The next morning, Roy wakes up early and feels his forehead. 259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGgfuAUxiD
“It’s gone...That nightmare and strange feeling on my forehead have gone,” he thought.
Roy hears Phoenix snoring in his sleep. “Psst, Phoenix...wake up, buddy,” he said.
Phoenix jumps awake in shock and looks around. “Kack! What’s going on? Oh, well...,” Phoenix gave a head bow immediately, “Morning to you, Roy”.
Roy looks at Phoenix with a perplexed face. “What’s with that reaction? Did something happen to you last night? You seem easily shocked today...,” Roy said with a wondering look on his face.
Phoenix tries to avoid Roy’s suspicion with a lie. “It is nothing, Roy. You don’t have to mind me,” Phoenix said.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s prepare everything for the celebration. Come on, let’s go!” Roy grabbed Phoenix by the neck.
“Ack!!” Phoenix screamed having his throat smothered.
Roy goes downstairs and jumps two steps from the stair. “Good morning, mother!” Roy said.
“Morning, madam,” Phoenix cawed.
“Roy, you’re just in time. Help me out with the preparation, okay?” Mother asked.
“Yes, mother,” Roy obeyed.
Meanwhile, outside...Alice was snoring slightly on the tree. She opens one of her eyes and stretches with a wide yawn.
“Hmm? Oh, it’s morning already. Whoa!” Alice rolled down from the branch she is sleeping on out of sleepiness.
Alice shakes her head and stands up. “Well, time to wake everyone up,” Alice yawned while stretching.
Alice tries to shake the tree where Martha and Vine slept but her strength only managed to shake the tree a bit. “Not enough strength to shake the tree. Martha and Vine won’t wake up if I just leave them be. Hey, wake up! It’s morning already!” Alice shouted at them.
Martha and Vine open their eyes and went back to sleep.
Alice puts a palm on her forehead. “(Growl) Alright then,” Alice said.
Alice used Lycanthropy to change into a half-wolf and punch the tree. “Feral Punch!” she said with a gruff voice.
Her punch shakes the tree really hard much to Martha and Vine’s shock.
“Aiyaa!!!” Both screamed upon falling off balance from the branches.
Their scream wakes June from her sleep.
”Ah! What is going on here?” June exclaimed as she popped out from the pile of snow.
“Ahhh!! Oof!” Both grunted when they land on the snow.
Alice turns back from her lycan form and taps her feet several times on the ground.
“Oh come on...it’s still early in the morning. Let us sleep for a few minutes again, okay?” Marta wished.
“You would sleep for another hour if I let you go back to sleep. Wake up, we should help Roy with everything,” Alice said.
Everyone heads to Roy’s house reluctantly. Vine pulled back his tails and wings while June shapeshifts into a young woman with a lovely face.
“Everyone’s ready,” Alice said and she knocked on the door.
Roy opens the door and sees Alice with her friends. “Alice...I didn’t think that you would come early today,” Roy said.
“I know....even though your invitation said that we should come here at night but...I came early today to help you prepare everything for the celebration. Is that okay?” Alice asked.
Roy gave a surprised look on his face. “What? No, you’re just in time. Help us out with the preparation. Besides, Phoenix would be glad to see you too”.
“Alright then, excuse us,” Alice said.
Everyone enters the house and Phoenix suddenly flew onto Alice’s face.
“Whoa, Phoenix! You seem very energetic this morning,” Alice said.
“Kree! (I was worried about you. You wouldn’t go back to the village right away since it will take a day)” Phoenix cawed.
“(You’re right, Phoenix. I didn’t go back to my village. Instead, I slept on a tree in a forest nearby)” Alice thought.
“Caw! (I’m glad that everyone’s safe. Let’s start helping Roy with the preparation)” Phoenix cawed.
Meanwhile, June’s appearance as a human makes Roy wonder if she wasn’t a human as her beauty looks unnatural.
“Umm...is there something on my face?” June said nervously.
“Ah, no....I’m saying that you had a sweet face. Tell me, are you Alice’s mother?” Roy said frivolously.
“Sorry but I’m not her mother. My name is June and I’m Alice’s new friend,” June said with a laughing smile.
“A new friend I see...well, I hope that Alice gets along well with you,” Roy hoped.
“Don’t worry about it. Alice is such a sweet child, we will get along just fine,” June assured him.
Everyone helps Roy’s family with the preparation for Christmas day. As Alice helps to decorate, a loud shouting voice from outside caused her to nearly ruin the decorations.
Alice catches all the decorations that she accidentally threw because of shock. “Whoa! That was close. Whose voice is it outside?” Alice angered.
Alice opens the door and looks around. A boy is fighting with another child.
“What...the hell? Someone is fighting in front of the house,” Alice said in surprise.
Roy pokes his head out behind her. “What was that? Ah, it’s that naughty boy from the neighborhood. He’s making another trouble again today,” Roy said.
“Come on, it’s my turn to play today,” the troublemaker boy said.
“No way, last time I lent my toy to you...you never give it back to me,” the small boy said.
As the boys keep fighting, Roy stops them. “That’s enough fighting, kids. Tell me what is going on between you two,” Roy said.
“The smaller boy said something about having his toy taken from the naughty boy when he lent the toy to the troublemaker boy,” Alice said.
“He wouldn’t lend his toy to me,” the troublemaker boy exclaimed.
“No way, you would probably take it from me forever,” the smaller boy said.
Alice gives the troublemaker boy a threatening look from her eyes. “Just forget about the toy, Phil,” Roy said to the troublemaker boy.
“(Growl) I will tell my parents on you!” Phil ran to his house with an angry face.
“What did he say?” Alice asked. She looks at Roy with a confused face.
“Oh no....his parents are going to take care of you for messing with him. Phil has been known in the neighborhood as a trouble maker and his parents are strict to him but...they’re known for defending the boy even though what he did was wrong. My parents often said that he is a spoiled rotten boy,” the small boy said.
“My mother knows what to do when they come,” Roy said confidently.
“Don’t worry. We know how to handle them. Being a spoiled child is okay as long as he or she wasn’t spoiled rotten. A spoiled rotten child will turn naughty to others when they don’t get what they want while a spoiled child but raised in the right way by their parent will behave themselves to anyone. Still....the last option sometimes happens while the first option happened to most children,” Alice said.
Martha gave a smirk to her. “Grandma Tata told you that, didn’t she?” Martha questioned her.
“Hehe, busted,” Alice said to Martha with an embarrassed grin.
“I thought so,” Matha gave a confident conclusion.
Alice looks the other way and cracks her fingers except that it lacks the cracking sound when she did it. “If the naughty boy’s parents ask for violence, I will show you what it feels like to be punished for being a bad parent,” Alice said.
Roy gives her a side-eye for her word. “You know that you can’t hit older people even if they are wrong, right?” Roy questioned.
Alice turns toward Roy with stern eyes. Roy could tell from the way she lowered her eyes with its pupil staring at him that Alice is serious about fighting anyone misusing their authority once she made her choice.
“Seems she is serious about it. I admit that those eyes are terrifying...,” Roy thought with an intimidated face upon looking at her stern eyes.
“If they dare to use their authority to get what they want from everyone around them. Don’t mind if I show them what being a good parent should be,” Alice said with a serious tone.
Dan gave a confused face of what is going on but prefer to ignore what’s happening anyhow due to his very young age.
“Anyway, thanks for saving me and my toy. I’m Dan but everyone always calls me little Dan because I’m small. Are you new in this neighborhood, sister?” the small boy asked Alice.
Alice turns her face on Dan and puts one knee on the ground. “Yes, it’s my first time coming here. I just arrived here earlier, the name is Alice Maro,” Alice said.
“Well, I hope to see you again. Thanks, Sister Alice,” Dan said and he went back home.
Alice sighs in relief. “Pheww, at least that boy is saved,” Alice sighed.
“Let’s go back to help with the preparation,” Roy said.
“Okay, let’s go,” Alice said. Alice and Roy enter the house and continue preparing.
While Roy was busy with decorating, Alice called him with a whisper. “Psst,” Alice called.
“What?” Roy put his ear closer to her mouth. “Something happened to you last night, am I right?” Alice asked.
Roy seems shocked when Alice found out. “What? How did you know that something happened to me last night?” Roy wondered.
Alice nods. “I know because something triggered my inner sense on the way to your house last night. Me and Marta could sense magic appearing in nearby area. Tell me what you saw last night. Was it....Krampus?” Alice asked.
“Krampus? I saw a black figure standing taller than me from my house last night. It has red eyes and looks like half-goat and man. Was that Krampus?” Roy whispered.
“That figure may be Krampus. I just read a book about Krampus with Blue Vine and it has the same description as you said,” Alice whispered.
“When I saw it, I was so terrified that I had a nightmare in my sleep because of it,” Roy whispered closer in her ear.
“Krampus must have used magic to cleanse your nightmare caused I sensed a magic happening at that time,” Alice said.
“Maybe but I didn’t realize who stopped the nightmare I had last night,” Roy whispered.
“We rushed to your house after the magic we sensed had gone. Phoenix told us what happened and Krampus’s magic created a sigil on your forehead,” Alice said.
“Created a what?” Roy didn’t understand the last part of what she said.
“Sigil. A symbol that each spirit bears within them. These symbols are used to identify themselves among others. Each spirit, demons, angels, and other spiritual being bear a sigil,” Alice said.
Alice shows the talisman paper bearing Krampus sigil. “This is what I managed to extract from your forehead after it cleansed your nightmare. The sigil of Krampus,” Alice said.
The sigil looks like a rune of unidentified language.
“When someone naughty came to you while you were carrying this talisman, the sigil on the talisman will activate and summon Krampus to stop them. Krampus is a spirit known to punish naughty children but he can also punish the parents instead of the children too sometimes. Think of it as a charm-bearing protection spirit,” Alice explained.
While they were decorating the house, Roy’s mother hears a loud knocking sound on the door.
“Just a moment!” Roy’s mother approached the door.
Alice gasped. “Uh oh...here they come,” Alice said.
“Who’s coming?” Vine leans his head to the right wall to see what is happening.
Marta sits on a rail fence of the second floor in front of her and observes. June looks at the door with a perplexed look on her face. When Roy’s mother opens the door, a couple stands in front of her with scary faces while their child stood confidently with his parents on his side.
“It’s that naughty boy from earlier, Phil,” Alice said.
“So it’s true that he told his parents about us,” Roy said.
Phil the boy walks to the front and points his finger at Roy. “There he is. He is the one doing bad things to me,” Phil lied to his parents.
“What? What are you saying, little boy? My son did nothing wrong to you,” Roy’s mother tried to defend Roy and his friends.
“Hah, he lied to you. He tried to stop me from playing with my friends,” Phil lied.
“Is that true?” Phil’s father asked him.
“Yes, daddy,” Phil said.
Alice smirks at the boy’s lies. “Playing with your friend, you say? Heh, pathetic lies. You need to learn better than that, Phil,” Alice step forward with a smirk.
“Be quiet! You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Phil shouted to her.
“Dear, you should know that lying is bad for you,” June step forward to Alice’s side.
“Alice told us what happened. In other words, you tried to blame us for stopping you from misbehaving,” Marta said wisely.
“Don’t think that you can get away from the truth with lies,” Blue Vine said.
Everyone steps forward with a brave face. Phil slowly bends his back because he felt shrunken from their bravery, to tell the truth.
“What? That can’t be true. Our son would never lie,” Phil’s mother said.
“Enough. I believe that you really did terrible things to our son,” Phil’s father said.
Phil’s father pushes Roy’s mother aside. “Come here, young brat!” He shouted.
“Hmph,” Alice said confidently.
Alice casts Time Lock without the help of a wand on Phil’s father before he could touch her. Phil’s mother was frozen in fear upon seeing what happened.
“What, what is this? I can’t move,” Phil’s father said with a perplexed face.
“Seems like...your son has deceived you, Mister. Let me tell you what really happened. Phil tried to take little Dan’s toy away from him because Phil thought that it’s his turn to play with Dan’s toy. We stopped him from taking away Dan’s toy and what did he say to us? He said that he is going to tell his parents about us. What do you have to say for yourself now?” Alice asked Phil’s father.
“I don’t believe you,” Phil’s father said.
Alice growls and shamelessly pulls his nose in anger.
“Grrr, this is why I hate stubborn parents like you,” she said as her voice gets louder,” Listen to yourself! Your son has been lying to you all along! Phil lied to you in order to get what he wanted all this time. He is spoiled rotten by both of you without you realizing that fact! Now get out of here before we did worse to you!”
Everyone could see Alice’s eyes staring at him fiercely. Alice pulls back her magic from Phil’s father and gives Terror Gaze on them with her eyes movement. Alice saw his face full of fear toward her after giving the frightening eyes.
“W-we are sorry for this,” Phil’s father stammered.
Phil’s father pulled his wife out of Roy’s house quickly in fear while Phil looked at Alice and her friends angrily before leaving. Roy’s mother gives a sigh of relief and falls to the floor in a sitting position.
“(Sigh) what a relief,” Roy’s mother said.
Roy gave a shocked look at Alice. “How did you do that?” Roy asked Alice.
“I used time magic on him to stop his movement in time. I will tell you everything but first, there is something that concerned me. Phil....how come his parents didn’t realize that Phil has been lying to them? And judging from his father’s behavior, he is the kind of man who used violence easily. Oh no, I got a bad feeling that his father would do physical violence on his son,” Alice said.
“How about using that talisman we made?” Marta suggested.
“Is that a good idea? Who knows what Krampus would do if I used this on Phil’s parents. It could be a disaster,” Alice said.
Alice examines the talisman and growls. “Seems like there’s no other choice. Ma’am, we are going out for a while,” she said.
“Take care, children,” Roy’s mother said.
“Don’t worry, I will watch over them,” June assured.
Alice and Marta went outside along with June to Phil’s house. A loud sound is heard from inside the house, prompting Alice, Marta, and June to peek at the window. Just as Alice thought, Phil’s parents are having an argument about how each of them over spoiled him or fail to teach him how to behave.
“Phil, I’m very disappointed in you. You lied to us, you had lied to your parents,” The voice of Phil’s dad can be heard from outside.
“We failed to teach him as parents, Mar,” The mother said while shaking your head.
“That’s because you spoiled him too much,” Marcos pointed his finger.
“We...should be teaching him I did my job already,” Padme put her hand on the chest and lean back with hands folded.
“Have you even considered teaching him to behave better or spend time with him for once?” Padme asked her husband.
“I can’t. I got a busy schedule because of my job. I don’t have the time to spend time with him or even teach him,” Marcos admitted.
Padme stops folding her hands and stands straight. “You have to try. It’s for the sake of our son,” Padme said aloud.
“I couldn’t!” Marcos said, his voice is getting louder.
“You’re not even trying, Marcos!” Padme shouted.
Alice’s eyes widen as their fighting gets more intense.
“Unbelievable,” Alice whispered in disbelief.
“First they over spoiled their child then they tried to compare themselves with each other. Didn’t they realize that it was their fault for spoiling their child too much without teaching him about ethical and moral codes? They are horrible,” June gaped with a low tone.
Marta took the talisman from Alice’s hand out of anger.
Alice turns her head at Martha. “What are you planning to do, Martha?” she asked.
“I know what to do. Krampus....,” Marta drew the symbol of the talisman on the house’s wall with her finger.
While Marta was drawing the symbol, Alice looks to the back and sees a black cat with a red ribbon sitting in front of her right foot while staring at her.
“What’s a black cat doing here?” Alice thought.
“Let’s hope that Krampus knows what to do to them soon,” Vine said.
Alice’s eyes turn at Vine. “Let’s go back home before they saw us,” Alice said.
Everyone sneaks back to Roy’s house.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
