"Wow, it looks great, it's like the most beautiful Christmas tree I've ever seen and I'm not just saying that because it's the first ever Christmas tree I've seen" said Ollie sincerely as Annie smiled.
"Thanks Ollie, It's the most beautiful tree I've ever seen too" said Annie as she giggled.
"And this is the fastest time that I've every decorated a tree ever" said Annie as she laughed.
"You see, I always tell you that nothing beats magic" said Maddie as Annie laughed.
"You are right Maddie, nothing beats magic" said Annie as she smiled.
"But still with that, I would never trade my family or friends for magic" said Annie.
"Only you would think that" said Maddie as she scoffed and shook her head.
"And stop acting like you don't think the same Maddie" said Matt as he laughed and shook his head.
"Whatever" said Maddie as she scoffed.
"Oh I love this place, it looks wonderful, feels like Christmas back home" said Annie as she smiled.
"Christmas is the best" said Annie as she giggled, filled with nothing but cheer.
"You really love Christmas Annie" said Ollie as he smiled, he liked seeing her happy, she deserved to feel this happy all the time, especially since Azazel was gone.
"Yes I do, I love it so much, feeling like this now makes me wonder how we could have forgotten about it for so long?" asked Annie as she was filled with joy.
"Oh relax Annie, we managed, and also you are getting too cheery, dial it down a bit" said Maddie.
"Oh don't be a party pooper Maddie" said Matt as he frowned.
"I agree with Matt, Annie is just fine, she deserves to be as cheery as she wants to" said Ollie as he looked at Maddie who scoffed.
"I like her joy, it feels nice, and you have to admit the atmosphere feels pretty joyful as well" said Ollie as he smiled and looked at Annie who smiled at him.
"Thanks Ollie" she said with a smile as he smiled back at her.
"And of course, typical, make Maddie the grinch of Christmas" said Maddie as she scoffed and shook her head.
"Oh no Maddie, no one ever said that" said Annie.
"You don't need to" said Maddie as she frowned.
"Come on Maddie, don't be like that, we all know you just don't like too much emotion, but it's fine to be cheery for once" said Annie as she smiled and walked to Maddie and held her hand.
"You aren't a grinch at all, not everyone is the same and we know that, and I know that you've never had a really nice Christmas, but I assure you that you will this time" said Annie as she smiled.
"Yeah, yeah got it" said Maddie as she could not help but smile, just like everyone else, she liked seeing Annie happy, it had been a long time since they've all just had a reason to be happy.
"Yayyyy!!" said Annie as she giggled and excitedly hugged Maddie who smiled.
"That's sweet" said Ollie as he smiled and Maddie glared daggers at him.
"What did I do this time?" he asked as he didn't get why Maddie was being cold again, but she did not bother explaining she just scoffed as usual and Ollie just didn't try to probe any further.
"Oh Curtis, finally you are here, look, we decorated the lounge for Christmas" said Annie as she looked at Curtis who had just entered the room.
"It looks nice" he replied.
"Oh now look the real grinch has arrived" said Maddie as she sat down on the couch and laughed.
"Come on Curtis, give me a better reaction than that plain one, it's Christmas!" said Annie as she looked at Curtis expectantly.
"Oh wow, the lounge looks great and very cheery Annie, you all did a great job" said Curtis.
"That was perfect, now finish it up with a smile" said Annie with her big annoyingly cute green eyes that made Curtis sigh as he tried his best to give Annie the smile that she wanted.
"Oh my word, that's the worst smile I've ever seen on your face Curtis" said Maddie as she burst into laughter and she quickly brought out her phone to take a picture.
Curtis's face looking terribly crooked right now, his smile didn't look authentic at all, but it was clear that he was trying his best.
"I'm totally keeping this" said Maddie as she laughed while Ollie and Matt chuckled.
"Okay stop it Curtis, you don't look happy at all" said Annie as she frowned.
"I'm sorry" said Curtis as Annie smiled.
"It's fine Curtis, anyway, how was your day?" asked Annie as she smiled and gave him a hug.
"You are awfully happy today" said Curtis as Annie broke the hug.
"Of course I am, I'm already in the Christmas spirit, and you should be too" said Annie as she smiled.
"Okay" said Curtis as he did not know what else to say.
"Oh guys, I'm so sorry, I have to go now, ten minutes are up, just like that" said Ollie as he sighed and shook his head, he really wished that he had more time, but ever since the whole Azazel thing ended, his Father saw him fit enough to literally take over half of the duties that were originally his.
It was not like Ollie did not like doing them, far from it, he loved the extra responsibility, but he had less time on his hands.
"Don't worry dude, see you later" said Matt as he smiled.
"Good riddance" said Maddie as Ollie wasn't surprised at all.
"See you later Ollie, enjoy your day" said Annie as she smiled.
"Thanks guys, and I will Annie" said Ollie as he smiled.
"See you later Curtis" said Ollie as he smiled at Curtis.
"See you later Ollie" replied Curtis as Ollie disappeared.
"Gosh, that blondie still needs to teach me that" said Maddie as she shook her head.
"So how was your day Curtis, really?" asked Annie as she smiled and proceeded to pack away all the boxes as Curtis started to help her.
"It was fine" replied Curtis.
"Where did you go?" asked Maddie as she scrolled through her phone while Matt started helping out as a box broke and everything in it spilled out as he sighed.
"Got it" said Maddie as she waved her hand and the box fixed itself and everything that fell out went back in.
"Thanks Maddie" said Matt as he smiled and Maddie shot him a thumbs up.
"Well Stella and Captious needed my help with some old texts" said Curtis.
"Oh that sounds nice" said Annie as Curtis nodded.
"Oh which reminds me, my mom invited everyone to dinner, did you remember to tell Aunt Stella and Uncle Capi?" asked Annie with a smile.
"Yes I did, I am not sure if Stella will be able to attend, she has been very busy lately" said Curtis.
"Aww" said Annie.
"Yes but Captious on the other hand said that he has no plans and he will definitely be there" said Curtis.
"Well at least he's going to be there" said Annie as she smiled suddenly remembering someting.
"Hey Curtis, I have a question" said Annie as Curtis looked at her and nodded.
"Go on" said Curtis.
"Does Uncle Capi have a wife? I mean I don't really know a lot about his personal life, and I've never seen him mention any other family members, but I do remember hearing that he has a wife" said Annie as her question piqued Maddie's interest.
"You are right Annie, I'm also curious" said Maddie as she looked up as both she and Annie looked at Curtis while Matt carried the boxes out of the room.
"Well he had a wife" said Curtis.
"Had?" asked Annie as Curtis nodded.
"Yes, she died a few years after they got married" said Curtis.
"Died from what?" asked Maddie as she was suspicious.
"No one knows, only Captious does, but the Council was told it was a poisoning" said Curtis.
"That's weird Curtis, really weird..." said Maddie as Annie nodded, totally agreeing with her.
"Well we are not in a place to say, we don't really know what happened" said Curtis.
"And he never remarried?" asked Maddie.
"Not at all" replied Curtis.
"It's kind of odd don't you think?" asked Maddie.
"Like I said, it's not nice to speculate, if you want to know so bad, then ask Captious yourself" said Curtis.
"I agree with Curtis, and I know what you are thinking Maddie" said Matt as he walked back into the room.
"Hey, hey, I'm not hiding anything, Uncle Capi is an old man, and his wife died ages ago, he should have at least remarried or something, it's odd how he didn't and his wife just died like that" said Maddie.
"But the guys are right, it's bad for us to speculate" said Annie.
"Whatever you say" said Maddie as she smiled and went back to scrolling on her phone.
Finally, the long awaited day of Christmas had come for Annie, Maddie, Matt and the others. While the rest of the Realm carried on with their day per usual, there was a happy cheerful feeling in the Palace as it was Christmas morning.
Matt's ears twitched as he was in bed still trying to get in some extra hours of sleep when he heard the sound of footsteps that were approaching his room, he groaned and turned to the side, grabbed a pillow and used it to attempt to cover his ears.
He really wanted to sleep some more, whoever was at his door could just come back later, right now, he was cursing himself for removing the sound barrier over his room, he had been disturbed by different sounds throughout the night that for some reason he could not filter out, and he had been too lazy and tired to cast another one, which left him the master and solution of his own problem.
Matt tightly blocked his ears with the pillow, but it only seemed to work a bit, he could still hear that someone was outside his door, and to even prove it further, there was a knock on his door.
Matt groaned further as he turned to the side and doubled the pillows on his ears, he had no intention of getting up and answering the door, maybe if he ignored it the person would go away and let him sleep in.
But to his dismay, that did not happen, the knock came again, but this time louder, to the extent that Matt's ears were ringing from how loud the knock was.
Matt threw the pillows across the room got up and opened the door in annoyance.
"What??!" he asked as he opened the door, surprised to see that it was none other than the smiling Ollie that was at his door.
"And a good morning to you too dude" said Ollie as he laughed and walked into Matt's room as Matt was surprised and he closed the door and turned to Ollie.
"Dude, what are you doing here? It's 5am!!" said Matt as he did not know whether to be more surprised that Ollie was here at this time, or that he didn't just call him, then maybe he would have been in a less angry mood.
"I know it's 5am, I came early before everyone got up so I can surprise them" said Ollie as he smiled and sat down on the couch, seeing the pillows thrown on the floor that he threw back on the bed.
"Surprise them?" asked Matt as he sat back down on his bed in tiredness.
"Yes surprise them, it's Christmas today remember?" asked Ollie as he smiled.
"Right yes, I know that, and it's for the same cause that I'm still sleeping right now" replied Matt.
"And Annie invited me over for Christmas so well here I am" said Ollie as he smiled happily.
"That's nice dude, and you aren't in trouble for being here?" asked Matt.
"Not at all, my parents are gone on a trip remember? And I made sure to complete all my duties for today yesterday, so I am completely free today to spend the entire day with you guys" said Ollie happily.
"That's really nice dude, it will be fun having you around, Annie will be very pleased that you are here" replied Matt with a tired smile.
"And I am happy as well, where's Curtis?" asked Ollie as he couldn't see Curtis anywhere around the room.
"Oh well he went out a while ago, he's an early bird, or book, or whatever" said Matt as Ollie chuckled.
"Okay, anyway, I did some extra research on the human holiday Christmas, and I read something about sharing presents under the tree on Christmas morning, are we going to do that?" asked Ollie excitedly, he was all for new experiences.
"Yes, probably, we did buy each other gifts" said Matt as he yawned.
"Oh I didn't get anyone anything though" said Ollie in worry.
"It's not a big deal, it's not really about gifts anyway, your presence alone will be enough" said Matt as he yawned again.
"That might be so, but I don't like that everyone's going to be giving out gifts and I won't" said Ollie as he didn't like that at all.
"Look dude, it's not a big deal, believe me, now if you would excuse me, I am extremely tired, it's Christmas morning, no one is waking up till past 8am, I didn't sleep last night since I was too lazy to make a sound barrier so I am going back to sleep, see you, you can stay here and watch me sleep or do whatever" said Matt as he plopped on his bed and used his pillows to cover his ears.
"Gosh, I didn't know you liked your beauty sleep a lot" said Ollie playfully as Matt groaned.
"Anyway, have a nice sleep, I'm going to solve my own problem" said Ollie as he made a sound barrier for his lazy friend and he stood up and left the room so Matt could sleep peacefully.
Ollie closed the door behind him and was left thinking of what to do, until he had an idea.
"Hey Curtis, can you hear me?" asked Ollie in his head as he tried to reach Curtis with a mind link spell.
"What do you want Ollie?" came Curtis's quick reply.
"Curtis sorry to bother you, but I need your help with something quickly" said Ollie as Curtis frowned.
"With what?" asked Curtis.
"Let me see you first and then I will tell you" said Ollie as Curtis's frown deepened.
"In the garden" replied Curtis.
"I'll be there soon, wait for me" said Ollie as he rushed off to the garden.
...
The sun rose up as it's rays peeked through the open curtains of Annie and Maddie's room, causing Maddie to groan and turn to the other side to evade the annoying light.
Annie on the other hand was already awake and she chuckled at her friend's lazy behaviour and shook her head.
Annie finished writing an entry in the diary that Curtis had got her for her 16th birthday and she closed it with a clap as she threw it up in the air and it disappeared.
"Maddie!!!! wake up!!! wake up!!!! it's Christmas morning!!!!!" said Annie as she got up and jumped happily on her bed, up and down, and up and down.
"*Ugh* groaned Maddie as she had no intention of getting up, but Annie was way too jumpy and loud.
"Maddie!!!! Wake up!!!! It's Christmas" said Annie but louder this time.
"*Ugh* I know it's Christmas, and I want to sleep some more!!" replied Maddie as she covered her ears with her pillow.
"No no, no, you can't sleep, you cannot it's Christmas morning we need to go down and open some presents and have breakfast!!!" said Annie as she was being adamant.
"You're being too loud Annie, take it down a notch" said Maddie in a tired tone.
"Apparently not loud enough since you're still lazily in bed" said Annie as Maddie waved her hand and Annie's mouth was covered with tape as Annie did not look amused at all.
"Very original" said Annie as she ripped the tape off her mouth.
"Wakey, wakey Maddie, you are not going to sleep in today, not at all" said Annie as Maddie groaned and turned to the other side forcing Annie to throw a pillow at her.
"I'm not going to stop until you wake up!!" said Annie as she continued jumping and throwing countless pillows at Maddie, disturbing her extremely.
"Where the heck are you getting so many pillows from??!" asked Maddie in exasperation as she was forced to get up after being hit with several pillows, each one thrown harder than the last.
"Magic, your favourite thing in the whole world!!" said Annie as she shouted and Maddie groaned, it was her job to be the obnoxious one, and not the other way round.
"You are so annoying Annie you know that!" said Maddie as she was annoyed.
"Well I learn from the best wouldn't you agree?" asked Annie as she smiled.
"Oh you know what, that's it!" said Maddie as she got out of bed, grabbed one pillow and jumped from her bed to Annie's bed as she hit Annie on the head with the pillow.
"You are petty I only threw pillows at you and not hit you" said Annie as she hit Maddie back with a pillow.
"You are being extremely obnoxious this morning you know that?" asked Maddie as she hit her again with the pillow.
"Like you are every morning" replied Annie as they were now engaged in a pillow fight tussle that did not look like it was ending soon until Maddie hit Annie twice which made her fall down on the bed and Annie pulled Maddie down with her as they both landed flat on their backs on the bed.
"What are we doing?" asked Annie as she huffed and puffed.
"Well you started it!" said Maddie as she panted as they both looked at each and broke into laughter as their hair were messy and her bed was the same.
"Well we are both annoying" replied Annie as they both laughed.
"Merry Christmas Annie" said Maddie as she smiled.
"Merry Christmas Maddie" said Annie as she smiled and gave Annie her a hug.