Christmas was almost here, as in my birthday. When I was younger, I hated being born on Christmas because it always meant that I was going to get one set of presents. Some people also told me that I was lucky to share a birthday with Jesus. Now, I wasn't an atheist, but I did know that Jesus's birth couldn't be confirmed to have happened in late December. In fact, it was first celebrated around that time to compete with the festival of Saturnalia. I looked it up because I wanted to know if I really shared a birthday with Jesus. Some people that I did share the birthday with include Carrie star Sissy Spacek, Humphrey Bogart, Twilight Zone host Rod Serling and singer Jimmy Buffett.
However, I woke up to something truly bizarre. They were red marks on the sheets. I had to check and found that it wasn't from me. I also noticed Ava wasn't in bed. I heard the water running in the bathroom.
"Ava, are you in there?" I asked.
"There's something wrong with me." She said as the water continued to run. "I think I should go to the med bay and ask Gideon about it."
"Ava, you just started your period." I told her.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She replied. That was when it hit me. Ava must have been designed to not have them. After all, she was designed to be the perfect woman, probably by a man and how could a woman truly be perfect if she had PMS? I mean I knew why I didn't have periods anymore because I couldn't have kids after being brought back to life from the Lazarus Pit.
"Gideon, I can't believe that I'm saying this, but could please explain the menstrual cycle to Ava?" I asked.
Gideon quickly explained a rundown of what happened during periods. I couldn't help but wonder if I could have them again as well. I assumed that it meant that I could, which I was definitely not looking forward to.
"So, what you're saying is that I have to deal with this every month, at least until we are returned to normal?" She questioned. "God, this feels hell."
"Gideon, can we have some hot chocolate and Midol with breakfast?" I requested. I also had her make some pads for her. It was what my mom had given me when I had my first period. Tampons took some getting used to and I didn't want Ava to have to deal with that right away. I also was not thrilled that I was going to be starting puberty again.
After we were both dressed, we went to the kitchen for breakfast.
"Good morning." Ray greeted us.
"This morning sucks." Ava declared.
"What's her problem?" He asked.
"You don't want to know." I replied.
"Hmm, seems like my potion had a side effect that not even I anticipated." John remarked. "It seems like old Sharpie is having her first ever experience with menstruation."
"Oh, you've never had a period before?" Ray questioned. "How is that possible?"
"She's a clone." I reminded him.
"Can everyone stop talking about my damn vagina?" Ava replied angrily.
"Here, these will help you." I stated as I gave her the pill and the beverage with whipped cream on it. "This pill will help you with the pain, bloating, and cramps."
"What's the chocolate for?" Ava questioned.
"It just tastes good." I explained before she took a sip and let out a smile.
"So are we going to take some sort of Christmas vacation?" Constantine asked.
"I love that movie." Ray stated.
"Well I would say that, but aside from Ray's parents and my mom, none of us really have family to go home too." I pointed out.
"There's also that weird version of your sister." Ray declared.
"Don't talk about her." I warned him.
"Well, are you going to see your mom?" Ava questioned.
"I don't think so." I stated. I really didn't want to explain to her why I was a child. Yes, I wanted to spend my birthday with my mom, but things were just too weird. At least I had my girlfriend to spend it with. "Besides, magical creatures don't take a holiday, so neither do we."
"Actually, most magical creatures typically consider Christmas to be a time of peace." Charlie stated as she entered the room.
"But it's not Christmas everywhere." I stated. "Even if there is some kind of holiday truce, the fact that they're spread out through time means that there could still be a fugitive that attacks."
"And this has nothing to do with not wanting your mom to know that you've been regressed?" Ray asked.
"Of course not." I stated. "Gideon, can you please scan for any anomalies."
"Right away, Captain Lance." Gideon replied. "I've detected a magical creature in Germany 1943. A major military based was attacked, causing the Germans to surrender and Adolf Hitler to be executed."
"Nazis. We're supposed to save bloody Nazis?" John asked.
"Look, as terrible of people as they were, this event would have major historical ramifications. We can't allow it to happen." I explained.
I wasn't going to lie and say that the mission didn't make me uncomfortable. I knew that they weren't the same Nazis that killed Martin, but it was still uncomfortable. Come to think of it, it was kind of ironic that the only person to die, other than the minister, was a Jew.
"So, how exactly are we going to do this?" Ava questioned.
"Well for starters, we can't take the whole team." I replied. "Maybe we could pretend to be Italians visiting the Germans, but Zari, you and Charlie can't come because we don't want to start any fights."
You know, I couldn't think of anywhere less kid-friendly than a Nazi base, but it was the mission that we had to do. I was a little surprised that the event happened on Christmas Eve though.
We headed onto the base. I really hoped that this mission would be worth it. Part of me did want whatever this magical creature to just be able to kill the Nazis, but the more logical part of me knew that I couldn't allow that to happen. Being a hero means that you don't get to choose who to save. We had saved religious fanatics, Confederates and even that jerk Hemingway. If we picked and chose who to save, how would that really make us any better than the villains that we were not saving. Not to mention, a lot of Nazis were just brainwashed.
"Halt. Who goes there?" One of them greeted us.
"We are from Italian army," Ray replied with a rather bad accent. "We thought we would visit our German brothers for the holiday."
"All of you?" The soldier asked, looking at Ava and I in particular.
"These are highly trained child soldiers, specializing in hand to hand combat." Ray explained. I was pretty that he wanted me to show them, so I brought the man to the ground and held a knife to his throat, before letting him go. "The Allies will be caught off guard by them."
"Well then. Please join us." The soldier stated after he got back to his feet.
I saw that there was a bit of a feast happening. They had some duck and stuffing and various other foods as well. It looked delicious. I knew that we didn't come to party and the idea of sharing a meal with Nazis was almost enough to make me lose my appetite, but I also knew that it would be rude not to partake in their food. There was also some German Chocolate Cake, which I knew that Ava would appreciate, even though I didn't like it.
As it got late, I couldn't help but hear some sounds. They made me a little bit nervous.
"Don't be alarmed, Child." One of the soldiers told me. "That's probably just Saint Nicholas and his reindeer. He'll be delivering presents to all of the girls and boys as long as they're not Jewish."
At that point, there was some kind of growling. It frightened the officer a little.
"Heinrich, go check that out." He ordered one of the soldiers.
The soldier went outside, probably because he couldn't refuse an order. He looked kind of scared. There was a scream, followed by a gunshot and then more screaming before we saw Heinrich's bloody body thrown against the snow.
"Men, we must fight whatever beast is out there." The officer stated. I knew that we would also have to stop the monster. I began to think of what it kind of monster would ignore this so-called Christmas truce that Charlie spoke of and I couldn't help but think of one. Was it possible that it really existed. I mean yes, it was possible, but what were the actual chances of it? Could it be the one we were after.
At that point, another one of the soldiers was grabbed and we saw a demonic figure feeding on him. It looked like it was what I thought.
"It's Krampus." The officer declared in fear. "Men, run as fast as you can."
Didn't they know that running from the monster never worked. Instead, we chose to fight it. Mick and Ray both shot blasters at it. It turned out that Krampus was vulnerable to fire, which I supposed shouldn't have been too surprising since it generally came out during the winter. At that point, John readied the spell and sent it to Hell. I was glad that it was over quickly because that thing was terrifying to look at. I would probably have nightmares about it and I didn't have nightmares that often.
"I can't say that I ever expected to go on a mission like that." Ava stated after we got back onto the ship. "Who would have thought that we come across a demon on Christmas? So what do you want for your birthday?"
"Honestly, being with you is enough." I explained. "I guess I'm going to turn 13. When I was 13, I wanted a Game Boy."
"You really should spend your birthday with your mom." Ava stated. "Prepubescent or not, you're one of the only ones who still has a family left, or my case never had one."
"I'll go but only if you come with me." I proposed. I knew it was going to be really embarrassing.
"Okay." She agreed.
"Gideon, set a course for Central City, 2018." I declared.
I sent my mom a text saying that I was coming, but that I was a little bit different. She probably assumed that I had changed my hair or maybe that I was pregnant. I rang the doorbell. She surprised when she saw me.
"Hi, Mom." I greeted her.
"Well this certainly is very different." She stated as she gave me a hug. "How did this happen?"
"It's kind of a complicated story." I admitted with a blush. "I don't know if you remember my girlfriend Ava from the funeral."
"I'm kind of not how you would remember me either." Ava said.
"Well, I'm just glad that you two are here." Mom declared. "So, how long have you been like this anyway?"
"A few weeks." I answered. "But Mom, I am not going back to school. We're going to find a way to fix this."
We then went inside and sat by the tree. I had gotten my mom some books because I was never good at picking out gifts. When I was younger, I always wondered why I had to get other people gifts for my birthday.
One gift that I wasn't expecting was one from Ava. I couldn't help but wonder how she even had time to get me one.
"I sent Gary to get this for you." She replied as I opened the box. "It may not be a Game Boy, but it's better."
Inside was a Nintendo Switch and a copy of Pokémon Let's Go Eevee. I had heard about the game and really wanted to play it.
"Thank you. This is the best birthday ever." I told her as I hugged both her and my mom. I was glad that I came.
So Sara got to celebrate her birthday with her mom and they also came across Krampus. Speaking of cramps, Ava had her first period. Please don't forget to review.
