Chapter 142: Chapter 142

142 Northern Star And Something Sweet

“What’s that? I’ve never heard of it,” the prince asked with interest in his tone.

“The history of it is obscure.. Even we Fae aren’t quite sure of it’s origin. There’s mention of a star in the Catalyst legend, but I can’t remember the details anymore,” Nicolas stared into his thimble as he had spoken.

“Do ye remember anythin’ specific about the legend? I know I’ve asked ye before,” Skye eyed the old Fae critically.

Nicolas squirmed in his seat. He didn’t think that the conversation would turn in this direction. In truth: he remembered a good deal of the legend. He and Maevis had agreed not to discuss it with Skye until they had a chance to verify a few other things..

Maevis had told Nicolas that she didn’t think Lidia was Skye’s birth mother. Even he had to agree that they looked nothing alike. She resembled her father strongly, but there wasn’t a single feature on Skye that matched her mother’s. Until Nicolas could ascertain the princess’ bloodline, he didn’t want to explain something that might never come to pass. Not with what happens to the Catalyst at the end...

“There’s a copy of it in the palace library somewhere.. I’ve seen it, I just don’t remember it. You can research all you’d like once we get back home,” Tidas patted Skye’s knee as he’d finished.

“This is yer home too, me sweetie.. Don’t forget that!” Lucas yelled from across the table.

Skye smiled lovingly at her tipsy father as she raised her glass to him and said; “I know, Da. I love ye, too.”

“So, How did ye beat the miser? What happened? What does that Star thing-a-mabob, even do?” Petrie asked; trying to get the conversation back on track.

.....

“The Star is an item of incredible power. It can multiply and manipulate any magic that the possessor wields. For example, a common Earth mage who can only control iron-based materials, would be able to break their limitations. The Star would make them like Maevis and Skye: able to manipulate Any and All aspects of Earth-based magic.”

“If more than one person is touching it at the same time, then both have their magic amplified. There are no limits to the stone’s magic accept what the holder’s trait is,” Nicolas took another sip of his whiskey.

“Damn! Can you imagine Skye getting ahold of that thing?! Scary...”

“Oh, shut it, Petrie!” Skye snapped at the nomad for his joke.

Nicolas chuckled, but got a strange feeling in his gut at the thought of Petrie’s comment. Something about the legend gnawed at him. It was the same odd feeling he’d gotten when thinking or the Ethereal Spear. He knew the two were connected, but couldn’t remember how. ‘Something about the Catalyst’s choice....’

“So... Did you glow him to death, then? That’s what stars do, right?” Petrie joked, trying to get the old Fae’s attention again.

Coming out of his thoughts, Nicolas replied; “Sorry Petrie, I’ll get back to it..”

“After we took over the castle, we learned that the lord had a magical item of his own. He had a jewel imbued with Dark magic, and cursed Krampus with it. He attacked me with a dagger the lord had tossed to him. But it was all for show. Granted, I didn’t know that when he had started.. Not until he was supposedly about to kill me. Instead, he turned and stabbed Lord Herod with his own dagger.”

“Kind of poetic,” Tidas commented.

Nicolas chortled; “Aye, it was.. After that, we had to rush to deliver the presents. Krampus came along, and helped...it was nice. He hadn’t helped in years. Well, except making some of the presents.”

“Really?! He made some of the presents?!” Skye asked with a smile.

Nicolas looked about the room until his eyes landed on an old boat sitting on a shelf. Nic fluttered over, grabbed the heavy wooden boat, and flew it over to Lucas. It was his favorite toy as a laddie. Skye used it along with some other small, old toys as Yuletide decorations. A small tree sat on the shelf with empty wrapped boxes, and old toys that matched the setting.

“Look on the mast, by where the sail connects. Do see two letters?” Nicolas inquired with a grin.

Upon looking, Lucas raised his head and said; “Aye! There’s a K, and a C!”

“Stands for Krampus Claws,” Nicolas replied as he sipped his whiskey.

“So me favorite toy as a child was made by Yer brother?!”

“Aye. Krampus was a warrior, but he was still a sensitive soul..” grief covered his features again as the old Fae thought about his brother.

“Is there still a Santa?” Tidas asked since Nicolas was still with them, and quite toasted from the whiskey.

“Aye, just not like how I did it. The Star was lost after a particular incident, and Yuletide almost didn’t come to pass.. A young man by the name of Christopher Kringle helped me to save Yuletide.. He was an Air mage, and was bloody good at it, too. His descendants are quite gifted as well, but no one can fly like he could.”

Skye had immediately thought of Genie at the mention of flying. He’d flown her countless times as a child, and was ridiculously fast. He’d explained something about airflow to her, but the princess had been more interested in the act itself, than the explanation of it.

“How did, or does, one human handle Yuletide? Ye bein’ a fairy actually made more sense than a human,” Petrie poured himself the last of the whiskey into his cup as he spoke, causing a grimace to spread across Lucas’ face.

Nicolas chuckled; “Tis not one, but an entire family! The Kringles have handled Yuletide for well over a hundred years now. They have branches in every kingdom, on every continent. In all honesty: they’re better at it than I was.. I didn’t have so many children to contend with, haha!”

“Where do they get the toys and things?” Tidas asked.

“The Fae still make the majority of toys and such, but they make a decent amount themselves now as well. They said that they wanted to pitch in as much as possible since Yuletide is only one day a year. Both the Queen and Empress are quite fond of the family.”

“How do the reindeer fly? I don’t think every member of the family could be magic users,” Lidia sipped her tea as everyone else drank their whiskey.

Nicolas smiled flatly at Skye’s mother; “I only flew with reindeer a handful of times: Never AGAIN.. It was right before the Kringles took over completely. There were more presents than ever, and I couldn’t handle the sleigh anymore. We had used enchanted rope hitches that were infused with Tank magic to make the reindeer strong and fast enough to pull the sleigh. It’d worked for many years, but not my final one..”

“I was about to give up when Christopher thought to add bells infused with Air magic to the ropes and sleigh. He nearly died putting every drop of his magic he had into fifty-four large sliver bells.. Nearly gave me and his wife a heart attack..”

“Thanks to Christopher’s idea, we saved Yuletide, and I felt secure in passing the title of Santa to him,” the old Fae smiled at the nostalgia that flooded his mind.

“Why won’t you fly with reindeer again? Did they try to eat yer hat or something?” Petrie asked, remembering how adamantly he’d spoken earlier.

Nicolas’ face soured at Petrie’s question. He didn’t like telling the story, even though it was pretty funny. If it’d happened to anyone else, it would’ve been the funniest thing he’d ever heard. The old Fae asked for a refill on his whiskey, then exhaled deeply.

“Do you know what happens when you’re flying downward to land, and a reindeer starts to pee? I’ll tell you: NOTHING PLEASANT!”

A quiet settled in the room for a split second out of shock before everyone burst out in laughter. Guts were held as they began to ache from sheer joviality. Skye and Lucas in particular were in tears as the fought to stay in their chairs.

“That’s hilarious! The reindeer peed on ye mid-flight! Hahahahaha!” Tidas had to stop his wife from falling out of her chair as she practically exploded with laughter.

As Yuletide Eve went on, Peggy bustled into the room with the Yulelog cake and more whiskey. She and Skye ate some every year before bed, and left the rest for Santa with the milk and cookies. Nicolas commented that he wished people would’ve thought to do it when he was Santa; it was one of his favorite desserts. The sweet cream roll was decorated with little bunches of red berries and holly leaves made from frosting. It had a light dusting of powdered sugar to look like snow on top of a log; making for a beautiful display.

After everyone had a slice, Peggy offered a large piece to Petrie to take home to his family. He beamed with joy as he thanked Peggy for her kindness. It had been a long time since his mother and sister’d had anything sweet. Sugar was extremely hard to come by in the north, and was considered a rare treat. Reserved for special occasions only, or whenever they could find some.

Once the cake had been eaten, everyone bid each other goodnight, and headed off to their separate quarters. Petrie and Nicolas were given their own guest quarters to share. The young Nomad wound up having to carry the drunken old fairy to their room. He wasn’t heavy or anything, it just felt strange to Petrie to have to carry someone the size of a doll that looked like-formally was, Santa.

Skye and Tidas were staying in her old room. Lucas and Lidia left it exactly as it was, and they had no plans to change it. They were her quarters, and would stay that way so she always had a place and home. The castle was big enough, and they already had plenty of quarters for guests.

As the couple entered, Skye Nearly forgot to bring a candle with her so she could see better. The palace had electricity, and she had become used to flipping on the light switch whenever she entered the room. Tidas chuckled at her, earning a light smack to his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around his wife, and kissed her sweetly.

Skye leaned into her husband’s body as he deepened the kiss. He ran his hand slowly up her backside, stopping where her laces were tied. When he began to tug at them, Skye broke away from there kiss to ask what her was trying to do.

“This is me parent’s house! We can’t do that here!” Skye nearly screamed.

Tidas quirked his head at his wife; “Why? We’re married now. No one’s honor is at risk here...anymore,” Tidas stated as he tried to coax his wife.

The prince began to trail tiny kisses up and down Skye’s delicate neck. He stopped a moment to flick his tongue at her earlobe, drawing a low, throaty moan from her. She turned her head to the side instinctually, but then immediately turned it back. She looked up at him with a sultry stare before saying; “Why must ye be so good with that tongue of yers...”