A/N: Okay, this is my first holiday themed story and crossover fiction. Yaay~! It won't be very long though, considering how close Christmas is but it'll be at least three chapters. The point here is that the chapters will be very long. Lastly, I did my best to keep everyone in character. Enjoy and merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays~!

It was that final sputter before all the lights went out that set off the teenager's groans. Spirit tried to crank the van back up but it was no use. Everyone was thinking it, but no one would dare say it. "Well, it looks like we're walking the rest of the way," he announced a little to cheerfully.

Soul looked out the window at the white forest. "Walking where?"

"Do you even know where we are?" Kid leaned forward over the front seats. "We're lost aren't we?"

"N-No! No, we're not lost I know exactly where we are!" Spirit blurted out. All eyes fell on the redheaded death scythe: some skeptical, some glaring.

"Leave it to Spirit to get us lost in the middle of nowhere," Marie sighed. "No offense."

"That coming from you?" Spirit shrugged and got out of the van. "I'm going to see if there are any houses nearby."

"That's the kind of thinking that put the map in Marie's hands," Stein commented as he closed the passenger side door. "I'm going with you."

"Be careful you two," Marie said.

"Don't worry, Spirit's sense of direction isn't much worse than yours."

Both death scythes glared at their shared meister as he walked away. Spirit reluctantly started after him with Marie left to keep watch over the anxious teenagers. She turned around in her seat to look back at them. Maka held her head in her hands, her father's newest fail just to embarrassing. Patty and Soul were trying their best to freak Crona and Liz out in the already unfavorable curcumstances while Kid stared out the window without the least bit of interest. Tsubaki and BlackStar, surprisingly the quietest pair, had fallen asleep together. Marie smiled at her students then turned back around to keep the look out.

...

An exorcist's work was never truly done and therefore a moment of complete and utter peace was very rare in the Black Order's European Branch. Despite the frost that gathered on the windows and fresh sheet of fallen snow covering everything as far as the eye could see, the branch continued it's daily grind. Truth be told, the amount of akuma activity had decreased quite a bit considering the time of year; not that anyone was complaining.

"And here...is the last one." Reever slid the last stack of papers onto his supervisor's desk. "That doesn't look so bad."

Komui let out a pained wail from behind a second stack. "You don't have to verify and sign all of them! How is there still so much paperwork to be done?"

"Think of it this way, when you get done with these you'll be done...for now."

"For now?"

"If you start now you can be done by midnight, which is when we need them."

"Midnight?!"

"We're counting on you!"

Komui stared after him over the stacks of arduous paperwork. The decrease in akuma activity was a relief to the exorcists, but there was always someone who just had to be stressed out no matter what and that someone was usually Komui Lee. He sunk back into his chair with a sigh and picked up his coffee mug. He stared absently at the remains of his last cup of coffee. "These people think I don't need to sleep or do anything but paperwork," Komui whined. "Isn't there suppose to be a holiday right about now or something?" He sipped the last bit of coffee from his mug and placed it on his desk. "I can't possibly get all of this done by midnight, that's only five hours away~ I wish there were someone else to do this for me..."

Komui was pulled from his thoughts as someone knocked on his door. "Come in~"

Leenalee peeked before going into the office. "I thought I heard someone whinning."

"Don't be so cruel to your big brother! How can you stand by and watch them torture me like this?!"

"Because it's your job."

Komui pouted. Even his own sister was working against him! Leenalee came to stand in front of his desk with her arms folded. "I came to ask when you think Krory would be returning from his mission."

"I spoke with him just yesterday over the golems," Komui stated excitedly, suddenly over his betrayal. "He should have been back this afternoon, but he did let me know there could be a small delay. At the latest he should be here tomorrow."

"That's a relief," she sighed.

Komui perked up. "Why?"

"Sorry brother, I promised her I wouldn't tell." Leenalee waved as she retreated to the door.

"Wait, promised who? Leenalee!"

"I'll be back later with coffee. Do your work~!" she called before closing the door.

Komui plopped back into his chair and pulled frustratedly at his hair. Now he was left with nothing to do but the cursed paperwork! Still, at the back of his mind, he was sure they were forgetting about something...

...

They had been walking for all of thirty minutes now and had yet to come across anything resembling a house or cottage. Spirit walked with his arms folded in an attempt to keep his hands warm. Stein, on the other hand, seemed unphased by the lowering temperatures. They both knew there was nothing to find there. The only other option was pushing the van back out to the road, which was well hidden beneath the sheet of white.

On the upside, if we did manage to find someone then they wouldn't have enough room for all of us. Wait- that's no upside! Spirit looked up to the lightly clouded, snowing sky. You really messed up this time. We're all suppose to be at the lodge having fun with the others by now. Maka must hate me~

Spirit stopped just before walking into Stein's back. "We both know there's nothing to find out here," Stein stated. "It's almost sickening how far a man will go to impress the women in his life. We would be walking in circles all night, probably catch our deaths, before going back to the others. Actually, if that happens..."

"L-Let's just g-go back," Spirit stammered as he turned on his heels.

"Hold on, I think I see something."

Spirit went to stand next to Stein. They stared up towards the barely visible moon where the top of a tower of some kind peeked from behind the clouds. "It looks like a building," Spirit speculated. "I don't see any lights."

"It's either that or freeze to death," Stein offered blatantly.

"Fine then, let's get the others."

...

Everyone was huddled close in the back seat as they waited for the men to return. Though they all wore big coats the cold was easily cutting through them. Crona was huddled very snuggly between Maka and Liz. Marie had kept her eyes open for anyone who might have been passing by. She was, by now, very worried. What if they had gotten lost?

"Have you seen any sign of them yet?" Tsubaki asked, startling Marie just a bit.

"Not yet," she answered, "but I'm sure they'll be back any minute now." Marie looked in the back seat. "Don't worry, Stein is with out there with Spirit so I don't think they're lost."

The student's eyes went wide suddenly and Patty pointed. "I see someone coming!"

Marie turned around quickly and squinted into the white scenery. There was definently someone out there but it was not Spirit or Stein. It wasn't until the person came into the moonlight could she tell it was a man. He wore a long black coat that covered most of his body; even from so far off she could tell he was very tall. Marie hesitated at the thought of getting out and asking him for help.

"Should we ask him for help?" Patty asked innocently.

"No way! A creepy guy walking around in a forest wearing a big black coat obviously spells trouble," Liz practically screamed. "I say we stay here and let him pass."

"What if Professor Stein and my dad didn't find anyone and we end up stuck out here?" Maka questioned.

"It's better than being killed by some crazy murderer guy!"

"I think he's coming this way," Kid said.

The car fell silent as the cloaked man came to stand at the door on Marie's side. He knock on the window. "Hey, are you okay in there?"

"Don't say anything," Liz whined.

The others covered her mouth as Marie tried to roll down the window. "Oh, right," she chuckled dryly, "no gas." Marie opened the door and he stepped back as she climbed out. She looked up at the easily six foot tall man looking worriedly at her. He didn't look particularly scary now that she could see him. Actually, he was almost handsome.

"Are you lost? Do you need some help?"

Marie blinked up at him. "Ah- Yes! Yes, we got lost on the road and we ran out of gas. I have two friends who went looking for help in the forest, you didn't happen to see a guy with red hair and another with a screw through his head, did you?" The stranger shook his head. "Oh..."

"I know a place where you could get out of the cold," he went on.

"Thank you..."

"Aristar Krory.

"Aristar, thank you. I'm Marie Mjolnir. Do you think there's enough room for my students as well?"

"How many are there?"

Marie went to the side door and slid it open. "Everybody out," she ordered. They filed out to stand in the snow. The teens stared up at Krory, who smiled nervously back which caused Liz to hold tightly onto her younger sister. Crona stared with wide, fearful eyes as Maka held his hand. Marie closed the door once Kid was out.

"There should be enough room for all of you," he said.

"We don't want to put you out or anything," Marie said quickly.

"You're not, don't worry. It's the least I can do to help."

Marie started after him when Spirit and Stein emerged from seemingly nowhere.

"Professor," Maka sighed with relief.

"There you are," Marie exclaimed. "This is Aristar Krory, he said he lives around here."

Krory couldn't help staring at the doctor. "There really is a screw in his head..."

"Excuse me?" Stein raised an eyebrow.

"A-Are you okay?"

"A little cold," he replied with a few cranks of his screw. Krory jumped when it clicked into place.

"Is it far?" Spirit asked, bringing Krory back to reality.

"It's right up ahead," Krory replied. "We should be there in no time."

30 minutes later...

"Here we are!" Krory announced as they came to the end of the path. "The Black Order!"

He turned around to see several students dragging up behind him and the other adults. Once everyone was gathered, they walked forward toward the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper leaned forward and scanned them with light that came from his surprisingly wide eyes. Liz screamed and jumped behind Kid. Crona tried to run but Maka held him in place. They all stood frozen under the gaze: well, almost everyone.

"What is this thing?!" BlackStar blurted out.

"It's the gatekeeper. He's making sure that none of you are akuma." Komui's voice came over loud speaker. "Welcome back Krory. I see you brought back some friends"

"They got lost on their way out of town," Krory replied.

"Lost? How did you even manage to get way out here?"

Marie looked away from the others. "Bad luck I guess..."

"Well, we can't let just anyone in here, you know that Krory."

"We're not just anyone," Spirit said. "We're teachers and students from Death Weapon Meister Academy. I am a Death scythe and Marie is one as well."

"I've never head of any of it, but since you're not akuma I suppose we can let you in."

The gate opened and allowed them inside. Liz held tightly onto Kid as they entered through the gates of the Black Order. The outside was in no way an indicator of how large it was inside. Patty would have gotten lost in staring at the cieling if not for Tsubaki pulling her along. A girl with short black hair ushered them over. "Welcome back Krory," she greeted him first. "My brother's waiting for you in his office." Krory nodded then went away to complete his last task before he could relax.

"Well then, you all seem to be very lost," she said to the DWMA group with a sweet little smile. "My name is Leenalee Lee. Come with me and I'm sure we can figure out how we can help you get back to the main road."

They followed Leenalee closely as she led them through the wide entry way. Men in white lab coats rushed past with arms full of folders as others inhabited the space in a fairly casual manner. Other men and women wearing the same uniform as Krory also occuppied the area. As curious as they were, questions would have to come later. At the moment, their biggest obstacle was figuring out to get out of there and back on track with their holiday plans.