Both couples awoke early in the morning and prepared the van for what would look like a family trip.
Though in truth, it kind of was.
They were taking the children out to explore the German countryside. It's just that it wasn't all they were doing.
A picnic basket was filled with food and a blanket was packed. They then loaded everything in the van, including fastening the still sleeping children in their respective car seats.
Then they were headed out to what they hoped was the location of the missing artifact. An energy of nervous excitement buzzing through every adult.
Monroe drove while Rosalee navigated. Adalind, wanting to spend every moment she could with her newly returned daughter, chose to sit in the back with her kids, Nick staying with her.
The group made their way to the town closest to the area indicated on the map and found the oldest looking church there.
Inside, they found a man cleaning.
Monroe and Adalind, both being fluent in German, were the ones to smile and ask about the age of the church and if the family could be aloud to explore it.
Nick, holding his son, could see the man woge from nervousness, revealing himself to be a mauzhertz.
Seeing that he was in the presence of a blutbad, a hexenbiest, and a grimm, caused the mouse wesen to shriek and scurry into another room.
"Well that went well." Nick commented.
"I thought with Nick holding a baby, he wouldn't appear threatening!" Monroe said in irritation. "No one looks threatening when their holding a baby!"
"I think he was intimidated by the fact there was also a hexenbiest and a blutbad with the grimm." Rosalee offered to her husband.
"People are afraid of us, mommy?" Diana, who was holding her mother's hand, looked up at her and asked.
"Oh, honey, "Adalind tried to reassure her daughter and explained, "Some people are afraid of those who seem stronger or more powerful. Not everyone chooses to be good and kind. And some hold the faults of some against all of those who look similar."
As the little girl was listening intently to her mother, Monroe was looking around at the architecture of the church.
"Guys, I don't think this church is old enough to be the one we want?" The blutbad said.
"I think we should get out of here quickly." Nick said. "I don't know what exactly their saying, but there are a couple of men in the next room who sound very upset."
On their way out, Adalind gave Nick a questioning look and the grimm realized his hexenbiest didn't know about a certain trait he possessed.
"A while back, I was temporarily blinded." He explained. "My hearing increased so much that I could hear what someone was saying through the earpiece of a phone that was in the next room. Even when my sight returned, my advanced hearing stayed. It's been really useful in a large number of investigation."
Adalind's eyes were wide with shock. "That's really impressive. You get an injury and your body advances to compensate. Very remarkable."
Then a thought crossed her mind. A memory of a very cold day and emerging from a hot bath to find Nick preparing dinner.
"Did you hear me singing while I was in the tub!" The hexenbiest asked with some fear, shock and embarrassment.
Realizing there was no point in hiding the truth, Nick confessed. "You mean when you were singing that really slow version of "Your Song", yep." He grinned. Then, not wanting her to feel distressed about the situation, revealed, "I thought you were giving Kelly a bath, so I peaked in with the plan to help. When I saw you were in the tub, I couldn't help but think you reminded me of a water nymph, or siren. You looked and sounded so beautiful. I couldn't help staring for a moment. I was kind of caught in your spell."
Adalind blushed and beamed from the revelation and the compliment.
Monroe and Rosalee exchanged looks. Him practically rolling his eyes. Her smiling.
Diana wasn't sure what her mom and Nick were talking about, but it was obvious that Nick had just made her mom happy, so Diana was happy about what he had said.
They all load back into the van and decide to head higher into the mountain and deeper into the forest. Try to figure out how to find a much older church and stay hidden from suspicious locals.
They found an area where they could park the van and hide it from obvious view. Nick carried Diana and Adalind carried Kelly as the group hiked further up. Monroe and Rosalee carried their picnic supplies, as well as the things they would need to go searching for buried treasure hidden among those supplies.
"Nick?" Diana said. "There's something really powerful close to us."
Every adult's head turned to the little girl and Adalind asked, "Sweety, can you feel power?"
Diana nodded. "Yes, mommy. "I always know when someone has magic. Like you. I know you have a lot of magic in you. I know that Uncle Monroe has a wolf in him and Aunt Rosalee has a fox in her." She smiled. "I met a lot of people who have animals in them. Alexander has a white tiger in him." Diana then looked at Nick. "You don't have an animal in you. Or magic like mommy and me. But you're powerful in a different way. I've never met someone with your power."
"You didn't meet the grimm Meisner got the keys from?" Rosalee asked.
Diana shook her head. "He had me stay with a really nice family that had bunny rabbits in them. He said I would be safe while he did what he needed to do."
"That was smart. Leaving her with a family. Anyone would think she was a friend of one of the children, or a visiting relative." Monroe commented. Them the blutbad, realizing everything the little girl just announced, said with shock, "Wait, she can tell the nature of a being? She can sense magic and power? That's totally unreal!"
"My daughter is remarkable." Adalind stated with finality, making it clear she would not accept anyone disrespecting her child.
Monroe, realizing the very foolish mistake he made, tries to smooth it over. "What I meant to say is that it is really extraordinary what she can do. I was just surprised. Wesen children don't start revealing their own special traits till puberty. Obviously Diana is a prodigy."
"What's a prodigy?" Diana asked.
"It what we call a child who is really talented at something. They are so good, that adults who have been practising for many many years are jealous because they can't do what that child can do." Nick explained.
"Oh" Diana beamed, very pleased with the new name she was called.
Peace once again restored in the group, Nick asked Diana to direct him to where she was sensing the source of great power.
She guided them to what they realized was the ruins of a church.
"This must be the church indicated by the map from the keys!" Monroe exclaimed.
They looked around and soon found a way to access tunnels long buried.
"It might be too dangerous to take the kids down there." Nick said.
"Why don't Adalind and I set up a little picnic with the kids?" Rosalee suggested. "While you and Monroe look through the tunnels. If anyone comes by, we'll just say our husbands are off being reckless while we sit and relax."
The rest agrees that it was a great idea. As much as she didn't want to be separated from Nick, Adalind really didn't want to but her children in danger. She felt her role as a mother had to come before her role as Nick's lover. And it was something that Nick felt was very admirable about his hexenbiest.
They all found a decent spot and helped set up a picnic. Nick and Monroe grabbed a couple sandwitches, and flashlights, then each kissed the woman they loved, Nick taking time to kiss his son and Diana a kiss each on the head, and were off to explore what could be hidden in the tunnels of the church ruins.