Several weeks had passed since their talk at the diner, and the orphanage had been moved to the island with Fara. The children and their caretakers had been moved to the island, and were being housed in several large tents while the new orphanage was being built. A buddy of the construction company's owners was an architect, and he had provided them with suitable plans he had prepared for a similar building before their deal had fallen through with some city over on the mainland. They had planned a new orphanage, but CPS became involved, and the plans went to the wayside somewhere.

Greile wasn't certain Hevna had anything to do with it, but Gravoid Industries had become involved, and a large cash donation had been delivered to Fara in the orphanage's name, adding on to what the other old man had already given her. Greile and his people became go betweens helping her to contact the construction companies who had proven quite trustworthy. The orphanage was placed in the center of the three communities now fully built on the island, and the treehouse village. A small artists' enclave was to be built around it, with workshops to be built within. The old folks would teach the kids, and any who became orphaned on the island various trades in the time they had left, and those who had family members had declared their desire to continue the practice once their elders passed on. These were hearty people who valued traditions, and family, and promises kept, and Greile could not help but marvel at how they had come along, and helped the construction companies with their production of the orphanage, even while building their own homes. It was like a pair of divine hands were moving people into place for the need, even before it was known.

Time continued onward, and troubles were experienced, but the buildings were completed in time for the children of the orphanage to have a merry Christmas.

-----

Greile sat down in his pod, and logged into Gravoid. It was Christmas Eve, and Greile was intent on participating in the game's Christmas event.

Welcome, dear players! Our Annual Christmas Eve event is under way! Travel along with the Three Wise Men, and honor the newborn King of the Jews! See the quest counter to partake in this unique yearly event!

God bless ye Merry Gentlemen, let nothing you dismay. For Jesus Christ our savior was born on Christmas Day!

Greile wondered at the song reference for a popular Christmas song being included in the words prompting players to take part in the quest. He was soon distracted from his thoughts by the arrival of Hevna, as she also logged in.

"Shall we visit the quest counter, hubby," she teasingly asked.

Greile blushed a bit, but responded by saying, "No, I heard there were some limited edition fashions in the fashion district, and thought we could get you a set."

"Only if you get a set as well," Hevna responded, smiling at him.

Greile knew when he was beat, and responded, with an, "Alright."

The two soon made their way to a crowded, but organized fashion district, where the two got into a line for the official Watchmen store. This was the main system maintained fashion store for the game bases, and was the only avenue for limited fashions provided by the company for the various holidays. These fashions gave small, limited-edition bonuses that could generally only be found there. Player merchants could also provide such clothing during this time, but the bonuses tended to be halved. That being said, Player produced products could be produced with multiple limited bonuses, even though they were weaker, so there was a bit of an offset, but that meant making due with fashions the players could create themselves, and the limited-edition fashions could not be imitated.

Greile, and Hevna soon reached the counter, and were greeted by the attendant. "Welcome to Watchmen Fashions, how man I help you?"

A window appeared before the two, and Hevna soon pointed out a fashion for her set, miss-matching a few pieces from some of the sets to get the look she preferred. As for Greile, he looked for a few moments before he chose a simple tuxedo that was green, with red trim, and matching boots, with candy-cane striped cufflinks. Hevna's fashion was a red and white, full-length candy-striped dress, with green trim, and green boots and gloves with red trim. They made the purchase, and then went into the changing rooms to change.

The game had players actually change into their clothing, just like in real life. In fact, many of the things were realistic. The world was not fully realistic as far as he knew, the futuristic aspects pretty much cemented that, but overall the game was as close to realism any game had gotten. Even things like bowel movements, and needing to pee were faithfully reproduced. At first, there were worries that this level of realism was too much, but the obvious differences allowed people to tell the difference between the two worlds. Instead of the theorized results, people began to refer to them as different worlds. The very fact that the world was so realistic had allowed people to maintain a grip on reality, rather than putting their faith in a fantasy world they only wished the real world was like. Up to this point, they had been interacting with other players, bar the NPCs in stores, and at the quest counters, and this also contributed to their ability to maintain their grip on reality.

Greile and Hevna soon exited in the Christmas fashions they had chosen.

"Should we check out Matilda's, Hubby," Hevna asked.

"Sure, why not? I think she was going to try to get on," Greile told her. "Hopefully the signal's good, they're supposed to be on the way back now. Not sure what the hang-up was with Brad's case, but they finally got on their way back yesterday."

"Did they manage to get him off?"

"Most of the charges, apparently, but one or two stuck, I'm not totally certain of the details," he responded to her.

"We'll see," she responded. "Here it is, Hubby."

As they entered the building, Greile, found a couple of familiar faces there waiting for them.

"Hey Greile," Adriim addressed him sheepishly. "Sorry about the trouble."

"So you all made it in-game?"

"Yeah, we'll switch off with others once we've gotten the freebies, and done the Christmas Eve quest," Maggie told him. "So, where are the others, I thought you'd be here with them."

"Oh, shoot," Greile exclaimed, and panicked a little. He had completely forgotten to meet up with the others.

Hevna giggled, "Don't worry, Hubby, I kept them up to date. They'll be coming over as soon as they pick up their free Christmas Fashion set."

"Ah, man, I definitely gotta apologize when they get here," Greile said. "How'd everything turn out on your end?"

"Adriim got off of all but one charge, we already paid the fine," Artor spoke up. "As for the others, we arrived in time to prevent any problems. The T-7000 is a bit packed right now, but we're able to manage. I traded off driving with George so I can do the quest, but I'll have to switch back before nightfall, he has a night blindness issue, and they had to note it on his license."

"George was going to be forced to give up driving his semi soon," Matilda explained, "His old boss died, and the son was not willing to continue working with him on his hours. It's a shame, really, he's a carefully driver, and he did a lot for our community."

"Not much use for a semi-driver on the island, I'm afraid," Artor said in a tone that spoke volumes of how much of a pity he thought that was, "I hope we can come up with something."

"Maybe, one of the old men that came with Fara, and her granddaughter designed and built custom vehicles for a living, from the ground up. Maybe we can build something like Sonny's truck, that can take a heavier load," Greile stated.

"Probably more likely to be able to work with some of the metal-workers to train them to do it," Trombol's voice cut in.

Greile turned to find the others there and immediately apologized.

"It's fine," Sena told him gently, "I forgot myself until Hevna contacted us. How's everything going where you guys are?"

"Great," Maggie responded happily. "We've got an experienced trucker driving during the day, so Artor can drive in the evening, nighttime, and early mornings."

"I'll be logging back out into sleep mode once I've completed the Christmas Eve Quest," Artor responded, "We should be a few more days getting there, but everyone seems to think this trip is the best Christmas present they've ever received."

"I've arranged for gifts for everyone when they arrive," Sena told them, "We'll keep your gifts ready."

"I won't be able to afford gifts for everyone each year, but we got some gifts for those arriving, nothing really special, or cool, but useful things," Greile told them.

"I think houses already built, and waiting for us are pretty wonderful gifts already," Matilda assured him.

"Getting everyone a jump start is great and all, but..."

"Don't sell yourself short, most would require payment first," Matilda said.

"I guess... I won't always be able to give free houses, I think your batch of people will have to be the last, and the rest will have to either purchase, or earn their place in some manner, although I'm still not sure what yet."

"They'll have to rent a home until they can afford a new one, once the monetary system is in place," Sena suggested. "Barter will also work, and apprenticeships. We need trained, and skilled tradesmen. An economy won't run itself, but once the people start it up, it'll run by itself, without any meddling from our intended government."

"Yes, government should stay out of the economy, other than setting the monetary volume at an appropriate level, and then keeping it fairly steady, but there are better times to consider these things," Greile stated. "We came to see if you had Christmas Garments available."

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Not so many, I managed to make a number, but with packing, it didn't amount to more than fifty sets of clothing. I have a special set for you, Greile, to thank you for everything you've done for me, and mine this year," Matilda told him.

"But, I haven't done anything. Everyone else has done things for you, but I've done nothing," Greile responded.

"That's not true," Hevna told him, "None of us would have moved without you, we're your companions, and we wouldn't move so far away without your desires. We have given ourselves as your companions."

"She's right, we move because we see your desire to help others, but we are sworn to you. We will stay by your side unless you ask otherwise of us. It is your desire to help Matilda, and all the others that moved us to help them," Sena told him.

Greile was about to express his disbelief, but Artor decided to speak up before he could. "Master Greile, while they are not being entirely truthful, if it were not for your request, we would not move so far away from you. Sure, we'd help those around you, but our duty, our vow, is to protect, and help you. Our responsibility is to you, and we take our promises and vows very seriously. I have only moved so far from you because you are in a fairly defensible situation, there are others there to protect you, and everything we've seen lately suggests that those who were after you have backed off."

"They may have assets around still, but their presence in the coastal cities and towns has reduced enough that they can no longer respond in a short amount of time, and we need not worry so much for your safety," Zane Gref spoke up in one of his rare statements. The man was so quiet Greile sometimes forgot he was there.

"Greine has been running interference when you leave using a small boat as well. That has given you room to move, without their being certain of your location," Trombol spoke up.

"Anyway, I have a gift for you, and one for Hevna as well," Matilda told him. She then went into the back, and returned with two packages, which she gave to Greile and Hevna. Greile reluctantly took his, but Hevna was beaming.

"Open them up, and then go put them on," she told them, "You won't believe the bonuses."

Greile opened the package to find something that looked like a long trench coat, and suit combination. The trench coat was a light, sandy brown, while the suit was dark brown. The outfit was finished off with a sandy-brown hat with a dark brown strip around the base. The only indicators it was a Christmas suit were the colors of the fabric in the pockets, which were red, and white striped, with green stitching. Even the pockets of the trench coat were that way, although they were hidden by the inner layer of the trench coat. It looked like something out of "It's a Wonderful Life", and came complete with period style dress boots.

"Boots?"

"More in line with Christmas," she told him "there are socks as well, with hidden red, white, and green accents. It was heavily inspired by a movie from the 1940s, although the name escapes me. Anyway, try it on. Hevna's dress is a bit more traditional dames dress from the same period, I hid the Christmas colors for both outfits, hoping they could also serve as clothing throughout the year. Go try them on."

Greile went into one of the changing rooms in the back, and changed, before coming out, tie in hand, he hadn't ever learned to properly tie one of these things, so he was helpless in this regard.

"I'll help you," Artor said, and began to tie the tie this time, while walking him through the process. Once he was finished, he took it back off, and then had Greile do the tying, while walking him through each step. Artor then had him repeat the steps a few times, until he was satisfied he would remember it in the short term.

"Good, you look dashing, now, turn around," Sena told him.

Greile did as instructed, and soon stood transfixed, unable to take his eyes off the beauty in front of him. Hevna blushed as he continued to stare with his mouth dropped wide open, until Matilda stepped over, and pushed his mouth closed, saying, "You'll let in flies."

This action, awoke Greile from his stupor, and he blushed as he looked down for a moment to gather himself. When he looked up, he did his best to look Hevna directly in the eyes, and said, "You look beautiful."

Hevna smiled at his reaction, and said, "And you look dashing, you handsome man."

Greile blushed at the compliment, "Thanks," was all he could manage to mutter.

"So, what're the bonuses of these outfits you gave them," Sena asked.

"This year's bonuses are Piloting, Generator, and Melee," Matilda responded, "Normally you get one or two of these, and a normal bonus with the Christmas event bonuses being a maximum of fifty percent of the items sold at the Watchmen store. I managed to get all three bonuses, and an Armor bonus. The bonus, however, is unusual, as I somehow managed to critical on each bonus roll, and so I got a bonus of two-thirds the Watchman Fashion bonuses for all three Christmas bonuses, and a two hundred point bonus to armor. This means that there is a ten percent bonus to Piloting, Generator, and Melee bonuses, and a two hundred point increase in armor class. The biggest kicker is that the bonuses are per piece of the set."

"Holy crap," Maggie cried out.

"Yeah, I was surprised too," Matilda responded, "Funny thing is, I didn't get many clothing sets completed, but each one has an unusual bonus to each piece."

"Mind if we take a look," Maggie asked.

"Not at all, but I hope you understand if the cost is a bit higher this year due to the rarity of the bonuses," she responded.

"Not at all," Maggie replied.

So everyone looked through the items, and picked out clothing if they could afford them. Most of the items were subdued in the Christmas colors, but well-suited to every day use. None were quite do debonair as Greile's outfit, nor as classy as Hevna's, but they were all well-designed products.

Following this, everyone left to finally head to the quest counter to finally do the quest.

-----

Greile accepted the quest, and the prompt telling him he would be sent to a single person instance, and then disappeared from the quest counter. He appeared somewhere in a far away land.

"Hello gentleman," he was addressed, and turned to see three men, "We are going to see the newborn king of the Jews, would you like to join us? It is a long trip, but you're welcome to come with us."

There were no quest prompts, and Greile wondered at this, but he had heard there was something unusual about this quest, so he didn't question, and simply nodded his head, and followed the men when they began to leave. These three men appeared to be rather well-to-do, but he didn't think they looked like kings. The song, We Three Kings had been quite popular in his home country, it seemed to be prompted by the idea that in the past only kings, and nobles who were educated, but these men were not crowned.

As he traveled with the men, they talked, and he found that they were, indeed, not related to any kings at all. Tobias, Neftuhim, and Tubal were wise, and learned men, but not kings, or nobles. They traveled an unseen path, with the three keeping their eyes on a star that shown even in the bright sunlight. In time, they found a city, and spent the night, the men sharing a room with him, and the next morning they headed out once more.

The four traveled along, and eventually he found himself before a king, alongside the men, when they began asking after the newborn King of the Jews in a city called Jerusalem when the star stopped above it. The king, and his nobles, all seemed very troubled by their questions, and called them before him, and all the court of Jerusalem. This king inquired of his advisers, and the learned men of the city, who told him that it was prophesied that this newborn king would be born in the city of Bethlehem, "But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.." After this, Herod the king tasked them with going to Bethlehem, and carefully searching out the child, so that he could worship him. Greile had not come this far in God's word often yet, so he was a bit in the dark as to why he felt a chill at the king's command, and his careful efforts to find when the star had first appeared.

Following that audience, the four headed to Bethlehem, following the directions they had been given, and the star that once more went on before them. They diligently searched the the city when they had found it, and found the star had stopped over a stable of one of the crowded inns of the city. Seeing this, the wise men took small chests they had hidden deep in their donkey's bags, and headed into the stable, where the four found a man and a woman, and a child wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a feeding trough one of the wise men identified as a manger. The three bowed down before the child, and Greile did so as well, scaring the poor man and his wife by what must have seemed to them to be a completely random, and incomprehensible act. They then explained the situation, much to the relief of the parents, a man named Joseph, and his wife Mary. They then presented their gifts. One man gave a chest of gold, another gave a powdered perfume called frankincense, and a second powder was given by the third wise man, this one known as myrrh. He had no idea what these things were used for, but from the reactions of the parents, these were not inexpensive gifts. It was at this time that Greile finally saw a quest prompt.

The wise men have presented their gifts, what gift will you present?

Greile wasn't sure what to give the child, he couldn't give the clothes he wore, those were a gift. As for the other clothes he had received, they didn't seem like something a child could wear, nor were they appropriate gifts for a king. He checked his inventory, but found nothing there. He quietly considered for a moment, before he chose to give the one thing he had left, his gravoid. It might leave him unable to play, and could also be thought of as a bit of a gift as well, but even he knew this child was the Christ, the son of the living God, and well worth the sacrifice. It was still a troublesome sacrifice, but he was reminded of Hevna's sister's words, and the words from the quest announcement, and decided to give the gift cheerfully. He entered the gravoid into the window, and gave it with a grateful heart.

This will permanently remove {Seraphic General} from your gravoid menu, and inventory, are you certain?

Yes/No

Greile hesitated only a very short moment before he clicked yes. When he did, the eyes of everyone grew wide as they somehow recognized the value of his gift far exceeded the value of the gold, or spices they had presented. In the manger appeared a stuffed toy version of the gravoid, and Greile gazed gently on the young boy and the gravoid plushy for just a moment, before stepping outside the stable, and waiting. The wise men had been warned in a dream the day before to not return to Herod, lest he kill the child. He didn't know how he would replace such a unique unit, but he was sure he could get by with some help from his friends, and a little elbow grease. He had hardly used the unit anyway, so it was surprisingly easy to accept the loss of the unit. He supposed he could have given the clothing from Watchmen Fashions, but he didn't feel that was a worthy gift even now. For the savior, no gift was too much, even his own life.

Greile expected to leave with the wise men from there, but instead he was teleported, and a window appeared.

Your gift has been received, and a suitable gift will be received following Christmas day. Have yourself a Merry little Christmas.

-----

"HE DID WHAT?!"

"He gave up the Seraphic general, with a cheerful heart, of all things."

The old man let out a sigh after a few tense moments. "I never thought he would do something like that," he finally said, "How am I going to replace something like this?"

"Father, you've just received a message," his daughter told him.

"Huh? Let's see... 'Here's a gift worthy of the one given by the boy?'" The old man began to look over the item in the message, and his eyes grew wide.

"Uh, father, Hevna just did the same thing. And... you've got another message," she told him.

"Another similar unit? Wait, why?" The old man sat there confused for a bit, before shaking his head, and saying, "Take these, and put them in for the two," he told his daughter. "Make sure it's according to the designation in the messages. Also, have a copy delivered in secret, and leave a free print available."

She looked at the items, and her eyes in turn grew wide. "It seems he wasn't meant to have her after all."

"Change the sword and shield to match the new unit's theme," the old man responded. "I'll be praying, it seems I need to repent." With those words, the old man disappeared.

In the ensuing silence, the man's daughter stared off into the distance for a moment, before making the changes requested. This would certainly be a unique unit in the end, even amongst the unique units.

-----

Greile waited in the lobby of the quest center, awaiting the return of the others. Each person seemed to take a different amount of time to complete the quest, and so he waited. Hevna had just returned, and was standing beside him, waiting for the others with a smile on her face. Each of them returned in turn, some taking more time in doing so than others, but each arriving either in a contemplative, or joyful mood. Greile, himself, felt like a weight had lifted off his shoulders for some reason.

When everyone had returned, the group decided to partake in the other festivities, and make the rounds of other free gifts and contests. When they came to a contest that involved gravoids, Greile declined to participate, but gladly watched from the stands. Hevna joined him in this, and they watched their friends, and companions battle with their gravoids. Afterward, they went and received twenty free servings of Christmas candies, and various other goods and goodies. Eventually, the group split up, and Greile logged out.

-----

On Christmas Morning, Greile awakened, and dressed, then made his way down the tree with Hevna to the tree house's equivalent of a great hall. This was the only room in the treehouse really built with enough apace to accommodate everyone together. Even with it's size being the largest in the house, they couldn't fit a Christmas Tree, so that had been erected out on the platform outside, but they had all agreed to meet here, and eat their meal before they went out to the platform.

Everyone on the platform soon gathered, Cordelia read the Christmas Story from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Following this, they shared a meal together, and together they observed holy communion. Once everything was done, they headed out to the platform, and sat around the fir tree that had been brought in for the Christmas holiday. Here, Trombol took over, and passed out the presents to those assembled, and everyone waited until the last gift was passed out before turning to Greile, who sat there confused as to why they were looking at him.

Hevna took one of his presents, the one that she had gotten for him and handed it to him, saying, "Here, open your first gift."

Greile opened the gift, and found a pair of brown gloves with a thin layer of wool on the inside. They weren't exactly work gloves, but would suffice for gloves in the environment on the island. The winters were mild here, but they could still get cold, and he was touched by the gift. "Thank you, Hevna."

"Do mine next," one of the boys called out.

"Why aren't you all opening presents," Greile asked. Noticing they didn't even attempt to open a gift.

"We thought you should open all your presents first."

"Nonsense, I'll not have you all wait for me. If you're going to wait, we'll open one present a piece in order, and then repeat," Greile said, and so began a tradition that would come to be commonplace throughout the island.

The group opened gifts in order, thanking the person who had given the gift. In due time, onto two people were left with presents, and Greile looked at the packages each of them had left in confusion. There should have been an even number of presents there, like the night before, but there were two extra presents a piece. He found on the present a message written in precise, and beautiful penmanship.

For: Greile, Merry Christmas.

There was a larger gift, and a smaller gift for both of them.

Opening his larger present, Greile found the same outfit he had worn the day before, complete with hat, and boots. In the package was also a letter.

Dear Greile,

I hope you enjoy the gifts,

Your Secret Santa

Hevna opened her gift to find that it also held her outfit from the day before. Seeing this, she excitedly got up, and rushed inside to change. The others laughed at this reaction, and Greile couldn't help a wry look from crossing his face.

"Haha, why don't you go try it on, Young Master, we can wait for you to open your final gifts," Sena said. Like that, another Christmas tradition began on their little platform, which would spread to the entire island in time.

Greile went in, and changed, then came back. He didn't quite have the knack of tying the tie, so Trombol helped him remember how to tie it properly. Despite starting later than her, Greile finished before Hevna, who took the time to style her hair, and returned shortly after Greile finished tying his tie. Greile was not quite as greatly affected by Hevna this time, but he was still very captivated by her beauty, and couldn't help but thank The Lord that she was constantly by his side.

After he had recovered from his short moment of stunned awe, which drew laughter from the other adults, and jeers from the two kids, Greile sat down together with her, and finally opened the second package to find a brand new gravoid in a box. 'Mystery Tier: Pastor's Progress,' the box read.

Greile wasn't sure about this unit's name, nor what it could do, but he was interested. He noticed a sticky not that said, 'Make sure you log in on the day after Christmas! Remember, Christ Jesus is the reason for the season! Merry Christmas!'