You all lucked out, the inspiration bug bit me. Well, hopefully I'll be able to get this done in time…and yes, it was either this or nothing, I fail DX lol

Disclaimer: I own nothing and I bow to the supreme awesomeness that is Charles Dickens. All hail the writing deity!

A Kratos Karol

Mithos was dead, to begin with, this is a fact one must keep in mind, for any of what follows to be extraordinary…Well, all right, maybe you don't really need that fact, but it'll make it all make a lot more sense. Yes, Mithos was dead, Cruxis defeated, the worlds united, and all were partaking in a group Christmas party the eve of the day. Oh yes, it was a very merry occasion indeed, there was much feasting and rejoicing, mistletoe and perverts, smacks and shrieks of pain, it was all in all quite an amusing event. Even the reclusive Yuan had deigned to grace them with his presence, though he was currently attempting to out-drink the dwarf which was Lloyd's adoptive father. Yes, all was well…for the most part. Arriving late through the door came his other father, the angel that sired him, and said angel had stopped dead in his tracks, staring in frozen horror at the spectacle.

Not that Lloyd noticed.

"Dad!" he grinned, waving to his father as he put up a reef that had fallen down. "About time, you're late for the party!"

It was not the fault of this boy that his ignorance was great and his sense of intelligence relatively meager, it was the fact he was dropped on his head several times as a child. That all put aside, the fact was he had welcomed his father home to a Christmas party…something, unfortunately for the oblivious teen, was something that would cause upset…

"…I'm going to bed," the man stated curtly, his voice as cold as the icicles that hung out the window, then proceeded to head to the stairs as he had said.

"H- Huh?" he stammered, his eyes widening. "What? Dad, come on! It's Christmas! Celebrate with us!"

He reached out to grab his father's arm and did so only to be met with a steely glare, the ignoble male freezing in his tracks.

"I do not like Christmas," he hissed in the manner of a serpent, "So I'm going to bed, do you understand? Good night."

With that the man turned from his son and marched upstairs where the festivities were naught, the brunette that was left stammering, attempting to convince his father otherwise.

"H- Hey! Wait! Dad, come on-! You don't even have to sleep!" he cried, despair overtaking his face. "What's with him? What does he mean he doesn't like Christmas?"

"Been like that for eternity," the blue-haired man that was the enigmatic angel's friend shrugged, taking another swing of alcoholic liquid, "Don't let it get to you, it's not your fault."

"It is getting to me!" he cried. "What's wrong with him?"

"Hmph, yeah, he's being a real humbug," the silver-haired teen among them scoffed.

It was then that the awkward mood was shaken when the blunette that had spoken before threw back his head and laughed, drawing the eyes of all those that bore existence in the room. He continued to laugh until noting the stares of all present and that he, in fact, was the only one laughing. Slowly he raised an eyebrow, looking at all of theirs raised as well.

"…Scrooge," he said hesitantly, "You mean 'Scrooge', right?"

"No…I believe the term for someone who doesn't like Christmas is 'humbug'…" Raine bit her lip.

"…You're kidding me," Yuan said slowly, surveying the group.

"No, that's what it is," Sheena shrugged.

"Yeah, you drink too much, old timer?" Zelos laughed, taking a swig of spiked eggnog himself after he did so.

"I don't believe I've heard the term 'Scrooge'," Regal added.

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Yuan trailed, disbelief evident both in word, tone, and expression as well, "Look…'humbug' is what Scrooge says, Scrooge is what you call someone like Kratos."

He was met with vacant looks from all present, serving only to further the angel's frustration. With a sigh of disdain he took one last swig of his beverage before turning to the group, deciding that matters would have to be taken in his own right.

"None of you know the 'Christmas Carol', do you?" he sighed.

"We know lots of carols," Colette frown, confused.

"No, not songs, it's a story," he explained, "A story about Scrooge…Christmas…three ghosts…any of this ringing a bell?"

"I don't believe so," Raine frowned deeply, "Is this something we should know?"

Yuan sighed and slumped back into his chair, muttering curses most foul under his breath to the forces that be for his predicament.

"I guess not, it was already an old story when I was growing up- Get that smirk off your face, Zelos."

"What?" the red-head scoffed, then began giggling in the manner of one who has ingested too much alcohol.

"Look, I suppose over the years this got confused," he sighed once more, "'Humbug' is the word Scrooge said, Scrooge was a bitter, cold, unfeeling tight-wad that despised Christmas and people in general."

"Huh, that does sound like Dad," Lloyd mused thoughtfully.

"Doesn't it?" Yuan smirked, then continued. "One Christmas Eve he was visited by three ghosts, the past, present and future of Christmas. Each ghost showed Scrooge Christmases of those eras, showing him the events he had lived and what would happen if he didn't change his ways."

"Fascinating, so what happened?" Raine asked, putting a hand to her chin.

"Well, he saw the error of his ways and had a personality 180," he shrugged, "Started loving Christmas, cherishing people…etc."

"Feh, I wish we could do that for Dad, then…" Lloyd huffed somewhat bitterly, looking where his father had last stood, "…He could use some Christmas spirit…he could at least just- ah…this sucks…"

It was common knowledge that the swordsman was not the most intelligent of persons, yet it still happened upon occasion that an idea would blossom in his, admittedly not academically-inclined, mind. So it was that this occurred, and a grin began to spread on his face.

"…Lloyd, I don't like that look," Yuan frowned.

"Well…why don't we do something like that, huh?" he grinned.

"Lloyd, that's ridiculous," he scoffed, "It's just a story, what were you gonna do? Have us dress and just try to talk to him? I doubt that'd get the desired result…"

"Well…okay, I guess not," he sighed, "…But…I think I have some way we could get something like that to happen."

With that he drew his two swords, the blade of fire and its twin of ice, holding them above his head. In a swirl of violent light and mana the two united, leaving the teen holding the single most powerful of objects in their world. His companions gasped, shocked at this action, and Yuan went to shout once more.

"Lloyd-! Y- You aren't serious? That's not a toy! Put it away-"

"Well, it can do anything, right?" he grinned. "It's just this once….for Dad."

The way he said the last words silenced his friends, how his eyes fell and his expression did as well, allowing the masked disappointment and pain to slip through to them for but a moment.

"…Lloyd, look…" the Seraph sighed, "Kratos- and- …aw hell, you know what? Fine. I've tried everything I can do, if anything can mess with him enough to get him to lighten up, hell, I guess it would have to be this."

Lloyd grinned.

"Okay then! Well-"

Pact-maker, might I make a suggestion?

All assembled froze, startled to hear the voice of the king of spirits echoing in their heads.

"Huh? Sure, Origin…what?"

I believe I can make such a thing realistic enough, however, even I cannot guarantee it'll affect Kratos as you wish. However…I believe I know of a way to make it at least achieve an emotional response. …Though I will need a few of you to assist, hm?

"…How exactly?" Yuan raised an eyebrow.

They heard a rather unnerving chuckle.

Kratos sat in his son's room on the bed they had put there for him to use upon his stay, though he was unlikely to use it… It was as his son had said, he had no need nor desire for sleep, and merely sat upon it, gaze out the window in silence at the lightly falling snow. What was going through the man's mind was as much a mystery to one as to any other, so we shall merely skim to when events of interest occur. The man sat by the candle-light in his usual fashion, lost in his dark, enigmatic thoughts of times long past, of death, of life, of lies and truth, the single source of light flicking shadows on the walls, the dark abyss of the outside world aiding nothing, though a brief gleam of light crept in through the bottom of the door. Strange, it was oddly silent…

Then the candle blew out.

He had felt no wind, no gust, and on instinct his hand flew to his sword, grasping the hilt tightly. He took to his feet, his senses strained to detect any sort of intruder, any sort of threat… This silence, this chill, this aura…something was off, externuously so, and yet-

A figure appeared before him and his sword met its neck.

The figure sighed loudly as Kratos' eyes widened slight, staring at what he saw.

Before him was a translucent figure of a man, clad in pearly rags and decked and strung in chains, chains that crossed his body, wrapped around his neck, bound his legs. The candle flickered to life again and parts of the room could be seen through the being…

Who looked very much like Yuan.

"…Yuan? What-?" he began, somewhat unnerved.

"You're in for a hell of a night, Kratos," he smirked sadly, shaking his head.

…My, this should be fun X3 God I love Dickens' work, his writing style…3 Kya. I fangirl.

Review if you wish, I suppose, it was fun n.n

Merry Christmas! :D