Santa Command—Dressing Room
December 25th
0546 hours
Phil was the first one by Chris' side. The old guy was still in his Santa suit. That should have been the first clue that something was wrong. Chris would have changed back to his normal clothes the moment he got to Santa Command if he had the magic. But he didn't. The night had taken it all out of him.
Tracy knelt next to Phil. “What happened? What's wrong?”
Jared knelt on his other side. “He's still breathing. That's good, right?”
“Yeah,” said Phil. “That's good. But he needs magic. He's centuries old. He can't survive without it.”
“Is that why he doesn't deliver presents anymore?” Tracy asked. “Because it's too hard?”
Beth nodded. “When the world became too big, the job became too much. His magic is limited, and over the years, he's used a lot of it up. He has enough to keep both him and Mary alive, but as you can see, even an hour of deliveries weakens him.”
“So he created Santa Command?”
“Several hundred stations worldwide. It's far from perfect,” Beth shared a look with Phil that said they both agreed, “but he couldn't stand for kids not to get what they needed.”
Sasha climbed onto Chris' chest and placed her tiny hand over his heart. “We need to get him home. Back to his magic box.”
Phil looked to Tracy and Jared. “You two ready to go through the portal again?”