I...
i can't describe this this feeling it's incredible
it's as though my heart stopped beating and alll the blood in my body suddenly disappeared
eh, eh eh eheh he
hhahahaahahahahahhahahhahahahahhahahhahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahhahhahahahahhahaahahahhahahahahaha
i've never felt so free before, i feel weigtless, painless, completely immune, immune to all harm
where is ms.hygrave, where is everyone
what is this
i'm...
i'm going to die here, aren't i
i'm going to die somewhere i can barely even percieve
what was it all for
what did it mean
could i ever really say i was alive in the first place
heh, of course i could, facing death is hard, but pretending like that won't make it any easier
why do people die
why did everyone have to die
i don't know
and this is stupid, this back and forth
fine i admit it
i'm sad
did i deserve this this neverending nothingness i don't even remember this isn't death t h i s i s
hoho
<wh - w h a t
hoho
i.. i t c a n 't b e
Hohoho-Hank! Boy, am I glad to see a good little boy in a place like this!
s a n ta is th- is that y ou
Well, you bet it is Hanky! What seems to be the matter my boy? You don't look very spirited to me.
a- am i... crying..... .? ... San ta...
What is it, son? Anything I can ho-ho-help with?
i'm so sorry i doubted you santa santa... i love you.
Oh, well is that it? I love you too Hanky. You don't have to worry about doubting me, either!
but santa... i was so... short-sighted...
It's important to always trust your friends, but in my case, well, you were just doing your job! And I know plenty of people in your position wouldn't have bothered to care either way! It's that concern and precaution, that willingness to judge from a distance, that makes you such a nice boy!
santa... was i... was i good? was i a g o o d l i t t l e b o y ?
Certainly, Hank, you were always a very good boy.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Oh-hoho! well, what do you know, the boy fell asleep! Poor little fella must've been so scared in here for so long.
Mr.Claus!
Hillary! Oh my, why, thank goodness you've found us!
Hank's here too?! Um, what exactly happened to him, sir?
This world seems to have taken a toll on him. You see, Hillary, for people with very strong ties to our world, going to another can be quite the challenge!
Pardon my my asking, sir, but, how do you know all this specific information?
OH-HOHOHO, Hillary, you don't live 249 years circling the globe without seeing a few chronotopes!
Your experience is truly humbling, Mr.President. But how exactly do we get out of here?
Huh? Unsure of what's going on, I suddenly sat upright. "M-Ms.Hygrave! Santa! What's going on?"
"O-hoho, no need to worry Hanky, you've only been out for a few moments. All you need to know is that we're getting out of here!"
"Hiazra, you had me worried. Mr.Claus explained everything to me, we should be able to get out of here soon, all we need to do is find the demon that's controlling this domain."
"Hm. How exactly are we supposed to do that, ma'am?
"I'll leave this one to the expert. Mr.Claus?"
"Oh-ho, thank you for the introduction, Hillary. Now then..."
The strangest feeling came over me. In a week full of new feelings and otherworldly experiences, I had thought myself to be beyond shock, but as I stood there, watching Santa Claus's eyes fill with Christmas cheer and determination, his entire body begining to quake, I learned the true meaning of power. My body began glowing, and I was raised suddenly in the direction most similar to what one would call 'up' in a more stable spacetime. My body split into a billion, no, maybe even a trillion peices, every single subatomic particle down to the quark and even further had seperated itself, and i felt no pain, only wonder. How had I remained concious through it all? I don't know. Maybe I was a ghost, or maybe in this ghost world, being human granted one more ethereal qualities. The science is unknown. Regardless, When my sight returned, I was surprised to once again have eyeballs, which had seemed destroyed beyond repair, but additionally, I was looking into the eyes of a man I respected very much. Personal security officer to the deputy mayor of Cansbava, one Michael 'Micky' Valentine. But he seemed different, like this realm had done something to him as well. Before I could ask what had happenedd to me, or where Mick had come from, or what was wrong with him, I heard a voice clamor and reverberate through the very fabric of reality. It was Mick's voice.
Oh-hohoho, oh-ho no, Micky-boy, you always were a bit foolish, boy. I didn't stop you because I knew what you were planning all along, but I would never want to hurt a good little boy like yourself!
It just happened, dimensions began to twist in on eachother, everything extended to the far reaches of my vision, stretching until all that remained was an endless sea of santa. But Santa seemed to have predicted this move somehow, and multiplied from a million santas into one gigantic santa the size of a continent. It would've been truly terrifying were I not so endeared to the man by this point, and the whimsical look in his twinkling eyes told me everything was going to be ok. I heard a scream echo through my unconcious, and not fully understanding what my senses were telling me, I ran to Ms.Hygrave, who seemed somehow more lucid and more afraid than I. "Are you ok ma'am?" I yelled over the endless echo of what sounded like ice breaking in a glass of water. She grabbed my arm, or at least that seemed to be the case. I couldn't see her, but I felt her grip. It was then that I realized we had been moving, sliding frictionlessly in a direction that I can only describe as feeling like "in". We were moving so fast. It occured to me that she wasn't holding onto me for comfort, but because she could barely stand with how fast we were moving. How could I stand? Why was I so aware of my own molecules? I could not tell, but the moment I stopped wondering there was a flash of light, and everything stopped. Mick was kneeling in the middle of a great void, starring at Santa with true hatred. Santa, standing between Hygrave and Mick spoke.
Micky, don't you remember? Why, you were at the top of my nice list every year! You always worked hard to do your best, just so I would come and grant your special wish every year. Oh, Micky please,-
Ho-no... Micky, you don't understand, it was your father. Don't you remember, when you were very small? I remember watching you open that train set I got when you were just 5 years old. I remember the joy in your smile, Mick, every year I tried to get my presents to you, but from that day on, your father committed himself to stopping me any way he could. We had many battles, much like you and I just now. Every year i would try to find a new way to sneak your giffts to you, and every year he would find a new way to stop me. Your father, rest his weary soul, he was a good man, Mick. He raised a beautiful young boy, a beautiful young man, but Mick, his heart was consumed by jealousy. All he ever wanted was to see you smile, Mick. He was a lot like me in some ways, but he never had the money. He would save up all year, and every year he would loose it all to one of your mother's gamling sprees. That's why he killed her, Mick. To make you smile. It was then that I knew what I had to do. I trained for years trying to become a power user of spatial magic, but by the time I had completed my training, you had already grown up, and your father had passed away, the very day after buying that game console you always wanted. I always wanted to tell you, Micky, but I took a vow long ago, a vow never to interfere directly in the lives of children. I vow I made with the United States itself. But, Micky, well, that's why I was hoping you would take out your anger on me today, so I could finally free you of your past.
H-h how dare you. you dan't know anything about my family, you, you priveleged peice of shit! I, my father, was a great man, and my mother, she, s h e . . .
I'm so sorry, Micky. I love you. Your father, even your mother, they all loved you, so-ho much. They're so sorry. You don't have to love them back, you don't have to forgive them, not yet, and you don't have to love me or forgive me, but oh, oh-ho, Micky, I think it's time we went home.
It was then that I heard a stiffled, stonted cry echo throughout space. It was all over.
it was all over...