Within the confines of what he could hardly call his own bedroom anymore, Solus (with Nebula sitting on his lap), Tsarina (with Zu the spider sleeping on her head), Oshi, and Eusia sat in a circle around a Christmas. Solus groaned in frustration as Tsarina used a Christmas present to poke the side of his face.
"Are you mad Sosuzoku and Vaillan weren't able to show up for Christmas?" Eusia asked as she wore an opened box with a plastic screen on her head like a helmet. Solus shook his head and picked up the doughnut-shaped wrapped present.
"Hardly, we've only known them for like a week, and given how old they are it's not a surprise they're no-shows... besides they probably had other plans," Solus said, saying the last part with a slightly quicker pace. Solus waved the present in his hand while directing the other's attention to it.
"This is my issue," Solus stated.
"The present from, grampa's friend?" Nebula asked. Solus nodded as he recalled Zalroth handing it to Solus and saying it was from some of his friends.
"You worried it's going to be something weird?" Eusia asked. Solus rolled his eyes and opened the little letter on the present to see it was from plus the message.
"A Deva and Ela. With this gift you'll feel like you've entered another world," Tsarina said as she read the letter aloud.
"If his friends are anything like him, this message could be taken very literally," Solus stated.
"So, is that why you don't wanna open it?" Oshi asked as the Christmas boreball hanging from Oshi's trashcan lid hat jingled. Solus nodded but with his eyes closed he didn't realise Nebula struggling to open the present from Deva and Ela. Solus only registered the present being open when a large tearing sound ripped through the room as Nebula slashed the wrapping paper in half with Nebulous Requiem.
"Certified-," Tsarina said.
"You better not say bruh moment," Eusia said with a scowl as Solus took Nebulous Requiem from Nebula and placed it in his kitsune tails.
"You're just mad I started saying it before you.".
"True.". Solus sighed as Nebula pulled the two wrapping halves of the present to reveal the headset within; the headset is a white visor-like glasses with a translucent deep yellow visor.
"Oh~ it's one of those DVR headsets," Eusia remarked cheerfully.
"A what?" Solus.
"A dive virtual reality headset, basically a VR headset, but your mind is put into the game," Eusia explained.
"I see... so the message wasn't so literal then," Solus stated as he stared at the headset with tired eyes.
"Well, aren't you going to put it on?" Tsarina asked. Solus went to respond but caught a glance of Nebula staring up at him with puppy dog eyes knowing what Solus planned to say.
"Fine...," Solus uttered as he placed the headset on his head, "Happy now?". Eusia and Oshi lightly snickered at seeing Solus wearing the headset.
"You look like a total dork," Lumina said as she peeked through the crack in the open bedroom door. Solus scoffed and used telekinesis to slam the bedroom door shut.
"Rude! And you actually look like a geek, a super geek at that!" Lumina said before she stormed off while giggling proudly. Solus rubbed his face and exhaled from mental exhaustion.
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"Why'd she have to start with the teasing game?" Solus uttered. The headset beeped and the visor lit up as the phrase game start appeared on it. The spirits huddled closer to Solus to see the text on the visor as the headset's beeping ramped up in frequency. The beeping turned into a low hum before a deafening beep screeched through the Sakamoto residence as Solus' bedroom was filled by a blinding light for a split second. Lumina rushed back to Solus' bedroom and swiped the bedroom door open.
"You don't have to kill the headset because... I called you a; where'd they go?" Lumina said as she slowly realised the bedroom was unoccupied. Lumina peered around before entering the room and walking past the DVR headset laying between some unopened presents.
A solid block of white filled Solus' vision as he heard the tweeting of birds and the noises of various small animals. Solus closed his eyes and his vision turned black, making Solus sigh in relief.
"I see... so it's just like that from overstimulation," Solus uttered. Solus placed a hand on his face and adjusted it until the tips of his fingers were over his closed eyes. Solus transferred pale blue mana into his eyes. Solus lowered his hand and opened his eyes to an extremely blurry view. Solus repeatedly blinked and gradually regained the clarity of his vision. Solus raised his head and looked around. Standing in a clearing in the middle of a fairly normal-looking forest, Solus took note of his surroundings before he facepalmed.
"I knew this would happen," Solus uttered as the sound of Nebula pouting filled Solus' mind.
"Sorry, Sol-kun," the voice of Nebula muttered.
"Don't sweat it, Nebi; if it's anyone's fault, it would be grandfather's since he gave us the present," Solus stated. Nebula quietly humed in response.
"What gives?" the voice of Eusia barked, causing Solus to flinch.
"Do you need to yell?" Solus uttered.
"We can't leave your spirit realm place," Tsarina stated.
"Really?" Solus uttered perplexedly. Solus raised a hand and flexed it a little.
"And it also seems I can't summon any of our spirit weapons or use any magic on top of that," Solus stated.
"Certified bruh moment," the voices of Tsarina and Eusia remarked before a high-five followed. Solus sighed as he raised his hand to a pebble. A teal glow covered the pebble and Solus' horns. The pebble shot over to Solus before he caught it in his hand.
"Seems my biological magic still works," Solus uttered before he recalled something. Solus reached into his kitsune tails and pulled out the handle of Nebulous Requiem, making Solus smirk. He stored the sword back in his tails before retracting said tails.
"So the power still exists, meaning the use of them must be sealed or locked," Sosuzoku stated with a ticked-off tone. Solus' kitsune ears twitched at hearing Sosuzoku's voice.
"Wait, you're here as well?".
"Don't forget about me," Vaillan remarked cheerfully.
"But when?" Nebula asked perplexedly.
"We kinda dozed off for a bit while we were in here," Vaillan remarked with a goofy tone. Solus could only blink a few times from shock before he rubbed his face.
"But You were gone for a week...," Solus uttered as he began hearing murmuring in his mind, "What is it now?". The muttering stopped.
"What's with the new outfit?" Nebula asked. Solus raised an eyebrow and looked at his hands to see the scale textured covering them.
(Solus is wearing a pale blue headless full-body suit with a snake scale texture, a knee-low pale yellow trench coat made of dragon scales with a wide hood detailed with two large eye-shaped ovals and two holes, black fur trousers, and pale yellow metal hiking boots)
"I take it you lot are wearing different clothes as well?" Solus asked.
"Yeah(Tsarina)/Yep(Eusia)/You betcha(Vaillan)/I still have my hat(Oshi)/Unfortunately (Sosuzoku)," the spirits said in unison. Solus rubbed his forehead before he reached behind his head. Solus pulled his hood over his head and poked his alkorian horns through the holes in the hood. Solus released the hood letting it drop down and cover the top half of his face with the hood's fake eyes being positioned directly in front of Solus' eyes.
"It's like a hood mask... neeto," Nebula mumbled monotonously. Solus smirked at hearing Nebula's positive demeanour, although you'd have a hard time telling if you weren't Solus. Solus glanced around before he bent his knees. Solus sprung directly upwards into the air and easily cleared the lining of the trees. Solus temporarily hovered in the air as he scanned the horizons and spotted a city surrounded by a circular castle-like wall.
"I'm glad you've learned to not pick a random direction when you're lost," the voice of Solmeuetzo remarked. Solus pessimistically flinched at Solmeuetzo's remark as Solus began to fall back to the ground.