Lina lived in a large house north west of London during the spring and summer with her father, mother, and older sister Luna, and older brother Gourry. When she was young there were always lots of other children to play with, and there were socials and parties with her older sister's friends when she was older. Lina didn't much care for those outings because she thought the other girls were all silly and frivolous, which they were. She did, however, enjoy spiking punch with some of her father's brandy or smuggling a mouse or three under the ridiculous hoop skirts her sister made her wear.
Lina liked the summerhouse a lot.
She loved the winter house a lot more.
Her family moved to the south of France in the fall, to a larger and even more beautiful house. It was at this house that her family celebrated one of her favorite holidays: Christmas. She loved everything about Christmas: presents, candy, presents, food, presents, fun, presents, and relatives who she only saw at that time of the year. Specifically, she loved seeing her "crazy" godfather Xellos Metallium.
Xellos Metallium was a friend of her father's family for years, and he refused to let anyone call him Godfather Metallium, Mr. Metallium, or even Mr. Xellos. He insisted from as far back as anyone could remember that everyone simply address him as Xellos. Lina was the one exception, being allowed to call him Uncle Fruitcake. He brought a fruitcake to the house the year she had been introduced to him and the name stuck. Xellos always brought the best presents, the sweetest candies, and the most interesting stories to the house at Christmas. He was a wandering clockmaker and machine artist, so he saw all manners of wonders in his travels. One year he brought spun sugar swans for every child, and another he showed them a mechanical bird he got in the Orient. There was a small golden key on the bird's perch, and when they turned it the bird would sing a sweet little song. But one year he brought Lina the most wonderful present she would ever receive. That was the year Xellos gave her the Enchanted Doll.