Holiday Crisis
By: Shmeilia Rockie
Chapter 9: Young Bernard's Adventure in Halloweentown

Disclaimer: As surprising as it sounds, I don't own the Santa Clause 1 & 2. Boy, I know that's new news to ALL of you, especially to the Disney Company. But this really is something new: I don't own Halloweentown 1 & 2. Nope, Disney also claims that honor.

A/N: And so begins the cross-over portion of my fic. I have struggled with this for quite a while now and am still not satisfied with it. But it will just hafta do, I guess. I'm warning you, I switch back and forth between third and first person in this one. I normally hate it when that happens, but I assure you it's only for this chapter. I sincerely believe it's a necessary evil.

To Hellcat: April is eighteen now...I think she's old enough to get married. Besides, the laws are a bit different at the North Pole. (I guess.) Remember that this is just a crazy set of dreams of mine. They don't always make perfect logical since... She's a bit reserved about it, but still loves him dearly. Dunno, does that help any? This is the first chapter without her in it. Weird.

Whoo-doggie, this is my longest chapter yet! Still, I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to review!

And don't expect chapter 10 for a while. I don't like the middle part, so I'm rewriting it. And of course, it's the wedding, so I'm going to make you wait. Okay, probably not...Hopefully not...

* * * *

The small town of Elfsburg buzzed about in total chaos. Christmas was in less than three weeks, so naturally everyone at the Workshop put in extra hours. The first few Council members began to filter in for the end of the year meeting. And on top of the usual business, Bernard decided the wedding could not wait till the beginning of next year, so he ran himself ragged scheduling a caterer and writing invitations and whatnot. Everyone had noticed the change in him. While he'd stopped being insanely happy after a few days, he still retained a certain ever-present cheerfulness. No longer did he act bitterly toward the workers. Now he greeted them warmly and openly thanked them for all their hard work.

In fact, he and Curtis were doing just that on the Workshop floor when he spotted someone looking very out of place. A woman, about sixty-ish, in a dark blue robe speckled with stars and moons stood contemplating a map of the town. A giant hand bag hung on her arm. "Now how on Earth did I get in here?"

He couldn't place it, but she seemed vaguely familiar. He approached her carefully. "Excuse me, ma'am? Do you need help?"

She looked briefly at him and waved dismissively, then did a double take. She tilted her head to the side and asked in utter astonishment, "Bernard? Is that you?"

Then he remembered. "Aggie?"

"Oh, it IS you! Oh, how good to see you again!" She embraced him in a warm hug, then held him at arm's length. "My, you've aged well."

He inclined his head slightly. "As have you."

"Last time I saw you, you were..." She looked around and spotted Curtis. She pointed to him. "You were just about his size! But then again, it has almost been a thousand years, now hasn't it?"

"Approximately, yes." He smiled. "I take it you got my invitation?"

"Yes, I did. Thank you so much! My, when I got it, I thought to myself 'Little Bernard's getting married? How can this be?' But you're not so little anymore! I just don't know why I thought that. I say, I have been quite brainless these past few days."

"I know exactly how you feel."

Curtis had been quiet long enough. "Okay, Bernard, who is this woman?"

He had completely forgotten about poor Curtis at the sight of his old friend. "Sorry, this is Agatha Cromwell. Aggie, this is my best friend and coworker Curtis."

They shook hands.

Curtis looked skeptically at her odd clothing. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Oh, good heavens no..." She glanced around at the red and green decor and made a rather distasteful face. "I live in Halloweentown. I'm only here for the wedding... And the big Council meeting."

Bernard raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You're on the Council?"

She giggled like a little girl. "Yes. I'm so excited to be the first mayor of Halloweentown to be invited to the Council. It's about time, too. Santa was so nice to ask me to come!"

"Mayor, huh? Congratulations! I'm sure you do a wonderful job."

Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, Destiny and Merope hopped onto the scene. Destiny nodded briskly to Bernard and Curtis, then turned to Aggie. "Agatha Cromwell, on behalf of the Council of Legendary Figures, I, the Regent Destiny, welcome you to Elfsburg." She held out her hand, which Aggie shook gently.

"The Regent, hmm? I thought someone else was the Regent." She threw a side glance at the tall elf beside her.

Bernard held up his hands defensively. "Hey, I turned it down. Besides, until now we haven't really had a need for a Regent. This is, um...My future daughter, sent back in time on some kind of secret mission she can't share with us. And this..." He gestured to the tall girl behind Destiny. "Is her bodyguard, Merope."

Agatha's eyes lit up, glad to be seeing someone not decked out in red and green. "You look very familiar. Do you live in Halloweentown?"

"No," She replied dully. "I live on the moon."

This statement earned weird looks from everyone within hearing distance. Destiny looked as though she would strangle her best friend. She laughed nervously. "Don't we all, these days, Merope? With the rush season upon us, that is..."

"Excuse me," Curtis waved to get the attention of the taller people around him. "But where is this Halloweentown, why don't I know about it, and why are you and Bernard such good friends?"

All eyes turned to Agatha, who smiled innocently. "My, that's a lot of questions." She turned to Bernard. "Do we have time for a little story?"

He checked his watch and nodded, even though they really didn't have the time. "Would you like me to tell it?"

"I'll start you off..." Everyone sat down cross-legged in a circle in the middle of the floor, completely ignoring where they were. "Halloweentown is a place in another dimension to which all the misunderstood monsters, ghosts, and witches retreated during the persecutions of the Middle Ages."

Destiny nodded in understanding, "So you're a witch, aren't you?"

"Why, yes. Yes I am! You didn't think I was human did you?"

"No, not really. Please continue." She propped up her chin on her elbow.

"You probably don't know about it, Curtis, because Halloween and Christmas have always been rival holidays and generally try to stay away from each other. And as for knowing Bernard..." She held out her hand toward Bernard, who took a deep breath.

"Bear with me, because I don't normally talk about my past...Everyone ready for a long flashback?"

Everyone nodded with enthusiastic interest. This was a rare moment indeed.

"I'm just going to give you a paraphrased version, otherwise you'll hear so many thee's and thy's and thou's to give you a migraine..."

"Stop stalling, Bernard!" Curtis waved his arms violently. "Get on with it!"

And so, he began to speak.

* * * *

In the time before Santa moved the Workshop to the Pole, we elves lived in a secluded town in Scandinavia. You don't need to know the exact year, since it wouldn't matter to you anyway. I had been there long enough to rise to my current position, but not so long that I had known the original Saint Nick. I did, however become pretty good friends with his right hand man, Regent Rupert. Rupert was...Well, he was my role model. The way I treat the elves today is almost directly based off of how he treated them back then. The older elf was at best a stubborn jerk, extremely temperamental. Sometimes he could surprise all of us with his kindness, but for the most part...He carried a club and liked to hit us with it when we messed up. But hey, back then, it was okay. Perfectly normal.

One particular, rather productive morning, the elves worked so diligently that Rupert decided to switch into big brother mode with me. He did that every once in a while, I guess because I reminded him of himself and he wanted to help me become a better leader. He stared down at me with a mischievous look in his eyes. "You're from the Duffy tribe, aren't you?"

"Darby, actually."

"You're from the Darby clan?" He raised an eyebrow.

For those of you who might not know, the Darby clan is infamous for being a bunch of pompous, arrogant lunatics. Curtis, Maigri and I were once members of the tribe, but have since renounced it for obvious reasons. Needless to say, I wasn't proud of my heritage. I looked at my pointy shoes and muttered, "Not by choice."

"You sure don't look like a Darby..." He went over to the wall and pulled off two of the adorning candy canes. He threw one to me. "Then I take it you can use a sword?"

I looked at the decoration skeptically, curiosity starting to get the better of me. "I learned indirectly. My father made my little brother practice on me, and I just sorta picked it up."

"So you were the punching bag. Sometimes that's the best way to learn anything." He turned the handle and to my surprise unsheathed a thin, silver sword. And all that time I'd thought they were just for decoration...The older elf nodded for me to do the same.

I did. The weapon felt amazingly lightweight, and looked frighteningly sharp. I had only experienced a dull blade in the past, but I wasn't about to tell him that. "Um...Maybe you should know that I'm REALLY rusty at this..."

"Nonsense, Bernard...One never goes rusty at this..." And with those words, he lunged at me. I instinctively brought up my own blade to stop him from lopping off my head. Now he had quite a height and weight advantage over me, being proportionately to me as I am now to Curtis, so I couldn't stop his momentum. He easily avoided my block and came at me again, twisting the weapon at the last possible and smacking me with its flat side, knocking me on my butt. By then every eye in the Workshop turned to watch us. He glared at all of them and tossed his dark red hair away from his eyes. "Don't you guys have toys to make?"

They went back to work.

I blinked. It had all happened so fast, my head still reeled from the impact. He held out his hand and helped me back up. "Okay, so I was wrong. You can be rusty. I guess I'll hafta teach you the right way to defend yourself."

"I...Er...Sure?" I looked from one spinning Rupert to the other, trying to decide which one was the real one.

Just then Santa approached us with a look of grave seriousness on his normally jolly features. "Excuse me, boys."

We saluted. Or Rupert saluted and I waved my arms around in a weak attempt to prevent myself from toppling over again. He nudged me in the gut, as if to tell me off for goofing around.

"I have a job for both of you." The Big Guy pulled out an envelope and handed it to Rupert. I shook my head and finally convinced the world to stop dancing around me.

The Regent immediately tore it open and read its contents. He groaned. "Must I?"

"Yes, Rupert. You must. And take Bernard with you, he still needs the practice."

We BOTH groaned. I had just been promoted to the position of Head Elf, and hadn't quite gotten a grip my new teleportation power. Last time I'd tried it out with the intent of going to Paris, I'd ended up on my little island in the Caribbean. It took me weeks to figure out how to get back. Rupert turned to me. "Do you know where Halloweentown is?"

"What's Halloweentown?"

He rolled his eyes, no doubt wondering if I knew anything at all. "Okaaay, I want you to follow my magical wake. Can you do that?"

"I dunno. Never tried."

So we practiced a couple of times. I quickly got the hang of sensing his direction and sticking to it, and before I knew it, he'd pronounced me ready and sped off toward our destination. I felt a weird shiver right before I landed- not so gracefully- on the ground. I hopped up and dusted myself off. "What was that?"

Rupert sucked in a lung full of damp, crisp fall air and let it out with satisfaction. "We are in another dimension, my eager little friend."

Only then did I look around. In all my years of travel I had never seen anything like the place. Okay, no, let me rephrase that...The place seemed relatively ordinary, sparing the giant jack-o-lantern in the middle of the town square. What made me stare open-mouthed in complete and total awe were the creatures walking casually through the streets. There were ghosts, swamp creatures, witches (of course), goblins, werewolves, aliens, and many other things I couldn't begin to identify, just casually roaming the streets like they owned the place. Which they did. "Is this Halloweentown?"

"No, it's Candyland. Duh, Bernard! Be a bit slower next time..." His hand absent-mindedly wondered to the sword at his side, and he laughed. "This might come in handy. Never know how these monsters will react to an elf. They could go CRAZY! So...Watch yourself."

As we started down the path into the town, he began explaining our mission to me in a hushed voice. "We need to find this guy Merlin-"

"Merlin? As in, THE Merlin? The greatest wizard of all time?"

Rupert frowned. "Yes, that Merlin. I'm surprised you've heard of him."

"Who hasn't?" I had heard so many rumors about his adventures, that I thought he had just been a legend. And here, I was gonna meet the guy! "One time, I heard that he-"

My elder cut me off. "Don't believe everything you hear. Anyway, I need to beg him to come help us with our little demon problem."

Demon problem? This was the first I'd heard of the news. "What demon problem?"

He winced. "I shouldn't have said that...We have a portal to the Dark Dimension that opened up right next to the bakery. Nasty little demon things won't leave poor Gunt alone..." I looked nervously at some muck monsters nearby, but he waved dismissively in their direction. "They're not like these creatures, which are gentle by nature. Demons are evil, pure and simple."

"Oh." I still didn't see the distinction.

"So, anyway," he mumbled, looking around with the air of someone wanting to be anywhere else than where he was. "We need to find this Merlin guy as soon as possible, so we can get out of here."

As we passed by a potion shop a seemingly human woman in her early forties carrying a broom stopped us and asked politely, "Excuse me, but did you just say you needed to find Merlin?"

"Yes, but," Rupert said, almost too quickly. "We've got it under control."

"Actually, we do. And we don't know our way around at all." I smiled weakly at Rupert, who looked like he wanted to hurt me very badly. At least I knew when to stop and ask for directions, the stubborn...Never mind.

"Oh, well, I would be glad to take you to him. He always enjoys getting visitors." With a flick of her wrist, the broom simply vanished in a puff of blue smoke. She hiked up her skirt and started up the dirt road before Rupert had any time to complain again.

I eagerly ran after her, excited to find a friendly, semi-normal individual in that crazy place. "If you don't mind my asking, how do you know him?"

"Oh, he's my great uncle." She stopped and smacked her forehead (Or at least performed some ancient equivalent to smacking her forehead). "Oh, dear me. I didn't mention my name, did I?"

I shook my head.

"My name is Agatha Cromwell, but you may call me Aggie. And who might you be?"

"Bernard, ma'am. A-and this is Rupert."

Rupert waved unenthusiastically, bitter at having been pushed to the back burner.

"It's nice to meet you both. Now come along, Bernard. Rupert."

Over the hill and atop the next one sat a humble cottage amid some scraggly pine trees. A rosy smoke puffed out of the chimney. It looked rather inviting, and I was dead tired from our hike. Aggie rapped the door knocker twice and smoothed out her hair.

A solid minute passed before an old man answered the door. He looked just like your stereotypical grandfather, not like the Merlin everyone tends to think of with the pointy hat and long white beard. He squinted, put on his glasses and a warm smile lit his face. "Why, hello, Aggie! What brings you by today?"

"There are two visitors here to talk to you, Uncle. Rupert and Bernard. They're from..." She stopped and turned to us. "Excuse me, but where are you from?"

"Santa sent us." Rupert explained as shortly as possible.

"Ah, Christmas elves! Come in, come in..." He opened the door wider and beckoned us inside. The air smelled heavily of garlic and ginger, I remembered noting for absolutely no reason at all. He gestured to some chairs around a short wooden table. "Haven't seen too many of you guys in my lifetime."

Everyone sat at the table, sparing Merlin who went into another room and returned a few seconds later with ready-made tea. "I'm sorry that took so long. If I'd known you were coming, I would have some already out."

Rupert and I looked nervously at each other, but accepted our cups of tea graciously.

He situated himself in the only empty seat and turned to Rupert. "So, what may I help you with today?"

Rupert handed him the letter and he read through it several times. "Oh, dear...Oh...Dear...Demons, huh? That is serious." He put it down and removed his glasses. "Well, boys, I'll see what I can do about your little problem. But first, let me look at your cups. Finished?"

Aggie handed hers to him first. He looked at the left over tea leaves in the bottom and grunted. "Sounds like that daughter of yours has been sneaking off to the mortal world again. You should confront her about it before she does something rash."

Aggie made a face. "Oh, Gwen...Will you ever learn? Ur, thank you, Uncle."

He motioned for Rupert to hand over the cup, but he frowned. "I don't see what the point of this is."

"It's just a parlor trick, really. You don't need to give it to me, if you don't want to."

"Here. Look at mine, please." I handed mine to Merlin.

He took a long look into my cup, turning it around several times with an odd expression on his worn face. "Huh..."

"What is it, sir?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing..." He gave it back to me. "I got a strange reading from yours, young man. A very strange reading indeed."

* * * *

"I hate to interrupt." Maigri interrupted. "But I just wanted you to know that Mother Nature, the Sand Man, and the Easter Bunny have just arrived. Cupid and the April Fool on their way, but the Tooth Fairy won't be able to make it until the last minute."

"Thanks a lot, Maigri." Destiny winked at him, making him very nervous.

"Oh, and one more thing, Bernard..." He smiled fakely.

"Yes?"

"Could you please, TAKE STORYTIME SOMEWHERE ELSE? People are complaining!"

They suddenly became aware of all the workers glaring at them.

"Oh! Oops..." If this had been anime, he would have sweatdropped. "Let's go to the conference room. Shall we?"

A few minutes later they settled down in the empty conference room. Concentrating on Bernard's story was a lot easier without the jumble of the Workshop. His words were the only sound in room, echoing off the walls in an almost eerie way.

* * * *

And that's when things began to fall apart.

The window burst open and a barn owl flew in with a message on its leg. (Sounds like Harry Potter, doesn't it? She wasn't just pulling that owl thing out of her butt, ya know.) It landed in front of Merlin and screeched urgently.

"What is it, my friend?" He hastily untied the message and scanned it quickly. His face grew stern, and he leaped out of his chair, turning it over. "I must leave. I'm sorry."

Aggie also stood up. "Wait, what is it?"

"My good friend Arthur, in the Mortal World, has been betrayed by his own son. If I don't leave now, he will surely die." He turned to us. "I am truly sorry, boys, but I must go. I will help you when I return."

We nodded.

"Now Aggie, in case for whatever reason, I don't return..." He reached into his bag and pulled out a clawed scepter with an opaque orb in its twisted fingers. He handed it to her gently and grasped her hands. "Take very good care of it for me. Don't let it get into evil's clutches."

She looked distraught. "But I don't know how to use this!"

"You'll know how to use it when and if the time comes." He smiled warmly. "After all, you're a Cromwell witch. And they're reputed to be the best kind there is."

"I'm only a Cromwell through marriage, Uncle Merlin. You know that..." She blushed.

"Doesn't matter, dear." He winked in my direction and turned to grab a staff from the far corner of the room.

And with that last thought, he called his bird and together they left. We never saw him again.

No one ever has.

As legend goes not too long after that the Lady of the Lake lured him into a cave, stole his magic, and put him in a deep sleep from which he shouldn't wake until the end of time. I'm not sure I believe that, but I do know he hasn't come back. I can only imagine what really happened to him. Something involving angry humans and fire, probably. But let's not think too much about that.

Rupert snorted and put his feet up on the table. "Well, that was a bust. I wonder what I should tell the Big Guy now."

Aggie turned the scepter over in her hands thoughtfully. "You could stay here in Halloweentown and wait for him to return. He shouldn't be gone for more than a couple of days. You can stay with my daughter Gwen and me. I'm sure she would be more than happy to show you around our little village."

He sighed. "Sure, I guess. I really don't want to return to our dimension empty handed anyway."

After another half an hour's hike back into town, we came to a quaint three story shop. Aggie smiled, though I must say it didn't touch her eyes at all. "Ah, here we are...The family potion shop." She opened the door and yelled with startling viciousness, "GWEN, GET OUT HERE NOW!"

There was a terrible stomping of feet down the stairs, making the whole building shake at its foundation. An exasperated young woman, about April's age with fiery red hair and angry piercing eyes, appeared in the doorway. She pouted and crossed her arms. "What, MOTHER?"

Aggie once again smiled. "We have a couple of guests who will be staying with us for a few days. This is Bernard, and this is Rupert."

I waved, but Rupert eagerly shook her hand. A weird, goofy look came over him. "Hullo...It's nice to meet such a beautiful flower such as yourself..."

She rolled her eyes. I think she got that a lot.

"I want you to show them around town. Okay?"

She tossed her head in frustration and stomped her foot on the ground. "But MOTHER, I was GOING to go out on a date with Kalabar! He was gonna take me to that nice little pseudo-French restaurant that opened up on the other side of town."

"Don't lie to me, Gwyneth. You two have been sneaking off to the mortal world to mess with humans again, and I know it! Merlin told me all about it."

She winced. Busted. One couldn't hide from Uncle Merlin's watchful eyes. "Fine. I'll show them around. But at least let me owl Kal first."

"Very well." The girl disappeared into the shop again. Aggie rubbed her forehead. "I apologize for her rude behavior. She's going through a rebellious phase. Normally she's such a well-mannered child."

"Oh, that's okay..." Rupert grinned. It made me sick to see him in such a love-struck state.

An owl flew out the window and Gwen returned with a broom built for three people. She frowned and inspected the dusty object. "Must I take this old thing? It looks horrible!"

"Yes, Gwen, it's the only broom we have that will accommodate more than two people. Your cool reputation can just put its nose in the corner for the day. And be back before dinner. And don't ditch them somewhere and run off with Kalabar, or I swear you'll never see daylight again, young lady!" And with that, Aggie went into the shop and slammed the door.

Gwen sighed. "I apologize for my mother. She's going through an 'oh poor me, my daughter's gonna leave the nest soon' phase. She's normally a much more pleasant woman."

I found this statement slightly amusing, but kept any comments to myself.

She made the broom hover and climbed on. She looked at us with contempt. "Well? Get on!" Rupert gladly climbed on behind her and put his hands on her waist. She growled. "Shoulders, please!" He obediently repositioned his hands. "Come on, Small Fry, I don't have all day..."

I hopped on behind Rupert and the broom gave a stomach churning lurch.

Up until just recently, no other experience had ever topped flying on that broom. The speed of it, the wind in my hair...It was the most awesome thing I've ever felt in my entire life! Okay, now the only thing that has ever been better was falling in love, but one could say I fell in love with flying too. I was so entranced in the feeling that I didn't hear a single bit of the tour she gave. All I remember were the vibrant colors flying by and the way my stomach fluttered when she sharply turned a corner. (She almost hit two swamp creatures and a goblin in the street, but that's irrelevant.) Oh, I could go on and on about it, but since I'm pressed for time, I won't.

We came back an hour or so later, with wide eyes and wind-swept hair. Rupert fell to his knees and kissed the ground. I don't think he enjoyed it as much as I did. Gwen pushed me off and brushed the hair out of her eyes. "Well, I hope you enjoyed that little tour, because I'm not doing it again." She reached for the door knob of the shop and stopped. She turned to us, suddenly alarmed. "Something's coming!"

As if on cue, the ground rumbled loudly beneath our feet. Aggie came running out of the shop. "What's going on here?"

"I feel a disturbance!"

"Well, I got that! What is it?"

Again, on cue, the ground erupted in front of us and a menacing tall figure in a black robe popped out. A hood obscured his face, so none of us got a really good look at him. "Surprise! Expecting me, dear?" With a few words I didn't understand, Gwen glowed with a blue light. She held up her hands to shield her face and turned into a statue.

"Oh, my...Gwen!" Aggie froze in terror. So did I.

Rupert, however leapt right into action. He drew his sword and charged at the figure. But the man simply waved his hand and sent him flying into a stone wall, about thirty or so feet away. There was a sickening crack, and he slid to the ground.

By then, Aggie had collected her wits and dug the scepter-thingy out of her hip bag. She held it out and said something, (which totally flew over my head,) that caused the orb to light up. "Away with you, dark creature!"

"Oooh, I'm so afraid! You don't even know how to use that, old woman!" He took a swipe at her with a nasty set of claws.

She dodged him pretty easily. "I'm not as old as you think, stranger."

He grunted and tried again. Again she dodged. His patience ran out. "Give that to me, woman!"

"NEVER!"

"Fine, then." He blasted her into a nearby tree. The scepter conveniently dropped right next to my foot and I snatched it before he even realized I had it.

I held it out as she had. "You want this?"

He turned to me and laughed scornfully. "What are you going to do with it, little elf? Zap me with it? Only a witch or warlock can harness its great power!"

"That's what you think!"

Now I'm not sure what happened next, really. I felt this weird power well up inside of me and I found myself speaking words I didn't understand. The light from within the orb grew in intensity until it reached a blinding level. I waved it at the hooded figure and the light shot out like a laser. When it hit him, he screamed in agony and disappeared.

Gwen immediately unfroze and looked around nervously. She spotted Aggie stuck in the tree and ran to help her out.

I stood there panting, still holding the scepter for a few seconds after the mysterious man had vanished, then exhaustion washed over me. The weapon fell out of my hands and I dropped to my knees. "I did it. Rupert, I did it. You can get up now."

Suddenly, a new feeling took hold in the pit of my stomach: Fear. He wasn't moving. He wasn't breathing. He just lay there, face down on the dirt. I crawled over to him and rolled him over. "Rupert?"

Now out of the tree, Aggie came running. She checked his pulse. "Oh no..."

"Oh no? No, no 'oh no'! What's wrong with him?"

She examined him a bit more closely before speaking again, and she did so with pity in her voice. "His skull cracked from the impact of the blast. I'm afraid...I'm afraid he died immediately."

The world shattered around me. "He's dead?"

"I'm sorry, Bernard." Aggie gave me a motherly hug, but it didn't even begin to help me. "I'm really so sorry."

I didn't cry. I came close, but I haven't cried since I was very young. I searched for my voice, but all I found was a choked whisper. "What do I do now, Aggie?"

"Well," came an echoing voice behind me. "It looks like you've got quite a lot to tell the Big Guy."

We turned to see the transparent form of Rupert's spirit, smiling sadly at me.

"Rupert, don't leave me!" I stood up and ignored the dizziness that swept over me. "I don't know what I'm doing!"

"It looks like you know EXACTLY what you're doing, Bernard. That was the most awesome thing I have ever seen in my entire life...Though I guess that doesn't count now..." He made a face. "Look, I want you to be the Regent in my place, okay?"

I shook my head violently. "NO! I can't replace you!"

"Please, Bernard? Consider this my last request. Take my badge and my sword and go home. You'll know how now."

Tears threatened to spill out of my eyes, but I managed to contain them. "But what about you? Will you stay here?"

"Oh, no, of course not! I'm not a resident of Halloweentown, I'm a Christmas Elf. Where do you think I'll go?"

I sniffed and smiled the best I could. He was going to a better place after all. "Oh. What about your body?"

"Burn it. As is my native people's custom. Do it here; don't take it back with you. Santa will understand my request. Now, if you'll excuse me...I've stayed much longer than I should anyway." His spirit flew off toward the west and disappeared into the setting sun.

* * * *

"I did as he had asked, but I couldn't bring myself to accept the Regent position. No one else wanted to take it either, so it became abandoned. Until Destiny came along, that is." Bernard took a deep, unsteady breath.

Curtis blew his nose loudly on a handkerchief and rubbed his eyes. "So w-what about the demon problem?"

"I tried, but I couldn't get rid of them... And Merlin never came back, so we were forced to leave our little town and move here."

"Oh, so THAT'S how the elves moved to the North Pole!" Destiny exclaimed, smacking her palm on the table. "I'd always wondered about that!"

"Well, now you know." He smiled falsely, still upset at having relived that horrible event. "Now we really ought to get back to work, before Maigri reports us."

Everyone stood up and began filing out of the conference room. When Bernard and Aggie were the only ones left, she spoke in a whisper. "That's not exactly how I remember it. Merlin's tea reading for you went a bit differently, didn't it?"

"Yes, well, they didn't need to know about it."

"Okay, if you say so..."

He looked at her uncomfortably and decided to change the subject. "So how is Gwen? Is she still with Kalabar?"

"Oh, my goodness no! He turned out to be evil!"

"Really?"

"Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one who attacked us that day...Say, did you know I have three grandchildren and one great-grandchild?"

"That's great!" He held out his arm for her and together they left, still chatting.

"Oh yes, Gwen married a nice human she met on one of her little adventures in the mortal world. But he died quite a few years ago...So unfortunate...She was never the same afterward."

"I'm really sorry to hear that..."

* * * *

This is how the Bernard's tea reading really went...

"Here. Look at mine, please." He handed his to Merlin.

He took a long look into the cup, turning it around several times with an odd expression on his worn face. After a long pause, he asked, "May I ask you a personal question, Bernard?"

"Sure."

Merlin looked over the top of his glasses. "You were an illegitimate child?"

Rupert's eyebrows furrowed, but he said nothing. Bernard looked down at his hands and nodded. "Yes, sir. I was."

"I am also a bastard, if it makes you any better." He turned it over and looked at the tea leaves again. "You think your father was human, don't you?"

Rupert's mouth dropped open.

"Yes, sir. He was."

"Maybe you should rethink that assumption...He had magic in him, as do you." He set the tea cup down gently and smiled down at the young elf with a twinkle in his eye. "You will do many great things, Bernard. Great things indeed."

Before Bernard could even take that in, the window burst open and a barn owl flew in with a message on its leg...

* * * *

A/N: And I'll leave it there...*Laughs manically* What'd ya think? Have I totally flipped my lid? Okay, so it didn't turn out nearly as badly as I thought it would...Although I'm still not satisfied with it. Please don't forget to review! I'm shooting for seventy-five this time for sure, but I can only do it because of YOU! Your comments are always gladly welcome.