Kris felt the hard feel of the ground as they slammed into it. The dark world's entrance was always like this. Doesn't mean it wouldn't hurt though.

They met Susie at the usual spot and approached the Castle Doors. Every year, they would meet up and tell Ralsei about how their Christmas went, or how it was going.

Ralsei was always super excited about hearing their stories. Even if it was the exact same thing as last year, he was ecstatic to know how it went.

Kris would usually answer saying the same thing as last year, though with a few extra events sprinkled in there. Susie on the other hand, would explain that her Christmas was painfully jolly and that she had a big brooding session to wait it out...

...though really it was just a big lie that everyone saw through. Ralsei didn't push her to admit it though, much to the dismay of Kris and Lancer.

"So, after they had left, I threw the tree halfway across the room." Susie folded her arms, satisfied. "Best part was, didn't even get into trouble for it."

Ralsei smiled gently, as he usually did. "That's great to hear Susie. I'm glad you had fun."

Susie smirked in response. "Ha. You're just saying that." She dropped her arms to her side. "Say, we never bothered asking you, but..."

"Oh?"

"Uh..." Susie had trouble asking the question. "...how did your Christmas go, Ralsei?"

Ralsei's eyes widened, then a small frown appeared on his face. "It went about as good as a regular day down here."

Susie huffed slightly. "Was it that bad? I feel ya on that."

He shook his head in response. "No, like... we don't- CAN'T... celebrate Christmas down here."

Kris and Susie's heads both shot up at the same time. "Wait, really?" Susie asked. "That makes me love this place even more."

The lonely prince smiled weakly. "I'm glad you get a kick out of it, but..." He started fiddling nervously. "I sometimes wonder what it's like..."

"What's stoppin' you from just putting a tree up and decorating it then?"

"Um..." Ralsei looked around anxiously. "I don't really know... it's just that, some weird law of nature for our world doesn't allow us to do that?"

"That sounds like some cheap excuse to not do it. Which I'm a fan of." Susie remarked. "But still, I'll believe that when I see it for myself."

Suddenly, from the castle behind them, the doors slammed open and out came Lancer. On his bike was a big tree that he was struggling to carry. The leaves were all black, with the branches and the bark being white.

"Ho ho ho!" Lancer shouted. "Don't you worry yourself one bit, toothpaste boy! Susie and I shall set up a tree to celebrate... whatever Christmas is!"

Kris looked at Lancer questioningly. "What? Just because this delicious apple knows what Christmas doesn't mean everyone else does." Lancer answered.

"Wait." Susie paused. "No one here knows about Christmas? Ralsei, how did YOU know about it then?"

"I didn't..." Ralsei scratched his head. "I just heard you talking about it and went along with it. I learnt more about it each year..."

His cheeks suddenly blushed. "I even tried setting up a Christmas tree myself..." He admitted. "But it didn't work... it just wouldn't..."

"Ah. Got ya." Susie responded. "Now if you'll give me a moment, this tree will be set up any minute... done."

The tree was covered in white decorations, with a tiny bit of black decorations covering the already barely visible white bark of the tree. A big star was placed on top.

It seemed normal at first. Just a jolly little old tree, sitting proudly in front of the castle. But then... it shrunk slightly.

"W-what the-?!" Lancer stepped back as the tree sunk into the ground. Slowly it went down, until nothing else could be seen of it.

"By tomorrow, everything that tree had on it and the tree itself, will resurface. If you try to put the decorations back on it, the same thing will happen." Ralsei explained.

Susie stares down at the ground, where the tree went. "That.. is awesome."

After their conversations and talks as such, Kris and Susie left the Dark World. They reappeared back in the school, late at night.

"Man, the dark world just keeps getting better." Susie smiled. Kris tugged her arms slightly and glanced at her.

"Yeah yeah, I know. You feel bad for them not being able to experience Christmas and stuff."

Kris nodded their head and then smiled. Susie knew all too well what they meant by that. "Why would we go through the trouble of giving them a Christmas? Seems like they already have it pretty good down there."

Kris shook their head.

"Ugh... your style of grovelling is so uncool." Susie sighed. "But fine. This one time, we'll try it. See how it goes."

So then, right there and then, Kris and Susie made a vow to get the next Christmas ready and bring their friends to their hometown, to make their first Christmas the best Christmas.