Chapter 19: The Man with a Plan
Cozy in the den of Frost Manor, Blaise sat on the couch, legs stretched out and an arm around each twin. The TV screen was blank, the little DVD icon bouncing back and forth. Side to side. Up and down. Waiting for someone to hit play to be free from the confines of the box it kept bouncing around in.
Blankets and pillows were thrown about; Fiera lay flat on her belly, using Blaise's thigh as a pillow. On his other side, Fino was curled up against the side of Blaise's chest. The Twins snored. Fiera HONKED as Fino shoo'd; Fino HONKED when Fiera mimimimi'd.
Blaise's head lolled over the top of the couch, his hair sparking with every sharp inhale, smoking on the exhale. Every other inhale was a snore. They grew louder and louder until finally, Blaise snored so loud he shot up, wide awake. He shook his head, shaking away the sleepy.
"I have got to stop doing that," he said to himself quietly. The DVD symbol bounced from the top of the screen to the right. With a lazy wave of his hand, there was a click; the TV shut off.
His sides were very toasty. Careful not to jostle, he glanced down at the two youngest and their out of sync snoring. He smiled.
What time was it? He had no idea, but judging from the lack of light coming in from the window behind him, it was late. He dropped his head back on the top of the couch, glancing up at the window.
Yep, dark outside.
He sniffed, wiggling his nose. The curtains shut quietly behind him as he gently brought his head back up, careful not to give himself whiplash.
He wondered if the other three had returned yet. Straining his ears, he didn't hear any movement upstairs. But outside, he could hear a quiet murmur, and the far-off sound of the gate creaking.
"I've got to do something about those hinges," he mused quietly, yawning as the lock on the front door clicked, the temperature in the house immediately dropping.
"Blaise?"
"In the den," Blaise whispered back.
The door shut quietly. The clack of heels as shoes were thrown off. The thwack-thwack of slippers hitting the marble floors. The kitchen lights went on, silhouetting Winter as she stopped in the doorway, her face softening. Behind her, Jack gently placed the basket on the tabletop and shrugged off his jacket before joining Winter on the other side of the doorway and smirking.
"Well isn't that just the cutest."
"I'll tell you what's not cute. How numb my leg is," Blaise shot back.
"I'll grab the pillows." Swishing quietly into the room, Winter picked up four throw pillows. She crooked a finger towards Jack, beckoning him over. "Here," she said, thrusting one into his hands. "You take Fiera, I'll take Fino. Follow my lead."
With a nod, Jack fluffed the pillow, taking up position by gremlin number one. Winter stood in front of gremlin number two, eyeing the pillow stack carefully before nodding.
"Ready?" Blaise asked.
"Ready," Winter replied.
"Jack?"
He nodded.
"One." Blaise shifted, straightening his shoulders. "Two..." he raised his hands, an orange glow flaring to life. He planted his feet deep in the carpet, hands coated in magic. "Three!"
An orange glow surrounded the sleeping twins. They floated up a couple of inches from the couch, positioned exactly the same as they had been when they were still using Blaise as a pillow. He slid off the couch carefully, keeping both eyes trained on the kids as he lifted his arms well above the heads of the winter sprites.
With practised ease, Winter dove under him, sliding her pillow stack underneath Fino. Following her cue, Jack slid under Blaise's left arm, placing his pillow where Blaise's thigh had been.
Blaise exhaled, slowly lowering his hands. The twins dipped back down, dropping perfectly onto the pillows, still snoozing.
"Well, that was easier than usual," Winter said happily, hands on her hips.
"Nice job, Jack," Blaise grinned, gently patting his back.
"Thanks. This a regular occurrence, then?"
"Your father is the best pillow in the house."
"Kid tested, wife approved." Blaise rolled his shoulders, rubbing his neck. "And if I slide out without replacing my me, they wake up, fresh from a power nap. Then none of us get sleep."
"They're just as bad as Jacqueline was when she was little, but tripled. Each." Heading back into the kitchen, Winter plopped down on the captain's chair closest to the den with an audible woof.
"One twin equals three little Jacquelines?"
"Roughly, yes."
Jack thought back to the days where he'd drop in late, only to be immediately accosted by his baby sister aggressively shushing him because she had just tucked Mom and Dad in and they were FAST asleep. Don't wake them, she'd say. They'll make me go to bed and I'm not tired at ALL.
And she really, really wasn't.
He chuckled at the memory. "Six Jacquelines total, plus the original? Yikes. Speaking of!" he rounded the table, sinking into the chair beside Winter. "Is she home yet?" Stretching out his legs, Jack hugged himself tightly, joints cracking.
"Not that I can tell. I think the two of you beat her home."
"Oh dear. I do hope she's okay."
"I'm sure she's fine," Jack said with a careless wave, wiggling his toes. More joints cracked. Nice, he thought.
"Or she's avoiding us," Blaise said, fiddling with the stove as he set up a saucepan. "Hot drinks, anyone? Cocoa? Tea? Coffee? Espresso?"
"Cocoa sounds lovely," Winter said, sinking deeper into her chair. "It was quite the day today, Blaise dear."
"I'll say," Jack agreed.
Blaise smiled knowingly to himself, throwing an apron over his head (this one read I Turn Grills On, the text placed on a graphic of a grill, the lid depicted on top of the words).
"Market trip went well then?"
"It was our cheapest grocery bill yet," Winter said, delighted.
Blaise chuckled, whisking sugar and cocoa powder together. "Reputations intact?"
"In all the usual bad ways," Jack assured his father as the kettle started whistling.
"And how's that connection of yours?"
"Fresh as the frost on the grass on a cold winter morning," Winter said.
Blaise grinned, his hair igniting. "That's excellent!" he said, tossing all the dry ingredients into the saucepan and pouring the hot water over top. "You know, if there were any two people in the world who could have done it, I'd have bet money that it'd be the two of you."
"Oh, stop that, Blaise," Winter said, as the smell of hot cocoa filled the kitchen. "We don't need to pump up Jack's ego any more than it already is, especially after our trip today."
"I went viral," Jack grinned. "Well, on the magibean net, that is."
"Is that a good thing? Should I be proud? Are congrats in order? I hate showing my age."
"Eh, it's a bit of both," Jack tilted his hand back and forth. "I may have launched the moirae halfway across the market on the, ah, snow drift express. And it may have been caught on camera and spread all over the market and, uh, also the magical internet."
Blaise chuckled, pouring milk into the pan now. "And did Leaf survive?"
"He'll wish he hadn't," Winter said. "Especially since he'll stuck at the Springs all day being treated for frostbite."
Blaise laughed, making his way to the table with two tall, steaming mugs of fresh hot cocoa. "Those're my winter sprites!" he said proudly, placing the cups down. Little marshmallows floated on the top, Blaise sliding a can of whipped cream down the table. "Feeling better now, dear?"
"Much," Winter said, taking the warm mug in her hands and sipping. "Mmm. That's hitting the spot." She sighed. "Blaise darling, I'm afraid I've gotten old."
"You? Never! You don't look a day over thirty hundred, love."
Winter laughed. "Tell that to my achy bones. It was just a quick trip into the mindscape. Should've been a walk in the snow! And yet—"
"Everything hurts," Jack said, taking his own cup and sipping with a delightful hum. "Oh, that's good, Dad."
"Learnt it from the elves myself eons ago," Blaise replied, grinning. "Showing your age too, eh son?"
"Mmm," Jack said, swallowing and placing his cup down. "Don't remind me."
Blaise laughed, pouring his own glass and sitting down, going to town on the whipped cream. "So. We've got the reason for your freezer burn. That's a work in progress. The two of you managed to fix your connection, so that's out of the way. Presuming Jacqueline's found her answers about the—"
"—don't say magic-splosion, Dad. Do NOT. I drew a line! Respect the line!"
"—thing at the Pole," Blaise said with a silly smile. "All that leaves us with to figure out are those blackouts. A sensitive topic for her, it seems. And I can hardly blame her," Blaise added, before Jack could interrupt (the look that crossed his son's face when he was about to interrupt hadn't changed at all in the fourteen centuries he'd been gone. Blaise would've known. After all, when he was much younger he'd interrupt Blaise to disagree even on the silliest of things on a good day. It hadn't changed a bit, and Blaise found himself glad that it hadn't).
"We don't want to bother her right when she gets home," Winter said. "But we do want to bring it up with her sooner rather than later. Maybe some time tomorrow or perhaps, the day after?"
"The sooner the better," Blaise added.
"We could wait up until she got in, see how she is, let her know we'd like to chat about them soon," Winter said, stifling a yawn.
"And let her know that there's nothing to be ashamed about. We just want to help."
"I can stay up and wait for her, if you'd like," Jack said, looking thoughtfully into his cocoa.
"Are you sure, Jack dear?"
"Of course! Night parent, remember? I'd stay up with her all the time. She used to get you two so tuckered out," Jack said with a mischievous grin.
"Used to? She exhausts me at least once a week to this day," Blaise said, affectionately.
"We probably do the same to her," Winter said softly, cradling her head in her hands and yawning.
"I'll stay up and wait for her," Jack decided. "You two finish your cocoa, go to bed, do whatever you need to do to keep those two asleep," Jack pointed with his thumb over at the den, "and I'll chat with Jacqueline once she gets in. I'll drop Mom a line when Jacqueline decides what she'd like to do."
"And if you could also unload the basket, that'd be lovely, Jack dear. The flowers will need light, and though it is stable in there, I'm not sure it's very well lit."
"Of course! Not a problem. Do you need help with the twins at all?"
Blaise waved away Jack's question. "Nah. We should be good now that I'm no longer trapped."
"But I'll drop you a line if we do," Winter grinned, tapping her head.
The snow monsters were nearly as tall as the stacks themselves.
They had cute little fangs (despite Jacqueline's insistence that they were SCARY, not CUTE) and towered over Xander and his father, hissing and throwing snow all over the place.
It was giving the pair quite a workout! Xander hadn't done this many jumps and flips in a while. He had worked very hard to draw their attention towards him, while Sandman went behind Xander, quite literally rounding them up.
Xander was surrounded. There were eight of them, and they were towering over him. He stood in a horse stance, his fists glowing with dream sand as the monsters reached up, growling and folding over one another as they moved to slam into Xander all at once.
"Ready Dad?"
Sandman yawned, disappearing from behind the snow monsters as they bent down. A tornado of dream dust swirled where Sandman had been. Beside Xander, as the snow monsters clumped together, bearing down towards the bright little man in one, big point, Sandman reappeared in a little sand-nado, his hands glowing now, too.
They slid closer to each other, arms touching. Perfectly in sync, they thrust their glowing hands in the air, meeting the snowy drill right in the middle.
BOOM! CRACK! SNAP!
The room flashed; Jacqueline shielded her eyes as a bright white glow encompassed the entire space. The light exploded into dream sand, snowflakes caught up in the grain as the cute-fanged snow monsters seemed to unravel on the spot, turning into dream dust. It swirled and whooshed out, the circle of snow monsters gone, leaving Sandy and Xander in the middle of the ring, unscathed.
"I'm sorry. Did you two just turn my snow monsters into DREAM SAND?!" Jacqueline asked, rushing across the room. She nudged a thin pile of snowy dust with her foot. It turned gold, joining the throng of dream sand spilling out of the windows. "Holy shit. You DID!"
"That was AMAZING!" Xander exclaimed. "This is amazing!"
Yawning sleepily, Sandman shuffled over. "Not even back together for a month and you and your brother are already discovering the most fascinating new things about the Legend-Legate bond," he said, gently picking up some of the snowy sand. He blew on the pile; it glowed, drifting off into the air. "There are going to be a lot of snowy dreams tonight."
"You're welcome," Jacqueline said, tossing her hair. A poof of dream dust came out of the frozen locks. She frowned. "This is going to take forever to comb out."
"So!" Xander said with a clap, startling Jacqueline. "We know that we can, in fact, use both a Legend and a Legate's powers to do some crazy things! We also learnt that, with a little practise, we can easily use this technique on demand, instead of when we're in danger. And, once we get the hang of it, if we fight alongside our Legends, side-to-side or back-to-back, QUITE LITERALLY, it doubles both sets of powers. All that's left is to see is if we can actually pass our powers to our Legends for a hands-free power boost, if needed! Or, vice versa. And if we can do that, if it's done mentally or physically or, or—who even knows!" Xander said, gleeful. "Dad, did you want to—"
A snore interrupted him. Xander turned around, his face falling. He sighed.
In the snowy explosion of dream sand, Sandman's favourite armchair had somehow managed to slide out of the stacks and back into the reading room. Noticing this, Sandman had readjusted his cap and beelined for it, passing out almost INSTANTLY once he was seated.
"I guess that's the end of today's session," Xander said with a fond smile, turning back to Jacqueline.
"Well, you did really put him to work. And after a night out, to boot," Jacqueline said, gesturing over her shoulder to the window. The horizon had started to lighten; the sun was beginning to rise.
"Sunrise already?" Xander said out loud.
Jacqueline looked surprised; she did a double take, glancing out the window. "Sunrise? I've been here the whole night? Shit! I should get going," she said, making her way to the window she had come in from. "I wanted to check in with Jack, make sure today went well—I was here the entire night?!"
"Time flies when you're having fun with science."
"That's what you're calling it?" Jacqueline laughed, one boot on the window sill.
"We were testing a bunch of hypotheses, Jacqueline. So, yes."
"But did you write it down?"
Xander blinked, a little caught off guard. "No?"
"Then it's not really science! At least, that's what my friend Elle says. I think it's an internet joke, or like, a meme, though. It could go either way with her."
"Well, meme or not, Elle won't need to worry, because I'm about to write it down," Xander said with a grin, his own journal and pen appearing in his hands in a whirl of dream sand.
Jacqueline laughed. "Of course you are. Anyway, thanks again for the help, Xander. I appreciate it."
"What are friends for! I can't wait for the next Summit, imagine what we can find out when all eight duos—or trios! Know about this power shifting thing and are all working on using it together!"
Jacqueline laughed, about to fly off until a torrent of dream sand pushed her off the sill and back into the room gently, whirling her around to face Xander.
"Don't forget what I said," Xander said, pointing at her sternly with his pen. "Talk to your parents about the blackouts, okay? Let them help you. Let your brother help, too. And for the love of sleep. Get some of it, alright?"
"I will," Jacqueline said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Really, I promise. Sprite's honour," she placed her hand on her chest and an arm in the air.
"Good," Xander said, warmly. "Because your sleep schedule is whack, Jacqueline."
The sprite laughed. "I will fix it, I promise. Just for you, Xander."
"Thank you. And before you go," he stuck a finger up in the air, twirling it. Dream sand whirled up to him happily, holding two small, book sized boxes. "Take these with you!"
"Are you sure?"
"Positive! They'll be safe for transport in the boxes. They'll be helpful explaining the power shift stuff to your parents and your brother and anyone else who may ask. I know you'll return them to me safely."
She nodded. "I'll teleport home then. I don't want to risk the books on the flight."
"Poof safe," Xander said, with one last hug.
"Always." Jacqueline hugged back and, once the books were tucked safely against her chest, disappeared with a quick little two finger salute.
Jacqueline reappeared on the third-floor balcony, squinting up at the moon and the stars. The sun had set ages ago in Crystal Springs. Oh geez, she thought. It was late. She frowned, looking down at the front door (where she had wanted to poof to).
Snow had fallen. The path to the veranda had a fresh blanket of white, untouched by footsteps. She had no idea who was home, or who was awake, or who was asleep. So, nodding to herself, Jacqueline fished out her keys and found the one for the balcony doors. The door clicked; she pulled the handle down gently, sliding into the third-floor foyer, and closed the door very, very, quietly behind her, quickly flicking the lock back.
"And at what time do you call this?"
"GAIA, TARA, AND THE GODDESS!" Jacqueline yelped, jumping and whirling around, her icy bodice jumping off of her dress and hovering in front of her.
"The gang's all here," Jack teased, pushing himself off of the plush armchair he had been waiting in with a grin.
"JACK! You scared the SNOW out of me!" Jacqueline whisper yelled, bringing her hand to her chest. Her icy bodice followed, snapping back on the dark blue material no problem. "I almost skewered you!"
"Then we'd be twinning," he said, gesturing to her stomach.
Jacqueline looked down, flushing briefly; she turned her face away, but not before Jack noticed the smile she was trying to fight. "What, too soon?"
"Not for me, but for you? I was not expecting that," Jacqueline said, turning back to look at him.
"It was a good one though, right? I saw your little smile. You were gonna laugh, right? I bet you were."
"Wouldn't you like to know, winter boy."
Jack snorted. "Ou. That was good. I'm gonna file that one away for later."
"Copyright Jacqueline Frost," she replied, making her way towards her room. "Were you waiting up for me?"
"Yep," Jack said, following behind her.
"Oh. That's sweet, but you didn't need to."
Jack shrugged. "I wanted to. And I told Mom and Dad I would, too. Besides, I'm fairly certain that if I hadn't waited up you would've barged into my room at Lady knows WHAT time and demanded to know how today went AND told me all about whatever it is you found out about the power thing today. I need my beauty sleep, you know. You'd've interrupted it."
"I'll say," Jacqueline said, sidestepping a little pile of snow Jack attempted to drop on her head. "HA! You missed!"
"It's late and I have had a very long day," Jack defended.
"Good long or bad long?"
"Good, definitely good. I went viral."
"You're slushing me."
"Am not! It was all over the, uh, faenet, is it?"
Jacqueline stared at Jack, equal parts "oh no" regular and "oh no" excited. "What did you do?" she asked, intrigued, the corners of her mouth twitching as she tried to hide her glee.
"Oh, nothing really. Just, you know, launched the three fates halfway across the market to prove that I wasn't powerless," Jack said with a careless shrug.
Jacqueline snickered. "The Moirae?"
"Yep."
"I wish I had seen that live! I'll have to check Thorn later! Dite would get a kick out of that," she laughed, looking thoughtful for a moment before snapping out of it. "And how did things go with Mom?"
"Oh, great! Yeah. She, uh, she said that this was the cheapest grocery bill yet! We got the flowers, gave a fairy frostbite, fixed our connection—"
"You did?! Oh my goodness that's awesome!" Jacqueline cut him off excitedly, perking up.
"It is, isn't it?"
"Yeah! And the lead up to that went well?"
"Oh, yeah. Totally. She brought it up, actually," Jack said, scratching the back of his head. "Had to go into the mindscape to do it. And man, it is a MESS up there, let me tell you. I've never seen it like that! Anyway, I think we both have a bit of a nasty headache now, but yeah, we managed to do it, if you can believe it."
"I can indeedy! I mean, if anyone were to do it I'd imagine it'd be you two. You're both forces to be reckoned with. I'm exhausted by like, March. You guys go into April, sometimes May. And vice versa in the other hemisphere."
Jack chuckled. "I think you're a bit of a force too, little flurry. I mean, you've been exhausting me and it's been what, a week? Two?"
Jacqueline shrugged, making the I don't know noise.
"Well, whatever the case, don't sell yourself short, eh?"
"I won't!" she replied, chipper. "Headache aside, how're you feeling after all that?"
Jack thought for a moment before answering. "Tired, mostly. But happy."
"Powers?"
Jack shook his head. "No, no. Still mainly from the ether. But it does feel different? Inside? I can't explain it. Kind of buzzy. Not as quiet."
"Have you been drinking?"
"Not NEARLY enough after the day I've had," Jack replied, his sister laughing. He waited a beat for her laughs to die down before he spoke again. "And how 'bout you, hmm? Good day?"
"Night, mostly, and yes! Downside is, we can't use magi-splosion anymore."
"Oh, I am winning tonight." Now it was his turn to pivot to the side to avoid a snow pile from Jacqueline. "HA! You missed too!"
"I have ALSO had a very long day. Night. Whatever, it's late and time zones suck."
"And you can't even call it a magic-splosion anymore. Shame."
"It really is! It's fun to say. Anyway, I visited Xander today, and told him about what happened. He had a few ideas with where to start looking and of course, he was bang on," Jacqueline slowly made her way across the hall to an empty side table. She placed the boxed books down, stretching her arms. "His grandpa and great grandpa experienced something exactly like we did," she continued, unboxing the books. "They called it power merging, I think. Or power sharing. They couldn't settle on what to call it, so y'know, magic-splosion isn't out of the question."
"Yes it is." Jack sounded very sure about that fact as he took a look at the journals.
"I marked the pages," Jacqueline pointed to the small cardstock slices between pages. Jack started skimming, Jacqueline continuing with her director's cut. "They found out they could share powers between one another. It happened automatically when they were in like, mortal peril. Check it out. Same as us—they got stuck."
"Hmm," Jack frowned at the page. "But the state the Dome was in wasn't, you know, particularly perilous just yet."
"No, but, consider the factors: we were heading out, semi-enacted Legate Law, not fully, and your freezer burn. Given what happens if the Deliquesce happens, I think our magic was like 'damn. This really do be a near perilous situation, huh?' and just went for it, you know?"
"Maybe. Or maybe my little itty bit of magic that stuck around latched onto yours and used it to boost us both."
"Maybe! They were able to do that after a bit of practise. Fighting back-to-back, side-to-side, literally, they'd be able to double their damage. Pretty neat, right?"
"Huh," Jack said, as he read through the entries.
"Unfortunately, they didn't get to experiment more, because that's when Xander's great grandpa passed down the title, and then there was even more darkness than usual, and then the Legate Law happened so. It was never really looked at after that. Until today."
Jack shut the second journal, eyeing Jacqueline. "What did you do?"
"Well, Xander had like, a bunch of ideas, and he roped Sandman and I into helping him test them."
Jack laughed. "Oh, the poor guy. He can't even catch a nap in his own home?!"
"Not when Xander discovers something new and needs to do science," Jacqueline replied with a grin. "Anyway, Sandman was happy to help! And they found out a couple of other cool things about it, too."
"Like?"
Jacqueline paused for a moment to recall what Xander had said before she had left. "Okay. So. It's definitely a Legate-Legend thing. Both sets of powers can be used in tandem for some crazy feats. Practise makes perfect; the more the two of them practised, the easier it was to call upon the power sharing instead of, y'know, getting stuck and forcibly using it. Then there was the literally fighting back-to-back thing."
"He found that out in a night?!"
"When Xander puts his mind to something, he is IN IT. Fully and wholly. Won't stop until he finds his answers, or his Dad falls asleep. He even thought that we'd be able to literally share one another's magic, if we focused enough. Like, we could maybe give one another our entire essence kind of thing."
"Can we?"
Another I don't know noise, complete with shrug. "Unfortunately, during the uh. Fallout of the last test, Sandman found his comfy chair and immediately passed out. So we called it a day. Night. The sun was rising there and it is setting here and I am tired! But glad to have figured this out," she said, gently putting the journals back in their little boxes.
"Fallout?"
"It was the side-to-side thing? The two of them decimated about eight snowy monsters. Turned them right into dream sand. HUGE bright explosion. Look at this," she shook her sleeve. Some dream dust trickled out. "I'm gonna have sand in this dress for MONTHS, let alone my HAIR."
Jack chuckled. "Just shake it out! Maybe throw some wind at it. I'm sure it'll come out eventually."
"One can only hope," Jacqueline said with a sandy shrug.
It was silent as Jacqueline finished closing the boxes, gently stacking them together. She patted the top with a sigh, looking off to the side for a moment. "So. This morning..."
"What about?"
"I kinda snapped a little bit? And called you bitter, I think?"
"I faintly recall that, yes," Jack said with a knowing smirk.
Jacqueline groaned, throwing back her head very over dramatically. "I know you have a lot going on right now, and that MAYBE I might have hit a touchy subject? I get it," she popped back up, dream sand trickling out of her hair. "I kind of yanked the attention from you when I was born, and yeah, you were an adult already and everything but I'm sure—"
"You can stop, Jacqueline," Jack interrupted. "You already apologized this morning. And besides! It ended up being a good thing," turning her around, he steered her towards her room door. "Got me thinking. Helped clear the air with Mom. And for what it's worth," he stopped, placing his hand on Jacqueline's shoulder, "I'm glad I came first. It cleared the way for you, and you're not half bad yourself."
"Aww, that's so sweet in such a Jack way," Jacqueline teased.
"It's true! They made their mistakes with me and didn't repeat them with you. Though admittedly, they're very good about making up for their mistakes now."
"They're very good parents. Like, freakishly good?"
"Best not look a gift horse in the mouth. But!" He said, finger in the air. "Speaking of the parental units—"
"I think I know where this is going," Jacqueline admitted.
"They just want to help you, Jacqueline. And so do I," Jack said, placing his hand on the handle of Jacqueline's room door. "That's why I brought up the blackouts this morning. And that's part of the reason I was waiting up for you, too. I told Mom and Dad I would. Look, we have to—"
"I know," Jacqueline cut him off, her palm flying up. "I know," she insisted with a tired smile. Fingers curling in, she dropped her palm. "I appreciate you covering my ass about them. And I know I snapped about them this morning," she glanced to the side, pushing hair off of her face. "It's just..." her eyes moved upwards as she searched for words, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's scary. I'm scared. I don't know what they are or why it was happening and I don't know anything about them. I'm a dead end in terms of figuring out what's happening to me, which is just super inconvenient. But," she held up a finger before Jack could interrupt. "Xander and I had a good chat. It's scary, yeah. But I know you guys just want to help and I—" she paused for a minute, taking a very deep breath. "—I'm willing to talk about them now."
"Oh!" Jack said, pleasantly surprised and very relieved. "Oh, that's good."
"Why do you sound so relieved?" Jacqueline questioned, as Jack pushed the handle down and opened the door.
"Because I am. I was expecting you to put up more of a fight. You know, you really are stubborn."
"A chip off the old block," Blaise spoke up.
The two sprites screamed, jumping back. Jacqueline's bodice was once again hovering in front of the pair; Jack's icicle tie was hovering very threateningly in the air.
"Calm down, it's just us," Winter said, beside Blaise. The pair of them were sitting comfortably on one of the sofa's in Jacqueline's room, trying very hard to bite back their laughter.
"For the love of winter—"
"I told you guys I'd handle this! I said, go to bed, I'll wait up for Jacqueline!"
"You scared the SNOW out of me, this is way too many scares in one night—"
"You were just downstairs!"
"Am I pink? I feel like there's pink. Am I glowing? Is Rosehaven calling me?!"
Jack eyed Jacqueline carefully, whooshing the icicle tie away. "No, you're good! You're good."
"Thank HEAVENS."
"Calm down you two," Blaise said, with a careless wave. "We just wanted to catch you before bed." Beside him, Winter gave an enthusiastic nod. "And don't use your mother's name in vain."
Jacqueline groaned, throwing her head back once more. "LADY of the SPRINGS! I get it, okay? It's Jacqueline's turn now! Lady above, way to all stab me in the back. What was it that you said about the Ides of March the other day, Dad?"
"Jacqueline," Blaise warned.
"Okay, okay. Sorry. I'm sorry," she exhaled, pulse slowing down. Her bodice snapped back onto her dress once more. "It's been a very long day. I am very tired. I have no idea how you two are functioning," she pointed at Jack and Winter, "Let alone you, Dad, given that you had the Twins all day."
"They've been out for hours," he said, waving away Jacqueline's concern. "Movie marathon. Easy day."
Jacqueline sighed. "I know you're all concerned about me. And I appreciate the concern. Really, I do. And I'm sorry I've been avoiding the subject, but we are talking about it right now, so please, if we could like, not say its name? We don't need to get into it—"
All three sprites protested at once.
"—RIGHT NOW," Jacqueline said, voice cutting above the three of them. "Good lady. Cool out, would you guys? Yeesh," she huffed. "I had a good conversation with Xander tonight, and I promise, sprite's honour, I will talk about them. Just, not right now? Maybe after a good night's rest, when we're all refreshed and ready for battle."
"Tomorrow it is, then," Blaise said, gently pushing himself up and offering a hand to Winter. "Bright and early," he added, pulling her up. Winter grabbed his arm, holding on tightly as they made their way to the door. "We'll see what we can figure out with you tomorrow, sweetheart. Okay?"
"Okay, Dad," Jacqueline said quietly, staring down at her boots.
"Good." Winter let go of Blaise's arm and held her daughter's arms, gently. "I love you very much, Jacqueline dear. We all do. We just want to help," she said, pushing an errant hair behind her ear. "All of us," she added, pulling Jacqueline in tight for a hug.
"I know," Jacqueline said into her mother's shoulder, hugging her back. "I get it. I'm sorry."
"It's alright, snow angel," Blaise said softly, squeezing her shoulder as Winter let go, grasping his arm once more.
"Now get some rest," Winter said. "The both of you. Big talks tomorrow!"
"Big talks," said Jack.
Jacqueline hummed.
"We'll see ourselves out," Blaise said, leading Winter out of Jacqueline's sitting room. "Goodnight kids!"
"Night," they both replied, watching as their parents made their way to the stairs and started down.
"Big talks? Big TALKS?! UGH. What is wrong with me," Winter bemoaned down the stairs.
Blaise chuckled fondly. "Absolutely nothing at all. You're perfect just the way you are, love."
They disappeared, an errant smooch floating up the stairs behind them. Jack and Jacqueline rolled their eyes at the same time, laughing when they noticed.
"It'll be okay tomorrow," Jack said, once the giggles subsided. "I'll be right there with you, I promise. And if it gets to be too much, I've got escape plans."
"Funnily enough, so do I!"
"I thought you might."
"I learnt from the best!"
"Flattering."
"I try. Now get the FROST out of my ROOM."
Jack laughed, ducking through the door as a snowball sailed right over his head, splattering on the wall across from them. "No need for snowballs! I'm going," he spun around to stare down Jacqueline. "No flaking tomorrow, alright?"
"Alright. I won't."
"Good."
"And uh. Thanks for looking out for me, Jack."
"Oh! i. Well. It's-it's nothing, really."
"No, it's not nothing! Really. I mean it. You've been going on and on about how I've been the one helping you and being all, bleh about it. So. Y'know. For realsies. Thank you very, very much Jack. I appreciate it. A lot."
"Well. You're very, very welcome, little flurry."
"Now STAY OUTTA MY ROOM!" she said, slamming the door shut. Jack chuckled, glancing back warmly once more before making his way to his own room for the night.
Jacqueline pressed herself against her room door, ears strained.
In the hall, there was a click. Jack's door creaked open, shutting moments later, the quiet thud echoing down the hall.
Jacqueline breathed a sigh of relief, sliding down the door slowly. She took a deep, deep breath in on the way down, breathing out when she hit the floor. She shut her eyes tight, hugging her legs and slam dunking her head in her skirts with a frustrated noise.
It had been a long day.
Tomorrow was going to be even longer.
It had been one hell of a long day.
Something shattered, the sound interrupting the still quiet of the forest surrounding the castle. There was a clatter, and a crack, and a small window exploded, clouds of colourful magical residue drifting outside. Glass fell down on the grassy floor, the man inside whipping around and glaring at the book below him. The edges started to smoke; a little flame popped into existence.
"Ah, blast it," he grumbled, pinching the flame between his forefinger and thumb. It blazed happily on his fingers for not even a second before The Man snuffed it out.
He had been at work all day. All day, and all night, toiling away at enchantments and spells, trying to find the one that would free him from the blasted chains that clinked when he walked, invisible to him but very, very, loudly reminding him they existed with every single step he took. He had tried a grand total of seventy-two times.
Seventy-two times!
Seventy-two times he thought he had done it, finally gotten the chains off of him. Seventy-two times he had walked to the front doors. Seventy-two times he had heard the turning gears sound throughout the empty halls as he undid the locks on the front doors, the chains clicking as he was thrown back into his prison, thrashing limbs knocking vials and other oddities off the shelves of whatever room the chains had thrown him back into.
Not a single breakthrough had been made.
The Queen's library was vast, filled with the knowledge of even the most obscure magical traps and seals. He had combed through it carefully, the one thing in the castle he kept as ship shape as it had been in its heyday. He had to have gone through hundreds of books at this point. Hundreds!
And not a single one had helped him with his predicament.
"Useless!" he shouted, pushing a pile of books and vials off of the desk and onto the floor.
The books tumbled, bouncing off of their spines and landing in a heap, pages crinkling against the stone floor. One particular volume bounced off another; it landed spine down, flipping open to a page depicting chains. Beside them, multiple runes—some that were very familiar to him (though he was admittedly rusty. It's not like he had had anyone to practise them with in the last, oh, four thousand five hundred or so years, give or take a few centuries).
He bent down, picking up the book and dropping it on the Workbench, scanning through it. It was a verbal spell, to be used in conjunction with a potion component. Interesting. He hadn't thought to try multiple forms at once just yet. That had been foolish, he thought to himself; he should've explored that option IMMEDIATELY. What was wrong with him?
"I'm rusty," he growled out loud, annoyed. Once he was free of these damn chains, he'd have to shape up, otherwise the grand rematch he had planned in his head would not go his way, which would be embarrassing as Kings always got their way. That'd be a poor way to start his rule, wouldn't it? Losing? Again?
He sniffed, focusing on the spell before him.
The ingredient list looked fairly straightforward. He had most of the ingredients already, actually. Thyme? Magical fully stoked kitchen, bound to be some there. Pin nose pliers? There were probably pliers laying around somewhere. Old key? Plenty that went unused laying around the place. He trailed his finger down the wild list of ingredients, his eye twitching when he landed on the final one.
A single hair from a Legendary Figure.
"Blast again!" Steam came out of his nose as he exhaled. Better not get too mad, or he'd burn this book, too, before he could even try the potion and spell combo in it.
He needed to think. To focus.
He dug around, looking for the old tome on the Legendary Figures he knew was kicking about somewhere. It was a bit outdated, missing a member or two, if he recalled correctly. But he knew one of them all too well, and though he was nearby it'd be impossible for him to get a hair off the formerly frozen man's head.
"Who else, who else…" the Man mused, tapping his chin as he paced.
Mother Nature? That'd be ideal. Most powerful of them all, for sure, he thought to himself, drinking a weird red liquid from a vial beside him. "Ugh. This isn't my drink. Or is it?" he brought it up and peered closer at it. It looked sludgy. He shrugged, taking another spicy sip anyway.
Tara. She was also in Crystal Springs, where the Man had been imprisoned for all these centuries. More, still, if he counted his childhood years, growing up in the castle walls. But then again, the castle had never been a prison for him the way it had been for his twin.
He fumed. Quite literally.
Shoving aside thoughts of him, The Man slammed the book shut, placing it down on the tabletop with his drink as he paced, back and forth, the steam coming from his ears slowly dissipating. He couldn't get to Mother Nature, that was for certain. Her garden was said to be a maze, one that only the seasons themselves knew how to navigate (and The Man knew this to be true, given that he had gotten lost in it multiple times in his youth).
Father Time and The Sandman were out of the question as well. The Timeless Realm spent most of its "time" not existing; he could never get in a place that didn't technically exist half the time. Sandman's Palace—well, he had no idea where to even begin looking for it, aside from a general westward direction, of course.
Oh! The Bunny! He would be ideal; he was a great big ball of fur, easy to snag a hair without being noticed… but he had no idea where the Easter Burrow was, and sending motes in would be risky.
Gods. Gods lived on mountain tops and in mythical planes of existence. Cupid was not a Greek god, but a Roman one. That took Mount Olympus off the list. But where in Italy would they be? The Man had no idea, and far less patience to find out, so Cupid was out of the question.
Tooth Fairy lived somewhere in the continent…but again, he did not know where and nor did he feel like sending his motes to climb mountains in a futile search that would most likely alert whoever the hell was in charge of keeping their eyes out for that sort of thing to what he was doing. Motes couldn't hide when they were above ground, after all. And he himself couldn't do ANY of these things because he was, of course, TRAPPED in this BLASTED castle!
So, all of these fancy ideas of traversing the globe to find the last ingredient were for NAUGHT. His fists thrust behind him angrily, fire singing the curtains. He sighed. Yet another ruined antique. No matter, he thought, getting back to his current predicament. Who did that leave? He glanced down at the tome. There was one name left, scrawled in by his own hand years ago.
Santa Claus.
"Oh," he said out loud, pausing mid pace, his fingers steepled together. "Interesting."
It could work. In theory. He did have an elf on the inside. He folded his hands with a very evil grin and, pulling them apart, summoned his staff. Whispering to the deep red stone on the very top, electricity crackled; he slammed the staff down. There was a roar of flames; they twirled and disappeared, revealing a very confused, very scared elf.
"I have need of you," The Man said, holding his staff beside him.
The elf wrung his hands, gulping. "Uh. Yeah. S-sure. What, uh, what do you need?"
"I'm working on a new spell, with a potion component. There is an ingredient in this list that I cannot find here, nor can I leave to fetch it myself."
"W…what is it?"
He spun around, looking out the broken window. "A hair. A hair from your employer."
"S-Santa?"
The Man turned back around, his fur cape flying. He slowly walked closer and closer to the elf, who backed away until he was against the wall. The Man grinned, bending down to look at the elf eye-to-eye, nearly nose to nose with him.
"Exactly," he growled.
"How the heck am I supposed to get that?"
"You're a Kringle. I happen to know that you've been carted all over the place to find a suitable position. You know the layout fairly well by now, I'm sure. Find his rooms. Find his hairbrush; canvas his office space, wherever he checks that silly little list of his. People shed; Legendary Figures included. Find his coat or hat or perhaps both, and grab a hair off of them. Find him and pluck a hair right off his head if you have to! I'm not picky. Just get. Me. That. Hair."
"B-but, I'll have to get past Santa! And Mrs. Claus! And Bernard, and also, also Elle, and she can read minds! How am I supposed to get passed someone who can do that?"
The Man straightened, his hands behind his back. "Perhaps a little motivation is in order, then. Get me that hair and I will allow you," he paused, sticking up a single finger, "one visit with the girl."
Kasper blanched. His heart sped up. "Wait, really?"
The Man straightened, a satisfied smirk on his face. "Get me that hair," he began, folding his hands behind his back, "And we'll see."
Kasper blinked, silent. His sister! His poor little Polly, locked away in some kind of dungeon in The Man's…prison? Home? Either way, she was somewhere in here and Kasper didn't know where. If he got the hair, and gave it to The Man…he could potentially see where she was!
And maybe, just maybe, if he found out where she was, he could do something to help! Maybe, maybe he could free her and they could run off together! Maybe-maybe-oh, he didn't know, but even knowing where she was would mean everything to him.
It was a slim chance. But it was his only chance.
The Man smirked, as he watched the boy's thoughts clear as day on his face. The telepath would have no need to dig into the boy's mind. He wore his emotions right on his sleeve.
"You'll find a vial and a pair of tweezers in your pocket. I'm sure you can replace them easily enough if necessary. You have one day. Come back with the hair, and then perhaps you can see your dear, dear sister," he hissed.
"Really?"
The Man smirked; he made no reply. Instead, he lifted his staff behind his back and slammed it into the ground, the Kringle disappearing in a little puff of smoke.
Polly!
She was the only thought on Kasper's mind when he reappeared, nearly knocking over his kitchen table. He held his head; he was nauseatingly dizzy. Being abruptly summoned in such an archaic way would do that to any elf.
Polly.
The Man had taken her hostage earlier that year. Kasper's dear, dear sister—it had been the two of them against the world until they found themselves living in Elfsburg. And they had been doing just fine for decades, until the flame monsters came.
They had been sent by The Man.
Kasper didn't know why, but they took Polly and suddenly, he found himself in front of the mysterious red-haired man. He had big plans and needed someone on the inside; he told Kasper if he did as he asked, Polly would be safe. Supposedly, once he finished the big plan he was mixing together, he'd let them both go free; he gave his Kingly word, whatever the elf THAT meant. After all, the Man had said, what kind of King would I be if I weren't a man of my word?
Kasper thought that was the biggest pile of tinsel he had ever heard in his life. But The Man was intimidating, and could do all sorts of spells, and also could make fire appear OUT OF HIS HANDS. Which was really very scary for an elf who didn't really have much going on in terms of magical ability. Trying to take a guy like that in a fight? JEEPERS. And sure, he could've told someone. But even if they believed him, before anything could happen, The Man would probably KNOW and what if he hurt the others?!
Kasper couldn't do that to his fellow elves! Even if they often got mad at him being underfoot, even if they were a little bit mean sometimes, he couldn't subject them to The Man!
So he had stayed quiet, kept his head down, done what The Man had said, hoping with all his hope that Polly was safe.
And now, with this last task, he'd be able to see her! Maybe bring her some stuff! Like her hairbrush, or her favourite stuffed animal, or her little sewing kit, or her teddy bear! No, wait, that had been destroyed by the flame monsters. But there was tons of other stuff he could maybe bring her! Like some snacks, or an extra blanket—but that all depended on if he could do this one last thing: get a hair from Santa.
That couldn't be too hard, right?
"Who am I kidding, it's impossible," he moaned, pulling his hat over his eyes and plunking down into one of the two kitchen chairs. But Polly…
With a sigh, he got up, his mind made. If he had a chance to help his sister…he would take it.
Locking the door behind him, Kasper headed towards the Workshop. It was late and most everyone had headed home for the day, except for the night crew. He wasn't part of the night crew, but that wouldn't be a problem. Unless the head elves were around. Hopefully Bernard and Elle had also gone to their homes—everyone else he could avoid easy. But them? Definitely not.
He kept close to the walls of the buildings as he made his way to the Workshop, trying to be as small as possible so that the few Elves leaving late wouldn't crash into him. Once he got to the Square, he joined the throng of chattering elves heading in for the night shift.
The crowd entered the building, fast dispersing from there. He skirted around the edges of the Workshop, avoiding the busy Elves walking by. Some of them had their noses in paperwork, rushing to the other side of the main floor; some carried baskets of toys. A few ran back and forth with their tool boxes and electrical tape, performing maintenance on the machinery so that everything would be in tip top shape the very next day.
He stopped when he reached the back of the main staircase, frowning. He figured taking the staircase was a safe enough bet. He hadn't seen the Head Elves anywhere and for once, nobody seemed to be paying him any mind. Maybe when all this was over, he'd ask to work on the night crew—not that he didn't like working with Lena at the Grille! He liked it well enough, and the staff there were very nice to him; Miss Elle had been really great about picking a spot for him!
It was just that he missed working with the toys. Making food and serving cocoa wasn't the same as making a driveable toy car, for instance. The night crew seemed slow pace and very chill, and none of them had yelled at him yet for simply being there!
You're getting off track, Kasper! He told himself. Shaking his head a little, he rushed to the stairs and crashed right into another elf.
"Sorry, I'm sorry I didn't mean to—"
"Kasper? What are you doing here?"
Elle. He had crashed right into Elle.
"I, uh…was just passing through." He shrugged, unable to offer a better explanation.
Elle tilted her head, looking at Kasper quizzically.
Yup. He was done for.
"Is everything okay?"
Kasper cleared his throat and nodded. He tried to make sure his thoughts didn't betray him; he knew that Miss Elle wasn't always listening to everyone in Elfsburg. He imagined that would be awful. But, Kasper was in a place he shouldn't be in at this time and was also acting very suspicious, and that'd make anyone want to figure out what was going on all up in there.
Elle frowned. "Anything I can help you with?"
"I…uhm…I was looking for something for my sister," he said. "For when we find her, that is."
"What is it? Maybe I can help?" she offered with a kind smile.
"It's...well, she has this bear that she really loves but it got all ruined by the flame monsters."
"Right. The flame monsters." Elle's brow furrowed, briefly. "You were wondering if you could fix it, then? Hoping to come by when it was quieter? I get it. I do that a lot, for personal projects." She offered Kasper a kind smile. He wanted nothing more than to curl up and die. He felt terrible.
But Polly probably felt worse. He cleared his throat, strengthening his resolve.
"I would, but it got a little bit. Well. Destroyed," he shrugged, running with it. "I was hoping to see if there were any bears that got made that looked like hers that got, that got like. Rejected or something and try to. You know." Kasper flushed, rolling his wrist as he tried to think of the words he wanted.
"Fix it up for her?"
"Yeah!"
"That's very sweet of you, Kasper.
He shrugged, flushing, and looked down at his curly shoes.
"Upstairs there are a couple of bins of faulty toys. They're being used for spare parts or reworked. One is filled with stuffed toys-maybe you'll find a bear for her in there? If not, the stuffies department should have some extras. And extra stuffing, if you need it."
Kasper smiled, feeling all...warbly. "Thanks Miss Elle,"
"Anytime," she said, Kasper barely hearing her reply as he rushed up the stairs.
Elle frowned. Seeing Kasper in the Workshop of all places this late at night was definitely a surprise. Not too terribly worrying, given that many elves came to the Workshop on their off time for personal projects. Not out of the ordinary at all.
But when she had crashed into him, he looked as though he had been caught red handed doing something he shouldn't have been. Like he was in trouble.
"Everything okay, Elle?"
"Oh, hey B. Yeah. I think. I was just chatting with Kasper."
Now it was Bernard's turn to frown, running down the stairs and stopping beside Elle. "Kasper? I thought we placed him at the Grille. He's not on night shift."
"No, he isn't. And he's still at the Grille."
"How was he doing? Actually, I think the more pertinent question would be what was he doing? He doesn't strike me as the personal project type of person."
"He said he was looking for a bear to fix up for his sister. Apparently, the flame monsters that took her wrecked her favourite one."
"Flame monsters." Bernard's frown deepened. "I feel like we're missing something here, if it really was flame monsters."
"Right? Flame monsters! It's like. Ringing a bell, you know? It feels like we're missing something, every time I think about it."
"Hmm. Well, was he telling the truth about the bear?"
"I think so. I didn't pry because, you know, if it was me I wouldn't want someone rummaging around in my head. But he wasn't looking away or anything like that. He just seemed like he had gotten in trouble, you know?"
"Which checks out. I've lost count of how many times someone has scolded him for Christmas knows what."
Elle nodded. "Exactly. Poor guy. He just wants to do something nice for his sister. No harm in that." Elle paused, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Have we heard any news from Elfsburg PD?"
"I haven't," Bernard said. "But we could go ask Santa. Maybe he has? And if there is something new, maybe we can catch Kasper before he leaves and update him. Maybe it'll put him at ease for a bit."
"Well, it won't hurt to check, and we have some time to spare," Elle shrugged.
"Shall we?" Bernard asked, gesturing up the stairs to Santa's office.
"Lead the way," Elle said, mirroring him. The pair laughed, making their way back up the stairs together.
Kasper stopped a little ways down the hall, clutching his chest as he tried to calm his racing heart.
Not even two minutes into his quest, and he had already run into one of the people who could get him in a lot of trouble for sneaking around! And although his cover story was sound, that hadn't been his intention coming in. So now, on top of making sure that he had what The Man needed, he had to make sure he left with a teddy bear, too.
Just in case.
And maybe fixing it up would help him ground himself before The Man called him back.
Breathing finally regulating, Kasper straightened up and looked around. He was in a bit of an unfamiliar area on the second floor, currently overlooking what was the room with the Pantograph. Back by the stairs, there was a door with frosted glass that led into another corridor, and Kasper was positive that that's where Santa's office was.
That would be his first stop. The office. That's where important stuff was kept, after all. And the hat and coat were really important. It made sense to the elf that this is where both should be, and hopefully he could find them easily enough and pluck a hair right off of one of the garments and be off on his merry way (with a teddy bear, he reminded himself).
He tried to look casual as he headed back down towards the doors leading to Santa's office (he hoped), when the sound of footsteps coming right towards him reached his ears.
Panicking, he rushed to the corner furthest away from the doors, leaning over the balcony and looking out at the Workshop below him.
"…aside from that, I couldn't really read anything else from him."
"In that case, I really hope the Elfficers have talked to Santa. A lead would be nice."
The doors to Santa's space opened and closed, the two head elves disappearing inside. He strained his ears, waiting for the footsteps to die down before he scurried through the doors and quietly ran down the hall, peeking into various rooms.
He stopped when he got to a set of slightly ajar ornate doors. He could make out the green of Elle's jacket, and what looked to be the big Santa fireplace everyone talked about. It was truly terrifying. It would give him nightmares tonight, for sure.
Satisfied with his progress, he turned the corner, making himself comfortable as he waited between two pillars for the office to empty. He settled in, thinking about how he really, really, really should've gotten that teddy bear first. It'd have made a very good pillow, even if it was a bit under stuffed.
Thankfully, it wasn't very long before Santa left the office, the Head Elves in tow. Kasper breathed a sigh of relief (his legs were beginning to feel pins and needles) and stood up, catching the last few wisps of their conversation.
"We'll head on down and see if we can at the very least get a copy of the case file for him," Santa was saying. "If there's anything new, we'll know for sure. But I don't know how likely that is. I haven't heard any news, myself. It's looking a little bleak, guys."
"I think he'll appreciate it either way," Bernard said. "I know if it was my sibling that had gone missing, I would."
"If it were me, I'd straight up run my own search," Elle said, as they made their way down the stairs, the conversation disappearing with them.
Kasper pulled at his hat, frustrated. What they were doing was nice, really! It was just…he knew nothing new had turned up because the house was a dead end. The Pole was a dead end. The Man had Polly, and he wasn't in Elfsburg or the North Pole at all. He had no idea where they were! He was always POOFED there directly!
"Why are they so nice!" he said out loud, pulling his hat down. It was making this so much harder.
Maybe he could just tell them everything right now! That would solve everything! But…The Man would know, he reminded himself. He knows lots about what you do and you know if you told everyone where she was, he would hurt Polly before they could save her.
Trying to ignore the crushing weight in his chest, Kasper got up and ran into the office, fixing his hat. "For Polly," he reminded himself, throwing open the office doors.
Gingerbread and cinnamon assaulted his nose, a warm fire crackling merrily in the Santa shaped fireplace. The space was warm and thankfully empty; he had been afraid Mrs. Claus would be resting on the couch or something. But it was late; she would've headed home by now. School had been out for a while and they had the baby to take care of! Human babies needed a lot of care, Kasper remembered.
"Okay! Concentrate, Kasper!"
He kept the door as open as Santa had left it when they all left, and scanned the room. The desk was covered in papers, the Naughty and Nice list curling around the trinkets. A few envelopes addressed to Santa were scattered about the floor. It was very cozy, of course. Most importantly right now, he noticed that there were no other doors around where the jacket and hat might be hung up nice and safe.
"Gingersnaps!" Kasper said. He frowned, rounding the desk and nearly hitting the chair.
That's when he saw it. The intricate pattern inlaid in the red fabric, the white trim…
Santa's hat was right on top of the chair.
"Yes!" Kasper shouted; his face fell when he realized how loud he had been. Straining his ears, he didn't hear anyone coming (it would take a little while down at the station; they had to go through all these fancy protocols to get the file, he was sure of it). He stood still until he was absolutely sure before taking off his shoes and hopping onto Santa's chair, standing on tiptoe to grab the hat. He plopped down on the chair, pulling out the tweezers and the glass vial The Man had given him.
It took him a moment, and a whole lot of patience. The trim was furry white, after all, and he had to make sure that he was getting a HAIR, and NOT trim. Turning the hat inside out proved successful! He found two whole hairs (a second one just in case) in the red fabric, and had placed them carefully in the vial, corking it shut tight with a sigh of relief. Quietly, he slipped his shoes back on, and tiptoed out of the office.
He made it through the corridor and out onto the upper workshop when he saw them. Bernard and Elle were heading his way, though they hadn't seen him yet. Thinking fast, he rushed towards the balcony overlooking the pantograph room and dove into a bin of teddy bears—coming face to face with one that looked near identical to Polly's.
"Nice of Santa to take care of business while we bring this to Kasper," Bernard was saying.
"I can't believe the hassle just to get one small case file. You guys couldn't possibly have that much crime up here."
"Bureaucrats." Bernard shrugged. "Here's hoping we didn't miss him. It's been half an hour, at least."
"Well if he's anywhere, it'll be here."
The two elves had reached the front of the bin Kasper was currently laying in. Making sure the vial was tucked away safe and out of sight, he popped his head out of the pile of teddys, blinking. They backed up a bit, unfazed.
"Comfy?" Bernard asked, eyebrow raised.
"Mostly," Kasper replied. "I can uh, come out if this isn't, uh, isn't allowed—"
Bernard waved his hand. "S'okay, Kasper. Elle and I have something for you," he said, passing a plain manila folder to him.
"We thought it may help settle your nerves a bit. We were hoping for new info, but they don't have any. Sorry, Kasper," Elle said.
"They're doing what they can," Bernard assured, as Kasper finally took the folder from him. "We'll get her back soon, okay?"
Hairs tucked away safe in the vial in his vest, manilla folder in hand, Kasper really, truly, believed it for a moment. Polly would make it back okay.
His shoulders dropped. He smiled.
"Okay. Thank you."
"It's nothing," Bernard said with a reassuring smile. "Now. Get yourself home, alright?"
"Alright."
"Good."
"Oh! Before we head out. Did you find a bear for your sister?"
"I did," Kasper said. "I'll leave with it in a moment, I promise."
"We'll give you some space," Elle said, gently pulling Bernard away from the bin.
"Don't sleep in there!" he shouted back as the couple left.
"I won't!" Kasper replied, as the two elves rounded the corner.
He held the file close to his chest, pulling himself out of the bin, the teddy bear he had come face to face with that matched Polly's bear exactly coming out with him.
"We're going to be okay, Polly," he said to the teddy bear. "I'm gonna make sure of it."
A/N-Howdy! This one was FAST. I finished it like a WEEK after posting Market Day! Lemme double check real quick. okay, maybe not a WEEK but 18 was edited November 12th, and 19 was done on the 23rd (of 2022. Touched up October of 2023! :). Pretty good turnaround given how long the last one took! :)
I did a little bit of reshuffling events, so I waited before posting this one to finish the next one, so that nobody reads and then gets very, very confused, given that this Chapter opens with frosty goodness and then Jacqueline coming home, when that's what happened in the opening in the NEXT CHAPTER. That didn't read well. WHATEVER.
Mans got a plan! Lots of Mans with plans, actually. Next up: Jacqueline's turn! That'll be up today, too. I've gotta give it a second read through and then maybe a third, so YEAH. Enjoy! R&R! Happy December! :)