CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
We arrived in the Hinterlands, where we were perplexed to see presents strewn across the grown. I looked to Callum. His appearance changed dramatically. His hair was now blond and his eyes were now blood red. He wore a tattered black shirt, pants, and combat boots. A pair of shriveled up black angel wings stretched out limply on his back. He stared at me yet again with a look of horror on his face.
"Why are you always staring at me like that?!" I said, placing my hands on my hips.
"I... um..." Callum said. "You just look... different."
"You look different too, but I don't go around staring at you like you just drowned my goldfish."
Callum blushed and looked away. I reached up and touched a few strands of blonde hair that rested on my left shoulder. I smiled and giggled at his bashfulness.
"Huh?" Donald said.
Jack walked down the trail, still wearing his handmade Santa Claus outfit. A trail of presents laid on the ground and he picked them up and carried them in his long arms. He saw us and waved.
"Perfect timing, lady and gents!" Jack said. "Lend me a hand, won't you? These presents must belong to Sandy Claws. So I thought I'd better return them."
Sora crossed his arms and looked at Jack suspiciously.
"You just happened to find them?" he said.
"Of course, Sora!" Jack said, crouching down and poking Sora's cheek. "I'm finished with Christmas fantasies. You know that."
"Then why are you still wearing that outfit?" I said.
"What, this? It's just a costume. And Sally worked so very hard making it! Come on. We've got work to do!"
We gathered together the presents and went to Christmas Town. We entered Santa's workshop, where he was pacing the floor.
"Oh!" Santa cried when he saw us with the presents. We set them on the table. "Wherever did you find these?"
"In Halloween Town." Jack said. "You'll be needing them for Christmas, right, Sandy?"
"Of course. But these are just a few of the Christmas presents that were stolen."
"Stolen?!" we all cried.
"Who would want to steal Christmas presents?" I said.
We all turned to Jack.
"Oh, Sandy... You don't think is was ME?" Jack said.
"Still wearing the outfit, I see." Santa said.
"I just thought I'd dress for the occasion... But if you don't believe me, then we'll just have to find out who really did it!"
We all looked at Jack in surprise. Santa thoughtfully stroked his beard.
"Very well, I'll leave it to you." Santa said.
"Alright! Sora, Hallie, Callum, Donald, Goofy! We're off!" Jack cried, pointing dramatically forward.
As Jack made his way to the door, we stared at him for a few seconds before Sora, Donald, and Goofy slumped forward and shook their heads. The sound of glass breaking pierced the room. It came from the workshop.
We followed the sound to the gift-wrapping room. Lock, Shock, and Barrel stood at a table, looking at toys.
"No!" Shock cried. Lock tossed a toy boat.
"This looks good." Barrel said, patting a teddy bear.
"No!"
"Boooring!" Lock yawned.
We watched them toss toys around.
"Hey!" Donald cried.
"So YOU three took them!" Sora said.
"Took what?!" Shock said.
"You stole the presents, didn't you?" Jack said.
"It wasn't us!" Lock said.
"But..." Barrel said.
Shock took off her mask momentarily. "It really sounds like fun!"
"Run for it!" the three children cried, running off in three directions.
"You get back here!" I said, summoning Chaos Ripper.
We chased after the three children. When we rendered them unconscious, we used large magic boxes to trap them inside. We took them out and sat them in a line against a table.
"Where'd you put the presents?" Sora said.
"We told you! We don't have 'em!" Shock said.
"And why should we believe you?" I said. "You better spill it, young lady!"
"Geez, what are you, my parents? You guys seem made for each other!"
Sora and I glanced at each other then looked away.
"Why are you here, then?!" Donald said.
"We're looking for parts for the experiment." Lock said.
"I don't think a teddy bear and a toy boat would suffice." Callum said, crossing his arms.
"Experiment?" Jack said.
"Dr. Finkelstein's making us a friend!" Lock said.
"One we get to boss around!" Barrel said.
"It's true the doctor's been hard at work making something lately..." Jack said.
The three children stood up.
"Besides, Christmas presents are boring!" Lock said. "Not scary or gross... So what good are they?"
"Yeah!" Barrel chimed.
"There's nothing fun here. Let's go back to Halloween Town!"
The three children ran out of the workshop.
We returned to Santa Claus.
"So, were those pranksters responsible for taking the gifts?" Santa said.
"It doesn't look like it." Jack said.
"Then that means..."
We turned when we heard footsteps. Sally ran into the room.
"Sally!" Jack said.
"Oh, thank goodness! You're all here!" Sally said, walking over to us.
"Is something wrong?" Sora said.
"The Heartless are back in the town square. I thought you should know."
"That's our cue!"
"Back to Halloween Town!" Donald said, running to the door. We turned and walked to the door.
"But wait!" Jack said. "What about finding the gift-napper?"
"We can continue doing that after we take care of the Heartless." I said.
"Actually..." Sally said. "The Heartless were playing with some presents when I saw them..."
"Aha! We have our culprit!" Jack cried, pointing dramatically again.
"You! You can't be here! Leave Halloween Town, by order of the mayor!" the mayor cried through his megaphone. "Somebody? Anybody! I'm only an elected official- I can't handle this by myself!"
We ran to the town square.
"Sally was right!" Jack said. "We've got to get the presents."
We saw Wight Knights stumbling around and playing with presents. I summoned my Keyblade. We attacked the Heartless and as they disappeared, the presents fell to the ground. Jack walked over to a beaten up box, stepping on the doll that was inside. He picked up the box and examined it.
"What a shame! And it looked like such a nice present, too..." Jack said.
"Jack!" I said, shoving him out of the way.
I picked up the doll, brushed it off, and held it to my heart. The laboratory door opened and Dr. Finkelstein came rolling out.
"Oh, help! Somebody help me!" he cried. "My latest experiment is gone- it's been stolen!"
I looked down at the doll for another moment, then set it down on the ground.
"I was just sitting here brainstorming, when all of a sudden I was attacked!" Dr. Finkelstein said, holding his head. "I collapsed! And when I awoke, my experiment was gone!"
"First the Christmas present, and now the doctor's experiment?" I said, crossing my arms. "This is some weird thief we're up against."
"Don't worry, Doctor- we know who took it." Jack said.
"Who?!" the doctor said.
"The Heartless." Sora said.
"What, those wretched things? Preposterous! This was nothing like a Heartless."
"Not the Heartless, huh..."
"Who else could it be?" Donald said.
We all stood around, thinking.
"Hey, I have an idea." Jack said. "The thief must like Christmas presents. So... we place irresistible gifts about to draw him into a trap."
"And this miscreant is the same one who stole my experiment?" the doctor said.
"That's right."
"How will we know for sure?" Sora said.
"Well, now, that's easy! We'll scare a confession right out of him!"
"With what?" I snorted. "A mini Santa, a snowman, and a reindeer?"
"What do you say we go with Jack's plan... just for now?" Sora said.
"Let's get to Sandy's house posthaste!" Jack said. "We've got to make some Christmas presents, quickly!"
"Have you found the presents yet?" Santa said.
"Almost, Mr. Claws." Jack said.
"We're going to reel in the thief with Christmas presents as bait." Sora said.
"Would you mind if we used your factory to make some fake presents?"
"Presents as bait?" Santa said. "Goodness... I don't like the sound of that... Oh, just this once, I suppose. It's for a good cause... All right, use the second floor. And put some heart in it."
"Thank you!" I said.
"All done!" Donald cried as we examined the presents we just made.
"Not quite." Jack said.
"There's more?" Goofy said.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of the rest."
"I don't like the sound of that..." I said.
"Did you finish making the presents?" Santa said.
"Yup. Just waiting for Jack." Sora said.
"So, uh, where do you think we oughta leave them?" Goofy said.
"Hm... Oh! I know a good spot." Santa said. "Whenever you're ready, just say the word."
"All right!" Jack said, stepping out of the workshop. "Let's go!"
"This plaza should be a good place for your plan." Santa said. "Now, Jack. Tell me, what exactly IS your plan?"
"I've got it all figured out!" Jack said.
"You do...?"
"Of course! And I also have a wonderful idea! If we catch the thief for you, I would be honored to deliver the-"
Sora jumped over and covered Jack's mouth.
"And on that note, we'll be going." Sora said.
"What are you doing? Let me go!" Jack muffled as we pushed him past Santa into the plaza.
"Stop kicking!" Donald cried.
"Well, if you weren't so close to my feet..." I said, trying to adjust my vision to the pitch black.
"Patience, friends." Jack said.
"I never thought the day would come that I could hide myself in a giant present." Callum said.
"Shhh!" Sora said.
The present lurched.
"I said cut it out!" Donald said.
"Gawrsh, was that you?" Goofy said.
"How come WE have to be the bait?" Sora said.
"Good plan, eh?" Jack said.
"Well, it's a plan, all right..." I said.
"Ouch!" Donald cried.
"Stop moving the box!"
"Quiet! Something's coming!" I felt a hand clamp over my mouth.
As I yanked the hand away, I heard the sound of clanking footsteps getting closer to the box. We heard something squeak open.
"Aha!" we all cried, popping out of the box.
"Huh?" Jack said.
Standing before us was some strange experiment with all kinds of strange gadgets attached to its body.
"Doctor Finkelstein's experiment did it!" Jack said.
"Whoa. Plot twist." I said, jumping out of the box and summoning my Keyblade.
The Experiment fell limply to the ground. It faded away into smoky darkness.
"We did it! The mystery is solved!" Jack cried.
We heard the sound of sleigh bells. Santa rode down on his sleigh with three real reindeer pulling it.
"Did you catch the thief?" Santa said.
"Naturally!" Jack said.
"I just can't figure out why the doctor's experiment would go around stealing Christmas presents." Sora said.
"His experiment?" Santa said.
"The thief!" Jack said. "It was a moving puppet made by Doctor Finkelstein."
"Hmm... The doctor's made a moving puppet? I see... He is always tinkering with things. Now listen, Jack. I'd like to thank you, and while delivering presents is something only I can do, I can give you an idea of what it's like."
"Sandy Claws!"
Jack jumped into Santa's sleigh, gazing at everything with wide eye sockets and a big grin.
"Yes, all that poor puppet wanted was a heart." Santa said.
As everyone watched Jack fly off on Santa's sleigh, I stared at the experiment.
"A puppet that wanted a heart..." I said.
I felt compelled to glance at Callum. I turned just in time to see tears begin their descent down his cheeks. He bowed his head.
"She never had a chance..." he whispered.
I placed a hand on his shoulder. He relaxed under my touch; he knew better than to hide his emotions from me. As more tears flowed down his cheeks, I stepped closer to him, linked my arm through his, and rested my head on his shoulder. His fingers intertwined with mine and he squeezed my hand for support.
I wish I could take away the pain, Callum. If only I knew what troubled that beautiful mind of yours.
"Ho ho ho!" Jack cried as he took off into the sky.
We returned to Halloween Town and told the doctor about his experiment.
"Interesting! So the puppet wasn't stolen after all! It ran away on its own." the doctor said. "In other words, my experiment was an overwhelming success!"
"Santa Claus thinks maybe it left because it was trying to find a heart." Sora said.
"That's quite possible. Unlike my Sally, it wasn't equipped with a heart."
"Then why did it go around stealing all those Christmas presents?" I said.
"Maybe it's because... presents are a way to give your heart to someone special." Sally said.
"Hmm... when you put it that way, I feel sort of bad for it." Sora said.
We heard the sound of sleigh bells. Jack came flying through the air and landed in front of us.
"Happy Halloween!" Santa cried as his sleigh flew in front of the moon.
Snow lightly fell from the sky.
"What a nice present." Sally said.
"I don't understand! There's no box! No ribbon tied in a bow!" Jack said.
"Jack, it's not about the box or the ribbons." Sora said. "It's about what's inside the box!"
"No, Sora... What really counts- what's really special- is the act of giving the gift." Sally said. "To wish deep in your heart to make someone else happy."
"Right... of course! Thank you, Sally, you're absolutely right." Jack said. "Wait. What's this? I feel so strange... so very happy!"
"I think that was Sally's gift to you." I said.
"Really? This wonderful feeling?" Jack walked over and took Sally's hands. "Oh, Sally! You've given me the nicest present in the world. And I've nothing to give you in return. What would you like? Just name it. Absolutely anything."
"The nicest present I could ever ask for, Jack, is just to be with you." Sally said.
Donald and Goofy held their faces and Sora scratched his cheek. I held my hands behind my back and smiled.
"You don't even have to ask for that." Jack said.
Jack took Sally in his arms and they began to dance.
"Maybe... I never gave her a real present after all." Sora said.
"Who?" Donald said.
"Aw, I bet Kairi would like most anything you gave her." Goofy said, placing his hands on Sora's shoulders.
"I know. That's what made it so hard to decide!"
"The one and only Keyblade wielder likes a girl?" I said. "Pinch me, I must be dreaming!"
Sora smiled at the ground.
"Yeah. She's my best friend." Sora said. "I've known her ever since I was little. I got separated from her and Riku when our island disappeared. And now..."
"I'm sorry, Sora." I said.
"Remember, Sora, it's not about the gift. It's what in your heart!" Donald said.
"My heart..." Sora said.
Sora stared at Sally and Jack with a warm smile on his face. As he watched them, his smile fell flat and he had the most flabbergasted look on his face.
"Huh?" he said.
"Is something wrong, Sora?" I said.
Sora stared at me, blinked a few times, then looked away quickly.
"Oh, um... nothing..." he said.
"That's an interesting look on you." Vanitas said, obviously not trying to hide his amused smile.
The girl at his side let out a frustrated breath of air through her nostrils. She lifted her hand to her face and glared at the white bell-bottom sleeve that slumped down to her elbow. Her white shirt wrapped around her torso like gauze with bell-bottom sleeves that reached to her wrists. She also wore white lace shorts and white ballet slippers with the straps extending to her shins. Her short blonde hair darkened to brown and the red of her eyes were now amber and they glared at Vanitas. Her empty silver chain rested around her neck.
"Don't you dare say anything." she said. "Unless you want me to personally rip off every one of your spikes."
Vanitas's smile only widened.
"I hate this world." the girl muttered.
"Then why did we come here?" Vanitas said. "This was your idea."
"I didn't expect you to agree!" The girl turned her back to Vanitas and crossed her arms. A pair of luscious white wings rippled on her back from her sharp turn. "Why did it have to be white? I hate white!"
There was silence. The girl turned around to see Vanitas staring at her.
"Not to point out the obvious, but you look exactly like..." The look on Vanitas's face trouble the girl.
"Vanitas." she said.
Vanitas shook his head vigorously in attempt to snap him out of his reverie.
"We need to go. Now." the girl said coldly. She summoned a portal of darkness.
"Right." Vanitas glanced away momentarily before his eyes shifted to the girl again. "I'm sorry."
The girl turned to Vanitas. "It's okay. I know it's not you."
She smiled at him, but that only seemed to heightened the look in his yellow eyes. Her smile faded.
"Come on." she said. Her voice cracked from the panicked anger in her stomach.
I returned to Christmas Town, for I remembered something I needed to discuss with Santa Claus about. I walked down the path through the town square, pausing a brief moment to twirl the broken carousel, and entered Santa's workshop. He sat in his chair and stroked his beard, which reminded me a lot of Yen Sid.
"Why, hello, Hallie." Santa said. "What brings you here? Where are your friends?"
"They're back at Halloween Town. I need to talk to you about something." I said. "The last time I came here, you told me I'm neither on the nice nor naughty list. Did you... ever figure out why?"
Santa paused a moment to bow his head.
"You must know, you were on my list once. The top of my nice list, in fact. As a child, your heart was pure and full of strong light, the likes of which I've never seen." Santa said.
"Yeah." I chuckled. "I'm already pretty aware of that. I just wish I had the memories to back that up."
"Hallie." Santa stood up from his chair. "Something happened to you when you were a child. Something that caused you to be erased from my list. It was as if you disappeared from existence."
"But... I'm right here." I held out my hands and examined them. I stretched my arms out to the sides.
"Another strange thing occurred. Shortly after your name was erased, two more names appeared on my lists: one on the nice list, and one on the naughty."
My outstretched hands retreated to my heart. "What do you mean? Whose names appeared?"
"Hallie!" a voice called. I turned around as Callum popped his head into the room. "There you are. We have to get going."
"Okay..." I turned back to Santa. He smiled. "Santa?"
"You'll find the answers you seek, Hallie. In due time." Santa said. "But remember this: that heart of yours is a lot stronger than you realize. Many people are connected to you. You are the pathway that connects everything and everyone together."
I sighed and nodded. "All right. Thanks." I turned to Callum. He smiled and reached out his hand. I took it and he walked out of the workshop.
"So, what was it you needed to talk to Santa about?" Callum said.
I shook my head. "Oh, nothing. Answers to riddles and nonsense, but all I got was more piled on top of that."
Callum observed my face, then directed his troubled expression forward.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hallie and the others return to Halloween Town, where they get caught in the middle of an investigation for stolen Christmas presents. Their first accusation points to Lock, Shock, and Barrel, the mischievous little kids from Halloween Town who love to prank and cause trouble, but they are innocent. The group heads back to Halloween Town when they learn that Heartless are playing with Christmas presents in the Square. Even the Heartless are innocent. Hallie and her friends have another mystery piled on their hands when they find out that Doctor Finkelstein's experiment has disappeared as well. Jack devises a plan to set Christmas presents as a trap to catch the thief. They set up their plan in Christmas Town's Plaza and wait. They catch the culprit, which turned out to be Doctor Finkelstein's experiment itself! They destroy the experiment and learned it stole the presents because it wanted a heart of its own, and presents can be seen as an act of giving your heart to someone else. Once the mystery is solved, Hallie speaks with Santa about her own mystery: why her name isn't on his list. Santa tells Hallie that she was once on his list, but someone must have happened to her when she was young that wiped her from existence. He also tells her that when her name disappeared, two more names appeared soon after. Hallie leaves with some answers, but a thousand more questions on her already overflowing plate.
Whose names appeared on Santa's list after Hallie's disappeared? What were Vanitas and the mysterious girl doing in Halloween Town, and why did the girl take on the appearance of Hallie? Why was Vanitas reacting strangely to her?
Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!