MEEEERY CHRISTMAS!

The others arrive

Two men groaned loudly, stopping their work near where Keenan was sitting observing the reconstruction efforts. They whined loudly, asking for them to call it a day already. With a solid glare, they froze and got right back to work. Then Keenan looked from the corner of his eye, seeing the last person he expected to be awake.

"You should be resting." Keenan stated.

"There's plenty of time to rest when you're dead." Yuki retorted, walking out of the shadows. She walked right up to him, unaffected by what a stranger would usually consider a cold stare. "But I just happen to be a freak that doesn't sleep very often. These guys may be bandits but they're pretty normal. If they're sleep-deprived then their work is sloppy."

"The work isn't that hard." He retorted, looking back to the bandits that were working. "And very few are well enough to work as it is." Then, knowing full well what she was about to do, he bolted up and stood in front of her. "Don't even think about it. Until Adlabert tells me otherwise you're not even supposed to be out of bed."

Yuki grinned, spun around him, and then took off running. She quickly flew into the sky like a damn bird, vaulting over larger bandits and eventually perching herself atop a roof. "I think you'll find I'm a lot more durable than you think." She purred.

"You're a brat, that's what you are!" Keenan growled as he tried to get up the side of the roof without killing himself. "SHUT UP!" He yelled at the men who started to laugh at the sight. "Get back to work, you lazy bums!"

Suddenly, Yuki stopped laughing and looked to her right before sliding off the roof and bolting. Keenan bolted after her, grabbing a horse as an afterthought. He was right in the middle of scolding her for running off alone when things were so dangerous when they ran into a fight, or rather a standoff.

"Stand down." He commanded the bandits. "They are not our enemy right now."

The bandits trusted him and lowered their weapons, sheathing their swords and backing away. Yuki also sheathed her swords, having been fully prepared to fight the bandits to protect her friends. Just because she'd just met them a few days ago doesn't mean she was going to let them get hurt on her watch just because these bandits were itching to take out a possible threat.

"We have a common enemy." Yuki told them. "That shadow thing that thrashed the fortress."

The bandits nodded, returning to their positions as look-outs.

She turned back to her friends. Ken, Conrad, and Yozak were there. "Yuri and Wolfram are up ahead." Yuki told them.

"You shouldn't be up and moving around, Yuki." Conrad half-scolded. He sighed, pulling her close.

"I am never letting you out of my sight again." Yozak grinned, poking her in the forehead. "The second I do you get kidnapped by scary puppet-men."

"I'd like to see you try to protect a brat and a wimp from twelve freaks that use a form of magic you've never seen before!" Yuki seethed as she tried to get out of her godfather's grip.

"Now-now, that's not very ladylike." Yozak teased, enjoying this.

"You say that as if I give a damn." Yuki ground out, resisting the urge to bite the hand that restrained her.

Ken chuckled, walking ahead. "Let's go see how the others are, shall we?"

Conrad kept an arm wrapped around his goddaughter up until they spotted Yuri. His face lit up and he bolted to greet them properly… and would have fallen flat on his face if Yozak hadn't caught him. Conrad sighed, releasing Yuki so she could also go to her brother's side.

"Don't move around so quickly like that. It almost looks like you like falling flat on your face." Yuki teased. His face was already covered in scratches from his face-plant earlier, which was slightly her fault for not catching him.

"I do n – you should be resting!" He scolded upon realizing that Yuki was out of bed. "The first time I used my power on this world, I slept for half a week."

"I'm stronger than you." Yuki stated, shrugging. "Besides, I used that power for the first time when I was about ten. Started actually training with it last year." She grinned, kissing him on the cheek. "Good luck catching up, big brother."

Yuri glared at her. "You've always been ahead of me." He pouted.

"Love you."

"I bet." Yuri scoffed. "You're sure enjoying teasing me enough."

"Of course." Yuki grinned.

Eventually, they all went inside. They sat in a rectangular table with Yuri and Adlabert on either end. Yozak, Conrad, and Ken sat on one length of the table while Yuki, Wolfram, and Keenan sat at the other length. Conrad and Wolfram ended up sitting next to Yuri, Yuki stuck between Wolfram and Keenan. For the entire conversation, Yuki could feel both Conrad's and Adlabert's eyes on her every few seconds.

"Those puppets and the creatures were no-doubt from the Big Shimaron castle not far from here." Adlabert stated.

"I'm interested in that strategist of his. If he's the one who kidnapped Sir Bielefeld…. The use of magic this deep into human territory is quite impressive." Ken stated.

Instantly, Yuri jumped up. "Let's go see Belal."

Everyone stiffened and there was a long pause as most at the table tried to decide if they'd heard him right.

Yozak whistled. "Are we waging war against Big Shimaron, Majesty?" He looked hopeful yet doubtful. Yuki could tell that the man didn't like Big Shimaron yet knew Yuri enough to know that he didn't rush into war.

"I'm up for it." Yuki grinned.

"To hell you are!" Adlabert snapped.

"No!" Yuri stated. "I just want to talk to him."

"Huh?" Yozak chirped.

"You never learn, do you Yuri?" Wolfram sighed.

"Belal hates demons, I get it. It's a long-running hatred. But other countries have seen past that. We've come to an understanding through talking rather than fighting. Most new to our alliance are those who once hated demons. We still came to an understanding."

Ken sighed, nodding. "Actually, we might want to get acquainted with this strategist. I'm rather interested about his ability to tame these monsters and those puppets." He grinned slightly, leaning on his hands to hide it a little. "I'd definitely want him to teach me how."

"Why don't you just force him to tell you?" Yozak grinned slyly.

"That's all fine but what if the Maou comes out and pronounces 'judgment' before Belal tells us anything?" Ken chuckled.

"Yeah, Maou-mode has been pretty unreliable as of-"

"You're not supposed to say that yourself!" Wolfram snapped.

Yuri chuckled nervously and, slowly, everyone disbursed. It was decided that they'd set off in the morning.

Yuki sighed, looking at the full moon. Ken walked up, hands in his pockets and the light reflecting off his glasses so his eyes couldn't be seen.

"You need to take care of yourself, not just everyone else." Ken told her. "I know you're tough. But you're not immortal and you still feel pain."

Yuki already assumed him to be the mysterious type who seemed to know everything. She was apparently right on the mark. "We're just talking. No harm in tagging along." She grinned innocently, leaning against the tree behind her.

"The others will not like it." Ken stated.

"I won't be seen unless I'm needed." Yuki stated. "Infiltrations and secret body-guard stuff is kinda my thing."

Ken sighed, surrendering. "Take care of yourself, Yuki. I'm not sure if Yuri will be able to survive using you again."

Yuki stiffened, remembering her own pain. Sabo, Thatch, Ace… and then Pops. Losing them nearly killed her. She seriously contemplated ending it for good when Ace dropped to the ground, gone and never coming back. "I won't put him through that." She stated.

Ken nodded and walked away, leaving her alone. Yuki looked back at the full moon.

And there you have it. Now get back to Christmas stuff AFTER reviewing to give me a 'hi' for Christmas.

:D