Perfect. It's almost Christmas and it certainly doesn't feel like it. Nick sat in his little meeting room somewhere in Alaska: he was supposed to host the meeting today since it is almost HIS holiday. So he was. He would host it in the North Pole, but his dad was still pissed off at him. Took away most of his 'Santa Magic.' To top it all off, he was having a terrible hangover from drinking some Vodnog the night before. He sat there at the long round table, head in his arms as he tried to nap at the table before the others arrived.

 

Miguel already arrived. He loved coming to these things just to watch Nick get annoyed at everyone. He sat down in his usual seat with a snicker. "Hola my red-nosed amigo."

 

"Did you hear me say that you're not allowed to be here?" Nick asked with an aggravated groan.

 

"Didn't YOU hear me say that I don't give a firetruck and I do what I want?" With that, Miguel kicked back and relaxed while he waited for the others, most notably Grim and Samhain. He liked them the most. Especially Samhain. He was so adorable. He didn't know if the other infected holidays would show up. The gloomed infected were technically banned from the meetings recently, but they could still show up. He was gloomed himself, but at least it didn't really change him; it was like a cold to him so far.

Ash stopped another skeleton. "I agree with ayano. lets regroup before we take on the whole shopper army. We dont need any more gloom infested holidays."

"Attention shoppers there is a sale in china so why dont you go shop there?" Mercury said before disappearing for a second and almost simultaneously shattering a group of 5 skeletons.

Jack was a little confused and a little annoyed by Nick. Tho this was a good time to show off. He created lances of ice mid air and with a wave of his staff sent them flying into the undead shoppers. A fiew shattered and a fiew got frozen. This wont get any better if they keep it in a closed space. It would be beast if someone just broke down the door or something and got these things outside.

"Guys push the shoppers out and I think i can take em out i one go." It was a semi good plan with the problem of how the hell to push them outside.

The varmill heard Miguel telling him to calm down. 

 

"How can I?! You could get hurt-" 

 

He was cut off when Miguel started beating the tar out of the holiday.

 

"O-oh..." 

 

The vamill then felt a squall above his head. He immediately ducked down from the spears, covering his head. As he did, he heard Clover speak to him. The varmill turned to him.

 

"Don' say that, Clover. I tried to find ya'. I really did. But...you're just too good with hidin'. I couldn't find you, or yer' gold. I've regreted never being able to find you in time. When I did, it was too late." The varmill started to tear up a bit. "Call it pathetic, but I still care about ya', and I want to cure you of your illness! You'll see. One day you will be all be'er, even if it kills me! I know I was useless that day, but not any more. And lastly, this necklace is not petty! It is from my mother, and it holds a strong energy within it!"

 

The varmill heard Ayano and Ash saying to regroup. He turned them and nodded in agreement.

They DID have to regroup. But that was basically impossible right now with the skeletons. Nick had to do something. He couldn't look any more pathetic. What could he do... He suddenly remembered something. Aoba hid underneath the table. That's it! In midst of all the chaos while no one was looking, Nick brought Aoba and Samhain underneath the table. He clawed at some of the floorboards and pulled them away; a secret passage. Nick quickly ushered them inside. "Go!" He whispered sharply. "It leads outside. I'll be right behind you!" He finally felt sober for once

Aurora looked down at the mass of light she had gathered. Not great, but it would do for maybe ten seconds or so. Ok, that was being optimistic. Ten at best, five at worst. Regardless, Aurora released the light in a concentrated bust towards the targets. Now she had to clear a bit of ground by the door. One swing of her scythe took out three more, but she would have to be more careful, she had to dive to avoid an attack from a skeleton. Just then, the light hit. For anyone not targeted it would look like a small flash, like fireworks, but to Lir, Kuro, and the Skeleton army it would be blinding. "Everybody get out!" Aurora shouted urgently, "This should make things easier for maybe seven seconds." Then she finished one more confused skeleton, and flew out the hole where the door used to be. She turned for a moment, regretting that she could not give her friends any more than a decent distraction, and then took off. She wondered if she should head for Central America, after all, that was one of the few places where the solstice was celebrated. No, too predictable. And she wanted to choose a place the others might know of. Aurora shifted her course to Newgrange, Ireland. It was an overlap of her domain and that of the varmill, probably the safest place possible right now. Clover might have some influence there too, but a magnified holiday domain with ancient magic would (hopefully) override that. "Good Luck," she whispered.

Edited December 27, 201410 yr by Kingdom Key D

Kuro dodged Miguel's second tackle, slashing at his back with his Gloom infused sword.  "I have never thought more sensibly." he said.  "I am here to infect everyone with the Gloom, and in return they will make every Friday a Black Friday, increasing my power and my army of shoppers!  And to help me do that, they gave me this handy weapon."  He showed off the sword which radiated Gloom.  "One cut from this, and the Gloom will enter your system, infecting you and bringing me one step closer to my goal!"  He laughed as the skeletons that had been taken down reformed themselves.  "You will never defeat my army, just slow them down!"

Aoba didn't think twice about it, crawling down the secret passage way with fear that the scary skeletons would come right after. He reached the end, pushing the wooden entrance as it led to the snowy outside. This meeting had not gone as he hoped for, or expected. Everything went downhill the moment the problem of the infected not allowed at the meeting started. He just wanted Father Time to pick him up and take him home, he didn't want to stay any longer. He hated the current situation that much. Tumbling down against the snow, he hurried away from the cabin just a few feet. From the windows outside he could see the chaos going around inside the cabin. It was terrible. Inside, Grim slammed his scythe against another set of skeletons, glaring at the betraying holiday. "Have you lost your damn mind?! This is why we asked you not to come here, to avoid b*llsh*t like this from happening!" Grim yelled. This guy wanted to infect them. Were all the holidays to be infected there's no telling what could possibly be the outcome of it. He slashed away another set of skeletons. "Miguel, everyone, run out of the cabin before you get hurt! We will regroup somewhere this maniac doesn't know of!" Grim suggested. It was truly the best idea he could come up with. If they all ran in different directions the skeletons wouldn't exactly be able to keep up, especially with their powers. They would then regroup and start all over again, and hopefully this time the infected could understand why exactly they didn't want them to come to the meeting in the first place. He truly cared for everyone, infected or not. But this is the exact type of situation he was trying to avoid. April watched as the skeletons ran around, trying to get the others infected. "How spoooky!" April smiled. She was having a blast.

Ash started clearing a path toward the door with his ash-weapon. He knocked some skeletons down and called  to the other. "This way!" He looked at kuro. How could he do this? He couldn't believe someone would want to purposefully infect holidays. It made ash angry. It took all his will power not to stop fighting the skeletons and turn on the gloom infected holidays. 

Skeletal heads fell to the ground, and their skeletal bodies had crumpled, dissolving into dust. Ryonne whipped his blade back through the army, clearing out another few. His eyes had darkened. He glanced to Severa, who had just put a round through a skull. "Go." He said curtly. She looked to him, and frowned.

"I'm as good as you are, if not more effective. I should stay here and fight!" Veteran's Day protested. 

"Which is why you should go, and protect Azalea." He continued, slashing down another shopper. He nodded his head towards Azalea, who was busy crushing bones, happy go lucky with that huge sledgehammer. Severa looked back to him, then nodded. She emptied her clip into the skeletons surrounding Independence Day, then quickly pushed her under the table and through the secret passage. Severa glanced back to Memorial Day, who stood firm with his blade drawn. She left the room then with Azalea.

 

Now then. Ryonne felt a little freer. He always felt just a tad limited with his two friends around. Sure, they were great by themselves, but he always had to put them first in a fight. They were more valuable than he was by all means. But now... Now he could perform. He sliced through a practical horde of skeletons. The names carved upon his dark blade glowed with power. He waded through the bones. He looked to Kuro. "I wish I could say that I'll regret doing this." He said, his tone deep and serious. "But I really won't." 

Miguel fell onto his knees. The sword did a number on him. A large dash right in his back. It tore through his black dress shirt. "You ruined my SHIRT you ass!" The gloom that was already in his system sloppily mended the wound as if the substance stitched it. He growled. He couldn't fight no longer. "I'm already infected, smart one." He reached out for Grim. Some blood trailed down his black. "Ayudame por favor..."

 

Meanwhile Nick carried Samhain and followed along right with Aoba. Once they got outside, Nick brought Aoba into a hug. "Hey, it's alright..." He said awkwardly. He didn't know how to handle kids. He did his best with that he learned from his father. "I'll protect you."

 Going through the secret passage, Ayano made it outside the freezing cold as she shivered. 'Geez, who likes putting their house in a place like this?' Spotting Nick with the two kids, she headed over to them. "Hey," Ignoring the huge noise coming from the house, she looked at Nick. "Do you have an idea where we should go? We shouldn't leave these two alone." Her tone was filled with mistrust. She was still pissed about Nick's lack of ability to host a proper meeting. 

- - - - -

 For a split second, Clover's face was..pity? But as fast as it appeared, it was removed with an irritated expression. "Tch, anyway, I see your fellow holidays are retreating, what a cowardly action." He gestured to Kuro. "Like this guy is saying, you're just stalling. Sooner or later, every single holidays and entities will be infected with the Gloom." 

The varmill glared at Clover.

 

     "We are not stalling or being cowardly! W-we are protectin' the other 'olidays! And It's not like your doing any better, lad! You're just standin' there!", the varmill shouted.

 

He then headed towards the doorway Ash had cleared.

 

     "One day, you'll come ta' your senses, and you will feel something in your heart again. I believe that. And then, the Clover I used to know will be worth seein' at the end o' the rainbow.", the varmill stated again, on the verge of tears. "Mark my words."

 

With that, he ran out the door, desperately looking for Nick and the children, still clasping his red necklace

 

     "Nickolas! Nickolas!", the varmill shouted.

 

He ran around the house in the deep and freezing snow, thinking in his head about what he had said to Clover back there.

 

     "Oh, Varmill, ya' moron!...Why do ya' still care? You're not supposed to care, right? He's all gunked up with Gloom! He's not an acquaintance of yours anymore! There is no sympathy left, or a cure for him or everyone else. Why do you keep denyin' the truth?? He's changed for good! There in't really ana' thin' you can do! But why...oh WHY do you still believe you can help him?? What motivates you to do that?!"

 

The varmill then started to silently cry while still running about. Like a whimpering puppy. 

 

He eventually came across Ayano, Nick, Samhain, and Aoba. He ran up to them, and knelt down, putting his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

 

     "Nickolas...Ayano...Aoba...Samhain...thank goodness yer' all safe."

 

After he caught his breath, he looked up at Nick with a light smile and stood up straight.

 

     "I'm proud o' you, Nick! You actually did somethin' today!", he chuckled. "And Ayano, dear woman. You always know how to be mature in situations like these."

 

But as he brought up his hand to his neck to rub it, he froze in shock.

 

     "Ohhh no...nononononono...Oh...Bollocks!! Me scarf!", he said as he covered his head with his hands. "I can't loose that thing! My luck and healin' powers are nothin' without it. Oh, I hope one of the non-infected 'olidays got it." He covered his face with his hands. "Ugh! How could I have forgotten it??"

Edited December 31, 201410 yr by Hargleblargleboo

Grim turned to Miguel, quickly extending his arm to the holiday and pulling him up, getting his arm around his shoulder. As long as the Gloom didn’t enter through any openings of his body, he should be fine. Besides, he couldn’t leave the kid alone after being injured. “Now don’t die on us, if you die I can’t get you back.” Grim muttered. He knew that Miguel wouldn’t go down as easy, but the fear that he wouldn’t be able to bring back his holiday friends was real. When a holiday or figure died, they were gone forever. No soul nor body was left behind. He glared at Kuro, cursing under his breath. If there was one holiday he wouldn’t miss however, right now it would’ve been Kuro.  “We have to go, we have to leave.” Grim told Miguel as he slashed away skeletons with his free arm. They were aiming to infect him. He couldn’t let that happen.

 

…

 

Aoba looked up at Nick with a worried gaze. “Kuro is trying to kill us?” Aoba asked. He was upset to say the least. This was not what he expected out of the meeting. “What should we do?! We can’t leave the rest inside with Kuro can we?!” Aoba asked. He knew that the rest could fight. Still...Kuro’s outrage at the meeting was unexpected.

 

He laughed as he slowly walked toward them, the skeletons continuously reforming themselves, thanks to his powers.  "That's right!  Run!  Run like the scaredy cat holidays you are!" he said.  "Know this though, no matter how long it takes, no matter where you go or what you do, I will find you and I will infect each and every one of you!  Either that, or you'll succumb to my ridiculously low prices and kill each other, joining my army!  AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Miguel grunted in pain. Boy, did his back hurt. He couldn't help but chuckle despite the situation at what Grim said. "Didn't you want me to leave just a few minutes ago because I'm infected?" A skeleton leaped at Grim, but Miguel brought his forearm up to deflect the attack. It caused a gash on his arm. "Dios mio, I knew I shouldn't have worn my favorite shirt today... If any more skeletons attack, use me to protect yourself alrigjt amigo?"

 

Nick glanced over to Varmill. Here was exhaustion evident in his eyes. "Tell that to Santa." He muttered almost in a nasty tone. Aoba began to freak out but Nickolas tried his best to calm him down. "We all have to leave... We can't stay here with that idiots' skeletons running around. Varmill, go get your stupid scarf if you want but don't lead them outside to where we are."

Grim glared down at Miguel, annoyance in his eyes. “I wanted you to leave in order to avoid all of this ******* mess. Yet you didn’t and look at where we are now, much to my ******* delight.” Grim hissed, annoyed beyond comparison. He was actually, extremely pissed to be honest. He had a lot of work to do, and he came to the meeting hoping to come up with a solution with the growing gloom problem. How it turned out in the end only made him want to slam his head on a solid surface over and over again. But his current priority was to get the injured Miguel out of there, alive. There was no way to get him back if he were to die, even in his position. “Hang on.” Grim said as he thought for a moment. Even in his state, he couldn’t take on all of the skeletons and protect Miguel and himself at the same time. “What am I…” He paused. He turned to Miguel, seeing his red blood mixing with black gloom. “…Miguel, does the Gloom increase your powers…?” If it was possible then…

 

…

 

Aoba looked up at Nick and thought. “…Grim has a cabin hidden in the woods that he uses to sleep within the mortal world. Maybe we can go there.” Aoba muttered as he played with his fingers.

 

 "If I recall, I think you gave your scarf to Ryonne, Azalea, and Severa. Though I think you shouldn't worry, they won't go down to the Gloom that easily." Ayano gave the green holiday a gentle smile. When she heard Aoba talk about the cabin, she began to tap her chin, thinking. "Even though I'm not a big fan of woods, especially where Grim lives..I don't think we have a choice," She kneeled down to Aoba's height. "Do you know how to get there?" 

- - - - -

 Clover shook his head. Varmill doesn't get it, why would he waste his time using his abilities when his original plan was just to listen in on their meeting? As Varmill left, he got off the wall he was leaning against with a bored expression. "The holidays may think they're safe, but they're underestimating something," Clover grinned. "My unbelievable luck." Suddenly, he began to walk toward the wall but instead of crashing into it, his entire body went right through, leaving behind a sharp whisper. "Have fun with Kuro." Then almost like he was never there, Clover disappeared on the other side of the wall. 

Aurora urged her wings to go faster as she caught sight of land. It was cold up there, but she could handle it. If flying higher meant that she would reach her destination faster, and be able to continue her research on a cure, then she would willingly accept the consequences. That meeting had reminded her too much of her friends from the empire. They had argued like that frequently, especially after the majority of them were infected. With the gloom and the fall of the empire... They were too weakened, they hadn't made it. Even Saturn... That had been when she started research. Aurora had promised not to let the gloom claim any more of her friends, and she didn't intend to break that promise. The land flew by underneath her, a flurry of green, white, yellow brown, and blue. 'Almost there,' she thought to herself. The personification of the winter solstice was not overly concerned that the infected holidays would come after her. There was really no motive other than her research, and she had done a pretty good job of keeping that quiet. The only other close to possible reason would be demoralizing the other holidays, and the infection of any holiday would do that. Aurora went into a dive as she reached Newgrange. The marble was intact, no sign of disturbance, and she couldn't sense anyone. Great. Rushing to the center chamber, the idealist holiday pulled a stone to the side, entering the hidden network of hallways. She grabbed a book, two journals, a pen, and her library card. As an afterthought, she ripped out a page and wrote a short note, in case the Varmill showed up. 'Hello V, I am off to the library. You can probably guess which one, we have been there together. I should be back soon. Good luck. -A.' 'Right, then.' Aurora smiled, 'Next stop, Trinity College library, Dublin.'

The varmill looked at Nick with surprised look in his eyes.

 

     "No no no...I-I'll stay here with you guys. I can wait."

 

He then moved closer to them, hugging his arms for warmth as he listened to Aoba.

 

     "What's that? A cabin in the woods? Well, I'm fine with it as long as everyone one is. And by that, I mean the non-infected." He then looked to Ayano. "Oh. Oh yes! I did! I totally forgot! Whew! Then it's in good hands. I-I hope...", he stated. "Anyways, yeah Aoba. How do we get there, lad? Do we need Grim to get there? Is it far away? Will we be able to get the others there, too?", he asked the child.

"If we're going to go to that cabin, we gotta go now." Nick muttered, looking towards where they had just came. Suddenly he held his head and groaned in annoyance. Obviously the handover still hasnt pass yet. "They're going to follow us if we stay here any longer..."

 

Miguel meanwhile grunted as Grim supported him. The wound was gradually getting worse, however thankfully the Gloom already inside of him was acting as some sort of scab or healing system. He gave a small nod. "Si... They increase your powers... They even give you new ones too. I haven't figured out if I have any new powers, though." He looked down at the wound on his arm. "They help heal your wounds too..."

Mercury and Jack were looking around the scene. They were mostly ignored the whole time so nothing specifically told them to stay. Mercury looked at what seemed to be gloom in Miguel. Something about it made him almost feel like old roman empire times. The fact that it was causing so much pain wasn't really what he wanted however.

"Hey Jack ... What if we were to purposely get infected with gloom?" He said making his frosty friend get serious.

"Merc ... What on earth is going through your head? Your friends got hurt because of it. What is possessing you to think that anyway?" He replied in a harsh tone. Both shared a glare. then frost turned to see if he can do anything to help. But before he could his friend grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Jack I'm just going to say it. Actives suck. Lets go see if the glum side is better." Mercury said infuriating the frosted entity. The god of trade always hated the Actives since they get all the attention and they are always praised as the most famous. He wanted to be worshiped again and maybe even rise to his old power. Jack on the other hand was angry just at the thought of the two having to argue about this.

"HAVE YOU LOST IT!" He shouted and pushed Mercury away.

"We are going up against it because it's right not because people will like us for it. STOP ACTING LIKE A FREAK!" He said. His friend only give a monotone nod and vanished.

 

(I'm having mercury turn antagonist that ok?)

A golden sword nearly grazed Jack's head as Lucifer landed from the sky. A smug look added to his appearance of royalty, along with his crossed arms. "Has your friend lost his mind, mongrel?" he asked with an arrogant tone. Summoning another golden sword in his hand, he pointed it. "You've made the right choice by not joining the gloom. Now what exactly were we supposed to be doing?"

Edited January 3, 201510 yr by Soul Eater Evans

(I’M AWAKE ON CHOCOLATE AND COFFEE)

 

Aoba thought for a moment and gave a quick nod. “Yup! I know where it is! I’m pretty sure I have something in here…” Aoba muttered as he searched into his jacket and took out a familiar jar filled with multicolored marbles that gleamed, even in the dullness of the cloudy day. “I think if I make a resolution to myself I should be able to transport us over with my powers, like I do with the resolutions over the years.” Aoba said as he closed his eyes and held the jar in his arms. “This moment, I resolve, that this group of friends and I, shall go to Grim’s cabin, right now.” Aoba muttered while smiling. The glass seemed to glow brightly as a small marble appeared over the group, and with a sudden snap, the marble opened and absorbed the group into it, much like a vacuum. Within moments they were no longer within the pole, and were falling onto the hardwood floor of a cabin decorated with Victorian furnishing. Grim’s Cabin.

 

…

 

Grim thought about it for a bit. They were surrounded. He couldn’t just leave Miguel to attack the skeletons without having Miguel get ripped to pieces by the creatures. “Well then…I guess, it isn’t giving me much of a choice.” Grim muttered under his breath, sighing at the frustrating situation before him. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. He wouldn’t know much of it unless he became a guinea pig. He suddenly grabbed Miguel’s bleeding arm, pulling it close to him. “Well then, I guess I’ll have to become infected for our sake.” Grim said, right as he licked up Miguel’s wound, licking up the blood mixed with the large amount of Gloom pouring out. It didn’t take long for it to take effect. The gloom spread across his body like a virus. The white of his eyes became black, making his red eyes stand out. On his pale skin dark veins started to stand out, almost like cracks, showing the gloom within his system spreading. Without a second thought Grim swung his scythe at the skeletons, gloom following the scythe as it slammed against the skeletons, slapping them away. His usually cold skin quickly became feverish, a drop of gloom falling down his nostril much like a nosebleed (In this case gloombleed). “About time you got here, Lucifer. We’re having a bit of trouble.” Grim said as he kept Miguel standing with one arm, and his scythe ready with the other. “These skeletons keep appearing no matter how many we cut down, we have to outrun them.”

"Don't you dare talk about Merc that way!!" He shouted in response. His face was serious and his eyes were glaring daggers at the smug Fallen angel. He took a moment to calm down. The first question that went through his head is 'How can i get Merc back anyway?' Then he finally realized who he was talking to. He backed off for a moment to get the sword away from his face.

"We are supposed to be retreating to a place in the woods. That's the gist of it anyway. And don't call me mongrel golden boy." He continued and shook of the tone he held a moment ago.

Edited January 3, 201510 yr by Firo_Procheniezio

 Of course, Ayano fell onto the floor with a crash. Geez, does she suck at landing that much? Brushing dust off her outfit, she got up with a look of amazement. "So this is Grim's cabin? I was expecting something you would see out of a horror movie, but it looks like the Grim Reaper have good taste after all." Ears twitching in curiosity, she hopped over to a bookshelf. Reading was her favorite thing to do in her free time, so she always wondered what kind of books Grim would read.