The Village of Christmas

“Are you sure?” Mills asked Argyle as we stood near the outskirts of a town.

Combine your mental image of Santa’s workshop with the biggest retail outlet you know.  Then give it some suburban neighborhoods and a downtown.  That’s what stood before us.  It even had all the holiday decorations of those typical places.  The sign near the road said ‘Welcome to Christmas,’ so it wasn’t too hard to guess where we were.

“The Alliance of Christmas Lords will definitely be ticked if any of their people are involved,” Mills grumbled.  “Come on.  Let’s hurry.”

My guess was that the thieves had thrown Chaz in a sack in order to pass by undetected.  Every other person who was running around had either a bag or presents or something holiday related in their hands.  The crowds got bigger as we wove our way toward the downtown and it was like trying to flounder through a department store blowout sale.

It was probably a miracle that Mills and I didn’t get completely separated.  A few times we lost track of each other, but only for a short while.  We were able to keep finding each other despite the varying heights of the crowds.  I think every definition of ‘elf’ lived in this city along with who knew what else.  I think I saw several reindeer as well as goats and other sleigh pulling creatures pass by.

Argyle seemed to be getting a little confused as we wove through crowds and well trodden paths.  We had to double back at least twice, though it might have been more.  I got so turned around several times that we could have been walking in circles and I wouldn’t have noticed.  It wasn’t until we turned onto a side street that the trail got stronger and our pace quickened.

“Where are we now?” I finally asked.

“I’m not sure,” Mills admitted.  “I think we’re in the old section, but I’m not positive.  I’ve never been in this part of Christmas before.  At least, I think we’re still in the village.”

“Why do you call it a village when it’s the size of LA?”

“The Fathers of Christmas prefer that name,” Mills explained.  “The word village sounds more…um, cute?”

“Quaint and cozy?” I offered.

“Yeah.  Those are better words,” Mills agreed.  “Anyway, they insisted on keeping the word village even as the city grew.  Of course, even if they hadn’t insisted, I think most people would have kept referring to it as the village.  It’s what it started out as.”

I nodded and followed Mills as Argyle practically threw him down another side street.  The amount of shoppers had drastically decreased and the mob of creatures had thinned to a trickle.  We passed a billboard and Mills pointed it out and started explaining it to.  It was apparently one of the newest video games in the Realm.  Mills was lamenting the fact that his impending punishment – never mind that he was kidnapped – was most likely going to keep him from playing the game.

“So, is the Realm a lot like the World in things like video games and movies?” I asked.

“Pretty much,” Mills said.  “Most people in the Realm don’t actually travel to the World.  You need special licenses and things like that.  But since they share the same space they are very close to each other when it comes to trends and technology.”

“So it’s like an alternate World?”

Mills cringed a little.  “Don’t ever say that to a Realmer.  A lot of them are ridiculously offended by a comparison like that.  It’s almost like a taboo subject, really.”

“So the Realm is the Realm and the World is the World,” I rephrased.  “Similar, but not.”

“Stop.”

“Sorry.  I forgot.  Taboo subject.”

“No,” Mills said as he grabbed my arm.  “I mean physically stop.”

I did and looked around.  “Are we close?”  I kept looking, and realized something else.  “There’s no one else.”

“I know,” Mills nodded.  “Just a thought, but I think it would be a good idea if we tried to be a little sneakier.”

“Yeah,” I agreed.  “Last thing we need is for them to know we’re coming.”