#from2013

“No, Count Bleck is not in the mood,” he replied. 

Mimi gasped, her eyes widening. “Please?” “No,” the Count said sternly. Mimi wasn’t budging. “But you can’t spend Christmas alone! Please?” Count Bleck thought about how many times he’d spent Christmas alone, even with Nastasia by his side. His tired expression lightened and he smiled just the slightest bit. “Alright, just let me eat something first.” Mimi squealed and caught him up in a big hug. “Thank you! This is the best Christmas ever!” She ran to help Dimentio and Nastasia bring in boxes of decorations. The Count shook his head with a sad smile and continued on to the kitchen. When Count Bleck returned, a good portion of the massive tree had been decorated. He looked up as he approached and saw that the top of it nearly reached the lofty ceiling of the room. All of the garland and colored lights had been thrown on, and his minions were busy hanging ornaments. Mimi noticed him. “Hiya, Count! You and Dimentio can hang the stuff further up.” Count Bleck nodded and waited for an ornament to be handed to him. Nastasia gave him a glass bulb shaped like a silver bell. He levitated up and hung it on a randomly chosen branch, making sure it wouldn’t fall before he came back down. He noticed that Nastasia was wearing a Santa hat and seemed much more cheerful than she was a few days ago. The sight of the cheerfulness and friendship of his minions surprised him by making him feel happy. After several more trips up and down, all of the ornaments that could fit were hanging, and strands of tinsel were sparkling in the black fire that lit the room. Overall, it was a very colorful, albeit disorganized, Christmas tree. All that was left was the star. “Count, you should put on the tree topper.” Mr. L said, looking pretty happy himself. “Yeh are teh boss after all,” O’Chunks added. Count Bleck hesitated for a moment before taking the star from Dimentio and lifting himself up to the top of the tree. He carefully fit the star over the top branch of the tree, then plugged it in. It lit up with a kaleidoscope of rainbow colors, and his minions gave a cheer at the completion of the tree. He floated back down and was startled by a surprise group hug from O’Chunks, Mr. L, and Mimi. They held him tightly for a moment before letting go. “Thank you so much, Count,” Mimi said, her eyes watery. “Looks good, don she?” O’Chunks commented. “Yup. Now who wants to decorate everything else?” Mr. L asked. “This is a big castle, Mr. L, Count Bleck interjected,” interjected Count Bleck, who had finally allowed himself to be affected by the familial spirit. “We would never be done in time. Perhaps we should focus on this room.” “Sounds great. Now we just gotta do that and get each other presents.” Mr. L continued. “Oh my gosh! I totally forgot about the presents with all the fun!” Mimi exclaimed. Count Bleck nodded, having been considering gifts in the back of his mind but had forgotten about it for the most part. Without any kind of signal, everyone split up to go to their individual rooms and think about what everyone else might want. Walking down the hallway, the Count mulled over what would delight his minions, but couldn’t help but think about what sort of gift she might have wanted…

Two weeks later… Count Bleck woke up, groaned, and rolled over. You couldn’t tell time in this dimension, but he still thought it was too early. Then again, he was never a morning person anyway. He jumped and blinked groggily when the door to his bedroom burst open and Mimi started jumping up and down giddily by his bedside. “Wake up! It’s Christmas!” she said. When he was too slow to respond, she grabbed his arm and tried to drag him out of bed. “C’mon! Get up! There’s presents to open!” “Mimi, patience please. Let Count Bleck get dressed at least.” “Aww, but hurry up!” Count Bleck gave her a pointed look and she added a “please” before bounding out the door. He suspected that if the rest of the minions weren’t awake yet, they would soon be. He chuckled to himself and pulled on his usual clothing. Entering the living room, he saw that everyone else had already gathered. Most of them were still wearing their pajamas. The tree looked healthy, as Nastasia had been taking impeccable care of it. A pile of presents, small but homely, sat under the lower branches. Nobody had much money saved up, so at most they could get their fellows one gift each. Despite that, they had gone all out, trying to make sure everyone came away happy. When they saw him, they gathered into a semi-circle around the presents, leaving a space where he sat down momentarily. After a brief discussion on what order they should open presents in, they decided to go around the circle and open them by gift-giver, starting with all of O’Chunks’ presents to the others. At the end of an hour of shredded wrapping paper, bow fights, and appreciation, they all settled down on the couch to watch Christmas specials on TV. They had all received some very good gifts, but of course each had their favorite. O’Chunks had come away with a new set of weights given to him by Mr. L. Mimi had a brand new diary, gifted by Dimentio, who snickered to himself as he already knew how to break into it. Mr. L had a new green scarf and a massive toolbox filled with new wrenches and a multitude of other useful tools. He thanked O’Chunks profusely for that, who said it was no problem at all. Dimentio had received from Nastasia a set of mystery novels, the first of which he was already reading. In turn, Dimentio had given her a new inkwell and some fancy pens, and she had also gotten some professional-looking notebooks from Mimi. Nobody was quite sure what Count Bleck liked, since he was so aloof most of the time, so he had mostly gotten all sorts of books. He didn’t mind at all, as he loved to read when he managed to find some free time, and truly appreciated the thought. As they all went to bed that night, they felt better than they had in the previous months of failure after failure. Dimentio felt conflicted by the feelings of friendship and comradeship he’d been shown, and by his own feelings of affection. Count Bleck fell asleep with just a little more hope in his heart.

END

[Part 1] [Part 2]

O’Chunks looked at her a little sympathetically. “Yeh never celebrated Christmas befer?” “No? What is it?” she responded. “Well…” Mr. L started. “Christmas is a holiday where you celebrate the people around you and give each other presents.” Mimi perked up. “Presents? Like, totally free stuff?” “Yes, but-“ Mimi cut L off with an excited squeal. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! This is the best holiday ever!” “Lass, it ent all aboot teh gifts yeh know,” O’Chunks tried to explain further. “I don’t care! What’s better than presents?!” Mimi practically shouted. “Eh…Plenteh o things…” O’Chunks said. “Well it doesn’t matter.” Nastasia interjected. “We simply don’t have the time for Christmas.” There was silence for a moment before Mimi said “What?!” so loud that it hurt everyone’s ears. Nastasia looked stern. “We’ve got too much to do. The heroes already have five Pure Hearts and we’ve barely slowed them down.” “But-but-but…” Mimi said, looking incredibly dejected. “C’mon Nassy, yeh kent go en crush teh lass’s dreams like dat,” O’Chunks said, not wanting to see the poor child cry. “Yeah, come on. It’ll be fun!” Mr. L said with a smile. Nastasia shook her head. “There’s just no time.” Mimi sniffled a little, saying ““I’m gonna ask Count Bleck if we can have Christmas!” before suddenly darting off down the hallway. “Don’t bother… the Count…” Nastasia tried to call after her. Mr. L and O’Chunks followed, hoping that they’d be allowed to celebrate the cheerful holiday. Nastasia sighed and followed behind.

Count Bleck fumbled the quill he was holding when the door to his study burst open with a loud bang. Scowling, he turned to see Mimi in the doorway, with O’Chunks, Nastasia, and Mr. L standing expectantly a little ways behind her. “Yes? May Count Bleck help you?” he asked. “Um…” Mimi started, biting her lip a little. “Can we have Christmas.” Count Bleck looked startled at the question, and the glow of his eyes dimmed a little. “Christmas… Why? You want to celebrate at a time like this?” “Yeah…” Mr. L said hesitantly. “I’d be a nice break.” “En I think we ced all use a liddle cheer.” O’Chunks said, rubbing the back of his head. Count Bleck looked at them for a moment, frowning severely. Mimi gave him her best puppy-dog eyes, and the other two followed suit with imploring looks. Finally, the Count sighed and turned away. “You may celebrate Christmas,” he said. “Yes!” Mr. L fist pumped. “Time to break out some decorations!” “Decorations?” Mimi asked, following the two men as they left to go start celebrating right away. “We get to make the castle look pretty?” The Count didn’t turn back until their voices had faded away. He walked out of his study and gestured for Nastasia to follow him. She did, an objection plain to see on her face, but he held up a hand to keep her silence until he was ready to speak. “Let them have their fun, Nastasia.” “But Blu-Count, we don’t have time for such distractions!” Nastasia said, stumbling over her tongue and worriedly looking at her schedule. Count Bleck shook his head. “This is a very difficult time of year for me…You know why... Just…,” he paused, and sighed. “Let them have their fun.” Nastasia looked like she wanted to argue, but refrained from doing so when she noticed just how…deflated her boss looked. His shoulders slumped, and his eyes barely gave off any light. A deep-seated and long-held pain was resurfacing, and she wouldn’t hurt him further by throwing salt on the wounds. She nodded, following along beside him in silence until he reached his bedroom. Then, she gave him a short bow and left him alone, turning innumerable problems over in her mind and hoping that everything would turn out ok in the end.

[Part 2] [Part 3]

Your relief is short lived, however, as your new knowledge doesn’t help to answer your questions. The whiteness that is nothingness is all around you, and you seem to be the only creature there. Turning around, you suddenly realize that you aren’t as alone as you thought. Two beings have appeared next to you, though you can’t remember whether or not they were there before. 

One of them, standing to your right, was a glorious angel. He was dressed in a simple white, silky robe and tan sandals. His body was thin, but strong. His skin was as pale as snow, betraying his supernatural origins. His hair was black and flowed down past his shoulders. His eyes were pure blue, twinkling in his babyish face. His lips were full and luscious, smiling gently at you. Sprouting from his back were two angelic wings of the purest white, only noticeable by the minute details of the feathers. His visage was that of kindness and beauty.

The other being was the exact opposite. He was nothing more than a twisted lump of wretchedness lying limply on the ground, surrounded by a puddle of his own sweat. His skin was covered in cuts, bruises, welts, boils, and all other sorts of injuries. Ruby drops of blood dribbled from pus-filled, open wounds. His eyes were yellow and bloodshot, his mouth filled with crooked, rotten teeth. His greasy brown hair was missing in places and was short and tangled. His hands were crooked, as if his fingers were broken. Here, you thought, is the embodiment of all that is ugly. 

The angel opens his arms to you, welcoming you. His fingers curl back into a gesture that you should follow him. You look again at the broken man and pale with disgust. He looks back with sad eyes, pleading for sympathy and mercy. He slowly shakes his head no, seeing what you are planning to do. 

You walk up to the broken man and kick him, causing him to roll away from you. He softly cries out and clutches his middle in pain. You look at him with contempt and turn to the angel. He smiles at you again, his blue eyes filled with joy at your choice. Let us go away from this place, you say to him. He walks away and you follow. For a time, there is only the barely audible sound of the angel’s sandals clicking against nothing. Days and days seem to pass, until it you think that you will be walking forever, going nowhere.

As soon as the thought passes, the world is plunged into darkness. Instead of the nothingness of white, you find yourself in the empty eternity of black. Your awareness quickly fades away. An unknown length of time passes before you awake again. When you open your eyes, you wish that you hadn’t.

Everything around you is made of flickering crimson. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the room, if it could be called that, were sheer red. Looking desperately around, there is no discernable difference between one area and another. When you try to move, you discover that you cannot. You are lying ona scarlet table, completely immobilized. The only things you can move are your eyes. You hear footsteps approaching, accompanied by a soft laugh. The angel comes forward and bends over you, putting a silver knife against your throat.

He is smiling in full now, and you can see that his teeth are as sharp as daggers. His wings, once white, are now black as soot with a tearing claw sprouting from the joint. His blue eyes sparkle with glee at your helplessness. What are you doing? you cry, terrified. Why did you mislead me? He cocks his head, considering your questions, the smile never leaving his face. He leans in and whispers gently in your ear, Mislead you? No. You simply made the wrong choice. This is the way I was made, and it is no fault of my own. You simply should have listened better. For without the senses of your soul, how can you tell the angels from the demons?

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