A Cold Christmas in the Equator

It's time for the Crown News Report!

An unexpected blizzard struck this morning in the equator town of Las Nieve, leaving thousands without power and even some without a home on the week of Christmas.

Experts say that the storm was not natural, but caused by a magical disturbance in the air. It is unknown at this time if the storm was made with malicious intent or not.

It is predicted that the mana power grid won't be back up for another week. A relief team has been dispatched to help aid in the recovery. Rumors say the Eighth Star Angel is leading the team, although this has not been confirmed or denied by the Ecclysian church at this time.

Local residents are hopeful that they’ll receive a visit from the fabled angel herself, holding warm spirits, even in their coldest hour.

~☆☆☆~

Ahh…Christmas time. It's the best time of the year. And I don't just say that because a song told me it, but because it has the three big F bombs. Friends, family and food! What more could anyone ask for to feel all warm and fuzzy?

My name is Yalda Asamo. I'm a seven year old synthetic life form known as an Exceed. The humans call me The Eighth Star Angel. Normally you'd catch me fighting demons and solving ancient mysteries, but today I'm doing something a little more down to earth.

We were on a private plane, heading for the equator town of Las Nieve. Unlike me, a lot of people there don't have the luxury to enjoy the holiday. With all the trouble they'd been going through over an unusual snow storm, we wanted to see if we could help out a bit.

“I'm really glad we're going to Las Nieve, guys.” Yamin, a kind, short haired girl with a notebook said. “Those people really need our help.”

“Wow, say it again, Sparkle Face.” Indena, our resident fire mage responded with sas. “Not like you don’t say it every hour on the dot.”

“It's not just good for the country, but also our souls, no?” Marek, our politician in blue said in his signature Favian accent. “Now people can't say I don't do charity work.”

“I was actually going to ask about that.” Indena started. “How does aiding these people help the country?”

Marek, in all his studies of history, explained that this territory was actually controlled by our country. It used to be a hub for gold miners and prospectors, but that dream of grandeur faded long ago. Now the town was just a humble little spot, hoping that the crown wouldn't forget it existed.

“Poor people…” Yamin hugged her notebook. “Too bad this had to happen on Christmas of all times.”

“Yeah, too bad...” Indena grumbled sarcasticily. “I say, good for them. Christmas sucks! Now they can be miserable like everyone else.”

Maybe miserable like her! She was the only person on the planet who didn't like this time of year.

“Scrooge!” I pouted at her.

“Ba humbug! Screw the cold, screw snow and screw Christmas!”

Santa's definitely putting her on the naughty list again! All she'll get are lumps of coal and a big package of underwear, just like all the other bad boys and girls.

Yamin had a remorseful look, aiming her concern at Indena.

“I know you're not a big fan of the holidays, but please try to remember we're doing this to help people.”

“Yeah yeah...” Indena nodded her head. “I'm here, right? I'm not about to let people freeze to death.”

Since she was a fire mage, we were relying on her to do a lot to warm people up.

“Well, I for one love Christmas.” I lifted my hand proudly to start counting the reasons. “There’s toys, presents, gifts…and Santa!”

“She's fallen for the commercial holiday.” Indena commented. “Really feeling the Christmas spirit while spending all my money.”

Silly Indena...Santa makes all the toys and gifts. We don't have to spend a dime.

Yamin was snickering as she doodled something in her notebook. It looked like a cartoony picture of me and Indena arguing over a present box.

“I think my favourite part of the season is the lights,” Yamin said. “It's like brightly coloured stars, exploding down on earth like fireworks paused mid burst.”

“Exploding?” Indena’s brow raised. “The heck kinda fire hazards are you hanging on the tree?”

Marek cleared his throat to speak up next. “For me, the best part of this year is the food. My father and I used to go hunting together.”

“Wow. Nothing better than catching your own holiday feast. I just love me some delicious roast beast.”

Now she was just being funny. She needed the rug pulled out from under her.

“Why don't you say something nice about the season?” I asked.

“Hmm…” she sat back in her seat and it reclined all the way to where she was practically laying down. “You know what’s not to bad?” she blushed. “Y… g...”

She spoke so softly that even my sensitive audio receptors weren't able to pick up on her. We forced her to repeat what she said a few times until she finally spoke loud enough.

“Alright! I said you guys. Is that enough? Gods…I'm gonna jump out of this plane.”

The door to the cockpit opened up suddenly, and Uncle walked out. He gave Indena a disapproving head shake.

“I don't know what you're talking about, but nobody's jumping out of this plane,” he asserted.

“Oh come on!” she shouted. “That's all you heard?”

We all had a good laugh at her expense. She was seriously red as a tomato.

After all that, Uncle came over and patted me on the head.

“Young Mistress, is your vocabulator up to date?”

The people in Las Nieve mostly spoke Euron, which was the language we were speaking now. But a second language was known as Sapain. I've never spoken that before, so my vocabulator had to unpack the data info.

-Vocabulator up to date-

Alright...let's give it a go!

"Tío, mi vocabulator funciona bien,” I said.

“Muy bueno,” Uncle replied.

“That's sick that you guys can just speak other languages on the fly.” Indena commented.

“Don’t you know Kanai?” Yamin asked.

“Hai. Boku wa kahongo o shitteimasu yo.” Indena was Kahonese, so she was pretty good at speaking it.

No matter how impressive it was that Uncle and I could learn things like that with ease, it was infinitely more impressive that Indena learned multiple languages naturally.

“If all is in order, then everyone strap in.” Uncle picked me up and placed me down in my seat. “We’ll be landing soon.” He looked me dead in the eyes. “You especially need to stay put, alright?”

He didn't have to single me out. Geez…you run up and down the plane one time during turbulence, and suddenly everyone is on your wings about it!