EA-LEC: Christmas With Christmas Part 2

It seemed like an eternity for most of the league members that had been invited to the staff party by Tulia and Christmas even it had only been a couple of days. Fenrir was the most anxious as not only he was meeting up with the person who he inadvertently broken down but he and Misty had agreed to hold their date there.


The old Fenrir would normally be excited about having an appointment with two women but ever since he had became self-conscious about his womanising ways, he was feeling rather nervous about it. All he could do was mentally prepare himself for it.


Soon, the fated day had finally arrived for the day of the party. Tulia and Christmas had told the group to go wait for them in front of the Heroes' Hideout and they would prepare for transportation to carry them there. The children were the most excited about it.


"So, what does one do at a Christmas party?" Oswald asked.


"Well, it depends who is running the party. " Remus explained. "However, there should be a lot of colourful decorations, play a lot of Christmas carols and have a lot of Christmas food!"


"So, basically it is pretty much the same as back at the tavern. What is the point of going there in the first place? " Ellen asked.


"I disagree, Ellen." Oswald said, shaking his head. "After all, Miss Tulia seemed quite adamant about this party a grand one. In any case, what does one normally serve at a normal Christmas party? "


"Lots of things!" Erin piped up. "Like mince pies,seven different types of fish and cookies shaped like Christmas trees!"


"Christmas trees? " Oswald asked in surprise and confusion. "You mean this holiday has specific trees?"


"More or less. " Remus shrugged. "They are Fir Trees. Most people decorate them with all of these baubles and lights."


"Oh, and what is the purpose of said decorations? " Oswald asked, leaning his head forward.


"Purpose?" Remus asked before pausing while putting his hand on his chin. "That is a good question. I had grew up with these traditions so I am used to them."


"Oh, I see. "Oswald said with a nod. "I will just ask Miss Tulia at the party. "


"Speaking of Tulia, what kind of transportation do you think she would get for us? " Misty piped up. "I mean one taxi costs a lot of money nowadays and there is clearly too much of us for just one. "


"She didn't say. " Fenrir said with a shrug. "She just said that she would be getting one of her fellow co-workers to get us there. "


"Ooh, whoever the coworker is must be really fun and awesome!" Spot grinned with his eyes lighting up and his tail wagging excitedly.


Before anyone could reply to the Dalmatian's theory, everyone had heard a sudden clapping from behind them.


"All right, all right, all right. Gather around people around my greatness and let's get this over with."


Most of the group winced as they recognised the voice of the person who was behind them.



They all turned around to see a red-clad man with long green hair having his eyes closed and his arms crossed.


"I am bored right down and I wish to go to the staff party as soon as possible so if we could skip the idle chitchat..."


"Mr. Shannon? " Oswald asked in surprise.


The green-haired man then opened his eyes when his name was called. It was then he actually recognise most of the people there. His eyes then blinked twice for a moment. He then gracefully gave his vocal response.


"AAAAAHHHHH!"


"Yeah, feeling's mutual, buddy." Fenrir muttered.


"What are you doing here?!" Shannon roared at the top of his lungs.


"That's OUR line!" Misty snapped while pointing his finger at Shannon.

"I am here to escort some guests to a party that my fellow co-worker had invited there!”


Shannon angrily answered making everyone's eyes widened.


"Wait, YOU are our ride?" Misty asked, not liking where this was going.


"Unfortunately, yes." Shannon muttered. "Of course, if I knew that I would be escorting YOU, I would had refused.”


Most of the group narrowed their eyes at the wizard’s rudeness. Oswald on the other hand, tilted his head to the side in confusion.


“Why, Mr. Shannon?” Oswald asked. “How come you don’t wish to escort us?”


“Excuse me, you questioned my status of the greatest wizard of the world and you are wondering why I don’t want anything to do with you!”


“Wait, is it what I said when we first met?” Oswald asked in surprise. He then gave an apologetic bow. “I am deeply sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”


“Oh, really?” Shannon asked, putting his hand on his hips, not looking impressed.


“That’s right.” Oswald insisted. “I was merely telling you to be more wary about your accomplishments and know your limits.”


Shannon staggered back as if physically struck. “W-What?”


“It’s the truth.” Oswald said. “You claim to be the greatest wizard in the world but you don’t know the basics of magic. I was trying to stop you from giving people the wrong impression and may ask you to do a spell that was well out of your grasp.”


Shannon wasn’t the only one who went slack-jawed. Practically everyone but Ellen and Elizabeth stared with wide eyes at what Oswald had said so casually to Shannon. Elizabeth on the other hand, gave a supportive smirk while Ellen merely crossed her arms.


“E-E-Excuse me? Are you saying that my power is limited?” Shannon asked with a twitching eyebrow.


“I must regret to say so.” Oswald said before shaking his head. “But considering your lack of interest in studying, I am afraid that it is.”


“Whoa, the kid is really tearing into grass-head there.” Misty winced.


“That’s the thing.” Remus piped up. “I don’t think Oswald is TRYING to tear into him.”


“On that note, if your grudge is merely with me, why are you so distasteful of everyone else?” Oswald asked.


By this time, Shannon’s eyebrow was twitching violently with his face turning red. “All right, I will tell you.”


With that, he pointed his finger at the trio of Fenrir, Remus and Spot.


“Those mutts, especially the scarred had joined my inferior brother and his stupid vampire friend in pranking me!” Shannon accused.


“Hey, you deserved it. You seriously needed to chill.” Fenrir said. This caused the others to chuckle at the pun while Shannon gritted his teeth. The trio of Ellen, Oswald and Elizabeth on the other hand, stared in confusion.


“Um, what is so funny?” Oswald asked.


“Beats me. I feel like there was something they had neglected to tell us.” Elizabeth said.


“Or they are just a bunch of idiots.” Ellen muttered.


Shannon then pointed out at Wild Fox. “As for Fuzz-Face over there, he tried to steal away my room’s chastity!”


The bearded man’s eyes bugged out at this. “Excuse me!?”


“Oh, don’t you try to pretend that I had forgotten? Your filthy jacket was in MY room!” Shannon snapped.


Wild Fox merely groaned in annoyance. “Shannon, for the last time, my jacket had been stolen by a prankster and was planted there! I didn’t even knew about where it was until Cathy returned it to me.”


“Oh, like I was more born yesterday!” Shannon snapped. “You had snuck into my room and mast…”


“Shannon!” Wild Fox yelled appalled. “There are CHILDREN here!”


“Oh, it was far too late to pretend to be “family-friendly”, you pervert.” The wizard scoffed. “Look, I get it. I am perfection given form so you are naturally attracted to the ground I walked on but to do that to my bed… That is COMPLETELY unflattering! Especially for someone who is WAY out of his league!”


Wild Fox stepped back, grunting in disgust. Misty on the other hand, glared on with her teeth going all pointy again. No one was going to disrespect Wild Fox like that. She then stepped forward while rolling up her sleeves.


That was when Elizabeth caught on what she was going to do and quickly grabbed the poodle’s wrist.


“Now, now, dearie. There is no need for THAT.” Elizabeth said softly. “After all, if your opinion of him is really that low, then you should take what he just said with a grain of salt. Besides, assuming that he isn’t over-exaggerating for once, he is our ride to the party.”


Shannon crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Elizabeth. “I noticed that you were conjoined to Elliot and Oscar’s hips until just now. I assume that you must be Elizza.”


Elizabeth blinked twice for a moment before looking around at the group. “He is talking about hun and little buddy, right?”


“Yes.” Fenrir said with an unimpressed look on his face.


Elizabeth then nodded before looking back at Shannon. “Then I am “Elizza”.”


Shannon then gritted his teeth and crossed his arms while looking furiously. “You… You were the one who did that horrible sin!”


Elizabeth raised an eyebrow while putting her hands on her hips. “Oh, and what horrible sin that I had done, Prince? No, seriously? I am genuinely curious.”


Shannon was about to answer but then he stopped himself before looking to the side. He quickly feel his eyes going teary.


“I… I don’t want to talk about it…” Shannon said, sounding like he was about to breakdown in a sobbing mess. “In fact, I SHOULDN’T have to talk about it. Nobody should.”


Everyone looked at each other in confusion.


“Elizabeth, what did you DO to him?” Wild Fox asked.


The tan-skinned woman merely shrugged. “I don’t know. This is the first time we met.”


Shannon then quickly realized that he shouldn’t let anyone see him cry and quickly wiped away his teary eyes before any of them had a chance to fall. He then turned around and glared at the group.


“Well, whatever. If I am forced to transport you all to the party, I might as well get this over with!” Shannon spat. “The sooner I get you… Monsters to the party, the sooner I could break away from you!”


The others glared at the red-clad man but stayed silent and nodded seeing that the feeling was mutual.


“So how are you going to transport us there?” Spot asked, trying to ease the tension. “Do you have your own bus or something?”


“A bus?” Shannon asked before letting out a mirthless laugh. “Don’t make me laugh. Why do I have to use the common public transportation when I got my own!”


Misty’s eyes widened at this. “Wait, you are not saying that…”


“Yes.” Shannon said with a grin. “I will use my superior magic to transport everyone there.”


Everyone blinked twice for a moment while staring at Shannon who was still grinning brightly. They then looked at each other.


They all then walked off. However, Fenrir and Ellen grabbed the hands of Spot and Oswald respectively and gently pulled them along, leaving Shannon with wide eyes.


“Well, I guess we are hoofing it.” Misty said with a shrug of her shoulders.


“Typical.” Ellen muttered. “So where is this place the party is going to be taking place?”


“Okay, I know the NAME of it, I just don’t know the location.” Fenrir shrugged.


“It can’t be helped, lovely.” Elizabeth shrugged. “Besides, it would give us a great chance to see some of the Christmas sights.”


Shannon slumped his shoulders while watching with a stunned look on his face. However, said stunned look turned into one of anger with his teeth clenching together and his face turning bright red. He then finally rushed after the group.


“GET BACK HERE!”


/-/-/-/-/-/


It took a few minutes but Shannon had managed to convince everyone to let him teleport them. Though he, Erin, Oswald and Elizabeth had a hard time trying to convince Misty and Ellen. Soon, they had all agreed to Shannon transport them to the party.


The whole thing wasn’t as bad as they all assumed. It literally took a couple of seconds for Shannon to engulf everyone in a purple light and teleport them all in one place. Of course, he insisted Wild Fox should stay at the end for obvious (at least in the wizard’s mind) reasons.


Soon, they had appeared in front of their destination while startling several people. The group looked around to find themselves on a random street in Belcazzar surrounded by buildings.


“All right, we are here. So that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Shannon asked.


“Fine, fine, you got us all here in one place.” Misty said, rolling her eyes. She then looked around. “So where is the party anyway?”


Shannon then pointed up at a nearby office building. “Up there. We rented out the fifth floor.”


Everyone looked up and it was just like Shannon said. They were flashing lights coming from the window.


“Wow… Sounds like things are starting to heat up.” Spot said with sparkling eyes.


“Looks like it.” Shannon said. “Well, I did MY part. Now I have to get away from as soon as possible before…”


“Guys, you are here!”


Shannon yelped before leaping forward and latching onto the nearest person. Ironically, it was a surprised Wild Fox. The wizard held on for dear life before shaking like a leaf. He then slowly turned around to see who had scared, even though he already knew who it was.


Tulia stood stunned with Christmas standing behind her with a deadpan look on her face.


“Oh, I am sorry, Shannon. Did I startled you again?” Tulia asked sheepishly.


“Yes!” Shannon snapped. He then noticed that he was latching onto someone. He slowly looked up to see Wild Fox, still looking down at him confused. He then screamed before letting go of Wild Fox, letting him to fall onto the ground with a dull thud.


“Well, in any case, I really appreciate you transporting these guys here.” Tulia thanked.


“Don’t mention it!” Shannon snapped while picking him off the ground and dusted himself off. “No, seriously, don’t! If I knew that the people you wanted to transport were THESE guys, I would had refused!”


Tulia’s smile vanished. “Why? What happened?”


“Don’t ask!” Shannon scoffed. “Anyway, where is Naza? I need to ask her about something!”


“Um, she is in the party.” Tulia explained.


“Good, then I am going on ahead. Don’t wait up!” Shannon snapped while walking off. “Like ever!”


The others watched him enter the building with negative expressions.


“Ugh, remind me while you let THAT guy transport.” Misty spat.


Tulia merely shrugged. “I just thought that it would be easier than renting a coach.”


Oswald then stepped forward and bowed politely. “Oh, Merry Christmas, Miss Tulia and Miss Christmas. And Happy Birthday!”


“Oh yeah!” Spot said before smiling. “Happy Birthday, Christmas!”


“We are sorry that we don’t have any presents for you but we didn’t knew what you liked.” Wild Fox apologized.


Christmas shook her head. “It is all right, I am fine with that. I am just glad that you all came.”


“We wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Elizabeth smiled.


“That is great to hear!” Tulia grinned. She then gave a seductive smirk. “Besides, Fenrir, it is nice to see two handsome men with us tonight!”


Wild Fox’s eyes widened before he looked to the side with his face turning red. Spot on the other hand blinked twice before looking at Ellen at confusion. Soon, the redhead caught on and shared the same expression before Spot looked back at Tulia.


“Um, Ellen’s female.” Spot said.


Everyone’s eyes bugged out at this.


“That idiot… He just stepped on a landmine!” Fenrir winced.


Ellen on the other hand, blinked twice. She then narrowed her eyes.


“Just when I thought you couldn’t get anymore more dense.” Ellen said before shrugging. “But she may be talking about me so whatever.”


Most of the people had then sighed in relief, pleased that Ellen didn’t took that comment too personal. Not too many women would just like a comment like that slide.


“R-Right, in any case, is there any questions before we go into the party?” Tulia asked.


Erin then raised her hand.


“Yes, Erin?” Tulia asked.


“Um, yeah? How about Christmas is called Christmas?” The poodle girl asked.


“Oh, I was just thinking about that.” Remus piped up.


Christmas winced at this before looking down.


“Oh, sorry, is it a touchy subject?” Remus asked.


“No… Just a cheesy one…” Christmas muttered before sighing.


“Oh, come now, it can’t be THAT bad.” Spot said, crossing his arms.


“Oh, it is…” Christmas spat.


She then proceeded to tell everyone about her family and what they had in mind when they were naming her.


“So because I was born in December and I was their greatest gift, that is the reason I am named Christmas.” Christmas said with her head now.


“Ah, now I see.” Wild Fox said with an understanding nod.


“I give your parents points for the sappy background and reason, but they know there’s a person at the end of the name, right?” Ellen asked. “I am sorry, Stripes, but I can’t take a person, whose name is more related to a fat man in red pyjamas giving out freebies that seriously.”


Christmas physically winced at this.


“Ellen, don’t be rude.” Oswald scolded. “Besides, what you said was inaccurate. It is New Year’s that have Santa Claus. Christmas is celebrating the newborn baby.”


Everyone paused, while staring down at Oswald.


“Um, right, I nearly forget about you in all the excitement.” Tulia said while chuckling nervously. “In any case, shall we go inside?”


“Might as well.” Ellen said with a shrug.


Everyone then soon agreed as they made their way inside of the building. They then proceeded to make their way over to the stairs and made their way up.


“Incidentally, Miss Christmas, may I be so bold and ask why your family had decided to limit your magic?” Oswald piped up while moving up the stairs.


This completely took the white tiger off-guard. “Come again?”


“I mean focusing only on ice-based magic.” Oswald explained. “I mean focusing on a single form of magic is a key step in increasing one’s overall skill level for higher rank spells. But focus on such a limiting form of an element feels rather, limiting. Wouldn’t the subject of freezing be a much better option?”


Spot blinked twice. “Um, what?”


“I think Oswald is asking why Christmas and her family tree only focuses on ice magic when there are a lot of other spells to do.” Wild Fox explained.


“That is correct, Mr. Wild Fox. From what I heard, Miss Christmas’ family are no strangers to the world of magic.” Oswald said before turning back to Christmas. “Are you quite certain that they don’t have mastery over basic elemental concepts?”


Tulia winced at this. This was exactly what she was trying to avoid. Christmas thinking about her limitations. And now Oswald had brought up even more limitations. She turned towards Christmas for a moment.


On one hand, Christmas didn’t seemed the least bit upset, much to the cow’s relief. On the other hand, she looked greatly confused. As if she was told something that was spoken in another language.


“Um, well, we don’t mastery over basic elemental concept because we don’t live under the sea and next to a volcano.” Christmas explained, confusing everyone.


“I-I’m sorry?” Oswald asked.


Christmas let out a deep sigh. “Ancestors had always started out in the Amaranth Falls for as long as I could remember. I don’t know why we lived there for so long. I mean it is not like the cold had bothered us but still. In any case, we were so used to the cold that we just… Lack of a better word, bonded with it.”


“Hmm, I could see your point with why your family had been so associated with ice but that still doesn’t explain why they haven’t bothered to study other elements.” Oswald explained. “I had been to the Amaranth Falls before. I am pretty sure that you could practice water magic there.”


Christmas merely shook her head. “Kid, you are asking the wrong tiger. I am currently trying to work on basic ice magic. Trust me.”


“Oh, alright, then. In that case, I just have to ask your relatives.” Oswald nodded.


Christmas looked back at the child in confusion. “Relatives?”


“You know. Your family members that would be attending the party.” Oswald piped up.


Tulia’s eyes bugged out while Christmas gave a small wince.


“They’re… Not coming.” Christmas said softly, making most of the others go wide-eyed.


“What?” Erin asked.


“But… It is Christmas, Christmas!” Spot exclaimed. “AND it is your birthday! How come your family isn’t coming?”


The white tiger let out a sigh. “It is a long story. I just need some distance away from them for a while.”


“Why? What happened?” Spot said sadly.


Christmas shook her head. “It is not important right now.”


“Not important? But Christmas…” Spot started.


Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw Wild Fox casting the Dalmatian a solemn look while shaking his head. Spot was about to retort but merely frowned and weakly nodded.


“Um, right…” Tulia said before looking ahead. “Oh, hey! We made it to the party!”


Indeed, the cow was right. The group could hear music coming from a door. Also, they seemed to be hearing a lot of people talking.


“Come on, guys! Let’s go!” Tulia cheered before turning her hand on the knob and turning it before entering it.


Everyone soon followed suit into the room to see what was going on. There, they saw the actual party. It looked like every other people with tables and chairs with lots of food and drink on it. The walls were decorated with thistle lines and had a large Christmas tree that was decorated from left to right with colourful baubles and had a beautiful gold star on it.


Just like they expected, there were a lot of people everyone. They were doing various things involves drinking, dancing and speaking with their friends.


“Wow, looks pretty neat!” Spot smiled.


“Yeah, everyone already seemed to be having fun!” Wild Fox said.


“But of course!” Tulia grinned. “Now that we are here, we could have nothing more but sweet innocent talk!”


Suddenly, they all heard a large grunt of disgust. They all turned their heads to see a woman long, dark hair and glasses storming away from Shannon.


“All right, Shannon, I am going to pretend you had never asked me that!” The woman said.


The green-haired man then rushed after her. “Wait, Naza! Please, I really need your help! I need to get my couch neutered!”


Everyone’s eyes bugged out as they froze in their spots, processing what they had just heard to their brains.


“Wait… Did he just said what I thought he said?” Ellen asked.


“If by hearing that he asked to neuter his COUCH, then yes, I think so.” Wild Fox said, completely stunned.


“How do you even do that?” Erin asked, scratching her head.


Misty shook her head. “I had stopped asking questions about this place?”


“I didn’t know couches could even be neutered.” Oswald said, genuinely confused.


Elizabeth then snapped out of her shock and gave a smirk. “Remember, little buddy, we are in another world. Things work differently here.”


“Okay, I am been on this planet since birth and I had NEVER heard about neutering a couch.” Christmas said.


“Yeah, I didn’t even know that couchs HAD gen…” Tulia started.


“Um, guys? Can we drop the subject?” Fenrir piped up. “I literally just got here and I am already feeling queasy.”


“Yeah, seriously.” Ellen agreed before she walked off. “I am going to get a drink.”


The others watched her leave.


“What’s the point of coming to a Christmas party if she is not going to interact with anyone?” Tulia asked.


Fenrir shook his head. “Ellen does what she wants.”


“I guess.” Tulia said. She then put her hand to her fist and coughed twice. “YOO-HOO!”


Nearly everyone stopped what they were doing to turn their heads towards the group.


“Here is the birthday girl!” Tulia said, motioning to Christmas who shrank back.


This resulted in a lot of smiles and people saying “Happy Birthday!” to Christmas. The white tiger merely scratched the back of her head. Suddenly, the woman that Shannon was speaking with had stepped forward.


“So you must be Christmas. Hello, I am Naza.” The woman said, holding out her hand. “Pleased to meet you. Tulia had told us a lot about you.”


“Yeah, vice versa.” The tiger said with a weak chuckle.


Naza nodded before looking around at the group. She then noticed Fenrir, Remus and Spot and stared at them. The trio saw this and looked confused.


“Is… Is something the matter?” Remus asked.


“No, it is not that… It’s…” Naza said. “Had we met before?”


Fenrir blinked his good eye twice before pausing. “Now that you mentioned it, I think I recognized you from somewhere.”


“Yeah, same here. Weird.” Naza said before shaking her head. “In any case, glad to have you here.”


“Glad to be here.” Fenrir said with a slow nod.


“So you must be Fenrir, right?” Naza asked.


“That is right.” The wolf said with another nod.


Naza then looked over at Misty. “Which makes you his date, Misty, correct?”


The poodle’s eyes bugged out before glaring at Tulia “What!? How many people had you told about us!?”


The cow sheepishly poked her fingers together. “Um, practically everyone?”


“What part of we don’t want to make a scene about it, don’t you understand?” Misty said angrily.


Fenrir on the other hand, merely let out a deep sigh. “Just let it go. Knowing Spot, he would probably blah to everyone here about it anyway.”


“Yep, I will!” Spot said with a large grin.


Fenrir cast at the Dalmatian an annoyed glare. “That was NOT a compliment.”


“In any case, shouldn’t you two get started?” Elizabeth asked. “Just because we all came here together doesn’t mean you have to have your date right next to us.”


“Um, well… I want to but…” Fenrir said softly.


He then looked over at Christmas for a moment. The white tiger merely shook her head.


“It is fine. I still got Remus to talk to.” Christmas reassured.


“Yeah, just go on your date you two.” Remus smiled.


“Don’t worry about us.” Erin agreed. “Besides, we have to help Oswald learn more about Christmas.”


“Oh, yes, I nearly forget.” Oswald smiled before bowing. “Thank you, Miss Erin.”


Erin’s smile vanished. “MISS? We are both the same age!”


Remus merely shook his head. “Don’t worry, it will only take him a few times to stop calling you that.”


“Well, in any case, let’s go have some fun, kiddies!” Tulia grinned. “Come along, Christmas!”


The tiger nodded before she, her friend and the children had walked off with the others watching them leave.


“I had heard from Tulia that Oswald has came from a world that didn’t had Christmas.” Naza said solemnly.


Misty’s eyes widened. “What? Is nothing secret with that woman?”


“To be fair, Oswald wasn’t exactly shy of admitting that.” Wild Fox shrugged.


“Yes but still…” Misty said in annoyance.


“Sorry about Tulia, she gets over-emotional about these types of things and have them spill out all over.” Naza apologized. “In any case, I am glad that she and your friends will be giving him the Merry Christmas he deserves.”


“Yes, same here.” Wild Fox said with a smile.


“Well, anyway, just call me if you need anything.” Naza explained.


The others nodded before Naza turned around and walked off. Suddenly, Elizabeth had wrapped her arms around Spot and Wild Fox startling the two men.


“Come on, men! Let’s mingle for a bit!” Elizabeth smiled before taking the two off.


“R-Right.” Wild Fox said before smiling.


Fenrir and Misty watched the three leave before they had both realized that they were all alone. This left an awkward silence between the two of them as they looked around.


Finally, Misty let out a sigh of defeat before looking at Fenrir.


“Sooo… Wanna get a drink?” Misty asked.


“Yeah, sure, why not?” Fenrir said nervously.


The two then walked off towards the table that had the drinks on it. After taking a couple of drinks for themselves, they both continued their awkward silence with each other. They had both stared in their drinks for a few moments.


“I am sorry… I know that this sounds really weird from me.” Fenrir said. “But I am not having that much luck of thinking up things to say.”


“I can’t say that I am not feeling the same way.” Misty said with a deep sigh. “Well, might as well talk about what we BOTH know about.”


“Oh?” Fenrir asked with a raised eyebrow.


“Fighting.” Misty said. “I do know this much that it is not a good topic to go on a date so it is better than nothing. So who had taught you how to fight?”


“My dad.” Fenrir said looking to the side. “Back for as long as I could remember, he rarely lost a fight and he taught me some martial arts when I was little. He wasn’t that well-liked but I had always respected him because he had looked after me and my brother.”


“Heh. Your father must be very strong to rarely lose.” Misty noted.


“Yeah, he was.” Fenrir said with a nod. “Not only was he was incredibly strong but he was also cool-headed. He never lost his cool in a fight.”


He then looked to the side with a sad expression on his face. Misty noticed this and frowned, having a good idea why. She could imagine his father losing his composure when he saw the corpse of his dead wife and his sons in trouble.


“So…” Misty said, deciding to change the subject. “After your father passed away, who had taught you?”


Fenrir shook his head. “I was forced to teach myself. The only person who had a similar fighting style to my father is my uncle. So I didn’t had anyone to teach me.”


“So you had managed to learn the rest of your lessons by yourself WHILE looking after your brother?” Misty asked in awe. “Whoa, that must had been some dedication.”


“What can I say? I had reason not to lose.” Fenrir said. “Besides, I wasn’t alone. I grew up in a tavern held up a family friend until I was old enough to fend for myself.”


“I see.” Misty nodded.


Fenrir nodded. “Besides, you of all people are giving me far too much credit.”


“Me?” The woman asked with a raised eyebrow.


“Yeah. Didn’t you grew up fighting from a young age to protect Erin as well?” Fenrir asked.


Misty winced before looking to the side for a moment. Fenrir stared in confusion and concern, wondering what he had said to trigger such a reaction. Suddenly, Misty then let out a deep sigh before Fenrir could say anything.


“No. No, I didn’t.” Misty finally admitted.


Fenrir blinked his good eye twice. “What… What do you mean?”


Misty looked up. “The thing is, I wasn’t always fighting pit fights to get money just for me and Erin to get by. There was once a time that Erin and I had normal lives. We lived our mother in a city and had a lot of friends.”


“Uh-huh.” Fenrir nodded, realizing that such a peaceful life was doomed to last with the sisters.


Misty then gave another deep sigh. “However, there was one major problem. Our city was being run by a corrupt governor bent on power.”


Fenrir’s good eye widened. “What?”


“Yes, me and my friends had always expected that creep to be up to no good…” Misty said. “But it wasn’t until that day that forever confirmed my fears.”


“Why?” Fenrir asked, not liking where this was going.


“One day, my mother had left our family heirloom in the hands of us after she had found out that Hiss wanted it.” Misty explained. “It was a gem that actually had some kind of incredible power.”


“And if said power reaches the hands of that crook, hell will break loose.” Fenrir frowned.


“Yeah, my mother had to run away because she apparently knew the secret to the gem and I and Erin were forced to fend off Hiss and his goons by ourselves.” Misty nodded.


“Whoa, so THAT is why you took up martial arts.” Fenrir said in awe.


Misty shook her head. “I had taken up martial arts long before that whole incident happened. I took it up to protect my sis. I never knew that I had to use them to fend off cronies of a corrupt politician.”


“Sooo… What happened?” Fenrir said softly. “How did you get all of the way from your home to Sivermine?”


Misty hanged her head. “The battles against Hiss… They had became far too wary. Sure, we had more than a few friends to help us but it was still too intense. We had no choice but to run away. Of course, that would do little to make Hiss stop sending his goons after us so we did what I thought was the logical thing to do. Go somewhere that Hiss would have an enemy so powerful that not even he would mess with.”


“The Silvermine mob…” Fenrir said with his ears drooping.


“That wasn’t without a doubt one of the worst decisions of my life.” Misty sighed. “Because of it, Erin got kidnapped and I had to go through that stupid tournament to rescue her.”


Fenrir shook his head. “N-No, that wasn’t dumb. You was in a desperate situation and you were forced to live there. Granted, it turned out horribly but I could understand why you did so.”


“I guess…” Misty said softly. She then shook her head. “But it doesn’t matter. Hiss and the Silvermine mob are nowhere near here.”


“R-Right. Incidentally, what happened to your gem?” Fenrir asked.


“It is in our room.” Misty casually explained.


Fenrir’s good eye widened. “Really?”


Misty turned towards Fenrir. “Yeah, the only people who know about the gem besides me and Erin is Wild Fox. We could finally go around Elarthe without worrying about anyone going to steal it.”


“Whoa, you had been through a lot…” Fenrir said softly. “You must really miss your mom, huh?”


“Yeah, I can’t help but to stop worry about her.” Misty said sadly. “I mean she is fighting for her life to not to get captured from those creeps.”


“You must really wish that she was here with you at your side…” Fenrir said.


“Yes… I do.” Misty said. She then raised her head a bit. “But it is all right.”


“Hm?” Fenrir said.


“I am a grown woman. I am strong enough to fend for myself.” Misty explained. “I know it is hard but I don’t need my mom holding my hand.”


Fenrir physically winced at what Misty had just said. This was exactly what he was doing with the pair of sunglasses. He wanted his father to be there for his time of need. He couldn’t help but feel like a little useless brat when Misty had said that.


Maybe he was a brat. Just because he was at his lowest point doesn’t make it right to cry for his dead father, trying to help him to move on.


“Sooo…” Fenrir said, desperately wanting to change the subject. “Why me?”


“Hm?” Misty asked, turning towards Fenrir.


“Why do you suddenly trust me enough with this secret?” The wolf expanded.


Misty stayed silent for a moment as if trying to figure out how to answer the question. After a few moments, she gave her answer.


“I forget…”


Fenrir’s good pupil shrank when he heard this.


“Come again?”


Misty sheepishly looked to the side. “I forget…”


Fenrir blinked twice. “How did something like THAT slipped your mind?”


Misty looked at her date. “Well… At first, I was just focusing of having Erin recover from that horrible experience in Silvermine so I tried my best to avoid speaking about our hometown and Silvermine. In the end, I had completely forgotten about it. In fact, the only times I talked about it was when Wild Fox brought it up.”


“Well, fair enough…” Fenrir shrugged.


“Honestly, there are a couple of other people I could trust with my secret.” Misty said. She then looked up. “That being said, I believe I should trust you because on how open you were with your own past.”


Fenrir looked to the side. “I never told you. Spot did. I mean not that I didn’t wanted to tell you but…”


“It is all right. It is not something you wish to talk about…” Misty said solemnly. “Listen, just let me know that you could tell me anything.”


It took all of Fenrir’s effort not to physically wince. All he could remember was keeping not only her but everyone about the sunglasses. In fact, the only person who knows was Ellen and that was only because he didn’t knew that he was listening until the last moment.


“Um, right… Thank you.” Fenrir said.


“No problem. I know that I trust you enough to tell you anything.” Misty said before smiling. “I believe you get more mature with every passing while.”


Fenrir’s face turned beet red. “R-Right… You are someone who I could rely on too...”


Misty actually chuckled at this. A part of her felt like a hypocrite for doing so seeing how flushed SHE was when comforted about the date but it was still a rare sight to see Fenrir’s blushing like this, even if it was for the smallest of compliments. Then again, it was exactly why she felt at ease in accepting her date offer.


/-/-/-/-/-/


Remus and Erin watched from afar with grins on their faces. From what they could see, their older siblings seemed to be having a decent time with each other. It was much better than what they usually expected. Christmas noticed this and walked over to the children with a confused look on her face.


“You two seemed content with your siblings dating.” Christmas noted.


“Oh, we are!” Remus said with a grin.


“We had been waiting for far too long for those two to start dating!” Erin smiled.


“Really? That long?” Christmas asked.


“Yeah…” Remus said with his ears drooping. “However, my brother is a womaniser and that kinda doesn’t sit well with Misty.”


Christmas’ eyes widened. “Fenrir? A womaniser? I thought his face was about to turn into a tomato when we been told that he and Misty was going out!”


“Yeah, that was long time ago…” Remus explained before trailing off.


Christmas frowned, knowing that this was well-before Fenrir had stolen that blonde woman’s sword and got it stolen by that damned vampire.


Remus quickly shook his head, trying to change the subject. “Anyway, when Fenrir and I took Oswald and Ellen to Psycho Wally’s, he seemed to realize that Misty don’t like said womanising even though the old Fenrir would had just waved it off as a minor inconvenience.”


“Really?” Erin asked with wide eyes. “Wait, do you think that is related to what happened earlier with Fenrir taking Misty alone?”


“No doubt.” Remus said.


“Huh, I never figured Fenrir to be a Casanova.” Christmas said, more to herself. “What else is your brother like?”


“Well, he used to be a pit-fighter before coming here.” Remus said. “He is noted for being quite boisterous and proud.”


“Oh…” Christmas frowned. “So he is used to fighting.”


“Yeah, he had to. We lost our parents at a lost age so Fenrir had to fight to pay for the both of us.” Remus explained.


“Oh my…” Christmas said softly. Even when growing up, Fenrir had a rough time. Having to take care of himself AND a younger sibling.


“Yeah, it is.” Remus said. He then brightened up. “But my brother is strong. Because of him rarely losing a fight, we had a good life before coming here.”


“Well, that is nice to hear.” Christmas said with a small smile.


“So basically the holiday was created by the birth of the first god’s son?”


“That is right! So in a way, we are celebrating someone’s birthday.”


The trio turned their heads to see Tulia and Oswald talking to each other. Obviously Tulia was still telling Oswald about Christmas.


“Wow…” Oswald said in awe. He then frowned. “Wait, then why are we giving presents to OTHER people rather than him?”


“Huh?” Tulia asked.


“I mean instead of giving present to each other, shouldn’t we give them to him as some kind of offering?” Oswald asked.


Tulia’s eyes bugged out before shifting her eyes from left to right. “Um, well?”


“Or is because of the kindness of said that is why everyone is doing the same kindness around here?” Oswald asked.


“Um, yes! That is right!” Tulia said before sheepishly grinning. “You had completely hit the nail on the head!”


“Wow… That makes a lot more sense…” Oswald said softly. He then looked around. “However, this only makes me more confused as to what does all of these colourful decorations have to do with the birth of a god’s son...”


“Um, well…” Tulia said, shifting her eyes from left to right. “You see, the thing is…”


Christmas merely shook her head with a small smile. “Well, Tulia, how is your lessons to Oswald is going?”


“Um, well… Oswald is certainly an eager learner.” The cow said with a nervous chuckle.


“Indeed, I am certainly loving the lessons that Miss Tulia is teaching me!” Oswald smiled.


Tulia let out a small smile. “Well, as long as you are pleased, I am.”


“That reminds me. I understand.” Oswald said. “Speaking of which, I had decided to take part in the traditions of Christmas.”


“Oh really?” Erin asked.


“Yes.” Oswald said before looking up at Christmas. “Miss Christmas, I understand that you don’t wish to have a present but I still feel bad for so many people to come along and not give you one.”


The white tiger shook her head. “It is all right. I am fine.”


“I know you said it but not only is it your birthday but it is also the holiday season.” Oswald said. “All I have to do is find some kind of container and I will produce my present.”


“Oswald, you don’t have to go out of your way to…” Christmas said before realizing how particular word that Oswald said. “Wait, what?”


“Container?” Remus asked, just as confused.


“Yes, I wish to give Miss Christmas some of my ink as a present.” Oswald said.


Christmas blinked twice in confusion. “Your… Ink?”


“That’s right. My body has the ability to contains bountiful amounts of ink.” Oswald explained. “Seeing that you are a fellow magic-user, you may like it.”


Christmas raised an eyebrow. “Um, sorry, but what does having your ink have to do with my magic?”


“My ink is what allows me or anyone to activate magic.” Oswald instructed. “If you were to write any spell of your choice with the ink, it would yield the same results if you were to use the spell by your own hand.”


The others’ eyes widened when they had heard this.


“Really? Your ink could not only give you incredible magic but it could also give someone ELSE said power?” Erin asked in surprised.


“That is correct, Miss Erin.” Oswald nodded. “Of course, the number of spells Miss Christmas could use is very limited. Like if I was to fill an entire average-sized bottle, she should get twenty-five uses at the most.”


Christmas stared down at the child in disbelief. Could this child be telling the truth? Could he actually gave some kind of ink to give her incredible power? This all seemed too good to be true.


Then, it hit her. “Wait, so this is limited.”


“That is correct.” Oswald nodded.


Christmas paused for a moment. “I suppose it will have to do for now… All right, Oswald, I will gladly accept your present if it is no trouble.”


Tulia’s eyes widened at this.


“Oh, it is no trouble at all.” The artificial god said, shaking his head. “It is just as I said. It is your birthday AND Christmas so I would be more than happy to imply.”


“Well, if that is the case, why don’t we go find a bottle?” Remus asked.


“Yeah, surely, this place has one.” Erin agreed. “Let’s get a big one!”


“Oh, yes! Indeed!” Oswald smiled. “The bigger the bottle, the better the quantity!”


With a nod to themselves, they had all walked off. Christmas gave a small smile before going over to follow them.


Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning her head, she saw Tulia with a concerned look on her face.


“Now hold on there, what are you going to use the ink for, Christmas?” Tulia said.


Christmas blinked twice. “Um, to improve my magic. What else?”


“Yes, I know that!” Tulia said before narrowing her eyes. “What I meant is that what are you going to DO with the magic?”


Christmas’ eyes widened before looking to the side. “I think you know what I am talking about…”


“That is exactly what I am afraid of!” Tulia snapped. “Christmas, you are not going to go after that vampire, are you?”


Christmas winced before looking back at Tulia with a glare. “So what if I am? Not only is that bastard back in Belcazzar but he tried to kill Fenrir quite a while back. And judging by the injuries that Wild Fox and that little girl got from the experience. It is clear that he has no remorse for ANYONE!”


“All the more reason to stay away from him.” Tulia said frantically. “This guy killed Lupin, a guy who had taken back lots of dangerous gangs. He is insanely strong! Also, if it wasn’t for that sole photograph, I bet no one would know that Walter would be on Elarthe! It also means that he is sneaky!”


Christmas paused for a moment. She then sighed.


“I just can’t do it, Tulia. I just can’t sit back and let that murderer walk the streets after what he had done.” Christmas said softly. She then narrowed her eyes. “And besides, it may be clear that just killing Lupin isn’t enough for him, he had to make him nephews suffer. How could I just sit back and not honor his death by protecting his family?”


“Yeah, but…” Tulia sputtered.


“Don’t worry, I know what I am doing.” Christmas said, narrowing her eyes. “I never want to feel helpless ever again so I am going to treat this seriously. I know you are concerned but please have a bit of faith in me.”


Tulia paused for a moment. She then hanged her head. “I WANT to believe that is the case but…”


Christmas let out a deep sigh. It seemed that Tulia didn’t trust her enough to carry on with this. To be fair, she couldn’t blame her friend. Whenever she thought about that accused vampire, her vision turned red with blinding fury. She wanted to make him pay dearly.


No, she mustn’t think thoughts like that. She had to be just like the magic of her family. Cool, calm and collected. She saw first-hand what Fenrir went through when he did something very impulsive. No, she had to be patient. Besides, Fenrir and Remus’ safety came first.


“Look, if this is really that important to you…” Tulia said softly. “Just promise me, you’ll be careful.”


Christmas stayed silent for a moment. She then placed her hand on top of Tulia’s shoulder.


“Don’t worry, Tulia, I WON’T lose my life so carelessly.” Christmas said. She then smiled. “After all, Lupin gave me not a second one but a THIRD chance to live. I would never forgive myself if I let his hard work go to waste.”


Tulia paused for a moment, still looking unsure. She then gave a weak smile and nodded her head. Thought deep down inside, she was still concerned for her friend’s life and hoped that she wouldn’t do anything reckless.


/-/-/-/-/-/


In one way or another, everyone was having a great time at the party. They were all doing their own thing and being content with it. However, there was one particular person that wasn’t having that much fun at all.


A man with dark brown hair grumpily crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall while holding a drink in his hand. Most people were quick to notice that he seemed to have two shadowy long arms attached to his back.


“Oh, hey, Dolin, how is it going?”


The man raised an eyebrow before turning his head to see a dark-skinned man walking over. However, he was a cyborg with his arm completely metal as also part of his face. He even had a red cyberntic eye.


“Oh, hey, Dolin, how is it going?” The man with the arms attached to his back spat, mocking the cyborg’s voice. “Just dandy, Leon!”


The cyborg merely rolled his good eye. “Don’t tell me that you are STILL miffed off by that “No Smoking” rule!”


“No, you think?” Dolin spat.


“Ah, come on! You know that Naza had put that rule for the children!” Leon said.


“Children that weren’t even invited here!” Dolin growled. “In fact, they were invited to crash this party!”


“Hey, don’t say that! I know that Tulia was a little reckless inviting ten people…” Leon said.


“Inviting TEN people is more than a little reckless!” Dolin snapped. “I mean I could pass Christmas and the wolves seeing what they had been through but why did Tulia had to bring along TWO more ankle-biters?”


Leon gave an unimpressed look. “If Tulia haven’t invited the kids then you wouldn’t be whining about it at all…”


“Of course not! But now I had to keep this place “kid-friendly”.” Dolin snapped. “Little brats… Getting in the way of MY smoking!”


“Oh, brother…” Leon muttered.


“I just don’t see why I can’t do it here…” Dolin said. “They are nowhere near here so…”


“Pardon me, sirs.”


Dolin and Leon’s eyes widened before looking down. There, Oswald, Remus and Erin were staring up at them.


“Okay, now they did that on purpose…” Dolin muttered.


“Shh!” Leon scolded before looking down at the three. “Is there something wrong?”


“I don’t mean to interrupt your conversation but we are looking for a bottle.” Oswald explained. “A particularly large one, in fact. Do you know where we may find one?”


“A bottle? What are you doing, some kind of scavenger hunt?” Dolin asked.


“No, nothing like that. It is merely to hold something.” Oswald said, shaking his head. “If it is not too much trouble.”


Dolin paused for a moment. Suddenly, he had gotten a big grin on his face.


“Sure, kid, I know just the place.” He said.


“You do?” Remus asked with his eyes lighting up.


“You do?” Leon asked, raising an eyebrow.


“Yes, I am pretty sure that it will solve our little problem.” Dolin said. ”More importantly, MINE!”