#prompt24

Coming out of a mid-fall short translocation was something she could never shake off the disorientation from entirely, but practice had allowed the roe to aim herself and one of those massive blades at the hulk of xaela that had just sent her sprawling. One good gash from that blade and she could put this whole thing to bed. His winning streak against her, her year-long struggles upon the sands, and one last time raising her hand up as champion. One good blow.

As Brem’s blade is moments from digging it’s way to a victory carved out of the opposing champion, the man fires a concentrated burst of energy directly at her unprotected chest. The strike not only cuts every onze of momentum she had clean away, but actually propels her head-over-heels backwards through the air until her body crashes into the Game Master’s dais, crashing the wooden structure and most of what was on top of it down around her. A pair of fleeting seconds of blackness claim her, giving just the briefest moment before the pain starts flooding in from the rest of her body. Broken bones, half-healed gashes reopening, muscles torn and bruised; all of it became searingly apparent in one moment of violent awareness.

Standing was immediately out of the question, she knew her legs were useless at this point and even making the attempt would show it to everyone else. They might be too distracted fishing Kadour out of the rubble to notice it right away, but it was sure to get the fight called in the smug Oronir bastard’s favor. 

He. Cannot. Win.

Not again, not when there wasn’t any layer of excuse left to give. Clawing her way out of two proper fights and assault by an enraged guard captain wouldn’t be enough. If he wont this time, then he would have that trophy to hang above her head, intentionally or not. Coarse palms snatch the grips of her blades and drive them down into wood and sand to haul herself forward from the wreckage so she could set eyes upon the man again. A seething hate poured out of her expression, dripping as readily as the blood from her torn abdomen. He had done something very few had ever properly done in her long career in the arena or in the sky. He had made her more than simply defeated, but weak. The sort of weakness she had felt in Ishgardian chains.

He. Cannot. Win.

Crawling her way over to hack off his ankles wasn’t a viable plan by any means. And it wasn’t how she could let things end anyway. This is the tale of Bremwyda Abylnpfefwyn, and it was not going to feature such a pathetic finish. He was already approaching, likely knowing the win was his to walk away with at this point. He had got the fight he wanted, her at her best, with the twin blades. His excitement had been all too clear at the start of the fight and Oronir was prepared to claim his prize.

He. Cannot. Win.

As her blade dug into the sands properly outside of the ruined wooden structure, a mote or two of displaced aether catches her eye. Even with her own reserves taxed beyond reasonable health, and her body catching a disqualification that never quite finished getting voiced, she could feel the well of energy that had been sitting under their feet all day. Years of spilled blood, boasting egos, and hopeful cheering had been poured into the arena and down into the sands. A pool of violence, energy, and hopes left untapped by the long standing rules on aetherical combat. She was the Queen of these sands, their Champion. Who else had the right to call upon their bounty, to finish the story the way it was meant to be told?

He. Cannot. Win.

What’s left of her magical control goes delving into that well of bloodied aether, drawing it back into her broken and battered form greedily. The source is all too ready to give, flooding into the Sea Wolf as her gaze stays locked upon the figure still moving her way, ready to finish her. To show off her weakness. The energy is almost immediately overwhelming, going from feeling most of what’s left of her power seeping out of her to instead becoming a bloated tick of aether. More than she ever would have had naturally even at peak health and preparation, more than even her body had any right to handle. The roe could already feel the excess burning away at her, lighting the nerves that weren’t aflame from her wounds to join the chorus of pain.

He. Cannot. Win.

The aethertek eye set within her face plate focuses down on the man ready to snatch things out from under her, to make all the bodily trauma and the broken trust worthless with a final swing. She swiftly works through adjusting the shape of the aether flowing through it, building a funnel for the energy her body was brimming with, inverted from it’s normal purpose to serve as the peak of the arcane geometries for one last spell. From the outside there’s little hint of what’s to come other than a flash of intensity within the red glow, but as the shape of the spell falls into place the vacuum of aether created with it starts the violent expulsion from her. A violent torrent of over-filled power comes bursting from that forged orb as stream of levin bolts twisting around one another until they impact the xaela’s chest. The violet stream pours through his core and out the other side to impact the wall behind, causing a burst of light as it drives through the protective shielding and sunders a chunk of the arena walls. Through the entire ordeal the fires of excess aether don’t lessen with the departing of her body, if anything the magical searing gets worse from the focused assault. Every drop of what she had left was being wrung from her.

He. Cannot. Win.

Even as he fell as an unmoving husk, she could feel the snap in the shape of her spell. Not only had she pushed her body past it’s natural limits, she’d done the same for it’s synthetic ones. The last few crackles of energy flew from her metallic eye before the red glow gave out. The chalice of her spell had shattered, but it had lasted just long enough. With people already rushing to the Oronir’s aid, a smile pulled it’s way over the nearly dead giant’s lips. 

Meanwhile, Lily Evans was scolding her husband - “I can’t believe you kept this stupid Santa suit from 7th year.”

“I did make a vow at our wedding to always keep you on your toes- besides, I figured Harry’s presents should be delivered properly,” James was laughing.

“Take that stupid beard off so I can kiss you properly, Potter,” Lily smirked

“As you wish, Potter,” and James removed the beard. Lily didn’t complain when he took off the Santa suit shortly thereafter.

Mr. and Mrs. Potter didn’t sleep a wink on Christmas Eve either.

Which is why no member of the Potter family complained about starting the Christmas Day festivities at 6am when Remus and Sirius Lupin pounded on their front door.

Harry was quick to answer the door and hugged both of his uncles with a “Happy Christmas”

Lily quickly prepared the coffee, tea, cinnamon rolls and (most important of all) bacon for all as Remus and Sirius helped Harry organize the presents. As their breakfast baked, the family happily opened the presents underneath the tree. Harry was excited to receive a new broomstick and a set of quidditch balls. He was busy polishing his new broom with Uncle Sirius while his mummy, daddy and Uncle Remus went to make something called “Bloody Mary’s.”.

Sirius was halfway through telling Harry about a post quidditch party when his mummy first kissed his daddy when he stopped talking and asked Harry, “You aAlright there, little Prongs? You’ve been awfully quiet for Christmas.”

Harry flushed red and responded, “Can you keep a secret?”

“Of course mate, that’s what Uncle/Godfathers are for,” Sirius told him as he ruffled his hair.

“Alright,” Harry started, “I got really thirsty last night and went to the kitchen for some water. I knew I wasn’t supposed to, but I needed some water.”

Uncle Sirius simply nodded, as if this was natural (and as if he was a little proud that Harry had broken a rule).

“But when I looked into the lounge,” Harry continued solemnly, “I saw mummy kissing Santa Claus. And she wasn’t even under the mistletoe!”

Uncle Sirius first made a sound that sounded almost like his laugh, then he started coughing, then he looked a little sick and finally finally spoke in his serious (as his mummy called it) lawyer voice and said, “Yeah mate. Well obviously we have to tell your dad.”

Naturally, this was when the rest of the adults returned and handed Sirius the nasty looking red drink. Sirius thanked his daddy and said, “Oi, Evans- be a dear and bring in the extra bacon.”

Harry watched his mummy roll her eyes and exit to the kitchen.

His daddy started “Sirius- what the f…”

“Listen Prongs- little Prongs has something to tell you-“ Sirius nodded to his godson and Harry spilled it all or again- “I got really thirsty last night and went to the kitchen for some water. I knew I wasn’t supposed to but I needed some water. when I looked into the lounge, I saw mummy kissing Santa Claus. And she wasn’t even under the mistletoe.”

There was a moment of silence. And then his daddy starting coughing and stated, “Right well, guess I better go talk with your mum.”

Harry watched his daddy leave, and started to play exploding snap with his uncles. When he asked “Why?” Uncle Sirius told him, “This’ll probably take a while, mate.”

James Potter entered the kitchen where his wife was plating more bacon and mixing another Bloody Mary with a stern expression on his face. “Lil, we need to talk,” he started.

Lily sighed, “Look, I know you only wanted to give Harry 6 presents but I really really thought he would love the Puddlemere jersey and would want to wear it to the next match and we’ve done all sorts of projects to help others so I know he’ll know the meaning of-“

James stopped Lily’s tirade the only way he knew how- by pressing his lips against hers.

“That isn’t the problem, love,” James started again, “Our problem is that our son saw you kissing Santa Claus last night and you weren’t event under the mistletoe”

All of the blood drained from Lily’s face.

“What the fuck was he doing out of bed?!?” she groaned

“Poor lad was thirsty- seems his mum forgot his water,” James chastised her.

“FUCK. fuck. What are we going to do?” she whispered

“I suppose with just have to tell him the truth,” James started.

“NO! No! Petunia ruined Santa for me when I was eight. And I won’t let it happen to Harry.” And Lily began pacing.

James knew the best thing to do was allow her to pace and work out the problem. After about three minutes she slowed to a stop.

“Alright. I’ve got it.” Lily grimaced, “We have to get divorced. My law firm can do it in a day. Old lady Levins is very quick with divorces and then Harry will have two Christmases and you won’t have to be married to a harlot. Then in 5 years we can reconcile and get married again.”

James blinked at Lily, “Lil- that’s-“

“Brilliant I know! Obviously we can just apparate back and forth to still stay the night with each other but only when Harry is asleep. He will never know and Santa will still be sacred,” Lily stopped pacing and actually fucking grinned at him.

“Lily. No. We’re not staging some Sirius Black level subterfuge to just convince our son that Santa is real,” James stated, totally exasperated

“Keep your voice down!” Lily whisper yelled at him, “Santa is real! He lives in all of us!”

At this moment, Remus came into the kitchen and asked “Everything ok in here?”

“Thank God it’s you Remus and not your daft husband,” James exclaimed- relief evident in his posture. “Please tell Lily staging a fake divorce is the worst way to handle this situation!!”

“How about the truth?” Remus asked in his teacher voice

“NO!” Lily exclaimed

“Lily, Harry is plenty old enough. You’re going to continue to make Christmas magical with or without Santa,” Remus encouraged her.

Lily, tears in her eyes, exhaled, “I just thought we’d have more time.”

With this, Remus and James pulled her into a group hug. After a few tears and bemoaning “where does time go?” Lily finally gave in and said, “the truth. Right, let’s go”

The trio entered into the lounge. As they entered, Sirius and Harry quit their game of Exploding Snap. Lily walked over to Harry and grabbed his hands and started, “Harry, I know you saw me kissing Santa Claus last night. And I just wanted to tell you the truth,” here she took a shaky breath and continued, “the truth is that Santa-“

Suddenly James’ voice broke through, “The truth is Santa is an old friend!!! He forgot the best time to deliver the present to the great squid at Hogwarts was at dawn. And Godric’s Hollow was his last stop so he flooed me and asked me to fill in! Mummy was so happy I helped him she gave me a kiss” he finished lamely.

Four pairs of eyes looked to him disbelievingly.

“Yes, Harry,” Lily said with a little too much amusement in her voice, “We didn’t want you to be upset that Santa had to call in reinforcements.”

Harry was quiet for several moments, “I guess that makes sense”

All the adults present let out a breath they didn’t even know they were holding and then- Harry started again, “But why would Santa choose you daddy? Uncle Sirius’ hair is more like Santa’s- ad he already has a beard”

Silence fell again.

Then laugher.

“Thank you for making the trip from the East gentleman, but if you’re not going to offer serious figures then I do hope you’ve made better plans to enjoy Eorzea.” The sea wolf drops her attention away from the two raen standing in her office down to an open ledger in front of her. It didn’t contain any actual figures, just one long set up as a prop for meetings like this so no one’s wandering eye caught something it shouldn’t. “My girl outside can escort you out..”

“Now, there’s no reason to be so hasty, Miss Bremwyda. We merely are unused to the.. high expense of doing business with the West. What your asking would be a laughable insult in our homeland, we thought perhaps it was some form of Eorzean joke. We would be willing to come up to say.. twenty percent.” The more talkative of the two men did let his eye wander to the door briefly as she’d spoken of the girl sitting outside, but didn’t feel any need to address the blonde further than that. His partner continued to brood like his face was permanently carved into a mask of moderate, bordering on intense frustration with existence itself. “It would be nearly unheard of for our organization but.. I’m sure the exotic nature would spark interest in Hingashi.”

A theatrical flick sends her ledger closed as she looks back up to the pale scaled man, lips slightly twisted to one side. “Twenty-four percent, not a single.. whatever nonsense currency you peddle in less. Otherwise I might as well just throw it into the sea and hope that coin washes back up on the shore.” A momentary pause lingers before she holds up a hand, palm raised. “I am not unreasonable, however. Set up costs eat away at the dealer far more than supplier when going into a new market. The first two shipments will come to you at cost to help you create demand.” The glance hadn’t been lost on the roe, and a smile starts to creep it’s way onto her lips. “I need a couple of moments gentleman to speak with one of my.. associates to confirm we can meet your time tables. But, I wouldn’t leave you without some entertainment while I’m away.”