Half an hour later, the four teens found themselves in Marco's bedroom, huddled around Mariposa, who'd just woken up from her nap.
"Okay," Star said. "So… what's our first plan?"
"Well, if it's not genetic, then it's gotta be something to do with Santa that scares her," Marco said.
"Well gee, what could be so scary about a big fat man with a beard that breaks into your house in the dead of night?" Pony joked.
"Maybe it's due to something she experienced while in the Neverzone," Janna suggested. "You know, maybe she encountered some kind of monster that looked like Santa-"
"Like Krampus?" Marco muttered.
Janna ignored him. "and the sight of the guy at the mall triggered it?"
"Could be. I mean, you remember stuff from your time, right Marco?" Star asked.
"Vaguely," Marco said, "but Posey's a baby; her brain is still growing. There's no telling what she may or may not remember."
"I can maybe fix that," Janna said.
"Oh no, you are NOT hypnotizing my sister!" Marco ordered.
"Well, it's not like we can just pop on over to the Neverzone and ask her," Star sighed, before muttering. "You know, maybe magic wasn't all bad."
"Maybe we just need to convince her that Santa is a nice guy," Pony suggested.
Star and Marco looked at each other. "I think we can help with that," she said.
"Okay, we're ready," Janna said, Mariposa in her lap and Pony by her side. They were facing the bedroom door, which opened to reveal Star.
"Hey Posey," Star cooed, a sly grin on her face. She put a hand to her ear as there came a jingle of sleigh bells from the hall. "Ooh, do you hear that?"
Mariposa gurgled, already a bit nervous.
"Ho ho ho," Stepping into the doorway was Marco, dressed as Santa.
Star pretended to be surprised. "Oh my gosh, an intruder. And oh no," she patted herself down, pretending to look for something. "I don't have any magic to defend myself."
"It's okay, little girl. I'm not an intruder. I'm Santa Claus and I'm a friend to everyone," Marco said. Pony and Janna snickered, trying to hold back their laughter.
"In fact," he reached behind his back, "I think I've got something for you. Something for being such a gooood girl."
Star fake-gasped as he handed her a gift. "For me? Wow, you are a nice man!" She jumped up and into his arms, startling him. "And I looooove you!" She planted a big, long kiss on Marco's lips and wrapped her arms around him.
Pony and Janna broke out into laughter as Marco's face went bright red. Posey, however, still looked uncomfortable. She fidgeted nervously in Janna's lap.
Finally, Star ended the kiss and got back to her feet. "And I think I know another good little girl in here." Taking Marco by the hand, she led him over to Posey, who's eyes went wide and began to whine.
"Oh, it's okay, sweetie!" Star said, as she picked her up and brought her closer to Marco. "See, Santa isn't scary. He's nice. And he's got a present for you too."
The boy waved, pulling down a little on his beard with one hand while reaching for a gift with the other. The sight, however, only brought tears to Posey's eyes as she let out a loud wail and covered her face with her hands. The teens' faces all fell.
Okay, so that didn't work," Star concluded. Marco had changed back into his clothes and had managed to calm Posey down with her teddy bear.
"Hmmm," Pony glared at the baby's toy. "She really seems to like that bear."
"It's one of her favorite toys," Marco said.
"Who gave it to her?"
"I did," he replied.
"Huh," a grin slid up Pony's face. "I think I've got an idea."
"Oh boo-hoo! Woe is me!" Pony fake-cried. "Waaaah! Oh, I'm so sad!"
In Star's lap, Posey looked confused.
"I lost my tablet!" Pony wailed. "It was my favorite toy! Oh, I want my tablet! I want my tablet now!" She gagged and spit out a pacifier before catching it in her lips and sucking on it.
"Ho-ho-ho!" Santa-Marco came into frame and handed her a tablet. "Here you go, sweetie!"
Pony stopped crying and squealed, spitting out the pacifier. "Yay!" She snatched the tablet from his grip and hugged it. "I'm happy now!"
"And here's a new cell phone," he handed one to her, "And a gold necklace! And the key for a new dragoncycle! And," he let out a brief sigh, "$500."
"Ooooh!" Pony trembled with delight at the sight of all her new gifts. "Thank you, Santa!" She said the last word slowly and extra loud so the baby would understand it. "Thank you so much for all these new toys!"
"Well, that's my job, I give people free stuff," Marco said, rather unenthusiastically, "Now if only there was somebody I could give this," he pulled out Posey's teddy bear, making the baby's eyes go big, "teddy bear too?"
"Oooh, I think I know," Pony hovered over to Posey. Marco slowly approached her, holding the bear out. Posey began to tear up again.
"On come, sweetie. It's your favorite bear," Pony muttered in the baby's ear. "Take it. Take it and you'll get lots of other goodies too."
Posey responded by slapping the bear out of Marco's hand and wailing.
The teens all let out a groan.
"Yeesh, and I thought I was picky," Pony sighed.
"Obviously, role-playing isn't working," Star said, looking over the baby in Marco's arms. The poor girl was now clutching his arm and glancing fearfully at the bedroom door, seemingly afraid that Santa would come though it again.
"Well, if we can't convince her with kindness," Janna said, "and we can't convince her with toys… ," her mouth grew a mischievous grinn.
"I said no hypnotism!" Marco snapped.
"Relax, that's not what I had in mind," she pulled out her cell phone. "Get your coats. We're going down under."
Moments later, the group found themselves bundled up in the library of the Lucitor home, watching as the teenage prince of the Underworld rapidly typed into his family's database.
Janna had been right; his mom was obsessed with the holiday. The library, much like the rest of the home, was covered in tinsel, holly, and other Christmas tappings. The usual smell of brimstone had been replaced with a delightful aroma of gingerbread. From the floor above, they could hear the muffled sounds of laughter and joyful music from the ongoing Christmas party.
"Well, obviously there isn't anything in the archives relating to Santa Claus," Tom said, turning away from the monitor. "but there is a ritual for removing fear. It's called Fight The Fright." He showed them a picture of a pentagraph with five demons standing in the corners. In the middle lay a sixth demon, mist spewing out of it's chest. "If performed correctly, it severs any and all thoughts or feelings of fear an individual has with a specific item."
"So, you think it'll cure the kid's fear of Santa?" Pony asked.
"Well, that's what it says," Tom said, "Only thing is, I'm not sure if it's even feasible with the loss of magic." Star rolled her eyes, "Why must that bite me in the butt?" She muttered.
"I say it's still worth a try," Janna said.
"Same here," Pony agreed.
"Marco?" The group all turned to him.
The boy glanced down protectively at his sister, snuggled up in her little purple coat and parka in his arms. She looked so cute and he wanted nothing more than to give her the greatest Christmas possible. If he had to see her sweet, little eyes tear up in fear one more time, the boy wasn't sure he'd ever be cheerful again. He closed his eyes, inhaled and then exhaled as a decision formed in his head. "Okay."
Moments later, the group were stepping off the elevator to one of the underground caverns under the Lucitor mansion. In front of them lay a candle-lit chamber with a large pentagram in the center.
Tom took Posey from Marco and gently placed her in the middle of the pentagraph. She looked around, confused and curious as to her new surroundings.
"It's okay, Posey," Marco said as they all got onto the corners.
"Spread a little ginger, pepperment, and demon blood," Tom poured out the mixture from a bowl around the baby before getting onto his corner. "And then we stand together and say the chant."
The five teens all recited an ancient demon text, ending it with the words "Santa Claus." They all bowed their heads and breathed, the herbal concoction filling their nostrils.
They were broken out of their trance by the sound of Posey gasping. Opening their eyes, they saw her figiting and wiggling in her seat. In the candlelight, they could make out a look of discomfort on her face.
"She's expelling the fear!" Star whispered.
"Posey?" Marco gulped in concern.
The baby froze, closed her eyes, and… farted. She smiled in relief as her caretakers all covered their noses in disgust.
"Ah man, let me out of here!" Defenseless from the stench, Pony flew over and began slamming down on the elevator button. "Ugh, I can't breathe! I can't breathe!"
"Well, she expelled something," Janna shrugged, fanning the air.
"Thanks anyway, Tom," Marco waved goodbye as they re-entered the human realm (Mariposa having been changed). "Merry Christmas."
"You too." In a firy flash, he was gone and they were all left alone.
"Well, I dunno what else to do," Pony said, shrugging her non-existant shoulders.
Star sighed. "Me neither."
"Well…" Janna twiddled her fingers. "if nobody's got any other ideas, we could always go back to-" "Janna, I said no hypnotism!" Marco barked.
The morbid girl exchanged looks with Pony and Star before holding up her hands. "Okay, okay, fine, we won't do it."
"Good," Marco calmed down.
"Well, unless you guys have anymore ideas, I'm going back to my-" She suddenly snapped her fingers. "Janna, no!" Marco lunged for her.
"Chicken butt." The boy fell to the ground with a thud and she grinned. "Always works." She pulled out her watch as they all gathered around Mariposa on the floor. "Okay, now my theory, as I mentioned before, is that she may have encountered something or someone resembling or relating to Santa in the Neverzone that caused her to fear him. We can help her overcome it if we can figure out exactly what it was."
"Which will prove tricky since she can't say much aside from 'Co-Co,'" Pony said.
"Co-Co," Posey turned to look at her unconscious brother.
"He's okay, sweetie," Star directed her back to them.
"Now, since Marco over there still remembers all his combat experience from his time in the zone, I'm willing to bet that Posey has all her memories too, buried somewhere in that little baby brain. She just needs a way to express them." Janna untangled the watch from the string, letting it dangle freely in front of the baby's eyes. "My plan is, we trick her mind into thinking she is still in the Neverzone and thus, can still talk. Then we just make her relive whatever it was that scared her and help her overcome it." She began to swing the watch back and forth, the baby's tiny eyes following it.
"As someone who benefitted from being hypnotized, I like the idea," Star said.
"Do your thing, girl," Pony whispered her on.
"That's right… watch the watch," Janna said, her voice shifting to a calm, soothing tone as the baby's eyes moved left and right with the shiny pendulum, "Follow the watch… we're moving… we're going back… back to a time where you could walk… and talk… and run… and hold your bowels…"
Posey's eyes started to droop and her head began to tilt forward.
"You're not a baby anymore," Janna whispered, "You're a young girl… in a world from a dream… your name is- " She glanced at Star who quickly whispered back Bork. "Bork… and you're there… right… now!"
She stopped the watch, the baby now fully asleep.
"Now Bork," Janna soothed. "Tell us… do you see a big, fat man dressed in red?"
"Bork" was silent for a moment. Then, she opened her mouth and… let out a snore before falling onto her back.
"Bork?" Janna snapped her fingers. "Hello, Bork?" More snapping, but the baby kept on sleeping. "I command you."
All she got was a snore, which they all responded to with a collective groan.
"Wow," Jana sighed. "Must be a lot of air up there."
"Now what do we do?" Pony asked.
"Ugh." They all looked over to see Marco stirring. The boy rubbed his head, opened his eyes, and saw them all laying around his sister. "You didn't!"
"Shhhhh!" They all said, pointing to her.