PIP/Santa/Christmas Village
As the sleigh entered the opaque bubble over what Santa knew was the Christmas Village; Randal, or rather the part of Santa that was still just Randal, couldn't help but to hold his breath. While the other parts of him had seen it time and time again; this would be his first time seeing the magical village. Passing through the barrier, Randal saw a quaint town below, reminiscent of a medieval Bavarian village. It was elegant and pretty with tasteful Christmas decorations that, while traditional, were quite dated. It was a far cry from the gaudy eyesores that so many movies had made of the Christmas Village over the years; and much more fitting to Santa's tastes . . . the new part of him as well as all of the old ones.
The reindeer seemed to know the way, and required no guidance as they flew toward the stables, gliding in over the snow that liberally coated the ground throughout the entire village. A pretty little elf approached the team as they pulled the sleigh completely into the stables. Santa couldn't help but smile at her as she patted the lead deer on their shoulders, then hugged them both from between them. He blushed slightly as he imagined what she would be doing with them after they were cleaned and fed. He stepped down from the sleigh, then helped Penny down out of habit. She seemed a bit taken aback by the action, but took his hand none-the-less, smiling as she followed him off the sleigh.
"I see we have a new Santa," said Rachael as she unhitched the team, "and he's a gentleman to boot?"
"Yeah," said Penny, "It should be an interesting change. This one is a bit pervy too. I think he might be a pedophile." She said it with absolutely no hint of accusation, and more than a little flirtatious innuendo.
"Oh my," said Rachael, "we haven't had a pedo-Santa since the last Santa. This should be loads of fun . . . get it?"
Santa blushed a bit as he took in the girls' playfully flirtatious banter. His mind was still reeling as it tried to piece together the experiences of the former Santa with his own mortal experience. He tried to focus just on Rachael for a while. As information flooded in, he did his best to retain what he could.
"Rachael," he said, "you're as pretty as ever. Not pregnant with any fauns right now?" He wasn't sure how he felt about the little girl he saw before him being the soul birth mother of the entier line of male-only reindeer. Something to sort out later, perhaps?
"Not right now, Santa," she giggled in reply. "Did you want to put an elf in me?" He realized suddenly that he could, in fact, do that . . . with any elf, even if they showed no signs of puberty . . . even with the boys. How intriguing.
"Not right now," he said, the was struck by a rather important bit of knowledge. "I suppose you'll be reporting all of this back to that silly Agency of yours, eh?" Imagine Santa letting a secret society keep track of all of his comings and goings for nearly a century . . . astounding.
"Well, I did plan to, Santa," she said softly, "but I can stop if you'd rather."
"No, no," he replied, "then they would just try to get another plant in. That could lead to someone getting hurt. Better to just let them have what they want for now."
"You should get the Eye back to the Occulus, Santa," said Penny. "It's only twenty-five days until Christmas."
"Yes, of course," said Santa softly as the knowledge continued to filter in. "I'll see you later Rachael." As he walked by the young looking elf, he leaned in and whispered, "That's my daughter's name too by the way." The little elf giggled, and he gave her a wink as he left the stables.
The Eye of Odin was one of his most powerful tools. It magnified his own powers of soul scrying, the ability to see the good and bad in people; precognition, the ability to see the future; and clairpresence, the ability to use his senses in a location that he did not occupy. He had these abilities anyway; but the Eye made them much stronger. The eye also let hem use magic. While the magic was infinitely versatile, he usually just used it to enter and leave houses, put people to sleep, and alter memories. The magic had no real limit as to what it could do . . . but it was limited in the amount of power it could express. The Eye of Odin only answered to himself . . . as it was made specifically for his first form the god Odin . . . or Woden? . . . both actually as they were one and the same. While he wasn't out, the Eye was used by a select group of elves at the Observatory to create the Naught and Nice list. Set into the Occulus, a special receptacle for the Eye, the elves could scan the planet and properly attribute the children to the correct list.
"You're awfully quite, Santa," said Penny as they walked. "Are you okay?"
"Sorry Penny," he said as he shook himself out of his reverie, "just getting used to myself again is all."
"That's my mistake Santa," she said quickly. "I had forgotten what it was like. Here's the Observatory."
"Ah yes," said Santa as he looked at the building that resembled a steampunkesque version of a stellar observatory. He confidently entered the building, pausing only a moment to get his bearings, then strode to the center of the room and placed his left eye into the Occulus. The smooth, polished sapphire fit as perfectly into the Occulus as it has his own eye socket. He then reached into his left pocket, and pulled out a case with a normal glass eye in it, and put it in the Eye of Odin's place in his empty socket. The elves about immediately sprang to action updating the lists. Not wanting to disturb their work so close to Christmas, Santa left without a word.
Once outside, he turned to Penny. "I think I should check on Krampus now; don't you?"
The color drained from Penny's face as she looked up at him. "You mean . . . in his workshop?"
"Yes," he said slowly, "I know I haven't been there in a while . . . but I'm a bit more hands on than . . . well, than I was a bit ago."
"As you wish, Santa," she said with a gulp.