Disclaimer: The following characters and settings of the Fire Emblem series are a belonging of Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. The characters (Mace, Wiz, Zoe, Adrion, Adam, and Nicole) are the only belongings of the author. Please read and review.

Chapter 3: The Christmas Treasure Hunt

The holidays were also the perfect time for kids and dragonkins to visit the legendaries caves without having to get parent's permission. Of course, they still needed to get supervised. The great St. Nicholas, also known as Santa Claus, will, every year, leave inside each treasure chests of each legendaries caves, great gifts for kids to hunt for and grab.

Quote from The Legend of Elibe: Volume III

-Ostia Castle Garden-

"So we are to head down the Nabata Desert and convince the dragons to come to Ostia for Christmas?" Canas asked.

"That's right." Roy said.

"Please Archsage," Lilina desperately asked. "I just want to revive the olden days of Christmas with the divine dragons; even if that will cause us to be turned into divine dragons ourselves." She looked directly at Mace, who was drinking a glass of Ilian authentic eggnog.

"What?" he burped.

"How disrespectful." Athos felt disgusted at the short manakete's manner. He faced Lilina, "Listen Lilina. This idea could be risky. Now are you sure about this? You promised a lot of people here in Ostia."

"—but what if the divine dragons refuse?" Hawkeye pointed, "The Arcadian elder might decline your request as well, even my daughter."

"Igrene won't refuse my request Sir Hawkeye!" she quickly replied then faced Roy, "Right Roy?"

"Yea—Yes!" Roy stammered, trying not to argue.

"Archsage…?" A gentle call rang, catching the party's attention. It was Sophia. She came out of the castle with Myrrh, the Lycian lords, and the Renais twins.

"Maybe…I could come with you…" Sophia suggested, "If I can convince…the divine dragons and the elder …to come, it might…turn out for the best."

"I want to come too." Myrrh proposed, "I want to see this beautiful city of Arcadia everyone is talking about."

"Ooh! Ooh! Can I join?" Mace lifted his hand as he jumped up and down like a jolly little kid.

"All right. Welcome to the party of six, previously four." Athos said, looking at the two girls. His attention was mostly at Myrrh, "You're a manakete, are you?"

"My name is Myrrh." She introduced herself.

"She's a guest." Eliwood stated.

"What about us?" Ephraim complained.

"Don't worry. You're guests too." Hector said.

"I would never get the chance to have my Christmas musical." Eirika sighed, talking to herself aloud and not noticing she was been watched.

Finally she noticed and quickly introduced herself to Athos and the others, "Hi! I'm Eirika, princess of Renais, from the continent of Magvel. The continent is southwest from here. Yeah! That's my brother Ephraim, her king. I hope I didn't say that out loud?" Her eyes boggled in embarrassment as she shook the threesome's hands, mostly Athos's. She continued, "because that idea about the Christmas musical: totally not my idea… well, actually it was my idea. I do have wild ide—"

"Eirika! Eirika!" Ephraim caught his sister just in time, "calm down." He then whispered to her, "And we've talked about this, you're the queen, not the princess anymore."

Eirika fainted. Ephraim looked at the small party, "I am terribly sorry. She speaks nonstop when she gets nervous. And that happens when she notices people watching her talking to herself."

Silence flew through the garden. Ephraim cleared his throat, "Where is the guest room?"

Roy and Hector rushed the guests inside. At the same time, Wiz came in the garden along with Guinivere and Young Zephiel.

"Lady Lilina. The queen is here." Wiz announced.

Lilina gasped, "Your Majesty! What are you doing here?" she giggled nervously as she looked directly at the tweenage version of Guinivere's brother, "…with your brother?"

"Do not worry Queen Lilina. He won't bite…" She smiled for a moment until her beam switched to rage, "…hard." She shoved Zephiel in front.

"Hey!" Young Zephiel cried, "No pushing!"

"Did he do something cruel?" Mace asked, noticing a stream of pink slimy ooze on Guinivere's highlight.

"I said I was sorry!" Young Zephiel whined.

"The more you say it, the more pranks you play them on me, the more annoy I get!" She hissed. The small party backed up for a bit. Rumor has it, Guinivere's fury gets intense at a certain point.

"It was just gum and thick oil," Young Zephiel said, "It will wash away."

"Wash away?" Mace cracked up uncontrollably. Everyone in the garden glared at him, shutting him up.

"It may sound hilarious to you Mace, but it's not." Lyn advised.

"Sorry."

"Ruining the beauty of a female could reward you serious trouble."

"What are you planning to do with the little pest, Your Majesty?" Hector said, enjoying Young Zephiel's glare fixed on him.

"He's not a pest Lord Hector, he's my brother." Guinivere countered. Just then, the youngsters enter the garden, getting chased by a tiresome Merlinus.

"COME HERE KIDS! WE'VE GOTTA GO!"

They were not listening. Merlinus stood up, trying to catch his breath, "this is not easy…taking kids …to treasure hunting."

Guinivere smiled at Merlinus, not caring for his condition but for his task. "Merlinus, it will be pleasure if you could take Zephiel with you to go Christmas treasure hunting with the kids."

"WHAT!" Merlinus, Young Zephiel, and Hector all exclaimed.

"NO HARSH PUNISHMENT?" Hector barked.

"TREASURE HUNTING IS FUN! BUT WITH THESE KIDS?" Young Zephiel yelled, offending Young Roy and Young Lilina.

"YOUR MAJESTY! ARE YOU MAD? HE IS AN ENEMY!" Merlinus's protest bought many eyes glued at him. Merlinus did not get the fact that the Zephiel of today is just a child. "Oh why can't today's kids stay in their homes and roast chestnuts on an open fire or something?"

-The Meadows-

Merlinus was moving his wheeler van, crossing the snowy meadows between Ostia and Thria. They were heading for the legendaries caves, but which caves were they heading?

"Why do I have to carry a load of children?" Merlinus muttered to himself.

Inside the caravan were the couple of joyous kids. At least they were. Wiz was included, only as a volunteer to help Merlinus out and be a participant to this great event.

"This is so exciting!" Young Zephiel glee, "We get to go do some Christmas treasure hunting and I'll be the captain of this mission, this year and the century."

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Back up for a second." Young Roy took a stand, facing the tall imperial prince. "You can't just be captain of this mission, mister royal."

"Oh yeah, shorty berry-red-haired shorty?" the prince teased, "well, whether you like it or not, I am captain, and I say we're heading towards the Shrine of Seals. I've heard there are great treasured gifts there for all ages."

"It's not a cave! It's an altar, with a sword on it!" Young Roy argued, "I say we're heading towards the Durandal Cave! There are a swarm of treasured gifts there."

"There are more than plenty at the Shrine of Seals. We're heading there!" Young Zephiel yelled.

"No! We're heading down the Durandal Cave!" Roy yelled as well.

"The Shrine of Seals!"

"The Durandal Cave!"

"SHRINE OF SEALS!"

"DURANDAL CAVE!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"QUIET!"

Merlinus, on top of his lungs, yelled, covering Young Lilina and Guinivere's strident screams.

"I'll never gonna get out of this." Merlinus whined once more.

"Well Merlinus. You know what they say. 'Kids are kids.'" Wiz stated.

Merlinus looked at him, his eyes invaded in red streams. "Who are 'they'?"

Wiz sighed. Merlinus continued, "Listen Wiz. Thank you for your help on this nightmarish task."

"Well it was your stupid whining that got to me." Wiz said, "But at least it was an opportunity to get away from my sister's shopping crisis. I despise it."

"Shopping hey?"

"Yeah! Holiday shopping and charity for the Christmas Eve event." Wiz stated, "It was Queen Guinivere's idea. She had even sent the entire Elimine Supreme Church of Bern and Etruria to that mission, including few Lycian cavaliers."

"Wow! What about that Christmas Theater? Who's supervising it? I thought it was Lady Lilina or Sophia but some other monarchs?"

"Ostia's guests: Ephraim and Eirika of Renais. There're in charge of the theater. I've heard rumors that it'll be broadcast live during the Christmas Eve party in Ostia."

"Uh!"

"Yeah. And I am sure you are already aware of Archsage Athos's party of six I presume, that are heading down Arcadia to invite dragons over before Christmas Eve."

Merlinus nodded. "So they get to do all the fun?"

Wiz blinked for a moment then nodded. "Yeah."

"…while we are in charge of taking loud children of the city to go Christmas treasure hunting till Christmas Eve?"

Wiz stayed quiet then replied, "well, yes and no. Yes, before Christmas Eve, and no, rumors can sometimes tell it is the entire continent, not Ostia."

"That's—" Merlinus was about to snap when Young Zephiel popped his head out along with Young Roy. The prince's arm was around the young lord's neck, while the kid was biting his arm.

"Say Shrine of Seals!" the prince yelled.

"Durandal Cave!" Young Roy gasped.

"sHrInE Of sEaLs!"

"dUrAnDaL cAvE!"

"SHRINE OF SEALS!"

"DUR…!"

"ENOUGH! KID ZEPHIEL! RELEASE KI—err…MASTER YOUNG ROY'S THROAT AT ONCE!"

Young Zephiel obeyed then pointed at Young Roy, "Well he's started it."

"Whatever! I don't wanna hear this." Merlinus said, "First we'll go to the Durandal cave, cause it's not far. And then we'll head down the Shrine of Seals. Problem solved."

Although Merlinus settled the problem, the kids were not happy. Instead of rejoicing because he gets to head down the Durandal cave first, Young Roy was sad. His eyes were watery and at any moment, he would unleash a cry.

"Uh-Oh! He's about to burst." Wiz noticed it.

"Who's about to burst?" Merlinus looked at Wiz then the road numerous times. Just then, Young Lilina took out her shiny handkerchief to wipe Young Roy's tears. The red-haired kid was happy again. Wiz sighed in relief: "Never mind."

Merlinus sighed, "Don't ever do that again when I'm riding Wiz. It is not amusing."

"Sorry."

"Can I ask you a question?" Young Guinivere's sweet and innocent voice asked.

"Oh sure, munchki… I mean err, Your Majesty. What is it? "Merlinus grinned.

"Are we there yet?"

-Ostia City Theater Auditorium-

By the podium stood a group of bandits and a young bishop, disguised in fashionable, ragged and fancy, costumes. Eirika got up from her director's seat, her hand clutched on a megaphone.

"ALL RIGHT LISTEN UP PEOPLE!" Her yell surprised everyone.

"Dude! Who's the girl?" Geese asked.

"I have no idea." Garrett shrugged then faced the other brutes, "Does anyone knows?"

"I've heard she's some royal fancy from another continent." Legault responded, "She's among the guests of the queen."

"You mean that Lilina girl?" Garrett asked.

"Why are we on this play anyway?" Rutger complained.

"It's not just a play." Lucius, the bishop among the brutes, corrected, "It's a Christmas musical. It is hosted for the Christmas Eve event."

"Bah! Stop complaining."

"HEY! WHAT'S ALL THAT NOISE YOU'RE MAKING?" Eirika yelled again, bringing up the silence.

She began, "All right! Here's the casting for this musical." she cleared her throat and started, "Bishop Lucius will be the angel, and Chad will be the homeless kid."

Chad growled under his breath, "Gee thanks."

Eirika continued, "And the rest of you will be playing the gang of ministers who only cares about receiving on Christmas… like money."

"So what are we?" Heath demanded.

"Rich people."

"Rich people!" they all began to complain.

"Miss Eirika! What about the mayor? Who's going to play the mayor?" Gonzales asked; his hand rose like a little child.

"Good question munchkin." She responded softly and faced her brother entering the theater.

"Eirika! There you are." Ephraim panted, "I was looking for you."

"My brother will play the mayor." She smiled.

The cast started growling at Ephraim for the reason that he had taking the role of the mayor without even knowing what was going on.

-Lycian League Mall-

The Lycian League Mall has been one of Elibe's largest attractions ever since Roy and Lilina took their rightful thrones. The mall has over thousand stores that advertise goodies from the franchises of Etruria throughout the land and even Arcadia as well as souvenirs from the lost land of Kafti. This was the place where Serra, Saul, Erk, Dorothy, and the other volunteers were to meet and shop for the Christmas Shopping Event.

Saul and Serra were seen holding hands. "Shall we?" Saul smiled at the noisy bishop.

"We shall." Serra giggled.

Spying by the bushes were Erk and Dorothy. "Look at them." Erk felt disgusted at this view, "Holding hands. How possible is it to see a serious follower of St. Elimine holding hand with a nitwit bishop like Serra?"

"Good question." Dorothy faced Erk, her ugly face getting even uglier, "and here is your answer: Bishop Saul is a womanizer. Now shut your wise mouth before we get caught okay?"

The horrified Erk nodded his head.

"I believe you guys are dating." A called voice behind Saul and Serra jerked Saul in surprise. The Elimine Supreme Priest turned around, looking right at a familiar face, escorted by few paladins and Zoe.

"B—Bi—Bishop Yodel!" Saul giggled in embarrassment, "How fare thee?"

"Great!" Yodel replied, "How're your days as Elimine's Supreme follower? And where is Dorothy?"

Dorothy jerked out of the bushes, leaving Erk behind.

"HEY!" Erk harshly whispered. Dorothy ignored him.

"Hello Bishop Yodel." Dorothy spread a large grin, carrying on her hands a box of delicious butter cookies. "I just came back from the market. Did you know they have these hot cookies from Etruria exclusively at Pherae?"

"You were at Pherae?" Saul's eyes popped out.

"Well at least you're here." Lance stated.

"I thought I saw a familiar face by the bushes." Sain turned facing the bushes where Dorothy was hiding. Erk's visible eyes and a stream of his hair color disappeared behind the bushes. Sain blinked.

"Maybe you're just seeing things." Kent replied.

"Maybe you're not wearing glasses." Sain countered.

"Now, now. This is the time of year where fighting and naughtiness is not allowed." Lance said, "Now shall we go inside?"

"Are you saying that I'm being naughty Lancelot?" Sain yelped.

Erk jerked out of the bushes as well and let out a sigh, "Now what am I going to do? I can't remember any spells to make myself disguised to the eye, like being invisible or being the size of a fly."

Erk looked around and saw someone leaving behind a large beige bed sheet. He spread a malicious smile.

NEXT CHAPTER …