Happily Ever Christmas

~Thirty~

I waited anxiously by the great fireplace, pacing back and forth before the hearth as I rubbed the outsides of my arms.

Mazie waited with me, though the others had all left. She plied me with tea and cookies, but I brushed off her attempts at good cheer.

I was shivering and I heard her sigh.

"May I at least use a touch of magicks to redress you in some warm, dry clothes, my dearie?" She asked me.

I nodded my consent because I was a bit tired of being damp and cold from snowfall.

She waved her slender hand at me and I felt the warm "magicks" brush over me, leaving me indeed feeling warm and dry in its passing.

I looked down to find myself dressed in my red, plaid flannel pajamas and my house slippers, which made me smile a wry little smile.

"Thanks Mazie." I resumed my pacing. "So...he'll be okay, right? He's gonna come back and-?" I turned to face the fireplace, biting my lip and willing Steve to come back through the portal to me.

The thought of never seeing him again...

Mazie laid her hand gently upon my arm. "This is Nick Light's job. This is what the Time Master was equipped to do. To fight back the Beasts and other Elements of Darkness."

I turned to face her fully and I cocked my head with sincere curiosity.

"What we do here..." she said with a weary sigh as she realized I expected her to elaborate, "We provide joy and hope to people in need, so together we might fill the world with Light. We fight back the Elements of Darkness. We cannot ever let them win, because if they did...then all hope, and kindness, and joy, love, miracles...magicks? It would all be snuffed out, if the Elements of Darkness had their way."

"Oh my God!" I said, appalled.

This was so much deeper and darker than I had ever hoped to realize.

Mazie held up her long fingered green hands in a staying fashion, looking as though she regretted having said anything to me about it now.

But I was glad she had. I think.

Better to know than to live in ignorance.

"It be alright, Miss Emberly. We have them held at bay. It's what makes our work so important, though, yes, yes." She nodded earnestly, the tips of her ears waggling at me as she did so.

"But, then...why are those things getting through?" I asked her haltingly and I saw her pale slightly beneath her green skin.

She was wondering the same exact thing, no doubt. This was her home, after all, not mine. Not that I didn't care about this place, too, and their noble mission.

Suddenly the howling wind filled the chamber and I had never felt so glad to be cold before.

I eagerly turned to face the fireplace as Steve came stumbling over the threshold.

*~*~*~*

"Steve!" I gasped when I saw that he was bleeding, and took an involuntary step towards him.

The portal closed up behind him and Mazie and I hurried to either side of him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." He stayed us off gently, panting a bit and shaking snow from his hair.

He had a scratch above his left eyebrow and a few on his arms and chest. His shirt was ripped open down the front, was how I knew this.

"I banished the Darkmouth Beast back to the Ever-Winter Realm and I was able to seal up the tear in the Shield. I also reinforced the Main Shield. It should hold for another season. At least until the great thaw comes." He was talking to Mazie, of course, not me.