Chapter Twenty-Two: Deck The Halls
"Look out!"
Jack slid to the side just in time as Blaise rounded the corner of the house with a very long ladder under his arms. The watch it he was about to snap died in his throat. "Why do you have a ladder?"
Blaise swung about again, the ladder once more nearly hitting Jack.
"Watch it, Dad! Seriously!"
"Sorry, Jack. I'm not quite used to using them," he replied, standing the ladder up and tugging a string, the ladder instantly doubling in size.
"Then why are you using one?"
"To put up Christmas lights, of course. I can't fly like you and your Mother and Sister can," Blaise replied, gesturing to a pile of containers labelled lights.
"I can't either, you know."
"I didn't, actually. Now I do know." he shot a brief grin in Jack's direction, carefully leaning the ladder against the house. "Why so glum, son?"
"Oh, I don't know. I mean, I still haven't found out anything about Jacqueline's blackouts, Santa's ceiling is melting and I can't do anything about it because oh, yes, my powers still aren't back yet, but who knows why I'm glum," he shrugged.
Blaise stepped onto the first rung of the ladder, side eyeing Jack.
"Sorry," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"I know what might help you out," Blaise began, surveying Jack. "How about you help your old man put up these lights? A little bit of Christmas cheer never hurt anyone."
"Oh yes, I'm sure putting up Christmas lights will help me, of all people."
Blaise sighed. "Just hold the ladder for your old man, will you? I'm too young to go to Rosehaven and this is not how I planned to go out," he finished, climbing up the ladder.
Jack sighed, grabbing onto the ladder nonetheless. Deciding to ignore the "too young" comment and the potential with that one, he chose a safer route instead. "How did you plan on going out then?"
"No idea! I do know that there will be a large explosion involved."
"Ou. Fireworks?"
"I'm debating it." Blaise reached the top of the third storey, grinning. "Right! Now to put up the…ah. Lights," he trailed off, seeing the first strand laid out on the ground three storeys below him. "Mind tossing the lights up Jack?"
"Don't move!" He called up. "I can't make explosions for you if you do fall off of the ladder. It's not my forte."
Blaise's booming laugh did give Jack a very small smile as he grabbed the (miraculously) untangled strand of lights. He tossed them up with one hand, the other hand conjuring a north wind that blew straight upwards, Blaise catching the end of the strand before it shot past him.
"Hefty wind for someone short on power."
"Big words for someone trusting me to keep them from falling off the ladder," Jack retorted, once again holding it. Another booming laugh from Blaise.
Jack smiled. He hated that his Dad had been right, and that helping him put up Christmas lights had helped his glum mood the tiniest bit. Speaking of...
"Why are we putting up lights? Do we usually do that?"
"The past two or three decades, we have been! We usually do this much earlier but, with how busy we've been this month—between you coming back and your younger siblings being a bit more rambunctious than usual—we never got around to it. You and Fino bringing in more poinsettias reminded us that we hadn't even begun our Christmas prep." He paused, clipping the lights onto the edges of the shingles. "So today, we decorate!" He finished, clipping another bulb into place.
"How did I miss that?"
"Sleeping until twelve in the afternoon would do that to a sprite," Blaise shouted down.
"Thank yoooou, Dad!"
Blaise chuckled, turning his attention back to the lights. It only took about an hour or so with Jack's help; soon enough the windows, doors, and roof of all three levels had lovely brightly coloured strings of LED lights. They had finished cleaning up and were stacking the empty bins in the basement storage room when Winter appeared by the steps outside.
"Have you two finished the lights already?"
"Yep," Blaise replied, looking through the shelves. "Where'd the other décor go?"
"The kids already have it upstairs. There's tinsel everywhere," she said with a frown, walking down the steps.
"Oh, great," Jack said.
"Not a fan of tinsel?"
"Not quite, no. More of a garland kind of guy, myself. With a light layer of frost, angled in such a way that the sunlight makes it sparkle just right."
Winter smiled. "How do you feel about Christmas trees?"
Jack thought back to the year before, when he had knocked over Scott's Christmas tree to force Scott into using the Escape Clause. He definitely wouldn't be doing that again this year, so...
"I-I've warmed up to them this past year, I suppose," he said. "Did you want me to help you put it up?"
"Jack dear, we have to go get the tree first."
"Go get the...a real tree?"
"Of course!"
"But they're so messy!"
"Well that's part of the fun," Blaise said, standing up straight and rolling his shoulders. "Along with the journey to the tree farm, and the cocoa, and picking the tree..."
"And we go. Do that? That sounds awful."
"Nonsense, Jack. It is rather fun and I think you'll enjoy it," Winter said.
"It might kick your glum mood entirely," Blaise added, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Might."
"Well you won't know until you try, dear. Shall we? Fino and Fiera are already dressed and if we don't leave soon, I fear they may set the door on fire again."
"Well we can't have that," Jack said, halfheartedly.
"That's the spirit!" Blaise grinned, patting Jack on the back (the sprite letting out a whoosh of air at the sudden impact). He passed around Jack, Winter happily taking his arm as they headed back outside.
It looked like he didn't really have a choice. Jack sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. More Christmas spirit, he thought. Great.
"Let me see if I understand this. The Dome is melting and—"
"—was. It was melting."
"Are you sure about that, Scott?"
Santa sighed. "Yes, Neil, I'm positive. I have the official word from the Dome expert himself."
"An expert? That sounds fancy," Laura said.
"Eh, it's just Jack."
"And are you sure you can trust him?"
"Hmm, can I trust Jack...hmmm..." He stroked his beard, scrunching up his face in concentration. "Nope! Absolutely not! That's why I'm bringing you all up today, everyone in the sleigh, let's go—"
"—Scott—"
"Of course I trust him, Neil, what kinda question is that? I wouldn't put you guys in jeopardy, come on!"
"Now do you believe me?" Lucy asked, mildly irritated.
"Sweetie, it wasn't that we didn't believe you. We just wanted your Uncle Scott to confirm it for us, that's all. You never know what may have changed between the last letter you got and now," Laura said, kissing the top of Lucy's head.
"I guess you're right," Lucy replied. Accepting Laura's explanation, Lucy's mood immediately changed and she rounded on Santa. "Have you and Carol put up the tree yet? How's Buddy? How's Jack? Are you behind this year? Tell me everything. I'm so excited to go, Uncle Scott! Mom wouldn't let me put up our tree when I wanted to."
"It was the day after Halloween, don't you think that's a little too soon?" Laura said.
"Too late, I think," Scott joked. "I've had my Christmas decorations up since Boxing Day!"
That got laughter out of everyone. Scott had arrived just as the Millers had finished putting up their own Christmas decorations. Lucy was just placing the snow globe he had given her last year right in the middle of the fireplace mantel when he knocked. After one of Lucy's famous warm hugs, she had immediately asked about the Dome and so, Scott found himself explaining to Neil and Laura what exactly was happening, to the best of his ability. It was a lot, really, and he wasn't the expert; he was just the guy with the leaky roof. On the bright side, at least he wasn't having as rough a time as Carol was probably having. He didn't even want to think about how the in laws would take the Dome news.
"Okay, let's start from the top," Neil said, folding his hands together.
"Neil, it's really very straightforward," Charlie began from the kitchen. "Jack's powers shorted out after he thawed. Because he was powerless, the Dome didn't have its usual flow of magic because Jack couldn't maintain it. So, the Christmas magic started warming the Dome, and now it's melting."
"Was melting," Scott corrected.
"I was getting there," Charlie said, entering the room with the plate of cookies he had gone to fetch. "They called up his second-in-command to fix the Dome, but the second-in command could only temporarily fix it, but then they repaired it together somehow? Despite Jack not having his powers? I'm a little foggy there."
"So are they," Scott added, drinking his cocoa.
"But the fix is holding up! So you guys should be safe to go, just like Lucy said."
"See Dad?"
"Okay, I think I understand this now. The Dome—"
"Happy to hear it, Neil," Scott said, cutting him off. Charlie snickered.
"Do Carol's parents know?" Laura asked.
"Well...no."
"Scott!"
"Calm down, calm down! Carol went there first to get the hard part over with. She has Buddy with her, you know, for..." Scott searched for the word.
"Positive reinforcement?" Neil offered.
"Yeah! Something like that. Hopefully when I head over there, they'll be in the know as well, and then we can head on out. I'm sure they're not giving Carol too much trouble."
Bud and Sylvia were, in fact, giving Carol a bit of trouble.
She loved her parents, but she knew how hard to deal with they could be, which is why she had told Scott she would take care of telling them about the Deliquesce. She had even brought Buddy over with her to help keep her parents calm while she explained.
But of course, they were still giving her a bit of trouble. She hated how passive aggressive her mother was at times, and how much her father jumped to conclusions. Like, when she had arrived alone with the baby, Bud had immediately assumed that she had left Scott. That was a very long ten minutes. Then, when she began telling them how he went to make sure the Millers were ready, Bud had immediately started chastising him for not being with Carol—something about it "not being proper protocol".
It had taken twenty minutes before she finally told them what had happened with the Dome. She had finished about half of her informed explanation, only to be met with blank stares of shock from both her parents. Bud was first to break the silence.
"So you're telling me that not only is Frost still up there—"
"Thawed and good now—" Sylvia reminded him.
"—Right, sure, okay. So not only is he supposedly good and still up there—"
"We were both there, dear. We saw him...melt everywhere."
"Sylvia. The man is letting the Dome melt. You heard Carol! If it melts, it's all over for them!"
"You heard Carol, Bud! It's out of his control."
"Voices! Please! Buddy is getting agitated," Carol said.
"I'm getting agitated!"
"Bud! The baby!"
"I heard her!"
"Mom! Dad!"
"Sorry, Junior," Bud said.
Buddy gurgled in response.
"He's not letting the Dome melt," Sylvia snapped back, quieter now. "Weren't you listening? It's out of his control because his powers are gone!"
"So why didn't he take care of it sooner?"
"We were wondering the same thing, throughout the year. He didn't really want to talk about it—we all tried. Scott ended up cornering him in November," Carol said, noting how her parents were hanging on to every word. "He had called a Council meeting to force Jack to tell us what was wrong."
"That sounds far too smart for him."
"Bud!"
"I may have given him the idea," Carol said, with a sly smile. "It worked, though; Scott managed to get Jack to admit what was wrong."
"Good man," Bud said, Sylvia nodding.
Carol breathed a sigh of relief. Good. Scott was off the hook. Baby steps, she told herself.
"So did that fix the Dome?"
"It told us what was wrong with the Dome, and the Council was able to give us a way to help Jack. They have this thing called the Legate Law, where each of the Legendary Figures has a second in command to take the title next. They semi-enacted it and called in Jack's Legate, hoping that by doing this, she could fix the Dome and then help Jack figure out why his powers weren't working."
Bud and Sylvia looked at Carol, dumbfounded. Some of the food slid off of the spoon, Buddy fussing when it didn't land directly in his mouth.
"Oh, sorry dear," Sylvia said, wiping it and giving him another spoonful.
"Wow!" Bud finally said.
"And did that work?" Sylvia asked.
"Well, last we heard, they had found a way for Jack to temporarily power his powers—" Carol paused, not liking the way the words had come out, before continuing almost immediately. "—and they've found out the cause of the shortage in the first place. They went back to the family home, to see if they could figure things out there with everyone. Before he and his sister left, they did something together that seems to have fixed the Dome for now."
"He went to visit his family? Well isn't that lovely!"
"Hang on a second. Seems?"
Carol looked away, mouth full of cocoa. She swallowed and cleared her throat. "Yes, well, you see, Jack's able to tell when the Dome is fine and when it's not fine. Whatever he and his sister did fixed it very well, but according to him, it's still melting. Just very, very slowly. It's not a permanent fix, but it is very well done."
"But it's not permanent. I'm telling you, that whole place must've been built on a fault line or something if even the Dome isn't up to code."
"Well, it was made by the winter season herself so I beg to differ, Dad."
"I dunno sweetheart, I'm not convinced."
Carol sighed. Time to bring out the big guns. "Bernard has set up a special team of Elves who are constantly monitoring the melting, reporting back three times daily in case it starts up again. If it does, they'll know. And the moment it does start again, Jack and his Legate will know as well. I promise Dad, it's completely safe."
"Bernard. He's the competent one, right?"
"Yes, Dad."
"Well, if you're positive it's safe and aren't worried about it melting and destroying your home and your family over Christmas, then I'm sure it's fine," Sylvia said with a smile, feeding Buddy.
Carol forced a smile. "Thanks, Mom."
"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" Bud said, excited now.
"Wait, Dad! We have to wait for Scott to arrive and—" a knock on the door interrupted Carol.
"Oh, I'll go get it!" Sylvia said, cleaning up the last of the baby food and rushing to the door.
"And I'll get the bags!" Bud said, heading upstairs.
Carol took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief, the sound of Scott's voice from the doorway easing the last bit of tension she had held as she got up.
"Well. That could've been worse," Carol said, pulling Buddy out of the high chair.
Buddy made a funny noise, putting his small hand on Carol's nose.
"I'm glad you agree," she said, smiling.
Jack had seen plenty of odd things in his lifetime, that was for sure. But this? This was up there on the list, yep. He had been to tree farms before, plenty of times. They were one of his top five favourite places to make freezing cold—it was very funny watching mortals slowly curl their fingers into the bottom half of their gloves, when they needed to use those fingers to cut down the trees.
So seeing one in Crystal Springs? The magical continent? And being a person using the tree farm to cut down a tree? It left Jack with a very uncanny feeling.
It wasn't an exact replica of a tree farm in North America, thankfully. After all, this was a tree farm in a continent that exclusively housed magi-beings and didn't even celebrate Christmas for the same reasons Santa and mortals did. It made sense there would be a few small, magical differences.
There weren't any cars, for starters. Not in Crystal Springs, Mother Nature would not be pleased with the pollution they caused. Everyone took the teleportation points from various other parts of the continent to the Northern Province, and walked from there. Others could teleport themselves, or fly—a good amount of the population could, in fact. Magi-beings who couldn't fly had other means of transportation: broomsticks, winter wolves, horses, enchanted objects—and that is what the "parking lot" was full of.
As they walked into the farm, what looked to be a dryad sat below a towering evergreen, passing small, glowing, bean shaped objects to the families that entered. Winter took one and, thanking the dryad, placed it in a pouch gently, carefully putting the pouch in her pocket.
"What is that?"
"It's a seed, to replace the tree we cut down. Magical, of course; it'll be fully grown back well before next winter. We don't want to get rid of all the trees this far north, after all. Deforestation is a real problem."
This warmed Jack's heart a bit, but he wasn't sure why.
"We have a couple of heat sprites with us, would it be alright if I grabbed an extra seed, just in case?" Jacqueline asked the dryad, who nodded and gave her two more.
"Just in case one doesn't cut it," the dryad said with a wink, Jacqueline giggling and thanking the dryad.
They headed towards the trees, Blaise declining the saw that one magi-bean was handing out.
"Are you sure, sir?" They asked.
"Positive! I have my own way of cutting down a tree," Blaise replied with a wink.
"That's mildly concerning," Jack thought out loud.
"And far too hot if you ask me," Jacqueline replied.
It took Jack a moment before realization donned. "Does he—does he burn the tree down?!"
"He does this thing where like, he makes fists, and this very flat sharp looking flame thing happens and it's like a fire knife. Fino and Fiera keep trying to learn it, but it never really goes well."
"Which is why you got the extra seeds."
"Yep!"
"Smart."
"I try," Jacqueline said, with a shrug.
The search for the tree began with the twins rushing forward, leaving a trail of sparks behind them. Jacqueline followed close behind, armed with snowballs, careful not to trip over their sled. Jack stuck close to his parents, half-listening to them talk about the tree, half...well, not listening. There was a lot on his mind and sure the outing was nice but it would be a lot nicer if he wasn't technically powerless and wasn't at a loss for what to do next.
"Jack?"
"Hmm?"
"Oh dear. You were very far away there, weren't you?"
"Did you hear what we said at all?" Blaise asked, a sly grin on his face.
"Yes! Absolutely!"
"Then what did we say?"
Jack was silent. "Okay, you got me, I zoned out."
"A bit of an understatement, I should think. We were asking your opinion on where to put the tree," Winter said.
"We've got two votes for upstairs, one for the den, and two for the foyer," Blaise added.
"Sorry, upstairs?"
"Yes! Right in front of me and Fino's room!"
"So you can snoop on your gifts and maybe accidentally burn it down? No way. I think we should put it in the Den, like we did last year! That was real nice and cozy," Jacqueline said.
"Okay that's a solid no on the upstairs from me."
"JACK! WE WERE ROOTING ON YOU!" Fiera yelled. "I have never felt so betrayed in my LIFE!" She added, dramatically falling.
"Unbelievable," Fino said with a slow head shake, catching his twin as she fell.
"So you're thinking the Den too, right?" Jacqueline asked.
"No, that'll be too cluttered."
"Cozy!"
"Cluttered."
"A bigger room might be best this year, I think," Winter said.
"Oh? What's the occasion?"
All three siblings gave Jack a very dumbfounded look, Winter and Blaise sharing their own look of silent laughter.
"Oh! Right, right. I'm home. Right."
"Honestly Jack, you think you'd remember that."
"What's that supposed to mean, little flurry?"
Jacqueline snickered. "Take it as you will."
A snowball directly to the face was Jack's response, a response he regretted almost immediately when Fiera yelled SNOWBALL FIGHT and ran under Fino, throwing him onto her shoulders. He had already made several snowballs and looked just as determined as Fiera did, as they headed right at him.
"Well that didn't go at all how I thought it would go," he said, dodging the slushy snowballs.
And so, as the tree search continued, Jack found himself involved in a very intense snowball fight. It was hard to give tree opinions while dodging the slush balls, even more so when your Legate decided you made a great shield. But he found himself having fun and, just as Blaise had predicted, Jack's glum mood was all but entirely gone.
"Just as you expected, Blaise dear," Winter said.
Blaise laughed. "I told him a bit of Christmas cheer wouldn't hurt."
"Though that snowball looks like it did, oh dear."
"As long as they're having fun," Blaise said, bringing Winter in for a side hug and kissing the top of her head.
"And as long as they don't give anyone frostbite," Winter corrected, as Jacqueline was plowed over by a huge wave of snow, Jack laughing gleefully when it hit her.
It wasn't long after that when they finally agreed on a tree for the foyer. It was quite tall, and very full; Winter had made sure there wasn't a single bald spot on it. There had been some debate about the tree, of course. While everyone had loved the one currently coming home with them, the Twins had grown attached to a small thin tree and had pooled together their allowance to get it for themselves. Jack was sure it would go right by their room, since it was where they had wanted to put the family tree.
Jacqueline had also found a tree that had been deemed too small for the foyer. It smelt lovely, though, and was very full, so Jacqueline got it—her reasoning being that if the other two floors had a tree, the third one should as well, otherwise, it would bug her.
So now the family was headed home, with three trees wrapped carefully by the spiders at the checkout. They didn't bother with the teleportation point, instead teleporting themselves directly home from the tree farm. Since the sled they had brought with them for the tree had been commandeered by two tuckered out heat sprites, it was the easier way to go—especially since they had the two extra trees now. Jack found it almost laughable, really. He hadn't expected it to end like that. The twins hadn't even started a single fire! Which would've been hilarious to see—well, mostly hilarious. Good thing Jacqueline had grabbed the extra seeds, he thought.
He had made sure to grab some choice garland as well while the trees were being netted. Now that the family tree downstairs was up and decorated, Jack was carefully frosting the garland he had hung on the stairs. The light that came in from the upper landing and stretched down the stairs hit the garland just right, giving the frost a perfect gleam.
Jack stood on the upstairs landing, proudly surveying his work. "Look at that. It's beautiful! I have out done myself—ack!"
Something hard and cold had hit the back of his head.
"FINALLY! It only took me what, like a month? Not so high and mighty now mister I can dodge every snowball ever cause I'm Jack Frost—"
"Did you need something, Jacqueline? Or was that just for fun."
"A bit of both!" She said, grinning widely at Jack as he turned around, waving the snow off of himself. Jacqueline had somehow managed to stick herself through the railing on the upstairs landing, her hair nearly touching the stair below her. "Are you gonna help me decorate our tree or not?"
"Our tree?"
Jacqueline flushed. "Well, I mean, it's on our floor. Our floor, our tree?"
"Aww, you love your older brother," Jack said, smirking.
"Frost off," Jacqueline replied.
"Hey, watch the language!"
She stuck out her tongue and threw herself back upstairs. "I was just trying to be nice!" She shouted back down.
Jack chuckled, heading up the stairs. "I know, I'm just teasing," he said, reaching the landing. "Wow."
Jacqueline had been busy since the family tree had been put up. Snow fell from the ceiling of the landing, not quite hitting the floor but disappearing far before reaching it. The tree was a little frosty, almost white, the lights already around it and an angel sitting at the top of the tree. Literal icicle lights—as in, icicles with small flames trapped in them, somehow managing to not cancel each other out—were above the doorways. Jack had watched his parents make the same kind downstairs as everyone decorated the tree. The icy plants in front of their room doors were wrapped in lights as well, and Jack saw some remnants of tinsel sparkling on a few parts of the floor (it probably had made its way into Jacqueline's room).
"I try," Jacqueline replied, grinning. "Now come put up some ornaments, will you? You took an hour just to do the garland downstairs, at least help me with the tree before doing the garland up here."
Jack smiled. "Of course, sister dear. But ah, you gotta admit it looks amazing."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Jack," she replied, a snowball hitting the side of her head Jack's only response.
The day went by fairly fast after that. By the time dinner rolled around, the house was festive enough to perhaps give the North Pole a run for its money. The first floor was decked out: warm fairy lights (not actual fae) twirled around the garland that hung around the doorways and along the walls. A light coat of frost covered all of the garland, holly threaded in here and there. Jack had worked hard on the large wreath that now adorned the front door, with its frosted tips and silly baubles and such. The garland around the railings had red lights twirled around it now, the foyer lit in the warm glow from the lights all around.
It had been rather enjoyable and had in fact helped the Legend's mood immensely. He used to dread each coming Christmas, but this one? He couldn't wait for it to arrive. He found himself liking the decorations that he used to scorn, liking the bits of tinsel that were floating around on the floors. He was looking forward to spending Christmas with his family! Something he could finally say.
He lay on his bed, arms behind his head, and sighed. It had been a really really good day! And he wasn't even as tired as he usually was, despite the horrendous use of power the snowball fight at the farm had been. It made Jack wonder if perhaps...perhaps he hadn't been drawing from the ether today. Perhaps that had all been him.
He looked at his hands. Dare he even hope? He didn't feel any different...so why would his powers have suddenly come back? Wouldn't he have noticed?
He balled up his fists and threw his hands back under his head. No, he thought. I'll figure this out tomorrow. Maybe he'd run it by Jacqueline and she could help him figure out if his suspicions were right or not. He wasn't about to ruin a very good day with the helplessness that had been plaguing him since reading the journal the other night.
And yet...he had this feeling, deep in his gut, that he was getting close. He almost knew exactly what his essence was...a few more days home, and he'd have it all figured out, he was sure of it!
There was a brief dull ache in his head that served as a less than friendly reminder to Jack that his time at home was short. There was still the Dome to think about; and the brief throb in his head definitely had him thinking about it. About the fact that once again, as per usual, there wasn't enough time. A bit longer and he'd have been right as rain and could fix the Dome nice and proper for Santa.
With everything Santa had done for him, and everything Jack had frosted up for the man in the past? All the chances Santa gave the sprite? The friendship over the past year? Making him admit what was wrong and urging him to reach out and get help?
Well, when you put it that way, fixing the Dome was the least Jack could do for him.
"Curtis!"
The elf looked up from his search, grinning widely. "Lucy! Hey! When did you get here?"
"A few hours ago," the girl said, stopping beside the elf. "What're you doing?"
"Trying to find the keys to the snowmobile."
Lucy held them up.
"Oh! Thanks! Where did you get these?"
"Bernard gave them to me and told me to bring them to you. Where are we off to?"
"Who said anything about you coming?" Curtis said, grinning nonetheless.
Lucy raised an eyebrow.
Curtis laughed. "I'm going to check up on the Dome. Bernard put together a task force to keep tabs on it. You know about the Deliquesce, right?" He suddenly said, leaning in dramatically.
"Yeah. Uncle Scott explained it to us."
"Phew. Right. Well, the Dome Reconnaissance Team—or D.R.T. for short—has been keeping track of it, making sure the melting doesn't start up again, in any capacity at all."
"The D. R. T.? DRT? Like...dirt?"
"No, not like dirt—"
"The DRT, getting the dirt on the Dome," Lucy said, with a small laugh.
Curtis paused for a moment. "Okay, that was good."
"Thanks," she said proudly. "So what if it starts again slowly, and you can't really see it happening? How can you tell that it's happening at all?"
"With this!" Curtis said with a proud grin, bringing up a metal device about the size of a brick. It had a little satellite looking thing on the top, with a meter directly under it. A digital screen was below that, with a few flashing buttons near the bottom of the device, under the display.
"What is it?"
"I made it myself! It's a device that measures the amount of Christmas magic going through the Dome and out into the world. That's what the Dome does, after all. It guides the Christmas magic out into the world in a controlled way. This much magic in one area is really volatile."
"Volatile?"
"You know like. Uh. Charged. Or explosive. Or turbulent. Nearly out of control."
"Magic is that dangerous?"
"Only in really large quantities. That's why we have control points—they're a place or a thing that helps spread the magic out at a proper pace, so that it doesn't get out of control."
"So the Dome helps control the Christmas magic? How does it do that?"
"It's made of winter magic. Winter magic is the best kind of conductor for Christmas magic." Lucy looked a tad confused. "Like...when it starts to snow, the very first snowfall of the year, what's your first thought?"
"That the holidays are finally going to start—specifically Christmas!"
"It's like that," Curtis said, finishing. "Winter magic can safely move Christmas magic around, and it does. That's one of the reasons we have the Dome; to keep the Christmas magic—and our home—safe."
"I get it now. That's why the Dome melting is so bad, isn't it? Because it would maybe destroy everything here?"
"It absolutely would, if it disappeared completely. It would also make it either really cold, or really hot. It's been really hot most of the year because of the Christmas magic heating up the Dome and making it melt, but if the full Deliquesce started and it Dome started splitting? It would get very cold, very fast."
"So how does your magic brick work?"
"Magic brick?! This isn't a brick! It is a very sophisticated piece of tech that picks up on the tinniest shifts in the magic moving through the Dome in order to tell us what the current levels of magic in and out are!"
"Is that what you called it?"
"...no. Magic brick actually sounds a bit better than its actual name."
"Which is?"
"The uh, the Dome Meter. I haven't put much thought into a name yet. So I've just been calling it the Dome meter."
Lucy giggled. "That's okay. Is there anything else we need?"
"This should be it. And the keys, which you brought over...I think we're set!"
The pair got settled onto the snowmobile, Curtis telling Lucy to hang on tight. The vehicle roared to a start and they were off up towards the Dome, Lucy gleefully laughing nearly the whole way up. When they had reached the final hill and gotten above it, Curtis slowed down.
"There it is. The Dome."
"Woah," Lucy said, looking up in awe. "It's soo pretty up close!"
The icy walls were shinning, a deep blue hue within the ice. Lights danced along the Dome; high above them, the Northern Lights rippled back and forth. Lucy was craning her neck just to take it all in.
"It's usually a lot prettier. It's lost a bit of its shine since the melting began. Thankfully we haven't gotten to full Deliquesce levels—and let's hope that the last fix keeps it that way, at least until after Christmas. Hopefully by then, Frost is back in business. Here, let me help you down," Curtis finished, offering his hand.
"Thanks! What do we do now?"
"Usually," Curtis began, tinkering with the magic brick, "We walk the circumference of the Dome and check for cracks with your day to day tools. But today," he grinned when there was a happy sounding beep and the small satellite began rotating, a ping sound happening every few spins. "We'll walk along the Dome with this! The meter will pick up the levels of magic going through the Dome, and the screen will show us the average amount—just the percentage, of course. I didn't want to get too complex with this."
"So what can I do?"
"Keep an eye out for cracks and changes in the terrain. As great as technology is, a second eye may be good to have as well."
With a determined nod, Lucy began to follow Curtis as they walked around the Dome. It was a little chillier by the walls, a bit more so than usual, which had put Curtis a bit on edge. Lucy kept her eyes peeled for any cracks or changes in the walls, touching the surfaces when she wasn't quite sure if it was a crack or a bit of light reflecting weirdly. The magic brick kept pinging at a steady pace, only occasionally speeding up.
"These are pretty good readings, today," Curtis said, when they were about halfway done their walk about. "Everything is at about seventy percent, which is just about our seasonal norm. There is the occasional spike, but only to seventy-one or seventy-two percent. Still nothing to worry about—though that cold is concerning. What do you think, Lucy?"
"Everything looks and feels okay so far," Lucy confirmed. "Though...Curtis, is it getting a bit slushier to you?"
The moment Lucy spoke, the magic brick began to ping a little faster. "Uh-oh. We're at seventy-five percent. That's the biggest spike yet!"
"Do you hear that sound?" Lucy asked.
"We're still climbing! We're at eighty percent now!" Curtis rushed forward, Lucy following behind at a bit of a jog. The snow was definitely slush now, and that odd vaguely metallic sound was still ringing in Lucy's ears. She ran her hand along the Dome—she could feel the smallest of cracks.
"Curtis! We've got cracks!"
"We're at ninety percent! We're almost in full Deliquesce, this is very not good."
"Curtis, look out!"
There was a very loud, echoing snap; Curtis moved just in time as a chunk of ice fell, landing right where the elf had been standing moments before.
"We're at one hundred and fifty percent."
"Oh no."
"And an ice chunk almost killed me."
"I saw."
"Lucy, I think..."
"The Deliquesce has begun?"
"Yep." Curtis looked up from the display, large, red numbers reading 200. "The Deliquesce has begun."
A/N-And we're back! Tis the season! I've had this chapter ready since JULY but I've been sitting on it because I find it's such a good "previously on Crystal Springs" chapter, don't you? I'm going to keep this short for now and just say a HUGE THANKS to those who read and reviewed out of season! "Tim Allen" reviewed CS, guess I'm canon now guys* ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'm hoping to get Crystal Springs updated each Friday in December! That's 4 whole chapters, but I'm not making any promises because I only have the next chapter about half done and I've been working on it since August! I'm hoping if not every Friday, then every OTHER Friday! Please leave your thoughts and feelings in a lovely review! I really really appreciate each and every one of them :)
DISCLAIMERS
I do not own The Santa Clause movies, nor do I own Jack Frost, Bernard, Curtis, Santa, Carol, and Buddy, The Newmans or The Millers, nor do I own any other canon characters mentioned above. I do, however, own Jacqueline and The Frosts, and their home of Crystal Springs. Any resemblance they bear to any persons, places, or things is purely coincidental; please do NOT use my concepts and characters without my permission.
I also do not own Elle Connelly. She belongs to Ana, aka shittyelfwriter. I am merely borrowing her and have promised to return her more or less unharmed.
*Is joke. Don't take me declaring myself canon seriously! IS JOKE!
