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, Nicole, Trevor, Keri, Ben, Chelsea, and Mace of Kilvas and Mina of Kilvas) are the only belongings of the author.

Chapter 19: Christmas in Radiance

-Sienne Square-

Standing in the Begnion's imperial city's square for the first time in a week, was the Begnion Christmas Tree, blessed by the restored Christmas Spirit, and adorned in glowing blue and white ornaments, decors, and lights, which were all a perfect touch to the seemingly bluish city blanketed in snow. It is now December 25th, Christmas Day at Tellius, and there was an overwhelming crowd dancing and cheering happily to a local band currently playing an instrumental excerpt of "It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year."

Ike, Elincia, Soren, Rhys, and Titania were walking down the square, blended in warm jackets and cloaks from that chilly Christmas morning.

"It's so great to have Christmas back!" Elincia exclaimed.

"Yes." Titania agreed, her spirit restored, "We did a great job, did we?"

"Not really." Soren pointed out. His spirit was restored as well, "we did forget all about it at the last minute remember?"

Titania blinked, "No I don't."

Rhys giggled, addressing to Soren, "I think Titania's been honest, Christmas sabotager."

"Is something troubling you Ike?" Elincia noticed Ike's questionable silence. The young lord snapped in reality, "Umm… yeah kind of."

"Ike," Titania said, "I thought you'll be happy that Christmas has returned."

"I am happy." Ike responded, "It's just that…"

The gang stared silently at Ike. Ike leaned towards them, looked around and whispered, "I think I saw St. Nicholas guys."

"What?" they all spoke in unison.

"Lucius." Ike shuddered, "He's St. Nicholas. He's… Father Christmas." He then faced the princess, "Elincia! You saw him for years did you not? Tell me I'm not lying. Tell me!"

"To be honest Ike," Elincia gleamed, "I only saw his back and his aura aglow."

"Yes, the saint can't expose himself at the fullest." Soren exclaimed, "Unless you've been drinking too much eggnog again."

"Did someone say eggnog?" A voice, belonging to Mist, called from behind. She and her companions arrived at the Sienne Square to meet with her brother and company.

"Well if it isn't Mist?" Ike smiled at his sister and everyone greeted each other warmly.

"Hello brother." Mist smiled as well, "How's the holiday treating you?"

"You don't wanna know." Ike jumped to conclusion, "But other than that, it's great!"

"Yes. It's the same here." Mist replied, "I tried to co-host the Annual Noel Feast but hey, there's always next year."

"Oh yes! The Noel Feast." Elincia exclaimed, "I guess it was a disaster without my presence huh?"

"Kind of." Ben replied, sipping a glass of eggnog, "And what is that weird taste on this eggnog?"

"Umm…egg?" Mist cocked her head.

"But it turned out fun." Mia resumed the conversation, "Although I didn't get a chance to have my shopping done in time."

Marcia gasped on cue, "SHOPPING! Aw Chestnuts! I GOTTA GO GET ME SOME GIFTS! IS IT TOO LATE? IS IT LAST MINUTE YET!" She took off on her Pegasus, "Makalov! Let's go! I might need you to look at few accessories for me!"

Makalov chased Marcia on foot, "HEY! Wait for me! I don't have my horse yet!"

"My, is it true?" Astrid gritted on her teeth, "That I forgot Christmas?"

"Of course you did Lady Astrid," Gatrie smiled, "and besides you weren't the only one."

"You did." Shinon interrupted Gatrie, rendering him in frustration.

"Did not!"

"Did too."

"Wait a minute!" Kieran approached Ben, "That eggnog… does it taste like cranberry?"

Ben swallowed, "Yeah?"

"Blast! These are the cranberry fillings for my shortcakes!"

"Blech!" Ben spewed the drink.

"I always knew Kieran was a bad cook." Another familiar voice called from behind the gang, "Cranberry on eggnog?" Everyone turned around to see Geoffrey, Lucia, Bastian, and Trevor. Elincia smiled at their presence. "It is good to see you all." She responded.

"Still hanging there Trevor?" Ike smiled, "I heard of your caroling misfortunes."

The gang then began laughing and Trevor shook his head in disbelief, "Okay, about that, that wasn't misfortune. That was cruel fate. And second, I'm a big boy enough to handle any fright."

Volke sneaked behind Trevor. The archer turned around and upon seeing him, screamed and began running in circle. Volke smiled, "Man, I've always wanted to do that."

Following Volke were Jill, Haar, and Sothe, all carrying a large convoy behind them. "If you ask me, that's not handling the fright." Sothe shook his head in disbelief.

"Hey guys!" Everyone greeted the newcomers warmly, even the Crimean Generals.

"Hey!" Jill greeted back, "No hard feelings about that caroling stuff?"

"No hard feelings." Lucia smiled, "Although we almost ended on ugly turn but still…"

"What's in that convoy?" Bastian asked.

"Well," Volke crossed his arm, "Although it wasn't an intelligence club, we have gifts."

"And what's better than caroling than gift-giving, right Haar?" Jill faced a sleeping Haar on his mount. She sighed but left him be. The convoy opened up and like shooting water, a flow of gifts poured around the Christmas tree, causing the entire square to leap in glee.

"Hi y'all!" A familiar voice called from the podium, "Are you ready for Christmas?" The crowd cheered in response. The gang quickly recognized the source of the voice to be Calill. Largo was with her as well.

"Isn't that Largo and Calill?" Ike pointed.

"Yeah!" Elincia replied, "Apparently, they're now singers."

"Weren't they angry at us for ruining their Christmas tree?" Trevor scratched his head, "And now they seem… happy"

"Let us sing some music!" Largo cried out and immediately the band and the duo began singing and playing the pop version of "Jingle Bells" The crowd began dancing at the tune. Some of the company was in the groove like Mist and Ike and some got the skill like Shinon, Nephenee, and Ilyana. Jill danced with the drowsy Haar and so do their wyverns.

"What a party!" Boyd exclaimed, arriving at the scene with his brothers and Keri, "Wish we came here sooner."

"You wouldn't." Ike snickered.

"We were busy coming up with a tradition," Oscar said.

"And it was a total failure." Rolf whispered.

"Failure?" Boyd squinted, "please, 'Black Christmas' ain't a failure."

"Black Christmas?" Mist cocked her head on one side.

"It's a tradition some old woman came up with." Keri joined in the conversation, "It was scary."

"Yeah, and Keri over here ditched us." Rolf complained.

"For the last time, I'm sorry." Keri exclaimed.

"Well, since it's Christmas…" Oscar quickly paused and looked around in search of something, "Wait a min… where's she?"

"She who?" Titania replied.

"The woman who came up with 'Black Christmas'." He said, "She was with us not long ago."

"WHAT?" Boyd exclaimed, "She's gone!" Boyd ran through the crowd in search of Niime. Meanwhile, Largo approached Jill and Lucia. "Ah, there you are."

Lucia and Jill gulped. "Hi, L…Large." Jill stammered.

"It's Largo." He corrected, "But I like Large better."

"Listen Largo." Lucia stepped in, "Whatever happened to your Christmas tree is totally Jill's fault."

Jill immediately looked like she saw a ghost, "WHAT? My—" she quickly pointed at Lucia, "She did it!"

"No, you did it!"

"No, you did it!"

"Look guys!" Largo interrupted, "Whatever had happened to the tree is no one's fault. Not yours or your little caroling group."

"Largo is right." Calill joined in the conversation, and so does the caroling group, "Besides it's Christmas, and it ain't a time for cruel chastisement. We can manage."

"Really?" Haar stated, "Then what's up with the singing."

"Well…" Largo scratched his head, "We're spreading some Christmas cheer…"

Calill shook her head, "We're doing it to get money for a new tree."

"HEY!" Largo cried and immediately the gang laughed. The berserker grumbled at Calill, "Why do you have to be so honest all the time." The sage shrugged and giggled, "But other than that," she said, "it's great holiday cheer."

An hour had passed and the square's Christmas party was still alive and in good cheer. Entering the podium was Sanaki, the empress of Begnion. Upon her arrival, the band began playing an instrumental excerpt of "Jolly Old St. Nicholas."

"Fellow citizens, and government officials from all around Tellius," he began his speech, "We are gathered here today, on Christmas Day, for a good cause: to celebrate joy, happiness, remembrance especially and in addition… we're here to celebrate the Miracle of Life."

Everyone smiled at each other. Sanaki continued, "May the Christmas Spirit of Tellius remains alive in all of us."

Suddenly a familiar band sounded from afar. It was the Heron band, parading down the streets and into the square while playing an excerpt of "Lil' St. Nick." Ranulf leaded, "Everybody now! Let's celebrate until our feet swells!"

The Laguz kings entered the setting at the same time. There was King Caineghis and his beast tribe, Tibarn and his hawk tribe, and Naesala and his crow tribe. Reyson and Leanne followed with the heron tribe, escorted by Chelsea. Everyone joined in the celebration and danced in tune. There were drinks, foods, festivals, and best of all, cheers.

OOH! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

CHRISTMAS COMES THIS TIME EACH YEAR!

Riding a flying sleigh guided by reindeers above the chilly clouds were Lucius and Niime. Lucius was dressed similarly to Ike when he was disguised as Santa, and Niime wore a bright ivory robe.

"Man, this turns out to be an awesome Christmas after all!" Lucius gleamed as he looked down on the crowd in cheer.

"Hee, hee." Niime giggled, "Nothing makes me more happier than this time of year. And I got the chance to share my tradition."

Lucius looked at Niime, "Oh no you didn't."

"Why yes I did." Niime replied, "And I gotta say, somebody loved it."

"Who? A ghost?" Lucius narrowed his eyes. Niime rolled her eyes and quickly changed subjects, "What about you? Looks like somebody imitated you."

"Ah yes Ike." Lucius scratched his head in embarrassment, "I gotta say the fashion police should have arrested him a long time ago. He looked ridiculous in that uniform."

"Oh you." Niime slapped Lucius' shoulders playfully, "By the way, whatever happened to that Oliver guy?"

Lucius and Niime looked in space.

-Tanas Villa-

The temperature inside Tanas Villa has reached its lowest score: North Pole type. The robotic carolers and elves kept singing their version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and reciting various spells for Oliver's ongoing punishment. Besides having the chickenpox, Oliver sneezed uncontrollably and strangely felt feverish and drowsy.

WE WISH YOU A MERRY FREEZE-MA!

WE WISH YOU A MERRY FREEZE-MA!

WE WISH YOU A MERRY FREEZE-MA!

AND A HAPPY NEW YEAST!

OLIVER GOT THE…

MERRY CHRISTMAS WILL…

WHITE TONGUE FOR OLIVER!

AND A BAD LUCK FOR HIM!

One of the soldiers slowly approached Oliver, "D-D-Du-Duke- T-T-Ta-Ta-Tana-Tana-Tana…"

"Faunas." Oliver moped, his tongue felt ashen, "ACHOO!"

"Wh-Wha-What-Ever." The soldier trembled, "W-We-W-Got—T-To…"

"We've fried every sing." Oliver moped, "Besides, we're destined to suffer like this forever, so get fused to it…ACHAA!"

WE WISH YOU A MERRY FREEZE-MA!

AND A HAPPY NEW YEAST!

-----------------------------------------

The celebration at Sienne is still continuing. Ike, Mist, and Elincia all face the readers.

"From everyone in the continent of Tellius." Ike says.

"And beyond…" Mist adds.

"Have a wonderful Christmas and remain blessed through the end of the year." Elincia finishes.

"And please," Ike reminds, "stay in the spirit!"

"Stop worrying Ike." Mist giggles, "You know they will."

Elincia giggles and Ike simply shrugs.

END OF CHRISTMAS IN RADIANCE
Up Next: The Epilogue