An unknown dreamland where a little Fawkes runs free

The bells were ringing and snowflakes glittered in the dim lights of the hidden sun. The Christmas lights lit up the gray sky and smiles were worn everywhere.

Seiyo elementary's winter festival was finally coming up! The kids were all around, preparing activities, putting up decorations, or just talking with one another. The end of the school day was nigh, and everyone was already heading home.

The guardian's Jack, Nagihiko, Joker, Amu, and King, Tadase, decided to stay afterschool. Everbody else had already head home, including the Queen and the Ace. Those three wanted to finish up the decorations.

Tadase watched as Nagihiko helped Amu set up a banner. They were smiling, they were happy. Tadase's usual smile disappeared. He didn't get it; why was everyone so happy?

"Amu, can you hang up the snowflakes? I'm going to go take a break." Nagihiko called. Amu nodded with a bright smile. Nagihiko walked over and sat by Tadase. "Isn't it so nice, this time of year? Everyone's so happy."

"Why?" Tadase asked. "Why is everyone happy? I don't get it."

"Why shouldn't they be?" Nagihiko asked.

Tadase turned away, a bit grumpy. He wanted his question answered, not to get a question in return that he couldn't answer.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Nagihiko asked, concerned. He tried to look at Tadase's face.

"I don't like Christmas." Tadase said plainly.

Nagihiko simply smiled. "Why not? Christmas is the greatest time of the year. People make memories all the time and every time this holiday comes around. Do you have a memory?" Nagihiko asked. "I remember once when I was a little boy, I had asked Santa if I could ride on one of his reindeer. He allowed me. I don't believe this was a dream at all either. When the reindeer took me to the North pole, they let me meet some Polar bears. It was really unbelievable, and something I'll never forget. Don't you have something that happened on Christmas that you won't ever forget either?" Nagihiko asked.

"Hey, Nagihiko! Can you help me with this one? I can't put it up there." Amu called, trying to reach up to a wall, on her toes on a high stool. It looked like she was about to fall.

"Alright, Amu-chan! Hey, don't fall!" He said in response, rushing over to make sure that she didn't hurt herself.

Tadase was left to ponder now. What has ever happened on Christmas, an unforgettable event?



Tadase wore the biggest smile ever. He giddily jumped over to the Christmas tree in the morning, Utau and Ikuto by his side.

"Mama! Can I open the presents now?" Tadase called. "Pleeease?"

"Alright, Tadase. You can go open it." She responded.

Tadase, Ikuto, and Utau all sat down and ripped open their presents. Utau got a little karaoke machine.

"Woow! Thank you so much! I love it!" She said happily, looking at all the buttons and knobs. She took the microphone and started singing.

Ikuto got a small violin. His face shined with glee. "Thanks, dad!" He said.

Tadase looked around. "Mama, where's my present?" he asked. After exploring a while, he didn't find any present with his name on it. He started to cry.

Ikuto looked at Tadase, a bit concerned. He put his violin up and started to play a melody. Utau smiled and started to sing a song to comfort Tadase.

Tadase looked up at the two. His tears started to disappear. "Arigatou, Ikuto-niisan! Utau-neesan!" He said happily, and went over to hug his bigger brother.



"Are you remembering those good times?" Ikuto said, jumping down from a nearby tree.

"Tsukiyomi Ikuto!" Tadase growled, once again remembering another Christmas, ruined by his once dear brother.



Ikuto glanced at Tadase. Tadase smiled. "Ikuto, will you play violin again this year?"

Ikuto glanced down. "Sure." He got out his violin and started playing. A smile crept to his face. Tadase's face lit up as many memories flowed out as the melody did. Utau peeked over the corner to see her brother playing, and thus sat down to also listen.

"What are you doing!?" Tadase's mother shouted ferociously. Ikuto's violin came to an abrupt stop, screeching when he had accidentally pressed the bow of the violin too hard on the strings. "Stop that playing! I want that violin out of this house this instant!"

Tadase looked at his mother, shocked. "But--!"

"No buts!" She shouted. "Were you listening!? I want it out!"

Ikuto looked at his violin. Then he looked into the angry face of Tadse's mother calmly. "No."

"No!? What do you mean "No"!?"

"I'm not throwing it away."

"Nii-san!" Tadase said worriedly.

Tadase's mother stomped over angrily. She snatched the violin from Ikuto violently. "No presents this year!"

The Tsukiyomis and Tadase looked sad. "Nii-san..."

Ikuto looked down. "It's my fault."



Ikuto looked at Tadase. "I know. It's my fault. But you don't have to hate Christmas because of it." he said solemnly. "Wouldn't you want those happy of times in the future? I messed up one Christmas for you, but that doesn't mean that I've ruined them all." Ikuto said, glancing at Tadase. Just as Amu was about to turn around, he jumped back into the tree and disappeared, leaving Tadase to ponder once again.

Amu skiped over after so much working. "How are you?" She asked with a smile.

"I'm fine." Tadase said simply.

Amu grabbed a nearby plate of cookies. "These were meant for Santa, but we have plenty! Do you want one?" she asked, holding out the plate for him. Tadase smiled a little and took a cookie.

It was rather silent for a while. Amu was happy, looking up at the gray sky that was lit up by green, red, blue, and yellow. Tadase observed her glowing face.

Suddenly, Tadase asked, "I don't understand, why are you so happy? Christmas just a holiday. It's nothing special."

Amu looked at Tadase. "I don't understand, why aren't you happy? It's the happiest time of the year! You don't need to celebrate the holiday to join in the cheer. The best thing to do now is live in the moment, no matter how many bad things are going on. Those can be settled tomorrow, but live today because once it's over you can never get it back."

And with that, Amu got up once again to hang up decorations. Tadase looked up at the beautiful yet dull sky, finally seeing what love it contained and what memories it was ready to give. He finally let a real smile creep to his face, as he got up to help with the decorations as well.

“Hello again,” Miku said. “Would you like to hear the rest of the story?”

“Sure! Yes please!” Iris said enthusiastically.

“Did I tell you? The goddess's name was ‘The Second Hand of Time’. This plays a role in the death of the first boy,” Miku said. “After the second boy had prayed for the first to be killed, the wish was granted. During war, the first boy was stabbed through the heart by a spear that had fallen from the sky, shaped in the Second Hand of Time.”

"Aww...” Iris said sadly, rather horrified that a goddess would grant such a wish.

“It is not yet done. The tragedy has only begun.”

“Aw, pfft,” Iris complained, knowing that it most likely would get sadder.

“The girl hears of his death. Terrified, she goes to The Second Hand of Time. She asks it to take away her time and give it to the first boy. Her prayer was answered, and thus she collapsed. The second boy comes to see the girl dead. The first boy had woken up; the pool of blood he lay in had turned into a pool of red flower petals. He returns home to see what the second boy had witnessed. He learns what happens, and thus asks the goddess to return her time to her. The goddess, rather enraged by such requests of stupidity, takes away the time of both lovers. The second boy had ended up getting what he wanted, yet at the same time also lost what he wanted. Do you understand now what I meant when I had said that he meant to kill, yet he didn’t mean to kill?”

“Yeep.”

“Do you think he regretted it?”

“Yeeah.”

“Why, though? He got what he wanted.”

“Uh, duh, they were friends.”

“So? What do you think he had learned?”

“…don’t kill your friends?”

“But why? Why had he learned that?”

“…because he was sad that he had died?”

“Actually, at first he wasn’t, not at all. He had thought if he killed the first boy, the girl would be his.”

“Buuut, then the girl died.”

“And so what happened after she had died?”

“The other one died too. So both of ‘em died.”

“So, in conclusion, both of them died. How do you think the second boy felt?”

“…bad.”

“Yes. He killed the one he loved. Such a chain reaction from trying to get something he wanted, right?”

“Yeep.”

“And he regrets it. Do you regret it? Granting Amy’s wish?”

“Yeeaah, but please don’t assume I’m the bad guy. Rather than him, I was trying to help her, not kill anyone.”

“Very well. It seems you understand.”

“Mmhmm…”

“Farewell.” The night’s only sound after that were the soft wind and the snow falling.



“Hey... Amy's purple now,” the small opal jewel said quietly, turning to observe the sleeping fox. “She's clay as well.”

“Yeah,” Iris whispered. “I wonder if she can move.”

“Yeah, maybe. Oh hey, why is she sleeping so late? She usually gets up early,” the vase said.

“That way she can stay up tonight to hear the voice,” Iris answered.

“What voice?” the vase and opal said in unison.

“The mysterious voice I keep hearing every night,” Iris said plainly.

“You hear a voice?” asked the vase.

“What does it say?” the opal wondered out loud.

“Weird cryptic stuff.” Iris said.

“Cryptic? What’s that mean?” the crystal asked. “Sorry, my vocabulary’s not very big.”

“Uh...” Iris said, having an odd sense of déjà vu.

Amy finally started to wake up. “Mm... what time is it?”

“Pretty late, but you can keep sleeping,” Iris answered.

“Two o’ clock in the afternoon,” the opal said.

“Wow, I slept in seven hours or so!” Amy said, astonished.

“So, do ya think that you’ll be able to stay up?” Iris asked.

“Definitely! What were you guys talking about?”

“The voice and how it says cryptic stuff.”

“We were also talking about how late you were sleeping,” the vase said.

“Also, the fact that you are purple now,” the opal added.

“What? I’m purple?” Amy asked. She tried look down, but it pained her and her neck felt like it was cracking. “It’s hard moviiiing,” she moaned.

“Aw...” Iris said sadly. “That sucks.”

“Really, it does!” Amy said. “I hope I can ask that voice why this is happening.”

“Yeeeah.”

“Oh, did you get the names of the characters?”

“Yeah, but I forgot.”

“Aww, really? Man. Well, what was the rest of the story?”

“...I forgot that too.”

“Aww. I wanted to hear the rest. Well, anyway, what do you think it’ll talk about tonight?”

”Maybe cryptic stuff again I guess.”

“Oh, maybe another story?”

“Ooh, maybe!”

“Let’s see!” Amy smiled.

“Okay!” Iris said in response, also with a bright smile on.



“Ah... I see the fox is awake,” Miku said, alarming Iris

”It’s the voice!” Iris exclaimed. “Talk to her! Talk to Amy!” Iris motioned her petals towards the fox.

”Must I? She needn’t know I exist; after all, I don’t,” Miku said in response.

“What?” Amy asked, alarmed by Iris’s sudden outburst. “I don’t hear anything!”

“Please?” Iris pleaded.

“She should. She believes in me, so I should exist in her world. My voice should be heard.”

”I think I heard something...” Amy said, listening closely.

“Listen! Listen harder!” Iris encouraged.

“Hello, Amy. It’s nice to see you awake,” Miku said, knowing that she could be heard.

“Woah! I heard it,” Amy said, surprised that she can actually hear this voice. “What’s... your name?”

“Miku. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“It is a pleasure meeting you as well. Hey, what were the names of the characters in the story you told Iris yesterday night? I might know that story.”

“The first boy was Elliot, the second was Kyle, and the girl is Freedert, from the tragic story of...”

“Ice and Dark?”

“Correct.”

“Yay! You can hear it!” Iris cheered.

“Are you going to tell us another story?” Amy asked.

“In fact, yes. Would you like to hear it?” Miku said.

“Sure, I guess,” Iris said. “I’m warning you though, Amy. It probably has a symbolic meaning.”

“Do you know the tale of greatest woe, of Juliet and her Romeo? She and he were madly in love with one another, yet their families were enemies. To prevent the arranged marriage between Juliet and Paris, Juliet faked death. Romeo hadn’t gotten the message from Friar Lawrence, and thus he thought Juliet was truly dead and thus committed suicide. Juliet had awoken from her deep sleep, and killed herself after she found her love dead. But was that the smartest decision? Did it solve anything?”

“No... not at all. Why couldn’t she tell her parents she hadn’t liked Paris?” Amy asked.

“I don’t think they would’ve approved though,” Iris answered.

“Oh yeah, isn’t that right? Romeo was a Montague, and Juliet a Capulet. But couldn’t Juliet tell them, and maybe things could have been settled between the families?”

“Yes, but it’d only stir up most difficult troubles,” Miku answered. “What would have been the smarter decision, instead of dying to live with the one you loved? Ah, those star-cross’d lovers, their fates intertwined yet their destiny was driven off the path.”

“I shall remain silent. I need to sleep anyway,” Iris said ignorantly, and thus started to close her petals.

“But did you also make the smartest decision? Did you think twice?” Miku said, interrupting her.

“About sleeping? What, am I gonna die as soon as I fall asleep?” Iris joked.

“No. Did you make the smartest decision of granting the wish?”

“...my wish?” Amy said curiously.

“Did I think it was going to work? No,” Iris said.

“But you still tried to grant it. Was that smart?” Miku said.

“Why wouldn’t it be? If you don’t think something’s going to work, it’s fun to just randomly try and see if it will. Even if you don’t expect it too. I mean, I’m not really magical. I bet someone else granted it for me or something”

“Are you or are you not? You haven’t wilted; you remain strong.”

“I’m an iris... it’s in my nature.”

“But you should have already started wilting by now,” Miku said. “No more of this nonsense. It is not why I have come to talk to you tonight. We are done - I suppose - but until next time.”

“Huh? Did it... go away?” Amy asked, clueless on why the night had suddenly felt empty.

“Yep. It did,” Iris said.

“Well... then... it’s gone for today. I guess good night.” Amy then went silent as well.

“’Night,” Iris whispered, closing her petals and going to sleep as well.



Amy yawned. “Good morning!” Amy tried to move just her eyes to see what color she was today, but she couldn’t move at all! Amy looked at her snout which she always saw.

Glass. She was glass again. But this time, she was white. “What color am I?” Amy asked to make sure.

The dangling opal jewel looked at her. “You’re white glass today.”

“It reversed...” Iris sighed.

“Probably not,” the vase said. “She was red before the wish was granted, right?”

“Well, but she’s white now,” Iris said.

So... has the weird thing stopped yet? Will I stay like this?” Amy wondered.

“How would I know?”

“Um... I don’t know if you would know,” Amy said. “That voice... Miku, right? She was really nice.”

“Yeah, but she’s really annoying sometimes when I’m trying to sleep.”

“Oh, maybe it’s part of the whole story! She talks to you every night or something!”

Iris shrugged. Amy smiled brightly in response.



“The fox isn’t awake tonight, is she?” Miku asked. “I had expected her to be.”

“....no,” Iris said slowly.

“Do you think that this is what Amy wanted?”

“Duh, no.”

“But she wished for it. Does that mean she wanted it, or does it not?”

“She didn’t want it to go wrong.”

“But did she want it?”

“She said she did.”

“Do you think she wants it now, now that it has gone wrong?”

“Heck no.”

“Then ask her yourself; you may not know what she wants and what she doesn’t.” The night went silent.

Iris tried to fall asleep. She seemed rather troubled by the statement. The breeze of the night started to sing a lullaby with the leaves, to sooth the small iris and let her drift to her dreams.



Amy woke up with a start. She tried to examine her color, yet didn’t see anything, but an almost invisible outline of her snout. “Good morning, everyone. I can’t see what color I am today, so can you tell me?” Amy asked all of the objects in the antique shop.

“You’re clear. Like glass that’s not painted,” the opal said. “It’s almost like you’re invisible.”

Iris sighed. “What on earth is going on? I wish that I had never said Humuhumunukunukuapua’a. I swear, if something like that worked, then why shouldn’t Nukunukuhumuhumuapua’a work?”

“Um... maybe... because... the magic word didn’t work? Or... uh... the... once the spell has been casted it can’t be lifted? Or... uh...” Amy said, trying to think of a logical explanation for the spell not being reversed.

“Well, I didn’t try to grant the wish doing anything else. It must have worked. Even though I didn’t think it would,” Iris said flatly.

“Then... uh... let’s go with once the spell has been casted it can’t be lifted... I guess,” Amy said.

“That sucks! How did the spell even get cast? I don’t get it.”

“I don’t get it either...” Amy said sadly. “I hope I can stay here... I hope things go back to normal.”

“They better,” Iris said rather bitterly, cursing the fact that the spell had been granted. She didn’t want Amy to disappear.

“I somewhat wish that this never happened...” Amy said quietly.

“I know. I wish that I hadn’t said those magic words. I can’t believe they worked though. They’re the only thing I tried, so I mean, they must’ve been the ones that granted the wish. Maybe I said it wrong and that’s why this is going wrong?” Iris wondered aloud.

“How could you have said it wrong?” Amy wondered.

“Maybe it’s Mumuhumunukunukuapua’a or something? Since I said Humuhumunukunukuapua’a it’s going wrong, but if I had said Mumuhumunukunukuapua’a it would’ve worked?”

“Um...?”

“You know...!”

Amy laughed. “I guess it’s too late to solve it... huh...”

“I wish I had never granted that!” Iris wailed. “I wonder... will anything happen tomorrow?”

“I hope things go back to normal tomorrow... like... I lose all of my memories of this and everything reverts to normal.”

“I know. But I should remember so I don’t make that same mistake again.”

“Hopefully you do,” Amy smiled.