Allanea
19-12-2007, 22:01
Christmas Eve, Stossel Family Estate, Allanea
“Father, are you sure that he'll be here on time?”
“Oh I am quite sure, Jenny. He gave me his Officer's Word, and unlike you, I know it matters to him. He's really into this army stuff, our Wilhelm.” - Friedrich von Stossel nodded sagely, passing a hand through his silvery-gray hair.
“Sure.” - the young woman nodded in assent, “I know that, but look, all his friends are not going to be here. He'll be upset he can't be with them.”
“He might be upset.” - Friedrich shrugged - “But he'll come. I haven't raised my son to break promises, and he won't break one.”
“Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry, I just can't help but be worried. You know how Baby Brother is. He's only sort of acting responsible now because there's no silly adventure for him to be sent off on. “
“I think your mother has the perfect surprise for him.”
“You think it'll work?”
“I am sure.”
* * *
The estate was prepared for a party – the servants were preparing the famous Stossel Tea, bottles of wine were placed on the table, and a giant, luxurious Christmas tree already was in place in the hall. All was almost ready – but the younger son, Willhelm Stossel, wasn't yet there.
He was on the train that connected Progressi-City to the Stossel estate. As the train moved on, he walked down the hallway and towards the shower cabin – a common feature on Taggart passenger trains. Wilhelm locked himself in, undressed, and turned on the hot water tap.
It was bliss, for a few moments, to be enveloped in the hot, steaming water, washing off the sweat and grime of guard duty. He almost forgot how much this Christmas as upsetting him.
He promised he'd be home – and yet he'd actually much rather wanted to be in Liberty-City, with his friends, to be getting stone drunk and not really caring about the world. And yet instead...
Wilhelm got dressed again, now putting on the parade dress uniform of the Allanean Army, the medals and epaulettes glittering in the shower lamp. When he got out and walked through the rail cars, at least two off-duty soldiers saluted him.
Damn it... four more hours to go... will this ever be over?
* * *
“The couple Nivensky are at the gates, your Eminence.” - a Hashi manservant smiled reverently.
“Very good.” - nodded the Baroness von Stossel - “Lead them to their table.”
The very flower of Allanean wealth was now assembled here – Dagny Taggart, Richard and Mathilda Rabbit of CBBC, and now Kevin Nivensky and Julia Nivensky-van Ghent were coming, too. They looked distinctly different – Kevin, with his folksy Allanean bearing, and Julia, with her mink coat and the proud bearing of a descendant of Edolian nobles.
“Greetings, my dear Jasmine,” - her smile was good will itself - “I must say I find your place so much more... stylish than my own. But then I blame Kevin.”
“Men don't always understand the fine arts, do they?” - Jasmine von Stossel nodded - “Luckily, Friedrich is from Reichskamphen, they understand these things far better, don't you know. The Prussian Empire has been a great positive influence...”
“Your Eminence, there are military men! I don't know who they are, but they seem...”
“Baby Brother!” - Jasmine's daughter gasped, but the Baroness didn't let her say another word. - “You will let the gentlemen in.”
The hall was suddenly filled with a dozen men and women – there was Abdullah Smith, Wilhelm's old classmate, and his girlfriend. There was Priscilla Conde, the pilot, and there were even two Army Marshals – Marshal Watanabe and Marshal Al-Ghazi, in their famous black gear. There was even Susie – a humanoid avatar for a Peaceful Engineering Unit.
“What...” - Jenny stifled her surprise.
“You will see, Jenny. It will all make sense.”
* * *
Maverick Monningham, the Secretary of State, looked down as his gravcar set up to land, guided by automatic navigation computers, at a patch of land near the very Stossel farmhouse. The snow was still falling, coating the house and the plains around like a blanket – but the landing patch was an untouched, black circle, lit by landing lights and by the chirstmas decorations on the house.
“Grrr. Don't you be doing that.” - Michael Monnigham grunted in the back seat.”
“What now?” - both Marusia and Miriam Monnigham hissed at once.
“He stepped on my foot.”
“We're giving Kairi a ride. We're almost there. Why are you being so mean to him, Mike? We're almost there and you're still whining. It is not like you.”
The gravcar touched down before Mike could spit back a reply. And then they were out. The cold was even pleasant – and before they could start heading for the house, a snowball flew past Kairi's ear.
“What?”
Standing in the snow was a large penguin. “Hi!” - it squeaked - “I'm SuSE! Merry Christmas!”
Before Maverick could reply to that, two more snowballs exploded right on his jacket. The White House IT Specialist was not pulling her blows – and there was only one thing that the Secretary of State could do in reply. “Kairi, Mike, fall in! Give it to her!”
Before long, the runway was a site of a short snowball battle - until the low hum of engines was heard overhead, and the snow-covered combatants parted – to allow a full-on Valkyrie transport to land. Mike gasped as his jacket, abandoned in the rush, disappeared completely under the vehicle.
The transport was brilliant-red, decorated with an array of flashing lights for the occasion. As the door opened, a woman in red Sisters of Liberty livery jumped to the ground.
“Sister Victoria!” - Monningham gasped. He did not need to be reminded of who Victoria Sheshet was. He was the Secretary of State, after all. -”I thought you were in retirement.”
“Does that mean I'm not allowed to go to Christmas parties?” - the woman smiled as she lifted the pengin into the air and cuddled it mercilessly. - “C'mere, SuSE, I haven't seen you for a loong time.”
Another lady, now in white, stepped down onto the ground. And another woman – now in blue.
“Senator Reynes? And Ilana? I thought you're on Mars?”
“But... Mr. Monningham, you told me to come here!”
“I did no such thing! ”
There was a pause. “So... who invited me here?”
“I think we better go into the house and find out.”
* * *
“What is happening, Mother?”
The Stossel family dining hall was fillig up with people – some completely unfamiliar, some friends, and some even infamous.
“We have Jeremy Front here, who the hell got him out of prison?”
“I wasn't in prison for life, you know. You get out of prison when you do your time.” - Jeremy smiled as he poured himself some wine. - “And I got a handwritten invitation.”
“I am sorry, Mr. Front, I didn't mean to...”
“No, it's okay. I did cause an interplanetary war, I understand that people are upset.”
“I'm more upset with the fact that my brother is still not here. No offense...”
“But you care about your brother more than you do about me. That's okay, I'd be disturbed if it were otherwise.” - Front chuckled.
“But look. Here's Atchinson. He used to be President, remember? There's Richard Blix in the corner, apparently they let him out of the asylum. Here's Ethan with a wii – God, I didn't know you could come to a Christmas party and play Wii there. Here' everybody, and yet where's Baby Brother?”
“And,” - Jasmine added in a whisper , “who invited these people? Because I'm quite sure I didn't invite Mr. Blix, for example. Or the guy who played the pilot in Wings of Liberty. Or Simon Phoenix. Or Daisy and Reijiro. Or...”
“I get it. But who did, then?”
* * *
William walked the final meters towards his family home. He remembered every foot of the estate where he played as a child, and so almost did not need to look where he was walking as he made the last steps up the stairs and to the main entrance of the mansion
He noticed the vehicles parked next to the building, and heard the sounds of the party that was already developing. What he did not hear was the slight steps of a man sneaking behind him, nor the heavy breathing of a giant attack dog.
He made his final steps in the dark night and opened the door.
His world became filled with the happy faces of his friends and family – even those whom he expected to stay in Liberty-City. Even at a glance, he realized almost everybody he knew was here.
And then he heard two firm, heavy footsteps behind him, and the world became dark again.
Someone was covering his eyes with his palms, and the most famous voice in all Allanea asked. “Guess who?”
The party exploded in cheers as Willhelm pulled himself free.
Alexander Kazansky was at the entrance wearing a red sweater, a tie (much to everyone's amazement), a white shirt, black pants – and a pair of heavy combat boots that peered suspiciously out of the pantlegs.
“Ho, ho, ho!” - he cheered as he picked up SuSE from the floor. With a flick of the fingers he conjured a large salmon from mid-air and gave it to the penguin, who munched it happily. - “I see my little trick worked.”
“Your... trick? I don't understand, Field...” - Jasmine looked at him with dawning realization.
“Why yes. You wanted me to make sure that Wilhelm's friends will be there. I allowed myself to slightly... inflate the amount of invitees. I suppose the more, the merrier, and if the Stossel Estate can't handle it, I will help.”
Jasmine laughed. - “Please, don't think that badly of us. We can handle a party ten times this size.”
“Very well. In this case, let me distribute the gifts.”
“The... gifts?”
And suddenly, with another flick of the finger, Kazansky produced a necklace, seemingly out of nowhere. It glittered in the light as he handed it to Jasmine Stossel. “Here, Your Highness. I have left it to your servant to distribute gifts to everyone else.”
And indeed, Kazansky had taken over the party entirely. Friedrich Stossel could not be angry – he was holding to a brand-new Knootian pipe. Jenny was admiring a mithril bracelet. Jeremy Front smiled at his fresh new copy of The Complete Companion to Elven Poetry, and Victoria Sheshet was holding on to a giant sporting pistol, quite surprised at Kazansky not being at all cross with her. Marusia was blushing as she was given a locket in the shape of half a heart, and she didn't have to look at Kairi to know he had the other. Shiunji was staring confusedly at A Complete Idiot's Guide To Dating and Relationships.
And of course, Wilhelm had received not only a brand new car , but also – and far more importantly – a Christmas with some of the famous people of Allanea and all his best friends.
“Come on, guys!” - Kazansky exclaimed. - “To the tree! To the tree!”
“Are we going to burn it?” - SuSE asked.
“Hush, you silly Tux! We are going to record a Christmas message! For posterity!”
“Are you drunk?” - Victoria blinked.
“No! If I were drunk I'd say it's a message for the voters. Come now.”
And so a webcam was found and pointed at the large Christmas tree, and, with some prodding from Alex, they all stood under it – Alex, the tallest, at the center of the 'stage', and everybody else around him, the Stossel family at center front, sitting. Alex nodded, and the Allaneans started singing. Happily, almost everybody knew the words, and whoever didn't could fake it. The voices rose confidently, working up to the key line – and finally it rang in the hall, to be heard – God bless cameras – by the world entire:
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
and a Happy New Year!
“Father, are you sure that he'll be here on time?”
“Oh I am quite sure, Jenny. He gave me his Officer's Word, and unlike you, I know it matters to him. He's really into this army stuff, our Wilhelm.” - Friedrich von Stossel nodded sagely, passing a hand through his silvery-gray hair.
“Sure.” - the young woman nodded in assent, “I know that, but look, all his friends are not going to be here. He'll be upset he can't be with them.”
“He might be upset.” - Friedrich shrugged - “But he'll come. I haven't raised my son to break promises, and he won't break one.”
“Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry, I just can't help but be worried. You know how Baby Brother is. He's only sort of acting responsible now because there's no silly adventure for him to be sent off on. “
“I think your mother has the perfect surprise for him.”
“You think it'll work?”
“I am sure.”
* * *
The estate was prepared for a party – the servants were preparing the famous Stossel Tea, bottles of wine were placed on the table, and a giant, luxurious Christmas tree already was in place in the hall. All was almost ready – but the younger son, Willhelm Stossel, wasn't yet there.
He was on the train that connected Progressi-City to the Stossel estate. As the train moved on, he walked down the hallway and towards the shower cabin – a common feature on Taggart passenger trains. Wilhelm locked himself in, undressed, and turned on the hot water tap.
It was bliss, for a few moments, to be enveloped in the hot, steaming water, washing off the sweat and grime of guard duty. He almost forgot how much this Christmas as upsetting him.
He promised he'd be home – and yet he'd actually much rather wanted to be in Liberty-City, with his friends, to be getting stone drunk and not really caring about the world. And yet instead...
Wilhelm got dressed again, now putting on the parade dress uniform of the Allanean Army, the medals and epaulettes glittering in the shower lamp. When he got out and walked through the rail cars, at least two off-duty soldiers saluted him.
Damn it... four more hours to go... will this ever be over?
* * *
“The couple Nivensky are at the gates, your Eminence.” - a Hashi manservant smiled reverently.
“Very good.” - nodded the Baroness von Stossel - “Lead them to their table.”
The very flower of Allanean wealth was now assembled here – Dagny Taggart, Richard and Mathilda Rabbit of CBBC, and now Kevin Nivensky and Julia Nivensky-van Ghent were coming, too. They looked distinctly different – Kevin, with his folksy Allanean bearing, and Julia, with her mink coat and the proud bearing of a descendant of Edolian nobles.
“Greetings, my dear Jasmine,” - her smile was good will itself - “I must say I find your place so much more... stylish than my own. But then I blame Kevin.”
“Men don't always understand the fine arts, do they?” - Jasmine von Stossel nodded - “Luckily, Friedrich is from Reichskamphen, they understand these things far better, don't you know. The Prussian Empire has been a great positive influence...”
“Your Eminence, there are military men! I don't know who they are, but they seem...”
“Baby Brother!” - Jasmine's daughter gasped, but the Baroness didn't let her say another word. - “You will let the gentlemen in.”
The hall was suddenly filled with a dozen men and women – there was Abdullah Smith, Wilhelm's old classmate, and his girlfriend. There was Priscilla Conde, the pilot, and there were even two Army Marshals – Marshal Watanabe and Marshal Al-Ghazi, in their famous black gear. There was even Susie – a humanoid avatar for a Peaceful Engineering Unit.
“What...” - Jenny stifled her surprise.
“You will see, Jenny. It will all make sense.”
* * *
Maverick Monningham, the Secretary of State, looked down as his gravcar set up to land, guided by automatic navigation computers, at a patch of land near the very Stossel farmhouse. The snow was still falling, coating the house and the plains around like a blanket – but the landing patch was an untouched, black circle, lit by landing lights and by the chirstmas decorations on the house.
“Grrr. Don't you be doing that.” - Michael Monnigham grunted in the back seat.”
“What now?” - both Marusia and Miriam Monnigham hissed at once.
“He stepped on my foot.”
“We're giving Kairi a ride. We're almost there. Why are you being so mean to him, Mike? We're almost there and you're still whining. It is not like you.”
The gravcar touched down before Mike could spit back a reply. And then they were out. The cold was even pleasant – and before they could start heading for the house, a snowball flew past Kairi's ear.
“What?”
Standing in the snow was a large penguin. “Hi!” - it squeaked - “I'm SuSE! Merry Christmas!”
Before Maverick could reply to that, two more snowballs exploded right on his jacket. The White House IT Specialist was not pulling her blows – and there was only one thing that the Secretary of State could do in reply. “Kairi, Mike, fall in! Give it to her!”
Before long, the runway was a site of a short snowball battle - until the low hum of engines was heard overhead, and the snow-covered combatants parted – to allow a full-on Valkyrie transport to land. Mike gasped as his jacket, abandoned in the rush, disappeared completely under the vehicle.
The transport was brilliant-red, decorated with an array of flashing lights for the occasion. As the door opened, a woman in red Sisters of Liberty livery jumped to the ground.
“Sister Victoria!” - Monningham gasped. He did not need to be reminded of who Victoria Sheshet was. He was the Secretary of State, after all. -”I thought you were in retirement.”
“Does that mean I'm not allowed to go to Christmas parties?” - the woman smiled as she lifted the pengin into the air and cuddled it mercilessly. - “C'mere, SuSE, I haven't seen you for a loong time.”
Another lady, now in white, stepped down onto the ground. And another woman – now in blue.
“Senator Reynes? And Ilana? I thought you're on Mars?”
“But... Mr. Monningham, you told me to come here!”
“I did no such thing! ”
There was a pause. “So... who invited me here?”
“I think we better go into the house and find out.”
* * *
“What is happening, Mother?”
The Stossel family dining hall was fillig up with people – some completely unfamiliar, some friends, and some even infamous.
“We have Jeremy Front here, who the hell got him out of prison?”
“I wasn't in prison for life, you know. You get out of prison when you do your time.” - Jeremy smiled as he poured himself some wine. - “And I got a handwritten invitation.”
“I am sorry, Mr. Front, I didn't mean to...”
“No, it's okay. I did cause an interplanetary war, I understand that people are upset.”
“I'm more upset with the fact that my brother is still not here. No offense...”
“But you care about your brother more than you do about me. That's okay, I'd be disturbed if it were otherwise.” - Front chuckled.
“But look. Here's Atchinson. He used to be President, remember? There's Richard Blix in the corner, apparently they let him out of the asylum. Here's Ethan with a wii – God, I didn't know you could come to a Christmas party and play Wii there. Here' everybody, and yet where's Baby Brother?”
“And,” - Jasmine added in a whisper , “who invited these people? Because I'm quite sure I didn't invite Mr. Blix, for example. Or the guy who played the pilot in Wings of Liberty. Or Simon Phoenix. Or Daisy and Reijiro. Or...”
“I get it. But who did, then?”
* * *
William walked the final meters towards his family home. He remembered every foot of the estate where he played as a child, and so almost did not need to look where he was walking as he made the last steps up the stairs and to the main entrance of the mansion
He noticed the vehicles parked next to the building, and heard the sounds of the party that was already developing. What he did not hear was the slight steps of a man sneaking behind him, nor the heavy breathing of a giant attack dog.
He made his final steps in the dark night and opened the door.
His world became filled with the happy faces of his friends and family – even those whom he expected to stay in Liberty-City. Even at a glance, he realized almost everybody he knew was here.
And then he heard two firm, heavy footsteps behind him, and the world became dark again.
Someone was covering his eyes with his palms, and the most famous voice in all Allanea asked. “Guess who?”
The party exploded in cheers as Willhelm pulled himself free.
Alexander Kazansky was at the entrance wearing a red sweater, a tie (much to everyone's amazement), a white shirt, black pants – and a pair of heavy combat boots that peered suspiciously out of the pantlegs.
“Ho, ho, ho!” - he cheered as he picked up SuSE from the floor. With a flick of the fingers he conjured a large salmon from mid-air and gave it to the penguin, who munched it happily. - “I see my little trick worked.”
“Your... trick? I don't understand, Field...” - Jasmine looked at him with dawning realization.
“Why yes. You wanted me to make sure that Wilhelm's friends will be there. I allowed myself to slightly... inflate the amount of invitees. I suppose the more, the merrier, and if the Stossel Estate can't handle it, I will help.”
Jasmine laughed. - “Please, don't think that badly of us. We can handle a party ten times this size.”
“Very well. In this case, let me distribute the gifts.”
“The... gifts?”
And suddenly, with another flick of the finger, Kazansky produced a necklace, seemingly out of nowhere. It glittered in the light as he handed it to Jasmine Stossel. “Here, Your Highness. I have left it to your servant to distribute gifts to everyone else.”
And indeed, Kazansky had taken over the party entirely. Friedrich Stossel could not be angry – he was holding to a brand-new Knootian pipe. Jenny was admiring a mithril bracelet. Jeremy Front smiled at his fresh new copy of The Complete Companion to Elven Poetry, and Victoria Sheshet was holding on to a giant sporting pistol, quite surprised at Kazansky not being at all cross with her. Marusia was blushing as she was given a locket in the shape of half a heart, and she didn't have to look at Kairi to know he had the other. Shiunji was staring confusedly at A Complete Idiot's Guide To Dating and Relationships.
And of course, Wilhelm had received not only a brand new car , but also – and far more importantly – a Christmas with some of the famous people of Allanea and all his best friends.
“Come on, guys!” - Kazansky exclaimed. - “To the tree! To the tree!”
“Are we going to burn it?” - SuSE asked.
“Hush, you silly Tux! We are going to record a Christmas message! For posterity!”
“Are you drunk?” - Victoria blinked.
“No! If I were drunk I'd say it's a message for the voters. Come now.”
And so a webcam was found and pointed at the large Christmas tree, and, with some prodding from Alex, they all stood under it – Alex, the tallest, at the center of the 'stage', and everybody else around him, the Stossel family at center front, sitting. Alex nodded, and the Allaneans started singing. Happily, almost everybody knew the words, and whoever didn't could fake it. The voices rose confidently, working up to the key line – and finally it rang in the hall, to be heard – God bless cameras – by the world entire:
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
and a Happy New Year!