POV Rio
"What are you doing?" I ask Lucy while looking confused.
"Decorating for Christmas," Lucy answers simply.
I look at the skulls and black cloth she was placing around the living room.
"Are you sure about that?" I ask with an even more confused tone.
She looks at the decorations and then back at me before nodding.
"Should I add some red?" Lucy asks innocently.
"What exactly do you think Christmas is about?" I ask with growing worry.
"A demon will break into your house and steal you away if you are naughty, unless you bribe him with the blood of your enemies and cookies," Lucy says calmly as if this were basic knowledge.
I look equal parts confused and worried as I try to figure out how the heck she came to that conclusion.
"What? Did I miss something?" Lucy asks innocently.
[Gif Of How Rio Reacts]
I think about how to respond, but choose silence.
'At least she isn't pulling out pumpkins.'
Ting
"Huh?" I say aloud and look into the distance.
"What is it?" Lucy asks.
"Were you expecting company today?" I ask.
"I barely know anyone. Who am I supposed to invite?" Lucy rightfully points out.
"Fair enough, well, I'll go check it out," I say with a shrug.
"Want me to come with?" Lucy asks.
"Meh, you don't have to; the wards didn't indicate it was anyone dangerous," I reply as I head to the door.
Lucy grabs me, gives me a little kiss, and then pushes me out the door.
"For luck," Lucy says mischievously.
I shake my head and force my smile away. Instead, I focus on the intruder heading my way. However, when I spot them, I have to do a double-take.
'Is that a flying reindeer? With a red nose... WAIT, a red-nosed reindeer!?'
The more I look, the more obvious it becomes that this is a very odd guest, or rather, guests, as a short creature with pointed ears is riding the reindeer.
'A gnome perhaps? A lot of creatures have pointed ears, so it's hard to say.'
My musings are cut off as the reindeer and his passenger come in for landing.
CRASH
A not very smooth landing.
"Ugh. Easy on the landing, Rudolph," says the short creature.
"I'm doing my best, but with such low levels of Christmas Cheer, I can only do so much," Rudolph complains.
"Hello there," I say to the two... guests?
They both freeze and then look at me, then at each other, before returning to me.
"Uh... You wouldn't happen to be Rio Pines, would you?" the shorter fellow asks nervously.
"It depends on who's asking," I say with raised eyebrows.
"I am Hermey, dentist of the North Pole, and uh, Santa's helper!" Hermey says proudly.
"And I'm Rudolph! Leader of Santa's Sleigh!" Rudolph says excitedly, causing his nose to beam and create a loud, high-pitched noise.
"Nice to meet you two. Now, could you explain why you are here?" I ask with slight surprise and excitement.
"We're here to find Rio Pines. We need his help. Christmas is in crisis," Hermey says impatiently.
"Well, then you found him. I'm Rio Pines. Now come inside and explain what happened and how you found me," I request.
"We... Well..." Hermey looks nervous.
"We sort of looked at the nice list without permission and found your name. It said you were an elf, so we came here to get some help," Rudolph explains.
"Okay, I guess that explains a bit, but what do you expect me to do, and what's wrong with Christmas?" I ask.
"Christmas Magic is dying. If someone doesn't do something soon, Christmas Magic will vanish forever! And with no Christmas Magic there can be no Santa!" Hermey says worriedly.
"That's not good, but again, what do you expect me to do?" I ask with confusion.
"We... Don't really know..." Hermey admits.
"We were hoping you could lift Santa's spirit or... uh... fill in for Santa this year," Rudolph explains nervously.
"Oh? Is Santa alright?" I ask.
"No... He's... He's been really down for a long time. I think it's been nearly 100 years since he last delivered any gifts. He... Took the First World War really hard, and the Second just about broke him. We've tried everything; even Mrs. Claus hasn't been able to help him. And with so long going since Santa last delivered gifts to the good boys and girls of the world. Christmas Spirit is at an all-time low. And if it gets any lower... We might not be able to use Christmas Magic to deliver any gifts at all. And once that happens... There's no going back. Santa, the North Pole, my friends... All of them will cease to exist," Hermey says sadly.
"What can I do to help?" I say seriously.
"First, we need to get back to the North Pole!" Rudolph says seriously.
"I'm coming with!" Mal0 shouts.
I look back at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Please! I'll behave, I promise!" Mal0 pleads.
"Fine, and I assume you'll want to come with," I comment while looking at Lucy.
"A chance to save Christmas with my love? How can I say no?" Lucy says with a smile.
"Well, that's nice, but Rudolph can't carry us all," Hermey points out.
"Don't worry, I'll handle it," I say with a smile.
Sometime Later...
As we arrive, I find myself stunned by the majesty of the North Pole. It should be noted that it is a pocket dimension and not the actual North Pole, but I was trying my absolute best to hide my fanboying. I mean, this was my childhood; the number of times I've seen the movie this place is based on is in the hundreds, perhaps thousands.
"Rudolph, you're back," a female reindeer says with happiness upon spotting Rudolph.
"Clarice!" Rudolph says with equal happiness, and they embrace each other.
"You made it back," says a snowman.
"It wasn't easy, but we found him. Let's just hope this works," Hermey says somewhat skeptically.
"You must be Rio, nice to meet you, I am Sam the Snowman," Sam says while offering his hand.
I shake his hand.
"It's wonderful to meet you; I hope I can help," I say with a smile.
"Yes, let us hope, but uh... be ready for the welcome wagon," Sam says knowingly.
"Welcome Wagon?" I ask.
Sam refuses to elaborate, and we are led into the main workshop. As soon as we enter, I get a feeling I know what they meant. As we enter, music starts playing, and a large group of elves looks excited to do something.
(AN: Play We Are Santa's Elves - Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (Original Soundtrack) on YouTube if you want to listen along. )
"Ho ho ho. Ho ho ho.
We are Santa's elves!
~~~~
We are Santa's elves
Filling Santa's shelves
With a toy for each girl and boy
Oh, we are Santa's elves!
~~~~
"We work hard all day," sings an elf
"But our work is play," sings a second elf.
Dolls we try out
See if they cry out
We are Santa's elves!
We've a special job each year
"We don't like to brag!" sings a nerdy elf.
Christmas Eve, we always fill Santa's bag
Santa knows who's good
Do the things you should
And we bet you
He won't forget you
We are Santa's elves!
~~~~~~~~~
As the song goes into the instrumental section, several elves start to do gymnastics by creating various shapes similar to what you might expect cheerleaders to do, just very high-level stuff, definitely not the kind you would expect humans to be able to pull off.
~~~~~~~~~
We've a special job each year
"We don't like to brag!" sings a nerdy elf.
Christmas Eve, we always fill Santa's bag
Santa knows who's good
Do the things you should
And we bet you
He won't forget you
We are Santa's elves!
Ho ho ho. Ho ho ho
We are Santa's elves! Ho Ho!"
As the song ends, I start clapping with happiness. Not only was it nostalgic, but they had clearly practiced the song for a long time, and the performance was very well done. Lucy and Mal0 join in as well, though Mal0's clapping doesn't make any sound to anyone but me; it's the thought that counts.
"Great job, truly very well done!" I compliment.
"Thank you, thank you, we've been honing our performance for over a century now. I'm glad you liked it," an elf with notable facial hair says.
"What's the ruckus about?" asks an older female voice.
As she enters the room, I can be almost certain that this is Mrs Claus.
"Gary, what are you doing performing that old musical number?" Mrs Claus asks.
"Mrs Claus, we've got visitors!" Gary the elf, I was just talking to, says with glee.
"Visitors?" Mrs Claus asks, but adjusts her glasses and looks at us.
"Well, I'll be... I'll go get some food started. I hope you like cookies. It's a family recipe," Mrs Claus offers.
"We wouldn't want to be a bother," I say with a polite smile.
"Bother!? Nonsense, now come inside and take a seat, and I'll make you some food. You're practically all skin and bones!" Mrs Claus demands.
I look down at myself and wonder if I'm a bit skinny. Lucy does the same and nods. I look shocked and even a little bit betrayed.
"Aren't you supposed to say I look perfect?" I mock.
"If you gain weight, it will make your butt bigger, right?" Lucy asks.
"P-Pervert!" I say with a slight blush.
Mal0 makes a photo shape with her claws and starts nodding.
"Don't you dare start!" I warn her.
"What?! I didn't say anything!" Mal0 complains.
"You were thinking something inappropriate," I say seriously.
Everyone but Lucy looks at me with confusion. I just explain what is going on, and they seem to understand pretty quickly. Not in the I'm crazy way, but instead they introduced themselves to Mal0 and me. I dare say Mal0 started to tear up from the incredibly warm welcome. Sure, they couldn't see her, or even physically interact, but it was the thought that counted. Mal0 was even self-conscious enough that she put on some clothes. It took every grain of self-control to stop myself from reacting to the fact that she could have been wearing clothes this entire time, something that I had been trying and failing to get her to do even since I met her. Or the fact that the outfit she chose was not much better than being naked. She was wearing one of those skimpy Santa outfits.
'There is something seriously wrong with her brain.'