In a faraway land, in a bunker buried deep in the Earth, sat a tall woman at her desk. Her blue eyes moved along the lines of the latest reports from deep in the mines, the cold had begun to slow the work and her income was seeing the effects of it. Her gaze moved up toward one of the few workers she had in the office, a girl with green hair and antlers, Ceres Fauna. She had recently been brought up from the mines herself, citing 'having a dependent' as a reason to not beal with the dangers involved with being below.
Kronii scoffed at the thought just as the door to the office was kicked down and a bite-sized redhead Kronii recognized entered the office, "Merry Christmas, Fauna! Merry Christmas, Kronii!"
The Warden scoffed, "Don't mention that holiday here, Bea, all it means for me is a loss of income!"
"But it's a day of celebration of goodwill, giving, and love!" The Rat protested, "What could money do to compete with that?"
Kronii narrowed her eyes, "More than you could realize."
Now it was time for Bae to scoff, with Kronii a lost cause for the moment she turned toward Fauna, "So, did this buzzkill give you the day off or do I need to rough her up for you?"
The woman smiled and let out a small chuckle, "Unfortunately no, but–"
"WOW," Bae sighed and turned to Kronii, "How is Fauna supposed to celebrate Christmas you being a humbug? Let her have the day off to spend with everyone, even Watson's doing it! What's got you so… in a mood?"
Kronii leaned forward in her desk and glared at the rat, "You do what you want, It doesn't matter to me, but at the end of the day I can't pay Fauna if we don't make money."
"Um…" Fauna began, "Kronii, it's me and Fauna's anniversary on Christmas, I could use the day off, I'm sorry if it causes some issues."
The room fell silent as Kronii glared at the two, instead of sounds of pen on paper it was only the crackling of a wood-burning stove and the echoes of the mines below. It stayed like that for some time, before Kronii let out a growl and slammed her fist onto her desk, which made the two other concepts jump.
"Fine." She growled, "Just don't ask for a raise and it will be taken out of your pay!"
Bae rolled her eyes, but Fauna smiled, "Thanks Kronii! I'll work hard to pay you back!"
"Just get out!" The warden sighed, "Go spend time with your girlfriend, I'll finish up your work for the night."
It didn't take long for the two to leave, but Kronii stayed in the office for more than she was used to. Despite what Kronii told her subordinate her work was difficult and important, she had been promoted to help her finish the work sooner and increase the greenlight on sales more, but with her now gone she needed to finish as soon as possible.
By the time she left the office, the moon was almost at its zenith and the air was extremely cold. She grumbled under her breath but made her way home nonetheless, her warm brown cloak kept her warm.
It also made her heart all the colder.
She walked through the snow and ice in a city illuminated by bright lights and filled with the sounds of happy couples, rambunctious families, and dozens of get-togethers. Kronii had never cared for such things, they would get in the way of her work and stop her from reaching the quotas she had set for herself and the good of her company.
As she approached the emerald district of the city, where the wealthy people of the city lived, the snow had begun to fall from the sky and the warden had to flip up the cloak's hood rather than be overwhelmed by the cold in the air. She slowly made her way toward the door of her mansion and reached for the doorknob.
Just as her hand reached the brass knob, she saw a silhouette of a familiar priestess.
The Warden whirled around to where the Priestess had been standing, only to see an empty courtyard that was filled with dead plants and snow-covered trees. The Warden shivered, whether from the cold or the feeling of being watched she didn't know, but she turned back around and unlocked her door, and entered her mansion.
The interior was dark, but Kronii knew what it looked like, it was filled with furniture, paintings, and large tables that could hold more plates than she knew what to do with. She hung up the cloak and stared at it for a moment before she made her way up a set of narrow stairs to the second floor, which had a dozen or so rooms, all of which were empty except for a bed, dresser, and several paintings that were worth entirely too much. Finally, after making her way down a long, dark, and cold hallway she arrived in a large room, it had a small study/office on one side her bed on the other and a chair that had a side table in front of a large fireplace.
She made her way to her dresser and changed into her pajamas, which were stripped blue and white lines, and made her way over to the chair and sat down. Kronii stared at the flames and let out a sigh, despite the warmth the fire radiated she only felt cold. Perhaps it was the empty mansion, perhaps it was something else. Kronii didn't care, all she wanted to do was go to sleep and not wake up until December twenty-sixth.
She crossed her arms and closed her eyes, her body soaking in as much warmth as possible.
"...ronii…"
She opened her eyes and felt a yawn work its way up, she stretched her arms over her head and looked at the clock. It was the same time as it was when she closed her eyes, but she knew she had fallen asleep for… she didn't know how long. Which meant something was going on.
"...Kronii…"
She heard the voice again and began to search for its origin. Her eyes scanned around the room and even behind the chair, but when the voice spoke once more she stood up and summoned her blade from her domain, prepared to fight whoever was calling out to her.
"Kronii," The voice was behind her, in the fireplace, "Listen to my words Kronii."
The Warden turned and looked down to the embers, the fire surged forward and formed into a humanoid shape, one which she recognized. Bright orange hair that went just past her shoulders, bright purple eyes, and a smile that brought her only warmth, the form of Takanashi Kiara in the flames.
"Ouro Kronii, Warden of time, I bring you a warning." The flames spoke.
Across from her the woman in question rolled her eyes and crossed her arms under her chest with a huff, "Let's get it over with."
The flames gesture wildly as it gave its warning, "You will be visited by three spirits, one of Christmas Past, another of Present, and the final one of the future, they will teach you the true meaning of Christmas and other lessons on the way!"
Kronii smiled, she had heard and read the Christmas Carol, there wasn't much else to do in her domain before she joined the world of humans, so the fact that it was happening to her now made her find the irony in this situation 'hilarious'.
She glanced over her shoulder and let out a sarcastic laugh, "Bae? Sana? Nice prank, but I'm not in the–"
"This is no prank," The fire spirit spoke to her, "This is a lesson that has been bestowed upon you, the first spirit will arrive when the clock tolls twelve."
Without even being able to react the embers flew back into the fireplace and turned back into a regular fire, leaving the slightly impressed warden standing in the once more quiet room. She stood there for a moment longer before making her way back into the chair and huffed from frustration. As much as she wanted to just go to sleep, she had nothing better to do and this would at least provide her with some sort of entertainment to relish for Christmas day.
She hadn't even finished that thought when the clock began to toll, the moment it did there was a high-pitched squeal and a flash of bright golden light filled the office. Kronii was forced to turn away to not go blind, once the light faded and the squeal ended she turned back and saw a woman who she immediately recognized.
"Yo Kronii," A blonde detective in a Santa outfit greeted, "I was told you were missing Christmas cheer."
"Amelia–"
"Nope," the detective spoke, cutting off the warden, "I'll take you with me whether you like it or not, besides don't you want some sort of entertainment to relish in for Christmas Day?"
The warden was at a loss for words but scowled at the detective, "Fine. Let's go."
"Take my hand," Amelia held out her hand and the warden grabbed it, the moment she did there was a bright flash of light and the Kronii was no longer in her room.
It was a large room with several pillars and desks, there were banners adjacent to windows that showed different symbols, all of which were related to the members of the Council. Kronii glared at the time traveler. In response, Amelia shrugged and sat down on one of the desks, "Where are we Kronster?"
"Get off the desk," The Warden growled, when she did so the warden sighed, "This is the Council Room, I haven't seen it in… years."
Just as she finished those words the doors of the chamber opened and five women made their way to their seats, all the while jokes were flying and laughter was echoing across the entire chamber, within moments the five had sat down and got to business. While they spoke Amelia watched Kronii, her gaze glued to the bombastic and infinitely happy Sana, her smile continued to shine no matter what was being said.
"Now that we are finished," Sana began, Kronii couldn't help but feel her heart flutter, "Why don't we celebrate!"
Fauna smiled and snapped her fingers, immediately a pine tree grew from the floor, destroying the tiles in the process. Sana held out her palm and atoms materialized forming a mini star and Kronii reached into her domain and pulled out a few boxes, all of which were labeled 'ornaments' or 'Christmas Decorations' in Mumei's handwriting. It didn't take long for the quintet to begin unboxing the decorations and putting them on the tree, while they did so the present Kronii sniffed, which made Amelia turn toward her once more.
"It's just…" The Warden began, "... Brings back memories."
The two watched as the night went on and the party moved on to more of a dinner celebration with Sana and Bae making what could only be described as a feast. There was turkey, ham, pie, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and many other meals that made the duo's mouth water, once they finished Kronii pulled Sana aside and began to speak.
With a smirk, Amelia and Kronii followed the two into the doorway, once the Warden realized what was happening she blushed and glanced over at the detective, "We don't need to-"
'Shush!" The blonde responded, "I want to see this!"
Past Kronii let out a shy huff before she began to speak, "Sana… we've known each other since we both were born and I know that we've had our differences but um…" she began to falter as she struggled to find the right words.
Meanwhile, Amelia was giggling to herself and Kronii groaned in embarrassment.
"Kroninii?" Sana's voice cut through the embarrassment and caused past Kronii to stop attempting to find the right words.
"Uh… yes?" She asked, embarrassment clear in her voice.
"Just say what you want to say," she smiled, "No need to try and remember what you rehearsed! Live a little recklessly!"
Past Kronii nodded and present Kronii sighed.
"Sana," Kronii began, "Want to go out on a date and possibly… maybe become my girlfriend?!"
Sana grabbed Kronii's cheeks and brought the two together in a short but sweet kiss, when they separated past Kronii was as red as an apple and Sana was booming with laughter.
"You owe me one Sana!" She could hear Fauna yell out at the table.
"I sure do, Faunana!" Sana laughed.
As laughter at the blushing Kronii's expense continued, time began to slow to a stop and eventually froze. When it did so Amelia turned to Kronii and crossed her arms, now completely serious, "I never knew you and Sana were a thing! What happened?"
"A lot." Kronii growled, "Now if you don't mind I've had enough and want to go back to my room and go to sleep!"
"No can do Kronster," Amelia clicked her tongue, "You still haven't learned your lesson!"
The room began to be filled with a bright light and change, all the while Kronii watched the smile on Sana's face, a pang of regret poked at her heart as it was replaced with her office in her mansion. The warden glanced around the room until she saw her past self at her desk with Sana across from her. She immediately recognized what this memory was and her regret turned to rage.
She glared at Amelia "How dare you!"
"Shut up and listen," Amelia replied, "This is important!"
"Kroninii" Past Sana spoke, her voice was not its usual chipper tone, instead, it was somber, "Why don't you come with me and the rest of the girls to celebrate Christmas?"
"Sana," Kronii groaned, "If I don't get this work done I won't have enough money to support us! Let me work this Christmas then next year I'll celebrate with everyone."
Kronii watched as her past self looked back down to her work, she then turned her gaze toward Sana, whose eyes were wide for a moment before she sighed and looked down to her feet for a moment. During that moment there were no sounds other than the writing Kronii was doing, but then Sana dropped the gift she was holding for Kronii on the woman's desk and began to walk out.
"Where are you going?" Past Kronii asked.
"To celebrate Christmas with the girls," Sana responded, "I think it's time we take a break from each other, when you get enough money to your satisfaction, you know where to find me."
With that Sana left the mansion and Kronii watched her past self stare at the door for what she knew was almost five minutes. She knew what was going through her head at this moment. It was a mixture of anger, confusion, and sadness. She also knew what was going through her head, she was angry at Sana. She felt like her girlfriend was angry at her for no reason at all, how was she supposed to assure the two of them could live a comfortable life if she didn't work? But most importantly she thought she was the one in the right and that it was Sana who was making the mistake.
So she simply continued her work and that was… a long time ago.
Kronii watched as the room shifted once again and they returned to her room, now in the present time and no longer in the past.
"I would try to sugarcoat what I think, but I know how you think of yourself Kronii," The detective sighed, "You think you're in the right and have nothing to apologize for, or at the least, have too much pride to admit that you were wrong and are willing to hurt both yourself and Sana as well as the rest of council so that you don't have to admit it."
Kronii opened her mouth to respond but stopped when the blonde began to fade.
"Be ready for your next ghost, Kronii." Amelia said as a warning, "She will be just like me, she won't sugarcoat things."
And with those last words, Kronii was left alone once more. The fire in the fireplace is nearly out and the Warden is at a loss for words. So instead she put some more wood on the fire and quickly made some hot chocolate in the kitchen, only when she sat down again was she able to think about what had happened to her not even an hour ago.
It had been years since Sana had left her and longer since she had put her full focus on Bunkeronii Enterprises, it brought her anger just to think about it. How dare Amelia bring these memories back to the forefront of her mind, it still hurt her to this day and the detective could never understand the pain that those moments had put her through!
It was the reason why she put her full attention into her work, how else was she supposed to get through life when her closest friends and loved ones turned their backs on her!
"Wow…" A voice pierced her thoughts and she turned her head to the source, only to see the right hand of Thanatos themself, Calliope Mori. She had been so deep in thought that she hadn't heard her arrive.
The Reaper let out a sigh, "By the look on your face I take it Amelia told it as it is?"
Kronii grumbled and Calli let out a satisfied hum.
"I take it you're here to show me what Christmas is supposed to be?" Kronii said.
The Reaper nodded, "Let's go."
Before the warden could even react the room had been engulfed in shadows and changed into one that she didn't recognize. It was small and warm, completely different from her mansion. The sounds of laughter and video games could be heard, Kronii got up from her chair to listen, the second she was out of it the shadows reclaimed it and made it disappear.
Kronii paid it no mind however because in front of her were Bae, Fauna, Irys, Mumei, and Sana. All of them were playing Mario Kart and thanks to the table full of dishes not too far away it was clear that they had all eaten what they had been able to afford.
"Despite their lack of wealth," Calli began, "They've managed to hang out and make this a holiday worth remembering, what about you Kronii? Is this holiday worth remembering to you?"
The Warden didn't answer, she was too busy watching as the Speaker of Space's smile gradually fell. Her eyes similarly went downcast and it didn't take long for the Harbinger of Chaos to see the look on her friend's face.
"What's wrong?" Bae asked, turning her attention away from the game.
Sana was silent for a moment before she took in a shaky breath, "I miss Kronii."
Mumei, who was next to the Speaker, wrapped her arms around the woman. Meanwhile, Irys paused the game and turned to the woman, "Want me to talk to her, I can bust out Senpairys!"
"No offense, Irys," Bae frowned, "I don't think Kronii would care, she's too cold to listen to what anyone has to say, I doubt even Amelia could change her mind."
"It was just a suggestion Babe," Irys deflated, "You didn't need to go that far…"
"Why shouldn't I?" Bea spoke, her tone now full of anger, "It's her fault that Sana's feeling like this!"
If Kronii had to place the source it would have probably been what she said earlier in the office, as well as what has been happening between her and the rest of the council.
A gap had been forming.
"Bae…" Fauna began, "Now is not the time to-"
"When is the time?" The Harbinger responded with a snarl, "I can't stand to see Sana like this! Why do you even work for her?"
"So that I can see her!" Fauna yelled back, "I don't want to lose contact with her, the day she comes back to us is sooner if I'm there!"
Bae scoffed and walked out of the room, Irys gave a glance to Sana and Fauna before pursuing her girlfriend.
While all this was going Kronii, who had been watching this in silence finally dropped her indifferent facade, a tear began to slide down her cheek and she bit her lip as Mumei began to console a crying Sana.
"You still affect them," Calli told her, "Your 'pride' still affects them, look around you, what part of this doesn't have some blame on you?"
"What does this have to do with Christmas?!" Kronii growled at the Reaper, "Because all of this has been throwing my mistakes in my face!"
"Christmas is more than just gifts and singing songs," The Reaper began, and as she did so the room began to change back into Kronii's room, "It's about forming memories with your loved ones! And while you may not care for them-"
"How dare-"
"-They care for you!" Calli finished, "Get off your self-righteous high horse, polish and dust off your best apology and go see them! They could use it!"
The warden was too stunned to speak, no one had ever spoken to her like that before. Not even the Time Travelling detective, that had been a pain in her side for as long as she could remember, had dared to speak to her like that.
It was refreshing.
But also infuriating.
By the time she got her wits about her, Calli was already speaking again, "My time here is done, you have one more visitor to go through, then you have a choice to make… I hope you make the right one!"
Just like that Calli was gone and Kronii was left on her own. Just like before she sat down in her chair and let out a sigh, why had it come to this? Why had she gone down this path? Was it her pride?
No! They were in the wrong!
Were they though? Because she's acting Petty right now!
She grabbed her head and let out a groan, why did these thoughts and emotions have to be going through her head? This is why she hated having a human body with human emotions, it was way too confusing!
But before then she and Sana had always fought.
She growled and tried to move on from her thoughts but a presence behind her caused her to stand up and look at the source. It was a figure in a worn brown cloak that had seen better days, she couldn't discern anything more than that.
"I take it you the Ghost of Christmas Future… of Christmases yet to come," Kronii awkwardly named, "whatever you want to be known as."
She heard the snap of fingers and time around her began to fast forward, the mansion was replaced by countless buildings then fell to ruin, was engulfed by the sun, before they reached the end of the universe and the emptiness that was beyond. It didn't take long for her to realize what the spirit had wanted to show her, where she would eventually end up.
Alone and isolated.
She sighed, "I already knew this, what did this have to do with anything I've seen so far?'
"..." The spirit said nothing.
Kronii glared at it, "Based on what Calli and Amelia said, it's memories right? What good memories do I have, wouldn't it be better for me not to make any?"
She felt a pang of regret at those words.
"That came out wrong…" She took a breath, "If… if I make memories with Sana and eventually have to say goodbye won't it hurt more than if I kept my distance."
"But you would regret it." A familiar voice spoke.
It was then that several things clicked for Kronii, the cloak was the one Sana had gifted her the day they broke up, the time ability that had been used washers, and the voice… was hers. The spirit lowered her hood and with tears in her eyes looked at Kronii.
"Don't tell me…" Kronii said.
Future Kronii shook her head, "Don't worry, I didn't make that mistake, but I want to make sure you don't."
"I'm not making a mis-"
"Set aside your pride for two seconds," Future Kronii sighed, "I know what you're feeling, just like how you knew how you felt when past you and Sana went your separate ways… you're hurting and are afraid of admitting your wrong."
"That's not true!" Kronii denied.
Future Kronii laughed, "I know you're lying, I said the same thing when I was standing where you are standing right now.'
"Then what do I have to gain?" Kronii asked, "By admitting I was wrong? admitting that I'm not perfect? What do I have to gain from it?"
Future Kronii crossed her arms over her chest, "Believe me, in the Abyss there's nothing to do, so how do I stay sane?"
"Memories." Kronii answered, "But… aren't they painful?"
"Yes," Kronii answered, "They're bittersweet, memories of loved ones, but I know that I don't have any regrets and lived my life to the fullest with them, I wouldn't trade it for the world."
Kronii frowned and let out a long sigh, "Is this what it's like at the end?"
"Not exactly," Her future self began, "But I hear that some future Kronii's are visited by their past selves, I think we should do the same."
The warden gave her future self a sad smile, "I'll make sure to, but I have to make a pitstop first."
Her future self smiled, "Have fun, make sure you don't regret anything."
Kronii's smile grew, "I'll make sure to."
After those words were uttered time began to fly backward, reversing to her room. Kronii fell back in her chair, she felt like her heart was going to leap out of her chest. After she took a moment to catch her breath she finally stood up and grabbed her phone, she quickly called one of her best employees, when he answered she immediately threw a plan together, it was time to get off her high horse!
Bae woke up to Mumei excitedly shaking her awake, "Santa's been here!"
The rat rubbed her eyes and let out a yawn before she began to climb out of her bed, next to her she could hear Irys let out a small groan.
"If he was here, be better to have left me something," She remarked through several yawns, "Otherwise I'll hunt him down for sure this year."
The Rat and Owl laughed at the Nephilim words and slowly woke her up before they made their way out of their rooms to Join Fauna and Sana in the living room, both of which were in shock. When the trio reached them they saw what made them go still, there was a mountain of presents, all of which were decorated in amazing patterns and expensive-looking ribbon, in the center of the mountain was a massive present, almost the size of Bae herself, which was for Sana, judging by the massive tag on it.
"Wow…" Bae was at a loss for words, there was no way someone had bought all of these, maybe Santa had come after all.
Sana walked to the massive presence in the center and glanced back at the other four, "Should… Should I open it?"
Fauna smiled, "Yes, go for it."
With hesitant fingers, Sana undid the massive ribbon and removed the lid of the box, when she did a smile as bright as the largest stars appeared on her face, "Kroninii!"
Bea's smile turned to a frown and she crossed her arms as Sana pulled Kronii out of the box and into the living room before engulfing her in a bone-crushing hug. She could hear Mumei and Fauna laugh and she could see Irys smile, this left her as the only one seemingly angry at the Warden of time.
It didn't take long for Kronii to notice her, and when she did she pulled herself out of the hug and reached into her cloak before pulling out a piece of paper, "Um… so I'm not good with talking through my emotions, you all remember that right? So this is going to help me stay true to what I'm thinking."
Bae's frown softened for a moment before she reaffirmed it.
"When Sana and I first split up I was too scared to go back, you guys know how I am, I think I'm perfect and can do no wrong," She paused, "But over time it became less of me being scared and more of me being unwilling to damage my pride, but thankfully last night I… thanks to what Bea said and some self-reflection on my part I am willing to admit that I was in the wrong and need to apologize to all of you," She took a breath, "Hopefully these present show how much I want to change for the better and try a second chance, but if you guys want to yell and scream at me, feel free, I know how much I deserve it."
"I assume these gifts are all the stuff we wanted," Bae began, "How would you know what we want, we haven't seen you for years!"
Kronii glanced at Fauna before answering, "Let's just say that I heard it through the grapevine."
It didn't take long from there for the group to dig into the presents, all of them were something they had dearly wanted and with some presents, it was clear that Kronii had used her time-related abilities to get since they had sold out or needed time to be made. Nonetheless, Kronii, who didn't have a single gift, watched on with a smile.
Partway through, Sana stood up and made her way over to Kronii, "You look tired, are you okay?"
The warden let out a short snort of a laugh, "I've been up all night, I want to try and be a better person."
"Don't worry, you're already headed in the right direction, just having you here is enough," Sana responded and brought Kronii in for a hug.
The two stayed like that for a moment, before Kronii noticed a mistletoe that had begun to grow above them, she glanced at Fauna who gave her a wink before turning to Mumei and helping her with a particularly difficult present to unwrap.
"Hey Sana," Kronii whispered, "lookup."
The Speaker of Space glanced up and saw the mistletoe, a familiar smirk appeared on her face and she turned to the Warden, who smiled, "Second chances, huh."
"Second Chances," Kronii repeated.
Kronii pulled Sana into a kiss, it was warm but delicate as if testing the waters and not wanting to overstep any bounds. Sana didn't care, she melted into the kiss and let out a happy giggle after a moment, which caused Kronii to giggle and separate the kiss.
The two stared into each other's eyes, resting their foreheads together.
Kronii's blush was only rivaled by her smile, "Merry Christmas, Sana."
"Merry Christmas, Kronii!" The Speaker replied, "Let's hang up that beautiful coat of yours!"
Kronii did just that and instead of it being alone on an empty coat rack like the day before, it was next to five others. The sight alone made the Warden smile. Kronii then turned to the others, who were gushing at what had just occurred, and threw her hand in the air, "Merry Christmas Everyone!"