lesser Holy Grail Wars and had contact with a powerful Caster? That's the only plausible explanation I can think of that he was able to hide an explosive using methods that no one in this room would be aware of."

"There are a lot of Lesser Grails out there that mages are competing for, so it's possible that a Lesser Grail War got by the Association's notice," I nodded.

Ever since the Greater Grail was taken by Darnic during the Third Holy Grail War of Fuyuki, the Einzberns have been throwing out Lesser Grails into the world so that someone would complete the ritual that their magecraft has been focused on for generations. And since the Einzberns were like my family, being somewhat isolated from the Association, they didn't really keep in touch with most authorities in Clocktower unless necessary, that, or mutually beneficial.

Though, it was usually the latter.

"A shame he isn't alive so that we could interrogate him," Mom muttered.

Well, we could interrogate the guy, with a powerful Necromancer. However, Old Man Sisigou was the only one that we knew that wasn't in bad with the Association for one reason or another. And his body had been taken by Luvia to be sent to the Clocktower for an identification check and proper mage disposal, ie; dissecting the frick out of the corpse.

"No, but Luvia was assigned to shadow him and eventually his termination," I said. "I can call her and ask to find out what she knows about this."

The moment I mentioned Luvia's name I swear the room felt a few degrees colder just as I was getting warnings from Lobo again. Weird. But what was really weird was when both of my parents had turned their attention away from me and were now looking at Atalanta, as if waiting for something.

"Indeed," Atalanta's tone was clipped.

Ah fuck, did I do something wrong?

"A hunter knows their prey best," she continued, though she kept her gaze averted from mine. "If Edelfelt is competent, then she would at the very least offer some insight as to Kyle's dealings and such. If she is not competent, then perhaps we can always contact Barthomeloi for aid, can we not?"

Bewildered, I looked down at Atalanta in concern. Atalanta barely tolerated the two of us going to Barthomeloi when we had to give our reports in and while we were in the field, had never suggested contacting Barthomeloi in the rare case we were in a pickle. So, her doing otherwise was understandably a bit of a surprise.

"We… could," I frowned, looking over to my parents to gauge their reactions. However, my confusion grew when all I saw from them was amusement. "What?"

"Nothing," my mother shrugged, looking far too amused for a woman who survived an explosion the night before. "But I am sensing a bit of trouble in paradise, no?"

"No," I maintained my frown before looking at Atalanta again. "It is no, right?"

My girlfriend's silence was not comforting at all. Which means the victory I managed last night was only temporary. Back to square one, and in Atalanta's case, sometimes that square was a scary square.

"Why don't you go and call Luvia, Faelan," Dad suggested. "And I'll go and check how Lin and the others are. Give your mother and Atalanta some time to talk."

Well, that was a scary thought.

However, before I could say anything, Atalanta spoke up, "Go, Faelan. Your mother and I will be alright here."

Unable to find a reason not to, I did as suggested, taking the call outside.

"Ah, good afternoon, Faelan. I trust your mother is okay?" came Luvia's voice when she answered.

"Hi, Luvia," I replied. "And yes, my mom's recovering, thanks for asking."

"Of course. Now, I assume that there's a reason for your call? Unless this is about the Holy Grail War."

"No, no. I was actually wondering about Elijah Kyle."

"What of him? He was a mediocre magus at best and an incompetent one at worst."

"Maybe, maybe not. He used an explosive last night that neither me, Atalanta, or my mother could detect. That's what caused my mother to become injured."

"Is… is that so? Well, Elijah Kyle just got a lot more interesting. Would I be correct in assuming that you wish to know how he was able to do so? If so, I don't think I'd be of any help. My assignment only began a few days ago when I arrived in the country and my surveillance so far has been nothing but him going from his house and a cabin in the woods that I concluded was his workshop. And no, before you ask, there was nothing of any value there. At least nothing that would explain how he would be able to conceal an explosive from two seasoned Enforcers and a Servant at the least."

Well, that explained whether or not Luvia knew that Atalanta was a Servant. But why didn't she say anything?

"Shame," I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"However, Kyle apparently was the meticulous type, even more so than the average magus, and kept a record of his correspondences and his daily schedule at his workshop. I made a copy of it for my report, however, you're certainly welcome to have a look."

"Thanks, Luvia."

"Hmm, you're very welcome, Faelan. I am currently staying at the Ritz-Carlton, I can show you his planner whenever you have the time."

"Alright, will this afternoon around three be fine?"

"More than fine. I'll see you down in Illy Caffe"

Before I could get another word in, Luvia hung up. My mouth twisted in annoyance, that place was pretty high end and while I had no qualms walking through that, that meant I'd have to wear clothes that were a bit more fancier if I didn't want to stand out.

"Something wrong?"

Looking over my shoulder I saw Dad looking at me in amusement, confusing me for a moment. However, I dismissed it, thinking Dad was just being Dad. "Luvia doesn't know how Kyle was able to conceal an explosive the way he did," I replied. "However, she does have a copy of the guy's daily schedule, so maybe…"

"If we can find out who he has been dealing with, we can find out who helped him," Dad nodded, serious for a moment before his grin came back. "So, meeting Luvia, huh?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah and she wants to meet up at the fancy cafe at the Ritz."

I did not like the way amusement glinted in my father's eyes, "Oh, fancy-fancy. So, will you be wearing a suit, and have you told Atalanta about this yet?"

A chill went up my spine. "Um, no, I haven't told Atalanta yet, but…"

"You okay?"

"Atalanta has been a little distant with me," I frowned. "And I don't know why."

"Faelan, you're about to talk to a beautiful blonde in a fancy cafe," Dad deadpanned. "And the night before, she was there to eliminate Kyle. Don't you think Atalanta feels a little threatened by Luvia's presence?"

I blinked, "Why would she?"

"I dunno," Dad shrugged, "I'm not gonna even try to understand the female mind, but your mother felt… shall we say, uneasy, whenever I was in the same room as my former fiance. Even after we got married."

I smirked, "Which fiance?"

"Funny," Dad grunted.

Dad had been a bit of a playboy, according to Mom, before they met. And if I remember correctly, Mom was hunting a rogue magus said meeting happened.

"Either way, Atalanta may not like you in Luvia's company whatever the reason," Dad continued. "And you'll have to ask Atalanta for said reason."

I grimaced, "That'll be like trying to take a tooth from a hydra."

"Yeah, I don't envy you, son," Dad chuckled.

I shook my head, "Yeah. So, how's Lin and the homunculi? Are they doing okay?"

"More or less," Dad shrugged. "Lin still wants to be here with your mother, but…"

"It's best that she isn't here while we're discussing the dirty work," I nodded. "She'll have to know eventually, you know."

"I know. And eventually, we will, but not now," Dad gave a big sigh before he eyed my left hand. "And we still have to talk about those."

"Yeah," I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I can't believe that I have to participate in another Grail War. Hell, it's hard to believe that almost a year ago I survived one just last year in Romania."

"I'm not worried," my dad shrugged.

"You're not?" I raised a brow.

"You've got the love of your life with you," he shrugged again. "A Servant no less. You've got this in the bag as far as I'm concerned, son."

I laughed, "I wish I had your enthusiasm."

"Hmm, yeah, you got your mother's disposition."

"I think she's grateful for that."

The two of us laughed.

And then silence settled between us before Dad spoke up again, "So… going to meet Luvia then?"

"Yup," I nodded.

"Going to tell Atalanta?"

"Yup," I nodded again.

"Good luck with that," he laughed again before he walked off. "I'm going to order the rest of us lunch."

"Yup," I nodded before I headed towards my parents' hotel room. Knocking on the door before I stuck my head in, I saw that Atalanta had taken Dad's earlier seat and that they had been in the middle of a conversation. "Hey, Atalanta, can we talk?"

"Of course," she nodded before looking at Mom. "Thank you, Aella."

"My pleasure, Atalanta," Mom replied, favoring her with a smile.

I gave Mom a smile and a wave before closing the door and turning to my girlfriend. "So… I spoke to Luvia," I began, feeling a little nervous and winced when the green eyes staring at me narrowed.

"And?" she crossed her arms.

"Well, apparently she did a once over of Kyle's workshop but she didn't find anything that could explain how he could've hidden the explosive last night," I replied.

Atalanta shook her head and scoffed, "That's not surprising."

Wow, ouch.

"Ahem, so," I cleared my throat and continued, "Luvia offered to show me Kyle's planner and a list of his correspondences, maybe we can find out who gave Kyle the capability to hide an explosive from a Servant and two Enforcers."

Atalanta nodded with a thoughtful hum, "Hmm, yes, if the snake cannot tell us how he did it, then maybe his trail will. Of course, I'm coming with you."

On one hand, I was a little relieved that Atalanta didn't seem to be mad. And on the other hand, I felt that her coming with me to see Luvia was a very bad idea. A very, very bad idea. Like wearing-a-shirt-made-of-meat-in-a-den-of-lions kind of a bad idea. And from the sounds of it in the back of my head, Lobo was in full agreement.

AN:

So, this chapter was supposed to go up three days ago but Google Docs decided it didn't want to work for the file I had this chapter on and only that file. Well, either way, I finally got it to work. I hope I got Luvia's behavior down. I know most of her on-scene behavior when it came to her chasing Shirou was for comedic effect, but I wanted to show a more methodical side to it because, at the end of the day, she is a magus. So it'd make sense she'd pursue someone as such. That and I thought it fitting to give Atalanta a true rival for Faelan's affections that she would have to figure out how to deal with mostly on her own.

As for my fellow FGO players, the Amazoness event is finally over and we've gone back-to-back with this year's Valentine's event. Took me a while to finally get to the 100th floor for the last tower, especially with the cooldowns on used Servants. Thank the Root most of those enemies were relatively easy to deal with. Anyway, I wish you luck in summoning if any of you are going for any of the rate-up Servants. We have a plethora of high-tier Servants coming in; OG Saber, Lartoria, Europa, Queztlcoatl, Tamamo, Sitonai, Jack. And if you've been following my story for a while, you all know I'll definitely be summoning for Mordred this weekend to finally complete my Servants of Red collection. Wish me luck!

And as always, stay safe, stay healthy, and you all have a good day!