Night fell across SPL Academy. The snow was picking up outside, blanketing the school in a deep velvety white. On the far side of the campus, a large dormitory building sat, building up its snowy coat for the winter. Inside its many windows, students of all shapes and sizes could be seen packing their bags, making plans with their friends, and calling their families over the phone. The holiday break was coming soon, and a certain blue-haired girl pasting the last of her flyers on the front door knew this all too well.
The flyer design was simple: a large bolded heading on top read “Happy Holidays! Come attend SPL Academy’s 1st Annual Christmas Party,” with a smaller subheading reading “Hosted by Pearl Reedquist” on the bottom. The center of the paper had several stock clip art images of Christmas-related things sprinkled around, and the edges boasted a mistletoe border blotched by its own printer ink. The party would run the day before holiday break from 6-10pm in the lobby of the aforementioned dorm building. All were invited, and refreshments were provided. And, with a plethora of food and drink provided by none other than the blue-haired girl herself, a certain goddess would be sure to attend.
Two silhouettes blotched the white horizon, both striding towards the dorm building. The larger one soon came into view, revealing itself to be none other than the goddess’s, accompanied by her devilish companion appearing a few seconds after. They stopped once they came within earshot of the young girl.
“Well now, Pearl. I see you’re as busy as ever,” she spoke, alerting the girl of her presence.
Pearl finished setting up the last flyer and spun around to meet her two dormmates. “Skyber! Nova! What are you guys doing here?”
“Making sure you don’t catch a cold out here,” Nova said, shivering more vigorously than a chihuahua, “It’s f-f-freezing!”
“It’s okay, Nova. I haven’t been out too long, and I have all these bundles to keep me warm,” Pearl hugged her several layers of jackets and scarves.
“So you do,” Lady Skyber crossed her arms. “In any case, I for one won’t be caught dead outside in this weather. I’ll be heading inside if anyone needs me.”
“Oh, that reminds me! Stay right there!” Pearl swerved in front of the dragon, stretching out her arms to block her advance. Of course, the goddess could’ve walked right through her like a revolving door, but stood and waited for whatever Pearl was about to reveal. Nova’s shivering turned into a bouncing in anticipation.
“As you both know, I’ve been planning this party for days. And while you two were out today, I finally got myself a warrant from the school to make this happen,” the girl patted the chest of her outermost jacket, indicating the permit inside its lining. “This took all day to do, but feast your eyes on this!” She excitedly opened the doors, allowing the gods to gaze upon the works of their favorite mortal.
The lobby was lit brighter than it had ever been before. Stockings lined the walls on every surface it could fit, each with their own unique patterns. The carpet pattern matched the ugly sweater Nova was currently wearing, and the ceiling seemed to sparkle with gilded snowflakes. Several tables were organized throughout the lobby, some supporting plastic containers of punch or sugar cookies, others still empty. A large, undecorated Christmas tree overlooked the lounge area at the side of the room, next to the fireplace above the flatscreen TV.
“Woaaah…” If Nova has pupils, they would be exploding out of their sockets. “This is amazing!”
“I have to say, Pearl, I’m very impressed,” Skyber nodded approvingly. “I knew you were talented, but I never expected something on this scale.”
“Trust me, it’s gonna get better,” Pearl said with a determined grin. “because tomorrow, everyone’s gonna help us finish it!”
“Everyone?” Nova wondered.
“Us?” Skyber inquired.
“Of course! You don’t know how long it took for me to convince all our friends to join in the final preparations,” Pearl said. “I’m surprised you didn’t know about this sooner.”
“So am I,” Skyber puffed, disappointed her and Nova weren’t the first people she told. Frankly, the goddess found the whole story behind Christmas Day to be foolish and ridiculously inaccurate, which was mainly the reason why she stayed out of touch with the holiday itself. But, she couldn’t help feeling a tad remorseful now, since she knew time had changed the meaning of Christmas and how it brought so many humans together like this. It was touching, in a way.
“Good thing you told us before we missed out. Besides, what’s a Christmas celebration without everyone coming together for it?” Nova grinned.
“Exactly!” Pearl exclaimed. “Ok, here’s what I need for tomorrow: the Christmas tree over there still needs to be decorated, so one of us will have to go to the library before it closes tomorrow. Miss Hikari said she has spare ornaments in the basement. We already have the lights, so we can start with that while one of us heads over. Also, there’s a few last minute gifts and refreshments I still need to grab at the shopping district, and that’ll take at least half a day.”
“I can make my way over to the library tomorrow night!” Nova held a thumbs-up, a star flying out of their eye wink.
“And I’ll stay with Pearl to decorate,” Skyber stood proudly.
“But if you’re with Pearl, who’s gonna grab the gifts and food, silly,” Nova giggled.
“Hm. Good point,” The lady retracted.
“Actually, there’s no need,” Pearl whipped out her cellphone. “I called Brown and Knowledge to help do that for us, so we can leave that job to them.”
“Oh, okie dokie then!” Nova said. “Who else did you call?”
“Leaf and Saki, for one. They’ll be helping Skyber and I decorate. And I already called Hikari, so she’ll be helping you with your job, Nova.”
“Seems like you really are getting everyone involved this year,” Skyber commented. “I’m excited to see the outcome.”
“I know! The way I see it, nothing can stop us now!” Pearl beamed.
Editor’s Note: This story now branches into three different but related storylines. You can read them in whatever order you want, but the recommended one is first to last.
- Last Minute Shopping, about Brown, Knowledge, and Splats going to buy groceries.
- Krampus’ Ornaments, about Nova going to grab the ornaments.
- Last Minute Shopping, about Pearl, Skyber, Leaf, and the rest decorating for the party.