Jack flew down the stairs after North had called him.
"yeah, north?"
He was surprised to see the other guardians there too. All five were rarely in the same place at the same time.
"Is something wro-… oh no…" jack looked at the globe and saw one light; Jamie.
Jack only had one more believer.
"Jamie… I…"
jack immediately started to worry. Once a guardian has believers, they have to rely on them as a lifeline. If they flicker out, so does the guardian.
"Jamie, I'm coming! Don't-"
the light flickered and went out. Jack doubled over and was caught by North and Tooth. Jack was gasping for breath and pressing his palms to his temples. They set jack down gently and by this time, he was completely still. Tooth checked his pulse. She looked up at the guardians and shook her head, eyes brimming with tears.
North got to his knees beside jack and stared in horror. Bunnymund stepped forward. No matter how much they argued, bunny had always cared about him and was now devastated that he was gone. Sandy was also staring wide-eyed, not able to comprehend what had just happened. "how could Jamie… how could he stop believing…?" tooth asked outraged. "everyone in the sleigh. We are going to pay the burgess kids a little visit." North lifted jack and set him in the sleigh carefully. Every one piled in and Tooth settled herself beside jack. He was laying on his back with one arm over his stomach. He looked so peaceful. Anyone who hadn't just witnessed what they had may think he was just sleeping instead of the cold hard truth that weighed on all their hearts. Suddenly, something happened that made Tooth think hard for explanations.
"uh… North?"
jack's hair was turning brown, just as it had been in his mortal life. She pretty sure if his eyes were open, they would be changing also. Santa pulled a snowglobe from his coat and sent it flying into the air, opening a portal to burgess. He then turned around and was instantly wonderstruck. All the guardians were gathering around him, wondering how such a thing was possible. North landed roughly in a patch of trees, sending birds flying, but not doing any real damage.
Jack was looking more and more like his mortal self by the second. His skin was becoming slightly tanner, and he didn't have as much of a powerful aura now that he was losing his magic. North picked up jack once more and eventually made his way to Jamie's house. Jamie was playing in his front yard when he spotted the guardians.
"Hey, you guys! It's been a while! Thought you forgot about me! Who's that?"
north set jack down in the grass and let Jamie look at the transformed jack. After a moment's hesitation, he said,
"jack? Why does he look like that? What happened?" Jamie sat down, confused.
"This is what jack looked like before he died. The first time, that is…" bunnymund explained.
"wait… jack died and became guardian? I thought you were just born with powers…. And what do you mean the first time? Like he died again?"
Jamie looked at jack once more and full realization hit him. the remaining guardians let Jamie have a moment to himself to try and grasp the situation.
"there were no more believers. So he died. If you still believe in him, how is it that he is dead?" Tooth asked.
The group thought of this for a while, and produced no answer.
"how did he die? He didn't deserve it. Especially if he suffered."
Just as Jamie asked this, a siren screamed, telling everyone to get in their homes. A storm warning. A tornado made of snow and hail was speeding toward burgess.
"with jack gone, the weather is going out of control! The ice age was caused because no magic was controlling the cold. What if we are stuck in something like that again?" tooth asked.
"sleigh. Now. Jamie, get inside your house." North commanded.
"no. I'm coming with you." Jamie said stubbornly.
They were running out of ground between themselves and the storm. Tooth rolled her eyes and picked up Jamie, flying to the sleigh. After everyone was piled in and the sleigh was off the ground, nobody spoke a word. Jack was lying in tooth's lap, so that she could make sure he didn't fall out since he couldn't hold on. She suddenly let her tears fall and she rested her head on jack's chest. She ran her fingers through his soft, now brown, hair, listened to the occasional beating of his heart… her eyes snapped open. Heartbeat?