Zack blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of what Lady A said... and decided to just nod and smile. He looked back at his companion to see how he was coping.

Zace was looking around at the growing group of, to his mind, very strange people and creatures, trying desperately to make sense of it all. Zack smiled sympathetically, and placed his hand on his shoulder, guiding him towards the Mansion door.

"Don't worry, you get used to it after a while."

"Do you come here often, Zack?"

Zack smiled wistfully.

"It's been a long time," he said. "And what better occasion than Christmas to see old friends again and to revisit old haunts?"

"You said there was... another version of me in this universe?" Zace asked, confused. "Will he be here?"

Zack thought for a moment. "Probably not. I think he'll be with his family on Delantare. Besides, I don't think Dittotopia could handle two Zacce Nalums at once, even at Christmas."

"Please tell me this is the Mansion in Ditto Town in Dittotopia in the first quadrant of the Ditto Galaxy, because universe jumping really hurts, and I'd like to not do it again tonight, if at all possible."

Erik overheard this just as he was about to enter the Mansion. Another traveler from a different universe? he wondered. And it sounds like her way of traveling is a lot more painful than ours.

He turned back to Abby. "If you don't mind, there's someone here I'd love to meet. She's from another universe, just like us."

She waved him on. "Fine, go meet her. Have a great time! Molly and I will be here with the Baxters."

Erik nervously made his way to the crowd surrounding this new arrival. He didn't have a cap to tip, but wanted to introduce himself to this Lady A anyway.

Elsa climbed to the top platform of her treehouse. The noise level from Ditto Town was unusually loud and she, being nosy, wanted to know what was going on. She peered toward the town, straining to focus her eyes on the bustling town square.

"Unless I'm mistaken, the town square has turned into a landing spot for out of town travelers. I must investigate."

She climbed down and skipped into her living room to grab a cape and her wand. Both proved elusive.

"Oh bother it all. Why does this happen all the time!"

Finally, twenty minutes later she had managed to locate both. She swung the cape over her shoulders and fastened it, already skipping toward the staircase. She passed a calendar on the wall with "Ditto Town Christmas Party" written on it in large red letters, but Elsa didn't notice.

Down the staircase she skipped and then one wave of her wand later she appeared on the outskirts of Ditto Town. Threading her way through the multiplying throng, Elsa sought out the center of the commotion. She found herself outside the Mansion.

"So this is where all the ruckus is."

Elsa stared up at the half decorated walls and the distant figures on the roof.

"What a dangerous perch. They've no safety spells! Really!"

Elsa spotted a half familiar face like one from a long ago dream. She marched up to the person and tapped her on the shoulder briskly.

"Hello, Lady A? I believe we met a very long time ago. I haven't left my treehouse in years so I wouldn't know what's going on of late. Have you any idea of the source of this ruckus?"

Lady A turned around and looked at the vaguely familiar Elsa.

"There tis a grand party for Christmastide at this fair mansion-y thingy. I'm guessing that's what the ruckus is about." Lady A smiled, glancing over Elsa's shoulder to see...was that a gargoyle?

"She is NOT my girlfriend!" Nathanael shouted, sounding positively horrified at the very thought.

"Eww, definitely not," Sylvia said and then reacted to Nathanael's tone. "Wait, why did you say it like that? If I wanted to date you, you would date me, and you'd be grateful for the privilege."

Erik stood near the edge of the crowd, eager to speak to this Lady A who'd arrived from another universe - yet he was willing to wait his turn since she was surrounded by a small crowd of well-wishers.

He was just behind a woman wearing a cape, and before long Lady A turned to address her. And Erik was sure that Lady A noticed him then, but he wasn't sure about that look in her eye. Was it fear...or recognition?

He hoped for, and even suspected, the latter, so he smiled and tried to look as non-threatening as he could - not always an easy task for a nearly 2-meter tall, winged creature. Still, he was sure that someone who'd visited different worlds would be used to seeing unusual or unique beings. So he began a quick review of what little he knew about interdimensional physics, wormholes, and the like, in the event he had a chance to talk to her about such things.

"Mmm, a love-hate relationship," Lady A said, walking up to Sylvia and looking her up and down. "How awesome. Except, it isn't that way at all. But feel free to think about it that way, if it helps any."

Lady A twirled around to face Erik.

"Hullo! Another otherworlder or underworlder or magicworlder or something like that. You hail from far?"

"Uh, hi," Erik stammered, not expected to be addressed quite so quickly. "I'm called Erik. Pleased to meet you.

"I'm afraid I can't answer your questions too well. All I can tell you is that I'm not a magic-user and that I'm not native to this planet; my family and I use a simple wormhole - if anything like that can be called simple - that so far has been stable. It connects this world and our own, though I don't know how far apart the two are."

He glanced up at the sky. "But our home is far enough that the stars are entirely different." He looked back at her. "How about you? It sounds like you're a lot more experienced in this than I am. What is your home like?" He decided to stop there, rather than bombard her with all sorts of questions, especially given the crowd in the Square.

"Why, you insolent mortal! I should curse you with terrible cursings, but you know what? I like your style. Welcome to Ditto Town. Spend lots of money and go home when the party is over. Happy whatever," Sylvia said and stalked off. A small rabbit hopped up to her out of the trees and she aimed a vicious kick at it before continuing on her way.

"Now, that she's gone, tell me more about this world you come from," Nathanael said.

"So it's a Christmastide related ruckus. Sounds like I should know about it." Elsa frowned. "My memory has never been the best."

However, when Elsa stopped talking she found she had been addressing empty air. She spun around and spotted Lady A just behind her talking to, well, Elsa wasn't quite sure what it was, only that it stood taller than her and had wings. Deciding not to interfere this time, she twirled around looking for other familiar faces. Fairy dust shimmered in the air around her, thrown off from the velocity of her twirl. She waved it aside.

"How frustrating. In this crowd of people I see no familiar faces!" Elsa twisted her fairy features into a pout. "Well, then, I shall have to make them familiar."

She spotted a woman stomping away from the knot surrounding Lady A and decided upon her new target. Elsa ran after the woman and called, "Excuse me. So sorry to intrude, but may I ask your name? Mine is Elsa. I live in the forest just outside of town, but I'm afraid I haven't left the forest in years so I find myself quite out of place at this party. I would be delighted to make your acquaintance."

Elsa looked after the almost kicked rabbit. "You picked the perfect target for that kick. I'm afraid that rabbit is quite the troublemaker in the forest. I've been on his case for years. Perhaps a kick is just what he needed. Or maybe I should go looking for another spell," she mused.

Lady A looked from the Gargoyle to the Man and decided that this could be a rather long conversation. Not that she minded.

"Wellllll..." Lady A twirled a stray strand of hair around her finger. "My world is quite beautiful, except for where it isn't. Then it is very ugly. It is home to quite an assortment of people...I sometimes think it might be a bit like Ditto Town. We actually have a Ditto Town, but...it is not quite like this. But very much so. Just...not quite so towny. My castle is located near there, on the edge of the forest, where all things beautiful grow. It is all the kindness of nature gathered in one place. Of course, it has gathered in one place because all the evil has gathered in another, by the Tower of Shadow and Flame. That is all dark and dank and evil, like something you would read about in a storybook...although, then, my castle could be in a storybook, too...."

Lady A was starting to slip into a very museful mode, but shook herself out of it at the last minute.

"Anyway, yes," she continued. "I'm not quite used to traveling between universes, to answer your question. You see, That Guy in the Tower of Shadow and Flame invented this cloning belt that would allow you to timetravel a few seconds into the past or the future. It tended to produce burnt out clones, soooo...obviously, it needed some revising. Besides, belts look so unstylish with my shape and clothes. Turning it into a corset though, that was sheer genius, if I do say so myself. And then I started adding new buttons and lengthening the distance jumped. This is the first time I've made an inter-universal jump, though. I'm not sure any of that made sense...."

Zack leaned against the outside wall of the Mansion, a huge grin on his face as he watched the banter. Zace stood by awkwardly.

"Um, are you going to go talk to anyone?" Zace asked.

"Honestly, I'm horrible at starting conversations," Zack replied. "I'm the kind of person that hangs out at the edges of the crowd during parties and watches everyone."

"That sounds a little..."

"Creepy?"

"I was going to say anti-social, but I suppose that works, too." Zace started walking towards the group.

"What are you doing?" Zack asked.

"Not being anti-social or creepy, hopefully." Zace looked around, trying to decide who to talk to first.

Inside the Mansion, Abby was busy helping Bob Saget and a few others with the finishing touches - lights strung over the fireplace mantels, ornaments on several large trees, and so on. Occasionally she'd glance back to the center of the room, where Grace Baxter was keeping a close eye on her daughter, and she could tell by the little giggles and cooing sounds that Molly was loving all the attention.

Abby turned back to Angie Baxter with a smile. "Grace is so good with her."
----

A time traveling corset? Erik did his best to stiffle a little chuckle at the concept - it was one he'd never have thought of!

His mind was awhirl with all the things Lady A had said, and decided to comment on them from the last to the first.

"I know some people who'd give almost anything to have a person-sized time travel or device. Our tech isn't nearly so advanced. This kind of travel was only a theory where I come from - until I found the portal to this world purely by accident. Probably the best way to describe it is a wormhole, I guess, that connects the two places. It was sheer luck [or a convenient plot device ] that I wasn't scrambled to atoms the first time I used it!

"My world is something like this too. Or maybe something like yours as well. It has lots of beautiful, wild places, like the mountain range we call home." He stopped a moment to recall the glory of the full moon shining down on his beloved Tetons, the last thing he'd seen before coming here tonight.

"There are huge cities too, cities with unbelievably tall towers of glass and steel. Huge oceans of water, so big you could fly across them for days and not see land."

He paused a moment to gather his thoughts. He knew he was coming across as rather scatterbrained and hoped this new acquaintance wouldn't mind too much. There was just so much to learn!

"And my Abby would be thrilled to hear you have a castle. She loves the old tales of our world, with knights and dragons and princesses and castles. Her love of literature and classic tales kind of cancels out my scientific bent. I'd love to introduce you to her, and our daughter Molly."

He glanced around the Square. "But I hope I'm not monopolizing your time too much. I bet we could compare notes all night!"

While everyone seemed to be overly in awe of Lady A, Ben and Neal continued discussing what all had happened to them since the last time they met...

".. So, I've mostly been keeping a low profile in Wescraven. There hasn't been any trouble around here in a very long time, so no need for my work." Neal finished as he glanced over at the crowd surrounding the time traveling girl.

"If you want to go talk to her, you can. Personally, I'm fine staying out of the crowd." Ben said to his friend before noticing the girl in the cloak following... what was her name? Sylvia! That was it! Oh dear... "I'll be back in a bit, Neal. Try not to scare anyone with your Shadow Hounds..."

"Heh, I keep them under wraps, remember?" the roguish man said with a chuckle as he watched the younger man run off.

-----

"Hello, miss! You wouldn't happen to know where one could get a apple cider, would you?" Ben asked as he came up to Sylvia and the fairy girl... at least, he thought the girl was a fairy. It was always hard to tell these days...

Hopefully the girl will answer and not Sylvia... I vaguely remember Sil being very... Whiney rich-girl like.

Elsa turned at the question. "Oh hello." She sighed. "Yet another unfamiliar face. Cider you ask? I haven't seen any hint of a cider cask, but if my nose is right," she raised an arm and spun slowly on her heels, "there should be some over there. By the mansion. Sorry, but what is your name? I'm quite overwhelmed with the task of making all these unfamiliar faces familiar." The fairy Elsa smiled. "Oh and I'm Elsa," she added as an afterthought.