42: Exploring the Magic World part 2.

"That's not necessary, really," Samus said, shaking her shoulders. 

Not that she cared much about this Christmas stuff, she wasn't like her distant Uncle Fry who was sure to be ecstatic when he met Santa Claus, but it did give Samus an idea. What if she took pictures with the old man, Cupid, and the Easter Bunny? She could probably make a lot of people in her universe jealous. 

"You don't understand, child. Every child on earth deserves a gift, even the bad children have money, and if they improve the way they are, they will get a valuable gift from me. Even if they stop believing in me, I give them my blessing every Christmas.

Christmas is not just about presents or lights or food. It's not about vacations or travel, it's not about religion or beliefs, Christmas has only one purpose, to make children understand what happiness is all about. 

If I could, I would make it so that every day a child could receive gifts, see his absent parents, could be happy. But things aren't like that, even with all my magic, I can't change many things. 

But you've never received a gift, it's not just a material thing, it's the true Christmas spirit" Santa decided to do something he had never done since it was Christmas in July, give a gift to a person outside in the early morning of December 25th. 

The man raised his hand slightly and it seemed to sink into the air as if he was contacting another space, and indeed he had. Many say that he kept his gifts in a red bag, and that was partly true, but he had to give gifts to millions of people. 

How do you put millions of gifts in a red bag? Simple, it was connected to a personal storage space that Santa Claus had created to better accomplish his task. 

So the magical being pulled out a red gift box with a blue ribbon. With a smile, he floated the box towards Samus, who held it in her hand. The blonde felt a strange emotion stir in her heart. 

After all, she was just a teenager who had never had a real Christmas, and to have the real Santa Claus, at least the one from this universe, was something few had experienced. 

Not only that, but it was he who had given her this present. She decided to open it carefully, without tearing anything. The others at the table watched expectantly, even Timmy, who was used to this situation, was paying attention. 

It never occurred to him that there were people who never really celebrated Christmas, but then he thought of one of his friends, Chester. Did he celebrate Christmas? He never asked him, and then Timmy noticed. 

He had been so self-absorbed that he hardly knew either of his friends well. He only knew that AJ was smart and Chester was poor, but he never knew more than a few details about them. 

Looks like I'll have to hang out with them more,' Timmy thought, not knowing that this decision would make him a better person.

What he had learned in the illusions had stayed with him, even though he had no active memory of it, but those teachings were deep in his heart. By taking the initiative, many things about the way he was and the way he acted would drastically change his future. 

When Samus lifted the lid of the box, she saw the gift and her eyes blurred. She had never expected to receive this as a gift she had never expected to receive anything in her life. 

What had she been given? Simple, it was a porcelain figurine of the character Samus Aran, quite detailed by the way. Timmy recognized the character because it was one of the games he had tried, but he didn't quite understand the situation, being a bit of a dumb 10-year-old after all. 

The others thought it was a figure of Samus, even though her face was hidden by the characteristic Power Suit helmet, and she had shown Jorgen and Nana Boom Boom a part of her unfinished work.

Only Ciri, who had recently learned that part of her life had been written in books or shown in games in many universes where Earth was present, realized the true meaning and reason for Samus' tears. 

"I didn't know what to get you, but I don't think much about that, I leave that to the elves, but I have some special boxes. They're wonderful, you know, they can know the best gift someone can get and give it to them. 

So sometimes I drop some by mistake, then it happens that a child has asked for a bicycle, but his last present is socks, so next Christmas I make sure to give him a more than special present," said Santa with a smile on his face, adorned by his long, bushy white beard. 

"Thank you," Samus took the sculpture with great care. 

With her fingers she touched the details of the figure, it was extremely detailed and did not look like it had been made by an amateur, but perhaps that was the wonder of the magic of this universe, which was even more idealistic and imaginative than other universes. 

"It's the best gift I've ever been given," the blonde said, not taking her eyes off the porcelain figurine. 

"More than the Neutrino Bomb the Professor gave you when you turned 14?" asked Samus suddenly, making the somewhat jovial atmosphere suddenly tense. 

"What?!" shouted the Easter Bunny, rather startled. 

It was obvious, even though a neutron bomb sounded like science fiction, you had to know that there were very active alien civilizations in this universe, and adding the knowledge that Samus was from another universe on a more than advanced Earth, it was understandable that the bunny was a little nervous.

"Girl, tell me you're joking," Jorgen said, a little fearfully. 

Not that they were afraid of weapons like that, but no one wants to know that the person they were happily chatting with five minutes ago has a weapon of mass destruction hidden somewhere. 

"No, it isn't. Her father is obsessed with doomsday devices and gave Samus a neutron bomb, I think he keeps it in his private storage," Ciri didn't feel the implications of his words, because even though she had lived in the 'future' for a while, many concepts and ideas were still unfamiliar to her. 

"Cosmo, Wanda, is Samus a terrorist?" asked Timmy quietly, unaware that they were all powerful enough to hear him loud and clear. 

"No, honey, but her father's got a screw loose, probably a mad scientist," Cosmo replied, getting a cruel look from Wanda. 

"Don't worry, it's deactivated. I wouldn't use it unless I was about to die against a powerful enemy," said Samus, who was keeping the statue of an alternate version of herself in her storage room, bringing out T-Path in the process.

"Hey Santa, can I take a picture with you?" 

After this little episode, Samus, Ciri, and Jorgen escorted Santa to his sleigh. The classic vehicle had reindeer at the front, and one of them had a prominent red nose. 

Samus and Ciri sensed that these animals were not as simple as mere reindeer, especially Rudolph, who felt powerful, almost like a mythological being. 

"I still can't believe you'd use a godlike beast as mere transportation," Jorgen said carelessly, keeping an eye on Rudolph. 

"What?" this time it was Samus and Ciri's turn to be astonished. 

They had sensed the peculiarity of the snub-nosed reindeer but had never expected it to be a damned divine creature. To Samus, it was nothing more than awe and curiosity, but to Ciri, who grew up in a medieval world, Rudolph was something much bigger.

It was strange how a girl who wasn't particularly afraid of meeting the God's Hand or the magical godparents was extremely surprised to learn Rudolph's identity, so she shyly approached the animal. 

"Can I pet him?" Ciri asked, her eyes twinkling. 

"No problem, they're very docile," Santa answered carelessly, not paying much attention to the situation. 

Ciri gently placed her hand on Rudolph's head, who shook his head at the girl's touch and even touched Ciri's arm with his nose. The creature's skin was worthy of a divine being, it felt wonderful to the touch and her nose conveyed a warm sensation that ran all over the white-haired girl's body. 

"Thank you," Ciri murmured, and Rudolph nodded wisely before tapping the ground several times with his paws. 

"Oh, she liked you, you seem to have a good rapport with animals, that's saying a lot for your friend," Santa pointed out to Samus, who dodged a kick from one of the normal reindeer. 

"Hey Santa! Give me this little reindeer, I promise to marinate it well," Samus said viciously as she glared hatefully at the reindeer taunting her. 

She only wanted to take some samples, why did this reindeer have to try to kick her? The blonde and the reindeer had an intense staring contest until Ciri gently smacked Samus on the head, jolting her out of her stupor and making her blink. 

The reindeer, obviously the winner, put a vivid expression of pride on its animal face, making Samus grit her teeth in annoyance, but there wasn't much she could do; Jorgen and Santa were already in the sleigh, and the two of them had yet to climb aboard. 

"I was going to win," Samus complained as she sat down on the sleigh. 

"Of course you did, but we have to go," Ciri replied lightly, causing the blonde to puff out her cheeks like a little girl. 

"You touched a godlike creature and didn't take any of her hair, what a waste," Samus muttered, but when she noticed Ciri staring at her, she decided to just smile and shake her hair in annoyance. 

"Girls," Jorgen sighed, causing Santa to burst out laughing next to him.

"Ah, youth is always full of vigor," the old man shook the reins of the sleigh, causing the reindeer to start running and the whole vehicle to gradually levitate.

"How does it fly?" asked Samus, looking out of the sleigh and seeing the trail of golden dust left behind by the vehicle. 

"I've done business with the Fae, they're experts at making magical artifacts, but to everything they add that annoying 'magic dust' effect that even I can't remove," Santa replied, a bit annoyed when he mentioned the wake left by the vehicle. 

"Are there Fae in this universe?" asked Samus quietly, but Jorgen shook his head. 

"You don't have to keep your voice down, they're not like their counterparts in other universes, the ones here are a nice and funny bunch, not the ruthless and oblivious monsters they usually are in other universes," Jorgen answers making Samus breathe a sigh of relief. 

There was no way she wanted to mess with or get involved with Fae, or classic fairies, for that matter. Unlike other types of fairies, Fae is truly a nightmare. 

Even if she wasn't crazy enough to provoke them or actively communicate with them, who knows if during the dialog these beings might pull a request or promise out of nowhere and end up ruining her life? 

Talking to a classic Fae has got to be one of the scariest things you can do, like the ones in the forest that the SCP Foundation protects. 

If you somehow attach yourself to an identity marker, a Fae can replace you and leave the forest while you just stand there forever, nameless and identity-less, more or less.

Then no, Samus would never mess with them, she would rather see another angel or appreciate one of the eyes of an external god before she would even have contact with a Fae. Jorgen understood this fear and that's why he explained the situation of the Fae in this universe. 

Let's just hope that Samus and Ciri don't meet one in their next adventures.