The walk back to the villa carried a different energy than the morning’s departure. Sand clung to damp skin, and hair still dripped salt water, but exhaustion mixed with satisfaction created comfortable silence punctuated by occasional laughter.
The sky had deepened more, stars scattered overhead like thrown diamonds while the ocean whispered its eternal rhythm behind them.
The villa’s silhouette rose ahead, narrow and tall against the darkness, windows dark and waiting.
Klein had fallen asleep on Reinhard’s shoulders during the walk, head lolling with each step, completely spent from a day of pure joy. Anna and Anasha were on both of his sides, both moving more slowly now, their earlier boundless energy finally depleted.
They entered through the main door, and people scattered to change out of wet swimwear. Footsteps creaked on stairs before doors opened and closed. The villa was filled with the sounds of movent and muffled conversation through the walls.
Reinhard carried Klein to their shared room, laying him gently on the bed. The boy didn’t even stir when Reinhard pulled a blanket over him. Anna and Anasha appeared monts later, already changed into comfortable sleeping clothes, simple shirts, and shorts.
Once Reinhard laid kisses on the top of their heads, both gained a faint smile. Before climbing into their own beds without protest, both fell asleep within minutes of their heads touching pillows.
When Reinhard erged downstairs, now wearing dry black shorts and a comfortable shirt, he found the villa transforming. Through the back windows, he could see figures moving in the darkness outside.
Gran knelt in the sand behind the villa, arranging stones in a careful circle. His dark blue hair caught starlight as he worked thodically, placing each stone with precision.
Irene appeared carrying an armful of driftwood, her twin-tails bouncing as she dropped the load near the stone circle. Scáth stood nearby holding more wood, wine-colored eyes gleaming with anticipation even for sothing as simple as fire-building.
Reinhard stepped outside with a faint smile.
The night air had cooled considerably, carrying ocean salt and the promise of perfect bonfire weather. Others began erging, changed into comfortable clothing, and were dry and ready for the evening’s final activity.
Gran arranged the circle’s center with the sa careful attention he brought to everything. Irene passed him smaller pieces of wood, creating a structured base. Scáth simply dumped her entire armload nearby with far less ceremony, earning an exasperated look from Gran that she completely ignored.
"Does anyone have matches?" Gran asked, sitting back on his heels.
Marie produced a box from sowhere, tossing it to him with a grin. "Always prepared!"
The first match sparked, caught fire, and flas erupted imdiately. The fire crackled and popped as it began climbing through the carefully arranged wood structure.
Within minutes, the bonfire blazed properly with heat radiating outward in waves. Light danced across faces as people began dragging chairs from the villa, a mismatched collection of wooden seats and cushioned furniture that probably shouldn’t be outside, but nobody cared.
The circle ford naturally.
Reinhard settled into a chair with Brunhilde taking the seat beside him while Marie claid the seat on his left. Joseph claid the seat Marie left while the Cups clustered together, Lloyd, Bruno, Kyle, Jessie, and Suzy arranging themselves in their familiar configuration.
The Four of Hearts spread out, Scáth as close to the fire as possible, Roana maintaining a safe distance, Gran and Nikki finding middle ground. Vanna sat slightly outside the main circle, silver hair reflecting firelight, but present nonetheless.
The Dream Interpretation Club filled remaining gaps, Irene, Alger, Resa, Kite, and Jake settling in with visible contentnt.
Soone produced marshmallows, crackers, and finally chocolate bars. The supplies passed from hand to hand as people prepared roasting sticks, so actual skewers, and others just used driftwood pieces.
Bruno was first to thrust his marshmallow directly into flas. "This is how you do it!"
The marshmallow imdiately caught fire, becoming a torch on the end of his stick.
"That’s how you ruin it," Jessie corrected dryly, carefully holding her own marshmallow at the perfect distance above coals. Her ponytail swayed as she rotated the stick with practiced precision.
"It will be well done!" Bruno protested, blowing out the flas. The marshmallow was completely black, smoking slightly.
"It’s burnt." Kyle countered, his violet eyes amused as he demonstrated proper technique, which was slow rotation, even heating to get that golden-brown perfection.
Suzy giggled, assembling her s’more with careful attention. The chocolate lted perfectly between graham crackers, marshmallow squishing out slightly at the edges. She took a bite, and her green eyes closed with satisfaction. "This is perfect."
Lloyd worked in quiet contentnt, making three more in the ti it took Bruno to successfully cook one marshmallow. Marie had sohow acquired two sticks and was roasting multiple marshmallows simultaneously.
Joseph ate his s’more, clearly enjoying it with a faint smile and a shiver. Brunhilde assembled hers with grace, sohow making eating a ssy dessert look elegant.
Alger kept "accidentally" catching his marshmallows on fire, then eating them anyway while making exaggerated sounds of enjoynt. Jake and Kite had started a competition to see who could roast theirs fastest without burning, which defeated the entire purpose but entertained them imnsely.
Resa took careful notes about optimal roasting distance and ti. Irene had achieved perfect golden-brown on her first try and looked smugly satisfied about it.
Scáth thrust hers into flas repeatedly, seed to enjoy the burning more than the eating, and consud five in rapid succession. Roana achieved perfection through patience, golden-brown and evenly cooked.
Gran had created a system involving rotation timing and distance asurent. Nikki kept stealing chocolate before it made it into s’mores, laughing when people protested.
Even Vanna participated, though her marshmallow roasting was careful and precise. The slight smile on her face suggested she was enjoying herself despite the informal chaos.
Reinhard roasted his marshmallow to the perfect degree before bringing it to his mouth and shivering in delight.
The fire crackled and popped; the warmth created a comfortable space where conversation flowed naturally.
"So." Lloyd began, his brown hair falling across his forehead as he leaned forward. "We’ve been on so interesting expeditions lately."
Bruno’s green eyes lit up imdiately. "Oh, you an the one where you almost got eaten by that Phantasm Beast with the six mouths? What was it called? The Venus-Vanquiern?"
"I almost didn’t get eaten." Lloyd protested mildly. "I had it completely under control."
Jessie’s ponytail swayed as she shook her head. "You were screaming."
"Tactical screaming." Lloyd corrected with a nod of his head. "To confuse the enemy."
Suzy giggled into her food while Kyle’s violet eyes sparkled with amusent as he added. "We did complete the mission, though. Got the beast sigil Lloyd needed."
The conversation opened floodgates.
The Cups continued sharing stories from missions gone sideways, Phantasm Beasts with unexpected abilities, and close calls that beca funny in retrospect.
Bruno’s animated gestures grew increasingly exaggerated as he described a beast that could duplicate itself. Jessie provided dry comntary that kept the stories grounded while Suzy’s laughter punctuated the best monts.
Kyle and Lloyd offered supporting details, filling gaps.
Then Roana spoke up, her grey hair catching firelight. "We’ve had our share of interesting missions, too." Her gold eyes reflected flas as she continued. "Though ’interesting’ might be underselling it."
Gran nodded seriously, glasses glinting. "The one in the northern cities was particularly complicated. Multiple factions, unclear objectives, and environntal hazards."
"But we completed it." Nikki added cheerfully, crimson eyes bright. Her red hair seed to blend with fire’s glow. "Even with all the explosions."
"Especially with the explosions," Roana sighed, but fondness colored her exasperation.
Scáth had been unusually quiet, but now she leaned forward, wine-colored eyes gleaming with barely contained excitent. "The explosions at that ti were, of course, the best part. But let’s talk about the Phantasm Beasts we had to hunt!"
Scath described one hunt, such as the lightning wolf-type Phantasm Beast that hunted in packs with strategy. A pack of serpents that could phase through solid matter, and a bird whose feathers were razor-sharp projectiles. Each story painted clear pictures, not just of the beasts themselves but of the Heart’s approach to combat.
More specifically, Scath loves the challenge and her constant drive to push herself against stronger foes.
The fire burned lower as she spoke, but nobody moved to add more wood. Everyone was too engaged, too caught in the storytelling. Even those who’d been making more s’mores had stopped, listening with full attention.
Reinhard watched Scáth’s animated expression, heard the passion in her voice, and found himself smiling.
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