Disclaimer: The Fire Emblem series elements (characters, settings, series, etc.) belong respectively to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. The only character I own for this fic is Galen Sage. My other original characters Fancy, Jibs and Zenner, and the invited original characters who appear in the original Fire Emblem Gx do not appear in this fic.

*Only 3 more chapters until the Epilogue of this holiday special*

FIRE EMBLEM Gx - Winter Dragon and Christmastime
Chapter 7: Lord Kringle of Christmas

The gang at Crimea Castle still stared at the thrashing Winter Dragon from the distance. The beast still hasn't reached them yet, as it was distracted earlier by Galen, L'Arachel, and Naesala's appearance earlier.

"Okay, the Winter Dragon is stalling." Geoffrey said before facing Kieran, "How about we do this?"

"Move the party to the panic room?" Kieran proposed.

"No. The other plan of protection." Geoffrey said.

Lucia immediately knew what Geoffrey was talking about, "Right!" she went for the treasure room. Elincia followed, then Roy and a few other people followed. Lucia began searching in one of the treasure chests.

"What are we looking for?" Merric asked.

She pulled out a Barrier Staff, "This!"

"A Barrier Staff?" Roy blinked.

"Not just a Barrier Staff. The Barrier Staff of Ashera." Elincia said, "This staff can cast a magical barrier on not just people, but also on large regions. If we can use it to protect the castle and our town, that will hold off the Winter Dragon for another good while until Galen and Lord Eliwood return from their trip."

"We should try it right away." Roy proposed, and everyone rushed back to the grand hall. Lucia handed the staff over to Elincia, who raised the staff and chanted a spell.

"Staff of Ashera, cast your divine protection around this castle, this country and this entire world. May this be your will!"

The staff glowed and unleashed a bright light, enveloping the entire castle and its capital town, but not the country itself or the rest of the world. The staff stopped its glow after only half a minute.

"Did it work?" Roy asked.

"Only on the capital, but not on the entire world." Elincia sighed, "I guess Ashera's power is no match for the Winter Dragon."

"We're doomed!" Merric exclaimed, "Doomed I tell ya! Doomed!"

"Calm down, sheesh!" Shinon exclaimed, "The Lordy Lords are on their way to retrieve the Christmas Magic while Galen and Naesala are traveling to the North Pole to get the Eastern Star from Lord Kringle!"

"I sure hope they are all okay." Elincia wondered.

***

The frigid wind kept on slapping the Lords in the faces as they reached the Frozen River. The wind got stronger by the minute and soon turned into a deathly storm of ice. Of course all of this was caused by the Winter Dragon.

"Brrr… the place is getting cold…" Eliwood trembled.

Eirika noticed her horse was slowing down. She alerted, "I think we should stop. Sieglinde is getting exhausted."

"But we're halfway there…" Hector complained.

"Lord Hector, we understand how much you want to seek revenge on this person who ambushed Roy and your daughter, but we must find a place to warm up…" Ephraim consulted.

On cue, the wind yowled in fury and the icestorm stroke the Lords full-blast.

"… or not." Ephraim's voice shook.

"Wait, I see something!" Marth pointed at a shadow hiding behind a tree. The shadow looked like it was ready to ambush the Lords.

Ike unsheathed his blade, "I'll deal with this guy."

Ike ran toward the shadow, but just when he was about to land his sword on the stranger, he slipped on ice and bumped into the stranger instead. Both Ike and the stranger slid to the ice rink, screaming until they hit a tree.

The Lords quickly go to Ike and the stranger to see if they're okay while avoiding slipping.

"Lord Ike! Are you okay?" Eliwood asked.

"It's… Ike…" Ike groaned, holding his head. His feet were glued to the frozen tree, spread apart and trapping the stranger's neck. The stranger was a woman, her back glued on the tree.

"Could you be a little more careful?" she shouted.

Eliwood and Hector immediately recognized the stranger, "Lyndis!" they said.

"Eliwood! Hector!" Lyn smiled at them, "Good to see you…! By surprise."

"You guys know her?" Marth asked.

"Yes. Long ago we stopped a sorcerer called Nergal from bringing dragons to the world." Eliwood explained.

"He was a real blackheart." Hector explained.

"Well, that blackheart returned!" Lyn explained, "He's the one responsible for brewing this storm up."

"What?" Eliwood and Hector sounded surprised.

"You mean… he summoned the--!" Hector stopped, "Oh, wait. This isn't working. Can we pull you guys out of the tree?"

"Bout time!" Ike exclaimed, "Do you know how uncomfortable it is to be in this position with a girl?"

"I am not a girl, you jerkhead. I am a woman." Lyn insulted.

Ephraim and Eirika descended from their horses, "Stand back." Ephraim said, before grabbing Ike's arms. Eirika then grabbed Ephraim by the waist.

"We are expert at this." Eirika said, "We can pull you guys off this tree easy. Lyn, I recommend grabbing hold of Ike's legs if you want to get out too."

"Heck no! I'm not doing that! It's too awkward!" Lyn exclaimed.

"Do you guys need help?" Marth asked.

"No need." Ephraim responded, "Get ready to pull, everyone!"

Lyn, Ike, and the twins pulled, but the situation proved challenging with both Lyn and Ike not budging a bit.

"Okay, maybe we need help." Ephraim sighed.

"Get in!" Eirika ordered, and Eliwood, Hector, and Marth all formed a line behind Eirika and they all pulled, and pulled, and kept on pulling until they started breaking sweats.

"This will never do!" Marth shouted.

"Keep pulling!"

The struggle continued, like it was going to go on forever. Finally they put in their best shot and Lyn and Ike pulled out of the tree, sending the Lords into a rolling ball, until they smashed into yet another tree. At least that tree was not as sticky as the first one.

"Oi." Ike groaned, holding his head again, "When will this ever stop?"

"When will you ever stop?"

The voice of Nergal surprised the Lords. They quickly got up on their feet.

"Nergal!" Hector shouted.

"You're the one behind this Winter Dragon summoning were you?" Eliwood exclaimed.

Lyn looked at the two lords, surprised, "the Winter Dragon? From the Legend?"

"Who else?" Nergal exclaimed, "Oh, and I hope you two received your gifts earlier. The two Lordy pests. They were messing with my summoning, so I had to… pull them out of the picture."

Hector's face turned red, "Why you--?!"

"I sense a fight coming." Marth said.

"Prepare yourself!" Ike readied his sword.

"Go ahead and take me out." Nergal said, "Either way, the Winter Dragon will still prevail."

"We're not just going to end you, Nergal." Ephraim said.

"Oh?" Nergal blinked.

"We're going to take away the Christmas Magic you've been using from you, whether you like it or not." Eirika threatened.

"Ooh! Scary!" Nergal cackled.

"You better be scared, Nergal!"Lyn said, "Your reigning days over Christmas and the world, are over!"

"I don't care for Christmas. What I care for is Power!" Nergal raised his arms to the sky and on cue the Winter Dragon let out a ferocious roar, enraging the icestorm.

***

The reindeer arrived safely at the Ice Castle, and L'Arachel, Galen, and Naesala quickly dismounted it and took refuge inside due to the massive icestorm. Naesala had returned to his normal form.

"Ow, my head…" Naesala held on his throbbing head, "Never in my life did I felt rain like a bunch of knives ramming down my skull before."

"Hey, thanks for rescuing us out there." Galen told L'Arachel, "Although the jumping off the dragon part was spine-chillingly frightening…"

"I had to rescue you." L'Arachel said, "I had to leave the castle to look for someone worthy enough to stop the Winter Dragon from causing chaos in our world. And I hope you're up for the task."

"I am up for the task!" Galen said, pointing at himself.

"That's great!" said L'Arachel, "That's great! Now all we need is to head over the Frozen River and regain the Christmas Magic."

"No need to do that." Naesala said, "A bunch of wishy-washy lords are doing this task for us as we speak."

"Wow, looks like you're all on track of things." L'Arachel said, "Wait… what else do we need…" she rubbed her chin in deep thought and snapped her fingers repeatedly.

"The Eastern Star." Galen reminded her, "We need to find the Eastern Star in the North Pole. And we haven't reached it yet."

"The North Pole heh?" L'Arachel exclaimed, "You're in it!"

Galen and Naesala blinked, "Whaa?"

"Many people calls it the North Pole, but it is what this ice castle symbolizes: a pole to the North end of the world. Beyond this ice castle and much further… nothing. Just void." L'Arachel said before giggling, "Anyway, enough chit-chat, we must go to my Lord Uncle Kringle, and retrieve the Eastern Star from him. I hope he will help us."

"Wait… Lord Kringle?" Galen stammered at the sound of that name, "As in Kris Kringle? As in Santa Claus?"

L'Arachel frowned, "What's a Santa Claus?"

"Lord Kringle! Wait, his first name is Kris, right?"

L'Arachel nodded, "Yup. He's my favorite uncle in the world. He's a very giving person. Every year he uses Christmas Magic to grant the most-wishing gifts to many kids and adults alike. But right now he can't use his Christmas Magic because of that Winter Dragon and we--!"

"Oh my gosh, I cannot believe I am actually going to meet Santa Claus!" Galen got giddied with excitement, then quickly cleared his throat, "I mean Kris Kringle! Err… Lord Kringle."

L'Arachel sighed, "Follow me."

"Right behind ya, girl!" Galen sounded too excited.

"Okay, chill." Naesala told Galen, "We're meeting Lord Kringle, not the Lord of the Rings."

"Sorry." Galen took a deep breath, "I'll try to contain myself. I'll be cool. I'm cool."

The trio reach the castle's massive audience chamber where they saw Lord Kringle, taking care of a reindeer. Lord Kringle turned to face his visitors.

"About time." he said, "I have been expecting you."

"You have?" Naesala sounded surprised.

Lord Kringle nodded, "The world is in need of a savior at this very moment." he said, "Someone to stop the Winter Dragon from--!"

"MY GOSH!! You're him! You're really him!" Galen dashed toward Lord Kringle and shook him uncontrollably, "You're-- San… San… SANTA CLAUS!"

Lord Kringle pulled Galen off him and mindlessly looked around the room, holding his shaken head, "Oh, Galen Sage…" he groaned, "Good to see you… again… "

Naesala shook his head in shame while L'Arachel blankly stared at Galen blabbering, "Have I been good all year? Have I? 'Cuz if I have, then I want--! Wait."

He stopped, cleared his throat, then wrapped his arm around Lord Kringle before secretly pointing his thumb at Naesala, "Before I tell you," he whispered, "don't give anything to Naesala. He's been naughty all year long."

"HEY!" Naesala hissed.

"OKAY. NOBODY IS GETTING ANY GIFT THIS YEAR!" Lord Kringle's bark stunned the trio hardcore.

L'arachel approached her uncle and pleaded, "But Uncle, why? Is it because of the Winter dragon? Because we can fix it!"

"Did you not hear what I said earlier before you took off into the cold?" Lord Kringle exclaimed.

L'Arachel stared mindlessly at her uncle, like she was supposed to say something he wanted to hear, "You were serious about that?" She finally said.

Lord Kringle growled in frustration.

"Serious about what?" Galen curiously asked. L'Arachel faced him, "Lately, Uncle has been complaining about receiving something in return for all of the hard work he's been harboring all his life."

Naesala shrugged thoughtlessly, "What hard work?"

"CHRISTMAS!!" Lord Kringle barked again, before exclaiming, "You know what? Dismiss. All of you."

"UNCLE!" L'Arachel gasped.

"Please Santa, I mean Lord Kringle! Hear me out." Galen said, "The world is dying as we speak! And we want to stop it! Don't you think so too?"

Kringle sighed, "I do, but…"

"Okay." Galen began firmly, "How about this. You want something in return? How about I do your errands for you."

"What?!" Kringle gasped, "IN THAT COLD? WHERE THAT DRAGON IS?"

"Are you out of your mind?!" L'Arachel gasped.

"I maybe mindless," Galen said, "but I am willing to make sacrifices for the people I love… and for Christmas." he then proudly raised his voice, "I will go into this frigid cold again to deliver gifts to all children and adults alike! Regardless of this disaster happening, I will make sure this Christmas be still the best one ever to all!"

There was a brief silence in the room. L'Arachel stared at Galen with sparkling eyes, "Oh my gosh." she clasped her hands together and said amorously, "You love me?"

Galen stared at L'Arachel, stammering with a dumbfounded look on the face.

"IDIOT!" Naesala hissed, "You forget one important piece of information! The Christmas Magic!" he said, "Kringle needs it for his stupid deliveries!"

Galen, still dumbfounded, faced Naesala. Then a bright smile appeared on his face, "You're right!" he said, "Hey, how did you know that?"

"Err… you taught us?"

"Really? Hmm…" Galen rubbed his chin, "Funny, I don't remember me teaching you guys anything about Santa needing Christmas Magic to do his deed."

Naesala looked away as if proud of himself, "Well someone must have." he said.

Lord Kringle also took a stand, "If you're going to go do my deed in my place, at least let me come with you. We need to find that Christmas Magic together and help your friends regain it from that pest Nergal."

"Nergal…" Galen blinked, "Wait, but I thought…" Galen tried to say something but was also at loss of words.

"He's behind all of this." Lord Kringle said.

"Ooh! Can I come too?" L'Arachel exclaimed, "I'll bring Rudolf with me! And Dozla and Rennac as well too!"

"Don't forget to bring the Eastern Star with you." Naesala reminded, " 'Cuz I ain't coming back here. And we got no time to waste."

Galen saw determination in everyone's eyes: in L'Arachel, Naesala, and even Lord Kringle. No one was going to let Nergal or the Winter Dragon end the world at this time of year. This battle between good and evil was now or never. With that in mind, Galen smiled.

"Thanks, Kringle."