Things were getting lively at the Graham Residence. The units were going around, getting the house ready for the party that was to start within a matter of hours. In addition to the Christmas decorations, streamers and balloons were strewn around the house to add on to the setting. Lara was busy with the decorations outside as Sirius assists her, making sure the lights were perfectly in place. Tora swept the interior, cleaning up the place with Rouche moving some of the furniture around to create as much space in the house as possible. As for the summoners, James was busy in the kitchen, cooking various cakes and other desserts. It wasn't questing, but at least he was doing something. Valerie was overseeing the preparations, making sure that everything was going well. The interior was clean, the decorations were hung, and all fragile items that would normally be on the first floor and in the hallway were safely transferred to her and James' room. There were no itineraries to follow, just a simple social gathering to help commemorate the holidays. It was already evening, the sun had set more quickly, as expected for the winter season. It was 4:30, guests were bound to arrive soon. WIth the last of their tasks finished, the units gathered into the living room. "What do you want us to do now?" Asked Lara.
"Nothing," Valerie replied. "Just go on and enjoy yourselves. You all deserve it!"
Tora sighed with relief. "Yay… finally."
"You heard her," Sirius spoke up. "All that needs to be done is to wait."
"Right. Are the desserts ready?" Rouche asked James.
"I've got a plenty. I'll bring them over to the table." James called out. He walked out of the kitchen, wearing an apron and bringing a plate with some cupcakes on each hand, placing them on a table along with some bottles of soft drinks, pitchers of iced water and bowls of various candies. Paper plates, plastic cups, and cutlery were stacked onto a separate, smaller table.
"Do you need help with that?" Tora asked, seeing that her summoner's hands were full.
"It's fine," He politely declined. "I'll be fine. Besides, someone has to look out in case someone comes." As if on cue, a knock came on the door. "Someone answers it," James said before going back to the kitchen and bake a new batch of desserts.
Valerie walked over to the door to see who was there. "Yes?"
Standing at the door was a young girl with long brown hair wearing an oversized black sweater. Beside her was an older woman with blonde hair wearing a decorated green dress outfitted with a light breastplate, her appearance seemed almost fairy-like in nature. "U-Umm… Is this the right address?" The girl quietly stuttered. Valerie recognized the older woman as Libera, but took a few moments to scrutinize the girl, and looked at the invitation she held in her hand. "You must be Yume, correct?" She asked her.
"Y-Yes…" the girl replied.
"You came a little early, but we're welcome to have you." Valerie smiled. "Come inside, and help yourself to the desserts."
"Deserts?" Yume's eyes widened at the mention of it and did not hesitate to go inside. Just as Valerie promised, there were desserts on the table, from small cakes to cupcakes and muffins of different variety. A number of deserts on the table made her mouth water, and she quickly took a paper plate and began filling it with as many sweets as possible. She then moved towards a corner and began stuffing her face, with Libera standing beside her. "So when do the others arrive?" She asked.
"In a few moments," Valerie replied. "Though it may get crowded-" She was cut off as a knocking came at the door again. "I guess people are coming." She answered the door again, this time a short youth with a vaguely catlike appearance stood by the door. At his side were his units, a blonde, short-haired sorceress and an ominous hooded horseman who was fastening his horse's reins on a nearby. "Fray! Glad you could come!" Valerie greeted the youth.
"Glad to see you, Miss Windell. I suppose you are busy with the preparations?"
"No, we just finished them and are waiting for everyone else to arrive, so come inside! And just 'Valerie' is fine."
"Much obliged, Miss Windell." He walked inside along with his units.
He never changes… Valerie thought, still maintaining her optimism both inside and out.
"Well, I must say that you have gotten yourselves organized," Fray said as he examined the room.
"Yes, we've been cleaning up for a while. We weren't sure how many guests would come, so we tried to create as much space as we could."
Fray sniffed the air and turned over to the dessert-filled table. "Ah, I see you're serving the refreshments straight from the oven, I see?"
"Yeah. As much as we wanted to go buy them, we thought this would be a bit better. Probably the only store bought items we had were some of the drinks and the candies."
He tilted his head to the side, noting that he had not seen her partner yet, and the smell coming from the kitchen was rather obvious where he was. "Well, aren't you a bit too harsh to let James bake all by himself?"
"It was either that or watch him go on a quest marathon." She sighed. "I needed him to do something more productive over the holidays, plus I'm not an expert on cooking."
"Well, In any case, I better go help him out then. He' will need the assistance."
"Are you sure?"
"Don't worry about me, worry about the other guests that might come." He said as he made his way toward the kitchen. Valerie did as she was instructed and continued her door-keeping role.
In the meantime, Fray's units went over to the living room and got themselves acquainted. Limera's eyes widened as she spotted Rouche. "So this is where you've been, brother." She called out.
"Limera! It's been ages." He smiled back. The siblings went up to each other and pulled each other into an embrace.
"How funny I'd find you just before Christmas." She grinned.
"I suppose this counts as a Christmas miracle" Rouche chuckled. "So, how have things been for you?"
"Quite a bit, let me tell you all about what happened…" Limera began to tell her experiences with her summoner, from the quests they had embarked to more casual topics. Rouche sat along with her and listened attentively to every word of it. In no time at all, they found themselves going into a deep conversation, catching up on the times they were separated. In the meantime, Galtier leaned against a wall, observing everything with a blank expression. His appearance unnerved both Tora and Yume. "H-He's scary…" Tora quietly whimpered. Yume simply silently nodded, holding Libera's had as the latter stared at the knight. Who is this one? She thought to herself. I haven't seen this unit before in my years as a summoner. Maybe he's a new one? Galtier shifted his gaze over to the three girls with a cold gaze, making them all shudder in fear. He stared at the trio for a few seconds before turning away. "Do not mind me," He spoke in a hollow tone. "I am simply here at the behest of my summoner." The three sighed with relief, he was not going to do anything bad, yet.
In the kitchen, Fray checked up on James, who was hard at work mixing ingredients for different dishes with some difficulty. "Look at you, hard at work." he stood by the opening, leaning on the wall with a straight face. By the tone of his voice, James hinted a sense of teasing but shrugged it off. "What do you want, Fray?" He asked while rolling a lump of dough for gingerbread cookies. "I came to help. It would be a shame to have someone work too much by himself, especially with that kind of work load."
"I appreciate the concern, but I'll be fine." He replied. "You can go and enjoy yourself."
"Nonsense." Fray went over and picked up an apron. "Did you forget that I help out at a bakery? Just tell me what we're making and I'll help."
James was once again put into a situation he knows he could not argue back, so he simply let things be. "I've spaced out each batter and organized them. I left a little sticky note that will tell which is which. Use the cookbook over there if you need any further reference." He pointed towards a thick book sitting next to the refrigerator. "I will not ask how you have so many utensils, but I suppose work comes first. Also, don't you think that it's kind of too much that you are just serving desserts?"
"Yeah. I told Valerie this, but she insisted. She thinks that this is a good way to have everyone energetic."
"Energy through Sugar, huh. Quite simple thinking, coming from her." With that, the pair were now hard at work, preparing more desserts before any other guests arrived.
The next to arrive was Sakura Akemi, who stared at Valerie with a cold yet blank expression. "Sakura, right?" Valerie asked, to which the other quietly nodded. "Come inside, I'm sure you've walked quite the distance."
"Thank you," Sakura replied before walking inside, with Aaron and Rize following suit. The trio remained quiet for the most part, much to Tora and Yume's dismay. Like Fray, Sakura also took notice of how cleanliness of the area as she took a slice of cake. Not bad, I must say...
Shortly after that, more guests came in the form of a rather large group consisting of five women and only one male. "Lunar! Shimmer! Good to see you!" Valerie greeted the two young women at the very front of the group.
"Hiya!" Lunar replied, carrying two boxes of pumpkin pies. "I hope you don't mind us bringing in a few desserts of our own."
"Thank you!" She took the boxes off of Lunar's hands.
"Thank Semira, she was the one who suggested the idea." She points over to Semira, who nodded. "Oh no, there is no need to thank me."
"Come inside, please, help yourself!" Valerie went over to the table, opening the boxes and places the two pies on the table. She calls to the duo in the kitchen. "You two don't need to make as much, Lunar brought in some desserts herself!"
"You heard the lady, I suppose this is the last batch to make." Said Fray.
"Fine. time to get to mixing again" James said before turning his attention to mixing batter again.
Semira came in smiling, but the moment she laid eyes on Galtier, the mood shifted to that of a more serious one. "My Lady! It's him!" Jack spoke up.
"Yes, I know…" Semira replied as her gaze shifted over to the knight leaning against the wall.
The moment he spotted her, rage began to stir inside. Rage against the one who killed him in his quest for glory. Fortunately, he kept it in as he began to spoke, "It has been awhile since we've last met, Witch."
"You can call me whatever you want," Semira responded with a smirk. "I did not think it was possible for you to come back through summoning, let alone be resurrected at all."
"Do you wish for me to cut you down like I did that night?" Galtier manifested his scythe, much to the distress of Tora and Yume.
"I knew you would say that I have a new friend to introduce you. A shadow began to form behind her, a soul slowly rose from the ground, donning an armored Jesters hat. The feeling that Galtier emanated from the spirit, it was his own. So this is what I became… a mere shell at the mercy of a child? The sight was appalling to him, it made him disgusted, angrier. He felt his rage take control of him as he raised his scythe, pointing it at Semira, "I will enjoy tearing you apart. That connection you have with that spirit, I will tear it into pieces, until not a sliver of it remains!"
"You can try, but I'll just defeat you again and again. Shall we teach this knight another lesson, Jack?"
"It will be my pleasure!"
The scene was getting tenser by the second, Lunar stepped in the way of Semira, attempting to run damage control. "That's enough Semira, This is someone else's house. You guys can't fight here, you're killing the mood."
Semira remained as calm as before. "Ah, that's right. Forgive me, I forget myself sometimes." the aura around her slowly dissipated and the spirit sank back to the ground, disappearing. Galtier, on the other hand, seemed to show no signs of relenting as he kept the scythe in its position. "Are you backing out right now? A lowly tactic, fitting for a coward such as yourself."
"Need I remind you of who defeated who?" Semira sneered. Which only made the knight angrier. He stepped forward to try to make the first move but was quickly halted as a voice called out from the kitchen. "Galtier! Stop your nonsense this instant," shouted Fray from the kitchen. "This is a party, not the arena."
Galtier growled, backing up and dematerialised his scythe.
"Who's the coward now?" Semira taunted the knight once more but was met with a quick slap by Lunar, who promptly scolded her afterward. "How about you go to the kitchen," Lunar suggested, noticing the smell emanating from it. "Whoever is in there might need some help."
"Alright then, let's go, Jack." Semira and Jack then began to float towards the kitchen, looking to see if they could be of any assistance. She walked in to see Fray and James hard at work. "My my," She chuckled. "This is quite the peculiar sight."
"Miss Semira! It's nice to see you." Fray greeted her. "Is it possible you could assist us? With more hands, we could finish this task more quickly."
"I'd be delighted to, what about you?" She turned over to James, who averted his gaze from her.
"I would appreciate your assistance," James said.
Semira then walked off to the side and grabs an apron, joining the pair in completing the last batch of desserts.
With the crisis quickly resolved, the atmosphere returned to its quiet state. Shimmer joined the now dubbed "Quiet corner" along with Yume and Tora, seeing that most of the individuals here seemed like ones that shouldn't be messed with. The only ones making any sort of noise were Rouche and Limera, who were still deep in conversation. "Wow, it's quiet in here," Lunar remarked, looking rather bored.
"Even with this number, nothing has happened yet," Lara spoke up. "I think I have an idea that might help lighten the mood." She looked towards Sirius and motioned her to get something, to which he obliged.
"Where are you going?" Rize inquired.
"It is as she said, something to lighten the mood," Sirius replied. "I will be right back." he then ran off to a different corner of the house."
"Whatever it is, I have this strange feeling that makes me uncomfortable…" Medina said.
"What makes you say that?" asked Aaron.
"I don't know, but I still feel very uncomfortable about it."
Sakura paid no attention to it as she browsed through a selection of books in a bookshelf in the hallway while Lunar snickered in a corner, she most likely had a clue what might happen next.
The next arrival came in the form of another group with that consisted of a majority of females, on the left, two were floating, one was a bespectacled woman holding a few tomes and the other a little girl dressed in a black fur coat. On the right was a white-haired woman clad in heavy armor with another girl, who appeared to be slightly older than the other floating girl with the same hair color as her and the female knight but tied in twin tails. "I-Is this where the party is being held?" She stuttered, hiding behind her unit holding the invitation.
"You came to the right place," Valerie replied in a happy and relaxed tone, taking note of the girl's anxiety. "You are Hikari, right? And I believe the one floating beside you is Clockwork?"
"Yep," Clockwork replied. "Come on Hika," She whined. "I want to see the sweets…"
"O-Okay…" The next group entered the house, adding on to the current population of the crowd. As expected, Clockwork quickly floated towards the table and, much like Yume, tried to see how much desserts she could try to fit on her plate. The other three followed suit in a more orderly and calm fashion and did the same, albeit having a significantly lower portion than Clockworks. From there they branched off into separate groups, with Elimo going off to the hallway near Sakura's location, and Clockwork, Hikari, and Sefia also joined the quiet corner, with Hikari looking visibly frightened. It didn't seem to help her that Tora of all people was beside her, the disciple's appearance made her all the more unsettled. Seeing this, Tora turned around to try to greet Hikari, but the latter quickly inched away from her. She felt a little disheartened, wondering if she had done something wrong again. "Please forgive her," Sefia said. "She is not used to interacting with others other than Clockwork and us units."
"O-Oh! I see…" This made her feel slightly relieved. Tora then looked to Hikari. "I feel just as nervous right now."
"Y-You do?" She asked.
"Yes, I'm not fond of crowds, there is something about them that just makes me afraid, especially if they are the scary-looking kind."
"I-I see…" The little ice-breaker slowly became a quiet conversation, much to the delight of both girls. Sefia watched this with a smile, seeing her summoner in a light mood.
Little by little, parts of the house were getting a bit livelier, the atmosphere progressively becoming less quiet. With the exception of Galtier, the units began discussing amongst themselves, talking about various topics ranging from their experiences with their summoners to the feeling of being a unit. The atmosphere only got more energetic with the arrival of the next batch of guests, the door was kicked down as the next group entered the house.
"HO HO HO!" shouted Ace, a large bag in hand while the others trailed in. The sudden entrance caused those in the quiet corner to tense up for being caught by surprise.
"Forgive him," Said a bespectacled blonde haired woman who had a look of disappointment on her face. "He was really excited for the party."
"Don't worry, Evelyne," Valerie replied. "We're glad that there are more guests arriving.
"Whoo! Party!" Vargas shouted, with Lava having a similarly disappointed expression as she followed him.
The last to enter was Ninmah and Enki, with the former inspecting the house with the same level of curiosity she had displayed countless times before. "What a well-decorated house, don't you think, Enki?" She spoke.
"I'll say," replied Enki. "By the looks of things, we both may have a good time here Ninmah."
Lunar's eyes widened with excitement upon seeing the units. Vargas and Lava, one pairing that she had documented over the years, was there in front of her. The other two were units she could not recognize, but her instincts told her that the two were definitely in a relationship. Fortunately, she had brought a notebook with her to help document the actions of couples that sparked her interest, whether they were unit or fellow summoners. This was a good idea She thought, her smile grew all the wider and child-like in fashion.
It was well past five o'clock at this point and with the arrival of Ace and his group, the atmosphere grew even brighter. The knock on the door heralded the last group to arrive, to which Valerie answered the door once more. "Hello!" She happily greeted the group but was met with an uncomfortable silence. "Y-You're Nevryn, R-right?" He did not respond but simply walked in silently, with Sara, whom to Nevryn's relief did not bring a bottle of beer with her, and his units following soon after. He walked off to a corner away from everyone else leaving Sara and his units to their own devices. Sara herself looked at Valerie with a rather suspicious smile, which made her uncomfortable. "Umm… can I help you?" She asked.
"Sure you can," Sara replied. "Just let me examine you a little closer…" She leaned in forward to grab Valerie. With the woman's speed and the sudden action, Valerie did not have the time to react as she suddenly found herself wrapped in her deceptively gentle embrace. "You have such beautiful skin…" She cooed as she stroked her arms on Valerie's figure, wanting to touch what exposed parts of her body she had, which made Valerie fluster. Seeing what was going on, Lara and Rouche stepped in to interfere and quickly pried Sara off their summoner."Aww,, " She whined. "And she looked quite cute… Oh well." She turned her gaze to the others in the room, that same expression she had still plastered on her face. While some of the female units seemed to show slight discomfort while most of the female summoner's that were present in the room, namely the shy and quiet ones, shuddered with fright, which made Sara all the giddier.
Yuura glanced over to the side to see his former comrades showing the same amount of discomfort as everyone else, which also made him smile. " I didn't expect to see you three in here." He laughed, which prompted Medina to tense up. "Not you again…" She groaned.
"Missed me? I bet you did." He smirked.
Here we go again… Dion and Medina simultaneously thought, both knowing where this was going.
Holia in the meantime examined the room when her eyes fell on Rize. "My my, is that my little God of destruction?"
Rize remained silent, maintaining a cool exterior as she looked at her creator in the eye. "This many reunions in such a short time? I find this almost too coincidental," she remarked.
Holia seemed to ignore the explanation as she went up to Rize and fully inspected her appearance. "This is an interesting development. I did not encounter this kind of progress before…"
"That is because I have achieved a new form of evolution. One I doubt you have come across."
"Yes, the so-called "Omni evolution" the humans discovered. Such interesting results… So many observations waiting to record…" Holia's smile grew wider as her researcher's instincts slowly took over, her desire to analyze and examine everyone in the room became more evident, almost similar with Sara's perverse urges. Nevryn looked at all of this with a mix of indifference and disappointment. He walked into a minefield, knowing fully well this was going to happen. At least there WILL be something for me to do… he thought, resolving to his caretaker role.
Whether it was for better or worse, all the guests had finally arrived, the party has just begun.
Finally, I bring the cast together. Sorry if this chapter was one big exposition, but I decided to split the party into two chapters, so expect the second half of it to be released tomorrow and expect more to happen there.