Chapter 10: Christmas

The months moved by as we started losing a few of our outposts. We lost East Gate and the outskirts due to Dungeon Fighter interference. Gizel was doing mad experiments with the ones we did get in order to make super-soldiers of our own, which I personally find ridiculous to say the least. I went to visit our captive princess in the tower under the excuse of going there to "put her in place" as they would say it since she did complain a bit too much for the guards there. She was gazing at the snowflakes outside of the prison windows, clearly yearning for the outside. No one was around as I walked in.

"Why hello there." I said curtly.

"Which one of you pig…oh, it's you again." She replied, a bit relieved to see my presence. Whether it's stupid or not, we've become friends despite our sides in the war. To her I was just a regular Joe and to me, she was just another girl. Boy do I wish the world would be as simple as this. I slid another book from my collection of fairy tales into the cell.

"Happy Christmas Eve I guess, I know it sucks being here but…it's the least I can do." I said.

"Shame you can't slide me a blanket warmer or something, but this is appreciated. For an enemy, you're a really nice guy, I'm surprised you've never gotten any women with this kind of generosity." She replied. I wish I could answer the question but I can't. For the next 15 minutes, we talked about our Christmas wishes and such. After that, I went off after we said our goodbyes. At least she didn't blame me for what we had to do back at the palace, she understands war's cold reality as well. Yet we're still good friends, or at least friendly enemies. If the war ends and we're both still alive, I wish I could just hang around a café with her and screw around doing what we always do, but I'm honestly convinced I'll die fighting while she gets freed. Guess I'll give her this journal as a last gift if my final day comes, after all, she deserves to know what we think of this mess too in light of our crimes.

After my little detour, Bill, Stan, Will, and I snuck into Ghent as civilians for some screw around time and shopping since our main base utterly sucked in terms of things to do on the holiday. Will managed to get a short lived date with someone as he hung around with a girl for most of the time we were here. Stan went into the entertainment shop and brought some music and "other" things. Seems like they came out with Wild Imperial Girls as a magazine for men as he was staring at that junk all day long (emphasis on junk). As for me and Bill, we went to Oasis due to its reputation as one of the best bars around Ghent. It was Christmas eve, we were in the mood for cocktails, so we figured why not. We went into the bar and there was no one there but the owner.

"Welcome, how may I serve you today?" He asked.

"No need to be courteous, we're just oddballs from the south end of the world." Bill told him as we sat down.

"Two Tom and Jerry's please." I said.

"Alright, coming up then." The Bartended replied as he went to get the ingredients.

Bill and I went on with our idle chats about the various entertainments we watch in our spare time. Heated arguments between our favorite characters flair up. It was nerdy for two war mongers but hey, we all can self indulge a little, can't we? We constantly tried to not talk about how the war was going since we were in the heart of enemy territory after all.

"Hey Charles, ever wondered what spending Christmas with a real family feels like?" He asked all of the sudden.

"No, not really, I've done this without one for so long that it doesn't even matter anymore. Families are for the lucky, you're lucky if you even had a mom and dad to cherish, as for people like us, we have no such luxuries since we got tossed out after all. Same goes with siblings, you might hate them when you're young but when you're older, you find them to be that one friend you just can't replace. For us, we're just doing a rondo of blood. Still though, if I could choose, I'd love to just go back to the past and experience a proper Christmas with family and friends, feasting on a large holiday table, hearing the sounds of laughter as kids open presents with glee, and getting wasted with friends." I replied after some thought while the bartender was making our drink.

He didn't say anything but he had that look of a person that felt clearly insulted when I said that line about mom and dads which returned back to normal when I added in why.

"Well, I suppose you're right since we're orphans and all torn in a bloody mess but this is actually spending Christmas with a family if you think about it. Sure we might not have parents, blood related siblings, or even cousins but we've got our buddies that have been through with us thick and thin. A friendship forged in fire if you would say. As much as I would love to have a smoking wife, kids, and a family in general, you guys are probably the next best thing. I love what we do at downtimes, sitting around a fire place, eating rations, drinking insta-made cocktails, and sharing stories. It's like we had a second chance at having a childhood again. That is really what the spirit of Christmas is about, don't you think?" Bill said in reply to my long winded speech.

"Alright, your two cocktails are done, enjoy and happy pre-Christmas." The bartender said as he slid us our two mugs.

"Mmm, time to dig into something that isn't a powdered mix drink!" Bill said enthusiastically.

"Cheers man." I said in reply as I chinked his glass.

"Boy, you two must have been quite the loner as children. I can already guess which army you're from though. You're from the Kartels aren't you?" The bartender guessed as he saw through our disguises.

We stared at each other in long silence.

"Well, I'm not going to tell the army that you're here and get you killed. That's just a douche move if I did that. To me, any customer from any place who walks into a bar is just a regular person regardless of what they do. If you were real scum, I'd have you gone right now but…you two are literally nothing like what I hear about other Kartel soldiers." He added in to assure us that our day wasn't screwed over.

"Well uh…thanks for the holiday spirit then I guess." I replied as we downed our drinks. It was a delicious slice of heaven for a person who's been to hell for so long. Warmth seeped through our cold and desolate bodies. I guess you could say it was the best Christmas we've ever had for years as Kartel soldiers. After a while, we all rented an inn, minus Will because he was busy with his girl. What kind of busy was it? I probably have no idea but we all laid down and got some rest before snooping around the town for Christmas. Too bad I wasn't sleepy though so I went outside of town to see what I could get our prisoner for Christmas. I decided to get a electronic blanket based on her earlier wish. I brought it for a good 10k gold which is chump change compared to what some people have. Then I went back inside the inn, hid it in my suitcase, and went to sleep.

The next day, all four of us had loads of fun. We went and did this thing they called skiing where you slide down a hill on weird looking shoes. Bill slid off and bonked his head in the snow on his first try. I wasn't any better either since I got to the end and got stuck in a pretzel knot. Stanley was a natural at it though and made it down just fine for a rookie. Will took his girlfriend on a date here. I'd have to say, the kid has some good taste. Long legs, nice short-red hair, and I'll probably stop here before I turn into a pervert trying to describe beauty. All five of us had a stupid as heck snowball fight afterwards as we laughed the day away, clearly forgetting about the war and whatnot in favor of just having fun again.

At the end of our snowy fun, we all split up again. Will was going to have a fancy dinner and we teased him pretty hard about it, making his face go red even. Bill, Stanley, and I were going to go out to the town drinking and hamming it up. We took a local stop at a place with things they call video games. They were having a dance game competition there and there were sign ups. Bill and I signed up while Stanley was busy playing war simulation games. Our feet burnt through the pad(almost literally as they did catch on fire due to some malfunctions) as we danced against various competitors. At the final round he challenged me to a bet where the loser has to pay for cocktails. Of course I wasn't going to let him off easily so I busted my foot out in some unlimited dance works. We danced through ten songs before they finally declared it a tie and had a sudden death round. We were neck and neck again as our feet were numb as we kept trying to hit perfects. I slipped and got a great though while he did the whole thing flawlessly. Stanley was amazed at how our thighs didn't die out.

"Damn, close game." I said, panting.

"Yeah, you're…pretty good." Bill replied as sweat drenched his forehead.

We took the prize money and made our way to a random cocktail bar since Oasis was closed for today. We had a merry night of drinking before we went back to the inn and slept. I wish holidays were permanent but I guess they just really aren't.

The next day came and we all went back to headquarters. I took a detour to the tower again to drop off my little gift. She was eating crappy grits again when I went to her cell. Looked quite cold too.

"Hey there, how are you holding up?" I asked.

"Not exactly the greatest, it's been freezing, Christmas sucked, and yeah, nothing more to note." She replied.

"Well, here's something to fight off the cold weather." I said as I slid in the electric blanket.

"Thanks! I've been dying for one of these. I wish there was a way I could repay you for such generosity…" She fidgeted, twiddling her fingers as she thought of a way to repay me.

"No worries, it's the least I can do as a supposed "enemy" of yours. If the war ends and you get released while I'm still alive, I'd surely get executed by your vengeful hands anyways, right?" I said in reply.

"What? Killing you? No, I can't do that after all you've done. I'd send you to a nice and comfy prison cell and help you wait out the years just like you're helping me. When you get released, we can hang out and laugh like the pals we are…can't we?" She stated, a bit worried at my rather dark thoughts.

"Sorry for bugging you with such pessimism then, I can't really help but think these things." I said in reply, trying to comfort her.

"Well, goodbye then. Hope we can mess around another day. Before then though…what's your name?" She asked.

"I'm Charles Miller." I replied.

"Ah, alright. Well my name is Natasha. Nice to finally know who you are." She said.

"Likewise, adios." I said as I went downstairs and went back to the main base.

The holiday season was over, now it's time to get back to the battlefield again.

Author notes: Probably one of the few brighter chapters out of this depressing story.