He raises the necklace with his right, gloved hand. His blue eyes gaze down to it while the black hood covered his head.
The man's free hand went to his black, buttoned up coat's pocket.

"Thinking of buying that for a girl you like?" the store owner asked, his brown eyes gazing towards the customer.

He looked over to the owner dressed in blue with white covering the top of the shirt. "Not exactly." the young man spoke.
He lets out a sigh before bringing the accessory in his hand up to the counter, placing cash down.

His hand reaches for the money, counting it to see just how much it was. After a moment, he gave a nod. "Thank you, and may the savior give you a wonderful holiday." a smile formed.

The black clothed man placed the necklace into his pocket before walking towards the door.
He scoffed slightly when he believed the owner wouldn't be able to hear him. "Savior..." he said in a slightly sarcastic tone as he walked out into the cold streets of Fortuna.


Snow began to fall on the young man, though it was little.
He gazes to his hand to see the snowflake. He lowered it as he continued to walk forward, passing by the multiple people wearing their clothes of various color, but with white covering the top of their shirts, hoods, and/or the back of their clothing.
He stood out among the population due to his black coat, though it still had the symbol of the Order of the Sword on it's back.

He walks up the steps to a house before placing his hand onto the doorknob, slowly turning it and opening the door. He tried to be as quiet as possible, though this attempt was in vain.

A middle aged woman with brown hair going down her back sat in a chair near the door. Despite her back being turned to him, she asked "Where have you been?"

The man widened his eyes slightly out of shock before closing the door behind him. "Uh." he lowered his hood, revealing his white hair that he brushed out of his blue eyes. "I thought you'd still be asleep." he spoke after being unable to find the words to say.

She stood finally, turning to him with an expression making it hard to tell what emotion was felt
Her arms crossed. "Nero, where were you?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but instead his hand went to the back of his head as he sighed
"I wanted to surprise you when you woke up." his eyes close for a brief moment as he reached into his coat pocket, pulling out the necklace of the side of a wolf's head that had a blue gem for the eye. "I wanted to get you something this year. I couldn't get anything fancy, but I did what I could." he held it out to her.

Her expression turned into a surprised one, but slowly into a slightly happy one. She reached to the young man's hand, placing her own onto it. "You didn't have to. I was worried."

He looked away from her. "Mom, you don't have to worry about me so much. I can handle myself out there." his eyes look down.

Abigale sighs a little as she takes the necklace from her son. "You're fifteen, Nero. I know you're like you're like your father somewhat, but..." she was cut off.

"I'm not like him. I'm still here. He hasn't even bothered to show up once in years." he looks back to her. "I'm not gonna be that way."

Abigale looked down a bit as she held her necklace tightly. Her green eyes close as she wraps her arms around Nero, hugging him.

He returns the hug, taking a deep breath before saying "Hey, it's actually snowing out there if you can believe it." he had tried to change the subject to keep her from being upset.

"Really?" she asked before breaking away from the hug.

He crosses his arms. "Yeah. It's a nice change from just being cold as Hell and nothing else."

The woman sits back down, her green eyes closing. It took her a moment to say anything in response. "Thank you. I love the gift." a smile formed.

"Yeah, yeah..." he rubs the back of his head again, unable to keep himself from smiling as he gazed down.
He walked over to take a seat beside Abigale. "Are we going to the Order of the Swords weird cult meeting tomorrow?" he propped his feet up on the table before him, leaning back into his chair.

She sighed slightly. "I guess." she replied, placing the necklace onto the table. "I'd rather spend the day here."

Nero lets out a groan. "Me too. What is it they think Christmas is again? The day Sparda saved mankind or something?" he rolled his blue eyes.

Abigale gave a nod. "You're right." she looks down again.

He closed his eyes, placing his hands around his head. "We ever gonna get out of this hellhole?"

She was slightly confused by his words. "Fortuna?" she looked to him with a curious expression.

"Yeah."

The woman looked back ahead. "I don't know. This is home to me. Maybe we should do what my dad did and live outside the city."

"We should." were the last words he said as he began to drift off into sleep.

She gazes over to him, smiling slightly. "Yeah." was all she said in response before closing her own eyes.