************************************************************
Disclaimer: I only own the new characters
Chapter 6: The Elusive and the Insecure
Mother Nature's home was the grove of the world. All manner of plant and animal life covered the grounds. In the center of the area, a small crystal pond stood. Not a ripple graced the surface of the serene water. On one edge of the water, a marble throne was placed, and seated in it, was Mother Nature herself.
The great woman was decked in her finery, the very picture of all that is nature itself. Majestic and refined, a queen who knew her post.
She'd been sitting there for an hour now, and her patience was wearing thin as she spoke to the liquid in front of her, "It would not be wise for you to disobey my orders."
A ripple touched the water, "I'm not trying to, I just don't want to have this discussion."
The voice from the water sounded sad and overly unhappy, listless in a way. Even the slight movement of the water didn't put up a fight.
"Oh, c'mon dear! We need to talk about this!"
"But Mother Nature - "
"I command you, as the ruler of the council of legendary figures, to appear before me this instant!"
The water trembled and then fell still. Slowly, a transparent form began to lift out of the pond. It took shape and colors began to fill in. The young woman it had become walked across the surface until she stood next to Mother Nature.
It was obvious from the apparel of the form that this girl was the Spirit of Christmas herself. Her dress was long and white, with silver stars sewn into the pattern. Red and green trimmed adorned the outfit and holly and mistletoe decked her hair. White face paint covered the features of the girl, except where tears had revealed lines of pale pink skin.
"Well now, I thought it was you." She said, brushing the hair that had fell into the girl's eyes back. Mother Nature swept the younger girl into a hug.
"It's good to see you again mom."
Mother Nature laughed, "You know I'm not your real mother."
"You never had a problem with me calling you mom before. And I don't have any parents anyway, so what's the big deal?"
"Oh, you know there is none. How are you dear?"
"I take it you haven't been out to the North Pole lately, then. Things are awful."
"That is why I called you here. Tell me why you're so sad."
The Spirit sat down on a boulder near the edge of the pond, "I can't."
"Oh right, the rules of the business. Does it completely prohibit you from telling me anything?"
"Anything directly involved with the issue at hand."
"What if I guess it?"
"I don't know. I guess I lose my voice if I try to tell you."
"We can still give this a try. Are you sad because you've been left alone?"
The Spirit's voice was squeaky and choked, but she managed to whisper, "No." Fighting to explain herself, she tried again, "I am never truly alone."
"Yes. Maybe you and Noel should hang out together, you were always good friends. Your emotions even play off each other. But if it isn't something to do with your present company, is it something to do with Christmas?"
"No, this is outside of the holiday."
"Then it's something with you. Something personal?" Mother Nature looked deep into the eyes of the Spirit, trying to see her answer.
"I can't answer that."
"I know, but you really have answered me."
The Spirit looked up suddenly, "Huh?"
Mother Nature eyes glittered with mischief and her lips curled up in a self-satisfied smile, "By telling me that it's nothing to do with Christmas, but by not telling me if it's personal or not, I know it's personal!"
"Well I hope you can figure it out faster than I can. Even I'm not really sure what's going on."
Both women stood there for a moment, contemplating in silence. The Spirit sighed and raised her eyes first,
"If there's nothing else…"
The other woman took the hint, "I can see that this will lead us nowhere right now. So, you may go back. Just promise me that you'll be on call if I need to contact you fast."
Nodding, the Spirit walked back out onto the lake and began to slowly sink back into the calm liquid. Before she left, she called after the head of the council,
"I'm sorry mother."
"I forgive you child. We all deserve forgiveness in our worst times."
They both smiled weakly at each other as the Spirit disappeared beneath the waters.
*****************************************************************
(Back at the North Pole)
Santa, Mrs. Clause, and Bernard hovered around the Elfsburg Library like desperate lost souls. With the help of a few of the younger elves, and Judy and Curtis, they pulled numerous volumes off the shelves and threw them all over the large reading tables. Still the main reference though, was the Book of Christmas.
Curtis flipped through the book at breakneck speed, trying hard not to rip the pages. Nothing was coming up in any of the chapters. He reopened the section on the Spirit of Christmas and skimmed over it once more.
This time, something new stood out, but it was far from anything useful, "You guys better read this."
The other four in the room ran over, "What is it? Something good, I hope?"
"I'd call it incentive to fix our problem instead."
Bernard sighed, removed his cap and ran his fingers through his hair, "That doesn't sound good."
"It isn't. The book says, and I quote, 'If a solution to the Spirit's sadness is not found by the next Christmas, it will have a greater impact than the destruction of the Christmas holiday. Not only will a chain reaction with all other holidays begin, but the hope and the imagination that lives in the hearts of all the world's children will die out. Thus destroying all the hope in the world.'."
Carol covered her mouth with her hands, "Oh my."
Scott put his arm around her, "We have to find out what's going on. We don't have a choice."
"We didn't in the first place." Remarked Judy, sitting down in a nearby chair.
All sat silent in thought for a few minutes, completely in utter despair. Scott jumped up from his chair, "Bernard, get to the control room and put a tracker out on anything that has magic. The Spirit may show up somewhere on there."
The former head elf immediately left for the control room, knocking the pile of books that Curtis had collected. Over twelve volumes hit the floor, scattering around the feet of those there. In the confusion, no one saw when the book entitled "The History of Christmas", disappeared under the table.
*****************************************************
Bernard jogged across the workshop towards the hangar where he could gain access to the center of operations.
He let his gaze drift over to the main workshop as he passed through it. To his surprise, he saw Noel standing there with some of the smaller elves. It was apparent that the younger set of elves was having a hard time coping with the idea that the end of all holidays was coming, and the head elf was trying to calm them.
She had them decorating a new tree. Bernard watched as she picked up an ornament in her hands and watched it slowly fade into nothingness. Rubbing her hands together, he could see one of the others asking her if something was wrong, and she replied that everything was fine.
There was a sense of desperation in her eyes, and he stalled for a few seconds. Once again, the urge to talk to her came up and he took a small step toward her. It was then that he suddenly remembered what he had to do. Quickly and quietly, he stole away toward the control room.
Just as he had turned, Noel felt like someone was watching her and she spun around on her heel to see who it was. As the fleeting form of Bernard met her eyes she sighed in sadness. Gazing down at the ground, she felt another tear slip from her eye.
A little elf boy reached up and tugged on Noel's sleeve, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine dear. Let's get back to the decorating the tree."
*********************************************************
Hours passed in this fashion. Noel working with different groups of the younger elves to try and calm them. Some of the elves were only a little over twenty years old, having been made into elves by Noel before she went on vacation.
She looked down at the little elfess asleep on her lap, no bigger than a three year old child. Gently brushing the girl's soft brown locks with her fingers, she laid the child on the bench next to her and covered her with a blanket. Noel motioned to a passing elf,
"Could you put her back in her room so she can get some sleep?"
The other elf nodded, "Yeah."
"Thank you. When you're done, why don't you go get some milk and cookies and take a break, okay?" She patted his cheek and then began to walk to the control room.
Noel had been checking the time on her watch and was starting to realized that she needed to get some sleep. However, in these particular times, for a high ranking elf, rest time was regulated.
She knocked on the control room door and a voice from inside beckoned her to come in. Confident that her request would be met, she went inside.
"Santa, I was wondering - " She suddenly was cut off as someone stood up in front of her.
"Bernard? Is Santa in here?"
He looked over his shoulder and sat back down at the table, revealing the forms of Santa, Mrs. Clause, Curtis, and Judy.
"Santa, I was wondering if I could take my sleeping break now. I've got pretty much all of the elves as calm as they can be."
Scott looked at her with tired eyes, "Are you sure you can't stay for the meeting?"
"What meeting?"
Bernard slunk down in his seat as his boss glared at him, "Didn't you tell her we were having a meeting?"
"I forgot." He lied. What was he supposed to say? That he'd lost the nerve to even speak to her anymore?
"In the fifteen hundred years I've known you, you haven't forgot anything." Stated Judy, crossing her arms where she sat.
He threw her a nervous glare and she just smiled right back at him as if to say, 'You aren't getting away with this.'
Noel chose to ignore what she saw, "So, what is this meeting about?"
"Just to see if you found the Spirit yet or have any new ideas about how to find the Spirit."
"I do not have any ideas nor have I found her."
A depressed Scott sighed knowingly, "Alright then, you can go to bed. Have a good night's sleep."
The head elfess looked at those seated before her, "Good night everyone." With that she walked out of the room and headed to her own.
Judy turned to Bernard and hit him lightly on the shoulder, "Why didn't you stop her?"
"Yeah! You just missed your best chance yet!" Curtis piped in, his expression breathing confusion and frustration.
Scott and Carol turned simultaneously to look at the three elves, "What?"
The eldest of the three looked nervous, "Nothing. These two are just a little out of line."
"Out of line? Now I am gonna tell!" Curtis began to speak, but Bernard rushed to cover his mouth.
Judy seized her chance, "Bernard loves Noel!"
"Judy!" Bernard yelled, taking his hand off Curtis's mouth.
Santa let out a whistle, "So that's what's been going on. I knew there was something between you two."
"There's nothing between Noel and I. Judy and Curtis are just imagining things."
"We are not -"
"Please everyone just be quiet." Carol chimed in, getting up from her seat. She walked slowly over to the elves and held Bernard's face in her hands, "Now dear, I want you to look me straight in the eye and answer me truthfully. Do you have feelings for Noel?"
He sighed, "Yes."
"Are those feelings more than friendship?"
"Yes."
"Do you love Noel?"
Bernard thought about all the ways he could lie to get himself out this question. Mrs. Clause saw through it immediately,
"I will know if you lie to me. Do you love Noel?"
"Yes."
"Okay, good. Now listen to me Bernard. The outlook of our current situation is getting worse every minute, we don't have much time left. Think of how bad you'll feel that you never told her your true feelings."
He opened his mouth to speak but she laid a finger over his lips, "Go."
With her other hand she pointed in the direction of the housing building. Released from his female boss's grip, he quickly left the room.
********************************************************
All the elves in the workshop turned and stared as their head elf scrambled out of the control room and dashed across the main floor to the exit door. Never had they seen Bernard act in this manner before.
Jessica turned from where she was feeding Comet and addressed Larry, "They tell us not to be worried and then Bernard goes and runs through here like an elf gone crazy."
Larry dumped his load of hay in the trough and leaned against the wood frame, "No kidding. C'mon let's go get some chow."
**********************************************************
Bernard stood in front of Noel's door again, just staring at the solid wood frame. He was hesitating raising his hand, never mind the knocking part of the deal.
He look down at the ground and noticed something.
The lights were off.
Suddenly, the thought that she was asleep and waking her would put him even more on her bad side, comforted him. He turned around and went to his own room.
Throwing himself on his bed, he let the deep recesses of sleep penetrate his already worn out mind. His last words of the night echoed in the empty room,
"I'm such a coward."
***********************************************************
***There are three chapters left! Things will pick up quickly from now on! Please review!!!***
Disclaimer: I only own the new characters
Chapter 6: The Elusive and the Insecure
Mother Nature's home was the grove of the world. All manner of plant and animal life covered the grounds. In the center of the area, a small crystal pond stood. Not a ripple graced the surface of the serene water. On one edge of the water, a marble throne was placed, and seated in it, was Mother Nature herself.
The great woman was decked in her finery, the very picture of all that is nature itself. Majestic and refined, a queen who knew her post.
She'd been sitting there for an hour now, and her patience was wearing thin as she spoke to the liquid in front of her, "It would not be wise for you to disobey my orders."
A ripple touched the water, "I'm not trying to, I just don't want to have this discussion."
The voice from the water sounded sad and overly unhappy, listless in a way. Even the slight movement of the water didn't put up a fight.
"Oh, c'mon dear! We need to talk about this!"
"But Mother Nature - "
"I command you, as the ruler of the council of legendary figures, to appear before me this instant!"
The water trembled and then fell still. Slowly, a transparent form began to lift out of the pond. It took shape and colors began to fill in. The young woman it had become walked across the surface until she stood next to Mother Nature.
It was obvious from the apparel of the form that this girl was the Spirit of Christmas herself. Her dress was long and white, with silver stars sewn into the pattern. Red and green trimmed adorned the outfit and holly and mistletoe decked her hair. White face paint covered the features of the girl, except where tears had revealed lines of pale pink skin.
"Well now, I thought it was you." She said, brushing the hair that had fell into the girl's eyes back. Mother Nature swept the younger girl into a hug.
"It's good to see you again mom."
Mother Nature laughed, "You know I'm not your real mother."
"You never had a problem with me calling you mom before. And I don't have any parents anyway, so what's the big deal?"
"Oh, you know there is none. How are you dear?"
"I take it you haven't been out to the North Pole lately, then. Things are awful."
"That is why I called you here. Tell me why you're so sad."
The Spirit sat down on a boulder near the edge of the pond, "I can't."
"Oh right, the rules of the business. Does it completely prohibit you from telling me anything?"
"Anything directly involved with the issue at hand."
"What if I guess it?"
"I don't know. I guess I lose my voice if I try to tell you."
"We can still give this a try. Are you sad because you've been left alone?"
The Spirit's voice was squeaky and choked, but she managed to whisper, "No." Fighting to explain herself, she tried again, "I am never truly alone."
"Yes. Maybe you and Noel should hang out together, you were always good friends. Your emotions even play off each other. But if it isn't something to do with your present company, is it something to do with Christmas?"
"No, this is outside of the holiday."
"Then it's something with you. Something personal?" Mother Nature looked deep into the eyes of the Spirit, trying to see her answer.
"I can't answer that."
"I know, but you really have answered me."
The Spirit looked up suddenly, "Huh?"
Mother Nature eyes glittered with mischief and her lips curled up in a self-satisfied smile, "By telling me that it's nothing to do with Christmas, but by not telling me if it's personal or not, I know it's personal!"
"Well I hope you can figure it out faster than I can. Even I'm not really sure what's going on."
Both women stood there for a moment, contemplating in silence. The Spirit sighed and raised her eyes first,
"If there's nothing else…"
The other woman took the hint, "I can see that this will lead us nowhere right now. So, you may go back. Just promise me that you'll be on call if I need to contact you fast."
Nodding, the Spirit walked back out onto the lake and began to slowly sink back into the calm liquid. Before she left, she called after the head of the council,
"I'm sorry mother."
"I forgive you child. We all deserve forgiveness in our worst times."
They both smiled weakly at each other as the Spirit disappeared beneath the waters.
*****************************************************************
(Back at the North Pole)
Santa, Mrs. Clause, and Bernard hovered around the Elfsburg Library like desperate lost souls. With the help of a few of the younger elves, and Judy and Curtis, they pulled numerous volumes off the shelves and threw them all over the large reading tables. Still the main reference though, was the Book of Christmas.
Curtis flipped through the book at breakneck speed, trying hard not to rip the pages. Nothing was coming up in any of the chapters. He reopened the section on the Spirit of Christmas and skimmed over it once more.
This time, something new stood out, but it was far from anything useful, "You guys better read this."
The other four in the room ran over, "What is it? Something good, I hope?"
"I'd call it incentive to fix our problem instead."
Bernard sighed, removed his cap and ran his fingers through his hair, "That doesn't sound good."
"It isn't. The book says, and I quote, 'If a solution to the Spirit's sadness is not found by the next Christmas, it will have a greater impact than the destruction of the Christmas holiday. Not only will a chain reaction with all other holidays begin, but the hope and the imagination that lives in the hearts of all the world's children will die out. Thus destroying all the hope in the world.'."
Carol covered her mouth with her hands, "Oh my."
Scott put his arm around her, "We have to find out what's going on. We don't have a choice."
"We didn't in the first place." Remarked Judy, sitting down in a nearby chair.
All sat silent in thought for a few minutes, completely in utter despair. Scott jumped up from his chair, "Bernard, get to the control room and put a tracker out on anything that has magic. The Spirit may show up somewhere on there."
The former head elf immediately left for the control room, knocking the pile of books that Curtis had collected. Over twelve volumes hit the floor, scattering around the feet of those there. In the confusion, no one saw when the book entitled "The History of Christmas", disappeared under the table.
*****************************************************
Bernard jogged across the workshop towards the hangar where he could gain access to the center of operations.
He let his gaze drift over to the main workshop as he passed through it. To his surprise, he saw Noel standing there with some of the smaller elves. It was apparent that the younger set of elves was having a hard time coping with the idea that the end of all holidays was coming, and the head elf was trying to calm them.
She had them decorating a new tree. Bernard watched as she picked up an ornament in her hands and watched it slowly fade into nothingness. Rubbing her hands together, he could see one of the others asking her if something was wrong, and she replied that everything was fine.
There was a sense of desperation in her eyes, and he stalled for a few seconds. Once again, the urge to talk to her came up and he took a small step toward her. It was then that he suddenly remembered what he had to do. Quickly and quietly, he stole away toward the control room.
Just as he had turned, Noel felt like someone was watching her and she spun around on her heel to see who it was. As the fleeting form of Bernard met her eyes she sighed in sadness. Gazing down at the ground, she felt another tear slip from her eye.
A little elf boy reached up and tugged on Noel's sleeve, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine dear. Let's get back to the decorating the tree."
*********************************************************
Hours passed in this fashion. Noel working with different groups of the younger elves to try and calm them. Some of the elves were only a little over twenty years old, having been made into elves by Noel before she went on vacation.
She looked down at the little elfess asleep on her lap, no bigger than a three year old child. Gently brushing the girl's soft brown locks with her fingers, she laid the child on the bench next to her and covered her with a blanket. Noel motioned to a passing elf,
"Could you put her back in her room so she can get some sleep?"
The other elf nodded, "Yeah."
"Thank you. When you're done, why don't you go get some milk and cookies and take a break, okay?" She patted his cheek and then began to walk to the control room.
Noel had been checking the time on her watch and was starting to realized that she needed to get some sleep. However, in these particular times, for a high ranking elf, rest time was regulated.
She knocked on the control room door and a voice from inside beckoned her to come in. Confident that her request would be met, she went inside.
"Santa, I was wondering - " She suddenly was cut off as someone stood up in front of her.
"Bernard? Is Santa in here?"
He looked over his shoulder and sat back down at the table, revealing the forms of Santa, Mrs. Clause, Curtis, and Judy.
"Santa, I was wondering if I could take my sleeping break now. I've got pretty much all of the elves as calm as they can be."
Scott looked at her with tired eyes, "Are you sure you can't stay for the meeting?"
"What meeting?"
Bernard slunk down in his seat as his boss glared at him, "Didn't you tell her we were having a meeting?"
"I forgot." He lied. What was he supposed to say? That he'd lost the nerve to even speak to her anymore?
"In the fifteen hundred years I've known you, you haven't forgot anything." Stated Judy, crossing her arms where she sat.
He threw her a nervous glare and she just smiled right back at him as if to say, 'You aren't getting away with this.'
Noel chose to ignore what she saw, "So, what is this meeting about?"
"Just to see if you found the Spirit yet or have any new ideas about how to find the Spirit."
"I do not have any ideas nor have I found her."
A depressed Scott sighed knowingly, "Alright then, you can go to bed. Have a good night's sleep."
The head elfess looked at those seated before her, "Good night everyone." With that she walked out of the room and headed to her own.
Judy turned to Bernard and hit him lightly on the shoulder, "Why didn't you stop her?"
"Yeah! You just missed your best chance yet!" Curtis piped in, his expression breathing confusion and frustration.
Scott and Carol turned simultaneously to look at the three elves, "What?"
The eldest of the three looked nervous, "Nothing. These two are just a little out of line."
"Out of line? Now I am gonna tell!" Curtis began to speak, but Bernard rushed to cover his mouth.
Judy seized her chance, "Bernard loves Noel!"
"Judy!" Bernard yelled, taking his hand off Curtis's mouth.
Santa let out a whistle, "So that's what's been going on. I knew there was something between you two."
"There's nothing between Noel and I. Judy and Curtis are just imagining things."
"We are not -"
"Please everyone just be quiet." Carol chimed in, getting up from her seat. She walked slowly over to the elves and held Bernard's face in her hands, "Now dear, I want you to look me straight in the eye and answer me truthfully. Do you have feelings for Noel?"
He sighed, "Yes."
"Are those feelings more than friendship?"
"Yes."
"Do you love Noel?"
Bernard thought about all the ways he could lie to get himself out this question. Mrs. Clause saw through it immediately,
"I will know if you lie to me. Do you love Noel?"
"Yes."
"Okay, good. Now listen to me Bernard. The outlook of our current situation is getting worse every minute, we don't have much time left. Think of how bad you'll feel that you never told her your true feelings."
He opened his mouth to speak but she laid a finger over his lips, "Go."
With her other hand she pointed in the direction of the housing building. Released from his female boss's grip, he quickly left the room.
********************************************************
All the elves in the workshop turned and stared as their head elf scrambled out of the control room and dashed across the main floor to the exit door. Never had they seen Bernard act in this manner before.
Jessica turned from where she was feeding Comet and addressed Larry, "They tell us not to be worried and then Bernard goes and runs through here like an elf gone crazy."
Larry dumped his load of hay in the trough and leaned against the wood frame, "No kidding. C'mon let's go get some chow."
**********************************************************
Bernard stood in front of Noel's door again, just staring at the solid wood frame. He was hesitating raising his hand, never mind the knocking part of the deal.
He look down at the ground and noticed something.
The lights were off.
Suddenly, the thought that she was asleep and waking her would put him even more on her bad side, comforted him. He turned around and went to his own room.
Throwing himself on his bed, he let the deep recesses of sleep penetrate his already worn out mind. His last words of the night echoed in the empty room,
"I'm such a coward."
***********************************************************
***There are three chapters left! Things will pick up quickly from now on! Please review!!!***