If Amara looses the other 2, she will float back to the others.

Now that they have more of a sense of teamwork, the Library team manages to corner a second one.

It's Karl.

They almost have the third, there seems nowhere he can go, and then...

The Nisse pulls a large red sack from his belt as he runs, stretches it open, and... jumps in.

Karl yells out to him:  "Rolf!  Help!  It's..."

He looks around.  He's been cornered only Amara and now he looks kind of embarrassed.

"Aww..." he says.  "Umm...   you can fly!"

He says it like Amara was just caught cheating.

Meanwhile, the female Nisse, surrounded, looks confused and frightened.  It's probably Mouse, though Julian did not help.

"Was only going to two more trees after this," she says.  "South Street Seaport, then Rockefeller Center!  So close.  Oh, you don't know what you've gotten into here.  We're sooo close!  We can change it all, forever!"

Amara grabs him and fly's up, holding him "Hi, I am Amara and we are wondering what the heck are you doing?" she says as she starts to fly back to the others.

Julian rose a brow, tilting his head at the Nisse's answer, "What are you trying to change? And where is the Troll Prince?"

"They said something about freedom." Violet said as she gave up on removing the garland from Mouse and just started rubbing behind his ears between the lights instead. "Maybe, if we know what's going on, we might help. Desperate people do desperate things, though kidnapping and theft are pretty bad... you really shouldn't do those." She glanced over her shoulder at the Nisse as she said the last part. "Obviously we need to get the troll prince and the staff back, but we also need to know why they were taken." She was NOT going to say evil Santa sweatshops... she was not.

Up in the air above... though not too high up...

"Be careful!" Karl says.  "Humans will see us.  Can't have that.  I was only decorating a tree, honest, I'm not the smart one!"

** ** ** **

Down below, the female Nisse apparently is the smart one, or one of them, at least.

She looks distraught.

But, surrounded.  No hope...

"Alright, alright, tell your friend not to drop Karl, and tell the hound not to eat anyone.  Or take any souls, whatever it is he does.  He's got a scary look about him.  I'll tell you.  But I must warn you, what you'll hear might shock you.  It is... a hard thing to hear, for some.  Those who become easily upset, or depressed might want to find some other place to be.  I'm Arna, by the way."

Julian offered a nod, thankful he didn't need to go through with any threats. It's not like he knew how to anyway.

"Very well, Arna. You have a deal. I'm Julian. I'm with the Library. We're looking into the Troll Prince's disappearance...especially the missing staff. I've been told it's capable of causing earthquakes. We certainly can't have that in NYC."

Amara fly's down to the others. She continues to hold Karl up "What, can't fly? guess you not a pixie. " she stands near Arna "OK, as a Djinn, I have seen a lot of stuff, I would be surprised if you could shock me"

Gremian pondered for a short second. "Well, as long as you don't spew lightning, I should be okay", he announced seriously. "It happen to my cousin, the pilot was crazy, flew into a cumulonimbus. We found both on the ground, toasted.

He waited to see if Julian would complete his part of the deal, before poking his hand. "Psst, you didn't do you part, you should tell them what she asked and that you agree to do."

Julian blinked a moment at Gremian, before offering a sudden nod, "Oh...of course! Amara, was it?" Julian turned his head to call to her a moment, "We've come to a compromise. Please don't drop that fellow. You can come over here. We're going to all discuss this." Looking to the dog, Julian tilted his head, "...and if you could, well not eat her, that'd be great. Thanks."

Looking back to Arna, Julian offered another nod, "There, now please explain what's going on."

"All right, all right, only..." Arna begins.

"Nooo!" Karl cries out.  "I know what you're going to say!  I've seen what happens when mortals hear that.  The tears, the agony, the crying!  It's too much!  Too much!"

Arna shook her head.  "They're FEY, Karl, well, most... I think.. and what choice do we have?"
She turned back to Julian.  "He has a point.  I've heard that some take this... badly.  Please, steel yourselves for what you are about to hear.  And I promise you, it is truth.  You can take it from someone dressed like this."

She indicated her bright red woolen frock with the white fur trim, the red and white striped stockings visible beneath, and the curly toed little boots.

The Humans here have seen that outfit in any number of "Christmas Specials" on television, their whole lives.

Arna looks like she has to prepare herself, too.  She takes a deep breath, then looks at the others in turn, as if checking to see if they were ready to receive her terrible revelation.

Finally, she says, in a quiet, serious voice:  "There is no Santa Claus.  He's a myth.  A story figure created by Human imagination, nothing more.  Reindeer cannot fly, and there is nothing at the north pole but ice, and the occasional polar bear, seal, and beluga whale.  All the presents... your parents and grandparents bought them.  Mostly."

Arna hangs her head down, as if she had passed along the most dreadful, ominous and soul crushing news anyone could possibly be forced to deliver.

Violet looked slightly disappointed, but to be honest the only reason she'd considered the possibility was the Christmas elves... But more importantly...
"So what do you need to get free from?" She continued petting Mouse as she spoke.

Felix blinked, not a single change in his face as he looked to the short woman, then the short man that had been brought, and then towards the others.  He was silent for a moment, seeming very confused before he finally spoke up.

"Um... what's a Santa Claus...? Er, never mind, I'm not sure that's really important...."

Mouse looks at the young Devourer for a moment.  His head is tilted pensively.  Finally he shugs with a quiet woof.

He looked back at the Nisse, waiting for the story to start making sense.

They seemed remarkably composed.

No tears?  No crying?  No desperate denials?

Seeing it was safer than she might have thought, Arna continued.

"A Santa Claus is the leader we do not have.  The one who... we are Fey, like you, our existence is different.  It is an existence partly made of magic, and magic is two parts belief to one part everything else.  You, there, you are a Gremlin.  Ever wonder what your people were before the Machine Age?  Of course not.  You had no existence, at least, not in your present form.   Two centuries ago, we were merely the Nisse, and we lived where we always did, in Norway, and had our own lives as we did for centuries.  But... there is so much belief, so strong... there is so much Christmas here and Christmas has eaten up our Yule and all that belief has taken us here and.. just as belief remade Gremlins, so it is remaking us... But without a Santa Claus because he's not real.  You see?  If we are to be Christmas Elves, we need him, and without him... we must invent him.  If our plan works, if we can harness enough power, and unleash it at the right time, on the morning of the Winter Solstice, everyone will know about the Yule Troll.  What's more, they will think there has always been a Yule Troll, they will think they have always remembered the Yule Troll, and they will be fairly certain that the Yule Troll is the real origin of the Santa Claus myth.  And we will have our leader.  The mighty Yule Troll Santa King."

"I've been making Yule Troll internet memes," Karl says bashfully.

Julian stood there motionless for a moment, simply blinking and trying to comprehend what he was hearing. These....these Nisse, now made Christmas elves...were trying to MAKE Santa??

"...That's all well and good...but you can't just go and kidnap people. The Troll Prince is being searched for...and the staff...if something doesn't go right, you could level the city!"

Gremian almost gasped at the revelation. He was surprise to learn that the big fat old dude in the red suit wasn't real, but he didn't care beyond that.

When Arna talked about his past, Gremian crossed his arms and clenched his teeth. The second time, he growled. But because of hospitality, he wait until she stopped talking before shooting: "Stop using me as an example! I remember the time before, I was, ... we were ... it's none of your business what we were before! And we didn't come from that wet and hungry fluffy doll!"

As Julian spoke, Gremian regained his composure. He added calmly: "Why a troll? Or why not switch side and serve Krampus, or ask the prince to add that to his reign? Anyway, rewriting human memories is never a good thing. Or, you know, just faking it, three or four of your kin in a red suit should do the job."

Felix blinked, seeming to think over the notion carefully. <periwnkle>"Yule... I've heard of that. A winter feast of plenty in the cold, isn't it? I.. I don't know this Santa thing but.. why use a Troll? It seems odd to me.. I.."</Periwinkle>

 Hehesitated, seeming nervous. "You.. your people need a winter leader..?" he asked, folding his hands quickly around his sides, seeming nervous. "Would.. what would the requirements be? I mean.. there are.. some who could fill such a role, but aren't a troll, and wouldn't be causing potential earthquakes.." He tried.

Amara continues to hold the one Nisse "Well, as noble as it sounds, you can't just go around messing with people memories. Maybe we can work out another solution with out have Mouse eating the 2 of you"

"Yes, we need a leader," Arna (the female Nisse) says.  "That's how it goes, that's how our whole... the system we have been believed into... it's all focused on the leader.  We're just the assistants.  And it has to be a powerful being.  Anyone can't be Santa."

"So we're kind of stuck," says Karl.  "I know our plan looks... extreme... but aside from the possibility of mass devastation unleashed by magic that might be a little too much for us to control, what could possibly go wrong?"

"And we didn't exactly kidnap the Troll Prince," Arna says.  "We're just little Nisse.  He's a TROLL.  It would take fifty of us."

"And there's only five," Karl adds.  "He's... um... sorta... kinda... voluntary.  He does like the Hot Cocoa.  Since we're supposed to be Christmas Elves, we've been learning how to make it.  Because that's what they say we do.  Make it by the barrel full.  We've been getting pretty good.  But, we can't do everything.  I mean, the stories, the belief, it's very very strong.  But Reindeer are strictly terrestrial animals, 100%.  So we have to tweak things a little.  That's why we have to, um... mess with people's memories.  But it would be good!  We're giving them BETTER memories!"

"But you can't mess with their memories. We can't have such powerful magic just hitting all the people. What would be next? So fay that want to do an Easter bunny?"

"How about we try giving the troll a makeover instead? I could make the costume and I know where to get a very good beard and we'll have him looking like Santa in no time. Then maybe the belief will do the rest of the shifting like it did for you if you just keep calling him Santa? And if you could get the sleigh to fly there's lots of interpretations of Santa with an updated sleigh and the reindeer having retired... though in most of those version someone steals the new sleigh and they have to get the reindeer to save the day in the old one..." Violet trailed off, aware she had no idea if any of that would work or not... but it had to be worth suggesting. She had the strangest feeling making a magic flying sleigh should be doable... and maybe even magic harnesses to make the reindeer fly. A feeling that if she knew how to do it she might just be able to, with some materials and effort. When on earth would she work out this magic thing?

There was quiet from Felix as he shifted from one foot to the other nervously. He kept his arms close against his sides before finally, he held out his right hand.

"I... might be able to help with the reindeer problem."

As he spoke those words, his fingers coated in a thin layer of ice which sprang up from his fingertips, each thin icicle forming into a leg of what quickly became a crude deer-like shape of ice.

Mouse continues to lay there, looking morose.

He knows he's big and scary, but he tries hard to mitigate his appearance.  And, now, they're using him as a threat.  He decides he doesn't like it.  No, sir, not one little bit.

"No messing with memories..." Arna said.  "Gonna make it much harder on us.  Still, got to have a leader.  This Christmas magic... you know, it's exceptionally strong in this city.  They just seem to get into it.  They light up the buildings, mob the public areas just to see some trees glitter..."

"And the Tubas, don't forget the Tubas," Karl adds.

"Oh yes.  It's so strong... it's why we can't resist it, why it's been changing our identity.  It wasn't that much at first, but it grows on you."

"Like mistletoe," Karl says.

Then, they watch the Winter Fairy make an ice reindeer.

Their eyes soften, and they speak a little in what Julian now recognizes as Old Norwegian.

"Like home, in the old country," Arna says.  "That's so sweet.

Karl looks at Violet.  "You can make the troll into Santa?  We should talk to him about that."