Cearbhail:

And so... with this chapter, we close Act 1. I'll take a bit of a break to finish up Chronicles of Ruby and start up Changing Fates before beginning on this again. Shouldn't be too long, 2 to 3 months probably. So... Merry Christmas, Merry Yule, and for everyone else, happy holidays (whichever one you celebrate).

Enjoy ^^ ...

[Malik Ishtar]

Dear journal,

Today is December 25th. Not sure why this day is so important. The locals believe that a god was born on this day. If I recall correctly, that 'god' was a prophet, but whatever. And while the locals are worshiping this prophet god, the witches are celebrating some other completely different holiday built around waking the god of the sun. So… one holiday dedicated to the birth of a god… the other built around waking a god. And from what I heard from Red, both holidays rotate around putting lights up around trees, passing around gifts… she can't explain it, but she thinks that the two holidays are really the same one. I can't see how that can be possible; they're not even about the same gods. But anyway, the witches are getting everything set up for their celebration while the locals living here in Bricksville are setting up for their Christmas.

So, it's been a week now since our fight with Wolfe's men. His men retreated back to Nottingham, and we haven't seen any retaliation. We know some of the knights managed to sneak away, but as to where they have gone… I don't know. If they reported back to Nottingham, I would have expected a reply from King John, some sort of counterattack, by now. But, it's been pretty silent. The town's taken us as heroes and has given our people our own mansion to station ourselves in. We have a smithy helping us make weapons and armor while Laila begins making us new robes. Vicky is doing what she can to help us along with our training now. The Littles are back in training now, learning even stronger stuff than what they were doing before. And I don't really see why; during the battle with Wolfe's men, they were doing great. Everyone came back alive, even if some of us are now missing a few fingers or parts of our ears.

Anyway, I plan on enjoying this little festive day. I don't know how long we will stay here, but I figure a month or so will allow us some time to blow this whole war over. I should go to Nottingham and visit the King, see if he's planning any sort of retaliation. I would try to see if he's somehow gotten all the three pieces for whatever it is he plans to do… but we have the orb. I know that much. As long as we have it and he doesn't… there is nothing to worry about. Besides, Vicky is holding onto the thing. Won't let it out of her sight. As long as she stays in possession of it… nothing can go wrong.

Oh… time to eat some food.

Malik Ishtar, Master of Bricksville Assassins Den.

…

Today was something special alright. The witches actually started their celebration three days ago, but from what I heard, they celebrate for 12 days without stopping. Each day they would burn a block of wood, say some kind of chant, and then go back to partying. And after living through that large battle with all of Wolfe's men… it was nice to see Red and everyone else laughing and setting up their daily party supplies. It was amazing how quickly everyone in town went into party mode after everything was taken care of after the battle. It was a long four days of digging graves for the knights, dumping the body parts into the graves, and then making everything pretty. Vicky and a few other plant growers covered the whole battlefield in pretty flowers to cover the graves and blood spilt. While they were doing that, Ashley continued making more of her fear poison. A few smithies built some catapults for their new wall defense. If King John tries to attack us, we'll just unleash our fear poison on his ranks and watch their own army tear them apart.

It took us five days just to set all this up. By the 22nd, everyone was ready for some R&R. Laila and Locksley were busy setting up our new home, making sure everyone had their own living quarters and whatnot. Some people had to sleep in groups of three, but it was worth it. I was sleeping in the same room as my sister; Red was sleeping in the same room as Mary and Lucy; and Locksley was sleeping in the same room as Little John. And if that wasn't funny enough… the kids all slept in the same room… which meant Vicky and Brian were sharing a room with a few other Littles: Tommy Tucker and Sukey Urcorn. And so far, the whole thing has worked out pretty well. Everyone has adjusted pretty quickly to our new living situation, and our hosts in the town have adapted to having us around just as easily.

The town itself, Bricksville… it is a beautifully crafted town. Between the massive wall that somehow had survived a few days of Wolfe's relentless attacks, the park filled with large trees that I'm sure look beautiful on non-freezing days, this town is just amazing. Our plant growers plan on hitting the park up as soon as they rest up after bringing a whole field of flowers alive during the winter season. We couldn't wait to see the park, which was famous in town for having trees that blend together in a way that forms a kind of rainbow of color. I think having that park back to life will help us calm down and relax for a while. I can already see us outside doing our morning exercises while surrounded by lush grass and multicolored trees.

But, as it is right now, the park is a pretty barren place. The grass is crisp and dead, the trees barren of life. The only color on the floor are the very leaves we wish to see on the trees, crumbled up and lifeless. We've had a lot of snow the past few weeks, but it's been unnaturally warm the past few days, drying the place up. A warm December? It has everyone talking in town. They never get to wear less than full winter coats by now. I wouldn't know what's so special about a warm December. I don't really have cold months back home, just really cold nights.

"Good morning, Master." Red said from behind me.

I turned around to see her dressed up in her formal robes, even wearing her pointy hat. It was the exact same outfit she wore into battle last week. Everyone so far has refused to change out of their formal cloaks while out and doing stuff. They change into normal clothes when we go home and wash their robes, but still. People are starting to think the witches don't like to dress like normal people. "Still dressed for combat?"

She shrugged at the thought. "Combat, holiday tradition… eh." She shook her head. "During Yule, our coven always wears our traditional robes when out in the sun. It's to show respect to our goddess. It was Vicky's idea to wear our formal attire into combat. To show the knights that we wouldn't hide or something like that. Riding our brooms was the fastest way here, and everything else was just for flash and terror. We do actually have combat robes… but we kind of left them back at the den. And since it's crawling with knights, all we have are our traditional robes. I mean, sure, the locals donated a bunch of dresses to us so we can wear some clothes, but still… I miss my white dress I wear with my red cloak." She looked up at the sky for a second, pausing as a breeze of wind blew over us. To me, it felt like a bitter sting. To her though, it probably felt like a cool breeze. Remember… this is my first real winter in England. It's very different than the ones back home. I'm not used to anything too drastic when it comes to cold nights.

"How's everyone doing? Are they enjoying their break?" Seeing a few witches off on the other side of the park laughing as they hung some candles on an evergreen, I couldn't think they could be happier.

Red nodded, looking back down at me. "You bet. You know… it's been pretty hard for my family the past few months. First… half of them are kidnapped and dragged onto a ship in the dead of night… by Wolfe. Then, I meet you and we free them, destroy a whole town in the process… and end up having our entire side of town destroyed by the knights. Everyone we know and love, nothing but bloodstains and charred remains in the streets. Most of our members are children still, Master. Only a few of us are older than 16. And without Paula, who is the oldest of us all at 26, we wouldn't have a mother figure at all to cling to. Even Vicky is the youngest of us, with exclusion to Tommy, who's 8, and Sukey, who's 11. The older ones have to put on the act of caring parents, advisable in any situation… incorruptible. It's tough. After everything that happened the night our parents died… we were forced to run from our homes, live in the woods, survive on barely anything at all…" She shook her head. "And then learn how to be hated by everyone all over again. It made us… well… a stronger family, to be honest. Before, our coven had several families that focused on themselves. I was being raised by Mother Bo-Peep after my parents died in an experiment. Mary was like a sister to me, but even so… I didn't get to interact with anyone else. The families kept to themselves, sending only their individual leader to the coven meetings every full moon.

"We were pretty distant. I didn't know these other Littles that well. Some of us actually hated each other. Lucy wasn't my friend before this all happened. Neither was Ashley. Our families… they always spoke of other coven families as some sort of misguided sort, always practicing impractical magick and whatnot. But… that's because we let ourselves become distant from each other. Every family had their own disciplines, their own magick that they worked. No one knows potions and ceremonial circles like Ashley. No one knows blood magick like Sukey, and no one knows sun magick like Lucy. Ask any of them about what makes their family special, they'll tell you everything that's been recorded in their family's book of shadows for the past few hundred years or so. Some of our families are even older than that. Mine's relatively new, and that's why a lot of people didn't like me. My parents were the first generation, the newest family to the coven. No one would help them learn their craft…"

"Which would be?" I never really knew what Red's family did. I've only seen all the witches practice their own stuff. I've never seen them do anything else.

Red shrugged. She reached into a back pocket and pulled out what looked like a leather bound book. "The book's pretty empty, but… they were studying crystal magick. Not just any crystal magick, not just charging and using crystals for meditation and whatnot. They… they wanted to break down the dimensional barriers… see fairies, gnomes… you name it, they wanted to see it. Well… they tried to do it. Tried to break the dimensional barriers. And…" She looked away. I could see her eyes beginning to tear up.

"Red… don't relive anything you don't want to."

She shook her head, wiping at her eye. "It's fine, Master. This day is about reflecting. As the new year approaches, as the sun returns its warmth to us… brings new life to us all… we celebrate on the year we had, on the things we have, and what we will do in the coming year. Winter is a reminder that… well… and this is my personal opinion so don't think every one of my kind believes this… but winter for me is a chance to reflect and remember. The land becomes cold, everything goes to sleep. Nothing really dies, nothing in nature anyway. Any trees and whatnot save their progress, go to sleep, and then in spring, wake up and go back to what they do best. Winter is the season of rest and relaxation. The season of silence. And in that silence, in the stillness of the coldness… when everyone is home relaxing, I like to trudge out into the snow, lie down… and just look up at the snow clouds. I like to let my mind drift as the snow falls down onto my face, the wind breathing on my cheeks… every second of it lets me tap into who I am as a person. Winter is my season, Master. And… Yule lets me celebrate who I truly am without restraint. That's why this holiday is so important to us. After everything we've been through this year, we need to let it go… we need to begin this new year correctly. Our goddess will warm our hearts, our land… and my family will do whatever we need to do to make this year the best. We're all we have left, and we will become the coven our parents never were. This was a hard year, Master, but… it has shown us that we weren't really a family, not until now."

Wow… I only asked her how everyone was doing. I did not expect her to say any of that at all. It was kind of relieving though. I know their family had been through a lot the past few months, and most of it was my doing. It was nice to hear that perhaps something good had come from all of this. "Thanks for sharing, Red. Shouldn't you be with your family though? Burning that log?"

She nodded. "We already lit it. Lucy's watching it right now. She is the one that practices fire magick that burns from within. Sun magick." As she was about to start talking some more, a tiny robin chirped as it flew down and landed on her shoulder. "Oh, Victoria… you're back." Red said as she almost jumped out of her skin. "You have a note?" Victoria was my in-between for my master in Masyaf and me. We sent letters to each other. I kept him informed of what I did here, and he would send me orders on what I had to do. This was the first letter I'd actually received since we sent Victoria away. Did it really take her this long just to get there and back?

I walked up to the bird as Red began undoing the note. Red passed it to me, tending to Victoria. "You look exhausted. We should get you back home to rest." The bird chirped a reply that sounded cheerful. It looked relieved to be back home after its long journey. I watched as Red looked over her other shoulder to nod a goodbye to me. She went back to playing with her robin as she walked back to our mansion. I decided to open the note she gave me.

I opened up the note, reading it.

Good work on successfully getting to Nottingham, Assassin. It is reassuring to know that you already have your own den up and running. As for your orders, keep your eyes on those artifacts. Do everything you can to make certain King John does not get his hands on them. Everyone here in Masyaf is doing everything they can to keep the knights out of our town, so we cannot spare any resources. Your father was most displeased at hearing his daughter had taken off to follow you. I cannot stop him from coming after you, but as it turns out, he is keeping himself busy with defending our town.

So, your orders are as follows: Continue your mission to harass the King of England. Do everything you can to destabilize the economy of our enemy, and protect the innocents. Doing the first without hurting the second is tricky so… I can understand if you meet some amount of resistance from the knights if you do anything at all. And don't forget that everything you do will reflect on the town. If you do something stupid like blowing up a mine filled with iron, the King will take everything iron from his citizens. If you somehow destroy a port town to free some slaves, the King will probably kill all those slaves, especially if they're a minority everyone hates anyway. Just things to remember while you're in England. Hopefully, you haven't done any of these stupid things yet and have not exposed yourself because you stole a horse and then had to fight every knight in the kingdom, resulting in blowing up a tower, which will cause a lot of panic among the populace, which may end up resulting in that genocide of minorities I mentioned earlier.

Well, I can see you know what you're doing, so I'll let you get back to it. Good luck, Den Master Ishtar.

And a bit of advice… I know you're probably scared of running your own den. Just so you know… falling into haystacks… that's only a thing because when I started out as a den leader, I accidentally sent my den member off a cliff, and we only survived because we landed in a giant pile of hay. We all make mistakes, but we learn because of it. Do what you want with that information, Ishtar. You're a den leader now.

…

Reading this… I really wanted to go lie down and die now. He mentioned every little thing I did wrong, all as suggestions of things I shouldn't do. I learned this stuff the hard way… and I guess it's stuff you have to learn in order to teach it to someone else. I wonder if he had one day done the very same stuff when he became the leader of his own den. Well, he did mention the haystacks thing. That was reassuring. I think… I think I had it in me to do this. Ever since that moment, we've gotten better. My sister and I took these people and turn them into a force that could take on an entire army of trained knights. Kids… not even teenage, were flying on brooms and taking on knights, making them run for their lives. Meanwhile, my sister and I were in the thick of the fight, taking down warriors years above our own experience. This year had been something, and I'm hoping we'll have some peace. But… as this new year sets down on top of us, we have to be prepared for what's to come next. I need a new training schedule for Locksley's men. They're our new Assassin army, like the ones in Masyaf. They'll become our shadows, our snipers when we need them. That's my hope anyway. I want to make Locksley and Red into full-fledged Assassins. It will probably take a year, but if we're lucky, we'll have a full year of nothing but peace and quiet.

I watched from my little spot as the witches continued dressing up the trees with little round orbs and little lanterns. I really had nothing else planned for today. I guess I could train or something, but… I should really rest some more before I put myself back into it. Otherwise, I'll end up like my sister… trapped in a medical ward. After landing on that really sharp knife, she's been confined to her bed with Jill looking over her. She's healing nicely and should be up by now, but… you know how it goes. She gets anxious and thinks she's ready to do stuff… then she gets up and finds herself bleeding through her patched wound. That sends her right back to the bed. She's hopeless… but… she is my sister.

A cool breeze on my face reminded me that it was still winter, and I'm dressed in nothing more than wrappings I wear in a burning desert. I had to get back inside. Maybe go visit Vicky or something. That would give me something to do.

Just thinking of it, I found myself walking back to the mansion, completely lost in my thoughts. Everyone around me was laughing and having a good time. One of our ice witches was using her ability to create snow around her to make a snowman. A field of snow surrounded her, which people were using to make snowballs. A classic war was already underway, all while Belle was busy focusing on making her snowman. A large cloud centered around her, spewing out snow for everyone to use. As long as she was lost in making her snowman, that cloud would continue to make more snow. We just couldn't talk to her… she's very introverted and tends to freak out if someone talks to her. Too much emotional stimulus and she'll… well… let's just say she'll let it go. Brownie points if you get that.

I walked through the snowball field to get to the mansion. Snowballs flew all around me, the younger witches Tommy and Sukey playing with some of the local kids. It must have felt great to have other kids around that didn't treat them like dirt, other kids they could play with. The other kids just loved their ability to do things, well… except Sukey's blood magick. That kind of freaked everyone out, but… I think I understand it. It's just… it's a boosting magick skill, makes her other spells that much stronger. I just wish she didn't have to use it like a bullet sometimes. That's the freaky part.

As I walked through the field of snow, hearing it crunch under each step I took, I found myself getting lost in the past. Red was right about how the white snow just… makes you reflect. The quiet falling of the snow, the coolness of the air around me… the crunch of each foot. It made me feel utterly alone, isolated from the world. But… then I hear the laughter of the kids from right next to me, and it brings me back. The end of the year, huh? Can't say it's been a very long one for me. I've only been here a few months at most. I wonder how long I will call this place my home? I'm a Master of my own den… but as more and more Assassins grow up, the more and more I can move around. More Dens in more towns… more of my family stretching out in England… or this France everyone keeps talking about. And then we have Olin. We should try to find out where he lives, and see if we can learn more about this orb and where it comes from.

So much to do… and I wonder how much we'll learn. The King, as far as I know, will not be able to complete his quest without the orb we have. Vicky won't let us get rid of the thing. She thinks it would be a bad idea to just get rid of it without studying it further. I don't really know what to make of it but… I'll let her have her fun with it until we know what we're dealing with.

As I walked past Belle, I placed a hand on her head, giving it a good rub before walking past her. "Thanks for the snow." I said to her as I walked away.

"It's pretty." She replied as she turned her attention back to her snowman. "He glitters in the light… Snow is the prettiest magick."

The rest of the walk back to the mansion was pretty uninvolved. A few witches were flirting with some of Lockley's men, handing them wrapped gifts filled with chocolates. I guess it was more of a personal taste. There wasn't a lot to give each other here except bricks and chocolate. Guess which everyone would rather get. As I watched the witches give gifts to Locksley's men, I ended up thinking of what I should give to everyone. Everyone in town was giving gifts, but… as I thought of everyone I knew… I didn't know anyone well enough that I felt comfortable giving gifts. It's a new concept for me and… well… like I said earlier, we don't have much here to begin with.

Just thinking of it… I found myself back at the mansion with really nothing figured out. What would I even want? Perhaps a nice new sword, with some sort of exotic decoration engraved into the blade. Like one of the Celtic knots Red and her friends draw so often. That would be pretty cool, but what would everyone else want. That's the real question.

"Brother!" Laila screamed from her room, just loud enough to bring me out of my bubble. I quickly found myself standing right outside Laila's room, which was closed off with a blanket drawn over the doorway so that Jill could rush in with her healing magick if she was needed. "Oww…" She mumbled to herself. I looked into Laila's room to see her clutching her side again. She didn't draw any blood, but screaming did cause her some amount of pain.

"How are you feeling, sister?" I asked as I ducked past the blanket and into the room.

She nodded to me. "Just shut up for a second. I need you to pick up our presents for Red and Robin."

"Our presents?" I didn't remember planning this with her.

She nodded. "Yes… our presents. I knew you'd be too forgetful to remember so I planned it myself. Robin is getting a new powerful longbow that's been enchanted by Vicky to fire arrows magically to their intended target. She calls it the Patriot Bow. I liked the name so I asked Lucy to carve it into the bow's front. Red's getting a new white dress, since she won't shut up about the one she lost in Nottingham. I know she loves snow so… I made her a snowflake laced dress with silver glitter embroidered into the snowflakes. It looks really pretty… I might make one for myself actually."

Wow… that was really clever of her, and really thoughtful too. I didn't know my sister could act like this. "That's… perfect."

She nodded. "I know I am. They're my friends; what kind of person would I be if I didn't know what they liked?" She gave me a knowing smile. "Oh, don't give me that look. I'm a woman, I know things. You're a guy so… just go pick them up and bring them back. And… promise me that whatever Vicky gives you… you won't freak out. She means well."

Vicky means well? What the heck was she going to give me?

…

[King John]

Why today? Why today of all days? She could have planned a visit on any day of the week, but she had to pick the one day of the year I enjoy the most? I should be among my court, making sure my knights know how much I appreciate their giving of themselves to my service. It was nice to see Vega did not take anything personal when O'Collins locked him up for being an Assassin. Those two got along pretty famously, and I was gladdened of it. They make a great team, and when it comes to teamwork, we'll need it if we are to outwit the Assassins one day. Once I heard about what happened in Bricksville… what happened to Duke Wolfe… my first thought was how to get back at them. But… as it turned out, I'm not the only one who wants revenge.

While I was getting debriefed by Knight Captain O'Collins, I had received a call from Mother Goose. And she warned me never to miss one of her calls. She only calls when it's important. So… I had to step away to take her call. And it was only one message: "I'm coming to Nottingham on the 25th. Do not act until then." Why that day? Why the 25th?

So… here I was… sitting in my throne room, guards waiting patiently for me to do something. I normally gave them the day off on holidays but… unfortunately, I felt like I needed the additional protection. I didn't want my knight captains to know about Mother Goose yet. With all we've been through with witches and Assassins the past few months, I felt that it was best if no one really knew about my involvement with the York Coven.

Of course, a day after I received a call from Mother Goose, a few loose knights managed to report to me the battle at Bricksville. They told me about how the witches managed to destroy my entire legion in one afternoon… of how two moving white demons managed to cut through our men like they were nothing… of how a white mist turned man against man… driving anyone who touched it mad with fury, like they were possessed by demons. And worst of all… the male demon managed to kill Wolfe. That troubled me the most. One of my beloved Templars… executed by an Assassin. Looks like our war has finally reached us here. I need to begin coordinating with the others soon, otherwise we'll be outmatched. The other Dukes and Lords need to meet so we can discuss what we're going to do about our little… Assassin problem.

I just wish Mother Goose would hurry up. She probably wanted to warn me about going after her daughter. If she had been at the battle, Goose would not want her daughter touched or exposed to any sort of attack. I wonder why she decided to wait until today to even talk about it.

The room started growing darker… and that meant Goose was already on her way. My guards rolled their eyes as the room's torches dimmed. They knew the routine by now, and they hated it. And…

My guards started slumping over. "Sire…" One said. "Does she have to knock us out every time?" He couldn't get an answer before slumping over and falling to the floor.

As the room completely blanked over with Goose's unnatural darkness, I could hear her approaching, a thick mist rolling through the archway leading to the courtyard. "Mother Goose." I called out as I slumped back into my throne. "Welcome back. You may enter."

"I need not your permission." She answered as she glided through the doorway. And she wasn't alone. Piper was walking behind her, as well as my sheriff, Brewer, right behind him. Behind him were two others I did not expect to see…

"Rumpel Stilts-kin? Dutch Michel? What are you two doing up here?" I did not expect to see two other Templars walking into my throne room today. We hardly ever meet in person. It was too dangerous for us all to meet in one place like this.

Mother Goose gestured to the men gathered behind her. "One of our own is dead… by the hands of an incompetent Assassin. An Assassin that's winning the heart of my daughter to think like him. And unfortunately… he thinks he stands a chance." She smirked as she continued gliding into the room. "It is about time we discuss Phase 2."

"Phase 2?" Piper asked as he walked over to a chair, sitting himself down. The scrawny man pulled out his lute, playing a light tune on it. "But… we haven't completed Phase 1. We don't have the three parts."

"We have one." I announced. "The Cross. Perhaps the most important of them all."

Goose looked over at me with that scowl that told me that I knew nothing. "The Cross is meaningless alone. The Spear can do so much more in the hands of an expert, and the Apple… well… let's just say that whoever holds it… holds the world in the palm of their hand." She waved her hand. "But we're not here to discuss Phase 1. We're here to discuss… Phase 2. As you all know, I have a daughter. She's 12 at the moment. And… this is very important… the day she turns 13… we will need to collect her. She's the key to unlocking Phase 2, which will lead us into Phase 3. Unfortunately… we're not the only ones hunting her. There is a man… an Assassin, unlike we've ever faced before. I cannot scry him… my witches cannot hurt him. He is able to block my magick in ways no one has done before. He plans on killing my daughter on her 13th birthday… right when it matters most to our plans. If he succeeds… everything we've planned will be for naught."

"Shouldn't we just grab here right now then?" Rumpel asked as he walked towards the door. "If she's that important… we need to keep her safe."

"NO!" Goose yelled to the man, blasting wind at him from where she stood. "My daughter… she deserves some amount of joy before her 13th birthday. And as of right now… she's having fun. Let her. The Assassin that watches over her… he's a buffoon… but… he makes her feel happy, in ways I could never do so. So, as of right now, until her 13th birthday, we will not be taking revenge on Bricksville for their insufferable insult to us by killing one of our own. Wolfe's death will be avenged, but it will have to wait until September 13th, next year. Until then, we must find and destroy this other Assassin… the one that killed most of my respected Crones in York. He's practiced the art of extracting magick essence… by cutting it out of my Crones. When my daughter turns 13, her magick will blossom into something much stronger than anything ever could be… but it's only for one month before it fades away completely. It's the moment my daughter will truly realize her magical potential… instead of borrowing all of mine. It's the moment she will learn what her true gift is. When that day comes, we must use her excess magick to fuel the devices to enact our Phase 3, otherwise… we'll be back to square one and have to wait roughly 3 years before her younger sister turns 13 as well."

Everyone in the room nodded. "Ok, so…" Piper began as he leaned back, playing on his lute. "The only way our plan to dominate all of England can work is if we use your daughter's potent magick release to fuel our three devices? So… why aren't we collecting these devices?"

"I can store her energy in a special box called Pandora's Box. I've been holding onto it for just this occasion. It can only be used during a full moon, on a Friday the 13th however… which is why I used one of my Crone's abilities to read the astrological calendar to find out when I would have to conceive in order to give birth at a certain time that would fix my future daughter's 13th birthday on a day of maximum full moon on a Friday. It also had to be a girl so I had to use a master of blood magick to manipulate everything to develop that way." Goose shook her head. "This has been a very long 13 years for me… for us all… but it will soon pay off. These stupid wars are all about to end, and the world will know true peace and security. May the Father of Understanding guide us all."

I knew we were going to use the artifacts to control the world, and make all the wars end… but I never knew Goose had been planning for this for as long as she had. To make a child just to use her magick as a powering implement to make the three devices work like she wanted. What would it do to the girl? "So… your daughter?"

Goose shook her head. "I have two. Do the math." She looked at me. "No matter what happens in the next three years… I'll only have one daughter by the end of all this. Whether it's Vicky or Lilly… we'll find out."

To do that to her own daughters… I can't imagine what must be going on in her head right now. And to think… we have a temporary order of cease action against Bricksville… until September 13th, a Friday. Jeez… stupid rules. Oh well. I guess now's a good time as any. "Should we all adjourn to the dining area. We have cake and presents. It is Christmas after all."

Goose smirked as she turned around. "I'm hosting my own party back in York. My family needs me to be there. Good day, everyone. See you again in nine months."

Yup… can't wait until then. Better start preparing my troops for their advanced deployment. I just hope that little girl is enjoying her Christmas… because it's going to be her last.

…

[Malik Ishtar]

"And for Red…" Vicky announced as she passed a wrapped gift over to Red. "It's from Malik and Laila." She read from the card. "Aww… how cute. Laila let you collect some of the glory for this. She even faked your signature." The girl game me a knowing smirk before handed the gift over.

Red took the present, opening it up. Her face lit up as she pulled out the dress. "Wow… it's… it's beautiful." She leaned over and hugged me really quick before admiring the dress more. "It's… it's just… eeee…" She squealed as she hugged the dress close to her. "Thanks, Laila!" Red screamed into Laila's room.

"Welcome!" Laila screamed back.

"And next…" Vicky said as she handed a gift to me. "To you, from me."

Huh… I was warned about this. It was a tiny box, not very big. So, I opened it. And… it was a ring. A ring? Umm…

"Vicky… I'm not… I mean…"

She smiled as she looked away. "Idiot. It's enchanted. With Nullification. It will keep you from being hurt by Fear Poison, or other magical things. It will also keep you from being scryed on by people who would want to kill you one day… like a few evil witches I know back home." She smiled as she looked away. "Like my mom…" She mumbled to herself.

"I heard that." I said to her.

She shrugged. "Yeah… well… now she can't hurt you. Or any other witch. I gave everyone a ring. See?" She gestured to Red and everyone else gathered around our Yule tree. Everyone showed me their pinky fingers, each one presenting a circular wrapping ring that pretty much bonded with their pinky fingers. I slid the ring over my free hand's pinky and watched as the ring morphed around it, making an infinity loop. I suddenly felt stronger and more ready for a fight now.

I nodded to everyone. "Ok… so…" I look down at Vicky. "Thanks for the gift, Mother Goose."

She turned her head away. "Um… perhaps just Little Duckling for now on, or Vicky. I'm not the Mother of this coven anymore. That's Mother Red's job now. And besides… you've earned my respect. I may have hated you when I first met you, but… you've done nothing but help my sisters since then. And… I know you'll continue doing so, even after I'm gone." She quickly stood up, brushing off her dress. "Well, I have this thing I need to do. The rest of you should continue passing out gifts."

She rushed off before any of us could stop her. We all watched as she rushed out of the room. Red called out for her, but she didn't stop. "Umm…" Olin was the only one to speak after a few seconds of awkward silence. "What just happened?"

Brian shrugged as he started to stand up. "I don't know… but I'm finding out."

Red smiled as she slapped him on the back. "There you go, Brian! Go get her! Go show her that you love her! Win her heart!"

"It's not like that!" Both Brian and Vicky screamed in unison. Vicky was already back in the room with a large bowl of cheesy puffs. Her face was bright red and covered in cheese. She was clearly embarrassed that everyone was cheering on Brian to win her heart.

Vicky sighed as she walked back into the room with her cheesy puffs. "I just really wanted cheesy puffs." She plopped down right beside me, stuffing her mouth with more puffs before saying, "Ok…" She reached for the next present. "This is one is from Lucy… to Belle. Huh… why is it ticking?"

"Belle is getting a warm explosion of fire in the face." Lucy said. "For stealing my boyfriend."

"I did not!" Belle screamed. "He accepted my chocolates… not yours. Not stealing… earning."

"Yeah, whatever." Lucy said with a wave of her hand. "Just open the box and accept your punishment. And… by the rules of Yule… you have to."

She sighed as she took the box from Vicky. "Stupid traditions…" She winced as she turned her head away, opening the box. I had to close my eyes and look away as the room was suddenly enveloped in light. Belle screamed horrendously for a few seconds before the light faded away. And when we looked at her, smoke was rolling off her charred hair… her eyebrows singed away. "I really hate you right now…" She said with smoke rolling out her mouth.

"Yeah, go suck a dick." Was Lucy's reply. What a lovely day we're having. I can tell, this year… will be one of the best I'll have ever lived. Just imagine what next year has in store for us all. I can hardly wait to find out. Until then, I might as well sit back and relax. Can't enjoy this kind of relaxation for much longer. The Templars could attack us at any moment. We have to be ready for anything. And we will be. I'll make sure of it… but first… I think I'll have some cheesy puffs.

Cearbhail:

So, I'm completely sold on the Chronicles of the Commonwealth being one of the new stories I begin. My brain just won't shut up about it. I could include a small teaser right now... so...

nah. Ok, fine. This is your gift.

...

[Mama Murphy]

"I can see it... it's dark... scary... hard..."

"I swear to... whatever counts as a deity these days..." Preston said as he turned to face me. "If you say anything about what I think you're thinking of, I will slap you with my Minuteman."

"It's coming..." My vision wasn't coming in very clear but I could clearly see it was a monster of a beast coming up from the ground to kill us. If only my mouth could work when I was receiving my visions. "It will take us from behind..." Really? That's all I can say. My vision shifted as I saw someone out there... protecting us. "Only one thing... wrapped in protection can save us..." Really? "From the ice box..."

Preston sighed as he looked back at me. "Really? That's where you're going with this? A dick joke?" He shook his head. "And to think... I thought today was going to be easy. Just an easy trek through Concord up to Sanctuary... should be easy. But no... now we have to deal with raiders... and dick jokes?"

"She's coming..." Was all I could say.

"Who's coming?"

"A stranger... who will save us... she's coming as we speak..."

...

...

[Nora] (Not during the same chapter, but later on in the story)

So... this was a thing. An subway station... and a off-track subway car that read "All are Welcome!" And sitting on a bench was a long line of teddy bears, all with holes in their arms and legs, stuffing pocking out. And... I could see what looked like a bathtub sheet covering the entrance to the conductor's seat. I could see a small figure moving on the other side of the sheet, and seeing how this whole place was filled with dead raiders and ghouls... I'm guessing it's probably a ghoul. "Danse... stay back."

"I won't make any promises." He replied. "If it's a ghoul, I'm blasting it."

I nodded as I walked up to the sheet. I thought I could hear whispering but... surely that's a mistake. "Don't worry, Mr. Poof Poof... we'll fix you up right away. Nurse! Three CC's of My Little Pony band-aids, stat!" I heard what sounded like a kid with a scratchy throat say to itself.

I approached the sheet and pulled it back quickly, pointing my pistol at what looked like a miniature ghoul. The ghoul... it looked just like a little girl, maybe 12. Dressed in a typical floral dress that looked stained from years of radiation abuse. As soon as I pulled the sheet out, the ghoul turned to look at me with deep blue eyes, almost like my boy's. She had long auburn hair like a human but her skin was darker than it should have been, and cracked like a ghoul's. You could tell in one look that she wasn't full human, but she wasn't jumping on top of me trying to rip me apart either so... I'm guessing she's still human enough in her mind.

"Hi?" The girl asked as she looked at me and then at Danse. "Are you my daddy and mommy?"

Danse looked at her for a full second before bringing up his rifle. "I'm killing it."