EA-LEC: Christmas With Christmas Part 1

It was once again that wonderful time of the year. Christmas time. A time where people would go around in the snowy city of Belcazzar and either buying presents for their loved ones and joining special Christmas events.

However, there was one particular person who didn’t really wanted to do anything at all for Christmas. She was far too busy studying into a lot of books. Magic books particular. She had far too much on her mind and heart to start celebrating.

Her roommate, Tulia frowned as she watched Christmas buried herself in her studies as they sat in their apartment. She had been doing so ever since Lupin’s funeral. It was clear that she still felt responsible for that wolf’s death.

Tulia shifted her eyes from left to right, trying to find something to say. “So, Christmas, your birthday is in a couple of days.”

“Mm-hmm.” Christmas said without looking up from the book she was reading.

“What do you want?” Tulia asked.

“Just a few spell books.” Christmas said, still not looking up. “One that particularly focuses on ice magic.”

Tulia frowned. “But you had gotten nearly every book you could find!”

“We’ll see. If there is any I missed, I will tell you.” Christmas reassured.

Tulia shook her head. “Christmas, what happened wasn’t your fault. You had told that.”

The white tiger then let out a deep sigh before putting down her book and looking at her roommate. “But I still feel responsible. I have to least to make sure that this never happens to me again.”

Tulia then paused. “How long would that take?”

Christmas returned the pause. “I-I don’t know… Why?”

Tulia then narrowed her eyes.

“Are you seriously saying that you don’t know why you would ever reunite with your parents?” She asked in disbelief.

Christmas winced at this before looking to the side, realizing that her friend was right. “I… I had already told them my reasons for not returning.”

“And you just expect them to nod and sit quietly?” Tulia asked while throwing up her arms in annoyance.

“I didn’t do that to spite them!” Christmas scolded. “If anything, I was doing them a favour! I don’t want to return home as the Damsel in Distress who had gotten the brave hero killed!”

Tulia then let out a deep groan before holding her head. It was clear that Christmas’ resolve was rock solid and she wasn’t budging anytime soon. No matter what, she wouldn’t see her parents until she got stronger. However, for all the ice-wielder knew, it could make things worse.

She knew that she had to find a way to try to keep her eye away from her studies somehow. But how? Suddenly, her eyes lit up in realization.

“You know that staff party that we are having?” Tulia asked.

“You mean the one that is due on my birthday?” Christmas questioned.

“Yeah, how about you come with?” Tulia offered.

Christmas merely paused in thought.

“Come on, Christmas! You had studied far enough.” Tulia said. “I think you had earned a break!”

Christmas then looked to the side for a moment, thinking about the situation. Tulia then crossed her fingers, hoping for the best.

“Um, Tulia?” Christmas asked.

“Yes?” The cow asked with hope.

Christmas then looked up. “Can we bring a few more friends?”

Tulia’s eyes lit up upon hearing this. “Of course! Who you had in mind?”

/-/-/-/-/-/

Fenrir took in a deep breath as he put on his jacket and zipped it up tightly. He may be covered with fur but it was better to be safe than sorry. He then sat down on the bed in his room to put up a pair of boots.

“Yo! Yo!”

Fenrir winced upon hearing the muffled voice. Letting out a small growl, he got up from his bed and made his way over to a drawer. Pulling on it, he reached in and pulled out a case. He then opened it to reveal a pair of sunglasses.

“Yo.” The voice said, coming from the sunglasses.

“What have I told you about keeping your mouth shut unless I give the go-ahead!?” Fenrir scolded.

“Oh, don’t be like that! Your brother and that Dalmatian had been long gone since this morning!” The sunglasses said. “Are you just making excuses not to chat it up with me?”

Fenrir merely rolled his good eye. Thankfully, the sunglasses knows how to keep his big non-existent mouth shut when he had company.

“Hey, Fenrir.”

The wolf raised an eyebrow. “Hm?”

“From what I heard, it is December which means it is technically the Holiday Season, right?” The sunglasses said.

“Yeah…” Fenrir said, wondering what the sunglasses were going to go through with this.

“So how many kisses you had stole underneath the mistletoe?” The sunglasses asked.

Fenrir’s good eye bugged out when he heard this as he felt his grey cheeks turning red. “W-What!?”

“Come on, kiss and tell!” The sunglasses begged. “This whole “don’t talk unless spoken to” crap should stop me from ratting you out.”

“I-I haven’t kissed anyone!” Fenrir snapped out of both anger and embarrassment.

There was a short pause coming from the sunglasses. “You can’t tell me you are serious. So many good women and you refuse to take advantage of the Christmas tradition.”

Fenrir paused. “The reason I didn’t “take advantage” is because I never thought about it.”

“What? Why not? I thought you love the ladies!” The sunglasses asked.

Fenrir winced at this. “Um, well… About that…”

“Also, aren’t you crazy about this one girl? I think that Dalmatian had mention her a couple of times.” The sunglasses said. “Misty?”

Fenrir’s good eye widened when he heard this.

“So, are you going to sneak a kiss from her or what?” The sunglasses asked.

“What? No, no, no! If I tried to do that, she would send me flying through the window!” Fenrir cried out.

“If she does that, then she would look like a Scrooge and a heartless person.” The sunglasses said. “It IS a Christmas rule to kiss whoever under the Mistletoe.”

“Yeah, like YOU are all traditional. You most likely see this as an excuse to get free kisses.” Fenrir muttered.

“Guilty as charged.” The sunglasses laughed. “Though I have a question.”

Fenrir merely gave a sigh. “What is it?”

“Would you really feel the same way if you weren’t going through the problems you are having now?”

Fenrir froze when he heard this. The sunglasses noticed the wolf’s shock and continued.

“I know you and I know how much you love women! The Fenrir I knew wouldn’t be that shy. That nervous.” The sunglasses said. “He would just come out and say what he wanted to say.”

Fenrir then paused for a moment before thinking about all of the times he had hit on women. Some had fallen into his charm while others were more than a little annoyed with him. However, he mostly remembered the latter. No matter how many times a woman had said no to him, he had kept persisting.

He then let out a deep sigh, thinking about all of the women he had ticked off due to his womanizing. One particular woman does stand out as he had been always going after her.

“Yeah, I guess so…” Fenrir muttered.

“So Fabio, what are you going to do?” The sunglasses asked.

“Hmm, good question.” Fenrir said with a sigh. “I guess that…”

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

The sudden knocking at the door had made Fenrir jump in his spot while throwing the shades up to himself. He then struggled to catch them before they fell onto the ground, destroying them in the process.

“Oh no! Don’t put me back down gently! Keep juggling me!” The sunglasses said sarcastically. “Wait, in fact, balance me on your nose like a circus seal.”

“Hey, keep your voice down or I might take up your offer!” Fenrir scolded through a whisper before placing the sunglasses back into his case. “Come in!”

The door then opened up as Fenrir looked towards the door. His good eye then bugged out when he saw two anthro females standing in the doorway. One of them he recognized immediately.

“Christmas!?” Fenrir exclaimed.

The white tiger gave a nervous chuckle before waving her hand. “Ha ha. Heya, Fenrir. Long time no see.”

“I say.” Fenrir said before putting the case and walking over.

“Wow…” Tulia said, looking in awe. “You are more handsome than the pictures shown…”

Fenrir immediately froze in his shock with his grey fur, immediately turning red.

“Tulia!” Christmas scolded while elbowing her friend in her shoulder. She then turned towards Fenrir.

“Sorry.” The cow said, wincing from the nudging. She then looked up. “Anyway, hello, Fenrir, I am Tulia. Pleased to meet ya!”

“Um, hey.” Fenrir said. “Pleased to meet you too.”

Tulia nodded her head before the three shared a silence. Tulia then narrowed her eyes before returning Christmas’ favour by elbowing in her chest and motioning her to speak up.

“Um, right…” Christmas said before scratching the back of her head. “So yeah, Tulia here works for a group that plans parties and they are having a little party for themselves in a couple of days.”

“Uh-huh.” Fenrir said while raising an eyebrow.

“Also, it is on the same day as my birthday.” Christmas said while looking down. “Because of this, Tulia had allowed me to come with her. However…”

She then slowly looked up.

“However, I want to invite you and your little brother to come along to the party.”

Fenrir paused for a moment while staring into the tiger’s eyes. The three once again shared an awkward silence while Tulia shifted her eyes from between Christmas and Fenrir.

“Is that… Really okay?” Fenrir asked.

Tulia immediately brightened. “Of course it is! The more the merrier, I always say!”

Fenrir again paused before nodding his head. “Well, if you insist, I would love to come. I am sure that my brother would love to go!”

“Also, if you want to invite any of YOUR friends, you are free too!” Tulia smiled.

Christmas’ eyes widened before glaring at her friend. “Tulia!”

“What?” The bovine said before shrugging innocently. “Like I said, the more the merrier!”

“Does Naza know about this?” Christmas whispered.

Tulia merely waved it off. “It would be fine. I’ll just tell them that it would be my idea.”

“It IS your idea.” Christmas muttered.

Tulia rolled her eyes. “In any case, if you want, you could bring a few friends.”

Fenrir paused before looking at Christmas. “Is that okay with YOU?”

“Oh, don’t worry. I am okay with YOU inviting your friends.” Christmas said, crossing her arms. “I am just concerned about TULIA inviting them just for more fun.”

“Oh, don’t be like that.” Tulia scolded.

Fenrir stared at the two women before shaking his head. “Well, if it is all right. I will tell my friends.”

“Sweet!” Tulia said before pumping her arms in the air. “We would be glad to have you come!”

“Yes, Fenrir, I am really glad that you have came.” Christmas said with a small nod. “I had always wanted to meet up with you, sooner or later anyway.”

The wolf paused, trying not to look away in shame. After all, he was technically the main source of grief for Christmas, albeit inadvertently.

“Well, I wanted to meet up with you too.” Fenrir said softly.

Tulia nodded her head. “Great, so who you had in mind?”

Fenrir then paused before crossing his arms. Obviously, there was Spot who was would just as ecstatic to come to the party. There was also Wild Fox, his current teacher even though he hated to be called that. Also, Elizabeth and Oswald may wish to come. Ellen probably couldn’t care less but agree, albeit half-heartedly.

It was then he had thought about a certain person that he had wanted to invite to the party as well. He also thought about said person’ most special loved one.

“Is seven too much?” Fenrir asked.

Tulia shook her head. “Not at all!”

“Also, two out of said seven are children, is that okay?” Fenrir questioned.

Christmas raised an eyebrow. “If it wasn’t, why would we invite your brother?”

“Yeah, I guess you are right.” Fenrir said with a sigh. “In any case, thank you. I am sure that most of them would appreciate it.”

Tulia raised an eyebrow. “Most?”

Fenrir merely shook his head. “You’ll find out what I mean soon enough.”

Christmas and Tulia both looked at each other in confusion, wondering what the wolf meant.

“In any case…”

Christmas and Tulia turned towards Fenrir.

“Seeing that you are going to be inviting stranger, wanna go meet them one time?” Fenrir offered.

Tulia’s eyes lit up when she heard this. “Oh, yes, please!”

Christmas gave a small smile. “Yeah, that would be nice.”

Fenrir slowly nodded his head. It would be great to actually sit down with Christmas and try to talk about happy things instead of that large tragedy.

/-/-/-/-/-/

“Ehhh?”

“Really?”

“You want all of us to come?”

It didn’t took Fenrir to find all of the people that he had wanted to come and round them in one part of the Heroes’ Hideout to tell them about the party.

“Yeah, you are Fenrir’s friends, right?” Tulia asked. “A friend of a friend of a friend is a friend of mine!”

“Hey, I have that saying too!” Spot said with his eyes lighting up and his hands clasping together.

“See, we are literally bonding already!” Tulia grinned.

Christmas rolled her eyes. “Just like Tulia said, if Fenrir and Remus trust you, then I would like to have you at the party. Even though it is not my own, it is still my birthday.”

Oswald then smiled before bowing his head. “Well, it would be a pleasure to be invited, Miss Christmas. Thank you for allowing us to come!”

“Yeah, I can’t say no to a party!” Erin agreed, nodding her head.

“Me either! Besides, it is a BIRTHDAY party and that is twice as fun!” Spot smiled.

“Ooh, I am liking this guy more and more!” Tulia grinned before putting her hands on her hips.

Elizabeth then stepped forward while putting her hands on her hips. “A free party invitation? Count in me!”

“Yes, I just can’t say no to such a request.” Wild Fox said, nodding his head with a smile.

“Hey, if you can say, I could go, I would gladly come.” Misty smiled.

Ellen on the other hand merely crossed her arms and shrugged. “Eh. Got nothing better to do that day I guess…”

Tulia frowned, when she heard this. “Aw, come on! At least be a little bit more enthusiastic!”

Ellen again shrugged. “It is hard to be enthusiastic when you are going to a party for something that is supposed to be the season of bonding when you have a whole year to do so.”

A few people winced at Ellen’s cold and blunt reply. It didn’t helped about how casual she said the phrase.

“I could plainly see why Fenrir said most now…” Christmas muttered.

Remus shook his head. “I-In any case, I am game too so I guess it is unanimous. We are going!”

“Great!” Tulia grinned. “I will tell Naza to make reservations for ten!”

“Perfect! I had never been to a Christmas party before!” Oswald cheered. “What do you do at a Christmas party?”

Christmas and Tulia paused in confusion at this statement. Oswald quickly caught up and had his own moment of puzzlement.

“Is there something the matter, Miss Tulia and Miss Christmas?” Oswald asked. “You seemed taken back by my comment. Was there something uncommon about it?”

“Um, yes? You had never been to a Christmas party? Ever?” Tulia asked softly.

Oswald shook his head. “Not at all. Such a day of celebration does not exist in our world.”

Tulia and Christmas, along with a few others’ eyes bugged out at this.

“Wait… You mean you tell me that you had never had a SINGLE celebratory holiday?” Tulia asked.

Oswald again shook his head. Most of them looked down at Oswald in sadness. They had heard that he, Ellen and Elizabeth had came from a post-apocalyptic world but they had never really thought it was that bad that they didn’t had any holidays.

“I… I…” Tulia sputtered.

Suddenly, the cow had put her arm on her eyes and gritted her teeth. Everyone quickly noticed that she was shaking violently.

“Um, Miss Tulia? Are you alright?” Oswald asked concerned.

“N-No, I am NOT alright!” Tulia said, sounding like she was sobbing. “It is horrible enough that you had gone through life without Christmas! But you had also gone through life without New Year’s, Valentine’s Day or Easter… You had never really experience the joys of those holidays!”

The others looked at each other as a few others had stopped what they were doing and turned towards her.

“H-Hey…” Al said, walking over to the group. “Is she alright?”

“I-I don’t know…” Misty said.

Elizabeth let out a small sigh before walking over to Tulia and resting a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, Tulia, dear… Don’t cry...”

“But… But…” The cow said, struggling not to break down.

“But what? If anything you should be happy.” Elizabeth offered.

“H-H-Happy? How?” Tulia asked.

“Well, you are about to give my son his first Christmas party. How could anyone not be happy about that?” Elizabeth asked.

Oswald nodded before walking forward. “That is correct, Miss Tulia. I appreciate your concern about me never having a Christmas before but I am more concerned about the present and future.”

“See? Oswald doesn’t seem all upset so either should you.” Elizabeth said with a warm smile. “So come on, smile for me.”

Tulia stopped shaking for a moment before pausing.

Suddenly, she quickly took her arm from her arm with a big grin on her face. “Okay!”

Everyone immediately took a step back at Tulia’s sudden change in her mood. Her eyes were red and misty from her tears but she had a large smile on her face as if she had completely forgotten what she was sad over in the first place.

“Um, well…” Elizabeth then put her hand to her fist and coughed before smiling herself. “See? Well, you realized that there is nothing to be sad about, you immediately brightened up!”

“Right!” Tulia said before wiping away her tears. She then looked down at Oswald. “Don’t worry, Oswald! I promise that your first Christmas party will be a grand one!”

Despite initially taken back by Tulia’s mood change, his expression changed for the brighter as well as he smiled and bowed politely.

“Thank you, Miss Tulia! I appreciate it!” Oswald said.

“Wow, Ellen, your guardian is so cool!” Spot smiled with his eyes lighting up.

The redhead shrugged her shoulders. “You must be more dense than I thought, Spot, anyone would had snapped Bessie out of her little fit.”

Christmas rolled her eyes. “Ellen, you had completely hit the nail on the head.”

Fenrir blinked his good eye twice as he looked straight at Tulia who was now speaking with Oswald. The bovine reminded her a lot like Spot at first glance but still, he would had never figured that she would be that… emotional.

Suddenly, he noticed Misty casting Tulia a strange look at well. Fenrir paused for a moment, remembering his talk with the sunglasses up in the room.

“Um, Misty?” Fenrir piped up, getting the poodle’s attention.

Misty raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, Fenrir?”

“Listen, I know this is sudden but can we talk in private?” The wolf asked.

Misty paused for a moment while looking skeptical. However, she shrugged before looking at Wild Fox.

“Wild Fox, is it too much for me to ask to look after Erin for a bit?” Misty asked.

The bearded man merely shook his head. “Not at all, Misty. Go see whatever Fenrir wants.”

“Thanks.” Misty said before turning to Fenrir. “All right. Let’s go.”

The wolf nodded his head. The two young canines then walked away from the group to speak to each other. However, as they did so, some people watched them leave.

“Hmm… Do you think that Fenrir is going to try again to get Misty out on a date again?” Erin asked.

“I think so. He had been trying to do so for a while now.” Spot shrugged.

Remus on the other hand, shook his head, not looking convinced.

“No, I don’t think so.” The wolf cub said.

Erin turned towards Remus confused. “Really? What makes you say that?”

Remus looked down, remembering a particular conversation he and his brother had in Wally’s Fun House.

“I guess you can say that I am too forward with her. She isn’t the type of person to be looking for a Prince Charming.”

“Fenrir, I am impressed. Normally, you would be more dismissive of Misty’s rejections saying that they are only minor setbacks.”

“Oh yeah… I was…”

Remus merely shook his head. “I can’t say for certain but I just know that is not the case.”

A few others stared down at Remus in confusion before looking in the direction Fenrir and Misty had walked off, wondering what was about to happen.

Meanwhile, Fenrir and Misty had stood beside the staircase that was leading up to the first floor. They then stared at each other.

“Well, we are here.” Misty said, crossing her arms. “What is it you want, Fenrir?”

The wolf then took in a deep gulp. “First of all, I want to thank you.”

Misty raised an eyebrow. “Thank me? For what?”

“For trusting me to talk to you in private.” Fenrir replied.

Misty looked taken back by this. “Where did THAT come from?”

Fenrir then looked to the side. “I just really appreciate that you did so without a second thought.”

Misty blinked twice before narrowing her eyes. “Fenrir, what is going on with you?”

The wolf then let out a large sigh before looking down at his feet. Misty raised an eyebrow with an impatient look on her face.

Suddenly, Fenrir bowed his head forward.

“I am sorry!”

Misty jumped as she stepped back, completely stunned by Fenrir’s sudden apology. Said wolf continued to bow his head downwards with his eye closed.

“F-F-Fenrir?” Misty asked.

“I am sorry for all of the times I had harassed you.” The gold-eyed man explained. “I had kept pestering you to go on a date with me even though you clearly said no every time.”

Misty paused for a moment, relaxing herself a bit.

“I know that you are far from the only girl I need to apologize to but you deserved it most of all.” Fenrir explained. “I had bothered you, annoyed you and in my advances, I accidentally molested you. So I had came to you to ask for your forgiveness.”

Misty stared absolutely stunned by Fenrir’s confession. She haven’t expected Fenrir to come clean and apologize to her like this.

“F-Fenrir…” She said softly. “What brought this?”

The wolf raised his head in confusion. “Huh?”

“What just made you decide to apologize to me?” Misty clarified.

Fenrir then let out a deep sigh. “I think you already knew but after Lupin’s death, things had been… Difficult for me to put things mildly.”

Misty’s face fell remembering everything that had piled on Fenrir. She was surprised that he had managed to more or less pull through despite everything he had been through.

“I had been so mad at myself for getting the Ignis Sword stolen that I had lost confidence and respect with myself.” Fenrir said. “It also gave me time to realize about how much of a tool I was. I kept acting like some hotshot Casanova even though I am pleasantly surprised that any of the women here glared at me with scorn.”

“H-Hey, don’t say that.” Misty said, holding out her hand with a sympathetic look on her face.

“But it is true. Most of the girls I had hit on here merely rolled their eyes at me.” Fenrir said. “You are no different.”

Misty was about to say something but found that she couldn’t.

“So that is why I am apologizing. If you don’t wish to forgive me, I understand.” Fenrir said. “I just want you to know that I will give up my womanising ways.”

Misty’s eyes widened at this. “R-Really?”

“That is correct.” Fenrir sighed. “There is no point in harassing women when they have nothing to do with me.”

Misty paused, looking in thought about what Fenrir had said to her. She then let out a deep sigh.

“Don’t worry, Fenrir, I will forgive you.” The poodle said softly.

“Thank you…” The wolf said softly.

“Also…”

Fenrir looked at Misty confused as the woman crossed her arms, looking a bit unsure.

“If you want... how about you and me... go on a date sometime?” Misty said.

Fenrir’s good eye bugged out, not believing his ears after what Misty said.

“W-What?” The wolf asked.

“You heard me. You had told me that you are truly remorseful for all of the times you had bothered not only me but other women.” Misty said. “In fact, you are cutting yourself way too short. Sure, you were annoying but that’s what you were at worst. It is not like you hit on women just to get in bed with them”

She then let out another sigh.

“I think you deserve the benefit of the doubt so yeah, I will go on a date with you.” Misty explained.

Fenrir paused for a moment, at first still not believing his ears. After all of the attempts of him trying so many schemes to try to get Misty to go on a date with him, they had all failed. But now when Fenrir had vowed never hit on another woman again. Misty had actually accepting to go on a date with him.

Misty on the other hand looked a bit unsure about the whole thing. Not because he was dating Fenrir but she genuinely believes that he wishes to change for the better. However, it was the concept of her going with a date AT ALL. She had never needed a boyfriend in her life so to go on a date with someone seemed foreign to her.

The two then shared a silence with each other that had gone on for a few moments. Finally, Fenrir had broke the ice.

“Thank you, Misty. I appreciate you giving me this second chance.” Fenrir said.

The poodle merely shook her head. “Don’t worry,I trust you, Fenrir.”

Fenrir slowly nodded his head before pausing. “So should we tell the others or not? It is Christmas time and I don’t want people to think that the apocalypse is going to be their present.”

Misty chuckled. “It is all right. I am sure that they were want to know.”

/-/-/-/-/-/

“EHHHHH?”

Fenrir and Misty watched as Spot, Wild Fox, Remus and Erin stared with wide eyes about the news that they were given. The former two then looked to the side, a bit overwhelmed by their friends’ reactions to their news.

“Y-Yes, it is true…” Misty said. “I had decided to go on a date with Fenrir…”

“That’s… That’s…” Erin said with her eyes lighting up. “Awesome!”

“Yeah, you have no idea how happy we are to hear you say that!” Remus grinned.

“I am so happy for you, Mr. Fenrir and Miss Misty.” Oswald smiled while stepping forward.

“Yes, you two DO look cute together.” Elizabeth agreed with a grin.

Fenrir and Misty’s eyes widened before both of them had looked to the side with deep red blushes on their faces. This startled most of them.

“F-Fenrir, are you… BLUSHING?” Remus asked in awe.

The older wolf gave a weak chuckle. “Yeah, you could say that.”

Tulia looked down at Fenrir with a raised eyebrow. “What’s the big deal? He blushed just for hitting on him.”

“Really?” Spot gasped.

Wild Fox paused before giving a small smile, having a good idea why Fenrir was doing so. “Well, best of luck to the both of you.”

“T-Thank you.” Fenrir said sheepishly.

“Just don’t go around and spread it about.” Misty said. “We don’t want to make a…”

She then cut herself off when she saw Spot rushing over away from the group. Everyone turned to see him standing on an empty chair.

“Attention, everyone!” Spot called out, cupping his hands to his mouth while getting everyone’s attention.

Fenrir’s good eye bugged out. “He couldn’t…”

“What is it, Spot?” Cathy called out.

Misty narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth. “He wouldn’t…”

“Well, Misty had just told Fenrir that she was about to go on a date with him!” Spot called out.

Most of the patrons and the waiters had stopped what they were doing and stared at the Dalmatian with wide eyes.

“He did…” Christmas said flatly.

“What? Are you sure?” David, the demon waiter said in disbelief.

“That’s right! They had told me!” Spot shouted.

Nearly everyone turned their eyes over to Fenrir and Misty who were standing there with the both of them looking like they wanted the floor to open up and swallow them whole.

“Congratulations, Fenrir!” Palayo smiled, stepping forward. “I see you had finally worn Misty down!”

Misty’s eyes bugged out before growling and showing her sharp teeth. “Who got worn down!?”

“I… I can’t believe it.” Al said in disbelief.

“Yeah, it must be a Christmas miracle.” Cathy agreed.

Boris, the crocodile waiter on the other hand smirked before looking at David. “Come on, man! Pay up!”

The demon had muttered underneath his breath before fishing out into his pocket a few dollars and handing it into his friend’s hand.

“Hey, wait a minute!” Misty called out. “You were BETTING on whether or not I would cave in!”

The waiters jumped before turning towards the poodle to see her casting them a death glare.

“Um, well…” Boris said sheepishly.

“Yes, that is correct.” Palayo piped up. “In fact, most of the patrons and the staff had done so.”

Everyone’s eyes bugged out.

“WHAT!?” Misty roared.

“Oi, shut up, you idiot!” Boris snapped.

Unfortunately, Palayo ignored him and continued. “In fact, I had betted the most money on you going on date with each other to show how confident in Fenrir’s skills in wearing you down. I knew that ice wall wasn’t that thick.”

Everyone gasped before slowly turning their heads towards Misty who was standing there stunned with wide eyes.

Then, she narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth, showing how sharp they were. Most of the people had looked at each other not liking where this was going.

Suddenly, Misty let out a loud roar before rushing towards Palayo. Fenrir, Wild Fox, Remus and Erin tackled her to the ground, preventing her from rushing off over to Palayo and beating him to near-death.

“One minute! That’s all I need!” Misty snapped.

“LET HIM LIVE, MISTY! LET HIM LIVE!” Erin called out.

Oswald stared in shock. “Goodness, shouldn’t we help?”

“Who? Misty or the elf?” Tulia asked.

Christmas on the other hand shook her head and let out a deep sigh.

“This Christmas may already be interesting…”