'Tis the season to be jolly! Greetings from the Arctic Swordsman!
Not the chapter you expected, but here's a nice litte heart-warming Christmas Chapter from yours truly!
I only own my OCs!
Chapter 38: Merry Memories!
"Come on bro! Get up!" Marcus groaned as he heard his sister's voice, opening his eyes and sitting up, he blinked away the tiredness, before focusing on Emma, who looked extremely eager.
"What in the stars of Aincrad has gotten you all fired up?" He muttered.
"It's snowing! Big time too! Just look at the snow mounds out back!" She grinned. "We must have a snowball fight! Like we did with mama!"
Marcus' eyes widened, "Right! This will be the first year that we can have a snowball fight after you recovered full mobility!" He realised.
He gave a smirk, "I seem to remember that it took both you and mama to beat me, and that was sometimes after you got help from half the house staff," he told her. "What makes you think you'll beat me today?"
"The thirst for revenge," Emma shot back.
Their garden really was covered in snow, and two perfect mounds had been formed naturally overnight. Marcus took one side, while Emma begun to fortify her side, both built their forts, Marcus choosing a wider perimeter while Emma built thicker walls but a smaller bunker.
Marcus, never too affected by the cold, wore a long-sleeved, white shirt and black sweatpants while Emma wore a blue woolly jumper over a black t-shirt and grey sweatpants.
After a five minute honour rule to build the defences, the fight began. Marcus instantly ducked behind his wall to avoid the salvo of snowballs from Emma, who threw them like catapults, sometimes giving high shots, sometimes tricking him with some that smashed into his walls.
Marcus heard a pause in her salvo, either she was reloading, or she was recharging, he gripped two snowballs, ready to strike back, he just caught a glimpse of her black hair contrasting with the snow, he threw his snowballs slower than she did, but put more power into his throws, and smashing them into the same spot again and again.
He grinned when he saw the wall crumble in that one spot, producing a sizable hole. Obviously, Emma's snow fort building skills were top-notch, as the wall didn't collapse in, the girl clearly noticed her breach, and worked with haste to repair the damage.
"Here's where it ends!" Marcus called. Climbing to the top of his mound, he grinned when he got a perfect glimpse of Emma's head as she patched up the hole. "Sub-Zero Slammer!" He yelled out, launching a huge salvo of snowballs, six of them flying in a line towards his sister, who only just reacted to the assault.
All six slammed into her face, and Marcus rushed over to make sure he hadn't overdone it. He was glad when he saw her get back up, and laughed when she spluttered out snow that had gotten in her mouth.
"I win, now let's go get dressed and have some breakfast, ok kiddo?" He asked her.
"Ok! Race you to the shower!" Emma giggled, scrambling to her feet and sprinting inside.
"Hey! That's cheating!" Marcus called after her.
After breakfast, the siblings went to the mall, "Right, we have a present for some of our friends, but we still need gifts for Sarah, Keiko, Sayuri, Michael and Suguha," Marcus said, ticking the names off a list.
"How about we split up and meet back in two hours? I'm kind of glad our old man decided to send that cheque to us," Emma suggested.
"Yeah, who knew he actually had a heart," Marcus sighed. "Alright Emma, don't talk to strangers, see you back at the bus station in two hours then."
The two siblings broke off and went their own way, Marcus then added another name to the list he needed to get a gift for, Emma. He wanted to give her the best present ever this year, maybe because he hadn't been able to get one for her during his time in SAO.
An hour later, he walked out a store, having handled a present for both Sarah and Sayuri, he already had dealt with Suguha and Keiko, but he was having trouble with a present for Michael and Emma. "Marcus?" He turned his head at the hail, and saw Asuna walking towards him.
"Hey Asuna, fancy meeting you here," He smiled. "What are you here for today?" He asked her.
"Oh, just some Christmas gifts for the family and for friends," She shrugged, holding up the bags she had. "You?"
"Same, I need a gift for Michael, and one for Emma," Marcus told her.
"Emma? I thought that she'd be easy to handle," Asuna muttered.
"Nah, because I missed Christmas with her with SAO going on, I want to get her the best present ever!" Marcus explained.
"I get it, well, no matter what you get her, I'm sure she'd love it," Asuna assured him.
"Actually… now I have an idea, I just hope I can get it in time…" Marcus gave a grin.
"What? What did you just think of?" She asked.
"Just wait and see," He smirked, "See ya around," with that, he walked away.
Christmas arrived, Sarah, Kione and Keiko came around in the morning to exchange presents and have a merry time.
Sarah was handed a present from Marcus, and she ripped into it to find a beautiful necklace with a gleaming amethyst as the gemstone. She loved the item, and thanked Marcus with a kiss on the cheek, to which the other three girls giggled at his expense.
The presents went on, Emma had gotten a fluffy scarf which came with decorations of her favourite Pokémon, Alolan Ninetails, from Sarah, a puzzle of Aincrad from Keiko and a huge collection of chocolate and candy from Kione.
Sarah had also gotten a new leather jacket from Emma, Keiko had gotten her a book on martial arts, and Kione had given her a model of the Raevelt, smaller than the actual thing, but she still cherished the gift.
Marcus had been gifted a collection of lore books from Star Wars from Emma, which he planned on using a lot. Keiko had given him a picture book of Ion and Silica during their break in SAO, and they all had some laughs from what they saw. Kione and Sarah had pooled together when it came to Marcus, the older Cersy sibling tearing into the last present to find two boxes. The first that he opened, he felt a vibe of familiarity.
"Where have I seen this before?" He muttered, pulling out a white coat.
"Why don't you try it on?" Sarah grinned.
Marcus stood up, and put on the coat, it was then when he smacked himself in the forehead, "Wow… The Cloak of the Snow…" He muttered. The coat was an exact replica of his long coat from SAO.
"I managed to get in touch with an old friend from SAO who was a tailor, turns out she's a seamstress IRL, when I brought this before her, she was more than happy to take the challenge," Sarah explained.
"It feels just like I'm in New Aincrad now," Marcus smiled.
"Then don't blink, or you'll miss what's next," Kione grinned.
Marcus sat back down, the second box was heavier, making him wonder what it was.
Therefore, his shock when he pulled out not just a perfect replica of Arctic Heart, but also Frozen Flash, the sword he had commissioned from Liz back on floor forty-eight, made the girls think he might faint.
"My swords too… how'd you…?" He asked.
"Dad pulled some strings, and got in touch with a bunch of guys who make full blown replicas of weapons from cartoons and other things, an example is the Gravity Hammer from the Halo franchise," Sarah said.
"Whoa…" Marcus wiped away a tear from his eye, then struck a pose with the two swords.
"Not bad for a polar opposite of Kazuto," Keiko smiled.
Marcus put the swords back in the box and took off his coat, then they got back to present opening.
Keiko opened a box to find a stuffed animal of Pina the feathery dragon, to which she squealed with joy and hugged Marcus, a cute outfit from Emma, Sarah had got her a bracelet with a ruby in it, and Kione had gotten her a painting of a fully grown Pina, with Silica riding her with a confident look on her face.
"One last present, I wanted to save the best to last," Marcus said, pulling a thin present out from under the tree.
He then handed it to Emma, "Here Sis, Merry Christmas from me," he smiled.
She opened it, and almost froze solid when she saw an old book, with four words on the cover.
Elizabeth Cersy
Photo Albumn
With shaking fingers, she turned open the book, and gasped.
The whole book was filled with photos with a young boy, and younger girl, as well as a man, there was also a woman. She had jet-black hair, and sea-blue eyes, her hair was done up in a bun, and she wore an elegant dress.
"Mama…!" Emma whimpered. One photo showed the siblings with their mother, having a painting contest, next to it showed the three having a paint war. Another photo showed them at a theme park with their father too, on a small raft shooting water cannons at other boats. Another showed a snowball fight between the boy and girl, their mother had joined the girl's side, as well as the house staff. As she looked at the photo with glossy eyes, she remembered back to the day that photo took place.
Flashback
"HAHAHA! I'm the king of the castle! I'm king of the castle!" a young Marcus laughed, from high upon the hill he had chosen as his fort. A young Emma pouted, with a cute glare up the boy.
"Mama! Marcus is being himself again!" She called over to where a bench stood, Warren Cersy and Elizabeth Cersy laughed at their son's antics.
"Is he now?" Elizabeth asked, a playful grin on her face, "How about we get him together?" She asked, coming over and forming a snowball in her hands.
"Yeah! Get him!" Emma giggled, throwing a snowball towards Marcus with vigour. He ducked under the attack, and narrowly avoided a projectile from his mother.
"Really sis? You ask for help to defeat me? Fine then, I'll take you both on!" He laughed, tossing down a counterattack that missed Elizabeth by a centimetre.
This kept going, but the two female Cersy's couldn't get close enough to defeat him. Even with the help of the kitchen staff, the butler, Kane, and the four maids, it took two hours to finally get a hit on the boy, who put on an amazing 'death' display, by rolling down the hill and into Emma and Elizabeth after becoming a snowball himself.
When the snow settled, all three were laughing freely, Marcus and Emma giving a friendly argument about who won the war.
In the end, it was declared a tie, because Emma herself had gotten the final hit on Marcus, while he had bowled into them both after becoming a snowball. They had gotten a cold that Christmas, all three of them, and several staff had to call in after catching a cold themselves, but it was extremely worth it for the best snowball fight. Ever. Of all time.
End Flashback
Emma put down the book, before launching into Marcus with a massive bone crushing hug, "Thank you Marcus," she smiled, tears flowing freely from her eyes.
"You're welcome Emma, Merry Christmas," Marcus smiled back, warmly accepting the embrace with open arms.
Ion: We wish you a merry Christmas!
Sarah: We wish you a merry Christmas!
Emma: We wish you a Merry Christmas!
Kione: And a Happy New Year!
Ion: So, yeah, just a small Christmas feels chapter, sort of sharing the antics I shared IRL with finding something for my brother...
Emma: And what did you get him?
Ion: Not important here! Anywhoo, I hope you folks have a great Christmas.
All: See you in 2017!