Chapter 516 - [Bonus] Frozen Water
Author’s Note: Thank you Demelios for suggesting this idea. Now we will have Zero skating artistically like Yuri. Also, I tried to calculate it so that this will be pushed out of my 50 privilege chapter range to be seen for non-privileged readers on X’mas day because I know nobody buys my privilege tiers. Enjoy the X’mas gift, whenever it was published for you <3 And Merry X’mas to everyone!
It was that time of the year again when gifts were given and received. Zero wasn’t too sure of what he should prepare for everyone this year but he did think that nobody would reject good food. Hence, with some difficulty, Zero hunted and foraged for the best materials he could find to make a huge batch of Christmas cookies.
Swift was startled when Zero called her to send the harpie a long list of people he wanted to send cookies to. While she wasn’t against making such deliveries, she had a better idea. It has been a full year since they had a gathering. This time, there were even more people who wanted to be part of the gathering. With Heaven and Hell getting along better after Zero’s intervention, it was a good idea to invite the Demon Lords who could make it.
Gods couldn’t leave Heaven and Demon Lords couldn’t leave hell so this was quite the pickle. Where would be a good place to gather without throwing the plane’s power out of balance?
"How about the Spring of Vitality? Raphael suggested. He was helping the harpie plan and Isis liked the idea. The Christmas party planning community was gathered in Garden Eden and Cleo clapped her hands in delight.
"Half Moon Village will take care of the food!"
"Heaven can take care of the decorations," Raphael offered and Swift agreed. It was better to leave artistic designs to the angels. She’d seen some of the designs that certain Demon Lords have and she must admit while they didn’t look bad, they were mostly questionable.
"I’ll send the invitations," Isis told them. "We must prepare gifts for Zero, there isn’t much time left."
The small planning party agreed and quickly went their separate ways to complete the task while Swift told Zero to keep the cookies away for now because they wanted him to bring it all to the Christmas party after details were finalised.
Needless to say, Zero was thrilled and told Truen about it. The doctor also decided to send messages to the people he would like to see at the party including his teachers and little Minerva.
When the invitations were finally sent out, almost everyone RSVP’d. Isis was overjoyed to let Zero know that they would be hosting the party at the Spring of Vitality. To ensure that it followed the White Christmas tradition, Queen Shittomi and Olaf decided to take turns pouring magic and making it a wintery wonderland. When Zero heard that there would be frozen water to skate on, he was excited even if he didn’t know how to skate just yet.
The party was full of fantastic food, courtesy of Zoe whom everyone praised. Cleo worked hard to make it as homey as possible, arranging the mana lotuses in a way that didn’t look like a farm. Robo Mike had the day off.
Among the people who attended, Mammon and Enma were the ones Zero didn’t expect to see simply because they were extremely busy individuals. True enough, they only stayed for a short while to pass Zero their gifts, receive their cookies, eat and leave. They didn’t stay for too long and Zero didn’t blame them. On the other hand, he didn’t know what to think with Michael and Lucifer indulging themselves in a drinking competition. Hua Tuo and Buddha also indulged in some herbal tea and Zero wondered if this was alright.
With music and dance that the Great Gods enjoyed, Zero didn’t think the night could get any better but he was proven wrong when Truen and Merlin disappeared for a while. Zero only found out why they could not be found when he heard the crackle of fireworks exploding.
"Merry Christmas, Zero!" they shouted and the doctor teared up. He might be grown up on the outside but on the inside, Zero still couldn’t believe that another year had gone by so quickly. His journey had only just begun but it felt like he’d not seen these people for a very long time.
Seeing that Zero teared up, the ladies were quick to give him a hug while Ruth gifted him something that lit Zero’s world. It was a pair of ice skates that Zero had heard about but never seen before.
"Be careful, don’t touch the blades below. Minerva will teach you how to skate, she’s been doing a lovely job at it in Hyacinth on the surface," Poseidon explained. Medusa was with her daughter in Hyacinth because Minerva couldn’t leave the planet but her father promised to make her a water clone so that she could meet the person who matchmade her parents.
Zero smiled at Minerva. She grew into quite the pretty young lady even though it wasn’t too long since she was created. If Minerva was anything like Athena was, he could understand why she was also called a Goddess of Beauty and War.
After putting on the skates securely, Zero accepted Truen’s help to stand in the skates. It was trickier than he thought it would be with how he slipped and slid with every step he took. It was hard to balance and the shoes were heavy!
"Don’t walk," Minerva scolded. "Glide across the ice like this!" she said and demonstrated a push off from where she stood. The movement was extremely graceful and it looked effortless enough that Zero was almost fooled into believing it wasn’t hard at all.
Like a clumsy duckling just hatched from an egg, Zero pushed off into his first tumble into the hard ice, falling onto his chin when the toe pick dug into the frozen water. It looked like a painful landing and Minerva winced before skating over to help Zero up. Cameras were readied from all directions and everyone wanted to see how Zero would skate after he learned how to push off. Hua Tuo was on standby in case his disciple needed medical assistance even though Zero was more than capable of healing such minor injuries. Merlin and Shittomi were on standby to refreeze the lake’s water in case the ice broke while Zero skated. Olaf had to reassure them that the ice was about a foot deep and a tiny fall like this wouldn’t be enough to break such thick ice.
After two more attempts with many wobbles and windmilling arms, Zero finally found the correct posture with knees slightly bent and c.h.e.s.t leaning forward to push off nicely. He found the posture slightly awkward with his b.u.t.t sticking out too much but it couldn’t be helped, for now, this was the safest method while he learned how to move around on ice without assistance from anyone.
Turning was tricky and Zero tripped over his own feet while crossing one foot over the other making a bend. Minerva cringed at the impressive tumble but Zero wasn’t ready to give up. Truen held his breath watching Zero learn how to skate for the very first time. His friend had an incredible sense of balance and coordination so it wasn’t too long before Zero was doing a figure of eights on the ice and speeding fast enough to chase Minerva. He even mastered how to skate backwards and do a wide circle in a spread eagle stance.
The tiny tips and tricks Minerva taught were soaked up by Zero like a sponge. In just twenty minutes, Zero was able to play tag on ice, occasionally crashing out of the lake onto the soft snow piles when he failed to stop in time. The Gods and Goddesses decided to join them and Zero watched how some of them cheated. Not everyone used skates and that gave Zero an idea.
"Minerva! Teach me some skate tricks!" he grinned.
From spinning to jumping and even somersaulting in the air, Zero learned everything after one demonstration and was eager to put his brilliant inspiration to use. The Great Gods were able to use magic and their natural abilities to create cool moves so Zero decided to invent some of his own by fusing traditional skating moves that looked extremely glamorous.
"Let’s host an artistic skating competition!" Zero suggested to anyone who was interested in skating. Michael didn’t hesitate to take care of the music for the competition.
"The theme shall be skating with your talent," Zero grinned.
Not one to pass up the rare opportunity to make money, Mammon started a gambling pool that many people took advantage of when Zero said he was going to participate.
"What’s the prize going to be for the winner?" Ruth asked. "There’s no meaning in a competition without a winner or a prize, is there?"
"Good point," Poseidon agreed and Minerva quickly backed out of the competition. Against the Great Goddesses and Demon Lords? She wasn’t crazy enough to fight with them.
Zero hummed and tried to think about a good prize for the winner. Seeing as it was Christmas, Zero pointed to the large Christmas tree decoration. "Special photos and a present of the winner’s choice from any of the participants?"
"Deal!" Freya shouted and changed into her skates to participate. How could she pass up the chance for limited edition photos?
Mammon was torn. If he won, he would be able to demand limited edition photos for resale in the Onion Union. However, he didn’t want to make a fool of himself for not being able to skate. Hence, he proposed an alliance with Queen Shittomi who agreed with a seventy-thirty profit split.
Due to the overwhelming number of participants, the event organisers made some adjustments. Only one participant from each plane or planet can represent their team. Zero represented Half Moon Village and Earth. Ruth represented the Garden of Roth which the Gods, Demon Lords and Archangels agreed that it counted as a special zone because of cross territories. Queen Shittomi represented the abyss, Freya represented Heaven, Merlin represented Arabesque and Minerva was forced to represent Hyacinth because her father uncle Zeus wanted the limited edition photos, not that she was hopeful in winning this skating competition with such strong competitors.
The six competitors drew lots and the order was decided. Minerva was pleased that she was the first to go because it would mean setting the bar for the other competitors. Not seeing what the overpowered competitors could accomplish made her confident about doing her best.
Michael prepared the choir and musical arrangements quickly. Minerva requested for a ballad with strong strings so they quickly pulled together a song befitting her impromptu performance. Poseidon had his camera out from the moment the music started and Truen was in charge of special lighting effects.
Like a swan in the water, Minerva executed each move with elegance, reminding Poseidon about his wife. Medusa would be very proud of her if she saw how lady-like Minerva was on the ice. Like a branch swaying in the breeze, Minerva allowed her body to flow to the gentle music as she built up speed around the bend.
In a burst of power and grace, Minerva shot into the air, dragging ice crystals with her skates and spun thrice before landing with a swish. Nothing could affect her balance and the way her hair danced to the wind with her sharp movements made Poseidon smile sappily. His daughter was simply too beautiful!
Using a few tricks like raising a leg behind her as she glided across the frozen surface, resembling a swordfish to score points from the audience, Minerva decided to end her performance with a dazzling pose and spin like a figurine with her back bent backwards so much that her head was almost touching her leg that was brought up straight in a vertical split. The dizzying speed that Minerva spun at gathered cheers from the crowd as she ended it beautifully with a small somersault just in time with the music.
"That was Minverva representing Hyacinth. Thank you for the beautiful performance!" Cleo smiled and quickly introduced the next performer before the hype died.
"Next up, please put your hands together to welcome Queen Shittomi, also known as the Ice Queen."
Without even performing, Zero was in awe at Queen Shittomi’s presence. Her poker face and cold expression suited her very well on the ice. However, he didn’t understand how the Demon Queen was going to move around on the ice in that dress. Heck, she wasn’t even wearing skates for an artistic skating competition!
Mammon quickly raised the bets for Queen Shittomi’s round and collected the money. Shittomi doesn’t need skates to play on the ice, she was a natural at it.
The music was very traditional and Michael had a hard time timing it so Qin Yun who tagged along with her Demon Queen friend took over with her fox clan. They plucked at the koto and blew the bamboo flutes in an eerie way that made spines tingle. Zero swallowed hard in anticipation. It was going to be a great performance.
Indeed, nobody was disappointed as Queen Shittomi raised her arm slowly. Her large sleeves made the small and slow movement look graceful and the effect of the small movement was further magnified with a gust of icy wind blowing up snowflakes. Truen decided to leave because Queen Shittomi didn’t need special lighting or effects. She simply made her own.
Ice flowers bloomed in the sky and the wind spiralled around the Demon Queen, reflecting the moonlight like small mirrors as she danced on the surface, gliding smoothly in her straw slippers. Nobody could see her feet because of her long kimono and Zero didn’t know if she was skating or walking. It didn’t matter, it was very beautiful.
One of the highlights of Queen Shittomi’s magical dance was when she arched her back and lowered herself backwards so low that she was almost touching the ice before she simply used that illusion to propel herself forward with a wave of her arms, floating across the frozen surface and letting the aggressive cacophony of strings drive her wild. She seemed to be possessed by the notes, bringing up ice crystals one after another, creating slopes that she would launch herself from to descend like a falling flower. The ending was almost as dramatic as her starting when Queen Shittomi simply removed her hairpin and danced in a circle until the music stopped where she dropped to the ground immediately, splaying her sleeves and hair like a fully blossomed flower on the ice.
For a moment, nobody moved. Even Zero was stunned speechless at the ethereal performance. Slowly, one person applauded and snapped the stupor out of the audience who cheered. More bets poured into Mammon’s pool and the Demon Lord grinned happily. He was making a huge profit from this tonight.
Both performances were very different and Zero was very excited to see what everyone else would do. Next up, representing the Garden of Roth, was Ruth. Zero cheered loudly for the vampire who looked very comfortable under the moonlight. His eyes glowed brightly as he tightened his skates before hopping onto the ice and skating to the centre. His legs hardly moved and he looked like he was standing still as he glided across the frozen water. Zero was envious. How could anyone ever be this graceful? It felt unfair that Ruth was so good at it.
Instead of choosing a waltz kind of music or something with a choir, Ruth opted for something more high-powered and dynamic. Heaven didn’t have any drums so Cleo fashioned some out of hollow logs and offered to play them according to the kind of percussion beats Ruth wanted.
The music started low and steady. Zero held his breath because Ruth didn’t move. He had his head bowed, his eyes shut, his legs crossed in a line and arms wrapped around himself like he was constricted. There were clouds covering the moonlight so Ruth waited for the clouds to pass. When the silver moonlight hit the ice surfaced, Ruth moved.
Speed was everything when Ruth started his performance. In contrast to the gentle and graceful nature of the first two performers, the vampire threw that out of the window. Every jump her made was as high as three men. His flips and twists in the air made him look like he was flying and Zero cheered when Ruth pushed off on the ice after making contact with it. His combat teacher was so fast that he looked like he was teleporting on it. The whole time Ruth ice-skated, Olaf had to quickly repair where Ruth landed. This ice wasn’t going to last with such a rough treatment!
Each time Ruth shot into the air to perform powerful aerial tricks, Olaf would groan when everyone cheered. The vampire gave Cleo a signal that he was ending with a nod and Zero screamed in excitement when Ruth shot upwards to the air and held the pose of turning completely upside down with his hands in his pocket while his back and legs arched. At the drop of the final beat, the vampire burst into a colony of bats, ending the spectacular performance.
While everyone was happy about Ruth’s unique take at ice-skating, Merlin felt pressured. Why did this vampire have to do what he wanted to do but better? Now that the stakes were raised, he could only use his other cards. Even if it paled in comparison, Merlin wasn’t going down without trying.
As the wizard stepped onto the ring, Zero wondered why he kept sprinkling things on the ice surface. Was that even allowed? Nobody questioned Merlin who requested for a dramatic orc.h.e.s.tra with brass instruments. Michael was more than happy to oblige with a familiar tune to play to and Merlin officially started his performance.
Zero never thought that the wizard would be so competitive and feared for Merlin’s old back when his teacher brought out his magician’s staff to spin it while chanting multiple spells. At this rate, Merlin wasn’t even skating conventionally. He used wind magic to move him along the surface and used magic to create special fireworks where he passed. Ice magic was thrown in for a special stage and Merlin used animation magic to create birds from the snowflakes to entertain the crowd.
Of all the crazy things in Merlin’s performance, Zero had to raise his brow to the long beard weave that Merlin did in the middle of his performance. Sure, he was impressed with how Merlin was able to skate in between ice crystals that pinned his parted long beard at different ends while Merlin zipped over and under the beard to make an intricate weave. It did get a lot of cheers and laughter but Zero didn’t know if this till counted as artistic skating.
Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable albeit slightly crazy performance. Zero clapped loudly as his teacher returned to the sidelines.
Next up was Freya. The Goddess of Beauty and War looked ready with her fiery hair pulled back into a ponytail. She even changed her outfit into something less restrictive so that she would skate properly. The crowd went wild and Freya tried her best to contain herself before the music actually started.
Once again, Michael was thankful for the choice of music. Freya wanted something patriotic and the angels knew what to do with more cupids coming in to contribute their voices for the Great Goddess’ dance.
Freya’s pose was relaxed but full of poise as the music came to life from low and quiet to loud and bold. The Goddess of Beauty knew what she was doing when it came to playing on the ice because Zero swore he never thought he would see anyone use the ice to create a steam effect.
Olaf panicked a little when Freya used fire to melt some ice at the bottom of her skate for the steam effect as she danced from hopping and jumping to spinning and even sliding across the ice while lying down. Thankfully, Freya was extremely skilled with her magic control and the ice was safe. Zero did notice that the melting of ice for steam effects made a very clear pattern on the lake and he had a brilliant idea for his turn coming up next.
Needless to say, Freya’s spectacular stunt of merging all magical elements together for a climax on her spinning dancing form in the air put her neck on neck with Queen Shittomi’s performance with both ladies executing beauty with the highest level of skill. Ruth wasn’t disappointed with the third spot for now and Merlin despaired when he ranked just one spot higher than Minerva on the current voting list. The girl didn’t seem disheartened that she was currently last as she consoled the wizard.
"Up next, we have Zero from Half Moon Village who just learned how to skate a few hours ago!" Cleo announced and the doctor could feel his stomach eating itself up. He wanted to disappear into the void when there were so many people looking at him with expectant eyes. Yet, he swallowed his nerves and walked up to the centre of the lake, trying not to trip.
Taking deep breaths to calm himself, he gave Michael a thumbs up. The music that he was going to dance to was a gentle ballad. If Zero remembered right, Christmas was about a time of giving and for this, he was going to take the opportunity to thank everyone in his performance.
The music was just a gentle piano with sow strings and a soft choir and Zero quickly got into his starting position with arms crossed facing downwards and his feet shoulder-width apart. His head was low and he listened for the first chord that would get his skates moving.
Slowly as he felt the melody build-up, Zero brought his hands up to his heart and swayed to the left, skating backwards in a small circle with a basic push off. Feeling the wind in his face, Zero let the feeling put a smile on it as he danced to the gentle notes with his skates, zig-zagging along until he reached the edge that he wanted to. Here, Zero slowed abruptly using the spread eagle trick he learned and glided until he was in place to make a basic loop jump before landing and spinning on the spot with his arms raised high above his head for a chantless spell to set his skates on fire.
Freya recognised the trick and raised her brow. This would be interesting.
Zero started to skate back and forth the lake occasionally using steam to create a wispy effect and jumped at certain spots, making the ice hiss when he landed. He let his arms sway to the music and kept his back straight while his knees bent with an effort to maintain his balance as he skated backwards. Zero timed it perfectly to mark out the next section and it took the crowd halfway through his performance to realise what he was doing.
"Is that...? Is that a message on ice?"
Indeed, Zero was skating while writing a message and dancing to the music while showing off what he just learned about skating. He wasn’t using fancy moves or magic to build the excitement in others, he was simply enjoying the ice as he drew and wrote on it.
Olaf was impressed. Knowing where to skate and how to write the message on the ice must have taken Zero a long time to plan. Yet, the doctor looked very relaxed with his white lab coat fluttering in the wind when he did a camel spin and introduced a long fluttering ribbon made from bandages he pulled from his inventory. The ribbon made a pretty pattern and Zero decided to turn things up a notch by surprising everyone with some power moves.
Using his Secret Move #6: Hyper Drunken Fist, Zero worked up a mini-tornado on the ice and danced in the centre of the ice while finishing his written message on the ice. The music gradually came to a high finish where Zero simply sat in the tornado and let it plop him down on a lovely pile of snow out of the zone so that everyone could enjoy his lovely message.
[Merry X’mas! May all your wishes come true~]
Beneath the message was a small present drawing and the crowd applauded while cameras went off. While Zero didn’t do anything as flashy or spectacular, his sweet message moved everyone’s hearts, bringing Zero all the way up to the third place for the competition.
Eventually, they decided that the winner of the artistic skating competition should go to Queen Shittomi for her creativity at bringing culture, music, presentation and concept into skating. Mammon couldn’t be happier about the outcome and since Christmas was all about giving and receiving, the Demon Queen decided that she already had her profits from Mammon as a gift and that the only other thing she wanted was a group photo of the people attending today to commemorate the best Christmas party she’d ever attended. Nobody declined her request and they had fun taking pictures with the large Christmas tree and Zero’s lovely ice message.
Naturally, all good and fun things have to come to an end. Zero and Truen waved goodbye to the guests one by one as they returned to their domains to do important things but not before promising to come again next year.
"Merry Christmas! May all your wishes come true. - Zero, 2020."
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