When it came to the seasons, winter could be like an ocean in all its majestic beauty. If raging in anger, a powerful blizzard would storm over the land as snowflakes hurtled towards the ground like cannonballs fired from a colossal airship high above the clouds. On much calmer days it was more tranquil like petals of a cherry blossom tree blowing in the wind on a warm, spring day The snow would fall much slower and children would be out and about playing in the white fields made of huge, cold blankets which were warm in their own way.
It was on one of these latter days the ever adorable Asmodeus of the seven Stakes of Purgatory was sitting in front of a window at home, her eyes partially open as she watched the snow make contact with the backyard. Sighing peacefully, her imagination got right to work in conjuring up visions of herself and her ideal prince spending time together on a walk in a snowy paradise. It was like something out of those fairy tales she loved so much with the happy endings and the dashing young hero rescuing the damsel in distress from horrible monsters and whisking her off from a life of miserable poverty into true happiness.
Oh, how wonderful it all was. If only it were more than a dream then she could finally show her sisters there really was a handsome prince out there who cared about her.
But it could never be more than just that. Her sisters kept telling her to give up, that they could never fall in love because they were Furniture. They were always belittling her and tossed her off to the side while they progressed forwards in life, forgetting all about her in the end when they succeeded. It didn't matter to them what became of her so long as they could advance without their youngest sister.
Asmodeus absolutely hated being cast aside like that. It made her feel like a worthless burden nobody wanted to shoulder. Sometimes she wished she never had any siblings or even a family for that matter. If this was what families were like, Asmodeus wanted no part in them.
At least being by herself allowed her to fantasize about her prince and the life she dreamed of for years. Like today for instance; her sisters were all in the living room together watching a good movie on television over mugs of hot chocolate they brewed in the kitchen. They didn't bother to invite her or even tell her about it in the first place, and they flat out said no when she had walked in and asked if she could join them.
This didn't deter her too much since it left her free to wander the halls of her imagination and weave a tale in which she fell in love with a prince married into his loving family.
A family was always kind to each other and stood up for one another in fairy tales like that. Always there to lend a helping hand, they'd accept even the worst members of the family who've committed so many wrongs against their own kin without asking for much in return. Just a simple apology and everything was done and over with, all in the past, water under the bridge.
It was like that when they reunited with Ange on the way to Rokkenjima Island. She summoned them all again and said she was sorry for destroying them with the anti-magic at St. Lucia's.
If only the same could be said for her sisters. They always apologized to one another when they had a falling out, but Asmodeus never received a single "I'm sorry," from any of them. That was because she was the youngest, the one who had to listen to her older sisters and follow their instructions or else she'd be given a very strict punishment. She was also blamed for something they did wrong so they wouldn't get in trouble, and they never bothered to try and cheer her up when she was feeling down. They didn't even write her any sort of get well cards whenever she was sick, nor did they give gifts to her on any occasion.
In fact, all of that could pretty much be applied to everybody else she knew back in Purgatory, though to a lesser extent. Most of them had no time for her because they were obviously busy with their own affairs. Some of them were kind about it and broke it to her gently; others simply got straight to the point in a rude manner and even threatened her in a few instances.
Fortunately, Ange wasn't like that. She didn't do anything of the sort to the poor Stake. Ange understood how she felt since the same thing happened to her at St. Lucia's, so it was natural for her to know where Asmodeus was coming from when the young Stake said she was being put down or hurt.
In an attempt to make her happy, Ange spent more time with Asmodeus than the others to form a special sisterly bond between them. It did upset Asmodeus' sisters somewhat, particularly Mammon since was supposed to be Ange's best friend, but they eventually let the matter drop after the witch became seriously pissed at them for mistreating their little sister.
In the end, Ange finally succeeded—she and Asmodeus developed their sisterly bond. To go even further, Ange adopted Asmodeus into the Ushiromiya family and let the Stake of Lust move into her room with her. This allowed Ange to create a space where Asmodeus could feel safe without having to worry about being pushed aside by her sisters and privately share her concerns with Ange without fear of them being overheard by the other Stakes. Plus there was the added benefit of them sharing a bed so they could snuggle together as sisters while they slept.
Asmodeus was so happy to have such an awesome, kindhearted, big sister like Ange. Ange was really glad to have such a sweet, adorable, little sister like Asmodeus.
"Hey, Asmo," Asmodeus looked up to see Ange's head resting above her own with her arms wrapped around the Stake, "what are you doing?"
The young Stake closed her eyes and smiled at her big sister. "Oh, nothing much. I'm just watching the snow."
Ange smiled back at her. "Oh, okay. You mind if I join you?"
"Absolutely, go ahead."
Maneuvering herself so her back was against the wall, Ange took one of the pillows on the little bench in front of the window and placed it behind her head as she sat down, pulling Asmodeus towards her while swinging her legs onto the bench. She then embraced her little sister in a hug and snuggled with Asmodeus as they watched the snow fall.
"It sure is beautiful, huh?" Ange asked, gently rubbing Asmodeus' back while staring at the snow.
"Yep, it certainly is," Asmodeus replied, pressing her cheek up against Ange's cheek. "I just wish it would last forever."
"I do too, Asmo," Ange agreed, wanting the same thing as her little sister. "I do too."
This was true bliss. Laying here in front of the window was just what they expected to do on a nice, wintery day like today. Spending time together was lovely too, all the better if it was just the two of them and no one else around to bother them.
Asmodeus wondered if her sisters felt the same way when they spent time together. She knew they did many things as a family, so she guessed it was the same for them. Sure, they did exclude her all the time and she did hate that about them, but there wasn't anything she could do as the youngest sister. Ergo, Asmodeus thought it was only natural for her to feel closer to Ange than her sisters.
Her sisterly bond with Ange was the best relationship Asmodeus had ever been in. Her friendships with Ronove, Gaap, Virgilia, and Battler were nice too; although, they didn't do much for her because other matters occupied their time. Still, Asmodeus understood they meant well and was satisfied simply with them being nice to her.
Ange, on the other hand, was much more than a friend. Simply put, Ange was the big sister Asmodeus never had, but always wanted, and she would never let her go no matter what. Even if all her sisters were summoned by another witch or a sorcerer, Asmodeus would rather stay behind to be with Ange. They were sisters, after all.
For about half an hour they stayed there, watching the snow as it fell to the ground. It was then that Ange got an idea for something she and Asmodeus could do together.
"Hey, Asmo," she asked while looking at her little sister, "would you like to go outside?"
"You mean out in the snow?" Asmodeus inquired. "Why?"
"To have some fun playing in the snow," Ange answered with a small smile.
"Could we build a snowman?" Asmodeus squeaked, her voice full of sparkly charm.
"That sounds like a good idea," Ange said, shutting her eyes while cocking her head to the side. "You want to do that?"
Asmodeus nodded. "Yes!"
"Alright," Ange said in agreement while Asmodeus got off of her so she could get up. "Then let's go get ready before we head out."
Asmodeus clapped her hands together. "Yes, let's!"
…
It was beautiful. The trees, already bare of leaves, and other forms of foliage were covered in snow. Ice and snow created a wintery landscape piled up in the street and on people's lawns. Everything looked as if it had come straight out of a portrait depicting a winter wonderland. Such beauty could've only been found in dreams or a world of fantasy, so it was hard not to imagine the scene as any old location in everyday life.
Asmodeus ran out into the backyard and twirled around in circles all over the snowy lawn, sticking her tongue out to catch some flakes. They were wet and tasted like water that had been placed in a freezer for a short while until it was really cold and slushy. Opening her eyes to look up at the sky above her, Asmodeus gazed in awe while Ange came up and embraced the Stake in a warm hug from behind.
"Wow…it's ever so pretty," Asmodeus commented, feeling like she was watching stars at night. Her eyes were all cute and sparkly as her mouth hung agape in a big smile. "I never knew the world could be so breathtaking."
"Indeed," Ange agreed, "whether you're at home or far away, some of the most spectacular sights are moments like this one, ones that are beautifully striking, yet also simple at the same time."
"You must've seen quite a lot of scenery like this before, haven't you Ange?" Asmodeus asked, looking up at the young witch and turning around to hug her back.
"Not really, no," Ange closed her eyes briefly and shook her head. "My parents would occasionally take me out on a few trips to the countryside where everything was as incredible as this. I enjoyed those trips even more as my brother was there to experience them with me. Since then I couldn't really partake in all that anymore because my entire family was killed."
Asmodeus eyes widened a little before she looked down in shame. "Oh…I'm sorry," she said sadly, drawing away from Ange and turning around with her back to the witch.
Ange just looked at Asmodeus in concern and placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder to offer some comfort, but the Stake pulled away by taking a few steps forward. Worried that she might have unintentionally upset her in some way, Ange nervously cleared her throat before she spoke up to ask why the Stake of Lust had suddenly felt so down. "What's wrong, Asmo? Did I say something that bothered you?"
"No, no, I just…" Asmodeus shut her eyes for a moment as she shook her head. Her voice sounded sad, melancholic. It was as if her sisters had done something to hurt her feelings again—Ange made a mental note to find out whatever it was and scold them for it later. "I just didn't mean to bring up bad memories for you, that's all."
So that was why Asmodeus got upset. It wasn't those trips Ange was talking about; it was the last thing she said which made her little sister miserable.
The death of every single person in her family…
Ange was well aware that the Stakes of Purgatory partook in her family's massacre, but she didn't blame them at all. Sure they might've enjoyed killing off the Ushiromiya family on Rokkenjima Island, though Ange understood they were just having fun in their own way since they were essentially pieces on Beatrice's game boards. She managed to overlook this grim scenario because the Stakes weren't committing the murders of their own accord, but rather because Beatrice ordered them to. As they were placed into the role of Furniture, Ange easily forgave them because to have been Furniture was to be a servant whom had to perform all tasks set without question. To put it bluntly, those kinds of servants were more or less tools to masters who could treat them however they pleased.
All of Asmodeus' sisters understood why she forgave them and pledged to never speak of what they did to her family unless she asked them about it because they didn't want to hurt her feelings. Although, Ange didn't mind if they did anyway so long as they didn't mean to upset her in any way. It was somewhat expected since Ange could handle almost anything—except for ghosts and the like. The night she and Asmodeus spent in the haunted house made that perfectly clear and their trip to that old bridge reinforced it.
However, it appeared that wasn't the case with Asmodeus. Ange knew Asmodeus wasn't as strong as her sisters or as respected among them, yet she never expected for the young Stake to be the most emotional about anything. She thought Mammon exhibited that quality better than the others because she was the most honest about her feelings, which was why Ange believed she'd be most affected by what happened in the witch's past. The way Asmodeus was acting apparently proved otherwise, for she was hit hard by the full brunt of those words.
If Ange had made a comment like that in front of Mammon or the others, she was positive they'd offer her some comfort to alleviate the pain she felt from losing her family. Sometimes they'd ask her to tell happy stories from her past.
However, Asmodeus never put forth such an inquiry and would always leave the room when Ange began to recount a tale. Maybe that had to do with the Stake's guilt of accidently dredging up Ange's painful memories.
Perhaps Ange's family was an agonizing topic for Asmodeus to talk about. She must've felt really bad for committing such a horrible atrocity by killing them, especially when she was now the little sister to the girl who's family she slaughtered with Beatrice and her sisters.
If Ange delved a little further into her past, would she…strain her special, sisterly bond with Asmodeus?
Ange didn't want to leave Asmodeus out of those childhood stories, so she'd need to choose her words carefully if she wanted to help Asmodeus feel more comfortable about them.
To comfort her as much as possible, Ange smiled warmly as she stepped around Asmodeus to face her. The Stake of Lust took a step back and trembled nervously, but Ange gently seized her in a warm hug and lifted the young girl's head up to make eye contact.
"It's alright, Asmo," she said softly, "it's not your fault. You didn't do anything wrong."
Asmodeus brought her arms close to her chest and swallowed heavily, afraid of saying something that would offend Ange. Even so, she knew she needed to respond, or she might get in trouble. She opened her mouth to speak, but Ange just held her hand up to stop her.
"I'm not mad you, if that's what you're thinking," Ange reassured her. "What you did back then wasn't your fault. That's all in the past now."
"S-so you're not angry?" Asmodeus asked nervously.
Ange shook her head. "No, of course not. Why would I be? Besides, I was the one who brought up my family's death, not you. If anything, I should apologize to you. It must've been hard for you to speak with me about them because of your role in it, right."
Asmodeus nodded meekly. "Yes."
"Well don't worry, I promise to never bring up what had happened on Rokkenjima around you and I'm sorry for mentioning it." Ange said while stroking Asmodeus' face.
Asmodeus nodded with a small smile. "Okay."
"I still would like to share my childhood with you, if you're alright with that?"
Asmodeus was still a little unsure about it, but she knew Ange always did her best to keep her promises, especially when it was one between the two of them. "Yeah, that would be okay."
Ange's smiled widened as she shut her eyes. "Alright, let's get started then, shall we?"
Asmodeus blinked in confusion. "You mean right now?"
Ange nodded as she began to lead her little sister into the woods behind their house. "Yeah, you wanted to build a snowman, right? Well, I know the perfect spot for it."
"Why are we going in the woods?" Asmodeus inquired curiously. "Are we going to build it there?
"You'll see, Asmo," Ange said as she winked at her. "It's a place that means a lot to me."
"Shouldn't my sisters come with us?"
"I'm sure they're too busy enjoying the movie they didn't invite you to watch to come with us," Ange explained somewhat cynically, surprising Asmodeus with her knowledge of that. She sure knew quite a lot about her precious little sister and her interaction with the others, even when the young Stake didn't initially tell her about something they did or said to her. Maybe they were like twin sisters—Ange and Asmodeus certainly did see themselves as such.
"Besides," Ange continued," even if they weren't doing anything else right now, I still wouldn't want to bring them." She pulled Asmodeus closer and wrapped her arm around the Stake of Lust. "This is a special, sisterly treat just for you and I alone to partake in. Nobody else but us may enjoy it."
Intrigued, Asmodeus' eyes widened slightly. "Ooooh, a sisterly treat." she said excitedly, pressing up against Ange's side like a snuggly teddy bear until her cheek was up against Ange's shoulder. "Is it a secret just between us?"
Ange nodded with a smile and winked at her. "Of course," she said quietly, putting a finger to her lips to emphasize the secrecy. "Although, we could tell them afterwards and see how they react."
"Like when they reacted after we told them we met Santa?" Asmodeus giggled as she pulled away from Ange and began to happily prance around her bid sister.
"Sorry, Asmo, but I'm not sure they'll be as surprised this time." As soon as the Stake of Lust brought that up, Ange's mind went back to that pleasant surprise she and Asmodeus had a couple weeks ago when the two of them actually spoke with Santa Claus himself. The Stakes certainly were surprised about that, especially since they received coal for Christmas. "Anyway, we're almost there."
Asmodeus spun around to face Ange and went in front of her as she took a few steps backward…
"Almost whe—kyaa!"
…and tripped over a stone sticking out of the snow.
A bit startled, Asmodeus shrieked as she began to stumble backwards a few steps.
"Asmo—waaah!"
Ange quickly rushed towards her and tried to grab the Stake's hand in an attempt to catch Asmodeus before she fell, but she shrieked too as she also tripped over the same stone the Stake of Lust caught the heel of her foot on.
They both fell in the snow with Ange sprawled over Asmodeus like a duvet on top of some sheets covering the bed. Their arms were wrapped around one another, plus their legs had tangled together. They both winced just as Ange placed her hand beside Asmodeus to push herself up a bit.
"Are you alright, Asmo?" she asked out of concern for the young Stake. "That was quite a fall."
Asmodeus brushed some snow off her jacket and sat up after untangling her arms from Ange's body. "I'm fine, thanks," she closed her eyes and smiled, giggling sheepishly. "I guess I should've watched where I was going, huh?"
Ange giggled sheepishly too. "You and I both, Asmo." She looked up as she and Asmodeus helped each other to their feet. "Oh, we're here already."
"Where? Where?" the young Stake inquired excitedly, whirling around so fast she nearly fell again. Luckily Ange wrapped her arms around Asmodeus to keep the cheerful girl steady.
"Whoa, relax Asmo, you're going to fall back into the snow," Ange said, pulling one arm away from her little sister and holding it out in front of herself. "Anyway, this is it."
"This is…" Confused, Asmodeus stared at the sight before her eyes and slowly turned her head to take in all the visual details before delivering her baffled verdict. "There's…really nothing here."
She was right. It was just an empty clearing, devoid of any sort of…well, anything that had a pretty big presence in the area. The only thing really worth mentioning was a huge fuyuzakura tree directly in the center on top of a small incline. Its branches were absolutely covered in flowers and leaves to the point where one could see only the tree trunk from a distance. Other than that, there was nothing else.
It was so quiet Asmodeus wondered if that tree would make a sound if it fell.
"Yes, but what do you think about it?" Ange asked. "There may be nothing, but it's still beautiful, don't you agree?"
"Yeah, it is," Asmodeus nodded, stepping away from Ange with a small smile on her face. "It's like something out of a painting."
Ange came up and embraced her in a hug. "It actually is," she said, surprising Asmodeus for the second time that day. "You know that portrait hanging in our room?"
"This is what's in the painting?" Asmodeus inquired, now realizing where the scene in that portrait came from. "I never knew that. Who was the artist?"
Ange smiled at her. "My brother."
"You mean Battler painted this?" Now Asmodeus really was surprised. She knew Battler was one of the best opponents Beatrice ever went up against—possibly the greatest—but she never expected him to be an artist. "How?"
"Well, during the six years he was staying with his mother's parents, my brother took an art class in school," Ange explained as she looked at the tree. "It was more of an elective, really, but he aced the class with perfect scores. He did do some paintings of his fellow classmates, but he said his best works were always landscape portraits. This spot right here was his favorite."
"Why's that?" Asmodeus asked curiously.
"Because this was where he'd bring me when he came to visit," Ange answered, turning back to Asmodeus. "Most of the time he was at his grandparents', but he began taking the time to see me whenever he had the opportunity. He was on good terms with my mother, but despised father."
"How come? Asmodeus inquired, wondering if Rudolf had done something to cause a rift between him and his son. Battler never spoke about it and asked everyone to respect his decision, so none of them ever brought the issue up. "Did something bad happen?"
Ange nodded with a grim look on her face. "Father married my mother without hesitation a month after Battler's mother past. The decision showed a complete lack of love for his first wife on his part, plus it revived the image of him being a womanizer—of course, that was who he always was, even when married to Asumu," she explained, evidently with a heavy heart.
"The marriage was a complete wreck for my brother. He did like my mother, but refused to attend the wedding because of our father's decision. Since then he's always hated him for immediately remarrying without ever giving a second thought to how it would affect his son. So Battler lived with his maternal grandparents for six years until he was eighteen. By then he returned to live with us because both of them passed on too."
Asmodeus had remained quiet while listening to Ange's story, but now she felt the need to speak up. "He probably never forgave your father, did he?" Her tone of voice was sad and she spoke softly as if she was whispering, though Ange could still hear her.
"He never did," Ange sighed, frowning for a few moments before a small smile spread across her face as she continued to share her past with Asmodeus. "In any case, I was so happy when I learned he'd be coming to stay permanently. Every day from that point was a blast for me. It might've only been several months, but they were some of the best days of my life."
"Those must be very happy memories for you, huh, Ange?" Asmodeus asked, going closer to her big sister so she could latch onto her arm as a gesture of loving affection.
"They sure are," Ange agreed, looking at Asmodeus while putting her arm around her shoulder. "I wouldn't trade them for the world." With her free hand, Ange parted some strands of Asmodeus' hair out of her face to place a tender kiss on the Stake's forehead. "The same goes for our bond, Asmo. I'm very grateful for these special moments with you."
"So am I, Ange," Asmodeus said, resting her head against Ange's arm. "I might not be as good as Battler, but I'll do my best to make you happy like he did."
"On the contrary, Asmo," Ange sounded happy as she spoke, "I've come to love you as my little sister more than I love my big brother. If I were to rank the two of you higher than the other, I'd most definitely rank you as my number one favorite person in the whole world."
"What about my sisters?" Asmodeus inquired, curious if Ange favored them highly too.
"They'd all tie for third while Battler gets second place," Ange said with a small smile. "I do love my brother, but he's not as perfect as you are."
"You really think so, Ange?" Asmodeus giggled, thankful to Ange for being held in such high regard.
"I know so, Asmo," Ange shut her eyes and smiled warmly. "Now come on, let's have some fun making snowmen."
"Oh, absolutely!" Asmodeus squealed excitedly, her voice full of sparkly charm. "Can we make snow angels too?!"
"Sure, why not?" Ange said happily. "We can have as much fun as we want until dinner. Sound good?"
"Oh, yes, Ange! I can't wait to get started!" Asmodeus squealed happily as she ran off towards the tree with Ange in tow, the two of them laughing as they played in their winter wonderland together until evening came.
…
I'm aware it's not winter anymore (it was when I started writing this), but I wanted to get this idea done because it was one of the shortest suggestions I had for Suteki-Renahh-Desu—now known as fukuji mihoko—to do in Being Dysfunctional Has Never Been So Much Fun. It references the Grim grinning ghosts arc in that one-shot collection, plus two other suggestions I had done which I originally intended to give her back when she was writing those one-shots. They're entitled All Fun and Ghosts (the sequel to the Grim grinning ghosts arc) and A Sisterly Christmas, both with Ange and Asmodeus as the main character pairing.
This story was originally supposed to be about Ange and Asmodeus making a snowman and snow angels, but I modified it and I'm satisfied with how it turned out. The title of this fanfic is even similar to the latter of the other two stories I just mentioned.
Oh, and a fuyuzakura tree is known as winter sakura in English. I learned about this on Wikipedia while trying to figure out what sort of tree to put in the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Umineko; it's owned by 007th Expansion.