The sun was beating down on the red sand of Sularia. The ocean was relatively gentle with her tide. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. People ran up and down the beach for over a mile setting up various activities. A sprawling tent had an ungodly amount of different foods. Two chefs were working back and forth in perfect synchronization. Meat, fruit, and vegetables were getting tossed around to the various required recipes. A tiny piglet and anubis were dragging sleds of ingredients over where they were needed.

“Draw the lines and put up the nets,” the commanding voice of Toya Rose came as she watched her husband Blaine and his brother Krystopher put up nets by getting the wooden poles just right. “Looking good…” She crossed her arms as she watched Keira put the line markers down. “We’re done over here.”

“We’re done over here too!” There was a bunch of seating and towels by the water.

Tempest was throwing large logs together in a pit and when she was done she shot a flame igniting all the wood. “We’re all set here, Aunt Ang!” Tempest waved and Angela smirked a bit.

Everyone was wearing their beach gear today. It was a family party and they had enough room for almost everyone. “It looks good Raile. You made some good decisions.” Angela smacked Raile on his back. “Leilah had a good idea.”

The invitations had been sent weeks ago now. There was a large group of chatter as Lewis and Simone led all of their children and now grandchildren down to the beach. “Well… We’re here. I thought this was a family affair,” Simone tilted her head up at Angela as the kids now rushed past them to go play at the various activities. “Be careful! Don’t go swimming without each other!” She cupped her lips so they could hear her. “NO MAGIC AND NO FIGHTING.”

“You are technically my daughter so of course you would be invited,” Angela smirked a bit.

The Black Court was soon arriving with Lotus leading the pack. "The party has arrived," Lotus announced with fanfare as she went over to a beach towel and fell on it so she could get some proper sun. Undine was lagging behind with Sol as they came to check out what all the fuss was about. Colden and Crystaline had Triss who brought along a giant saddle bag of first aid equipment. Angelette had her arms crossed.

"It's not fair… I wanted to bring my deck of cards," the child fussed up at her parents.

"You are not swindling family…" Crystaline sighed a bit and pointed her off to go join her cousins for whatever fun they were doing.

The Yellow Rose court, as small as it was, showed up and gave their greeting. Lily and Angela were hugging leaving Rowan to also flop on the beach for his own time in the sun. Yeva wasn't too far behind him doing the same thing. They were the peaceful ones of the whole family so their non-involvement was to be expected.

Angela was sure her own brood would make their appearance soon… Some of them were already there helping to set up the activities. Aelwen was already in the food tent checking out all the goods.

“That-a-girl!”, Garland bellowed as he heaved a large umbrella over his shoulder and planted it into the warm sand. “Whip those boys into shape!” Krys rolled his eyes while Blaine looked at him with daggers in his eyes. “How about you do something useful too?”

“I did, boy. I allowed your mother to birth you. I allowed you to draw breath and whine every since you opened your mouth”, the elder Wintercrest said. While Blaine would have loved to stomp some sense into his dear dad, his brother was holding him tightly. “Calm down, this is a party, Blaine. Beat him down later.” Jayden looked at them all and sighed, “Our family is going to look so dysfunctional.”

“Look?” Aurora spoke up as she leaned forward from her beach towel, “We are dysfunctional. Only thing we could hope for is being the least, though.”

“How much of a chance do we have, again?”

“Do we have Dante to claim?”

“Hmm, good point.”


Speaking of Dante, he accompanied Lotus but had a spyglass glued to his right eye as he surveyed the scenery. The scenery being that of the women that showed up. “Oooooh, I can’t wait to play judge! Got some tough calls to make.” None of his brothers were the least impressed with his antics, especially Colden and Sol. “Keep your plaything to yourself, or you’ll get more than a sunburn”, Sol hissed before he went charging into the water and started to swim a bit into it. “Seriously, we are all family. You really can’t be that enticed”, Colden said but Steele shook his head and slapped the back of the lustful brother’s head, causing him to drop the spyglass. “Our brother is…something else.”

“Geesh, Steele. I paid good money for that”, Dante whined as he searched for the instrument. “Don’t make me have to deduct points from y’all women’s scores for your insubordination!”

Colden knew that Angelette would cause some sort of trouble had she brought those damn cards. He also knew that she would have more than one trick up her sleeve. “Hey Triss!”Steele turned around and called for his niece. “Dante’s hurt!”

Upon hearing that, Dante yelped and tried to run but slipped and fell down. Unfortunately this would be the edge the darling little girl would need to catch up to him. “Oh great”, he muttered while his face was buried in sand, knowing what was to come.

A gate soon opened up and before long, Nemesis had arrived with the trio of red headed misfits, holding onto one another. The sunlight got to Lehya’s eyes and he started to fuss a bit. “No like the sun!” The father scooped up the little boy and he buried his face into his shoulder. “Be calm, your eyes will adjust to it.”

“No it won’t!” he said muffled, but was clear to the God’s ears. “Angela, come take your child. He’s being Lehya again.” Roman surveyed the area, hardly ever seeing so many people in one place before. There were plenty that he didn’t even know he had before and he looked to Tamara, “So many of them…how come we don’t see them like this?”

“Because our house isn’t big enough, for one thing”, Nemesis chimed in as he handed the middle child to Angela. “Maalik is rounding up the others. But don’t blame me for Ivan…being Ivan… and about Amorak and Jessa- they are bringing a plus two.” He frowned deeply as he let her guess just who couldn’t miss out on coming to the bash as well.

Izzy wasn’t entirely sure why she had been invited to what would clearly turn into a disaster, but she wasn’t complaining. Any day without Auntie Toya’s brutal and life altering training was a win in her book. The young girl wasn’t much for swimming, and came to the beach party dressed for more casual lounging than anything. Briefly she saw her half brother, Rex, and his children faffing about in the shallows, and a wave of anger washed over her. She still hadn’t quite forgiven her father for his uselessness, and Rex had never really won her over. She briefly considered going over, but changed her mind. There would be time for that later.

What drew her attention finally was the mix of smells coming from the main tent at the center of it all. She slithered her way inside the tent, and looked around for what she knew was going to be delicious food. “Ohhh perfect,” she whispered to herself as she looked over the massive feast that was forming.

“So are we doing it?” a familiar voice asked in a hushed whisper. Izzy felt a spike of hatred in her soul as she recognized the voice.

“Against my better judgment,” another voice replied. “There were concessions that needed to be made.”

“Raile, you’re an absolute saint, you know that?” the familiar voice replied.

“What the hell are you doing, Dad,” Izzy said as she walked over to find her father, Rhenakos, and the organizer, Raile, talking behind one of the massive tent supports.

“Oh, Izzy,” Rhenakos replied with surprise. “What are you doing here? Didn’t Toy-”

“Tell. Me. Now.” Izzy was seeing red. She glanced over to Raile. “Talk, or I tell Leilah that your planning to gamble with Angelette at the poker tables.”

“Your daughter is a monster,” Raile said as he held up his hands. “I’m not even a part of this. It’s just a bikini contest. Your father and a few others convinced me to host one.”

Rhenakos’ eyes went wide as he looked over to Raile. “You’ve doomed me.”

“You. Fucking. Perverted. Old. Man.” Izzy threw up her hands. “YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLE, YOU KNOW THAT!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY SISTER SO I CAN TAKE HER AWAY FROM YOU!”

“Your…mother has her. They’re setting up a space on the beach,” Rhenakos said with a solemn tone. “Be sure to bring her bac-”

“YOU’LL BE LUCKY IF I CONSIDER YOU PERVERT!”

Raile cleared his throat, seeing an interesting opportunity arise for his amusement. “Did he not mention he’s one of the judges?”

“OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE DAD!”

Within the crowd of Terrowins, Fiori was walking with the five year old Kija holding one hand.. For a while Kija was drowsily walking along since he had just taken a nap but when he realized he was standing on sand, his eyes widened with excitement. The sand was red and sparkling due to the sunlight. Then his eyes caught sight of the water and he freed his hand from Fiori's grasp. They had been paired up before arriving so that the younger Terrowins would be taken care of or at least have someone to stop whatever chaos they might get up to. Luckily, Fiori had been paired with Kija who was generally on the quiet side.

"Come on Sis! I wanna race to the water!" Kija exclaimed.

"Oh no sweetie. I don't run." Fiori stated as she put on a pair of sunglasses and slowly walked behind him.

Kija pouted, aggravated at his sister's laziness. Behind Fiori, and carrying four more bags of beach supplies, was the unfortunate Dala. The Terrowins had invited her as a guest but Fiori managed to guilt trip convince her to help with the bags. She failed to mention that she was bringing an army’s worth of skin care supplies along with makeup and emergency fashionware in case one of her bikinis got ruined.

“H-how much longer do I have to carry the bags?” Dala heaved.

“Just until we find a good spot among the tents. We have to be closer to the water so I can keep an eye on Kija. But it has to be away from too much food or noise. And I can’t be caught in the sun for too long so the tent has to be thick enough to prevent sunlight.” Fiori explained.

Dala groaned as Fiori began to ramble on about the perfect spot.

Wesley hadn't been to any large Rose family events before and had only briefly met a handful of them during his visits. He had never been to a full family event, he guessed it was because Hana wished to have more time away from her mother. This was the first time he would meet everybody and decided to bring as much food as he could He had spent the entire week cooking and hiding the food so Hana wouldn't try to sneak any of it. Though, the moment she gave him those puppy eyes he always seemed to melt. To anybody else it was a glare, to him it was a look of passion and love and only a slight chance of death. In his hands was an enchanted picnic basket that was bigger on the inside. He had stocked it with crispy chicken tortillas, gooey chocolate brownies, freshly sliced peaches, homemade salsa with chips, watermelon and blueberry salad, smore ingredients, and snack mixes for any of the kids. As they walked towards the beach, his eyes were firmly on his beloved's behind until they were closer to the crowds of people setting up the tents. 

"…I didn't realize a third of the world's population was a part of the Rose family." He joked with a small smile. 

He was a little nervous with so many people and wild characters whom he could already tell would be causing chaos but happy to be able to see his beloved Hana in beach ware. 

Meanwhile…

Iona had arrived with Jet at the beach. She had planned on walking but after a minor comment about her being worried about the sand being too hot, Jet decided to carry her princess style to the beach while carrying all their supplies. After all this time her husband still amazed her at how both sweet and thick-headed a man could be. She had offered several times to at least carry one of the bags but he merely declared he was strong enough to carry everything on his own. Iona worried less about his strength and worried more about his lack of spatial awareness. Whenever one of the bags looked like they were going to crash into something or someone, she used a small bit of wind magic to blow it out of the way. If her husband notice, she just kissed him on the cheek and all thoughts seemed to vanish from mind. Once they got closer to the tents, she insisted to be allowed to walk on her own. 

"Honey, I love you but I can walk on the ground. I brought my sandals for a reason." Iona sighed. 

A small group joined the crowded beach festivities as a short girl with nine rounded puffy tails stood facing the sea, taking in a deep breath as her hands were on her hips. "Ahhh~ Sun, warm sand, the sea breeze…there's nothing like the sweet smell of summer! And there's nothing like summer than a summer barbecue! Sipping tropical fruit drinks while lounging around without a care in the world as sweet potatoes bake in the sun, enjoying the scent of briny shellfish, roasting lamprey eels on a cast iron rack brushed with sugar and soy sauce…" Nui's tails were now wriggling wildly as she stopped herself from drooling. "-Ahem, I mean the scent of charcoal! Charcoal fires to tell stories around, and memories!"

The absolute buffet of delicious smells was making it very hard for her to keep her composure in front of Kite's close and distant relatives. Before the trip Nui had sworn to herself she would be on her best behavior and not embarrass him, but her will was wavering when she could smell the garlic buttered shrimp wafting in the air. If she had to admit, seafood was her weakness. Actually one of many weaknesses, but she really couldn't help herself. She was wearing a swimsuit designed by Kite today and was proudly displaying it as a means to promote his tailoring skill, however her attention was drawn elsewhere as her eyes fell on someone passing by. He was tall and in a few ways very similar to Kite, and at once the fox felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity. It was warm, comforting, even nostalgic. No matter how long it had been, she could never forget. It was…the aroma of baked chocolate. 

There was the smell of delicious baked goods coming from the man holding the picnic basket. She didn't even realize it was Wesley who was holding it as hungry eyes followed the movement of the basket. Unconsciously her nine tails began to move slowly and her ears were standing at attention. Before she was ready to dive at the basket of food, someone called her name–snapping her out of her hunting trance. "Nui, where's Cyril? Make sure he doesn't wander off again!" Lysandre was in one of the groups helping with cooking for the great family reunion and had taken a short break to keep an eye on where everyone was. Even though most of his friends were married, some things never changed. Rows of large stone claims were steaming in their own juices on the grill racks, and soon he'd have to plate them with a splash of lemon lest they dry out. Once he was done at his station, he could catch up with friends and family he hadn't seen in a while.

On the Terrowin side, Mira was doing laps in the sea and diving for kelp to use for a seaweed salad. Ilya was enjoying how sunny it was and found a nice spot in the sand to partially bury himself in, leaving only a head of long green hair exposed. The best part of it being sunny was he didn't feel hungry or cold. In fact, he could fall asleep with how comfy he was. 

Back with the Yellow Court, Auron was initially hesitant to attend, but his reservations dissipated upon receiving confirmation that Shiloh wasn't present. Finally he could breathe a sigh of relief–or so he thought moments before an earth-shattering explosion had him floored in a panic. Said explosion was the latest Sularia's resident fire hazard had to offer for the occasion, followed by shrieks in the distance. 

It had been quite some time since he had attended such a large gathering like this, and Cymbel couldn't help but feel somewhat nervous. He and his dear wife typically kept to themselves, Shiloh residing in Antikythera and he in their quiet home in Ataiyo at the edges of Nisshoki. He had come with his sons Cyril and Belen along with their wives and his granddaughter Neomi. Shiloh was absent as she had been unable to join, having overworked herself into a frenzy in preparing various unusual experimental trinkets before passing out following promising him to watch the house while they were gone. Finding an empty spot for them all, blankets were spread out and umbrellas were unfurled to provide respite from the sun. While his sons quickly went their separate ways, he stayed behind under an umbrella's wide canopy to keep Neomi company. 

Try as he might, it wasn't best for him to stay out under the sun for too long. Not only was his pale complexion particularly susceptible to sunburn, but prolonged exposure left him vulnerable to heatstroke as well. As a result, Cymbel rarely put himself in direct sunlight. He was rather easy to spot in the crowd on the sands, being the only silver-haired individual in their cluster with an extremely pale color. His long hair was loosely braided and draped over his shoulder as he showed a various shells to his granddaughter with Sapphire close by. 

Cyril meanwhile was standing several paces away with a stick in his hands, blindfolded before a watermelon. It was a summer pastime in Ataiyo to have people take turns in attempting to split a watermelon open in this way, and then cut the broken fruit into slices after a successful hit. This would be a completely ordinary thing, if it weren't for the fact Cyril had missed the watermelon three times and was now walking past it heading in the wrong direction. Cymbel tried giving some vague hints to him, not wanting to ruin his fun, but this only made Cyril become even more disoriented until he was out of earshot altogether. Belen on the other hand was getting himself into a whole different kind of trouble with Tempest, who in a rare moment was actually given permission to set up fireworks. This proved to be a terrible idea, as Belen suddenly gained an epiphany that maybe he should suggest her not to go all out. "Hey Tempest, is this really a good idea?" 

With powder smudges on her face, Tempest finished up the fuses before securing the motherlode of all pyrotechnics. "Hell no, but I'm doing it anyways."  Belen figured it was fine, after all she was allowed to do it this time and they were far enough away from the city to avoid property damage. His opinion quickly flipped when it all went off, blasting with the power of a hundred compressed fireballs, sending showers of colorful sparks mixed with sand in the air and a shockwave that sent the resting watermelon Cyril was trying to hit flying.