[CH. 003] Lending A Hand

Not all hope is lost. There's still seventy-two hours left until Christmas. While Ceres, Misses Claus, and Phineas set out on an epic adventure to find and save Santa, the elves back at the North Pole will clean up what's been damaged or destroyed and then go back to making presents.

Ceres, after seeing the damage caused by Ms. Frost and the Ice Golem army, he couldn't leave without giving a second life to the North Pole.

"They…destroyed everything," Frankie, the elf that told Misses Claus that Santa was kidnapped, said as her, Ceres, Phineas, and Misses Claus stood by the cliff, overlooking the village below. That's where all of the Elves who work and populate the North Pole reside. "Years will pass while we rebuild."

"No more Christmases!" Phineas said as he frowned and sighed. "The magic of Christmas will fade away. What does that mean for us Elves?"

"It means we'll all fade away too," Frankie said with a gasp as she looked up at Ceres and Misses Claus. "Please Miss Claus," she began to plead, "you can't let us fade away too. You must do something; anything!"

Miss Claus got down onto her knees, resting her hands on her legs. She leaned forward slightly and began talking to Frankie and Phineas.

"I promise, not only to you two, but to all of you, that I will do everything in my power to keep you safe," she told them, "even if that means embarking on a dangerous mission. It's because I'm here that you haven't faded away yet; not like you will anyway."

Ceres was tapping his chin, quietly brainstorming ideas on what he could do to revive the ruined North Pole. He then turns around and looks down. But Misses Claus looked up at him and then stood back up.

"I have an idea," Ceres told them.

"You do?" Phineas asked as he looked up at Ceres. Frankie did the same. Ceres nodded.

"I do, yes," he told them, "and I'm going to need a second pair of hands. The spell I need to cast is too powerful for just me. Luckily, I know just the Elder Wizard for the job."

Ceres opened a portal to his right. Phineas and Frankie took a few steps back. Looking over at the portal, Ceres walked up to it and stuck his head through.

"What's he doing?" Frankie asked.

"Getting help, dear," Miss Claus answered.

Ceres, with his head on the other end of the portal, appeared in his friend Merlin's treehouse in the Jungle biome.

Psst! "Merlin, it's me," Ceres whispered like a hissing snake. "I need your help."

"Ceres?" Merlin asked as he held his arms out and smiled. "How are you, old friend?"

"Never better, but you must help me help my friends. I can't do it without you."

Merlin chuckled. "Still talking to chickens are we?"

"No! Please come. We're running against time and have very little of it."

Ceres pulled his head back through. He looked over at Miss Claus, Phineas, and Frankie. Out of the portal, Merlin stepped.

"Everyone," Ceres said as he looked over at them, "this is my friend Merlin."

"Hello everyone," Merlin said with a smile and hand wave. "So this must be the North Pole, yes?"

"Was," Phineas said, "emphasis on the past tense."

"What do you mean?" Merlin asked.

"We were attacked by Jack Frosts' wife; Ms. Frost," Phineas fessed up. "She kidnapped Santa and destroyed the North Pole in the process."

"But Ceres said he could fix it if you agreed to help him," Frankie continued.

"Merlin," Ceres said as Merlin turned around to look at the devastation Ms. Frost caused. "Look."

Merlin turned around to witness the devastation and the defeating blow the North Pole received after Ms. Frost's attack.

"If Daniel were here..," Merlin mumbled as he grabbed Ceres' hand.

"He would fix this," Ceres replied as he glanced over at Merlin.

"Then that is what we will do," Merlin said as he looked back over his shoulder.

"Might want to find a place inside," Merlin insisted. "It's about to get very windy very fast."

"You heard the wizard," Misses Claus said as she walked back inside.

Misses Claus went back inside with Phineas and Frankie. When they were a safe distance away, it was then time to cast the spell to rewind the clock.

"Let's begin," Ceres said as he held out his hand. Merlin looked down at it and took his hand. "For this to work, we have to channel our magic at the same time. One mess up…and the spell goes sideways. Just follow my lead."

"Okay," Merlin said as he and Ceres both closed their eyes.

Ceres and Merlin both began to glow like angels as they slowly raised up off the ground. The glowing hazes around their bodies began pulsating like the crying obsidian.

"Woah, that's so cool," Frankie shouted.

"He never lit up like that last time he and I met," Phineas said, obviously jealous that he couldn't do what they could.

Suddenly, the light coming from their bodies was so bright, everyone had to look away to avoid going blind.

"Almost done, Merlin," Ceres said.

"He just rode on a horse last time," Phineas continued as if anyone was paying attention to what he was saying.

Blocks of all sorts began whipping around in the air above the North Pole. The color of their light changed from a dark navy blue to a dark grassy green.

And so it was, the North Pole being returned to its beauty and elegance…

"Hey mystery voice," Merlin said, "shut up. We're trying to focus."

My apologies. Carry on. I'll wait.

"Thank you," Merlin replied.

"No need to be rude to the mystery god man, Merlin," Ceres mumbled.

I'll just whisper so I don't interrupt their concentration.

Far across the OverWorld, their light could be seen with the naked eye. No spyglass or telescope needed.

"Come back inside girls," Petra said as she walked outside the lodge. But when she did, she saw the distant bright light in the night sky. "Time…time to come…woah! What is that?"

"Look Jannabelle," Ava said as she smacked Annabelle's arm. "It's a shooting star. Make a wish!"

"Okay," Annabelle replied, "I wish for Ava to be fat…oh and ugly too!"

GASP!

As Annabelle had her eyes closed still, Ava grabbed some packed snow, shaping it into a snowball.

"Hey!" Ava shouted, "that's not nice."

"You said make a wish!" Annabelle reminded Ava, "so I did. You're welcome!"

SMACK!

Ava threw the snowball at Annabelle, hitting her perfectly in her face. Annabelle wiped the wet snow off her face.

"Ow! That hurt!" Annabelle yelled, now enraged with sudden anger. "Just you wait! I'm gonna fart in your face when you're sleeping!" Annabelle threatened sarcastically. She then busts out laughing alongside Ava.

Ava was laughing so hard that she didn't see Annabelle picking up snow.

SMACK!

"Ow, that hurt!" Ava shouted as she wiped the snow off her face. "Really Jannabelle, really?"

"Now we're even," she told Ava, "fat head!"

Annabelle then took off, running back to the house in a hurry; Ava riding close to her.

"Na, na, na," Annabelle said as she looked back at Ava and stuck her tongue. "You're too slow!"

"Am I?" Ava asked, "I'm going to catch you!"

"If you can keep up, fathead!" Annabelle yelled.

Petra was closely focusing on the bright light. Just then, there was a bright flash. Ava and Annabelle stopped running to look up into the sky.

BOOM!

Whatever that explosion was, it was somewhere to the North. A shockwave rippled out across the OverWorld, followed by a glowing red streak. It raced across the sky, and when it past over the house, a eerie disembodied voice whispered:

"He's coming. He's been awoken."

"Come inside girls," Petra shouted to Ava and Annabelle. "Now!"

Ava and Annabelle both ran back to the house as fast as they could. Spooked and frightened by the flash of light and shockwave that followed it, Petra slammed the door shut.

Back at the North Pole, the spell had been cast. When the light dimmed however, the North Pole had remained a ruined wreck.

When Phineas looked up into the sky to see Merlin and Ceres, they were nowhere to be found.

"Where'd they go?" Frankie asked as she stepped back outside to witness the failure that ensued from casting the spell.

"They were just here," Phineas said as he turned around to look back at Misses Claus and Frankie.

"They—they just vanished," Frankie said.

Misses Claus walked outside and walked over to the edge of the cliff to overlook the North Pole. The spell had failed and nothing was fixed. Everything remains as it was after Ms. Frost fled.

Miss Claus gasped and took a step back. Phineas and Frankie both ran over to her to make sure she was okay. When they looked up, they could see the terror in her eyes. She was shaking and her voice was stuttering.

"What is it, Misses Claus?" Phineas asked.

"It's him," she mumbled in a stuttered tone. "It's—"

"It's who?" Frankie asked as she and Phineas walked over to the edge of the cliff. When they looked down at the North Pole below, they saw what she had seen.

GASP!

"It can't be!" Phineas said as he covered his mouth.

"Who is that?" Frankie asked, cluelessly.

"That's—that's Krampus," Misses Claus answered, "that's Nickolas's evil brother."