Halloween.

It was one of Earth’s few acclaimed holidays that saw entire streets transform overnight like Christmas eve. Entire streets were decorated by spooky décor, and children would go around knocking from house to house wearing adorable costumes for bundles of candy.

No, there weren’t any real supernatural phenomena that occurred during this time. Although, with the whole existence of the Light, Frost wouldn’t be surprised if there was.

The Nurse Frost only remembered this event because of the roads that were inconveniently blocked during that time. Plus, she wasn’t big on the whole spooky motif of Halloween, mostly because it was cuter than it was scary to begin with.

She took a generous sip from a steaming hot cup of earl grey tea. It caused Anna a moment of panic as she flailed her arms to stop her, but she quickly remembered that this was Frost.

Yes, the same person who ate a porcelain cup during their memory of the Old World.

“Tasty~ I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I loved seeing the kinds of stuff people came up with every year. It felt like a dying tradition, but it bounced back towards the latter part of the decade.”

“We had that tradition in the Old World too! Well, mostly in the inner Spheres. It was really the only night when their streets were filled with little monsters. Sinder once told me that I’d fit in! He really was kinder than people made him out to be.” Anna gloated as she shuffled in her seat.

She’d always end up like a lovestruck maiden whenever Sinder was brought up.

“You sure he didn’t say that because you look like a–”

“So, Nav!” Frost quickly shoved a chocolate-chip cookie into Nav’s mouth to shut her up. Like a fawn, she began munching on the cookie with a look of bliss, forgetting she even said a word. “How are the cookies?”

“Delicious. It has an incredible chew. How long will it take to make another batch?”

“An hour or two, I guess.” Anna answered.

Nav suddenly wore a complicated expression, like she was weighing her options for a difficult decision.

“In that case, we should use the Light to create an immediate batch.”

“Hey, let’s not start using the Light haphazardly.” Frost said. “We’ll need it. Just in case.”

“No one would be foolish enough to attack the Nexus.” Nav muffledly said, her mouth stuffed with another cookie.

“You’ll never know.” Frost sighed, taking a bite from a large cookie. “Yum~”

“Um, is there a reason why you brought this up, Frost? Halloween is really specific, even for you. The closest things resembling Halloween are the Night of the Dead, the First and Final Solstice, Peregian Night and… I think White Rock counts too.”

The events Anna named were a mix of celebratory nights and apocalyptic events. The Night of the Dead for example was a march of countless Memento Mori, and White Rock was more of a night of mourning for those who were lost to a Corrupted by the same name.

As its name implied, it was a Corrupted with a moon-like appearance that was said to be so large that it could be mistaken for the moon.

Anna kicked her feet around beneath the table, waiting patiently for an answer.

“Ignis asked if I had any fun memories from my childhood. I told as much as I could. It’s not like I can say no. She missed out on a lot of things. And besides, she’s still a child. She should learn as much of the world as she wants.”

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“Spoken like a true mother.” Nav said after a short moment of silence.

“C’mon. Like you would’ve done something different?”

“As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t know the first thing to do.” Nav proudly said.

“Haaaah. But yeah, that’s how the cat got out of the bag. Ignis, Stella, Aster, Revy, and I think even Sana wants to go trick or treating. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Alice ends up getting invited too. Of course, it’ll only really work on my Floor since no one’s going to understand why there’s a bunch of children in spooky costumes saying ‘trick or treat’.”

“I can see people interpreting it as a shakedown.” Anna wryly smiled.

“Mhm. You don’t give me the goods (candy), then we’ll take what you can’t afford to lose (trick).” Nav nodded to herself.

“It wouldn’t hurt to try to change public opinion. At least within the Nexus… I guess I do have that kind of authority, huh. Halloween…”

“It’s your call, Frost.” Nav spoke as Anna wagged her head up and down.

The effort into introducing and normalizing a new holiday would take a hefty amount of work, but they had time on their side. Furthermore, a good holiday would help increase her public opinion amongst the Blessed as well as help increase their loyalty to the Nexus.

But it wasn’t about that. In truth, Frost just wanted Ignis to be happy.

“Alright. We’ll let the Receptionists know so they can start spreading the news of this holiday. Nav, let the Archetypes know in advance. I’ll send some Stars to inform the Beholders too if they’re around. As for me, I’ll get this written in paper. Weave should still be in the Floor of the Head, so this shouldn’t be delayed. We can get this rolling before the week ends.”

Weave had become more of a secretary of the Nexus than she was an Exalted who taught Beholders how to use the White Light Apparatus. Her many tentacles and her immense coordination allowed her to sift through paperwork far faster than anyone within the Nexus.

As a result, she represented the hidden Administrative branch of the Nexus; an organization that held no name but was deeply involved with the Head. Anna had major involvement in this branch, mostly to archive documents so that they could never be lost.

Frost departed from the table, deciding it was time to leave. But before she left, she noticed the way Anna and Nav were looking at her.

“Mhm? Yes?”

“I didn’t know you had such strong paternal instincts. Or would it be maternal with you?” Nav jokingly said, but it was true in a way.

There was no point in denying it. Ignis was like a daughter to her. A parent would naturally want their child to be happy.

“I’m used to looking after people, so it’s my pleasure to help.” Frost smiled. “I’ll try to ask Jury if she can help with the costumes. We can’t have a Halloween party without dressing up, can we?”

* * *

Receptionists and Stars began to spread the news of the upcoming holiday.

Surprisingly, the Blessed didn’t need much convincing to get them on board. Anything ordered by the Nexus was seen as absolute. They were just happy that they were allowed to be in the Nexus in the first place, so this was seen as a bonus by man.

Additionally, store owners realized that this event would drive sales up. Themed confectionary such as bat-shaped cookies, or Corrupted-esque candy were displayed at various storefronts.

Dozen Winged Bird gummies, Heart of Ours popping candy, the Crowne-themed spiced coca with a rim of sugar thorns dusted with cinnamon – these were but a few of the Corrupted-themed items for sale.

The Stars also needed to reaffirm that Halloween was supposed to be ‘spooky’, not ‘horrifying’. In this kind of world, the fake skulls would have certainly been real if this was not clarified properly.

Many children called the Nexus home. It would break Frost’s heart to have them be exposed to the nightmares that children were accustomed to beyond the walls of the Nexus.

The Common Hub gradually transformed over the following days.

Carved pumpkins, fairy floss in the shape of Puff Puffs, and toned down Impuritas themed décor lit up the streets of the Common Hub. Although, the Impuritas represented in the décor were often depicted as being slain.

The Nexus lit up like never before on the eve of Halloween. Thousands roamed the Common Hub as children went around, knocking on store doors, stalls, and on neighborhood homes in the Residential Floors.

And amongst them were a group of children unlike the rest.

Since the Blessed also came from non-human backgrounds, it was easy for them to dress up for the occasion whether they intentionally did or not. For instance, Vampires naturally wore heavy, sometimes regal clothing depending on how pure their blood was. Lamias and Arachnids naturally gave off a Halloween vibe.

There was even an ensemble of Arachnids and Lamias who wore caps with a red cross. They cosplayed as nurses, who in this world were usually responsible for moving clients to a Healer within Clinics. These still existed and were overseen by Inflow Direct and the Head for Healers-in-training before they could officially join the Head.

That said, the real Halloween party was held within the Floor of Amalgamation.