Wow... woooooow... three whole months late... will try to explain this in a journal but really I have no excuse...
Anyway doubt anybody is still waiting for it but here's the finale to my 2022 Christmas story... we've visited with the Ghost of Christmas Past, toured with the Ghost of Christmas Present, now all that's left to face is the Ghost of Christmas Future...
So now let us bring a close to this Nightmare before Christmas...
with less singing skeletons I'm afraid.
Characters owned by me
A Christmas Carol made by Charles Dickens
Pokemon NOT owned by me
For the first time since this whole crazy journey had begun Petie actually felt a bit of the cold… though he couldn’t be sure if that was just in his head or not. After all he was well aware exactly what he was toddling through the snow flurries toward… even if he wasn’t sure why. Did he really wanna meet the last spirit? He’d already met the first two visitors so he kinda guessed he had to but still… also when was he gonna get to wherever he was supposed to be for this meeting anyway!?
As if hearing his thoughts the snow and wind seemed to just part to let the teddiursa stumble forward into a clearing of sorts as his pajama clad feet found a stone path under them instead of more snow to sink into. No the snow blanketed both sides of the path and piled up in white blankets on everything around… but the path itself was perfectly clear. Well… almost clear, a low hanging mist seemed to be over everything… which was a problem for Petie. The snow not falling anymore was also a problem for the bear…
Problems because it meant the church at the end of the path, jutting into the starless sky dark and foreboding, was clear as day and he couldn’t miss it no matter how much he wanted to.
He could clearly hear the nervous gulp he made as he quickly looked left and right… only to do a full turn in confusion as despite a church and various statues being around there was no graveyard. With the mist as low as it was and the snow already settled he’d be able to see the headstones if there were any. Which just left the church at the end of the path… as Petie winced and covered his ears as the church bells rang out. Each toll seemed to make his whole body shake from how close they sounded as they rang again and again. Squatting down he waited for it to stop before trembling as he stood back up to look at the building-
And the cloaked figure that seemed to have materialized out of the damn mist the moment Petie had been distracted.
Not even bothering to hide his yelp or surprise, or the wince as he fell on his bottom, Petie panted while his heart thundered in his chest. The figure… was… ironically just about as he expected. Tall and gaunt while being wrapped in a shroud like cloak with only the barest hint of their hands visible and nothing but darkness beneath their hood. Darkness that the teddiursa could swear had eyes and was staring at him patiently for an unnerving sensation… but… he’d been expecting way, way worse.
Finally managing to get his heartbeat and breathing back under control he slowly climbed to his feet, making sure not to take his eyes off the specter, and pulled himself together. Sure this was always the creepiest, spookiest part of the story and all the adaptations… yeah people liked to consider this ghost to be the Grim Reaper under another name… but what did he actually do to Scrooge?
Yeah… yeah… the ghost just showed him things that might be. That was all it did. If he thought about it logically then there was no reason to be scared of a silent, pointing specter… at least not seriously scared. Heck if he looked close he could almost be sure there was a gardevoir of gallade wrapped up in that cloak. In fact he knew just how to greet this guy…
“Am I, perhaps, in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come?”
“Yes, I have been waiting for you.”
“… d-didn’t… y-you… talking… d-didn’t e-expect dat…”
And all of Petie’s bravado just went (and he prayed it hadn’t fled to his diaper) as the words seemed to scratch themselves across the churchyard. The voice wasn’t so much unpleasant as it wasn’t a voice yet it still somehow spoke. Gender was impossible to discern and while each word was clear as the bells earlier Petie was at a loss on how to describe it… soft, loud, harsh, gentle… the only thing he knew for sure was it made him shiver. As did the fact the figure was now broad and wide without the cloak and hood having changed much… a few possible mon came to mind to match this outline but a nagging feeling told him that guessing what it might be would just make it change again the moment he blinked.
“Come now… did you expect the same yet to come that old Scrooge witness? The bleak future of an old man who needs a shock to change his ways? Do you think what is ahead of you is so grim? Nay. Perish the thought. Now come, we have much to discuss before this night may end.”
The figures voice-that-wasn’t-a-voice somehow managed to convey a sense of bemusement, as the spirit, shifted again to a broad shoulder and trimmer figure, turned to the church. Any further thoughts Petie might have had were scattered as a sound sent him scrambling to his feet before he realized it was the deep, thundering creak of the churches doors slowly opening wide. Silent in contrast to the doors noise the ghost drifted into the open passage leaving Petie alone in the snowy churchyard shivering… before he scurried after the cloaked specter, fear of being alone in this strange place trumping his fear of the future (given corporeal form or not).
****************
The inside of the church was both spooky… and far more welcoming that the teddiursa had expected. Two rows of pews on either side of him with a soft carpet on the aisle he and the spirit were sharing between them as flickering candles evenly spaced all around provided illumination without driving away every shadow. Specifically the shadows down where there should have been an alter and instead the aisle and pews seemed to stretch on forever before fading into blackness, Daring not to look back since he didn’t want to know if the doors were still there behind him Petie instead turned his attention to the walls…
And felt his jaw drop a little at the tall stained glass windows taking up space with candles between each one. Specifically he was dumbfounded by what the colorful pieces of art were displaying as somehow the dancing light of the little flames was more than enough to illuminate every detail. Despite the stylization of the style he could clearly make out what they were showing…
One depicted an uxie with a flame over its head hovering high over an ursaring woman with two teddiursa, the large one obvious a girl and the smaller one obviously a baby, decorating a Christmas tree.
Another mural depicted a robed stantler carrying the same baby styled teddiursa from the previous as decorations surrounded them.
Each picture of set colored glass showed some stylized version of his time spent with the first two spirits and what they had shown him… but how…?
“The past shapes the present and that leads into the future, the time spent with my colleges led you here after all. And now… now is time for a choice.”
The shudder at that sound reminded him that the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come was still here. Turning to face the spirit Petie found it was keeping a reasonable distance from him… which he appreciated. At that point what had actually just been said finally sank in and he couldn’t keep from blurting out the obvious question.
“A choice? A choice on what?”
“If you wish? This journey can end here and now and you shall wake up upon Christmas morn. There is no real need for my portion of this for you.”
“… and the other option?”
“Then we shall travel together for a little while… and you shall witness shadows that MAY be… may be only. All I show can still be altered by the present after all, the future is mysterious because it is never set until it becomes the now.”
He had the distinct impression the spirit was almost chuckling at that last part, somehow finding it amusing, as Petie turned this over in his head. The whole point of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come had been to show Scrooge what would have happened if he didn’t change his ways, right? Well… did he really wanna know what was to come? What if it was good and he didn’t want to change it? What then? He wasn’t-
“Come, a small sampling of my abilities should help you decide.”
“Huh?”
Petie stared in confusion as the spirit glided a little ways into the darkness further along the aisle before stopping, lifting one pale hand, and pointing. As if on cue more candles flickered to life exposing a window Petie hadn’t been able to see before. Toddling forward slowly the teddiursa tried to look at it to see what picture it might show… but the fragments of color almost seemed to be… swirling?
Before he could think to question how colored glass set in a frame could be moving a kaleidoscope of color suddenly overtook him.
****************
And he found himself watching a scene play out before his eyes, decidedly unlike the visions of the other spirits. It was less like he was an unseen visitor in the place and more like he was seeing a zoomed in part of a sequence playing out, unable to look away or see more details that what little it provided him. And it started with… the inside of the door to the twins nursery?
Before he could be properly confused there was a click of a door opening and he heard… himself?
“You promised you’d let me get them, right Momma~?”
“Of course honeypot… I just did the hard work is all~ Changing them, dressing them-“
“But I get to get them for present opening~ Right~?”
“Of course~”
Still stunned by the surrealness of it all Petie watched as he pulled open the door and confidently strode into the room. He looked bright eyed and eager… which Petie had to admit was weird to think, but watching himself like this was weird in general. He still had no clue what was going on. The version of himself in the vision was wearing just a diaper and a white and green patterned sweater for some reason along with sporting a slightly different haircut. In fact… the him in this scene looked slightly different overall but he couldn’t put his finger on how as the vision followed him across the nursery to-
Aaaaand suddenly the differences made sense and he realized what he was seeing.
Standing in the crib that certainly wasn’t in their room yet the twins were at least a year older as they giggled, held onto the bars of the crib for balance, and stomped their feet. He wasn’t sure if he or the him in the vision giggled with pride at hearing the two footed sleeper clad, snow white teddiursa chant “Pee-teee~ Pee-teee~” over and over again as he approached, their bright smiles showing baby teeth they didn’t yet have. This was different because it was next Christmas…
Still stunned by the realization Petie watched himself tickle and nuzzle the twins hands till they lost their grip and plopped down on their bottoms. With a clack he smoothly dropped the side of the crib… and nearly fell on his own bottom as the twins threw themselves into his arms. They were still small enough he could hold both of them at once… barely at least. Watching himself toddle for the door, two giggling white teddiursa cubs squirming and cuddling him in his arms, was quite the sight…
****************
And like that it was over, he was back in the church staring up at a stained glass mural of a teddiursa child carrying two white teddiursa babies in his arms.
Wobbling on his feet he felt his head swimming. His mind now utterly awash with questions and possibilities. Things he could have checked had he realized that it was a vision of the next Christmas sooner. Had his diaper been thinner? Maybe he was having more luck with potty training! He could have checked where the door knob was in relation to his head, see if he’d gotten any taller! He could have looked closer to see how he’d grown! He could have… there was… he wanted to know…
“Mayhap you wish to see another Christmas?”
The involuntary shudder he gave at the Ghost’s question jarred him out of his thoughts as he finally remembered he was sharing the chapel with the cloaked specter. Opening his mouth to answer Petie stopped short despite himself… there was a… weight in the air. Like the silence of this place had a pressure to it. He wanted to call it ominous but like so many things here from the ghost to the church that seemed too malicious a description… the best word he could think of was… was… unnerving. The silence was unnerving and it somehow felt wrong to disturb it… so he closed his mouth and just nodded.
“Very well…”
Again the spirit moved, sliding along the aisle to point across the pews at another window Petie hadn’t seen before. Following along behind he followed the pointing hand to stare once more at the candle illuminated colored glass… as the kaleidoscope took him again.
****************
Once again he found himself watching a very narrow slice of his future, this time in the living room under the tree which was covered in presents. Presents and two toddlers running wild among them, picking up and shaking any box they could lift before dropping them to repeat with another~ Somewhere between this vision and the last the twins had apparently learned some simple words… and Petie couldn’t help but grin as his baby sisters put that learned skill to energetic overuse~ He couldn’t make out what they were saying, just that between the two of them they were saying quite a lot~
And he found himself in the vision too, chaperoning the twins present escapades with help from Jules. He was a little annoyed to find he was in two piece jammies loose enough he couldn’t tell if he was in diapers or not… but he was sure he’d gotten some kind of growth spurt and looked a little more mature~ Of course… Jules had too. It was a little surprising to see the sweater and shorts clad riolu standing about equal or maybe a little taller than him (he couldn’t tell)… but he was happy for his bestie~ He still looking rather dainty and feminine though, even had his hair sweepingly long like Rose’s now.
Before Petie could try to suss any more possible details from this future one of the twins, Holly he was pretty sure, stopped babbling for a moment to break away from the present pile and eagerly waddle over to-
His excitement to see more came to a crashing halt as somehow, despite being a disembodied entity watching this all unfold, Petie felt his stomach bottom out at what he saw.
Holly waddled up to Felina and wrapped her paws around the persian’s neck while she lay on her side. The giant old cats whiskers had completely gone grey as had the dark accents on her eyes and several other parts of her coat. The strong, study body Petie remember seemed to have gone more than a little limp as she struggled to lift her head and nuzzle the little bear cuddling her. Despite the smile on the cats face her eyes were shut and didn’t seem like they’d open and her purr, that deep, motor like sound Petie knew quite well, was now low enough he strained his ears to properly hear it…
****************
And he found himself back among the silence of the church, tears in the corner of his eyes as he looked up at a stained glass window depicting a white teddiursa hugging a persian with a Christmas tree in the background… with much emphasis drawn to the angel on top the tree which, to him, seemed to be positioned perfectly over the persian.
Suddenly all his earlier questions about what he might be able to learn from “Shadows of things that might or might not be” had vanished from his mind. All that was left was one single question set in front of him like a land mine waiting to be stepped on if he watched and more future Christmas’s. A question that might be answered…
How many more Christmas’s would Felina be with them?
He’d known the persian was old when she came to stay with them. Heck it’d been explained to him that Momma was taking her in for a friend so the massive kitty could live out her twilight years in comfort and safety. That didn’t mean it was something he wanted to think about… at all. Despite his initial misgivings about her he’d gotten attached… and the twins might not even remember her if she… no… no… he didn’t-
“The time of choice is at hand, do you wish to see more or shall we bring a close to this ghost story at Christmas?”
Petie was too wrapped up in his own thoughts this time to even shudder at the cold tone of the ghost jarring him out of his own head. Taking a deep breath and clumsily pawing at the corner of his eyes to wipe away the tears he looked up to the cloaked figured, opened his mouth to speak… and once again stopped due to the feeling in the air of the church. Though this time it was different from the oppressive unnerving vibe it had before. Trying to parse how to describe it… the best word that could come to mind was… anticipation. As if the entire building was waiting for his answer…
“… no thanks, don’t think I will…”
“I see… a very wise choice.”
Despite barely whispering his answer the ghost seemed to hear it just fine… and Petie could swear he almost heard pride in it’s voice as it responded. Since he turned down that choice this was… over, right? Was this the point where he woke up or something?
“Come now, my role is to be ominous and intimidating but do not think I lack my colleges flare for drama. Let us send you off with a proper flourish-“
Not even giving Petie time to realize that his mind had essentially been read the ghost lifted it’s arms upwards as it spoke… and then, as far as the teddiursa could tell, everything seemed to go mad.
It all happened so fast it might have well been at once but despite that Petie subscribed a kind of sequence to it and it all started with that church bell ringing again, somewhere high above, and making the entire building seem to shake. Next the doors behind him burst open, the noise of them slamming into the walls barely registering above the bell toll, and it seemed like all of winter decided it had to get to the church on time as wind flowed in carrying small flurries of snow and, more than anything else, fog.
With the wind coming in two other things went out. The first was the Ghost who seemed to just evaporate under his cloak as the wind carried the now empty garment away into the darkness before it could fall to the ground. The second thing that went out? Was every single candle in the building as Petie found himself in a strange twilight. The church proper seemed to have vanish as all that illuminated him was the pale white-blue light pouring in from the doors and the pale multi-colored lights pouring in through the stained glass windows, all bouncing off the massive swirl of fog whipping around him like a cyclone as the church bell just kept tolling drowning out any other noise.
For whatever reason “The Strike of Twelve” popped into the teddiursa’s mind at the repeated building shaking noises even as he stumbled and turned around in the fog. He somehow knew that on the twelfth ring of that bell this would all be over. He’d wake up from this dream and this journey of a single Christmas night would be over. Though he didn’t have a clue how he felt about that as he desperately tried to keep track of how many times the bell had rung… four? Five times…? He wasn’t sure.
By now he wasn’t even sure he was still in the church or if there was ground under his feet. It felt like he was falling as all around him was fog. The only possible indication on what might be up or down were the stained glass windows which were still clearly visible as they cast their numerous bright shades on the cold colored fog. Even then they seem to have somehow surrounded him as he tumbled, any semblance of order from before lost as images of his brief time among the future, trip to the past, and visits among the presents swirled around him along with the mist…
Till his eyes locked on one specific window and managed to keep it in his gaze. It depicted a red haired cubchoo and a Christmas tree. Clear as the bell overhead a thought cut through the dizzying swirl as Petie remembered the comments the spirits had made. Pasts explanation about having been gone to see someone but canceling at the last minute and Present’s comments during their visit to his cousin’s apartment…
Suddenly one final burning question was in his mind. One that he had to know the answer to before all this ended. As the ninth or tenth bell toll rang out he yelled as loud as he could, praying the ghost was both still there in some way and could somehow hear him over the noise.
“H-HEY! W-WAS BARRY THE GUY YOU WERE GONNA HAUNT! W-WERE YOU GONNA HAUNT MY COUSIN BEFORE HE TURNED OUT TO NOT BE SCROOGE ENOUGH FOR IT AND THAT’S HOW YOU FOUND ME!?”
To his shock the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come did indeed hear him as from everywhere, almost from the mist itself, and answer came with the next tolling of the bell.
“Come now, it would spoil the fun if I gave you a definite answer… especially since you’ve already reached the answer you want to that question~ Now, if I may borrow from Present to give this performance it’s proper finale…”
What followed seemed to be an genuinely warm laugh from the Ghost cold tone as Petie could still hear it clearly even as the bell tolled a final time and his vision faded to white.
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
****************
“Morning honeypot… just finished a little Christmas present rewrapping… bad dream? You were really squirming there.”
“… kinda…”
Petie was grateful Momma didn’t ask any further questions and just soothingly rubbed his tummy for a moment as he lay on his changing table. He’d apparently woken up just as she finished the front tapes of changing him… but not the tail tape as he found himself tummy down and getting a just as soothing bottom patting after she finished it. Laying there he had a clear view out his window of a snowy, early morning day… which meant he’d woken up on Christmas morning just as the spirits promised.
This realization did nothing to settle the storm of thoughts still swirling in his mind from the dream… or at least he hoped it was a dream…
“You gonna be okay sweetheart? Wasn’t one of those dreams was it?”
“… no it didn’t involve Kimmie or anythin’ worse… just… dun wanna think ‘bout it, okay?”
“Of course.”
Becoming more aware of his surroundings as Momma wrapped her paws around his middle and lifted him off the changing table Petie took note of the… outfit of choice that’d been laid out on his bed for him. It brought two particular parts of his dream back to mind even as Momma set him on his feet and gently tickled his ribs in apology.
“Sorry sweetheart but-“
“Aunt Ramona is coming over so I gotta wear it for her?”
“Exactly~”
“… think Barry’s gonna arrive before or after she does?”
“Dunno~ Though you’re not usually this… with it after you just woke up from a nightmare… are you sure you’re okay?”
“U-uh huh… just… gotta do somethin…”
Blushing as Momma kneeled down behind him to gently rub his head Petie tried to focus as he scanned his room. Despite the obnoxious christmas sweater and shorts on his bed being a distraction he need to see if she’d opted to nap in his room today. If she wasn’t here then she was probably with the twins or stretched out in the living room… or any of her other numerous preferred napping spots. It might take him a bit to find her…
Fortunately he didn’t have to look far as the persian in question was curled up and camped out next to the floor heating vent in his room. The slight flicking of her ears and the tip of her tail being the only sign Felina wasn’t actually asleep. A fact that was confirmed as she raised her head quizzically when he beelined right for her. The massive kitty opening her eyes just as he reached her and wrapped his paws around her to hug her tight, partially nuzzling into her as he did so.
“… the bad dream honeypot?”
“… uh huh…”
“… you gonna be alright?”
“… yeah… just… gimmie a minute…”
The lil teddiursa appreciated his momma giving him space even as Felina started to lick his head gently. He just needed a little affirmation that here and now she was okay then he’d be fine… hopefully before Jules came up to try and find out why he was putting out sad on Christmas. After that he’d be alright to live life in the present… and open presents… as best he could…
No matter what might be yet to come…
Merry Christmas to All, and to All this is
The End
Anyway doubt anybody is still waiting for it but here's the finale to my 2022 Christmas story... we've visited with the Ghost of Christmas Past, toured with the Ghost of Christmas Present, now all that's left to face is the Ghost of Christmas Future...
So now let us bring a close to this Nightmare before Christmas...
with less singing skeletons I'm afraid.
Characters owned by me
A Christmas Carol made by Charles Dickens
Pokemon NOT owned by me
PCA - A Beary Merry Christmas Carol
Part 3: The Writing on this Stone
For the first time since this whole crazy journey had begun Petie actually felt a bit of the cold… though he couldn’t be sure if that was just in his head or not. After all he was well aware exactly what he was toddling through the snow flurries toward… even if he wasn’t sure why. Did he really wanna meet the last spirit? He’d already met the first two visitors so he kinda guessed he had to but still… also when was he gonna get to wherever he was supposed to be for this meeting anyway!?
As if hearing his thoughts the snow and wind seemed to just part to let the teddiursa stumble forward into a clearing of sorts as his pajama clad feet found a stone path under them instead of more snow to sink into. No the snow blanketed both sides of the path and piled up in white blankets on everything around… but the path itself was perfectly clear. Well… almost clear, a low hanging mist seemed to be over everything… which was a problem for Petie. The snow not falling anymore was also a problem for the bear…
Problems because it meant the church at the end of the path, jutting into the starless sky dark and foreboding, was clear as day and he couldn’t miss it no matter how much he wanted to.
He could clearly hear the nervous gulp he made as he quickly looked left and right… only to do a full turn in confusion as despite a church and various statues being around there was no graveyard. With the mist as low as it was and the snow already settled he’d be able to see the headstones if there were any. Which just left the church at the end of the path… as Petie winced and covered his ears as the church bells rang out. Each toll seemed to make his whole body shake from how close they sounded as they rang again and again. Squatting down he waited for it to stop before trembling as he stood back up to look at the building-
And the cloaked figure that seemed to have materialized out of the damn mist the moment Petie had been distracted.
Not even bothering to hide his yelp or surprise, or the wince as he fell on his bottom, Petie panted while his heart thundered in his chest. The figure… was… ironically just about as he expected. Tall and gaunt while being wrapped in a shroud like cloak with only the barest hint of their hands visible and nothing but darkness beneath their hood. Darkness that the teddiursa could swear had eyes and was staring at him patiently for an unnerving sensation… but… he’d been expecting way, way worse.
Finally managing to get his heartbeat and breathing back under control he slowly climbed to his feet, making sure not to take his eyes off the specter, and pulled himself together. Sure this was always the creepiest, spookiest part of the story and all the adaptations… yeah people liked to consider this ghost to be the Grim Reaper under another name… but what did he actually do to Scrooge?
Yeah… yeah… the ghost just showed him things that might be. That was all it did. If he thought about it logically then there was no reason to be scared of a silent, pointing specter… at least not seriously scared. Heck if he looked close he could almost be sure there was a gardevoir of gallade wrapped up in that cloak. In fact he knew just how to greet this guy…
“Am I, perhaps, in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come?”
“Yes, I have been waiting for you.”
“… d-didn’t… y-you… talking… d-didn’t e-expect dat…”
And all of Petie’s bravado just went (and he prayed it hadn’t fled to his diaper) as the words seemed to scratch themselves across the churchyard. The voice wasn’t so much unpleasant as it wasn’t a voice yet it still somehow spoke. Gender was impossible to discern and while each word was clear as the bells earlier Petie was at a loss on how to describe it… soft, loud, harsh, gentle… the only thing he knew for sure was it made him shiver. As did the fact the figure was now broad and wide without the cloak and hood having changed much… a few possible mon came to mind to match this outline but a nagging feeling told him that guessing what it might be would just make it change again the moment he blinked.
“Come now… did you expect the same yet to come that old Scrooge witness? The bleak future of an old man who needs a shock to change his ways? Do you think what is ahead of you is so grim? Nay. Perish the thought. Now come, we have much to discuss before this night may end.”
The figures voice-that-wasn’t-a-voice somehow managed to convey a sense of bemusement, as the spirit, shifted again to a broad shoulder and trimmer figure, turned to the church. Any further thoughts Petie might have had were scattered as a sound sent him scrambling to his feet before he realized it was the deep, thundering creak of the churches doors slowly opening wide. Silent in contrast to the doors noise the ghost drifted into the open passage leaving Petie alone in the snowy churchyard shivering… before he scurried after the cloaked specter, fear of being alone in this strange place trumping his fear of the future (given corporeal form or not).
****************
The inside of the church was both spooky… and far more welcoming that the teddiursa had expected. Two rows of pews on either side of him with a soft carpet on the aisle he and the spirit were sharing between them as flickering candles evenly spaced all around provided illumination without driving away every shadow. Specifically the shadows down where there should have been an alter and instead the aisle and pews seemed to stretch on forever before fading into blackness, Daring not to look back since he didn’t want to know if the doors were still there behind him Petie instead turned his attention to the walls…
And felt his jaw drop a little at the tall stained glass windows taking up space with candles between each one. Specifically he was dumbfounded by what the colorful pieces of art were displaying as somehow the dancing light of the little flames was more than enough to illuminate every detail. Despite the stylization of the style he could clearly make out what they were showing…
One depicted an uxie with a flame over its head hovering high over an ursaring woman with two teddiursa, the large one obvious a girl and the smaller one obviously a baby, decorating a Christmas tree.
Another mural depicted a robed stantler carrying the same baby styled teddiursa from the previous as decorations surrounded them.
Each picture of set colored glass showed some stylized version of his time spent with the first two spirits and what they had shown him… but how…?
“The past shapes the present and that leads into the future, the time spent with my colleges led you here after all. And now… now is time for a choice.”
The shudder at that sound reminded him that the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come was still here. Turning to face the spirit Petie found it was keeping a reasonable distance from him… which he appreciated. At that point what had actually just been said finally sank in and he couldn’t keep from blurting out the obvious question.
“A choice? A choice on what?”
“If you wish? This journey can end here and now and you shall wake up upon Christmas morn. There is no real need for my portion of this for you.”
“… and the other option?”
“Then we shall travel together for a little while… and you shall witness shadows that MAY be… may be only. All I show can still be altered by the present after all, the future is mysterious because it is never set until it becomes the now.”
He had the distinct impression the spirit was almost chuckling at that last part, somehow finding it amusing, as Petie turned this over in his head. The whole point of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come had been to show Scrooge what would have happened if he didn’t change his ways, right? Well… did he really wanna know what was to come? What if it was good and he didn’t want to change it? What then? He wasn’t-
“Come, a small sampling of my abilities should help you decide.”
“Huh?”
Petie stared in confusion as the spirit glided a little ways into the darkness further along the aisle before stopping, lifting one pale hand, and pointing. As if on cue more candles flickered to life exposing a window Petie hadn’t been able to see before. Toddling forward slowly the teddiursa tried to look at it to see what picture it might show… but the fragments of color almost seemed to be… swirling?
Before he could think to question how colored glass set in a frame could be moving a kaleidoscope of color suddenly overtook him.
****************
And he found himself watching a scene play out before his eyes, decidedly unlike the visions of the other spirits. It was less like he was an unseen visitor in the place and more like he was seeing a zoomed in part of a sequence playing out, unable to look away or see more details that what little it provided him. And it started with… the inside of the door to the twins nursery?
Before he could be properly confused there was a click of a door opening and he heard… himself?
“You promised you’d let me get them, right Momma~?”
“Of course honeypot… I just did the hard work is all~ Changing them, dressing them-“
“But I get to get them for present opening~ Right~?”
“Of course~”
Still stunned by the surrealness of it all Petie watched as he pulled open the door and confidently strode into the room. He looked bright eyed and eager… which Petie had to admit was weird to think, but watching himself like this was weird in general. He still had no clue what was going on. The version of himself in the vision was wearing just a diaper and a white and green patterned sweater for some reason along with sporting a slightly different haircut. In fact… the him in this scene looked slightly different overall but he couldn’t put his finger on how as the vision followed him across the nursery to-
Aaaaand suddenly the differences made sense and he realized what he was seeing.
Standing in the crib that certainly wasn’t in their room yet the twins were at least a year older as they giggled, held onto the bars of the crib for balance, and stomped their feet. He wasn’t sure if he or the him in the vision giggled with pride at hearing the two footed sleeper clad, snow white teddiursa chant “Pee-teee~ Pee-teee~” over and over again as he approached, their bright smiles showing baby teeth they didn’t yet have. This was different because it was next Christmas…
Still stunned by the realization Petie watched himself tickle and nuzzle the twins hands till they lost their grip and plopped down on their bottoms. With a clack he smoothly dropped the side of the crib… and nearly fell on his own bottom as the twins threw themselves into his arms. They were still small enough he could hold both of them at once… barely at least. Watching himself toddle for the door, two giggling white teddiursa cubs squirming and cuddling him in his arms, was quite the sight…
****************
And like that it was over, he was back in the church staring up at a stained glass mural of a teddiursa child carrying two white teddiursa babies in his arms.
Wobbling on his feet he felt his head swimming. His mind now utterly awash with questions and possibilities. Things he could have checked had he realized that it was a vision of the next Christmas sooner. Had his diaper been thinner? Maybe he was having more luck with potty training! He could have checked where the door knob was in relation to his head, see if he’d gotten any taller! He could have looked closer to see how he’d grown! He could have… there was… he wanted to know…
“Mayhap you wish to see another Christmas?”
The involuntary shudder he gave at the Ghost’s question jarred him out of his thoughts as he finally remembered he was sharing the chapel with the cloaked specter. Opening his mouth to answer Petie stopped short despite himself… there was a… weight in the air. Like the silence of this place had a pressure to it. He wanted to call it ominous but like so many things here from the ghost to the church that seemed too malicious a description… the best word he could think of was… was… unnerving. The silence was unnerving and it somehow felt wrong to disturb it… so he closed his mouth and just nodded.
“Very well…”
Again the spirit moved, sliding along the aisle to point across the pews at another window Petie hadn’t seen before. Following along behind he followed the pointing hand to stare once more at the candle illuminated colored glass… as the kaleidoscope took him again.
****************
Once again he found himself watching a very narrow slice of his future, this time in the living room under the tree which was covered in presents. Presents and two toddlers running wild among them, picking up and shaking any box they could lift before dropping them to repeat with another~ Somewhere between this vision and the last the twins had apparently learned some simple words… and Petie couldn’t help but grin as his baby sisters put that learned skill to energetic overuse~ He couldn’t make out what they were saying, just that between the two of them they were saying quite a lot~
And he found himself in the vision too, chaperoning the twins present escapades with help from Jules. He was a little annoyed to find he was in two piece jammies loose enough he couldn’t tell if he was in diapers or not… but he was sure he’d gotten some kind of growth spurt and looked a little more mature~ Of course… Jules had too. It was a little surprising to see the sweater and shorts clad riolu standing about equal or maybe a little taller than him (he couldn’t tell)… but he was happy for his bestie~ He still looking rather dainty and feminine though, even had his hair sweepingly long like Rose’s now.
Before Petie could try to suss any more possible details from this future one of the twins, Holly he was pretty sure, stopped babbling for a moment to break away from the present pile and eagerly waddle over to-
His excitement to see more came to a crashing halt as somehow, despite being a disembodied entity watching this all unfold, Petie felt his stomach bottom out at what he saw.
Holly waddled up to Felina and wrapped her paws around the persian’s neck while she lay on her side. The giant old cats whiskers had completely gone grey as had the dark accents on her eyes and several other parts of her coat. The strong, study body Petie remember seemed to have gone more than a little limp as she struggled to lift her head and nuzzle the little bear cuddling her. Despite the smile on the cats face her eyes were shut and didn’t seem like they’d open and her purr, that deep, motor like sound Petie knew quite well, was now low enough he strained his ears to properly hear it…
****************
And he found himself back among the silence of the church, tears in the corner of his eyes as he looked up at a stained glass window depicting a white teddiursa hugging a persian with a Christmas tree in the background… with much emphasis drawn to the angel on top the tree which, to him, seemed to be positioned perfectly over the persian.
Suddenly all his earlier questions about what he might be able to learn from “Shadows of things that might or might not be” had vanished from his mind. All that was left was one single question set in front of him like a land mine waiting to be stepped on if he watched and more future Christmas’s. A question that might be answered…
How many more Christmas’s would Felina be with them?
He’d known the persian was old when she came to stay with them. Heck it’d been explained to him that Momma was taking her in for a friend so the massive kitty could live out her twilight years in comfort and safety. That didn’t mean it was something he wanted to think about… at all. Despite his initial misgivings about her he’d gotten attached… and the twins might not even remember her if she… no… no… he didn’t-
“The time of choice is at hand, do you wish to see more or shall we bring a close to this ghost story at Christmas?”
Petie was too wrapped up in his own thoughts this time to even shudder at the cold tone of the ghost jarring him out of his own head. Taking a deep breath and clumsily pawing at the corner of his eyes to wipe away the tears he looked up to the cloaked figured, opened his mouth to speak… and once again stopped due to the feeling in the air of the church. Though this time it was different from the oppressive unnerving vibe it had before. Trying to parse how to describe it… the best word that could come to mind was… anticipation. As if the entire building was waiting for his answer…
“… no thanks, don’t think I will…”
“I see… a very wise choice.”
Despite barely whispering his answer the ghost seemed to hear it just fine… and Petie could swear he almost heard pride in it’s voice as it responded. Since he turned down that choice this was… over, right? Was this the point where he woke up or something?
“Come now, my role is to be ominous and intimidating but do not think I lack my colleges flare for drama. Let us send you off with a proper flourish-“
Not even giving Petie time to realize that his mind had essentially been read the ghost lifted it’s arms upwards as it spoke… and then, as far as the teddiursa could tell, everything seemed to go mad.
It all happened so fast it might have well been at once but despite that Petie subscribed a kind of sequence to it and it all started with that church bell ringing again, somewhere high above, and making the entire building seem to shake. Next the doors behind him burst open, the noise of them slamming into the walls barely registering above the bell toll, and it seemed like all of winter decided it had to get to the church on time as wind flowed in carrying small flurries of snow and, more than anything else, fog.
With the wind coming in two other things went out. The first was the Ghost who seemed to just evaporate under his cloak as the wind carried the now empty garment away into the darkness before it could fall to the ground. The second thing that went out? Was every single candle in the building as Petie found himself in a strange twilight. The church proper seemed to have vanish as all that illuminated him was the pale white-blue light pouring in from the doors and the pale multi-colored lights pouring in through the stained glass windows, all bouncing off the massive swirl of fog whipping around him like a cyclone as the church bell just kept tolling drowning out any other noise.
For whatever reason “The Strike of Twelve” popped into the teddiursa’s mind at the repeated building shaking noises even as he stumbled and turned around in the fog. He somehow knew that on the twelfth ring of that bell this would all be over. He’d wake up from this dream and this journey of a single Christmas night would be over. Though he didn’t have a clue how he felt about that as he desperately tried to keep track of how many times the bell had rung… four? Five times…? He wasn’t sure.
By now he wasn’t even sure he was still in the church or if there was ground under his feet. It felt like he was falling as all around him was fog. The only possible indication on what might be up or down were the stained glass windows which were still clearly visible as they cast their numerous bright shades on the cold colored fog. Even then they seem to have somehow surrounded him as he tumbled, any semblance of order from before lost as images of his brief time among the future, trip to the past, and visits among the presents swirled around him along with the mist…
Till his eyes locked on one specific window and managed to keep it in his gaze. It depicted a red haired cubchoo and a Christmas tree. Clear as the bell overhead a thought cut through the dizzying swirl as Petie remembered the comments the spirits had made. Pasts explanation about having been gone to see someone but canceling at the last minute and Present’s comments during their visit to his cousin’s apartment…
Suddenly one final burning question was in his mind. One that he had to know the answer to before all this ended. As the ninth or tenth bell toll rang out he yelled as loud as he could, praying the ghost was both still there in some way and could somehow hear him over the noise.
“H-HEY! W-WAS BARRY THE GUY YOU WERE GONNA HAUNT! W-WERE YOU GONNA HAUNT MY COUSIN BEFORE HE TURNED OUT TO NOT BE SCROOGE ENOUGH FOR IT AND THAT’S HOW YOU FOUND ME!?”
To his shock the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come did indeed hear him as from everywhere, almost from the mist itself, and answer came with the next tolling of the bell.
“Come now, it would spoil the fun if I gave you a definite answer… especially since you’ve already reached the answer you want to that question~ Now, if I may borrow from Present to give this performance it’s proper finale…”
What followed seemed to be an genuinely warm laugh from the Ghost cold tone as Petie could still hear it clearly even as the bell tolled a final time and his vision faded to white.
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
****************
“Morning honeypot… just finished a little Christmas present rewrapping… bad dream? You were really squirming there.”
“… kinda…”
Petie was grateful Momma didn’t ask any further questions and just soothingly rubbed his tummy for a moment as he lay on his changing table. He’d apparently woken up just as she finished the front tapes of changing him… but not the tail tape as he found himself tummy down and getting a just as soothing bottom patting after she finished it. Laying there he had a clear view out his window of a snowy, early morning day… which meant he’d woken up on Christmas morning just as the spirits promised.
This realization did nothing to settle the storm of thoughts still swirling in his mind from the dream… or at least he hoped it was a dream…
“You gonna be okay sweetheart? Wasn’t one of those dreams was it?”
“… no it didn’t involve Kimmie or anythin’ worse… just… dun wanna think ‘bout it, okay?”
“Of course.”
Becoming more aware of his surroundings as Momma wrapped her paws around his middle and lifted him off the changing table Petie took note of the… outfit of choice that’d been laid out on his bed for him. It brought two particular parts of his dream back to mind even as Momma set him on his feet and gently tickled his ribs in apology.
“Sorry sweetheart but-“
“Aunt Ramona is coming over so I gotta wear it for her?”
“Exactly~”
“… think Barry’s gonna arrive before or after she does?”
“Dunno~ Though you’re not usually this… with it after you just woke up from a nightmare… are you sure you’re okay?”
“U-uh huh… just… gotta do somethin…”
Blushing as Momma kneeled down behind him to gently rub his head Petie tried to focus as he scanned his room. Despite the obnoxious christmas sweater and shorts on his bed being a distraction he need to see if she’d opted to nap in his room today. If she wasn’t here then she was probably with the twins or stretched out in the living room… or any of her other numerous preferred napping spots. It might take him a bit to find her…
Fortunately he didn’t have to look far as the persian in question was curled up and camped out next to the floor heating vent in his room. The slight flicking of her ears and the tip of her tail being the only sign Felina wasn’t actually asleep. A fact that was confirmed as she raised her head quizzically when he beelined right for her. The massive kitty opening her eyes just as he reached her and wrapped his paws around her to hug her tight, partially nuzzling into her as he did so.
“… the bad dream honeypot?”
“… uh huh…”
“… you gonna be alright?”
“… yeah… just… gimmie a minute…”
The lil teddiursa appreciated his momma giving him space even as Felina started to lick his head gently. He just needed a little affirmation that here and now she was okay then he’d be fine… hopefully before Jules came up to try and find out why he was putting out sad on Christmas. After that he’d be alright to live life in the present… and open presents… as best he could…
No matter what might be yet to come…
Merry Christmas to All, and to All this is
The End
Category Story / Pokemon
Species Pokemon
Gender Multiple characters
Size 549 x 234px
Listed in Folders
Worth the wait. Even if late. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
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