You're the Star Atop My Christmas Tree, Charlie Boone! - 4. Part 4

An hour passed - at least that much time - as they talked. No one came to enlighten them on the hunt for the foobear, but they had decided by then that this was not going to be a simple affair, and that they might as well relax and enjoy the company. Charlie was perfectly happy to let those that knew what they were doing handle the current problem. Surely, they would all learn the full story later.

They each had several things to drink, all delicious, but there is only so much storage for such things, and after a while Kip started to look uncomfortable. "I think I need to go," he whispered to Charlie.

Charlie was also feeling the urge by then, and nodded. He looked about the cafeteria, but all the signs today seemed to be printed in Icelandic, and he had no idea which designated the 'men's and ladies'.

"Is there a restroom handy?" he asked Frit.

The elf nodded, and turned to point to a small alcove across the room. "Right there."

Charlie laughed as pretty much the whole table stood up at once. "Thank you!" Adrian said, grinning at Charlie. "I was just getting ready to ask, myself."

They took care of business, and slowly filtered back to the table. Charlie was still standing when there was a series of small pops in the room, and six elves appeared in a circle. They immediately cast their eyes about the room, as if looking for something.

"See anything odd here?" asked one of the group, a woman.

"Hear anything odd here?" the man next to her asked.

"Feel anything odd here?" asked another.

Charlie was startled by their sudden appearance and simply shook his head.

"I haven't felt anything strange here," Frit said, coming up. "Is the foobear nearby?

"We don't know," said yet another of the group. "This one is like quicksilver, moving about rapidly. And it's very hard to sense, especially considering its apparently outrageous size."

"Never felt a foobear like this one," the woman said. "Weird."

Yet another of the group suddenly closed his eyes, and spun away from Charlie and Frit. "There!"

The entire group spun at amazing speed, and then sort of flowed into an arrow-like blue projectile that flashed across the room and vanished through a wall on the other side, leaving no trace of their visit. The transit was accompanied by a furious buzzing sound, like a swarm of angry bees, which terminated as the arrow disappeared through the wall.

"Wow!" Kippy said, coming to stand beside Charlie. "Who were they?"

"Keepers," Pip said, now next to his boyfriend. "They're a little different than most people."

"What'd we miss?" Ricky asked, he and Adrian returning from the bathroom at a run.

Uncle Bob was just behind them, and also looked about curiously. "Sounded like a crowd out here."

"We heard voices, too!" Adrian said, looking around the room. "Was someone else just here? I feel like someone else was just here."

"Me, too," Kippy said. "They left a presence behind them."

Frit laughed. "Keepers are like that."

Ronja was the last to return. "My, what was that commotion?"

"Keepers," Pip repeated. "They're hunting the foobear."

Ronja smiled at that. "And doing a very good job of it, by the sound of things!"

Kippy smiled, and turned to Adrian. "I love that name. Foobear. It sounds like a friend of Winnie the Pooh, or something."

Adrian laughed. "It sounds like something cute, I know that."

Kippy's smile suddenly disappeared, and he gave a small shiver. "Whoa! You feel that?"

"A little," the other boy admitted. "Like a tingle or something. But I don't know what it is."

Kippy nodded, looking carefully around the room. "That's what I feel, too, but it's really strong. And it comes from...from over there." He pointed to a different wall than the one the keepers had just vanished through.

Something erupted through the very spot Kip was pointing at. It didn't harm the wall at all, but still sent out a strange burst of power. Charlie had a brief impression of tawny legs pumping furiously, and then the thing suddenly stopped right before them. It was so sudden that everyone just froze, staring.

It looked like a large house cat. A very large house cat. Or maybe a small lion. It was covered in yellow fur, and had black streaks that banded about the body. There was a small, stiff mane of black fur circling the neck, and the face was a combination of feline and ursine, reminding Charlie, incredibly, of Kontus, their big Trichani friend. This creature's features were also pleasant, if a little rugged, and the great yellow eyes held the sure light of intelligence. A slim tail at the rear of the body flicked back and forth as the creature sat there, its eyes moving back and forth between Kippy and Adrian.

And then it was gone just as quickly. It spun and surged into an incredible motion, and bounded through the far wall of the room just as the blue arrow of the keepers burst through the first wall and shot across the room in hot pursuit, roaring this time like a hunting pack in sight of prey.

And then the room was quiet again, and Kippy suddenly unfroze.

"Did you see it?" he asked breathlessly, turning to face Charlie. "Did you?"

"Yes. It was incredible."

"I didn't expect it to look like that," Adrian said. "It was beautiful...and cute, in a dangerous sort of way."

"It was big, I know that," Ricky put in. "Like a lion cub or something. I wouldn't want to tangle with it in a dark room."

"Or even a brightly lit one," Uncle Bob said, shaking his head. "It was incredibly fast for an animal."

Frit and Pip were staring at them now in open bewilderment. "What are you talking about?" Frit asked. "It looked like a ball of energy. Nothing more."

"Free magic on the loose," Pip said, agreeing.

Kippy's eyes widened. "I saw a...a creature. A living thing. Not just some dumb ball of energy."

"Me, too," Charlie said, staring at the elves. "It looked like a really big cat, with a little bit of brown bear mixed in."

Adrian nodded. "That's what I saw. It was beautiful!"

"And a little scary, too," Uncle Bob said. "There was a definite sense of power there."

Kippy put his hand on his hips and glared at Frit and Pip. "Its eyes looked intelligent, too. It was checking us out."

Pip shook his head. "It wasn't alive. It's just energy."

Kippy stamped a foot. "Believe me, I know when I'm being checked out!"

Charlie raised his hand for silence, and turned to Ronja then. "What did you see?"

The woman had been watching the elves, but now she turned to gaze at Charlie. "What you did. A large and quite beautiful animal, with the eyes of something with a soul. Not just a bit of rogue magic."

Frit and Pip turned to stare at each other, as if they had thought they were being kidded somehow, but were stumped now that Ronja's final testimony had weighed in.

"I saw a ball of energy," Frit said.

"That's what I saw," Pip agreed. He turned to look at Kippy, and then his eyes moved among the others. "But the humans saw something else. There must be a reason for it."

Frit shook his head. "I don't know what. All we have ever seen with foobears are balls of energy. They all look the same, always. Different sizes, but all the same."

Pip gasped. "Oh!" He turned to stare at Kippy again. "No humans have ever been present when a foobear was loose! This is the first time anyone but one of us has seen one!"

Frit's mouth dropped open. "This is serious! There may be more to this than we know. I need to talk to my grandpa!"

"Go!" Pip said urgently. "I'll watch here!"

Frit nodded, and disappeared with a small pop of air rushing into a vacuum.

Kippy blinked, but looked placated. "I know what I saw."

"I agree," Charlie said. "Yet we all saw something that is different than what our elf friends experienced. We need to find out why."

Pip paced anxiously in a circle, his eyes roving the room. "A foobear is just loose energy. But why did you see something else? This is not good."

Kippy looked sympathetic now. "I didn't know it would be such a problem."

"It is. We deal with foobears as we know how, by returning them to the allmagic. This essentially extinguishes their uniqueness, and they become a part of the greater energy again." Pip stopped pacing, his eyes looking a little haunted. "What if we've been wrong to be doing this? What if there's more to foobears than we imagined? What you saw suggests life. Perhaps a life we have been unable to see, and so unable to understand. Don't you get it? We may have been killing something unique, and not even knowing it!"

Charlie stared at the elf, for the first time really seeing something more than the fun-loving teen he had always known. He did know that Frit and Pip were smart, and fairly far along in their training; but he was always put at ease by their playfulness and almost complete lack of will to be serious about anything. Here was a different side now, one he did not know as well. One that seemed new and almost strange to him.

He was reminded of an old saying then: you never really know someone until you visit them at home.

He smiled. "It's not your fault, Pip. Relax. We'll get this dealt with."

Adrian frowned, and pointed at Pip. "Didn't you say that most foobears are a lot smaller than this one?"

"Uh huh. Most are quite small."

"Well, then, maybe the size of this one makes the difference. Maybe smaller ones don't have what it takes to become more than a ball of energy." Adrian leaned forward. "Maybe this one is special."

Pip's eyes widened. "That could be it." He started pacing again. "I wish Frit would get back!"

But it was not Frit that returned. Kippy took in a sharp breath, and almost as one, he and Adrian turned to face yet a third wall, just as the blurry figure of the foobear burst through it. Again the creature stopped on a dime before them, it's eyes fastened on Kippy and Adrian, its tail lazily flicking this way and that. Charlie leaned closer this time, and the foobear's eyes shifted to connect with his.

The feeling he got at the contact was almost indescribable. A feeling that he was trading stares with something alive and intelligent was sure; but so was a sense of unbounded dimensions and fearsome power, like being suspended somehow just before the event horizon of a black hole might be. A glimpse of eternity, of trackless amounts of time too great to be comprehended, warred with a sense of playfulness, and a sense of...joy. Joy at being chased, as if it was the most fun the creature had ever had.

And then it surged into motion again and was gone through another wall, just as the fire brigade arrow of the keepers burst into the room and shot across it in full roar.

Charlie stood still, stunned; and then he smiled...and then he laughed. "Holy crap! The thing is playing with the keepers! It's enjoying itself!"

Kippy turned and beamed at him. "Well, yeah! I thought you got that the last time it was here."

Charlie grinned. "I didn't. This time I made eye contact with it, and sure got a lot in return."

"I only saw a ball of energy," Pip said, woefully. "Something must be terribly wrong with me."

Ronja smiled sympathetically and went and put an arm around Pip's shoulders. "I am sure nothing is wrong with you, sweetheart. This is just something too new for you to understand yet. It will be fine, I'm sure."

Uncle Bob nodded, and moved closer to Charlie. "You say it's playing? That must mean it has a sense of humor." He smiled. "Maybe we can use that to hold it here next time."

"I don't think it wants to be held here, Uncle," Ricky said. "Maybe it knows what the keepers want to do to it."

"Then it won't stay," Uncle Bob countered. "But if it comes back, I want to get closer to it before it rolls out again."

But the foobear did not return. They waited what seemed like another hour - a much longer hour this time - but neither the foobear nor the keepers made an appearance.

But finally, there was a larger pop in the room, and Frit and Max appeared. The older elf immediately came over to Kippy and Adrian. "Tell me what you saw."

Both boys related their experiences with and feeling about the foobear, and then Kippy told Charlie to tell his. Max listened intently, and then looked about at the others when Charlie had finished. "You all saw the same thing?"

They nodded.

The elf's eyes sought out Ronja. "You, too?"

"Yes, Max. We are dealing with something more than just free energy."

Max nodded. "Okay, everybody come closer. Form a group around me."

They did as instructed, and Max raised his hands. Charlie felt the unmistakable blink in reality that went with elf travel, and then the lights went out.

* * * * * * *

"What happened?" Kippy called into the darkness. "Where are we?"

A light came on then, and Max raised it above his head, where it formed a circle of light on the floor around him.. "We're in the cellar of the shop."

Charlie nodded. "Oh, yeah. We've been here before." He looked around them. "It's full of stuff you can't see or feel until you shine a light on them."

"Right. The foobear is down here. Four squads of keepers have it cornered. We need to hurry, I think. Everybody hold hands."

They formed a line behind Max, and proceeded into the dark. The light stayed focused on the floor, and they could see where they were going. But every so often they caught a glimpse of something in passing, a toy or other item that had been relegated to the basement due to some slip up on the part of Nicholaas in the design process - some defect. Most of them seemed perfectly normal, but they didn't really get a good look at them, either. A few things they passed seemed noticeably dysfunctional, even with just a glimpse. Enough for them to see that it didn't pay to lose one's concentration during creation, no indeed!

Soon they saw light ahead, and arrived in a well-lit area that was empty of any objects. The foobear sat on its haunches in the center of the circle of light, while a cordon of elves stood around it at the limit of the light.

"Who's in charge here?" Max asked, as they stepped up to the circle of keepers.

"That would be me. Hi, Max." A man stepped out of the dark with a smile on his face, and stuck out his hand.

Max grinned in return, and shook the offered hand. "Oh, hi Murph. Long time, no see. What have you got?"

"Well, it's right there in the light. We've got the thing surrounded and are about to do a meld to return it to the allmagic."

Max looked out at the foobear, and then turned to look at Kippy and the others. "You sure about this? All I see is a ball of energy. Way bigger then what we normally get, but still just energy."

"I'm sure," Kippy said firmly. He turned to Adrian, who nodded, too.

Max licked his lips and turned to Charlie. "You, too?"

"Yes."

The elf nodded, and turned back to face the keeper. "I'm gonna have to ask you to hold off a minute, Murph. We may have more here than meets the eye."

The keeper did not look pleased. "Max, this is a slippery one. It's gotten away from us four times. This is the only time we've managed to encircle it, and we're still having trouble keeping it centered. It's got to be now, or we risk losing it."

Max looked adamant. "Nevertheless, I'm asking you to wait. I have a good reason."

"Do you?" The keeper's eyes examined Kippy and Adrian, and then Charlie and the others. A frustrated expression crept onto his face, but he nodded and turned to his people. "Keep it centered, everyone. We have to wait a minute before we can proceed."

"That's not a good idea," one of the keepers in the circle said, from nearby. "It's everything we can do now to keep it here. I don't know how long we can maintain the enclosure."

Kippy reached out and touched Max's arm. "He just said they were having trouble keeping it here, right? Have you ever had to chase these things so hard before?"

"I can answer that," Murph said. "Most of these things are small, and are attracted to higher concentrations of magical energy. That makes them pretty easy to nab. Even the bigger ones are not that tough to corner. But this one is so big, there isn't that much magic around that's more powerful than it is, all in one spot. So it's been bouncing all over the place like crazy. Really made it hard to catch."

"But not now," Kippy said. "You have it now, right?"

"Just barely, kid. It's everything we can do to hold onto it."

Kippy shook his head. "Why? If it was just random energy, why would it try to leave?"

Max looked patient. "It's not that it would try to leave, Kip. It's that these things are attracted to magic use. They zero in on magical processes, and when they interact they cancel the process for anything weaker than they are. That's mainly why they're so dangerous." He flicked a hand at the foobear. "This one is just being attracted to something else."

Kippy nodded. "Well, if the strain I see on these keeper's faces are any indication, they're using a lot of magic right now. Don't you think if the foobear was just a ball of energy attracted to other energy, it would be attracted here, instead of trying to leave?"

Max blinked, and then pulled his head back to stare at Kippy. "That's a good point." He stared a moment longer, and then nodded. "Holy crap, that's a very good point!"

Murph, who had also heard Kippy's argument, looked astounded, and turned to look at the foobear again. "Saint Scarpekki's bells! I don't know why we didn't see that, Max! What's going on here?"

Max shook his head. "I don't know. These fellas - and Miss Ronja - see an animal there, not a ball of energy."

"It's not an animal," Adrian insisted. "It's smart!"

Murph looked aghast. "That's even worse!" He turned to gaze into the circle of keepers again, and then clapped a hand to the back of his head. "What to do, what to do?"

"The Big Guy said he'd be down as soon as he could," Max informed. "But he's still assembling the delivery list, and you know how complicated that is. He can't just stop in the middle of it to come here. He said he'd come at the first completion interval, but I don't know when that will be."

Murph shook his head. "I don't think we can hold it here much longer, Max."

Uncle Bob stepped forward then. "You said these things couldn't hurt us except by canceling some magic and maybe having a building fall over on us, right?"

Max laughed, but nodded. "That's true, as far as we know."

Uncle Bob nodded. "Then I want to walk over there to see this thing."

"I'm going!" Kippy said, raising a hand.

"Me, too!"Adrian said, his tone brooking no argument.

"Not without me!" Ricky said, firmly.

Charlie turned to his boyfriend. "Are you sure, Kip?"

"Yes, Charlie. As sure as I have ever been about anything." Charlie nodded, able to read that in Kippy's eyes.

He turned back to Max. "We'll all go."

The older elf looked shocked. "Now wait just a minute, Charlie! I can't allow that! We have no idea how safe it is." He leaned closer and lowered his voice. "It'd break my heart if something happened to any of you. And the boss would kill me!"

Charlie smiled. "You just said it can't hurt us, right?"

"Yeah, but only if it's a ball of free magical energy on the loose. If it's a magical critter of some sort, with smarts and a will, there's no telling what it might be able to do to you."

"We're going," Kip said. "You can come or you can stay here, but we're going out there."

Max opened his mouth again, closed it, and then sighed. "Okay. Okay, but stay behind me, will ya?"

"So you're going?" Charlie asked, grinning.

Max rolled his eyes, and then turned suddenly as Frit and Pip surged forward. "You two stay here!"

"Aw!" Frit stamped his foot, and Pip grimaced horribly. Max stepped closer to Frit, and put a hand on the boy's arm. "Please, son. Stay here, at least until we know more. Okay?"

Frit's determination melted away, and he nodded. "Okay, grandpa. We'll stay here. Won't we, Pip?"

"Yeah." Pip looked like he wanted to cry, though. "Right here."

Max nodded, and turned towards the foobear. "Come on, then." He stepped past the keepers, and Charlie and Kip and the others fell in behind him.

"We'll be right here, Max!" Murph called after them. "Be careful!"

"Like I won't," Max mumbled to himself, but marched onward.

They stayed at Max's pace, a slow walk if there ever was one. The foobear saw them coming and turned to watch them approach, and Kippy lifted a hand and waved to the critter. Nothing happened to impede their advance, and shortly Max had arrived at a spot about ten feet from the beast, where he stopped.

"Is this close enough?"

"A little closer, please," Uncle Bob called.

Max grumbled, but halved the distance remaining to the foobear, where he stopped and held out his arms to keep anyone from passing him. "This is close enough."

Uncle Bob moved forward to stand on the same line as Max, and Kippy and Adrian took places on either side of them. Not to be left behind now, Charlie stepped up beside his boyfriend, and looked down the line to see Ricky doing the same next to Adrian.

"Okay," Uncle Bob said then. "Everybody relax, and be quiet."

He stepped forward slowly then, before Max could stop him, and positioned himself before the foobear, a scant two feet away. And then he held out his hands to the creature, palms up, and slowly turned them over so that the back sides came into view. And then he suddenly flipped them over again, and a deck of cards had appeared in his left hand!

The foobear's eyes got larger, and it leaned closer to look at first one of Bob's hands, and then the other.

Bob grinned. "Now, what I have here is an ordinary deck of cards." He flexed his fingers, and the entire deck fluttered over to his other hand, a card at a time, in a blur of motion. The foobear looked up at him, and leaned forward even more to stare at the transferred deck.

"Ah, no peeking now." Bob held up the deck, grinning, and with a deft flick of his wrist, fanned them out before the creature. "Now, pick a card." He waited just a second, and then laughed. "But you can't, so I'll do it for you." He used his thumb and forefinger to inch a card out of the spread, and held it up with the face towards the foobear.

"Now, I can't see that, but you can. Take a good look at it, because this is your card. Okay?"

Whether or not the beast understood was debatable, but the simple motion of Bob's fingers as he waved the card a little drew the foobear's eyes, and it certainly got a good look at the suit and number, at least as a picture.

"Great." Bob lowered the card again and pushed it back into the deck, and then casually shuffled the deck several times in his hands. Charlie grinned at the man's dexterity and fluid movements. He certainly was good at his game!

Bob then fanned out the deck again, and held it up to show the foobear that all the cards were different. "See? It's not a rigged deck. Perfectly ordinary, just like the one my mother uses to play rummy." He let out a happy sigh. "And now, I need a helper. Or, maybe two helpers. Kip? Adrian? Would you mind?"

Kippy squeezed Charlie's arm happily and grinned hugely, and he and Adrian stepped forward.

"No, no, it's not magic that these two wonderful lads appear beside me now," Uncle Bob went on, as Kippy and Adrian took a place on either side of him. "Just a happy circumstance, a fortuitous whim of fate. And as you can see, their hands are empty - hold up your hands, guys - and that I still have the deck right here."

Bob held up his hands again, showing the deck still prominent in his right hand. He held it out as if to give it to the foobear, flipped his hand quickly...and the deck had vanished!

The foobear moved closer with a small hop and inspected each of Bob's empty hands from mere inches away, and then looked up at him with what was surely a grin!

"Hey, Max!" Murph called softly. "The thing isn't trying to get away any longer!"

Max gave a little sigh. "Hear that, fellas? You've got its full attention."

"That's what any magician wants," Bob said happily, and then winked at the foobear. "Or any illusionist, I should say."

Max softly cleared his throat. "I think it might see what you're doing, but it doesn't feel any magic being used. So it has no idea what's happening. It's a new kind of magic to it."

Charlie grinned. "So you think it's a life form now, instead of just loose energy?"

"I'm seeing what you're seeing now, Charlie. A big cat-looking thing. Don't ask me why."

"Ah, ah, no talking in the cheap seats," Uncle Bob cautioned. "You'll spoil the, um, illusion!"

Charlie grinned. Uncle Bob was having himself a good old time, and the foobear seemed to be enjoying itself right along with him. Bob waved his hands a few more times, and the foobear's eyes tracked right along with them, as if hoping to catch the man in the act of sneaking something over.

Bob seemed to understand that. "Now, really, do you think I'm trying to trick you?" He extended his arms and laid his hands on Kip's and Adrian's shoulders. "Hear that, guys? This fellow things I'm a sham!"

But before either boy could even answer, Bob lifted his hand from Kippy's shoulder, flexed his fingers, and the deck of cards suddenly fanned out in his hand again. Bob made a show of looking astonished, and gaped at it. "Now, where did that come from!" He shook his head, and turned towards Adrian. "Now if it had been that hand, I could understand it --"

He lifted his left hand, flexed his fingers, and a second deck of cards fanned out in that hand. Bob also gaped at that, and took both fans of cards and waved them in front of the foobear. "Did you see that? I think something fishy's going on here!"

And then he shook both hands and then opened them, and the decks of cards had vanished.

The foobear jumped up and down, and poked its nose right at Bob's hands, first one, and then the other, and then actually nosed the hands over to inspect the other sides of them.

"I've got news for you," Bob whispered towards Max. "This critter feels warm and alive to the touch, too."

"I can see it!" Frit called, sounding delighted.

"Me, too!" Pip joined in. "It's cute!"

"Damned if I don't see the thing, too, Max, " Murph called in a hushed voice. "I'll be ding dang donged!"

"It's becoming more real," said a quiet voice, just over Charlie's shoulder.

He turned to find Ronja standing there, and blinked at her. "Have you been there all along?"

"Well, of course! You don't think I'm going to miss all the fun, do you?" Her eyes twinkled happily, and her smile was plain evidence that she was enjoying herself. Charlie grinned at her, and then turned back towards the foobear.

Uncle Bob had made fists of his hands before the very eyes of the foobear now. "Let' see what happens if I do this..."

Uncle Bob jiggled his right fist, and a card appeared between his first and second fingers. "Is that your card? No, I don't think so." He next jiggled the left fist, and another card appeared between the first and second fingers there. "Nope, that's not your card, either. Rats!" He shook both fists, and the cards disappeared. "Now, where on earth can your card be?"

Bob made show of looking around on the floor, and Charlie smiled as the foobear looked with him.

"Nope, not there." Bob leaned forward then, right up to the foobear's face, and the critter's head bobbed backwards just a bit in surprise. "It's okay," Bob said softly. "It's okay, big fella. I think I see your card."

He straightened, and carefully, slowly, extended his left hand towards the foobear. The creature watched it come, a small bit of wariness present in its eyes, but also some measure of trust. Bob eased his hand up to the foobear's left ear, gently brushed it with his fingertips, and pulled his hand back. It now contained a single card, which he held up before the foobear's eyes. "Is this it?"

The creature stared at the card, and then suddenly reared its head back and let out an unmistakable howl of laughter! Bob grinned, and gave a sigh of relief. "Whew! Can't say I wasn't a little scared there!"

The foobear eased forward and pushed its nose against Bob's hand, and seemed to take a sniff of the card. Bob smiled, holding his hand very still. "You're a great audience," he said then. "I wish all my crowds were as fun as you."

Kippy slowly stepped forward, and bent and extended a hand towards the foobear. The beast moved it's head to take a whiff, and it's tail pounded the floor enthusiastically a couple of times. Kippy laughed, patted the creature on the head, and straightened, then tilted his head forward and looked over at Adrian. "Your turn!"

Ricky looked alarmed, but Adrian was already stepping forward, so Rick simply stepped forward with him. Adrian bent and held out a hand, and again it was sniffed, approved, and the floor tattooed a couple of times by the creature's tail.

Charlie laughed. "I think you guys have made a new friend."

The foobear turned it's head at Charlie's words, and again seemed to smile. Charlie again felt a very distinct presence in the eye contact, an awareness just too sharp to be that of just an animal. The creature grinned at him, and then looked back at Uncle Bob.

"I'm not sure, but I think he wants more!" Adrian said, laughing.

Ricky sighed. "Good thing you always carry cards with you, Uncle."

Uncle Bob nodded. "A good illusionist is always prepared for a new audience, Rick."

"I think more than an illusion has happened here," said a new voice. "I think some magic has been dealt with those cards."

Charlie heard Ronja's breath sigh out as Nicholaas came up behind them and put his arm around the woman. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Especially now."

Nicholaas laughed, patted her arm, and moved slowly up to Charlie's side. "Hello, my friend. I see you're being entertained."

Charlie nodded. "By the best. But it's only what I'd expect, visiting you."

A twinkle of humor appeared in the man's eyes, and he laid a hand on Charlie's shoulder before taking another step forward. The foobear eyed him curiously, but seemed unworried by this new arrival.

Nicholaas looked over at Kippy. "What do you think about this?"

Kippy sighed. "It's not just energy. It's alive. It shouldn't be destroyed."

Nicholaas moved his gaze to Adrian. "Do you agree with that?"

"Yes. Very much."

Nicholaas nodded, and then looked around the circle of light. "Does anyone here disagree with that?"

It appeared that no one did. The keepers were all smiling now, or at least looking more relaxed than they had earlier. Nicholaas nodded, took another step towards the foobear, and slowly extended a hand. "Do you mind?"

The creature looked up at the hand as it slowly came down, but did not shy away, even as Nicholaas laid his hand atop its head. He flexed his fingers in the fur there, and closed his eyes. For a moment nothing else happened; and then Nicholaas opened his eyes and smiled. "Well, well. This is no animal. This is something quite new, I think."

The foobear tossed its head a bit, but it was obviously not an attempt to throw off the man's hand. In fact, the magical critter looked up at Nicholaas with apparent eagerness now, as if suddenly finding it had yet another new friend. Nicholaas laughed, and stroked the creature's fur, and looked quite happy himself. "I think he'll behave, now that he understands that canceling magical processes here might be harmful. I don't think there was any malice in what happened earlier, in fact. I think our new friend here simply got too close to the magic in the distribution room. He simply reeks of power, and that would be enough to cancel the processes there, which are actually quite small."

"He sure made us chase him around, though," Murph said. The man had moved closer now, as had most of the keepers. "Merriest chase I've ever been led on, actually."

Nicholaas laughed. "I actually think he thought it was a game of some kind. That you were playing. It was only when you cornered him here that he felt fear and tried to get away."

Murph smiled, and nodded his head. "So you won't be needing us anymore?"

"I don't think so. Thanks to you all."

The keepers looked pleased, nodded, and began to wink away with small pops of sound. Soon only the humans remained, along with Max and the two younger elves. Frit and Pip joined Max, and stared with wonder at the foobear. "What is it, grandpa Max?" Frit asked.

Max shook his head. "Magic, come to life, would be my guess."

Nicholaas nodded at that. "I think you're right. I've been trying to backtrack our friend's movements to see where he may have originated. It would appear he comes from right here, and that I may be the guilty party responsible for his formation."

Max simply stared. "You?"

Nicholaas shrugged. "Yes, me. An accident, but a quite interesting one."

Max grinned. "Gonna tell me about it?"

Nicholaas laughed. "Well, of course." His eyes twinkled, and his smile widened. "Someday."

That seemed to tickle Max no end.

Charlie smiled at Nicholaas, and titled his head at Ronja. "Your friend has been showing us a very wonderful time."

Nicholaas sighed. "She's very good at that."

Ronja looked pleased, and Charlie and Kippy exchange knowing looks. Kippy's eyes were bright, and Charlie could almost read his thoughts: Love is in the air!

Nicholaas looked down at the foobear, and patted its head. "Would you like to get out of this dark place, my friend? You are welcome to stay upstairs. It's much more comfortable there."

The foobear grunted, and wagged its tail, and looked happily around at the circle of faces.

"What I want to know is, how come I can see it now, when I couldn't before?" Max asked.

"He has grown real now," Nicholaas explained. "Thanks to our friends here." He nodded at Charlie and the others.

Kippy looked surprised. "What did we do?"

Nicholaas looked pleased. "You believed in him, Kip. When he first materialized, he was still very much in an energetic state. It was your belief in him that made him real."

Kippy frowned. "But we saw him!"

"No. You saw his potential. What he had the power to become. It was your intent to treat him as real, as a living, breathing being, that finalized that." Nicholaas smiled around at all the boys, and especially at Uncle Bob. "You got his attention, and decided him to stay with us."

"So that's why I can see him now?" Frit asked. "Then he was just a ball of energy before?"

"Yes. But our friends here saw more than that. It is a peculiarly human trait to see life in things that are not necessarily alive. To see familiarity in the strange. To accept something as a friend, that elves might deal with with caution. Belief is a wonderful power. And now we see the results of that belief."

Pip let out a huge sigh of relief. "I thought I was defective or something!"

"Not any more than I am!" Frit called, smiling.

Max waved a hand at the both of them. "Just relax, you two."

Nicholaas smiled. "Shall we go upstairs?" He looked into the darkness around them, and gave a small shudder. "There's so much junk down here, it's oppressive."

Max gave a small bow. "After you."

Nicholaas shook his head. "I think we'll all go at once."

And then he waved his hand, and it was done.