Butterflies and Memories
Sequel to Brotherly Love found here: s/8825716/1/Brotherly-Love
Summary: When helping Tooth resort and organize the teeth after getting them back, the guardians stumble upon a lone tooth with no name. Curious, they decide to look at the memories and see who it might belong too.
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Tooth was swamped, well that was an understatement. She was always busy collecting teeth but now she had more work then ever! Since Pitch had stolen all the teeth, they had to be sorted and returned to where they belonged along with the new teeth that kept arriving.
Due to all the work that was piling up instead of slimming down, she was unable to attend any of the guardian meetings which resulted in North declaring that something bad must have happened to her and the other 4 guardians showing up unannounced in her palace.
"Honestly boys, you could have called first." She mused and hurried along, slipping 4 cylinders containing memories into 4 empty slots on the wall.
"North told us that Pitch had you!" Bunnymund said, trying to make it seem like it was a reasonable explanation. Tooth only sighed and continued on with her work.
"Well North was wrong." She said and North looked down at his boots.
"I couldn't help it. I had this feeling in my belly…" The Guardian of wonder began and Bunny butted in.
"Are you sure it wasn't just gas?" The rabbit asked and North sent him a death glare.
"Don't question the belly!" North barked and Jack rolled his eyes.
"Seriously? We're all the children have to protect them? Seriously?" The frost elf asked and Sandy shrugged. After spending hundreds of years as a guardian he was used to North, Tooth and Bunnymund.
"Well as long as you're here, why don't you help me out? I have to sort these and it's taking forever! With you guys helping me out, we should be able to get this done faster!" Tooth exclaimed and hurried back to work.
Jack frowned, he'd rather be spending his time playing with Jamie and Sophie but if helping Tooth meant he wouldn't have to listen to North's belly rumblings for the next little bit then fine.
Bunnymund and North grumbled but set to work sorting the teeth as Sandy handed the cylinders to Bunny, North, Jack and Tooth.
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Jack frowned and looked at the tiny, pearly white little tooth in his hand. It didn't have a cylinder and wasn't labeled. "What do we do with a single tooth?"
Tooth frowned and fluttered over to Jack,"There's no way the teeth can be taken out of the cylinders Jack, It's impossib-" She frowned when she saw the tooth in the other guardians hands. "What the…"
Bunny snatched it out of Jack's hand. "Well it belongs somewhere! We just have to figure out where it goes and who's tooth this is!"
"How are we supposed to find out who the tooth belongs to if it is out of it's container?" North asked.
Sandy looked over at tooth and a little question mark appeared over his head as the fairy flew over and took the tooth from Bunnymund. "There is a way we can tell." She looked over at Jack and the two exchanged thoughts. "Jack knows what I'm talking about. We can see the memories in the teeth."
"Then we can see who's memories they are!" Bunny caught on and Tooth nodded.
"Alright," North agreed and Sandy nodded,"Do your thing Tooth, let's try and figure this out."
Tooth nodded and she and the other guardians began to see the memories of whoever this tooth belonged to flash infront of their eyes.
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A young boy around 5 sat down in tall grass by a river, dipping his bare-feet in the water. His hair was a charcoal black and shaggy, hanging in his eyes which were so big they gave North's a run for their money.
"Silice!" A man's voice called out, "Silice! Come on child this is not funny! Silice! Come on, Come home! Surely you want to meet your brother!"
The boy, Silice, whipped his head around to look at his father who was approaching. "No! I don't want to see him! You're going to replace me with him! Salvata said so!"
"And you believed your Sister?" The father asked and picked up his son. "We are not replacing you. Now come, meet your brother."
For a second, Silice was quiet. "…So I have a baby brother then?"
His father smiled, "Yes Silice, a baby brother. Now, I want you to promise me something. Alright son? I want you to promise to look out for your brother alright? No matter what?"
Silice stared at his father for a minute before nodding, "Okay."
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"Silly! Silly look!" A 3 year-old called out to his brother as the strange little creature landed on the tip of his nose. A now 8 year-old Silice smiled at his brother.
"That's a butterfly Koz." He said and sat down beside his brother. Kozmotis still couldn't pronounce his name yet so the youngest had decided to call him 'Silly' instead. "It's pretty isn't it?"
"Buttewfie? Kozmotis attempted to say and Silice nodded.
"Yes Koz, Butterfly."
His brother giggled as the insect flew away,"Pwetty!" He grinned and got up, chasing the poor little bug.
"Koz! Leave it alone!"
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"Look! Look I'm doing it! Sil!" 5-year-old version of Kozmotis called over to his now 10-year-old brother as he skated circles around the frozen pond. Silice himself was sitting near-bye as he watched.
"You're doing great Koz! Keep it up!" He cheered on his brother who was doing incredibly well for his first time skating.
Just then, The sounds of horses could be heard and 3 men on horseback came riding by on the old dirt trail. One of the horsemen stopped and called down to the boys.
"Do either of you know the way to Bellator Pitchiner's house?" He asked and Silice nodded.
"Yes, I should, I mean I live there! I am Silice Pitchiner!" He declared proudly.
The man on the horse frowned, "Well can you take us there. The golden army is drafting people and Bellator was on the list."
Silice frowned,"Y-Y-Y-You're drafting my father?" he asked and the man nodded.
"I'm sorry but it is my job."
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"Silly? Silly are you up?" 7-year-old Kozmotis whispered as he poked his head in his brother's room, half-hiding behind the old wooden door.
12-Year-old Silice sat up in bed and stared at his little brother, "Yeah, what's wrong?"
Kozmotis hesitated before whispering, "I had another nightmare….can I sleep with you?"
Silice smiled sadly and moved over, making room for Kozmotis. "Alright Koz, but go right to sleep alright? We have a big day tomorrow, we're going to go to the city and get a new place to live. A better place to live."
Kozmotis smiled and crawled into bed beside his brother. "Will mama be there?"
Silice frowned and bit down on his tongue, he still didn't tell Kozmotis about their mother's passing. How could he? "Er….Yes….She should be."
"And Salvata? And Likas? And Father?" Kozmotis asked and Silice frowned. Father had been killed in the war…and Likas and Salvata had died the same way their mother did. Sickness.
"Er…Yes…" Silice said softly and kissed his brother's forehead,"Now go to sleep Koz. Alright?"
"Alright Silly, Good night."
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13 year-old Silice rubbed his temples as he entered the small hotel room where he and his brother had been living for over a year. The hotel was old, run-down and full of rats but it was the only thing he could afford.
"Kozmotis?" He called out and entered the living room. To his surprise, his 8 year-old brother was sit cross-legged on the floor with a jar of Butterflies between him and a little girl. The girl's hair had been bleached a platinum blonde by the sun and her eyes were a pale shade of blue.
"Wow Kozzy! You were right they really are pretty!" The girl gushed and Kosmotis smiled.
"Aren't they though? When me and my brother lived in the country, there were tons of butterflies around!" His brother said.
"Really?" The girl asked and Kozmotis nodded.
"Yeah and we lived by a river and this great big lake! We'd go swimming in the summer and skate there in the winter! There were tons of animals running around and it snows alot! Up to your waist even!"
"Wow!" The girl exclaimed as Silice stepped forward.
"Hello Kozmotis, who's your friend?" He asked and his brother grinned.
"This is Satine, she lives in the room on the next floor! We met in the lobby!" He explained and Satine smiled timidly.
"Hello."
"Hello." Silice said in return. It was strange seeing his brother with other people, when they were living in the country the only people around were Salvata, Likas, mother, father and their other siblings and since they were the closest age wise, Silice and Kozmotis mostly played with eachother.
It was nice seeing his brother interact with other people.
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"KOZMOTIS PITCHINER GET YOUR BONEY ASS IN HERE!" An 18-year-old Silice screamed out in rage.
His now 13 year-old brother emerged from his room. "What's wrong brother?"
"Don't 'What's wrong?' me!" Silice snapped and held a letter in front of his little brother's face. "YOU JOINED THE GOLDEN ARMY!?"
Kozmotis frowned,"We need the money and even if we didn't it's my choice! I'm not a child anymore Sil! You can't keep telling me how to live my life!"
"What happened to my little brother?! What happened to my sweet, OBEDIENT little brother? Why'd you do this Kozmotis?!" Silice asked, his voice cracking a little. All he could think about when he thought of the golden army was his father lying dead in a field, he didn't want his brother to die the same way!
"HE GREW UP SILICE! HE GREW UP AND REALIZED THAT IT'S A HARSH WORLD OUT THERE!" Kozmotis barked and stormed past his brother and towards the door, "I'M GOING TO SATINE'S!"
Silice sighed sadly as he watched his brother leave, what was becoming of his little brother?
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"I'm shipping out tomorrow night." Kozmotis told his brother after avoiding him like the plague for over a week and spending every night at Satine's house. "And I'll be gone for the next 3 months."
Silice frowned,"You are really going to go threw with this?"
Kozmotis crossed his arms in front of his chest,"Yeah. I kinda got to know. If I drop out I'll be arrested."
Silice was quiet for a minute before saying,"…Y-You're not going to die over there right? Can you promise me that you're coming home?"
Despite being angry at his brother, Kozmotis smiled a little.
"I Promise brother."
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The months went by slowly but eventually, Kozmotis returned home from battle. Now 14 and a man, he seemed to be doing fine but Silice noticed a distant look in his little brother's eye and how he would jump whenever he heard a loud noise.
War had changed Kozmotis.
"…..So I'm thinking of asking Satine to marry me." He said one day as he and Silice ate a quiet dinner.
"You should!" Silice grinned,"Satine's a wonderful young woman! And it's obvious that she loves you! You two should get married!"
Kozmotis blushed a little bit but grinned,"…Thanks brother."
"It's the truth! You should get married!" Silice added and Kozmotis stood up.
"If shes says yes, I was hoping you'd be my bestman…"
"OF COURSE I WOULD! I WOULD BE HONORED!" Silice cheered happily and Kozmotis chuckled at his eagerness.
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Satine said yes. It was obvious that she would say yes. After all, She had a crush on his brother since they were 10 years old! The two were married in the winter (Both Satine and Kozmotis's favorite time of year) and, as promised, Silice was the best man. He had been so proud of his brother that day, marrying such a beautiful, charming young woman.
It didn't take long for Satine's stomach to grow heavy with their first child.
Kozmotis was so nervous, after all his father died when he was a child and he could barely remember him! Would he be a good father? Was his life rushing by? He was only 15 (But then again, in this time most people already had 2 kids at 15!) and he was already a general in the golden army!
Then, one day, in May, Kozmotis and Satine's beautiful little daughter Ardens was born. Silice thought she was the most precious thing! She had her father's dark hair and pale skin but her mother's pale blue eyes.
Both Kozmotis and Satine were proud on that day!
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21 year-old Silice was surprised when someone came knocking on his door in the middle of the night. He was even more surprised when he opened his door and found 16 year-old Kozmotis standing at the door with tears in his lunar-colored eyes and baby Ardens in his arms.
"Koz? What is-" Silice started to say when he brother caught him off guard and rushed into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
"S-S-S-S-Sati-Satine's….." Kozmotis whimpered our between sobs.
"What? Koz, I can't understand you…."
"SHE'S DEAD! SATINE'S DEAD!" His younger brother whimpered out and sobbed harder,"She died…..She's dead….She was sick…..I didn't th-think anything of it at first but…" Kozmotis said and buried his face in his brother's chest. "It's all my fault…all my fault…"
Silice frowned and wrapped his arms around his little brother, pulling him into a hug. "No it's not, Kozmotis. You can't blame yourself. You loved her."
Kozmotis trembled and shook in his brothers arms, cradling his daughter in between them.
"…..I just can't believe that she's gone…"
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"Sil….I have something important to ask you Sil." A 22 year-old Kozmotis said one morning.
Ever since Satine had died years ago, Kozmotis and Ardens had been living with Silice. 6 year-old Ardens was currently laying on the floor in the living room, reading a book on herbs and medicines that her father picked up at the local bookshop for her.
"Go ahead."
Kozmotis sighed, "The golden army has asked me to guard some fearlings for the next 8 months…Can you look after Ardens?"
"FEARLINGS?! Kozmotis are you insane?! Those things could kill you!" Silice screamed but his stubborn brother didn't listen.
"I Can handle the fearlings Silice besides it is my duty as a member of the Golden army."
"An Archer! You joined as an archer so go….arch!"
"I'm also a general and as a general it is my job to guard the fearlings now I need to know if I can leave Ardens here with you."
Silice paused and sighed, "Yes, I will look after Ardens but you have to promise me that you'll be careful."
"I will Sil, I'm always careful."
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It was the middle of winter when Silice heard a knock on his door. He put his book down on a table, marked his place and headed over to the door. Ardens who had just turned 7 was asleep in her bed, Silice should have been asleep too. After all it was almost midnight.
Silice was surprised when he saw a man at the door, holding a letter in a black silk envelope. The man bowed his head and handed the letter to Silice.
"I'm sorry." Was all he said before hurrying off.
Confused, The 27 year-old opened the letter and began to read. He finished the letter and collapsed to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
General Kozmotis Pitchiner was dead.
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"Uncle Sil look!" 17 year-old Ardens cried out and her uncle gasped in surprise. The fern she had been practicing on was growing on her command!
10 years had passed since Kozmotis had been reported dead at his post and since then both Ardens and Silice had thrown themselves into books to comfort the pain. Ardens loved to read about herbs, plants and medicines while Silice read of the stars and galaxies and planets. But there was one type of book they both liked to read:
Magic books.
Silice grinned(For the first time since his brother's death), "That's great honey! Just think, we could make a difference in the world using these new found gifts!"
Ardens nodded in response but her uncle could see some nervousness and worry in her eyes. "Only us two to guard the world?"
"More will come along but in time." Silice explained, "Until then it will be you and me, protecting the world from fearlings."
"Mother Nature." Ardens smiled.
"And The Man In The Moon."
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Years passed and The Man in The Moon and Mother Nature eventually went separate ways. The Man In The Moon or MiM as Mother Nature affectionately called him set up a base and home for himself on the moon while Mother Nature stayed on Earth. Occasionally though, MiM would come to Earth.
One day on a visit to Earth, MiM met a young man. A young man that would later become famous to the world. That man's name was Sandred Manning, but he was known to his friends as Sandy.
Sandy told the Man in The Moon that he was upset, that some twisted and cruel figure would come from the shadows at night and hide under beds, terrifying the children of his village to death. Sandy then proposed that he had a good way to stop it, if a figure who was the opposite of the monster appeared and chased away the nightmares with good dreams then the children would be fine.
Intrigued and impressed, Mim granted the man the power to do so and Sandy became the Sandman. However, whenever he talked his voice would be so soothing everyone around him would fall asleep so Sandy decided to use dream-sand to communicate.
Mim found three others, all tormented by fear and wanting to stop it and granted them to power to do so. There was The Tooth Fairy, The Easter Bunny and Santa Claus who teamed up with The Sand Man and chased The Fear away.
Mim was proud of his guardians but before heading back to his home, stopped by Fear's lair to get a good look at the creature.
What he saw though, he wasn't prepared for.
The Boogeyman, exhausted and beaten and weak had collapsed to the floor of his lair the minute the Guardians were threw with him. He was unconscious, bleeding in quite a few places and had numerous bruises and marks. But that was not what MiM saw,
Mim saw his baby brother, alive but twisted and warped and cruel. He sat there for hours, just watching the Boogeyman breath, watching as his whole world was torn apart and wondering what to do.
Time passed and eventually The Boogeyman started to stir, before he could awake though, MiM transported himself back to the moon.
He couldn't let Fear see him.
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"Jack, I'm scared."
"Well not-not-not this time. I promise, I promise, You're going to be fine."
Mim watched sadly as the boy worked to try and save his younger sibling. He smiled a bit when he saw that the teen had sucsessfully saved her but his smile vanished when the boy fell threw the ice instead.
He could hear the girl screaming in terror and felt guilty, poor girl.
That boy though, he reminded MiM so much of Kozmotis when he was that age. Brave and loyal. Kozmotis would have gone threw the ice for Ardens…and MiM would have gone threw the ice for Kosmotis.
MiM would have gone threw the ice now if it would bring his brother back.
"He'll be needed." MiM said to himself and set to work on bringing about the new spirit, "In due time, he'll be needed."
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The guardians all gasped as they were brought out of the memories, nobody said anything for a minute and all looked around awkwardly. Eventually, North looked up at the moon.
"Manny my friend, is what we say true?" He asked and moonbeams shot down to light the lone tooth like a spot-light.
"I think that means yes." Tooth said after a minute, holding the tooth tight in her hands. "I'm so sorry Manny."
Jack frowned, The Man In The Moon had picked him because he saw himself and his brother that day on the Lake. He picked him because Jack reminded him of himself.
They were both older brothers, struggling and willing to do anything to keep their younger siblings alive and well.