After a Thousand Years
Older Brothers

"Who's Bernard Elfbright," one of the Lusleaf twins asked.

"Nobody," Mindy responded quickly, her mind still in shock that Bernard's name had come up at school yet again, this time in front of her classmates.

"But he must be related to you, being that he's an Elfbright," the other one said.

Mindy's mouth tightened, unsure of what to say regarding her brother, who she really didn't know, let alone hadn't seen in over a hundred years. There was a level of weirdness to Bernard's name coming up as it had twice in one day. Yet, there was a voice in the back reminding her the closer she got to becoming a Christmas Elf, the closer she got to actually having to deal with her older brother, who stopped leaving the North Pole a hundred years or so ago.

"I thought there weren't any current Elfbright working as toymaker elves at the North Pole," one of the twins said, making Mindy stiffen up, unsure of which name to use to address them as usual.

Her mouth opened like a fish when George came back into the room. "Mindy. Your aunt is coming to pick you up."

Mindy let out a sigh before hurrying to stand up, not looking back at her classmates until she got to the doorway. Sammy and Cam gave her worried looks, knowing George wouldn't be pulling someone out of class if it weren't for causing trouble or something serious, while the twins, who looked like miniature versions of their sister to Mindy, sat there smirking as if they'd found something—which in a way they had.

Outside, she muttered a few things to George, the academy Santa and Patty before hurrying over to her aunt so they could head to the hospital, letting her aunt take her into a warm hug as she did so. Eventually, she asked, "What happened?"

"All I know is it was serious enough for them to want to transfer him out of the North Pole."

"Nothing's serious enough for that," Mindy muttered. "It's the North Pole and Tinsel Town, but I thought the elder in charge of healing would only send the best, right? To be in charge of healing at the North Pole."

"Well," her mother said. "Your brother can be a bit of a special case with what his magical ability is. Not to mention how powerful his magic is."

Mindy stiffened, turning her head to look at her aunt. "Wait. What?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it," her aunt said, breezing right by the front desk of Elfburg's elf hospital.

The younger elf glanced back, finding herself confused. "Wait. Aren't you going to ask which ward he's in?"

"I always know which ward he gets assigned to," her aunt said, not missing a beat as she hurried along, but then she slowed, looking back at Mindy, as if contemplating something. She slowed, staring for a second. "Mindy. About your brother."

"Yes?" Mindy said, letting out a sigh as they came to a complete stop.

"Look, I don't want you trying to use your speed magic in whatever room they've placed him in because you won't be able to. Do you understand, Mindy?"

"Why?" the younger elf said, far from thrilled at the thought of being told she wouldn't be able to use her magic. "Why won't I be able to use my magic?"

"Because Elder Windthrope will have warded against anything other than healing magic, dear," her aunt said, before starting to walk again.

Mindy frowned, then hurried to catch up. "Hold on. Is this because he can't control his magic?"

"Mindy, what are you talking about?"

"Bernard can't control his magic. That's why he never graduated from the academy," she said.

Her aunt stopped in her tracks again and turned to look at her. There was a look of confusion on her face. "Mindy, the reason your brother can't control his magic—couldn't control, I should say, it had nothing to do with ability."

Mindy's eyes blinked. "But the other Elfbright aunts and uncles. They said…."

"You really shouldn't listen to what they say, particularly when they never had first-hand experience with your brother's magical mishaps. Not like your parents did or I have." She watched her aunt take a deep breath, nodding her head in the direction they were going. "It wasn't an issue of lacking ability. If that were the case, the academy would have been able to handle teaching him, but when it came to your brother, they couldn't prevent even the most minor of magical mishaps as they can other young elves. This isn't surprising, given what his first natural ability ended up being."

"But George," Mindy said, following her aunt again.

"Mr. Velglove," her aunt corrected her. "You're not yet a Christmas Elf, are you?"

"Mr. Velglove," Mindy said. "I asked him about Bernie, and he doesn't like talking about him. About the magical mishaps. He says they're best left not discussed. And I know what his exasperated face looks like."

"Of course you would," her aunt sighed. "What with all the trouble you get into."

"But when Bernie comes up, George's—I mean, Mr. Velglove's eyes go super wide, and he grows super quiet. He doesn't like talking about it. Nobody does."

"That's because," her aunt started to say, then frowned. "Well, it's not nice to gossip about others, is it?"

"That," Mindy frowned. She glanced around, finding herself growing alarmed, remembering the few times she'd been at Elfburg's elf hospital that she'd been told to stay out of the elder wing, that the wing was for special cases that the elf elder who oversaw healing took on. "Hey. Isn't this—doesn't this mean it's really bad, if Bernie is in here?"

Her aunt paused, turning to look at her, a look of surprise on her face, and then the laugh came. "Oh? Because Elder Windthrope is in charge of your brother's care? She always has been, given not just anybody's magic can reign in your brothers when it's acting up. Of course," her aunt tilted her head. "If it were a matter of a cold, Mindy, I do admit he'd likely still be at the North Pole."

Mindy frowned, watching her aunt turn to one of the healer elves, asking where Bernard was, to which there came a squeak of surprise.

"Elder Elfbright," the elf muttered.

Mindy blinked, looking up at her aunt, having not thought her old enough for a younger elf to use the elder honorific rather than the standard, nor had she thought her aunt known for anything. A part of her knew, though, this might be the case, particularly with the Elfbright family being known for as they were for their toymaker skills which made them ideal Christmas Elves in the past, yet the strange thing was the use of her aunt's maiden name rather than her married one.

Yet, before Mindy could point out the mistake, the healer elf was off, taking them to the room Bernard was in which was where Mindy's eyes blinked.

There were two other elves in the room. One of the elves in the room was between her age and Bernard's, and he sat in a chair as if he were visiting, but the other looked younger than her aunt, who was seeing to a cloth that covered Bernard's eyes and left ear. There were also plants set on a nearby table, but an excuse me made Mindy step closer to her aunt as an elf hurried by with yet another plant. "Will this be enough, Elder Windthrope?"

The elf in question nodded her head to acknowledge their presence, and Mindy moved closer to her aunt, her jaw dropping before clamping shut. "I think two more, although I can add more to absorb the magic." She then turned to look at Mindy and her aunt. "You're aunt is here, Bernard."

Mindy watched her brother flinch, the smirk on his face fading slightly, yet in the back of her mind, she couldn't remember a single time she'd seen him smile when he was visiting family. Her aunt reached out and squeezed Mindy's hand. "Thank you for taking care of him, Elder Windthrope," her aunt said, confirming yet again that the elf in front of her was one of the elf elders. She then said, "I brought your sister with me."

"It's nice to meet you, Mindy," the elder said. "Why don't we leave so Bernard can talk to his family and fill them in?"

There was also the use of her aunt's maiden name, but before Mindy could point this out, the elf left with her entourage, leaving them and the elf who was visiting her brother there with Bernard, who looked rather uncomfortable with them being there despite the smile on her face. "Well, hi. I guess I should explain?"

"Well, of course," her aunt sighed. "As always, dear."