A Balancer Christmas

                                    

                                              

          My day started the way all of my days did, when I was in the village that is. Even with the snow softly falling, even with today being a joyous holiday... some part of me felt I had to do this. I was down on one knee, in the cold, frosty grass. Bally was snugly pressed up against my right side, with Endy hitching a ride on my left shoulder. I didn't speak a word for a long time, kneeling down in front of the row of graves. There were many graves in the village's small cemetery... but these five were special to me, even though I had never met one of them. On top of that, my relationship with one of them had been quite the roller coaster while he was alive... seeing as I killed him twice, yet in the end he had given his spirit to save me. As for the other three... they had been my mentors for a long, long time...

          "I'm sorry, for how everything had to play out for you all..." I said softly, watching the small whisps of flames from the candles sway in the cold breeze. "You all were used for so much, for so long... by so many... I wish you all could have lived the long lives that had been intended for you all, as siblings." Bally made a small whimper sort of sound, and Endy made a... well, whatever sound an Endermite made. I slowly stood, clothing straightening out once more. Baly stuck to my heal as I turned to leave, my feet crunching in the thin snow layer. I stopped briefly, my gaze turning to Dest's grave with a sad look. "I'm sorry... for not saving your creations... and you." 

          As I entered the main part of the village, I was greeted by the others being in full swing. For starters, it was already obvious Frost was going strong, seeing as he was the only explanation of how it was snowing in a hilly plain biome. Nether had seemingly engineered the lights I had explained to him, small multicolored glass bulbs filled with a light, casting a colorful glow about. As I walked, Bally and Endy still with me, I ran into Rebalance and Debalance, who had their four dogs out, who were promptly romping in and eating the snow.

          "Oh, hey Balance!" Re said, raising a hand up in greetings. "Was wondering where you were, glad to see you out of your house!" What I did wasn't very known of, mostly just Unbalance and Time being aware of it. Although, with them thinking I was in my house... that was understandable. None of us had been in a very cheerful mood recently.

          "Yeah, well it's a day of celebration, right?" I said, sporting a small smile. "Just glad to see everyone happy this morning. Well... I think everyone is happy." *I said, the three of us turning to see Under using a snowman for fire ball practice. He seemed to be enjoying himself, which was rare for him. "Ya know what, he's having fun, it'll be fine." De and Re laughed, shaking their heads, drawing the attention of their wolves.

          "Yeah, well if there is a fire, quite a few of us can handle it." De pointed out. I waved to them and moved on, Bally taking a sniff towards her fellow wolves, but still followed behind me. I passed by Unbalance, who just seemed to be leaning against a tree. Seeing as he was Dark Steve and all, celebrating wasn't really his thing. We nodded to each other as I went on, looking about at a few people and Steves that weren't a part of the village, presumably here based on the invitations we had sent out. Not many Biome Steves though, I noticed. I didn't think much of it, it's not like Christmas was known to all and such. It seemed like something us Steve Saga survivors knew of well, and some others here and there as well. That, and some people didn't like the cold. I for one didn't even notice it.

          "Hey Balance!" I heard someone call out. I turned my head, seeing Time, Over, and End seemingly trying to get snow out away from a small patch of flowers. Time had been the one to call out, it seemed. "See you in the temple in a few!" I nodded to them, heading my way towards the temple myself. It had been decked up a bit more, with the help of the others and some Yellow Steves, to make it a more cozy and welcoming location. Just before I entered, though, I ran into Alchemy and Gem, who seemed to be chatting. It made sense, seeing as Gem had been really pestering Alchemy about fixing The Relic. I could understand why, seeing as it was our only- well only easy way to get to the Bedrock Rising universe, which was Gem's home. But with everything that had happened in the past few weeks, it hadn't been all that high on the to do list. 

          I stepped into the temple, looking around to see who was there. Some of the Balancers were already present, as well as some Chromatic and Ore Steves. There was also a handful of Nether and Ender Steves as well, having been brought by the Dimensional Leaders. The most surprising for taking the invitations were the hunters, with Entity 303, Null, and Dread Lord all coming. Second wasn't here, though, seeing as he had wanted to keep hunting down Void Balance. I went to one of the heads of the table and took a seat, Bally sitting next to my chair while Endy just hopped right onto the table. It didn't take long for everyone else to filter in, finding seats where they could. There was quite a lot of us present, which normally didn't happen very often. Once I knew at least all the other Balancers were here, I stood up, and everyone seemed to go quiet.

          "I'm glad to see this many people all together for a reason other than stopping some new threat." I started, a few laughs and 'yeah's from the others. "Not all of you may know what this holiday means, but that's ok. What matters is that it's a day of peace, meant to be spent together with friends and family. Don't worry Under, it'll be over tomorrow." 

          "Thank gosh!" Under retorted from further down the table, causing a fair amount more of laughter, including a chuckle from myself. 
    
          "I know times have been tough... especially with what Spirit has informed us of... but we can't lose hope. I feel this is a good reminder of that, that we can still get together for fun, and not have to worry about our safety." I saw nodding of heads from most, as I looked around the table. "Some of you haven't known peace for very long. But I promise, as long as me and my team live and breathe, we shall do all that is within our power to keep said peace. For us, and all who live within our Universe. Merry Christmas." 

          My short speech was cheered by the guests, before they began to eat. I set down a slice of cake, a steak and a batch of Glow Berries for bally, who promptly began to wolf it down. I sat a chorus fruit in front of Endy, who took a nibble from it and instantly teleported a bit further down the table. I looked around again, taking note of the Balancers. Unbalance, Equality, Nether, Under, Over, End, Realm, Space, Nova, Energy, Ocean, Frost, Gem, Alchemy, Prims, Rebalance, Debalance, Spirit... they were my team, and it was good to be a part of one that seemed to actually look out for one another. Even Under, when it really counted. I wasn't surprised the Elder's weren't here... but that was ok. I was sure I'd see them again soon. I closed my eyes a moment, thinking back through all the people I had spent time with. From Sabre, Rainbow Steve, and Lucas, to just Lucas and Silver Steve, to the Creators, to all the Universes I had visited, and now The Balancers, and so many more in this strange, unconventional universe. I opened my eyes, again slightly smiling as I took a drink of the ho- Two weeks... two weeks and they'll come... You all need to be ready.... They won't all be balancers... so make sure you invite everyone with him... -liday Sweet Berry juice Over had made. Things were... ok. We could fix this together. I knew we could.