Chapter 22: Family Together….and Others

The four left the room, and a nervous feeling filled Leona and even Ferral. They’d been dissociated with humans so long. Ferral knew what to expect, so it did not constrict him as badly as Leona. Old feelings of low self-worth and being looked down upon began to bubble up. She was already regretting this decision.

Laura and Berus came running down the stairs after their showers, ready for breakfast. “PAPA!” Laura leapt into the air, her arms stuck out. Ferral caught her, the two laughing. “Hey, kiddo. How was your training?” Ferral asked, holding her out.

“AWESOME!” Berus answered. Laura nodded, “Yeah! Auntie Leona is so cool!!”

Ferral’s right eye twitched. “Aunite?” The two nodded rapidly, “Yeah, yeah!” Ferral creaked his head toward Leona. She smugly smiled, “Hey, what can I say?” She shrugged, “These kids love me.” Ferral put Laura down.

“So did you finish helping the humans, Papa?” Berus asked. “Not yet. But I’ve got some free time. So, we can do something fun together.” Laura and Berus' eyes widened with joy. “REALLY?!” Ferral nodded, “Anything you guys want.” They looked at each other, gasping. But before they could say anything, Ferral stopped them. “But, let’s discuss it after breakfast, okay?” They nodded, and the group headed to the dining room.

“I seriously don’t understand how you all can eat this much.” Dr. Atlas gulped, staring down at his plate. It consisted of four large pancakes, some long strips of meat that were supposed to resemble bacon, and a small mound of eggs. “Our metabolism burns much faster than a normal human’s.” Ferral mumbled, his mouth full. Atlas took a deep breath, exhaling rapidly. He tried to eat more than before; he didn’t want to seem rude. But it was just too much; he almost threw up.

They all lounged around the living room. Resting from all their early morning work. Atlas is sitting in a rocking chair, reading through his journal. Leona and Nia lay spread out across two separate sofas. Ferral sat against a wall, his left arm resting on his left knee, and his eyes closed. Laura and Berus were quietly talking to each other, the two laughing every now and then. Then they ran over to Ferral, tapping him on his hand.

His eyes shot open, then closed about halfway. “We know what we want to do today.” Laura said in a loud whisper. “Yeah? What?” Ferral asked, sleepily. “A PICNIC!” The two answered. Ferral yawned, leaning his head against the wall. “Sure, we’ll do that. Just…let us rest for a bit.” He closed his eyes again. They giggled with excitement.

The adults slept for an hour; even Atlas dozed off after a while. Nia and Ferral asked what the kids wanted to do again. Ferral was half asleep when they said it the first time. “Sounds like a plan, you two.” Nia smiled. “I’ll have the cooks make us some lunch to bring.” Ferral said. “Can we bring Auntie Leona too?” Berus asked. They looked at each other, with unsure looks on their face. Then Nia sighed, “Yes, of course she can come. But, only if she wants to.”

Leona strutted over, "Absolutely.” She patted their heads. “I wanna spend as much time with these two angels as possible. What kind of Auntie would I be if I didn’t?” She smirked, cocking her head at Ferral. He knew she was doing this out of spite.

“Armin too?” Laura added, pointing at him still sitting in the rocking chair. He looked up from his journal, “I mean, it beats being here by myself.” Even if Ferral could understand that more, he still grumbled. “Sure, he can come too.”

After getting a large pail of food and some jugs of water, the six headed out.

It was a nice day, great weather, and fresh air. The group decided to stop at a beach. Whitehaven Beach is what a sign said. Laura and Berus bolted toward the water, seeing who could get their first. “Hey!” Ferral called out, “You need to put on sunscreen first!” Atlas and Leona scrunched their brows and looked at Ferral. He looked back, confused. “What? Sunburn is an issue even for us.” The two laughed. They found a good shady place to sit. Nia and Ferral helped their kids put sunscreen on their faces. No one actually had any bathing suits, so they could only go ankle deep in the water.

Ferral and Nia smiled, watching as the kids played by the water. Atlas walked through the sand, studying everything in the area. And Leona was napping by a tree. Nia looked back at Leona, then leaned her head by Ferral’s.

“Can I ask you something?” She whispered. Ferral nodded. “Which way does Leona swing?” Ferral tilted his head, confused. “I mean, what is her type?” He finally understood and shrugged. “I don’t really know. She’s never really expressed interest in the general concept of love.” “REALLY?” “Yeah, when her old friends would ask, her response was always the same. ‘I love myself,’ is what she’d say.” Nia lifted her chin before nodding, “Oooh, I see.” “I never took the time to understand it. What does it mean?” Nia laughed, patting Ferral on the back. “I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

Laura and Berus came running over. “MAMA! PAPA!” They shouted. “WE’RE GONNA HAVE A SPARRING MATCH!” Laura said. “WATCH US!” Berus added. Their parents smiled. “Alright! Just fight fair and be safe!” Ferral told them.

The two ran on opposite sides of the beach and took fighting stances. They burst forward, kicking up sand behind them. Laura dodged a punch and went for a kick. Berus blocked it, and they went on a back-and-forth, zipping around the beach.

Atlas walked over to Ferral, sitting beside him. He watched in awe at the kids’ spar. “Wow, even these kids are incredible.” Ferral and Nia cheered both on. “Come on, Laura!” Ferral shouted. “You’ve got this, Berus!” Nia clapped. They didn’t want to pick favorites, so they’d alternate who they cheered for. “You show that little rat who’s boss, Laura!” A voice shouted from behind the three. They turned to see that Leona had also joined them. “Hey, unlike you two, I can have a favorite.”

Berus kicked Laura back. She was starting to lose steam, or maybe Berus was getting better as the fight went on. He charged in, throwing a flurry of punches that she could only block. One of them slipped through her guard, and she went flying back, rolling across the sand. Laura got back up, panting heavily. She dug her fingers in the sand, anger bubbling in her stomach. She was sick of not being able to improve the same way her brother could. She was sick of always getting left behind. She gritted her teeth, anger swelling.

As Berus charged toward her, Laura’s rage boiled over. A blood red began flowing from her pupils, filling the entire iris. Her pupils turned into slits, and even her canines grew a little longer. She exploded through the side, her speed so much faster than before. Berus came to a halt. She was fast; he didn’t know what to do. Then, she cocked back her right fist and slammed it into his left cheek. He was sent flying back, sliding on his face across the sand.

Laura panted, her face stuck in that rageful expression. Berus lay with his face in the sand, not moving a muscle. Everyone’s cheering stopped, Ferral and Nia standing up. “Berus?” Ferral called out, concern leaking in his voice. There wasn’t a response. “BERUS!” He shouted, and the four ran over to him. Laura’s expression changed, her eyes widened. The red swirled away, and her pupils returned to normal. Her face turned pale. What did she do?

Ferral and Nia dropped down beside Berus. Then they noticed his back going up and down rapidly, and they heard a muffled sound coming from the sand. Ferral picked him up, tearing, flooding Berus’s eyes as he sobbed uncontrollably. Ferral held Berus tightly, “You’re okay, you’re okay.” He stroked his head, “It’s alright, it’s fine.” Laura rushed over to them, Nia shooting her a scowl before getting up and walking over to Laura.

“We told you two to be careful, Laura.” She scolded. “I didn’t mean to hit him that hard, I swear!” “Go over and apologize!” Nia demanded. Laura rushed over to her brother, still sobbing in Ferral's chest. “Berus, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to hit you that hard!” She looked away for a second. “Or…maybe I did…I don’t remember! It all happened so fast! I’m sorry!”

Ferral stood up, holding Berus. “That’s enough sparring.” He said, looking down at her with disappointment. Laura felt awful, and she didn’t know what had happened. She knew she hit him, but didn’t mean for it to be that hard. She didn’t even know she COULD hit that hard. They started walking back to their tree, Laura staying back, still trying to wrap her head around those split moments.