A Twisted Christmas

Chapter Five

The snowmen Krampus met before suddenly appeared, bursting into the room with ease. They nodded at the king before using their arms to drag their legless bodies to the goat man, leaving a coat of snow in their wake. They wrapped their free arms around Krampus, ushering him to leave the room in soft whispers.

"We apologize for our rough treatment, however we must follow his orders," the nameless snowman muttered.

Krampus nodded in understanding. He remembered the way it felt to have his opinions brushed off by the king whenever they reached a disagreement. He realized how useless it was to speak up even though that was his job, and simply chose not to speak at all. That is, until he caught the king whipping his reindeer. He wanted to let out his anger and yell at the man, but instead subtly brought up the topic, suggesting that he stop his foolish actions. Of course, King Santa was too stubborn of a man to listen.

He let the snowmen lead him out, his mind wandering towards the state of the town. He had a strange feeling about the place; it held an eerie atmosphere that was colder than the South Pole. He couldn't help but wonder how much had changed the century he was gone.

"Do not worry, Your Highness; the King isn't feeling well because of the news he received from the guard awhile ago," the nameless snowman mentioned, attempting to take away the prince's worries.

"Ah, that's right," Krampus exclaimed with sudden glee, dragging the snowman from his conflicted confinements of his mind, "I never did give you a name. Tell me, are you a man or a woman?"

Tim chuckled under his breath, shaking his head when the other snowman said, "My apologies, but we don't work like that, Sir. Though we are called 'Snowmen,' we don't have what you people call 'genders.' We're whatever you mold us to be― or in our case, what King Santa's servants did upon his orders."

Krampus nodded in wonder. "How interesting. Then would you mind if I called you... 'Yuki?' It just means 'snow in some place where I worked with oni,' but I think it fits your personality."

After a few pondering moments, the once nameless snowman nodded. "Thank you, Prince Krampus. I will cherish it with honor."

The Prince waved his hand around, brushing the formalities away with a smile. "No problem. I'm glad you like it."

Yuki muttered his new name somewhat happily as he and Tom brought Krampus around the snow-coated town. The Prince was looking at the empty town in curiousity, dying to ask them the question that burned within. "Where are all of the Elves and Reindeer?" He hoped that Simon wasn't too exhausted from carrying the weight.

Tim froze, glaring at the snow with a listless expression. He opened his mouth to speak when Yuki lifted his hands up to his mouth as a signal for him to not say anything rash. He smiled bitterly and stated to the goat-demon, "They're working."

Krampus said nothing as they reached their destination. He felt confused, distracted by the snow that constantly fell to the ground beneath his hoof and foot. There was a thunderstorm that rumbled in his mind as his thoughts grew more worried. What happened to the town? Krampus wondered as the tall white building that he stood on before came into view. This wasn't here before; everything's so different now.

A pat on his shoulder made him shiver at the sudden brush of winter breeze against his fur. When he looked up, he was met with the sympathetic smile of Yuki as he looked down at Krampus. "The king ordered me to inform you of your job as a watchman. This place," gesturing towards the building with a grimance, "is a prison. It's where the elves from all over town are sent to... repent for their sins."

"Oh." Krampus kicked the snow while processing the new information before looking up at the tall snowman. "Well, what's that have to do with me?"

"You will be responsible for punishing and keeping watch of the prisoners to make sure that they stay in line. The King believed that you would be able to do it based off of your previous work history."

Krampus lifted his hand to caress his goat beard and sighed. "So he summoned me after a century of exile just to be some watchdog? How kind of him. Thanks but no thanks, I would rather freeze to an eternal death than work as a servant for the old man." Krampus hissed before turning away.

Tom stopped ahead of them, staring at Yuki with a cold expectancy. Yuki's stick-like arms crossed over his rock buttoned chest when he muttered, "Very well, then."

Before Krampus could ask the snowman to speak a little louder, his arms were bound behind his back by him. "Yuki? What're you doing?!"

"Forgive me, but the King has ordered us in the case that you reject his offer to..." Yuki trailed off, unable to verbalize his new friend's fate. His mouth disappeared into the pile of snow that was his head as he averted his eyes.

"What he means is," Tim interrupted with a menacing grin, "if you don't comply with the King's rules, then we have no choice but to freeze you. A silent, cold death over and over again is what the King promised you if you won't agree to his terms. Trust me, you don't want to go through that; it's quite... messy."

Krampus remembered how freezing it felt to be underneath Jack, with his hold nearly stealing his breath away. His skin still burned from the ice that mercilessly climbed up his arms only moments before.

As he looked at them, their faces darkened like the starry night sky, with the only light emitting from their bone-shattering teeth. Krampus couldn't tell if he was shivering from the cold or the thought of being placed in an eternal coffin of ice. He gulped and turned around in silence, ignoring the sweat that was trickling down his fur. "I guess it's time for work, then."