Not proofread

Humming to himself, Felix hopped down the sleek, stone stairs towards the kitchen-living room area. No matter how often he had walked down the stairs in the last two months, they still felt foreign to him. As did the constant taste of salt in the fresh, cold air that was so evident in all of Atlantis.

The almost forgotten underwater city was a weird place to live in for a land bound creature like Felix, but it was slowly becoming his home. Sometimes, he still missed Yellow Wood, but according to Yeon Hana, his parents' therapist, who he occasionally chatted with, it was natural.

Felix really liked Hana a lot. He never had gotten to talk to her much back at the NCT Headquarter, but he found that he admired her a lot. She was very strong mentally. Even after hunters had injured in a way that made her loose the ability to walk, she still made herself strong for others. The amount of people she helped by just being a trained therapist and having an open ear to everyone's worries and problems wasn't truly comprehensible for Felix.

"Felix, honey? Is that you?," Mrs. Lee called from the kitchen. A tinge of anxiety in her voice.

"Yes, mum, it's me," Felix quickly answered, quickening his steps. He emerged from the stairs into the open kitchen-living room area. His mother stood by the stove, her piercing green cat eyes meeting his chocolate brown ones. She breathed out and her eyes turned back to normal. Felix put on a soft, yet bright smile to ease his mother's fear away.

"Just me, mum," the young cat hybrid said kindly. He made a mental note to pronounce his steps a bit despite them being very quiet, almost soundless by nature. His mother returned his smile and turned back to the stove to watch the pancakes that were sizzling in the pan. Her shoulders were a bit high and her whole frame still seemed so fragile, even after two months of recovery. It yanked at Felix's heartstrings in a bad way.

Before her capture, Mrs. Lee had been a bright and kind woman. Felix had often compared himself to her since they shared a lot of characters traits. According to others, they also had the same sunlike smile. Only Minho and Mr. Lee argued that their smiles were different, but they saw the nuances better than anyone. The members of the Sky Clan also had told Felix multiple times when he was younger just how similar he was to his mother, and how similar Minho was to their father. Minho, who had been told the same, had found it annoying, but Felix never minded it. He loved his mother too much to mind it.

So, seeing her flinch when she was touched unannounced, witnessing how she tensed up when she heard or sensed someone approach her, or notice how she still couldn't eat too much, it broke Felix's heart. He knew, that couldn't prevent her from hurting, but he had promised himself to help her as much as he possibly could. It was slow progress, but progress nonetheless. 

"Mum, can I hug you?," Felix asked, voice softening to a whisper. Mrs. Lee let herself deeply exhaled, her shoulders dropping down a bit. She turned off the stove before facing Felix's with a loving smile on her face.

"Of course, hon," she answered, opening her arms. Felix didn't lose any time and moved into the embrace his mother offered. He let his head rest on her shoulder while his arms were loosely put around his mother's frame. The familiar scent of home surrounded Felix, but he reminded himself to not hold his mother too close. There was a possibility of her not being entirely comfortable with it.

Mrs. Lee herself didn't take that kind of caution with Felix. She held her youngest son as close as she possibly could, burying her nose in his ginger hair.

"I love you so much Felix. I hope you will never forget that," she mumbled into Felix's hair before placing a gently kiss on the ginger locks. Felix nodded against his mother's shoulder, enjoying her warmth and just general presence.

"I love you too, mum," the ginger mumbled in return. It was hard suppressing the urge to just hold his mother as close as possible, but he was managing it.

Mrs. Lee placed another kiss on Felix's hair and slowly pulled away from the hug. Her hands stayed on Felix's shoulders as she looked into her son's eyes. She smiled softly at him before letting her hands fall away. Not too long ago, Felix might have whined about the loss of contact.

"Want to help me with breakfast?," Mrs. Lee asked, glancing at the pan on the stove. Felix smiled and nodded, joining his mother's side as she turned the stove back on and resumed her work.

They made lighthearted conversation while preparing breakfast. Felix excitedly told his mother about his progress in training with Donghun from A.C.E and Somin from KARD. He told her how the rest of Stray Kids was doing and about their progress. Changbin, for example, had been busy as well as nervous the last week because of his coronation, which was today.

The conversation of the two was interrupted when Mr. Lee made his presence known. He walked sloppily down the stairs, obviously still tired.

"Good morning, you two," Mr. Lee yawned. Mrs. Lee let out a fond huff while Felix enthusiastically greeted his father back. The ginger's hair was patted by his father when he passed him to get to his wife. The two adult exchanged a soft kiss and a murmured conversation while Felix set the table.

"Felix, would you get Minho? Breakfast is as good as ready," Mrs. Lee asked, properly plating the pancakes and setting them on the table.

"Sure," Felix replied with a smile. He put down the last fork and then skipped towards the stairs and made his way up. Minho was most likely in his room. Even in Atlantis the two Lee brothers had separate rooms. But oh well if Atlantis was one thing then big.

——————————————

"But what if I screw up!," Jisung whined for the tenth time. Minho took a deep breath, preparing himself to explain to his boyfriend again, that there wasn't much he could screw up.

"Squirrel, all you are doing is putting a crown on his head nothing more," Minho tried to reassure Jisung. He just heard the other's muffled groan over the phone.

"Still! I could drop the crown or place it wrong! Every vampire would loathe me," the warlock murmured. Minho sighed and rolled onto his back, leaving his phone on his pillow. The bed sheets were soft underneath him. They slowly started to adapt the scents of his family. It almost smelled like home, almost.

The cat hybrid stared at the ceiling, trying to think of something he hadn't already told Jisung to calm the other. Why had it to be Jisung that crowned Changbin again? Oh yeah, right, stupid vampire tradition. The new king or queen of the vampires had to be crowned by a relative and since Changbin was somehow the only one left of the royal vampire family, Jisung, as the legally adopted son of the late king and queen, had to crown him.

Of course, Jisung was anxious, because he may be Changbin's legally adopted brother and now technically a prince, but he was not a vampire. For a lot of vampires that could be a problem, because - as Minho knows all too well - vampires like to keep to themselves. So, imagine the uproar it could cause if the new vampire king was crowned by a non-vampire.

Still, Changbin had assured Jisung that he will do anything in his power to make clear to the other vampires, that the warlock will be respected as a full member of the royal vampire family. The problem was that while Jisung did fully trust Changbin, he failed to have any trust in himself. It was the whole reason Jisung had woken Minho up with a phone call and stayed with him on call until now.

"Who am I kidding? I'm not even that afraid of dropping the damn crown," Jisung suddenly mumbled to himself. Minho's ears perked up and he rolled back onto his belly. He took his phone back into his hand and stared at Jisung's caller ID. The picture that was staring back at Minho was from the warlock's smiling face. It was a cute photo, Minho had sneakily took once.

"What are you afraid of then?," Minho asked, cocking his head to the side despite Jisung not being able to see it.

There was a pause before he picked up the sound of Jisung's shaky inhale through the bad audio of the phone.

"I'm afraid that I will be compared to her. The whole coronation ceremony will be broadcasted all over the world. NCT and the vampires made sure of that. And our resemblance is rather obvious," Jisung admitted. The faint sound of the warlock playing with something filtered through the phone and Minho could almost see the younger tugging and twisting at some kind of fabric while avoiding eyes contact.

Ever since Jisung had actually met Zendala, he kept thinking about how similar they looked. Sometimes he even compared their magic to each other. And each and every time Jisung had done that out loud Minho had told him off. The cat hybrid had explained again and again that Zendala and Jisung were nothing alike. No matter if they shared the same blood or not.

"Sungie, if someone dares to compare you to a psychopathic killer like Zendala, do tell me because I will smack sense into them," Minho replied nonchalantly. It made Jisung burst out in laughter. The bubbly laughter spilled through the phone and made the corner of Minho's lips twitch upwards. Finally, he had gotten a laugh out of Jisung.

"You can't just get into fights for me," the warlock laughed.

"Oh, boohoo. Watch me defend your honor before you can even consider it," Minho retorted with no bite behind his words.

He heard Jisung break out into more laughter and just hearing it warmed Minho's chest. The warmth was bubbling up and slowly spreading and it took Minho a lot of effort to not start purring. It was almost awful how easy it was for Jisung to make Minho purr like he was a little kitten.

"You cannot let me wallow in my own nerves, can you?," Jisung chuckled after calming from his laughing fit.

"Nope," Minho answered easily, "Because your pretty brain tends to overthink and be far too anxious."

Jisung let out a huff, but he reluctantly agreed with the cat hybrid. Minho smiled lightly, knowing that he was absolutely correct. He knew Jisung well enough to know the other was an anxious person, who often got too caught up in his own head. He also knew that the warlock tended to greatly underestimate himself.

"My family is still fucked. And dangerous," Jisung spoke up again after a short pause. Minho wanted to tell him to stop that train of thought before JIsung send himself into a spiral, but the warlock just continued.

"My uncle is imprisoned for being involved with illegal blood sucking rings, my mother is a psychopath that worked with the hunters in order to murder supernaturals and my - apparently - aunt Shiela was a spy that helped Zendala break down the barrier that had kept our world hidden from the human one," Jisung started ranted before cutting himself off with a sharp intake of breath.

"Hannie, stop," Minho softly warned, "Don't do this to yourself now. You know that your blood family does not define you."

"Yeah, so you have told me, but I still look like her, don't I?," Jisung asked, but they both knew it didn't need to be answered. Minho didn't need to answer this question, because they both knew the answer. No matter how often Minho told Jisung that he was nothing like his mother, a part of him always came back to his looks.

"You are nothing like her and I will say that as many times as you need to hear it," Minho said, "It doesn't matter if you look like her or not. You are not like her and you will never be."

Minho wet his lips for a moment before continuing, "Listen to me, Hannie. Zendala and Shiela may still be on the run, but you read Michael's last report yourself. After killing Reinhard Stein, she lost all support of the hunters. She is a wanted criminal in the entire supernatural world because she is an extremist, who believes all supernaturals have to be killed because of their genetic powers, and because she exposed us to the human world. She is powerless and nobody outside of Stray Kids and some people we trust know for sure that you are her son. No one will make that connection if they are not nudged into the direction. They will just see the warlock that was talented enough to be adopted by a royal family; the boy who took part in the rescue mission for people he never met and his friends."

"The only one thinking so hard about this is yourself, Hannie," Minho finished, his gaze focused on the picture of Jisung on his screen. No sound emitted from the phone until Jisung audible inhaled.

"Are you sure about that?," Jisung asked, his voice shaking a little. Minho really wanted to have him here and hold him.

"Yes, I am," Minho answered, "And should anyone still be a dick to you about anything, I will smack them."

A weak chuckled filtered through the phone followed by a relieved sigh. Minho allowed himself to see the reaction as a good sign. Silence settled over the two, but Minho couldn't bring himself to mind. Part of him just hoped that Jisung wasn't overthinking anything.

"I love you, Minho. I really do," Jisung mumbled in the silence, barely audible. Minho blinked at his phone, his brain trying frantically to figure out if Jisung had said these three words to him before. He came up empty. They had never told each other that what they had was really mutual love. Could they even be in love? They hadn't met too long ago. Were they over the crush phase already or did they still see everything through pink lenses? Did that whole thing even count for mates?

"I- I-," Minho stuttered when he realized that he had to answer. He had to say it back.

"You don't need to say it back, hyung. I just wanted you to know," Jisung chuckled lightly yet his voice was the softest Minho had ever heard it, "You are my soulmate, after all."

Minho's thoughts came to a screeching halt and he felt his tongue become utterly useless at the confession. He couldn't say anything to that. There was no word to describe how he felt about this. Nothing could do justice to the way Minho felt entirely whole and content.

A knock on his room's door ripped Minho out of his daze. His head snapped towards the wooden door. It opened and a head full of ginger curls poked into the room.

"Hyung, breakfast is ready," Felix said, smiling wide.

"Okay, I will come down soon. Give me a minute," Minho answered quickly, trying his best to not seem like he had been hit by an emotional hurricane.

"Hey, Felix!," Jisung yelled through the phone. It made Felix's cat ears perk up in an instant. His smile morphed into a little smirk and Minho wanted to groan, knowing he would hear about how much of a 'simp' he was for Jisung as soon as he sat down at the table.

Felix rushed over to Minho's bed and flopped down next to his older brother. His grin promised endless teasing and Minho despised it already. He loved Felix to bits. He really did, but why for the love of the gods was he such an annoying little brother sometimes?

"Hey, Jisung. Let Minho-hyung have breakfast please. I am starving and the food smells so good," Felix said into the phone. Minho send a silent thanks to all the gods that he didn't have Jisung saved under some embarrassing nickname. 'Hannie' was a perfectly reasonable nickname.

"Yeah, yeah. I won't hold him up any longer," Jisung chuckled. He sounded normal and Minho envied that right now. He was sure Felix, who knew his brother almost too well, had picked up something.

"By the way, are you and Changbin-hyung feeling okay?," Felix asked before Jisung could do anything.

"Changbin-hyung is nervous. He has been revising his speech a few times now. I'm ... I'm better now," Jisung answered, voicing growing softer at the end. A ting of warmth bloomed in Minho's chest again. The warlock had sounded genuine when he had said. 

"Good. We will meet up with the others before the coronation and probably watch close to the stage, so we can meet you afterwards," Felix recounted their plan.

"Yeah, Changbin-hyung mentioned a little after-party, though, I think Baekhyun-hyung and Changkyun-hyung will be setting it up. I doubt it was "Your Majesty's" idea," Jisung chuckled. Felix hummed in agreement.

"Anyway, I won't hold you two up anymore. Go eat breakfast," the warlock encouraged. Felix let out a little cheer and slipped off the bed to head towards the door. He threw a look back to Minho, smirked and then just vanished behind the door. Yeah, he won't eat in peace today. He just hoped he could turn the table on his little brother when he brings up Jeongin.

"Felix's gone?," Jisung asked after a short pause. Minho chuckled and turned his attention back to the phone.

"Yeah," Minho confirmed.

"Thank you, hyung. For picking up when I called," Jisung thanked the other in a quiet voice. Minho huffed and smiled.

"There is nothing to thank me for. I will always pick up when you call, idiot," Minho teased back. He found teasing and joking a lot easier than expressing what he felt with words.

"I will hold you to that," Jisung said and Minho could hear the small smile that must adore his lips through his tone alone. Gods, how Minho wished he could tell Jisung how much the warlock meant to him.

"I will see you later," Jisung said after a small pause. Minho hummed in agreement and then Jisung hung up. His phone switched back to his neutral, blue home-screen, the picture of Jisung had disappeared.

Minho took a breath and promised himself one thing. He would show Jisung how much he loved him through actions until he could say 'I love you' to the other without having to think about it.

With that said and done, he stood up from his bed and made his way downstairs to join his family for breakfast.

———————————————————

"And then I kicked Jihoon-hyung's legs away from underneath him! He landed on the ground and I was instantly declared the winner," Yedam buzzed with energy as he told the story of his most recent victory. Chan grinned proudly at his little brother who was really coming to life when talking about his training with some other werewolf and wolf hybrid teens.

"You should have seen it! It was so cool!," Yedam ended his story, leaning back in his chair. His plate was already emptied, which was a wonder with the amount of talking he had been doing.

"That's amazing to hear, pup," Mrs. Bang mused as she stood up from her spot on the dining table. She grabbed her plate as well as Yedam's empty one to bring them to the sink.

"Also, I think Jihoon-hyung and Hyunsuk-hyung are going to form a group with some of their friends. I think I will ask Doyoung if we want to join it together," Yedam went on. Chan grinned even wider at that.

"A group for little Yedami? Don't you think you will scare them away with how powerful you have become?," Chan teased the other. Yedam playfully glared at him and crossed his arms over his chest to showcase even more acted irritation.

"Don't patronize me, hyung. I will be in the strongest group there ever was, so watch out," the young wolf hybrid shot back making Chan laugh lightly. The older of the two couldn't hide that he was proud of his little brother and wished him all the best in his pursuit to find a group for himself. He wouldn't shut up about want to be in a group in the last few weeks.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Yedam," Mrs. Bang said as she came back to the table. She swung a towel over her shoulder and used her freshly dried hand to ruffle through Yedam's black hair. The younger tried to duck away, but ultimately failed to dodge his mother's affection. Her eyes wandered from her youngest to her older son. Chan smiled at the deep affection his mother's eyes never missed to convey. 

"Now listen to me, boys. You two will not continue to grow up in your current high speed tempo. I still need you to be my little pups for a while longer," Mrs. Bang jokingly said, yet the loving smile she wore on her face vouched for the bit of truth in between the words. Yedam finally managed to get his mother out of hair, literally. A cheeky smile adore his lips partnered with glinting eyes that called for excitement.

"No promised, mum. I want to become one of the strongest wolf hybrids around, so I can protect you and hyung and my friends," the young male declared, and you could see how he meant every word. Chan felt both pride and worry for his brother. He shared a glance with his mother that told him they felt the same. No matter what Yedam would not slow down on growing up.

Mrs. Bang sighed in defeat and Chan felt it in his bones. He knew very well that this was not only about Yedam, but him too. Chan may be an legal adult and the leader of a group of promising individuals, but the thought of moving on with his life and leaving his mother partly behind had never even crossed his mind. Especially in these turbulent times he will continue to stay with his mother. She, along with Yedam, were his pack, after all.

"You will be the death of me, Yedam," Mrs. Bang huffed as she returned to the kitchen to finish cleaning the dishes. She patted Chan's head and picked up his now empty plate to take with her.

"I totally won't, but can I go now? I want to meet the other before the coronation," Yedam beamed. Mrs. Bang laughed and gave him a quick permission. The young wolf hybrid cheered and bolted out of the room, throwing a quick goodbye over his shoulder as he reached the door. Chan saw him shift into his wolf form before he was up and gone.

The silver-haired male lightly shook his head at his brother's excitement, yet he couldn't deny the smile it brought to his lips. He rose from his seat and took some of the remaining dishes from the table to bring into the kitchen area to his mother.

The woman was currently putting all the plates into the sink that was already filled with warm water and dish washing soap. Chan reached around his mother and wordlessly put the glasses and silverware he had picked up into the sink.
Without saying a word the two just began cleaning the dishes. Mrs. Bang washed them with the soap and a sponge while Chan rinsed them off and dried them with the towel, that had previously been on his mother's shoulder, before putting them to their respective spots in the cabinets above their heads.

"Will you be heading out soon too?," Mrs. Bang broke the silence, "I remember you mentioning to go to the coronation ceremony early with the rest of your group yesterday."

"Oh, yeah. We did plan that. Hyunjin and Jeongin just need to get done with training first, but I think I will get Seungmin and Byungho a bit earlier because their house is on the outskirts of the city," Chan explained while drying a plate.

He had been to the Kim mansion a few times. Byungho had formally introduced him to his father there. Chan had found the resemblance between Mr. Kim and Byungho quite shocking. They shared some of their handsome facial features as well as their general body build, though, Mr. Kim was a bit taller than Byungho. He also had no visible wings or horns or a tail like the majority of his offspring, but Chan wasn't sure if he just didn't have those traits or he hid them like Byungho and Seungmin used to do.

Chan would say that he liked Mr. Kim and also Rana, Samuel's mother. They seemed like decent parents if a bit different than most. Chan knew Byungho had a rocky relationship with his father as did most of the Kim children with the exception being Samuel, but they were working on it and the improvement was visible. Still, Chan does ask himself how his mother will react to Byungho's father when they meet. It was an inevitable meeting, because there was no way Chan would end his relationship with Byungho and he knew that the feeling was very much mutual.

"When will you be heading to the Kim's?," Mrs. Bang asked her son as she handed him a few forks to dry. Chan thought for a moment, mindlessly polishing the silver forks.

"I think around eleven. They should be finished with their brunch then and Hyunjin and Jeongin's training ends around that time too. So, we have plenty of time to meet up and get to the main square to watch Changbin's coronation," Chan then answered. Mrs. Bang nodded along with his words.

"Sounds like a solid plan," Mrs. bang chuckled. She finished washing the last dish and set it on the side in order to unplug the sink and let the soapy water drain.

"Training usually ends around twelve for lunch break. At least it does for my groups," she then added. Chan smiled as he put the forks away and started on drying the last dish. His mother had started to train young werewolves and hybrids when they had settled down in Atlantis. She was proud of her work and she adored the kids she worked with on a daily base. The only reason she wasn't training little one ones right now was the free day she had gotten because of the coronation.

"Did the last training session go well? You didn't tell me much about it," Chan asked while he finished drying the dishes and put them away.

"Oh, there just wasn't much to tell," Mrs. Bang chuckled, "The kids are progressing very well and very steadily, but I dearly hope they will never need what I teach them. They shouldn't have to think about how to defend themselves."

Chan hummed in agreement. Still, the training was necessary, not only for the young ones, but the older ones too. Supernaturals had to be prepared to defend themselves because despite best their efforts peace and acceptance wasn't on the table just yet. Though, according to Michael, there was a real chance that it could happen if supernaturals continued to remain passive and on the defensive. It made them seem less of a threat.

That this whole situation wasn't ideal was obvious but a chance at peace with the humans was better than nothing. Michael was doing his best to supply Stray Kids with information on the current plans of both the hunters and the human governments without blowing his cover. It was dangerous, yet he did it gladly with the aid of his peers. He was truly an inspiration and among some of the supernaturals he was a bit of an hero. After all, he was one of their most important informants. Chan hoped dearly he could one day just meet up with Michael like they were just two normal friends.

"You should get going soon," Mrs. Band said, getting Chan out of his head with her voice alone. The woman was drying her hands on another towel, her gaze having eyed the clock on the wall to their left before it returned to her son. Chan quickly looked at the clock, which read '10:47'.

"Yup," Chan said, popping the 'p'. He hung up the towel he had used to dry the dishes and walked back to the table to get his jacket, which had been hung over the back of his chair. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out his phone. The display was turned on and Chan quickly scanned the notification for the names of his group members. There had been some messages in their group chat. They were about where they would all meet up before the coronation and when Hyunjin and Jeongin's training would end.

"I will just head out now. Then I should be fine," Chan said a bit more loudly, so his mother could hear him.

"When when will you be home?," Mrs. Bang asked as she came to the table.

"I don't really know. Changbin's hyungs are doing an after-party to which all of Stray Kids is invited," Chan answered. He stuffed his phone back into his jacket's pocket before pulling the garment into his arms.

"Just don't stay out too late, pup," Mrs. Bang chuckled and ruffled Chan's silver curls affectionately. A giggle escaped Chan's lips and his smiled wide enough for his dimples to fully show.

"I will, I will," he reassured. His mother nodded approvingly.

"And say hi to everyone for me," she added, "And tell Byungho to come over again some time."

"He will appreciate the invite," Chan laughed as he walked towards the door. His mother followed. The young wolf hybrid gave his mother a quick goodbye hug before he slipped on his jacket and went out of the house. She waved after him before closing the door.

Chan jogged down the streets, heading straight for the outskirts of Atlantis. The city was lit up by gigantic, yellow magic balls that served as artificial suns for the deep-sea city. Meanwhile, a magical half sphere covered all of Atlantis and kept the water outside, so even air breathing creatures like Chan could live in the city.

Admittedly, Atlantis was a beautiful city. It now combined old architecture and ancient magic with technology and modern society. It was gorgeous cultural hybrid that brought a sense of normality to many people, who needed it. Despite that Chan couldn't help but sometimes miss Yellow Wood.

He quickly shook the thought away before it could develop into homesickness. Today he needed to focus on the coronation of a dear friend and for that he needed to get to the Kim mansion.

———————————————————

"I will head out now," Woosu said as he rose from his chair on the table. He simply snapped his fingers, letting his plate and silverware float itself into the kitchen. Seungmin huffed at the skill display of his brother. There had been no need to use magic for such a mundane task, but he had to admit to himself, that it was awfully convenient. In all honesty, Seungmin had done it a few time himself ever since Woosu taught him the spell.

"Be safe and say hello to your three group members for me," Rana called after Woosu as the warlock hurried out of the dining hall.

"Will do!," the white-haired warlock answered over his shoulder before disappearing out of sight. Rana chuckled lightly as she watched the young male go. It was motherly behavior, but, as Seungmin had learned over the course of the past eight months, that was Rana's normal. She was kind, forgiving, quiet and considerate. Without anyone actively noticing, she had taken over all the house work in the Kim mansion. That in itself was a tremendous responsibility and a ton of work. It shamed Seungmin that he had only began to notice this ever since the Kim mansion had been moved to Atlantis two months ago.

After the success of the rescue mission, which to Seungmin's surprise had had very few casualties in the end result, Lucifer had done all of his sons a favor by deciding to move the Kim mansion to Atlantis. If asked why he had done this, he always says that it was for convenience. What convenience? He always dodged that question.

Seungmin was convinced that his father had moved the Kim family's home to Atlantis for him and his brothers. He theorized that after losing Eve and Athea, Lucifer had refused to let the universe take his sons' friends (and boyfriends) from them, so he made the conscious decision to not separate them geographically. Either way, Seungmin was glad the Kim mansion was now in Atlantis, though, it really seemed out of place between the old structures of a once abandoned underwater city.

"Do the rest of you have any plans before the coronation of crown prince Seo Changbin?," Rana asked. Seungmin suppressed the urge to cringe at his boyfriend's formal title and name. It felt so weird and foreign and he knew for a fact that Changbin himself often scrunched up his nose when he was addressed like that. He will probably silently despise his new title even more.

"Well, like Woosu will do with IZ, I will watch the coronation with my group. Though, it will be more of me and Sungjin-hyung standing in the crowd while Dowoon, Jae-hyung and Younghyun-hyung stand on the podium with Changbin," Wonpil explained while finishing up his bowl of cereal.

"I'm sure it will be fun. Or at least the private after-party will be," Lucifer chimed in with his signature smirk on his lips. He was seated on the head of the table, as usual, with Rana to his left. Lilith, who was as usually absent from the meals the family made a habit of eating together, always sat on his right. Seungmin was neither surprised nor disappointed by his mother's absence. After all, she had the tendency to only show up to make some sort of point. Lucifer, on the other hand, was seen around his sons more regularly now and to his own surprise Seungmin didn't mind that as much as he thought he would.

Though, right now, he wanted to roll his eyes at his father's attics. Of course he knew about the after-party, even if he was pretty sure that nobody had directly told him about it. Sometimes, it was annoying to have an ancient, all-knowing being as a parent. Yet, on more than one occasion it had proven to be quite useful.

As Seungmin listen to his father talking about how fun parties can be to which Byungho, Wonpil, Seungmin and Samuel collectively rolled their eyes but listened anyway, the redhead's thoughts drifted off. It was a wonder how an all-mighty being such as Lucifer could go on and on about earthly parties. He almost seemed normal and not otherworldly as the pitch-black horns on top of his head would suggest.

Seungmin let his eyes drift to his other family members. Wonpil, who sat to his left with his demonic form on display, chuckled here and there at something their father said. He still wore the silver necklace Dowoon had gifted him last Christmas. Somehow Seungmin couldn't even remember seeing his brother without it, ever since it had been gifted to him. Maybe he hadn't paid enough attention to this small detail. He was only glad that Wonpil and Dowoon were dating now. Lucifer had accepted the vampire, who had snuck into the mansion more than once, with open arms. Lilith, on the other hand, left it entirely uncommented, though, the displeasure was etched into her aura.

Chan's official introduction had went a lot smoother, though, Seungmin wished the wolf hybrid could have met Eve. They surely would have gotten along great. Both were empathic, kind and selfless. Not to mention that Eve would have been ecstatic to meet the boy she had heard bits and piece about from her beloved son. It hurt a little to think about the literal angel that had been Kim Eve. Still, Seungmin knew he hadn't grieved her as much as Byungho had and still did.

Seungmin snuck a glance at Byungho, who sat to his right. Just like Wonpil he felt relaxed and confident enough to let his black wings show. His the corners of lips pulled up into a smile whenever Lucifer mentioned something funny enough to elicit that reaction. The soft feathers of the pitch-black wings occasionally brushed Seungmin's arm when Byungho moved. The contact reminded the redhead of the comforting touches Eve would provide whenever he was sad or upset or just needed a mother capable of compassion and empathy.

With a small sigh Seungmin took his attention away from his older brother. There was no point in reminiscing in what was lost, though, he wished he could have turned time back far enough to also save Eve and Athea. It would have spared his family from a great deal of grief, but if Lucifer was capable of doing so he would have done it.

It was weird how Seungmin and Byungho along with their father could remember another timeline. A timeline in which Ms. Hwang, Minho, Jisung, Zendala and maybe even Byungho had died to the hunters, while, Seungmin had lost the last bits of his humanity and ripped Reinhard apart, causing his remaining friends to fear him. A small shudder chased down Seungmin's spin just thinking about it, though, the incident had a good after effect. Seungmin's moral compass had settled itself after being exposed to the horror of ripping apart another living being.

Seungmin quickly derailed that train of thought and went back to musing about different timelines and how he had literally experienced what had only been written down as mere theories. It was, of course, less glories and exciting as the theory made it out to be, because there were rules he now had to obey.

After the Kim brothers had returned home from the rescue mission, Lucifer had pulled Seungmin and Byungho to the side and explained to them in length what they should and shouldn't do with their newfound knowledge. For one, Byungho could only remember the other timeline because he had been pulled into a timeless space before time was set back and had only been send back to earth after the new timeline had already been created. Admittedly, the explanation left Seungmin with some questions, but Byungho hadn't seem like he wanted to. Talk about it and Lucifer didn't elaborate, so Seungmin had dropped it. The next thing had been how they couldn't talk about the other timeline, which in Seungmin's opinion was a given, but Lucifer had made it really clear to them.

Yet, the most interesting thing Lucifer had explained without being prompted, was how Jisung was connected to all of this. According to Lucifer, Jisung was a seer, a magical creature with the ability to see different timelines and realities. The most powerful ones can even interfere with fate and create new realities and timelines by preventing certain things from happening. But - and it was a big but - Jisung had yet to tap into his full potential. To Seungmin's question if he was allowed to help, Lucifer had replied with a simple 'No'. Seers had to get hold of their powers alone and then follow their destiny. It was something predetermined by the gods and would surely elicit a reaction from them if disturbed.

It was truly annoying how Seungmin was in reach of so much information and knowledge, but wasn't allowed to use any of it. He could only keep it to himself and maybe if he did things right help from the shadows. Granted, it was something he was good at doing, but it was more if he choose to do instead of being forced to do it. Either way, it was nice to know that he could now nudge Jisung into the right direction if the other wanted to research his special visions again.

Jisung being a seer explained Lucifer's past interest in the warlock, which was also kind of a relief.  The convenient timing of Jisung's visions was also more logical now. What really bugged Seungmin was how obvious it had been that Jisung could see other timelines. He should have known the second Jisung predicted the whole Michael thing.

Some day, Jisung will be a very damn powerful warlock, and Seungmin hoped dearly that he could still call the other his best friend when that day came upon them.

"Seungmin-hyung, are you even listening?," Samuel suddenly shouted over the table. Seungmin flinched back, blinking owlishly at the young siren, who sat opposite him next to his mother.

"No?," Seungmin said carefully. Samuel huffed, crossed his arms over his chest and fell back into his chair. Rana chuckled in mild amusement, but patted her son's head in sympathy. Meanwhile, Seungmin tried to recall what they were talking about, but the only bit of conversation he remembered was his father describing parties and how fun they could be.

"You just missed the most exciting story ever heard on earth," Wonpil chuckled beside him. The smug grin on his face told Seungmin enough to know that he was exaggerating.

"My bad, I zoned out when father started to talk about parties," Seungmin retorted to which he earned himself a hearty laugh from Lucifer himself.

"Don't be like that. I am sure you would enjoy a good party together with your two boyfriends," Lucifer teased, smirking lightly. Seungmin wanted to snap back and make his father shut up, but the words became stuck in his throat while his ears burned with embarrassment. The only words that could leave his mouth were stuttered and overly defensive and only made the entirety of the table laugh while Seungmin wanted to ground to shallow him.

So, Seungmin started dating Hyunjin and Changbin semi-publicly. Semi-publicly because the entirety of the vampires need to accept Jisung before Changbin can even think about revealing his relationship with a siren and an otherworldly magic user. Still, families and friends knew about the relationship, though, Hyunjin and Changbin had yet to meet Lucifer personally. Seungmin, on the other hand, was very much familiar with Ms. Hwang. They got along great to Hyunjin's embarrassment.

"What's wrong, Seungmin? Cat got your tongue?," Wonpil teased, nudging the younger's side. Seungmin's head snapped towards his older brother. He took a breath and collected himself. Yeah, he could deal with Wonpil's teasing.

"Says the guy who only recently found the gut to ask out his boyfriend," Seungmin shot back, clean and fast. Behind him Byungho choked on his spit before starting to loudly laugh. Wonpil blinked at his younger brother, probably not having expected to get something thrown back at him that fast. Seungmin took that as a small victory and allowed himself to smirk a little bit. Wonpil opened his mouth to retort something, but he was interrupted by the door bell ringing. 

"I will get it," Samuel said, standing up like lighting and dashing for the door.

"That's probably Chan," Byungho commented after having calmed down from his laughing fit. He quickly stood, wings almost smacking Seungmin and followed Samuel. Soon enough Seungmin could hear distant friendly conversation echo through the hall and towards the dining hall.

"You should get going then," Rana urged Wonpil and Seungmin. The plates and silverware started to levitated and Seungmin threw a glance to his father, who idyll sat in his seat merely moving a finger.

"Shush now. Your father and I will take care of this," Rana added. Seungmin and Wonpil thanked her quickly and left the dining hall. In the entrance hall they could already see Chan and Byungho talking while Samuel was on his way to jog back into the dining hall.

"You're not coming with us?," Wonpil asked their youngest brother surprised. Samuel shook his head.

"No, I will watch the coronation with Mum and Dad. Will probably be more fun than standing in a crowd, listening to a speech, but do congratulate Changbin-hyung for me," the young siren answered before disappearing back into the dining hall. Seungmin did question how Samuel was the only one of the Kim brothers that called Lucifer 'Dad' so casually, but then again he was the one, who spent the least amount of time in their wacky family. Did Samuel even know how he had somehow managed to properly unit the family, but just being an attention-needing youngest? Maybe he did. He was smarter than he let on.

"Ready to go?," Chan asked the two redheads. He was already holding Byungho's hand, one black wing was casually draped over his shoulder.

"Yep," Wonpil answered and simply snapped his fingers. Seungmin felt the weight of a coat on his shoulders and his slippers had been exchanged for boots. Another spell, he should learn just for the sake of convenience. Wonpil pulled a black beanie over Seungmin's head, quickly maneuvering the horns into the holes made for them.

Seungmin huffed at his brother, but didn't complain about it. He liked the beanie somehow. It was one of the few garments that accommodated his usually hidden demonic traits, but ever since they arrive in Atlantis they found less and less reasons to keep themselves hidden. A lot of people had seen them fight in their true forms, had witnessed the true extend of their powers, and not one had expressed fear, just understanding. A mystery that was solved and out in the open now.

The same applied to Byungho. The brunet had stopped hiding his wings and had explained his origin to all members of Stray Kids. Though, neither Byungho nor Seungmin ever mentioned Lucifer being the one and only devil. For their friends he was just a really strong demon, the same applied for Lilith. Lucifer himself had said that it was better that way, so they listened to him. and besides it was technically the truth, just worked differently.

Chan opened the door, they all yelled goodbye to Rana, Lucifer and Samuel, receiving a 'Have fun' in return and then they were on their merry way to get to the rest of their groups.

Author's Note: Hiiii. I have not dropped off the face of the earth. Only took me a while to get this chapter out.
FunFact: This is like a part one of two. It was meant to be the last chapter but I saw how long this part was and decided to split it. Maybe you can even tell why I spilt it where I did when you look at the POV of this chapter. So, yeah next chapter will be the last official one. I say official because I will do an additional chapter for a big 'Thank you' note and what I plan on doing after 'We are Stray Kids' is concluded. I can also to a Fun Fact chapter where I write a bit about some 'behind the scenes' thoughts I had while working on this book. I could also combine it with a Q&A if you are interested in that :D
Anyway, thank you so much for reading. Hope you liked the chapter UwU
Remember to take care of yourself, get enough sleep, stay hydrated, and most importantly stay safe!
With lots of love,
Akeminii