A CHRISTMAS FUGUE
STAVE III: THE SECOND SPIRIT
Again the darkness was made not so dark. Well, yes, the darkness itself was still dark. But there was less of it, except underneath the furniture, where resistance groups gathered for a counterstrike against the invading candlelight.
The light came from a Lucia Wreath, a crown of candles on the head of what Kraden presumed to be the second Spirit. Where there had been only dark air before, he was now standing, as close to Kraden as I am to you now, and I am -in spirit- at your elbow, or -in a very specific case- behind you with my arms around your waist and my chin resting on your shoulder. …Did I type that out loud?
A-hem. Anyway, throughout the room a magnificent feast appeared, roasts of every description, bunches of fruit that could weigh down a strong horse, and some of the most luscious dishes Kraden could imagine. His dresser drawers had pushed themselves open and overflowed with apples and peaches, grapes hung from the curtains and his pillow was now flat under the weight of a turkey the size of all the Venus Djinn put together.
But even that surprise paled to Kraden's shock at who had appeared in all this. He was young, perhaps twelve, but very clearly blue, and that made the rest of the recognition much easier.
"Apparently I've got to show up like this, with the food and everything," said Saturos. "It's all kind of pretentious, I think. I'm supposed to teach you the true meaning of Christmas and so I come into being surrounded by a material feast? It's a bit of a tease, too, since you don't get to eat it."
"What are you doing here, foul villain?" Kraden shouted, falling over backwards.
"I don't call that very seasonal," said a Mars Djinni, hopping up onto Saturos' shoulder.
"Not another blasted Djinni!" snarled the old man
"Here's the thing, Kraden," said Saturos. "I was nasty in the end, but I wasn't all bad, so when I died, I got a choice, and this was the good option. Seems fair to me, I get this cool torch and everything." He waved his iron sceptre, which was empty at the top where fuel for the flame would go. "You, though, you've been pretty much a drain on the species from the beginning, and you're doomed to eternal imprisonment by your own chains right now. So you don't get to talk to Coal like that."
Coal nudged Saturos in the jaw with his foot. "Don't tell me you've forgotten your line."
"He knows who I am."
"Tradition is important."
Saturos gave a deep sigh, followed by the closest thing to a booming laugh that he could manage. "Come in! Come in, and know me better man!"
"I'm already in," Kraden pointed out.
"I know. Coal insisted."
"That's certainly something I'm familiar with. Wait… Coal? I suppose it figures that you're one of the Djinn helping the Christmas Ghosts. Shouldn't you be in a sock of some kind?" asked Kraden, less nastily than Coal would have expected. Maybe the Picard-Spirit had been more effective than he had believed.
"I am the Ghost of Christmas Present," said Saturos, having become fed up with the stalling. "Come with me, and I shall show you that which you need to learn."
"You would be more convincing if you weren't an eighth my age," Kraden pointed out.
"Haven't I told you about this? Anyway, I'm the one with the shiny ethereal robe and the torch of magical power, so officially speaking, I'm older. Ghosts are nontemporal," Saturos countered.
"Really? Could we go to my workshop and perform a few tests?"
"It's about bloody time that we got rid of that particular obsession of yours. This way," said Saturos, raising his flameless torch. Before Kraden could ask 'which way', the torch had flashed like the beacon on a lighthouse and- he was getting used to this -the world around all three of them had changed.
They stood in the snow, which felt strangely less like ice crystals and more like warm cotton, in the centre of Vale while people bustled around them. Sheba and the real Picard were standing at the top of the nearest cliff, combining Tornado and Diamond Dust Psynergies to improve the blanket of snow covering the village with a small blizzard.
Jenna and Garet were having a friendly (and overly affectionate, in some people's opinions) competition, trying to light the candles and torches around the village plaza from the greatest distance. Jenna's Beams were significantly more accurate than Garet's attempts with Fire, but from what Kraden could make out of the scoring system (and the slight lipstick marks) he was more than happy to lose miserably.
Felix was focusing Growth on the chosen tree that had been replanted near the Psynergy Stone, raising it into the needled behemoth that the Valeans preferred to decorate. As Kraden watched, it topped thirty feet, with Ivan swaying about at the top and swearing a variety of good-natured forms of revenge would be his upon Felix for convincing Ivan to do this.
"Incredible," Kraden murmured as a cluster of people in thick coats passed by, huddled together as they felt the brunt of Sheba and Picard's festive ice storm. 'Festive' had been added into the mix now that someone had thrown a basket of holly into the air and created a red and green swirl amidst the ice. "I've never seen anything like this before."
"Ah- AAAHH!" Garet screamed as his sleeve caught fire. He dashed to the pool around the stone, shoved his arm through the layer of ice, and calmed slightly as he doused his blazing arm.
"Garet!" Jenna called, running just behind him. "Are you okay?"
Saturos, who had watched the whole thing impassively, waved his torch over the ice. Several drops of water fell from it, which seemed odd enough to Kraden, but they also passed through the ice and out of sight. Garet withdrew his arm, in perfect condition.
"I'm fine," he told Jenna, proving it with a wave of his arm, but then recoiled. The fabric was mostly gone, and he had just raised wet skin into very cold wind.
"Maybe we should head inside," said Jenna.
"Make a fire," Garet added.
"Don't forget-" she began.
"-the hot chocolate," he finished, not missing a beat.
"What was that?" Kraden asked, bewildered, as the two Mars Adepts walked away, looking more like one four-legged bundle. "Your torch," he added, when Saturos gave him a quizzical look.
"Oh, usually the Ghost of Christmas Present gets a torch that sprinkles water containing the essence of benevolence and joy-"
"You know, I almost managed to create some of that last spring, using ground mandrake root and Cruel Dragon scales," Kraden interjected. Coal leapt over and pulled the old man's hood over his head.
"-but after a lifetime of combat and way more bad stuff than I ever meant to do, I traded it in for healing water. It's not so festive, and I can only use it on Christmas Day still, but it's useful," Saturos finished, having paused only long enough to nod approvingly at Coal.
"Spirit," said Kraden, distantly. He was watching the people of Vale, half of whom were laughing, some were singing, and not a single frown could have been seen for fifteen hundred miles. Kraden didn't know this for certain, but suspected deep down that the mayor of Alhafra wouldn't be smiling, even on Christmas Day, unless someone had put a merchant vessel under his tree.
Some where in the depths of his soul, a reminder of the old Kraden said that if that Alhafran thing who called himself a man didn't like this day, there had to be some good to it.
"Spirit, show me more! I had no idea that Christmas could be like this!" said Kraden, enthusiastically.
"I admit," Saturos said to Coal as he led Kraden up the village's slopes, passing more merrymaking villagers, "that there might have still been a certain satisfaction I took in a few of the evil-ish deeds. For example, not having to ask for anything was a huge change in my life."
"Where are you going?" asked Coal.
"Literally or figuratively?"
"Both."
"Figuratively, I'm saying that I'm going to rather enjoy this next part. A good emotional hammering to Old Man Alchemy back there, but for his own good. It's the best of both worlds. Literally," Saturos went on, waiting for to Kraden to catch up, "I'm going to the home of your assistant, Isaac."
"Oh, Isaac, yes! I'm sure he must be having an excellent day, always knew how to celebrate at the right time! You know, I haven't felt like this in years!" Kraden bubbled.
"I'm going to enjoy watching him meet the Third Spirit, too," Saturos told Coal quietly.
They seemed to walk for ages through the decorated and snow-bound village, coming across a new bunch of dancers or decorators or carollers every time Kraden turned his head. Twice Saturos stopped to heal people who had slipped on ice, and once removed the flu from someone who had woken up ill that morning.
At last they reached a house that looked not so unlike the others, except for a figure in the thick snow on top of the roof, trying to attach some sort of garland to the chimney and around the edges of the house. As they watched his lost his grip, tumbled down the side, and plummeted to the ground in a massive cloud of falling snow. As Saturos was again sprinkling as much water on him as he could without seeming to show favouritism, the front door slammed open.
From it came two children, both quite young but neither looking like the type to be shy or be overwhelmed by anything short of at least three Fusion Dragons being fused, and even then they would have to be quite nearby.
"Dad, why do you always do things the hard way?" asked one.
"Ask your mother," Isaac replied, still half upside-down in a brand new snowbank. "She'll tell you a very long story involving Lighthouses and accidentally endangering the world by trying to save it."
"We know that one," said the other, helping Isaac up. "What's that got to do with anything?"
"I was rather hoping it would distract you until you forgot about the question."
"Come on, dad, you know you can just ask us to help," the second continued.
"Carol, I don't want you to strain yourself, you could get sick," said Isaac. Carol took no notice, but held up the long string of holly and evergreen twigs.
"Lash," she said matter-of-factly, as though it were unthinkable that the Psynergy could fail, and it didn't, possibly just because it would have been embarrassed to ignore her. It tied itself neatly around the chimney, and hung in long arcs around a side of the house for good measure.
Carol's brother frowned at her. "Lift," he said, and hung two lanterns at the same time on either side of the door. Carol refused to take this lying down.
"Carry," she cast, and quickly looped the rest of the string along the edge of the house in a series of swift Psynergy-hand motions.
"Force," said the boy, and an ice-crystal filled moment later he had driven a path through the snow leading to the door.
"Scoop!" Carol held a handful of snow over her brother's head with a determined look in her eye.
"Hey, stop it," said Isaac, standing between the two. With a wave of his hand he shoved aside the hovering snow and glared at them both in turn. "Why does everything have to be a competition between you two?"
"Yeah, Nick," said Carol, in the tone of all children at such times.
"Sheesh, and you call mom the Ice Queen," said Nick, earning a stern look of his very own from Isaac, who was also trying very hard not to grin.
"Quiet. Now, both of you inside, you're going to catch a chill," said Isaac, firmly.
"I wish. When do we get our own Djinn, anyway?" asked Nick. He was intercepted on his way to the door when Carol coughed in a way that sounded suspiciously like 'Move' and snow toppled off the roof onto him.
"Such troublesome things," Saturos remarked.
Kraden seemed taken aback. "Troublesome? Those two? Such vibrant and lively little children?"
"Don't vibrant and lively mean the same thing?" asked Coal.
"They don't do what they're told, they fight, they're just…" Saturos listed.
"Childish?" Kraden suggested. "Perhaps. And perhaps that's not such a bad thing to be."
"I hoped you might think so," said Saturos, wandering through (literally) the door.
"You did?!"
His head poked back through. "Of course. People can be surprisingly easy to convince of something if they think they're arguing with someone else. I should think someone so wise as you would be well aware of that." Then he vanished again.
Kraden was wary now as he followed. He paused at the door and reached out to see if it was actually there. He knocked solidly once and found that he couldn't walk through as Saturos and Coal had, but Isaac didn't hear the tapping, either.
The door opened. "Blast, though I had you on that one," said the blue-haired boy. "Practically everyone tries to walk through the door."
"Why do you keep saying that? I thought I was being made an exception, but you spirits talk as if this sort of thing happens all the time," said Kraden.
"Nearly, nearly. Only for the right kind of people, though, those who can be saved. There's more than one person in the world who'll never get a visit such as you have. Of course, there are many, many more who don't need one," Saturos pointed out.
"When's mom going to be home?" Nick asked, and Kraden could somehow tell from Isaac's face that he had heard this before today, more than once.
"Soon, soon, go check the food," said Isaac
"I've already checked twice this morning! What dramatic catastrophe can possibly befall any sort of bird while it's being cooked? I mean, yeah, there's some fire involved, but it's not exactly risky."
"It could always turn out that there was a mixup while someone thought they were hunting pheasant and a Wonderbird got taken in to the market-" Carol's voice was slightly muffled by the door closing behind them as they went into the kitchen "-and then it got sorted into the wrong group and the merchants brought it all the way to Vale and mom and dad bought it, only now we've put it in the oven and the fire's going to resurrect it and we'll have an evil phoenix in the kitchen."
There was a silent moment. Isaac seemed to be counting under his breath. "Daaad!"
"Six," he muttered to himself. "What is it, Nick?"
"How can you tell the difference between a Wonderbird and a turkey?"
"Wonderbirds turn to ash when they die," he replied.
"Ha ha, fooled you," Carol taunted Nick.
The door swung open, and Mia appeared, along with a third, much smaller child in a swirl of snow that glinted in the sunlight. Isaac was with her in an instant, holding her before the Mercury Adept could even start to take her coat off. "Don't get me wrong," he whispered into her ear, "I love kids, but can't we trade with someone else?"
Mia laughed and gave Isaac a light slap on the shoulder. "Go decorate something!"
"Nothing left, those two got outside and started playing Adept Wars. Hey!" Isaac dropped to his knees and wrapped the tiny boy in a hug. "Did you have fun with mom?"
"Oh, yes Robin did, and they'll be cleaning up the plaza until the new year," said Mia.
"I only missed the first time," he argued, and as Robin turned to tell Isaac all about trying to use Tremor to get the snow off the roof (and accidentally casting it behind him instead, which was unfortunately where the giant tree was) Kraden saw something strange.
"What is that contraption on his legs, Spirit?" the old man asked.
"A support frame," said Saturos, simply. "Robin was born weak, very weak, and has never recovered. Without those iron rods, he wouldn't even be able to stand on his own legs, and it goes deeper than that. He lacks energy, lacks the strength to fight off sickness. Why do you think Isaac was so adamant about Carol and Nick going back inside? He doesn't want to lose anyone else."
"Lose?" Kraden repeated. "Surely he'll grow stronger. And why not use your torch?"
"I cannot heal all wounds, Kraden. This is beyond my power. It is an insidious disease that has him, Kraden. And he won't last much longer. I cannot see beyond the present, not truly, but the next Christmas day looks much emptier than this one."
And as Kraden watched, he saw precisely what Saturos meant by emptier. Who could not! Though weak in body, none in the house was as strong in spirit as Robin. He sang loudest and laughed hardest, though both faded to coughing a few moments later, and there was a joy in his heart that seemed to spread to all those around him.
"It was good for me to go out," Robin insisted. "It's Christmas, after all, and it's a day for everyone. People should remember the power this day has, that it lets even one like me stand freely and speak firmly. It's a day for hope, and what better symbol is there?"
"You're not a symbol, Robin," said Mia.
"No, not to you, but to most people I am. I symbolise the courage of all people- even if it is hidden deep down somewhere. That spirit that won't let us fall down and surrender, even when things look worst," Robin went on.
"Like when an avalanche of ornaments is coming their way," Nick suggested.
"Sometimes metaphors need to be really obvious," said Mia, evenly. "Or even things that aren't metaphors. I have proof of that."
"You're not still on about Venus Lighthouse, are you?" asked Isaac. "It's perfectly reasonable to be nervous."
"For most people, yes," Mia admitted. Then she grinned rather impishly. "From someone who's just beaten a dragon single-handedly, I expect backbone. Next time I'm not going to save you from yourself. One kiss is all you get."
"Yeah, right," Nick muttered.
"Tell the story about the Lighthouse again!" said Carol.
"Maybe without the mushy ending," said Nick.
"Fuzzy," Carol corrected him.
And so it went on and on, and Kraden wondered if he could ask the Spirit to keep him in this day that he might live through it again, so pleased was he by the celebration. Until, at last, dinner, when Isaac proposed a toast and didn't get the reaction he had been hoping for.
"To Kraden," said Isaac, "father to heroes." For a moment, Kraden felt a burst of tremendous pride, recalling that it had been he who set the quest in motion by entering Sol Sanctum, and happy that Isaac gave him credit for it.
"Kraden!" Mia yelped, as though she had been burnt (which is quite a thing for a Mercury Adept). "I should think not! That nasty relic, who keeps you away all day blowing things up and never has a thought for another person in the world?"
"Mia," said Isaac, a little reproachfully.
"Kraden, who wouldn't spare the wine to toast you if you gave him a glass! I do wish he were here now, and I'd have a toast for him, all right! I'd give him a piece of my mind, I hope he'd choke on it, and then haul him down to Jenna's house! That's a toast!"
"Mia," said Isaac again. "The children, Christmas Day."
"Nah, I'm with mom on this one, dad," said Nick.
"Definitely," Carol chimed in.
"To Kraden!" said Robin, as though the others hadn't even spoken. Mia melted instantly (which is also quite a thing for a Mercury Adept) but held firmly onto her opinion.
"Oh, very well. To Kraden, may he be very merry and happy," she said, and added very quietly "and blast himself into a thousand pieces."
"I heard that," said Carol.
"Me too," Nick followed.
Night had fallen outside, and the house seemed to fade, drifting away. Kraden found himself trudging through the snow with Saturos again. He wanted to be silent, to think for a moment, but the Ghost of Christmas Present wouldn't let him.
"Bit of shock, wasn't it?" he asked.
"What of it?" Kraden demanded.
"The boy will die," Saturos remarked, as if they had been talking about Robin for hours. "And Isaac is helpless to do anything about it. He and Mia have enough trouble caring for the rest of the family, let alone trying to combat whatever strange malady Robin has been afflicted with."
"Whatever do you mean?" asked Kraden.
"You're as blind as a fish in a sack, did you know that?" asked Coal.
"Kraden, they can hardly afford what they have right now. Didn't you see the nearly empty rooms, the food that they all thought a feast? You hardly pay Isaac, but demand all his time," said Saturos.
"I thought he liked the work. He must, why else would he be here?"
"Because there's nowhere else to go. There's nothing for them in Vale, but with Robin as weak as he is, they can't go anywhere else, either. The boy needs care too often, and that causes them trouble too."
"Basically, he's dead if they leave, or they can stay, be miserable, and he'll die later," said Coal. Saturos smacked the Djinni so that he spun around, off his shoulder and into the snow.
"I didn't know…" Kraden whispered.
"You didn't care enough to look," Saturos pointed out. He stopped. They had reached the foot of the mountain again, and the ring of ice that surrounded the great Psy Crystal. It was flashing, a slow, regular pulse that counted the hour of the day, on the hour.
"You're fading," Kraden observed.
"Oh, yes, Christmas Day is ending. That's what it means to be the Spirit of the Present- you don't last long, but you shine the brightest. I'll be gone at the twelfth hour, and then there will only be one left for you to meet," Saturos told him.
"Past and Present I know…" Kraden said.
"So one Spirit remains, with one more lesson."
"The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come," said the alchemist, nearly trembling.
"'Future' tends to work for most of us," said Saturos. The Crystal flashed, eight, nine.
"I'll remember what I've learned from you, Saturos," Kraden promised.
"You had best," said the transparent boy, "or you'll never have a chance…"
Twelve. Saturos was gone. The winds had stopped, the starlight seemed fainter, and Kraden turned to the Psy Crystal and saw that it was still glowing with the light of the last beat. It let that brightness flow from its sides, and the purple energy swirled past Kraden. He understood, and turned again to face a tall figure, cloaked and hooded in black. The third Spirit had come.