Chapter Text
One week before Christmas.
Chief was busy planning to organize a Christmas celebration for the Sinners at MBCC.
Everyone had worked hard for a whole year, therefore, he wanted to let them have a chance to relax and create happy memories together. He has prepared enough gifts for all Sinners, which nearly cost him all his savings, but for the sake of their happiness, it was not a big deal.
He announced the Christmas event to everyone, which included: decorating a Christmas tree, singing Christmas songs together, having a feast and finally, the most exciting part, gift exchange. For the Christmas tree, he would take some Sinners to the forest at the outskirt of DisCity to choose a suitable tree, while everyone else would prepare the decorative ornaments by buying or handmade. The Christmas songs would be handled by Ariel, Joan and Peggy. They would find appropriate songs as well as teaching the younger Sinners to sing. The feast should be taken care of by the cooks of MBCC together with Ignis and Kelvin. Ms. Cabernet also prepared some exquisite wine for the party, each bottle worth millions of DisCoin, but everyone is quite afraid to taste such pricey wine. She even wanted to invite her own chef to this party but was refused by the Chief because the Chief wished this event to be an opportunity for everyone in MBCC to work together and have fun together, freely, comfortably, without the participation of outsiders. As for the gift-exchange, besides the gift of Chief to all of them, each Sinner would also prepare a surprise gift and a wishing card for their peers, each gift would be secretly marked with a number by Nightingale and everyone, especially Roulecca, has to promise not using their power to check what is inside. Then, each number would be written on a piece of paper, placed inside a box. Each of them would pick up each number and receive the corresponding gift. There would be a vote for which gift was the most interesting later and the winners, the one who prepared and the recipient of that gift, would receive a free voucher for using service at the Outdoor Activity Area. Needless to say, all the Sinners went uproaring with this announcement and busily preparing their gifts immediately. The confident mumbles, “My gift will be the best…”, “Hehe…I will win for sure…” or “Who can surpass the Uncrowned Queen of Syndicate’s gift?”... could be heard everywhere in MBCC.
After announcing his plan, the Chief prepared to set out to search for a suitable pine tree for Christmas. He was thinking of whom he should take for this “journey”, suddenly, he heard some knocking on the door.
“Please come in, the door is not locked. Oh, it’s you, Mantis. What happened?”
The green-haired Sinner whose body was covered with a Chitin exoskeleton and spikes came in.
“You seem…busy…If you’re swamped with work…I can lend a hand with prep… Also…I heard that … You’re going to…the forest… May I go with you…to the forest again?”
Although her upper-face was covered in the compound-eye mask of the insect, he could easily imagine her vibrant misty teal eyes were sparkling with hope and excitement now. How could he forget this? Whether as Mantis or Marguerite, she had always been loving to explore the world around her. And indeed, recently, seeing Mantis watching a wilderness survival show on TV, he had realized she still wished to go to the forest again. Okay, it was decided then. He would take Mantis to go with him to find the tree, and only her was enough. She was an S class Sinner, strong and adept in survival skills, and also, she was gentle and docile, therefore, there should be no worry for his safety. After asking Nightingale to help him secure a permit for cutting trees, he and Mantis set off to the outskirts of DisCity.
They traveled on a modified jeep, Mantis kept looking around excitedly. Trapped in DisSea for nearly a century, then brought back to MBCC, an underground facility, she didn’t have many chances to see the new, modern world outside. Her curiosity had been sparked, she stuck her head out of the window, catching the refreshing breeze. Her hair was ruffled by the strong wind, but the excitement in her eyes hadn't dwindled a bit. Mantis giggled happily all the way and the Chief felt his heart tingle with an immense joy. Her life had been through a lot of pain and despair, therefore, if he could bring a tiny speck of happiness for her, he would give it all his best.
Finally, they arrived at the destination. Chief jumped down from the driver seat, and went to open the door for Mantis. He took her hand and helped her get down too. Seeing the vast forest opening before her eyes, Mantis jumped up and down like a child just receiving her most wished candy.
“Can we…come in… now?”
“Yes, here is the photo of the tree. We will come in and find a tree like this, not too big, not too small to work as our Christmas tree.”
“I see… this is pine… I will help you find…the most suitable one.”
Then she held his hand and rushed into the forest immediately.
Mantis took Chief go around, she “chirped” merrily, making the insect sound that only she could understand, she even mimicked some kind of small animals, hiding behind the large tree to play peek-a-boo with Chief. Their merry laughter could be heard echoing in the forest. After a while, they finally found their “target” - a pine tree around 1.5 meters, its leaves are lush and dotted with crystalized snow. At that time, it dawned on the Chief that seeing Mantis so happy had made him forget to bring the tools with him.
“Haizz, how can we cut down the tree then? Going back will take lots of time, and it’s nearly noon… We need to return to MBCC before the evening or else, Nightingale will be angry… I don't want to write a 1,500 - word report again…”
“Don’t worry… I can… cut it for you…”
After speaking, her arms transformed to their scythe-like form and Mantis took a defensive stance before the tree, waiting for Chief’s approval.
“Thank you so much, you’re such a great help! Please do it, but carefully, will you? I don’t want you to get hurt…”
“Okay… I’m tough…I will cut it now…Wait a bit…tree, I will…bring you home with us.”
“She is so cute… She even talked to the tree…Oh my Mantis…”, Chief mumbled in a daze.
“What did…you talk, Chief? I’m cute?”
She heard…. Chief felt his face flushed hotly, he should have known this before, Mantis had extraordinary senses compared with humans, therefore, it was natural that his mutter couldn’t escape her ears. He had to admit it then.
“Yes… Mantis is cute… Mantis is the cutest one I’ve ever known.”
“Chief is cute…too… I like you a lot… Mantis will be with you…forever.”
“Thud!”
The tree fell down swiftly. Then Mantis looked at him, smiling radiantly, like a child being proud of her accomplishment. Her bright smile had melted all lingering sadness, regret and grief in his heart, like the warm Sun shredding the gray clouds to bring in a new chapter of happiness for them. The smile he was unable to protect…He wouldn’t let go of her hand again.
Suddenly, Mantis rushed to hug him from behind then bring him flying up in the sky, slipping through the foliage. Her flimsy, semi-transparent wings flutter in the wind, taking him circling around the forest.
“You can see…more things…from above…like this!” Mantis excitedly said.
The wind was blowing hard, it was difficult for the Chief to make a response. Therefore, he nodded his head vigorously to tell her that he had heard what she said.
“She wanted me to get a better view of the scenery… How thoughtful of her…” Chief thought to himself.
Thanked to Mantis, he could see the blurry line of the mountains stretching far away. A tranquil lake located next to the vast forest, enveloped in a foggy veil even though it was approaching noon. The scenery was so serene and peaceful, sweeping away all of his worry and tiredness. Mantis used to take him flying like this, in the Eternal Nightmare that they experienced together. However, that time, he was in grave danger, and she broke out from the nightmare trapping her for so many years, to rescue him. There were wounds all over his body, but the only thing left in his mind at that time was how beautiful she was. The tiny fairy overwhelmed with joy when seeing her long-lost companion, taking him flying away from the monsters, her little wings sparkling fluorescent dusts all over the space. That was not a nightmare anymore, but was more like a fairy tale from the ancient days. And now, she did this again.
After flying a while, Mantis slowly descended and brought the Chief back to where their tree was “waiting”. Still gasping for air after his otherworldly experience, the Chief hurriedly asked for Mantis and gently patted her back.
“Are you tired from taking me flying so long? Are you ok? We should rest a bit before coming back.”
“No…I’m not tired…I love flying… Can I…take you flying…next time?” She asked, her voice brimmed with hope.
“Yes, of course! I love it! But I have to lose some more weight first… I don’t want to tire you out…”
“Chief…needs to eat a lot… Don’t lose weight…Need more protein…and fat…to be healthy and strong…I will…catch worms…for you… They are nutritious…”
Chief frantically stopped her.
“No, no, please. I’m already full. No need to catch worms. If we go back now, we will have a hot meal, maybe some hotpots waiting for us!” Suddenly, he missed the mouthwatering aroma of the hotpot prepared by the trio of Whitestone Industries so much.
“Okay… Next time… then.”
Chief breathed a sigh of relief. If he was stuck in a forest without anything to eat, maybe he would resort to eating worms, but now… “Please spare me…”, he thought.
Then, they started to haul the tree back to the jeep. Each of Mantis’ steps echoing with joy, today must be a good day for her, she went to the forest again, she could take Chief flying and enjoying the view up high with her, and she finished her “mission” of finding and taking the thing called “Christmas tree” home. While Chief’s steps were still a little staggering as he was not over from the dizziness caused by height, and, well, her cuteness.
They brought the tree to the back seats of the jeep, and Mantis joined Chief on the seat next to the driver’s. He ruffled her hair and smiled.
“Are you happy? Do you want to go out playing like this next time?”
“Yes… I’m happy… Thank you very much… Chief…For taking care of me…”
He touched her mask, the warm red light spreading from his palm cracked away the mask covering her face. Mantis was looking at him tenderly with a faint smile. She tilted her head as if considering something, then sneakily kissed him on his cheek.
In an instant, Chief’s face reddened, his eyes were brimming with hot tears. Just a small act of her could immerse him in the sea of happiness, soothing all bitter, heavy weight in his chest. Chief clutched the steering wheel tightly, veins popped under his skin. Seeing him like that, Mantis looked at him nervously.
“Did I…do something wrong…? I’m…sorry…”
He immediately held her hands, panickingly reassured her.
“No! No! Sorry for startling you… You did nothing wrong! I was just so happy that I couldn't control myself!”
“I see… So you liked it… I will do it next time!”
Then, she flashed him an innocent smile, cheerfully and brightly like a little Sun in his jeep. After a while, he finally calmed down his raging breath, stroking her hair, he said.
“If you’re tired, you can rest on my shoulder.”
“Uhm!” Mantis replied happily, then she carefully tucked her wings away and rested her head on his shoulder.
“Would there be a day, when everything is settled, you would take me fly away, to somewhere in the wild, and we would live our own life together…”
Chief silently thought.