Who Stole Christmas?

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕿𝖍𝖊𝖋𝖙

𝕷𝖚𝖈𝖎𝖆 heard the alarm go off and the people cry "chaos!" She arose and looked out the window; the sun shone brightly, melting all the snow that it snowed no more. The streets were empty of lights and the Christmas trees had turned mere trees. All the presents and good things vanished into thin air. Joy turned to depression and to the extent that sharing, love, and visits of care ceased. Everything was back to normal.

"Shoot! This cannot be happening... This isn't happening again." Lucia said to herself, pacing impatiently. "What do I tell these people? How do I hide this from them?"
     Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door and Lucia shuddered for a second. She entertained the town's elders when they entered her house.

"Did anybody see it happen?"

"No one. Just us."

Lucia leaned her face on her palms and sighed heavily. "Where is the town's guard?"

"I'm afraid no one has set eyes on him since."

"Perfect!" She said sarcastically.
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      Lucia came in her horse, to the Merry Men's Hut and found Melchior alongside Balthazar and Casper on the ground, close to mud. They were heavily asleep. The horse kicked Melchior to arouse him and rather than awakening, he rolled into the mud.
    "Bring him," Lucia said to her men and moved along.

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"You are a disgrace to your kind!"
Melchior bowed his head in humiliation.

"I trusted in you to keep these people safe and you were running around with unbecoming, idiotic men!"

"They are my friends!

"You are supposed to be watching this town! You are the last chosen guardian angel of Winterfell! You are meant to protect these people! You took an oath, you swore that you would guard Winterfell with your life when you lost your family and everything to intruders. Now you let your guard down on none other season than Christmas!"

Melchior abjectly said, "I didn't mean to... I'm sorry."

"None of that matters now. Just fix it!"

"What exactly happened to Christmas? Why the sudden...?"

"I do not care! You find a solution."

"How can I find a solution to what I do not know the root of?"

Lucia arose and looked into his eyes direly, "if you want your honour and place back, fix this problem without finding out the cause. That's what makes a good guard. Bring back Christmas to Winterfell, Melchior or I will bring you down." Her eyes were fiery and her tone, dire.

      Melchior was puzzled. He exited the Chieftess' court and went to meet his friends.

"One night of listening to you and I risked Christmas."

"I'm sorry."

"But what happened?" Casper asked.

"Lucia won't tell me. And I really feel like she knows about everything, there is something she is hiding from me. She wants me to fix the problem without knowing the cause."

"We need to find out what she's hiding."

"Who's got a knack for breaking into the most secured places?" Melchior said and Balthazar smiled.