Disclaimer: I do not own most of these characters, except Gold Shawson and Nicole de Laurette. Used them without my consent, and I'LL SWALLOW YOUR SOULS!
Going by the best I know about Yule.
We open up to an ice-covered lake beyond a large castle. There are two figures skating in the distance, the same height and age and gender. The first has wavy black hair down to her shoulders, with golden brown eyes and deep brown skin. The second has long, snow-white hair and pale skin, with two blue eyes. The first is Gryffindor, the other a Slytherin.
"Oh, hello faithful readers." The first spoke. "I'm Gold…
"And I'm Nicole." The second spoke.
"Bringing you this holiday special." Gold finished.
"But we should clarify that this isn't a Christmas special." Nicole said.
"Even though we're both looking forward to it." Gold explained.
"The only thing I'm looking forward to is what kind of bender my mom'll pull this year." Nicole muttered.
"Don't mind her. Anyway, as you've probably guessed, we are witches. We're also in a dueling game…" Gold motioned to her rose ring.
"And we'll soon become more than that." Nicole mentioned, motioning to the two brooches they were wearing on their chest.
"But, our creator decided that we were well suited to bring you this alternative holiday tale." Gold said.
"We had nothing better to do." Nicole sighed.
"So, sit tight, because you're going to be reading about a witch, a student…" Gold began.
"And a rockhead." Nicole said.
"And about what happens to…" Gold trailed off.
They leaned in to say it together.
Wizards In Wintertime
The smell of spices and pine filled the lounge. The sound of humming flew through the room. A large tree was in the center. A fire roaring in the fireplace that was not there before. Mysa hoped Brainy wouldn't yell at her for making that improvement. Mysa Nal, also known as the White Witch, was not usually known for a festive personality, but today she seemed different. Very different. She brushed aside a strand of her white hair from her pink eyes as she began to light candles. That's when Blok came into the lounge. He was startled to the sight, but in a good way.
"Mysa! You seem so busy today. What's the occasion?" He asked. She laughed gently.
"I'm throwing a party tonight."
"Really? Is this one of those holiday festivities I have heard so much about?" Blok asked again. It was true. All throughout the month of October and leading into December Blok had been hearing so much about one Earth holiday after another. He lost track of which one this was. There were so many in December.
"Uh-huh. I'm getting a group together tonight. I already cleared it with Cosmic Boy. He said it was alright as long as I clean up afterward." Mysa told him as she set out the table using her abilities. A blank table suddenly got covered by a forest-green cloth, and a spread of holiday treats and drinks popped up. The whole thing was outlined by sparkling balls of white light.
"May I help you?" Blok asked, ever the gentleman, rock, thing, whatever.
"Excuse me, Blok, I-oh, Miss Mysa!"
From the side came in Xao Jin, Mysa's apprentice in the mystic arts, also called Dragonmage. He was named this both for his ancestry and for the fact that his spells and magical energy manifested in the form of multicolored dragons.
"Hello, Xao. How are you?" Mysa asked her student.
"I wanted to talk to you about… are you throwing a party?" Xao trailed off, wondering about the festive and cozy scene which she was making. The scent of pine and cider hit his nostrils. Blok didn't have nostrils.
"Yes." Mysa replied.
"I was just about to ask Mysa if she would need any help preparing." Blok explained.
"Thank you, Blok. But I have everything done. You can come tonight if you don't have anything planned." Mysa offered.
"Thank you. No, I don't think I do have anything planned. I'll be there tonight." Blok said.
"Wonderful." Mysa smiled. "Xao you can come to if you want."
"Oh! I, uh, I mean, thanks." Xao replied. He started to blush. He had such a crush on his teacher, who was no more older then him but by one year or two. Mysa giggled.
"It starts at 8. Don't forget."
"We won't."
"Oh wait, Xao. You wanted to talk to me about something?" Mysa asked.
"It's nothing." Xao replied. He and Blok left the room, and Blok started to wonder about the rolled up piece of paper in Xao's grasp.
…
In a dark chamber underground, twelve people sat around a table made of polished stone, Torches burned. Their faces were obscured by their hoods.
"Welcome, my friends." The leader spoke as he rose. "To our yearly get-together." Everyone spoke in agreement.
They began to get ready as their leader spoke. They took out books, they recited an odd oath, then they began to drink a dark, ugly fluid from golden goblets.
"And so, on this night, the longest night of the year, we celebrate the death of the sun. But, as always, we dread it's rebirth with the coming of dawn and the returning tide of goodwill that threatens our efforts once again."
"Yes." They rose their cups up in agreement.
"So, this year, as once again the Blackest Night draws near, let us combine our efforts to make sure that the dawn never-"
"Daddy OMDL what are you doing?"
The leader got cut off by two teenage girls standing in the doorway. His teenage daughters, Styx and Stiletta. He took off his hood, Prince Evillo the leader did.
"Go back upstairs my little Miskatonians!" He told them.
"Daddy you said you weren't gonna do this anymo-" Styx said before her father interrupted her.
"UPSTAIRS NOW!" He screamed. They just scowled and dredged back upstairs.
"Upstairs. He should go upstairs." Styx muttered.
"WCUHB?" Stilleta asked.
"Exactly." Styx agreed.
His daughters departed.
"Now, where were we?" Evillo asked.
…
7: 30. The guest started to arrive.
"Hey Mysa!"
The first to arrive was a woman in a tuxedo and fishnets and a top hate over her long black hair.
"Zatanna, you're early. Is John with you?" Mysa greeted her.
"Nah, he couldn't make it. Something about a laughing magician. So, I thought we could help out. Hcnup I thguorb!" A bowl of bunch appeared on the refreshment table.
"We?" Mysa asked, before looking behind Zee. "Oh! You brought your cousin."
Behind Zatanna was her teenaged cousin, a fellow magician dressed in his own tuxedo, with his own top hat and wand.
"This better be good. I'm missing a show in Sydney." Zatanna's cousin moaned.
"Zach! Excuse my cousin Zachary, Mysa." Zatanna apologized for rude Zach.
"No problem." Mysa waved off his rudeness. "Nice to meet you Zachary." She smiled.
"That's Zachary Zatara." He corrected. "The greatest teenage magician in the world."
"Oot tsedom dna." Zatanna muttered.
"Hey!" Zachary yelled. Mysa and Zee giggled as he became flustered. "Well anyway, I brought a friend." Behind Zachary and Zatanna was a kid in a leather jacket and a shirt with a red dragon on it, and black hair that obscured his eyes.
"Hey." Zach's friend said.
"Hello." Mysa greeted.
"This is Son of the Fallen. We met at a club." Zachary introduced.
"…" Mysa blushed as she got the wrong idea.
"It's not what you think." Zachary tried to defend himself, but he didn't want to think of the hellish time he spent in the Dark Side Club.
…
"Traci! Glad you could make it.
Mysa hugged a girl of half-asian descent with long black/brown hair. Her name was Traci 13.
"You kidding? You're parties are to die for." Traci told her.
"You convinced your dad to let you come?" Traci's father, Dr. Terrence 13, was an infamous ghost-breaker, realist, and skeptic. He claimed he was The Sanest Man on Earth. Yet he had a sorceress daughter.
"Nah. I told him I was sleeping at my boyfriend's tonight." Traci explained.
"What did he say?" Mysa asked.
"Bring a sweater." Traci replied. The two laughed.
…
"Welcome Frau Totenkinder."
Mysa politely greeted an old woman with gray hair and glasses, wearing a shawl and carrying with her a pair of knitting needles and something she was obviously knitting. That was kind of hard to expect from the woman who was practically every unnamed witch in European fables, most infamously known as the witch from Hansel and Gretel.
"A pleasure, dear. I wouldn't miss this for the world." Frau explained.
"Would you like a chair?" Mysa asked.
"Oh no need. I see a cozy little seat with my name on it right over there." Frau made her way to a rocking chair, the same rocking chair that seemed to follow her everywhere she went.
…
"Miss Harkness. Wanda. Wonderful to see you, as always." Mysa greeted two more guests, another old woman of refined stature and posture, and her punk teenage ward Wanda Maximoff.
"And as always wonderful to see you. Thank you for inviting us. Wanda?" Miss Harkness, or Agatha, turned her gaze to Wanda, who was obviously bored out of her mind even though she hadn't even stepped inside yet.
"Yeah, whatever." Wanda replied.
…
And pretty soon, the lounge was filled and the party got started. Blok and Xao had joined a little after eight. They noticed that there were no other Legionnaires there. Not even Mysa's sister Nura. All of the guests seemed to be the magic business. Blok didn't know there were so many witches and wizards out there, but Xao knew better. Of course, he didn't see his old teacher there. It was some time later after they had got drinks, Blok getting his in a show of kindness even though he didn't drink, and were looking for Mysa. She had just finished talking with Dr. Fate, one of them anyway.
"Hello boys. Having fun?" Mysa asked.
"Miss Mysa I must tell you this is the oddest Christmas party I've ever been to. Everyone here is either a witch, wizard, or dark sorcerer." Xao told her. He was pretty sure he just saw the Good Witch of the North and the Good Witch of the South getting into an argument about the Judy Garland movie.
"First of all, Xao, this is a Yule party." Mysa corrected him.
"Huh?" He asked.
Mysa sighed. "How many times have I told you not to fall asleep during studies." Xao blushed again. Blok was confused.
"Mysa, I have heard a great deal about some holidays. Christmas, Chanukah from Colossal Boy, but I do not believe I'm familiar with this Yule." He told her. And so she began to explain.
"It's the Pagan, well originally a Germanic holiday of winter. The very first day of the season, and the longest night of the year. The time when we celebrate the death and rebirth of God, who in our eyes is sometimes viewed as the Sun itself."
"Really?" Blok asked.
"Actually, some of the customs of Yule, or simply the Winter Solstice, were borrowed and placed into Christmas. The idea of caroling, exchanging gifts, decorating a tree, some of that was brought into the celebrations of Christmas."
SMACK!
"Pig!" Wanda and a girl named Sabrina Spellman screamed at Zachary, who tried to kiss them both under the mistletoe.
"As well as the idea of mistletoe. And, of course, Santa Claus." Mysa continued.
"What about Santa?" Xao asked.
"Santa Claus is viewed differently in many nations on Earth. For those who celebrate Yule, he was seen as the diety Kris Kringle. And he was not the only one. Those also worshiped at the celebrations were the Greek goddess of the harvest, Demeter, the Egyptian God Ra, and the Norse God Thor."
"Thor? He's here?" Doctor Strange asked somewhere in the back after hearing that name.
"Interesting." Blok said. Then he noticed that Xao was really starting to look worried.
"Something on your mind, Dragonmage?" Blok asked. Xao looked surprised and nearly spilled his drink, having been lost in thought.
"Well, the thing is, Miss Mysa, what I wanted to talk to you about that?" Xao asked.
"What?"
"Here, take a look at this."
He pulled out the paper he had before and gave it to Mysa. She unrolled it.
"This is Evillo's mark." Mysa recognized it.
I found this on the street outside the HQ. There were flyers for it.
"I have seen that too." Blok revealed. And then he remembered something. Something on the news that Cosmic Boy was watching. "There have been people making wild accusations about the sun dying."
"I've heard about them too." Xao told
"Hmm…" Mysa thought about, before crumpling up the picture and throwing it in a waste basket. "Not to worry.
"What?" Blok asked.
"Everything's under control." She said.
"But, Miss Mysa, we can't ignore this!" Xao said.
"We aren't." She calmly replied.
"Mysa, you're lack of worry is troubling. Are you thinking clearly?" Blok asked.
"Of course, Blok. Believe me, nothing bad will happen. Oh, hold on. Sebastian! Fauna! Glad you could come." And off she went to greet more guests, the children of Felix Faust, while Blok and Xao played the roles of the worrywarts.
…
"Is everything ready?" Evillo asked.
"Yes Prince." Follower One replied.
"Do you have him?"
"Right here." Follower Number Two brought out the sacrifice. A man, in his twenties, gagged and bound. They hung him over the table. They lowered their hoods, and Evillo drew out a knife. The chanting began. Lower at first, but it started to get louder and louder. Guttural. Intense. Insane. Styx and Stiletta raised the volume of the TV to block it out. Evillo's eyes sparkled, just as his reflection on the knife did. He reached it up to the sacrifice's cheek, and then, quickly drew a ling gash across it. The blood began to seep out of the cut flesh. One or two drops fell into the markings as the chanting became louder.
And that's all it took as the symbols lit up.
…
"Blok I really think we should do something." Xao told him.
The two had left the party and were outside the HQ. They still wondered where the other Legionnaires were.
"I agree. But I don't believe Mysa would lie to us." Blok explained.
"She's been bad before." Xao recounted. "Remember when she was turned into the Hag?"
"That was before both my time and yours." Blok told him.
"I heard it from Phantom Girl."
And then, the two lost their balance as the ground shook. The snow fell off the trees, the trees were uprooted. People ran and screamed. Power lines fell. Hover cars crashed. Windows broke. In the cracks of the ground, things began to crawl. Horrible things. Ugly things. Things with tentacles for heads and heads for tentacles. And because of the night sky, Xao and Blok had no idea that flames of the sun were slowly going out. Not just our sun, but many others. And all because of one drop of blood. Magic can be especially strong on magical holidays.
At HQ, the two were shocked by the sight of a thing with seven eyes and a mouth cut deep into it's belly. It lunged at them, but Blok sent it down with one punch. But soon more started coming out. Each uglier and violent then the last. Xao had did his best with his abilities, as dragons in dazzling red, green, and violet wrapped themselves around these arcane beasts and incinerated them in multicolored light. The beasts had tried to eat and bite into Blok, but their teeth broke on his stone hide. Unfortunately, some weren't hungry, and some were smart. A beast with wings in it's side and a spinning maw of teeth for a head picked Blok up and through him to the ground. Hands shot up and tried to grab him before he was able to grab THEM, and slam them together. Their heads caved in and went limp. He used them for projectiles as he dived into a crowd of them like a mosh pit.
Xao summoned up dragons made up of every color imaginable, and of every element possible. An ice dragon froze one beast down, leading a black one swallow it whole before disappearing. The most prominent ones were the fire beasts, who incinerated whole groups. The lightning dragon and water dragon worked together. But most of the others, made from colored energy, worked as brute force or as a shield. But the beasts were too many, they started to swarm around Xao, until he sent out a magic shockwave that sent them flying.
"Come on!" Xao screamed. "There's too man-" He was jumped by a beast with two heads made up of eyes and mouths in its palms.
"Xao!" Blok screamed. He was getting surrounded. There were too many. And just think of the chaos they were causing on other planets. And Evillo was smiling. Until Mysa left the HQ to the scene of the battle outside.
"Mysa! Get away!" Blok yelled.
"I told you, don't worry." She smiled. And her whole being began to glow in beautiful, white light.
And then, the whole building lit up in a flash, as each and every partygoer glowed their own light. The light acted as a beacon, shooting out from Earth and headed right for the sun. The sun began to glow white hot, until the fires inside it lit once more. Then, the light traveled beyond the sun, to Tartarus, and then…
…
The beasts had disappeared. Everywhere. Destroyed by the light as if they were never there. Xao and Blok looked around, confused and worried there might be more.
"I told you there was no need to worry, silly." Mysa said. Soon, the other magicians joined her outside.
"Wha-?" Xao asked.
"There's always some joker out there who attempts something on the first night of winter like blotting out the sun." Doctor Strange said.
"Usually when there's cause for concern, we throw a little Yule party and invite most of our magical friends." Zatanna explained.
"You should've been to Doc Fate's soiree last year." Nico Minoru mentioned.
"The things that happen on Earth-20..." Sargon the Sorcerer laughed.
"But what about Evillo?" Xao asked.
"Well taken care." Doctor Occult informed.
"Now then, anyone for cake?" Mysa asked.
…
"Daddy OMDL you are SO embarrassing." Stiletta yelled. Down in his private chamber, Evillo and his followers had been turned into frogs.
"This is why Mom 12 didn't work it!" Styx yelled at her father. At least she thought it was her father. They all looked alike.
"Ribbit."
"Now what?" Stiletta asked.
"Got his credit cards." Styx flashed a smile.
"Shut up and move." Stiletta yelled.
"And a Happy Yule, one and al-"
"I SAID MOVE!"
…
"So you see?" Gold asked. "It may not be Christmas but it can be just as exciting."
"Well that's that. Onto Christmas, then." Nicole said. "I hope Santa gives my mom what she really needs."
"What would that be?" Gold asked.
"The gift of sobriety." Nicole deadpanned.
Merry Christmas and Happy Yule