Holiday Planning

The sleigh hovered in the air over the Atlantic, just east of the Florida coastline. Christmas Present and Dancer were doing some reconnaissance to see if the Krampus had already been in the area. If he had, then it would be safe for them to proceed. If not, he was far faster than they were, and it wasn’t worth getting caught.

“Do you really think it’s worth it?” Lily asked, staring at the distant lights of Miami. She rested her head on crossed arms on the side of the sleigh. With the Krampus stealing presents, their only option for prolonging belief was making personal visits from Santa. Deep down, Lily was afraid that the Krampus had already visited these children, scaring the poop out of them or telling them Santa wasn’t real. “If Christmas Present is right, these visits won’t amount to much in terms of Christmas preservation.”

“Absolutely.” Death was next to her, his eye sockets on the dark waters of the Atlantic. “From our point of view, we gain very little. Each special trip exacts a toll on us, and an imbalanced one at that.”

“You’re not exactly selling it,” Lily muttered.

“But to that child, it means everything. Perhaps our efforts buy us scant minutes in the long run, but Christmas has never been about our own personal gains. It is the season of giving, that moment when someone’s face lights up in joy. The best gifts aren’t things you can hold with your hands, dear succubus, but rather things we can cherish in our hearts for years to come.”

Lily sighed, turning her head to see the Reaper better. He had a point, but it was one she had trouble coming to terms with. The debate the team had on the way had been largely one-sided. Lily was in favor of going to the North Pole to kick some heinie, while everyone else, including the toaster, wanted to finish the list.

It was selfish of her, she could admit it. She missed Mike. She hated being Santa’s Helper and playing cat and mouse with a literal giant cat had gotten old. She wasn’t built for generosity or kindness, but sensuality and murder.

“I disagree.” The part of Mike’s soul that lived inside her was now rubbing her shoulders. It was rare to see him out in the real world, but he had appeared shortly after she had lost her argument with the others. At first, she had been terrified that Death would see him and react poorly, but it turned out that Spirit Mike was still just a hallucination brought on by stress.

As he worked the muscles in her shoulders, she couldn’t help but wonder what it would look like if someone else was watching her skin. Would it look like it was being kneaded from the inside? Her body was capable of it. Or was it just part of the illusion?

Please. How many people have you watched me kill and eat? She spoke with her thoughts alone. Just because Death couldn’t see Mike didn’t mean that he wouldn’t overhear her talking to herself.

“People don’t judge a lion for eating a baby gazelle.” Mike paused for a moment. “At least, realistic people don’t. It’s a predator, that’s what it was made for.”

Nobody expects that lion to go out and play Santa’s Helper for months on end.

“You are far more refined than a lion.” He worked his hands along her outer arms, then slid them around her torso, squeezing her from behind as he moved in to snuggle her. “I think what bothers you is that you see the wisdom in the decision, and it goes against everything you’ve believed up until recently.”

Eat me. Lily kept her features neutral, her eyes flicking over to Death. The Reaper was wistfully gazing at his empty mug of cocoa, probably dreaming of how wonderful it would be to have tea instead. This had been maybe slightly entertaining, but now it’s a fool’s errand.

“You were having plenty of fun until the Krampus pooped on your parade.” She could feel Mike wiggle his lips. “Darn, that really is annoying.”

Almost an hour passed before Dancer appeared in the sky, descending from above. Christmas Present was astride the reindeer’s back, her hair flowing behind her in the moonlight in a pose that gave Lily’s tummy butterflies. Her mind flitted back to their interlude, and she wondered if there would ever be an opportunity for a second round.

“Wow, she really is breathtaking,” Mike muttered.

Maybe we should do something similar in the Dreamscape, Lily replied.

“If so, I call dibs on being the little spoon.”

Lily snorted.

Death looked at her, then turned his gaze toward the returning duo. “Ah. You have returned to us.”

Christmas Present took a deep breath and let it all out at once. “He’s been through here. Terrible cookies and no gifts from Santa.”

“But we haven’t been here yet.” Death patted the large sack behind him. “We could still deliver these.”

“That we can.” Christmas Present looked at the two of them. “But there’s no guarantee he won’t swing through again. We also don’t know what he’s doing with the gifts he takes.”

“True.” Death tapped the edge of the sleigh, deep in thought. “Perhaps it would behoove us to follow the original plan. We could find somewhere safe to hide these gifts until the Krampus has been taken care of and Santa restored.”

Christmas Present shrugged. “I’m kind of on the fence, honestly. Part of me wonders if we should go north, after all. See how we can help there.”

“I see.” Death looked over at Lily. “But what about the children expecting a visit?”

The giant shook her head. “I do not know. If Santa is truly lost to us, it would only delay the inevitable.”

The group sat in silence for several minutes. Lily hadn’t seen such a defeated look on either Christmas Present’s or Death’s face before. It was really sinking in that they were way over their heads.

“I would like to continue.” Death pulled the list from some hidden pocket inside his own black robes beneath Santa’s red coat. “I know not what I can even hope to accomplish against a being such as the Krampus, but helping children believe is something I know I can do. It makes just as much difference to them as any fight I could partake in, for this is not the season of violence, but of hope and new beginnings. I would not begrudge any who choose not to come with me. If you wish, you may take the sleigh and move it to safety.”

“How will you get around?” Lily asked.

“I shall walk. I do not tire, for death is inevitable. There are plenty of children I can visit in the Americas alone, though I do not look forward to swimming all the way to Hawaii.”

“You’re really planning on walking? Just to keep some kids believing in Santa for a little bit longer?”

“There are still hundreds of children on this list.” Death tucked the list away. “And though it may take me decades to visit them all, I will ensure that their needs are met.”

Ahead of them, Cerberus turned around and snorted, sending a jet of flames from each head. They fixed everyone with a stern gaze, then turned their heads toward Miami and grunted. It seemed like they wanted to continue on as well.

Christmas Present shook her head. “You assume that you have decades left. The sleigh is already slower than before, which means the magic is weakening. Nobody knows what will happen to it should the Krampus win, but I imagine all of this comes to an end. It’s clear he wants to damage Santa’s image, and you would become a liability. I would be surprised if you got more than a few days, if I’m being honest.”

“Then drop me off somewhere good!” Death shook his list and pointed. “Look, right here. There are a couple of children in New Jersey, only blocks apart, who need Santa. From there, it will be several hours, but a little girl wants a bedtime story. Her father died this year, and she just wants—”

“Hey.” Lily put her hand on Death’s arm. “I’m not letting you do this on your own. We’re not letting you,” she corrected at a huff from Cerberus. “Let’s keep using the sleigh, put some smiles on their faces, yeah?”

Christmas Present nodded in agreement. “If anyone should feel bad for abandoning the task, it should be me. It’s hard to remember how to be selfless when you have so many new feelings on the inside, screaming to get out. When the time lock ends, I will be everywhere at once, compressing lifetimes worth of memories into a single day. But for now, I am so far removed from my task that my thoughts have wandered. I am sorry.”

“Then it’s settled. Let’s go make some dreams come true.” Lily rolled her eyes at Death. “Besides, you would have scared the snow right out of those kids. You’re too boney to pass for Santa.”

Death opened his mouth as if to say something, then clacked his jaw shut. “Thank you, Lily. I did not expect you to be swayed by my words.”

Lily looked at Mike, who sat on the edge of the sleigh and was giving her a thumbs up. “Let’s just say I was recently reminded how refined I am.”

“Now that we know what we’re doing, I’ll check in with Mrs. Claus and Mike. I’m going to fly oceanward for a bit to throw the Krampus off if he’s tracking me. I’ll see you two eventually.” Christmas Present winked at them, then headed east on Dancer’s back. In only a few minutes, they were gone.

Death flipped through the pages of the list, humming to himself as he did so.

“We’re needed by a little girl in north Miami.” He tapped the paper, then tucked it away and picked up the reins. He paused, contemplated the reins, then handed them over to Lily. “Would you like to drive for a while?”

“Heck, yeah, I would!” Lily took the reins and snapped them hard, eager for less talking and more doing. Cerberus launched forward, towing them toward the glittering lights in the distance. Lily stood in her seat, putting one foot on top of the sleigh and spreading her wings wide to flair out dramatically behind her.

Unseen by the others, Mike’s soul fragment wrapped arms around her waist and hollered in delight as the wind blew through his hair.

---

Mike sat on a stool, contemplating the swirling mass of Jack/Freya’s soul before him. Outside the window, the snow was frozen in place, making the mountain scenery appear as if it was painted on.

When they had left the North Pole, Holly had brought them to a ski town deep in the Rocky Mountains. There was no shortage of apartments to be used, and the one they had picked was a really nice one overlooking the mountain. It had two bedrooms, and time had frozen while the occupants were outside using the hot tub. There were four of them, three men and one woman, splitting a bottle of champagne.

There were occasional debates as to who was paired with who, but Holly had declared that maybe the additional two men were the woman’s Christmas present. Mike had pointed out that it could easily be the other way around, and that they were a gift for the man.

Yuki had gently reminded them both that the world was full of people who just enjoyed each other’s company and didn’t just fuck each other all the time.

Jack/Freya sighed, then turned their head to look at him. He typically sat behind her so that the experience was a little less creepy. “It’s been three days, Caretaker. Are you going to do something, or are we going to piss away the hours while the Krampus ruins everything?”

It was Freya’s voice, but Mike had learned early in studying them that Jack and Freya weren’t actually separate people. In a long Dreamscape discussion with Naia and Lily, it was decided that Jack was simply the remnants of whatever Freya used to be. Ratu believed that Freya wasn’t actually complete herself, and what they were all experiencing was just another facet that didn’t know they were incomplete.

So though Mike felt like he was looking at two separate souls, it was just an illusion. When the Krampus had antagonized Jack, self preservation had brought the violent side of Freya forward. Based on research Yuki had done at a nearby library, Freya wasn’t just the goddess of war. She had actually been associated with several other things, like gold, love, and fertility.

“Hey.” Holly put her hand on Mike’s thigh to get his attention, then handed him a cup with some hot soup. It was impossible outside the North pole to properly cook anything, as appliances didn’t work. However, the flames in every fireplace continued to flicker, giving off a warmth that absolutely violated the laws of thermodynamics. When questioned about it, Holly had rolled her eyes and declared that Christmas magic was complicated and they shouldn’t worry about it.

“Thanks.” The soup was straight from a can, but he was already tired of sandwiches. Holly and Yuki had taken turns raiding the nearby grocery store, stealing food they could consume without cooking. He ate a beef stew that was okay, but wouldn’t hold a candle to clam chowder.

“Are you just going to ignore her?” Jack turned to look at him. “Because even I’m getting impatient.”

“I’m only going to get one shot at this,” he told them, for perhaps the hundredth time. “When I went to bed last night, I spent over a week in the Dreamscape getting lessons from Naia, Lily, and Ratu on soul magic. I feel like I’m just now understanding how to hold a scalpel, but you’re demanding I scrub in for brain surgery.”

“It isn’t exactly comfortable only having control of half my body,” Jack replied. “Last week, I could frost a town in moments, and ride on the wind with arms outstretched and a cold front in my heart. But now? I’m crippled, physically and spiritually.”

“You were already crippled,” Freya replied. “In a metaphor even you can understand, you are nothing more than a lump of leftover snow from a melted snowman.”

“Enough, both of you.” Mike could see their soul folding and stretching above them, as if trying to tear itself apart. The temperature of the room had dropped drastically, and he could feel the chill through the sweater Yuki had stolen for him from the ski shop in the town square below. Yesterday, Freya/Jack had argued so much that the whole apartment had frosted over.

“No. I’ve had enough.” Freya tried to stand up, but Jack’s half of the body went limp. The goddess growled as they fell to the floor, the wood floors now covered in a thick frost.

The bedroom door opened and Yuki stepped out. She yawned, scratching at her belly as she crossed the room naked.

“What’s a fox got to do to get a nap around here?” She shook her head at the sight of Freya/Jack struggling on the floor. “Felt them getting feisty, thought I would come check.”

“Yeah, they need help again.” Mike let Yuki pick them up. They had learned early on that it was unsafe for anyone else to handle Freya/Jack if they weren’t calm. Even with Santa’s coat on, Mike had gotten a nasty frostburn on his exposed skin from trying to move the goddess from one seat to another.

Freya and Jack were now going back and forth in a language nobody else understood. Mike half expected them to start punching each other, which would be regrettable because they shared the same face.

There was a loud sizzling sound, and then Christmas Present popped into the middle of the apartment, nearly hitting her head on the ceiling.

“Whoa, where the heck are you guys?” Christmas Present shrank herself down, then looked out the window. “This isn’t the North Pole.”

Mike took a minute to explain what had happened and their current plan. The spirit listened with interest to the events of the last few days, then filled Mike in on what transpired with the others. She handed him a letter which Lily had written, and he tucked it into his pocket.

Freya/Jack, silenced by the giant’s sudden arrival, looked miserable to hear the news. Their soul had fallen into a contemplative state with no shortage of self pity. Mike had seen enough of it in the last few days to recognize the pattern.

“I shouldn’t stay long,” Christmas Present announced, looking around the room. “And neither should you. The Krampus knows I teleported here, but not why. If he sends someone to investigate, they will discover you soon enough.”

“It was fun while it lasted,” Yuki muttered, leaving the room to go get dressed.

Christmas Present patted Holly affectionately on the head, then blew Mike a kiss before baring her breasts and disappearing.

“Should have seen that coming.” Mike couldn’t help but laugh, then opened Lily’s letter. It said pretty much what the giant had told him.

“So where should we go?” Holly asked. “If the Krampus is using his own sleigh, it will still take him hours to get here.”

Mike looked outside and sighed. They couldn’t return to Santa’s house, they needed more time. But he also didn’t want to spend forever trying to locate somewhere quiet to do their work.

“Could the Krampus track us through the fireplace?” Mike asked.

Holly shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Shit. Sorry, Holly.” He growled as he looked back out on the mountain. What was the best play here?

“I have an idea,” Freya offered. “If you are worried about him tracking us, we could move somewhere nearby. Close enough that we can walk, but far enough away that it would be a waste of resources to search. He doesn’t know why the spirit came here in the first place.”

“So you’re saying we should move to another building?”

“Maybe go a town over. Wouldn’t be hard to find somewhere just as nice.” Freya’s eye moved in toward her nose, as if looking at Jack. “What do you think?”

“I could cover our tracks,” Jack replied. “We just have to make sure we don’t leave any evidence we were here.”

Holly didn’t bother asking Mike’s opinion. The elf went into overdrive, picking up all the trash they had accumulated and putting it into the garbage bag. Yuki came out of the bedroom, carrying Santa’s coat in one hand and a stolen backpack in the other.

“It’s a good plan,” she offered, tossing the coat to Mike. “Let’s go.”

They were fully packed and gone within thirty minutes. Mike gazed wistfully at the people in the hot tub, wishing he could be back home with his whole family. After seeing Callisto in the future, there was nothing he wanted more than to wrap his arms around his son and hold him. Granted, he would probably get kicked for doing it, but it was his fantasy and he was going to savor it for a while longer.

The trip out of the ski town didn’t take them very long, but they were stuck with walking along the frost covered roads. Holly led the way, with Mike and Yuki taking turns carrying Jack/Freya as the goddess manipulated the elements behind them to hide their footprints.

The long walk out of town felt like an outtake from an apocalyptic movie. The streets were largely empty, but what few cars navigated them were frozen in time, their headlights on. Declaring that the main roads had served them well enough, Yuki led the group onto the icy side roads. They avoided street lights or any other illumination that might give them away, and it was a couple of hours later that Mike found himself hiking up the side of a mountain, following a curved road covered in snow. He looked back one last time at the lights of the ski village, then flinched when he saw a cluster of them flicker.

“What the heck was that?” he asked.

“Hmm?” Holly stopped to look too, then grabbed his hand when another set of lights flickered. It almost looked like something was climbing across the exterior of the buildings, moving fast enough to block the light for only a moment. “We were right to leave. Someone came to check.”

“The Krampus?” he asked.

“Doubt it. He would have come on his sleigh…I think.” She bit her lip. “Though maybe he can use fireplaces, if Santa taught him how.”

Mike gritted his teeth, knowing full well that the Krampus could. The road was curving away so that the ski town could no longer be seen, which meant they would be hidden from view. Without any tracks to find, he could only hope the Krampus would give up long before committing to a search that wide. “Let’s keep going.”

Nearly an hour later, they found themselves standing in front of someone’s weekend cabin. They were well away from the lights and comforts of the ski town. The building was dark, meaning no fire had been lit. Holly went in first, using a lockpick from her pouch. She declared the house clear, and they all went inside. The front room had a pair of couches, and there was a bedroom in the back.

Mike stomped his feet out of habit, surprised to discover that his stolen boots were dry. Freya/Jack had done a great job of keeping their travel concealed, and he wondered if they had simply made the snow return to where it had started.

The cabin was lit only by the moonlight reflecting off the snow outside until Yuki sent a few traces of foxfire into the corners. The room now looked like it was lit by candles, revealing that a small, fake Christmas tree had been set on the kitchen counter. A quick check of the cabin revealed that it was a rental, and it didn’t seem like anybody had booked it.

The group spread out and Holly stocked the pantry with the rest of their stolen food. The sandwich meat and cheeses didn’t need refrigeration due to the timelock, but she still put them in the fridge for storage purposes. Yuki kept watch out the window while Mike went back to his study of Jack/Freya’s soul.

Jack/Freya didn’t seem to require sleep, seemingly content staring into space. Mike could tell that the two of them were having some sort of internal debate, their soul halves constantly shifting back and forth in what looked like an attempt to claim territory. Holly went to bed a couple hours after they settled, not even bothering to make a pass at Mike like she had done the previous night. He had declined her offer then, mainly to avoid upsetting Jack/Freya.

Yuki had set up her art station next to the window, her ears shifting every now and then as she worked on replenishing the minor arcana of her tarot. Now that Mike could see magic, he watched in fascination as she pulled different elements from her own body and even the air around them and layered it into each painting. The more complicated the spell, the more magic was stored inside the art. The lower numbers didn’t take her very long, and he finally understood how she was able to command the cards to become what she needed them to be.

It was all about layered potential. Yuki was pouring magic into a well with the expectation that she could shape it with her intent later. Mike learned more about enchantments and runes from fifteen minutes of watching her than in all the time he had lived in his house. It wasn’t something he would be able to suddenly recreate on his own, but it was suddenly like several doors had been opened in his mind.

When Holly woke up, she made herself a meal while Yuki packed up her portable easel and went to bed herself. Mike joined the elf for sandwiches, noticing how exhausted she looked.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Not really,” she admitted. “I didn’t sleep very good, because…please don’t take this the wrong way, but…I’m not so sure we can beat him. The Krampus.”

“Oh.” Mike frowned, then set down his food. “Yeah, things are bad. But if I’m being honest, I’ve been in worse spots.”

“You have?”

“Yes. Pissed off the Queen of the Faeries a year back, got that to work out. Literally saved the world about nine months ago from a dead god and their priestess. Lost someone important to me during that whole affair.” He took a deep breath and let it out. There weren’t adequate words to describe how the whole thing had felt, the raw void that had been left behind with Velvet’s passing. Right now, it was more important to give Holly hope, and crying wasn’t going to help. “When all is said and done, I will go down fighting. Or at least be able to say I tried.”

“But why you?” she asked. “These things you’ve mentioned, they’re big. And now you’re caught up in this, too. Doesn’t that seem strange?”

“Huh.” He had given up trying to rationalize his life long ago, but Holly had a point. Most of his issues had centered around the house, but not all of them. The incident with Leeds hadn’t even originally been about him. And now he was dealing with Santa’s literal inner demon, though it was loosely tied to the house. “It does seem strange,” he admitted.

Was it all part of the Great Game? Or was it a result of becoming part of the magical world? It was something to consider. Emily had experienced her fair share of setbacks, but from everything the others had told him, it had never been like this.

Holly leaned forward, her elbows on the table and her chin above clasped hands. A lock of hair came loose from her hat in the process. She tried to blow it away from her eyes, but was unsuccessful.

“I hate this,” she muttered. “I wish Santa would come back and fix everything. If we could just figure out where the Krampus locked him up, we could find him and let him fix everything.”

Mike stared at the elf, stunned. Not only did he know exactly where Santa was, but would the process of extracting him be much different than what he was about to attempt with Jack and Freya? Could he simply grab onto a chunk of Santa and pull him to the surface, leaving the Krampus locked away?

All this time, they had simply been reacting to what the Krampus did with no real plan to stop him. Now? That power was potentially in Mike’s hands. He just needed to learn how to wield it, and then return to the North Pole to kick some ass. These were all things he could accomplish with the help of the others.

“I could kiss you,” he declared without thinking.

Holly smiled dreamily, then sighed. “I’m not in the mood,” she told him. “Too depressed. There’s not even any mistletoe. All we have for Christmas is that tree over there, and it’s not even decorated. Why bother setting it out if you aren’t going to put ornaments on it?”

“I might have a fix for that.” Mike got up and went to his coat to retrieve the ornament Santa had given him. The spirit inside had hidden itself away, making it look like a simple frosted bulb. He handed it to Holly. “Here. You put it on.”

The elf perked up, taking the ornament from him. “Why do you have this?”

“Santa left it for me in his workshop.”

“Truly?” Holly stared at him in awe, then reverently hung the ornament on the tree. She didn’t even question Mike’s statement, humming to herself as she hooked it on a branch. “You have no idea how happy this makes me,” she told him.

“Convenient,” Freya snorted from the other side of the room. “Santa gives you an ornament, you find a bare tree to put it on three days later to cheer up the elf helping you.”

Mike frowned at her words. She was right, it was convenient. Was the purpose of the gift to cheer the elf? Or was there a deeper purpose? It had just occurred to him that he might be able to rescue Santa using an ability he gained while in the North Pole, after practicing something similar on Jack/Freya.

Just how precognizant was Santa? Had the ghost of Christmas Future told him what was going to happen? Or did Santa himself just know? Was that why Santa let the Krampus take over, because Mike would ultimately defeat him using—

His thoughts were lost when Holly planted a kiss that heated him up from the inside, her hands moving along his chest. She let out a tiny moan in his mouth, then broke the kiss while licking her lips.

“Thank you,” she said. “I would offer you more than a kiss, but…” her eyes flicked over to Jack/Freya.

“I understand.” He yawned, stretching his arms over his head. “I should probably get some rest. I think I’ve got what I need to help Freya and Jack tomorrow.”

“You’d better,” Jack mumbled. He gave the goddess a cursory glance to see that her soul was tumbling about again in what he estimated to be self pity.

Minutes later, he snuggled into bed with Yuki, her tails helping trap the heat under the blankets. He drifted to sleep, the Dreamscape sprouting around him like time-lapsed grass in fast forward. Sitting on the edge of Naia’s fountain, he saw that the others were waiting for him. Lily sat topless on the edge of the fountain, her arms clasped in front of her as a moving tattoo that looked identical to Jack/Freya’s soul shifted across her skin. Ratu and Naia studied the design, then looked over at Mike.

“Well?” he asked. It was clear that his hours of study coupled with Lily’s ability to experience the world had born fruit.

“It took a few hours before anything showed up, but Lily was finally able to project it in real time.” Ratu patted the spot next to her. “And I think we have a way for us to help you fix it.”

“Excellent.” He let out a sigh of relief, then excused himself long enough to check on the massive sign he had built over the house. He and Kisa still had their link, but he didn’t even know if she could reach him now that time was flowing differently. On the odd chance she arrived, he had written a brief synopsis of what they were doing on a giant billboard.

Tink had written “You stink” on the bottom corner of it with a can of spray paint, followed by a silly face. Mike thought it was funny, so left it up.

“So what do we need to do to get this train rolling?” Mike asked. “Do I start from the outside and work my way in, or…?”

Lily burst into laughter, then looked over her shoulder at him. “Oh, please, can I tell him? Please let me be the one to tell him.”

Naia looked at Ratu, who just shrugged. “Someone is going to have to tell him,” the naga said. “May as well be you.”

“Tell me what?” Mike asked, suddenly worried that what he heard next was going to really piss off Freya and Jack.

Lily cackled, then shared the plan with him. Turned out he was right.

---

Kisa dropped down from the rafters, landing silently behind the cluster of elves taking the last of the presents. After Grýla had left, Kisa had waited maybe half an hour in her hiding spot, watching the elves. They moved soullessly, no words shared between them as they obeyed the Krampus’ last order.

One of the elves turned to look right at her, his eyes briefly taking her in and then sliding away from her as he forgot her presence. She moved out of his way as he looked around the room, clearly trying to remember what he had just seen.

The last of the gifts were loaded onto a sled. Since there was some leftover room, Kisa hopped onto the back and crouched down. She wasn’t certain if Grýla was still around, and had a sinking feeling that the giant might be able to see through whatever magic kept the cat girl from discovery. The gifts would likely get no more than a cursory glance at best, and that would have to be enough.

The elves took up the ropes and pulled the sled into the underground tunnel. Kisa’s eyes adjusted to the dim light, allowing her to notice that the elves moved as if on auto pilot. She couldn’t be certain if they saw anything as they marched in lock step with one another.

Up ahead in the tunnel, an unexpected side passage appeared. It was immediately apparent to Kisa that the side passage didn’t have the same construction as the other tunnels she had been in. This one looked natural, and she would have thought it was just a cave system if not for the odd concave marks along the edges. Despite being solid stone, it almost looked like a pair of hands had simply scooped it away, leaving behind occasional finger lines in the granite.

These had to be tunnels dug by the giant and her kin. How long had it taken them? She didn’t get a chance to ponder it for long before the elves turned down the new tunnel, which wasn’t lit at all. All around her, the elves shuffled forward, their speed reduced drastically as they navigated the darkness.

Kisa took several deep breaths, reminding herself that the cave wasn’t about to collapse. She had no idea how much land was even above her right now, and contemplating thousands of tons crushing her into cat paste wasn’t going to—

She shivered, then bit the inside of her cheek. She needed to stay focused on what was important, and apparently that meant tunneling to the center of the Earth to do it.

A dim light appeared, and she almost squealed with joy. Long shadows formed behind the sled as it was pulled into a large chamber lit from above by glowing gemstones. In awe, Kisa stared up at the glittering crystals until her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sled being tipped sideways into a pit.

She bounced and slid along the massive pile of presents, eventually coming to a stop next to a skateboard with a bow stuck to the wheels. Up above, the elves wandered away with their empty sled as Kisa cursed herself for getting caught up in the moment.

“Where the fuck am I?” she whispered to herself, scanning the ledge for movement. The pit she had been dumped in was massive, and she moved to the sloped walls to climb out. The rock was smooth, but more of those finger grooves gave her plenty to grab onto as she hauled her tail out of there.

Near the rim, she crouched down and slowed her movements. When she finally looked over the edge, she saw that the elves were on the other side of the massive chamber, waiting to go into a much narrower tunnel. Seeing nobody else watching, she cautiously pulled herself out of the pit and looked around.

The chamber itself was massive, and multiple pits had been dug around the edges. Several were still empty, but others were packed high with presents. Kisa examined the piles, curious what the overall plan for them was. It wasn’t until she was near the other side of the chamber that she understood.

One of the pits looked different from the others. A massive hole had been carved into the center, and Kisa immediately recognized the ducting inside. It was an attachment to the furnace, which meant that they planned to shove all the gifts in there at some point. When she moved closer for a better look, she saw scorch marks lining the outside of the opening.

Interesting. Had the Krampus put this in, or was it something the giant had done?

The elves had disappeared into their tunnel, so Kisa walked over to see where they had gone. The tunnel was smooth for over a hundred feet before it opened up into a circular room with glowing crystals above and a narrow walkway in the middle. Next to the walkway were sets of staircases that led down into pits with holding pens. Elves, thousands of them, milled about silently, their milky eyes staring at the walls as if blind.

On the other side of the chamber, a separate room had been built where the elves who had taken the gifts now sat. They were in a tight cluster, as if to keep warm, their arms folded across their legs. The sleds had been stacked in the back of the room.

Next to the sled storage room was the entrance to a much larger hallway. From it, Kisa heard a series of low growls, followed by staccato laughter.

“You don’t want to know, you don’t want to know,” she whispered to herself as curiosity drove her forward. Kisa crouched close to the walls, more out of apprehension than fear of discovery. The grunts were occasionally punctuated by snippets of conversation. It sounded like a small group of men and women talking to each other.

The mouth of the tunnel widened, revealing a huge living area full of battered furniture. Along one wall, shattered remnants of couches were in a pile, with a small cadre of elves nearby to scavenge parts. A makeshift workshop had been set up in the corner, the elves working tirelessly to build and restuff the largest couch Kisa had ever seen.

In the other corner, a set of king size mattresses had been set on the floor, propped up from behind by rocks to turn them into a recliner. A huge, greasy haired figure lay on them, his attention on a flatscreen TV that had been fitted into a rocky alcove.

“That’s because they were on a break!” the giant declared, throwing an empty bottle at the wall to the side of the screen. It shattered, leftover beer dribbling down to vanish in the glass wreckage below.

Kisa stopped, doing her best to take it all in. The giant looked like a male version of Grýla, though he was wearing a pair of pants that were made out of an old tarp. He had one hand down his pants, doing gods knew what, while he used the other to take a bottle of whiskey from an elf standing nearby. The giant was watching the show Friends, and was clearly distraught about something.

Realizing that she had likely stumbled into Grýla’s lair, Kisa debated backing out, but got that cold sensation in her stomach that warned her it was time to hide. She slid along the wall and found a poorly lit overhang that she could scramble onto. If she rolled toward the back wall, her body was completely hidden from sight.

“Leppalúði!” Grýla’s voice carried down the tunnel like a foghorn. “Get your ass up, we’ve got company coming!”

The giant watching television frantically searched around for the remote. Unable to find it, he simply threw the bottle at the tv, causing the screen to shatter. He got up and stomped on the pile of glass bottles, his massive feet reducing them to a glittering powder. Kisa didn’t miss the fact that the hard rock under his feet softened like mud.

“Leppalúði!” Grýla appeared in the main tunnel, her lips smeared with fresh blood and dirt. “I need you to get the pot.”

“The pot?” Leppalúði looked confused, putting a finger to his lips before turning to look over his shoulder.

Grýla struck him so hard that he rolled across the room, smashing into a stalagmite and shattering it.

“Yes, you idiot, the pot! The one we use for cooking.” She walked over to the other giant and yanked him to his feet. “We have company coming.”

“Who’s coming?” Leppalúði only had one eye open, the other swollen shut already.

“Company. Food.” Grýla grinned, her massive teeth glinting in the light. “The Krampus is bringing us a present.”

“No!” It was a response of disbelief, a grin blossoming on Leppalúði’s ugly face. “It’s happening?”

“It is.” Grýla patted Leppalúði on the head affectionately, then grabbed him by the ear. She yanked him toward her face, her mouth opening wide as if to bite him. “But not if you don’t find that fokking pot!”

“Yes, I’ll do it!” He pushed her away, trying to placate her by groveling. Kisa noticed that he was a bit smaller than Grýla. “I think it got tossed in a cave, won’t take me but a minute.”

“Good.” She ran her hand across his chest, then lowered it to his groin and gave him an affectionate squeeze. “After we eat, you’re gonna put some more babies in me.”

Kisa couldn’t tell if Leppalúði was thrilled or horrified. Either way, Grýla did a quick circuit of the room, pausing briefly to contemplate the elves working on repairing broken furniture. She threw a glance Leppalúði’s way, then snatched an elven woman and lifted her to her mouth.

Kisa closed her eyes and shoved her fingers in both ears, slowly counting backward from sixty. When she got to zero, she unplugged her ears and let out a sigh when she realized the cave was quiet. Moving to the ledge, she peered over the top to see Leppalúði staring at his broken tv with remorse.

“You!” He pointed in Kisa’s direction and she almost screamed. “Fetch me another TV.”

An elf near Kisa’s hiding place grabbed a pair of helpers and they hustled out of the room together. Leppalúði scratched his chin, then blew a massive fart before chuckling.

“Now where did I leave that fokken pot?” he muttered, heading for the other side of the cave. When he pressed his hands into the stone, the whole wall shifted inward, revealing another series of caves. Once he was gone, Kisa got down from her hiding spot.

“I hate this place, I hate this place,” she muttered, moving toward the main tunnel, careful to avoid the new stain on the floor. She knew where the elves were, now she just needed somewhere safe to try and get hold of Mike. From the tunnel, she could hear the soft crunching of elven bones.

“Shit.” Grýla was likely having another snack on the way out. Wasn’t the Krampus gonna be pissed about all the elves she had eaten?  Shaking her head, Kisa looked around the room and noticed the tunnel the elves tasked with a new TV had gone down. Maybe there was a way out through there?

This tunnel turned into a long stairway with a gentle curve to it and was lit by glowing crystals that had been jammed into the wall and ceiling. Kisa grabbed a smaller one and was able to pry it loose in her hands. She tucked it into her coat and continued up the tunnel for several minutes before finding herself in the entrance of a building. A service elevator was at one end with a metallic staircase next to it that descended into darkness.

The elevator was gone, so she took the staircase, cursing the way it squeaked beneath her feet. At the bottom, she found herself in a massive warehouse with earthen walls. The dim light from the elevator revealed pallets stacked with wrapped presents that receded into darkness. From where Kisa was, she couldn’t tell how big the warehouse was.

One elf stood at the controls of a spotlight, while another flipped through a massive tome that sat on a pedestal built into a dais. After a couple of minutes, the elf with the tome shouted a series of numbers and letters. The elf in control of the spotlight worked the controls, then turned on the light. The beam hit a distant pallet dead center. The elves hopped down from the dais and disappeared into the darkness between the dais and the lit pallet.

Kisa moved to the dais to inspect the tome. Each page contained three columns. The first column was composed of names while the second was a list of televisions by size and brand. In the third column was a combination of letters and numbers that didn’t make any immediate sense. It was two letters followed by four numbers.

In the distance, she heard the sound of boxes being shifted. It was easy enough to climb the pole of the spotlight until she could see the elves were busy digging through the pallet where the light was aimed. In the middle of the pallet was a large present that could easily contain a television.

“Huh.” She slid back down the pole and examined the third column once more. Clearly the pallets were sorted somehow. She climbed up the spotlight again and stared at where the elves were rummaging about. How had they known where the pallet was?

It took her a couple of minutes before she figured it out on the controls for the spotlight. A double set of letters had been written on the lever that controlled the vertical axis of the light while a series of numbers was engraved into the large wheel that rotated the whole stand.

Doing a quick check of the current values, she moved back to the book and discovered that a fifty-seven inch Vizio television was registered to a Michelle Hackett. There was a grinding sound, followed by the squeaking of wheels. Kisa looked up to see that the elves were loading the television onto a dolly and wheeling it back in her direction.

When she looked back at the tome, she watched as Michelle’s name vanished from the column, along with her TV. The names all shifted to fill the blank space, causing Kisa to stop and stare for so long that she almost forgot to hide.

The elves loaded the television onto the elevator, then came back long enough to turn off the spotlight and close the tome. The whole warehouse plummeted into darkness, save for the little bit of light that came from the elevator itself.

Kisa sat in the dark and waited. She could hear the elves unloading the elevator, most likely headed straight back to Grýla’s lair. After perhaps fifteen minutes, she pulled the crystal from her pocket and sighed in relief when it gave her enough light to see by.

What was this place? Why did Santa have a massive stockpile of presents here? She moved back to the dais and held the crystal over the tome.

The word Undeliverables was written in gold letters across the cover. Kisa opened the book to a random page and saw that the names and items were now all scrambled.

She tried to pick up the book, but it felt bolted to the pedestal. Strangely, when she tried to flip to the end, there were always a few more pages in the back. Eventually they became blank, so she returned to the beginning.

What made a present undeliverable? Didn’t Santa know where to find everyone?

“I don’t really have time for this,” she said, but the lie was insufficient. This was probably the perfect place to hide for now, and she had nothing else going on. She flipped to a random page and scrolled through the names.

Toys, appliances, blankets. The second column had no order to it anymore. Kisa wondered how the elves had managed to find a page with nothing but televisions on it. Using her finger to scan the second column, she accidentally touched the page and watched in fascination as the items all shuffled themselves into alphabetical order.

“Oh!” It was like a magical spreadsheet! She tapped the page a few more times and saw that there seemed to be a pattern in how it ordered itself. One touch put it in alphabetical order. A second touch did reverse alphabetical order, and then a third touch took her to a random page.

“This is so weird,” she muttered, then tried the first and third column with similar results. However, with the first column, the pattern repeated itself based on first, last, and occasionally middle names. If Santa wanted to, he could find anybody in here with an undelivered present.

Out of curiosity, she looked up Mike Radley. It took her a couple of minutes just flipping pages to get to the Rs, only to discover that he had no gifts waiting for him in the warehouse. Mike Ridley, on the other hand, never got his Super Soaker CPS 2000, whatever that was.

She closed the tome and paused, her fingers hovering along the edges of the cover. It was a fleeting thought, one that terrified her with possibilities. The pages of the tome fluttered as she opened it once more, alphabetized it by first name, and then flipped to the K section.

“Kirsten…Kirstopher…Kirstynn…” Her eyes blurred as some of the words briefly appeared as letters from other languages. She assumed they were translated phonetically, but who was she to question magical books in a warehouse full of abandoned gifts?

And there it was, tucked in the middle of the page, a solitary word in the first column. Her heart pounded at seeing her own name, written in golden calligraphy as if waiting for her to discover it. If Santa had brought her a gift, would he really have addressed it to her nickname?

The old man would have. If what she knew about Santa was correct, everything had to be accounted for after the fact. Parents remembered buying the gifts, and they would be the ones to address them.

Her eyes slid over to the second column, the breath suddenly leaving her body. If this gift had been intended for someone else, then she was heartbroken for them, knowing it had never been delivered. It would be a special kind of cruelty, one that would force her to confront Santa and demand answers should she ever meet him. And if it was for her…

Then she still wanted some fucking answers. Written in that second column in golden calligraphy were two words with a tiny splotch of moisture beneath as if the record keeper had shed a single tear upon writing them.

Adoption Papers

It didn’t take her long to manipulate the spotlight, cranking it through its different positions. She turned it so fast that the harsh rustling of wood on pallets caught her attention. Gazing out into the darkness, she could barely make out the shifting mounds of undelivered presents. While she turned the dial, they would arbitrarily reorganize themselves.

When she clicked on the light, it was aimed at a distant pallet that bore the code from the book.

“Okay, so magical sorting system still wants to make me walk. You’ve got some weird kinks in your system, Santa.” She jumped off of the dais and ran between the stacks, startled at how dark the room was outside of the spotlight. If not for the spotlight itself, she doubted she would even be able to find her way back.

After a couple minutes navigating the dark piles, she came to a pallet stacked high with wrapped presents. Unsure where to begin, she did a quick once over from the edges, and then moved in to check the top. So many different names were written on the gifts, and there seemed to be no organization to them. Were they geographic? Or was it by year? It was impossible to say, and the idea of unwrapping a few gifts to see what was inside felt terribly wrong.

The light reflected off of the corner of a shiny red envelope that had fallen between two packages. Kisa pulled it free and gasped. Her name was written in bold letters across the front, addressed to her from Santa.

If this was for her, would the old man’s name be inside? It would have to be, as well as her own. Her entire history lay sandwiched between two layers of red foil paper, just waiting to be revealed.

She hesitated, knowing that once she opened it, everything would change. There were a lot of painful things she had come to terms with, and she was happy right now. Would what she discovered take that happiness away?

Gritting her teeth, she tucked the envelope away in the inner pocket of her jacket, folding it in half to make it fit. This was not the time or the place. Maybe once she was back with Mike, or even Tink, would she be brave enough to open it.

The elevator groaned, descending from above as if under a heavy load. Kisa watched in horror as Leppalúði appeared, clutching an elf under an arm while a couple more rode behind him. She moved to conceal herself behind the pallet, the giant’s deep voice carrying across the distance.

“Name-brand, only, food! Get me a name brand!” He stepped off of the elevator and threw the elf at the dais. “Stupid food, your brains are all mush now. You even left the spotlight on!”

The elf used the dais to stand, then clicked off the spotlight. The shadows of the room swallowed Kisa whole, her entire body going cold.

She never heard the rustling of pages, but the moment the elves started cranking that dial, her stomach flip-flopped as she was violently shifted somewhere else. She didn’t have to hold on to anything, the feeling was entirely internal. When the spotlight clicked on again, it was a faint light in the distance, searching for Leppalúði’s brand name television.

“Shit, shit, shit,” she muttered, patting her jacket to make sure she still had her envelope. Satisfied that it was in her possession, she broke into a run toward the spotlight. She was too far away to worry about being heard, and the darkness cloaked her better than any spell could. If not for the dark silhouettes between her and the light, she would have run into piles of gifts several times over.

Leppalúði was on the dais now, going on a rant about being unable to find good help these days, a smug grin on his face. He raised his voice so that the elves could hear him.

“You fokken elves better get it together, because things are gonna be different once my wife is in charge. She’s gonna run things for the Krampus while he’s busy doing…uh, whatever it is he does.” Leppalúði shoved a finger up his nostril in an attempt to either dislodge a booger or poke his own brain. He gagged, then pulled his finger free. “Hate how cold it is, all the fokken time. Will be good to get a nice warm meal!”

He shouted this last bit, then patted his stomach dramatically. “That’s right, food, your lot are gonna get a reprieve from being eaten! You taste okay, though you’re extra chewy now that you’re all messed up inside. But the wife says the Krampus is gonna bring us what we really want.” Drool formed along the edges of his lips, causing spittle to dangle from his chin. “And once I find that fokken pot, I’m gonna get it nice and hot and make me a stew.”

Kisa climbed onto a nearby gift pallet and groaned. If she had to guess, she was easily a mile away from the spotlight. The elves were already moving the dolly and loading a large box onto it.

“It’s been so long since I’ve eaten a child.” Leppalúði stared up at the ceiling, his teeth glittering in the light.

Kisa stumbled, as if punched in the gut. Did he just say a child?

“Santa wouldn’t let us, you know that? We’ve been forced to play nice, that fokken guy. Every couple of years, though, we’d find a way to sneak one of you. Eat you raw, we did, cause we had to hide our pot from the big man. The Krampus, though? He don’t care who we eat.” Leppalúði turned his attention to the elves, who stopped by the dais. The giant inspected the box, and nodded. “Sony. Now that’s a name brand.”

Kisa resumed her run, hoping to close as much of the distance as possible. She had to fight the urge to call out, knowing that death was the likely outcome of such an act. Despite her mad sprint, she was barely out of breath.

As Leppalúði got on the elevator, one of the elves went back and clicked off the spotlight, plunging the room into darkness. Only the dim light from the cavern beyond the elevator provided any illumination, which vanished once the elevator was gone.

She waited in the dark, her whole body on high alert as she kept her gaze in the direction the spotlight had been. It wasn’t until several minutes had passed that she pulled the glowing crystal out of her pocket. It provided enough light for her to see maybe twenty feet out in each direction, but that was it. She would have to navigate her way back carefully, being very careful not to deviate from her course.

Contacting Mike would have to wait a little bit longer.

---

Yuki woke up, feeling Mike shift behind her. She turned her head, curious if he had woken up, but his face was scrunched up as if he was deep in concentration. It was entirely possible, considering he was essentially going to magic school inside his own head.

Figuring she had slept long enough, she snuck out of bed, belting her robe before exiting the bedroom. She was unsurprised to see Holly leaning over the coffee table where she had set up a board game with Jack and Freya. It was The Game of Life, and Jack was busy holding a piece of paper in scrutiny.

“Would you get on with it?” Freya growled from the corner of their mouth.

“You need to be patient,” Holly told her. “Just because you didn’t care about purchasing auto insurance doesn’t mean you need to rush her decision.” When the elf saw Yuki, she covered her mouth. “Oh, shoot. Were we too loud? Did we wake you?”

Yuki smiled and shook her head. “No, you guys are fine. It looks like you found something fun to do.”

Freya snorted. “Hardly. There’s nothing else for us to do but wait for the Caretaker to awaken and stare at us some more.”

“We were gonna play Scrabble, but hiding the tiles from each other became too difficult,” Jack added. “And nobody here wants to play Monopoly.”

“That probably would have been a bad idea.” She moved to the counter where a pot of coffee sat. Summoning a handful of foxfire, she picked up the carafe in one hand and heated it from the bottom with the other.

“Since you’re up, do you want to play Clue?” asked Holly as she held up the box for it.

Yuki shivered, the fur on her tail poofing out. “We don’t talk about the Clue incident,” she replied out of habit.

“What?” A look of confusion crossed Holly’s face.

“Er, nothing, don’t worry about it. And no, I’m not up for board games right now.” Yuki didn’t bother explaining the Clue incident. It had become an unspoken rule that you simply didn’t talk about it. “If you’re tired, you can go lie down for a bit.”

“Not really, but…” Holly looked at the door to the bedroom, her cheeks darkening. “Maybe someone should go in there and keep an eye on him. Just in case.”

Yuki smirked. “Yeah, good idea.” She wasn’t worried that the elf would try anything, not with Mike’s current moratorium on intimacy. Still, there was something to be said about snuggling up in his arms and listening to his heart beat while he slept. Oh, and the smell of him was simply heavenly, like fresh cut cedar and even sometimes a forest glade.

Holly excused herself, then vanished into the bedroom and closed the door.

“Disgusting.” Freya wrinkled her side of the face. “The way you all pine for him. It’s like you’re bitches in heat.”

Yuki stared daggers over the top of the carafe. “That’s not how it is at all. Mike and I have been friends for awhile, and I didn’t always feel this way about him.”

“That doesn’t explain the elf, nor my lesser half.”

“Hey!” Jack’s protest was muted, and she dropped her car insurance paper. “I’ve never said anything about desiring him.”

“Please,” Freya countered. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed how our heart quickens when he touches us, nor how you hang on his every word. We share the same vagina. Do you really think I don’t notice how wet we are?”

Yuki raised an eyebrow, surprised at this piece of information. “Jack, is this true?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know.” There was a surprising range of emotions on Jack’s half a face. “It doesn’t entirely make sense to me. I’m Jack Frost. I don’t have those feelings. I don’t even know if I can.”

“Ugh, please. You are totally capable of those feelings. In fact, back in the day, we had those feelings for plenty of people.” Freya chuckled. “We were quite the party girl.”

“Tell me more,” Yuki said, satisfied that the coffee was hot enough. She poured herself a cup, then offered some to Jack and Freya, but both declined.

“What’s there to tell? I feel certain things around him, ever since that first time he spoke to me.” Jack’s eye twitched. “His words, they felt almost like commands. I wanted to obey, but suspected something more sinister.”

“I remember that.” Yuki sat across from them in Holly’s spot. “It was weird, like his voice was in my mind. I just really wanted to give him whatever he wanted.”

“Hah! Proof!” Freya looked victorious. “It’s that magic of his, it makes you all crazy for him!”

“Keep it down, please.” Yuki sipped her coffee, her tails swishing as her body warmed. “And I can tell you from experience, that’s not something he does. At least, not on purpose.”

“What do you mean?” Jack asked.

“I can’t say. It wasn’t even until recently that I even thought about being with him in that way. And he never pushed me toward it, nor anybody else, for that matter. For the longest time, I suspected he may abuse his magic. Gods know it’s probably an ability he could acquire, should he choose it. But that’s not what he does.”

Freya rolled her eye. “That’s hardly a defense.”

“You’re right, it’s not.” Yuki set her coffee down. “But for someone who just bragged about being a party girl, you sound like a huge prude, Freya.”

Freya growled, golden light filling her pupil. “Don’t disrespect me, fox. I still haven’t forgiven you for stealing my divinity away.”

“Two things. One, if I hadn’t, I think you’d be dead already. And two,” Yuki held up her hand and summoned a ball of golden light. “I would absolutely give it back to you if I knew how. I can feel it coursing through my veins like liquid fire. Ever since I absorbed it, I’ve been in pain. My body doesn’t know what to do with it. Every time I use magic, I can feel it lurking like a predator, ready to pounce. I don’t even know what that means for potential outcomes. Will it escape? Or will I explode? Trust me when I tell you I didn’t want it in the first place. All I wanted was to level the playing field, but you know as well as I do that magic doesn’t always work the way you think it should.”

Jack/Freya stared at her for a bit before Jack broke the silence. “Does Mike know?”

Yuki shrugged. “Would it matter if he did? You’re the priority right now. For some reason, he believes that you’ll be willing to help us take down the Krampus. I have my doubts, but he seems to have a knack for reading people that I do not.”

“Hmm.” Jack seemed to accept this answer.

“Speaking of our dear Caretaker, surely you’ve noticed the divine spark in him.” Freya whispered this, as if afraid of being overheard.

“I have,” Yuki admitted, releasing the ball of golden light. It flowed back into her hand, making a hissing sound as it disappeared into her skin.

“And what would he do with it? In fact, how does a mortal shell even survive such an in-flux of magic? Even this worthless body—”

“Hey!” Jack interrupted.

“Even this worthless body could barely contain it,” Freya finished. “A touch of it would drive an ordinary man insane.”

“Mike isn’t an ordinary man.” Yuki tilted her head and sighed. After so many days of Freya’s bitching, the goddess was really starting to get to her. “And if there’s one thing you should never do, it’s underestimate him. He’s a survivor, always has been.” It wasn’t lost on her that Mike had absorbed divinity while saving her life yet again. If it did cause him harm, she didn’t think she could ever forgive herself.

But now that Freya had brought it up, why wasn’t Mike experiencing problems with it? Surely he had to notice that the power of the gods was now flowing through his veins. At the best of times, Yuki felt like her soul had a sunburn. If not for all of those years being miserable in a tower, it would definitely bother her more.

A kitsune’s body was designed for divinity. Every hundred years, they would grow a new tail and gain access to a new realm of magic. At a thousand years, they would become powerful enough to ascend, to properly harvest the magic of the gods. It was a long process for a reason, and Yuki wondered how different she would feel if she were further along in her evolution. Though magic wasn’t really something that could be measured, each tail she grew hypothetically doubled her power.

She had never met a kitsune close to ascending, nor heard of one that had. It was always just rumors and legends, and the only one she knew of for certain was Tamamo-no-Mae. That particular kitsune had made it to nine tails, but was killed for trying to overthrow an emperor. Her spirit was currently sealed in a stone in Japan, but not the one everyone thought. Yuki had sought out the spirit once, curious to learn about her own kind. Tamamo had tried to trick her into giving up her body, but Yuki had seen through the desperate ploy easily enough.

The truth was, Yuki knew very little about her kind, or even herself. There was no real memory of her youth. One day, she was a fox with human intelligence. Dozens of years later, she awoke to discover that she now had two tails and could become a human. Her magic was instinctual at first, but the older she became, the more she learned.

Freya cleared her throat. Or maybe it was Jack. It didn’t really matter. Either way, Yuki had tuned out the goddess and became lost in thought.

“My apologies.” Yuki moved to adjust the pillows around Jack/Freya to make them more comfortable, then moved to the window to look outside. It was a frozen world out there, trapped in a single moment of time. In here, Mike slumbered while divinity circulated through his soul, doing gods knew what to him.

“Baka,” she muttered under her breath with a smile. Gods, how she loved that idiot.