Andrew: (quietly singing) I am soooo fucking tired~! Haven't slept in days~! I feel like stabbing something, oh how I can count the waaaaays~!

Claus: You sure you're going to be all right.

Andrew: Fan-tucking-fastic.

Barri: Take sleeping pills or something.

Andrew: (laughs) Oh silly person, if only it were that simple. Whatever, disclamerajfljalkdjfadljer thing. Yeah.

DISCLAIMER: Mother 3, Why you no love me?!

Kumatora: On with the story.

December 28, Claus POV

"Oh great," I puffed out a tiny breath, glaring at the catastrophe of a tornado my room was submerged within, "I swear I've got to develop OCD or else I'll be buried under all the crap in here." I got started on clearing the hell, aka, my bedroom with a few groans from the antagonizing work. My dearest little Akai decided to peek into my room with his soft button nose pushing the door open. "Hey there little guy.", I waved to him, glad to have some form of distraction. He rubbed the top of his furry head against my pant leg with a low hum.

Ugh, I've really got to stop procrastinating. I shifted through a pile of shirts and pants, but then my hand bumped into something with a slightly more solid material. I reached and pulled out the mystery object, my eyes became wide at the sight of the black baseball cap. This is... his hat. Wait... The hat slipped out of my hand, I remembered a face that I think would have been better left forgotten. That's crazy, he can't be...

Barri POV

I visited Magicant in the afternoon of my own free will. I wanted to see Noname again, I figured out his first riddle. I appeared in his house where he sat in a chair drinking some auburn-crimson liquid, I wasn't sure if it was tea or fruit juice. He smiled at me, "You solved it, right?" "I. That's my answer." "You got that one right, I'm impressed.", he giggled lightly, "I'll tell you the next one quickly, someone is going to wake you up soon." "Okay." "My first is in apple, but not in lime. My second is in muffle and make, but never in life. What am I?"

December 31

"I'm sorry we can't stay with you," Lucas frowned, "The villagers will be suspicious if we don't go to the festival." I shrugged, "That's okay, I'll be fine here. You two just go and have fun." He seemed hesitant, but he eventually just thought it best to leave me be. He and Claus descended down the ladder, the latter twin shooting a knowing smile and wink my way before leaving.

v(-_-)v

Thank god Kuma taught me how to use Teleport., I thought to myself, hopping up a large tree in the Sunshine Forest. Once I found a stable branch to perch on, I brushed the snow off my coat and pants so I could sit more comfortably and watch the fireworks show. Bright flares flashed up into the sky, then burst into lights that shone like a million falling stars before disappearing into nothing. It was calming to watch them all going up one by one then fading away, but I did feel a bit sad because I couldn't be with Lucas and Claus. Mh, I wish I didn't have to be "dead"...

"Hey, down here!"

I took a glance down, tilting my head with curiosity, "Claus? Why're you here?" He shrugged, "I figured you'd be out here. Besides, the villagers are used to me disappearing and coming back at random times, so they won't really see it as odd." "Oh, all right. Let me get down to see you." I was careful not to slip on the icy twigs beneath my feet, though I nearly lost my footing at the last branch. Thank god the fall was only a few feet to the ground and Claus had been able to catch me from where he had stood before I got a face full of snow. "Careful, you don't want to get more amnesia.", the psychic chuckled playfully. I hopped out of his arms with a tiny huff, "Sorry, I'm such a klutz." "There's a first time for everything." I leaned against the large oak and looked over to Claus, "So why'd you want to come see me? You should go back and have fun." He put an arm around my shoulders and ruffled my air affectionately, "Do you really think I'd let you spend New Years all by yourself? I might look dense sometimes, but it was obvious you were down about being alone." He could actually tell? "Of course I could," he said, feeling a little hurt, "C'mon, let's go." "Huh? Where are we going?"

v(-_-)v

"So Lucas knows them?", I asked, my voice echoing through the rock tunnel along with our footsteps, "Yeah, they're supposed to be really friendly and love strangers too. They also know how to throw a party." They cave seemed to be coming to an end when we viewed the rainbow of lights coming from the exit. Our eyes were met with tiny, odd house structures and bushes draped in lights and festive decorations everywhere. The inhabitants were all similar, a light peach color with macro sized noses, along with a red bow tied to their single strands of dark hair. They immediately took notice of our presence and instantly warmed up to us.

"ViSiToRs, ZoOm!"

"BoInG dInG, NeW yEaRs PaRty!"

"We ZoOm FuN hAvE!"

And so, they led us further into their small and strange little village to celebrate the new year together.

v(-_-)v

The offered us some of their coffee (even though it was a bit late) by the pink hot spring. The texture was a perfect mix of creamy, and the aftertaste was neither too bitter nor sweet. "Seems like they've taken a liking to you.", laughed my guardian. It was true, a handful of the chose to gather around me, a few of the guys even got cozy on my lap. "Heh, I guess I'm kind of popular.", I meekly giggled. "Of course, what isn't there to like about you? You're the brightest kid I've ever met." All of us sat quietly, watching the sky light up from surrounding towns. I grimaced with a sigh, "I kind of wish Lucas was was with us." "Yeah, he's probably bored to death without us." That reminds me...

"Claus, do you think that Lucas has... changed?", I asked hesitantly. The red-head turned to me with confusion in his eye, "What do you mean?" "Well... did he become different... after I "died"? In my old journal, I said some things about him and well... the way I described him was like he was someone else entirely." He respired with slight strain as his hand tightened over his cup, "Oh... that. Yeah, he did change. A lot. When you were gone, he became depressed for a while. He cared about you, like you were his real little brother; it hit him really hard when we thought you died. He shut himself up for months and would barely say a word to anyone. I finally knocked some sense into him to get him out of it, but he still wasn't the same afterwards. Even though you're here now, he still isn't his old self, it makes me a bit worried..."

I bit my tounge, looking down into my cooling beverage. I had no idea that I was that important to them... Claus lightly nudged my side, "It's okay, it isn't your fault. C'mon, let's just have fun and watch the fireworks."

January 1st, Claus POV

As soon as four in the morning hit, Tazmily's lights died out and the villager's returned to their homes, we wasted no time in racing back home. Lucas was in the living room passed out on the couch, I bet Kumatora must've gotten him to drink since he's usually a happy drunk. Barri was on his way back to the attic, but then I remembered something I'd wanted to ask him about, even though I knew it was a terrible idea. "Hey Barri?" He stopped half way up the ladder and looked back at me, "Huh? is there something wrong?" "I wanted to know... does the word Pigmask seem familiar to you in any way?" "Pigmask...? I can't really think of anything at all." "No," he shook his head, "Not at all. Why do you ask?" I must be crazy, there's no way it could have been...

"It's nothing, don't worry."

Andrew: Heh heh. Oh, some major stuff is going to go down. Get your umbrellas ready for the 70% chance of shit storms coming this way.

Duster: Thank you, Romano, for that mental image. We really appreciate it.

Claus: That's nice, I'm gonna go now.

Kumatora: Why?

Claus: After the half way point of this story, I get kinda pissed off because of what this guy does. (points to Andrew) I'll probably want to punch him in the face, so I'm just going to avoid that.

Lucas: Is what he does that bad?

Claus: You have no idea. Later. (leaves)

AllExceptAndrew: Is it really that ba-

Andrew: (quickly speaking) That's all the time we've got now! Leave a review and thanks for reading!