After all that buildup, Bunny was almost disappointed when he didn't die.
Almost. But not quite.
Actually, not at all.
He was a little busy being shocked at the water being splashed in his face.
He blinked. What?
Some ice had frozen the fireball that had been about to hit him, melted, and neutralized the attack.
One of the attacking fae looked up, looking astonished for about half a second.
It gasped, "You're-"
It was cut off when it was hit across the face with a staff.
Then some more ice spread from an area above all the Guardians, pushing all the fae backwards. Someone in a cloak lit down in front of Bunny, gesturing at the Guardians to leave and picking Bunny and North up by the wrists. He (she?) flew upwards as the summer fae screamed at each other, embroiled in chaos.
Sandy and Tooth flew up to follow them. As the cloaked figure faltered a bit in the air, Sandy made a magic carpet to catch both North and Bunny.
The figure gave the impression of nodding at them, and dove back downwards. When it came up, it had a strange spear and Baby Tooth in its hands, and the fire fae were hopelessly trying to get out of the ice that was surrounding them.
"Come on, if we don't get out now, we never will!" It told them.
"What are you? Why are you here?" Tooth asked, attempting to flutter closer to it to get a look under its hood.
"No time for that, follow me!" The creature ordered, flying northwards. Sandy pushed his carpet to follow, and Tooth zoomed in behind them.
They flew for almost an hour, hard and fast enough that no one had time to question it. Finally, they arrived at North's workshop and landed. The creature paused for a moment before asking, "Where is the fae crown? I swear to you, if I meant harm, I would have let you die.
It's a sound point.
They all troop down to Jack's tomb. It's just as Bunny remembers: Cold, ornate, and lifeless. The creature turned to face them, and Bunny got his first decent look at it.
It was fairly short, but tall for a faerie, which Bunny suspected to be its race. It was wearing a navy cloak as dark as a winter night's sky, complete with what might have been stars or might have been snowflakes patterned on it. The hood was large and likely enchanted, because he found that he couldn't see its face no matter how hard he looked. Shadow shielded all but the vague hint of a humanoid face, with lips and a nose and a chin visible. Two ice-blue eyes glowed from the darkness, looking straight at Bunny as he continued his assessment.
The creature carried an odd cross between a scepter and a spear, with an icy hilt covered in frost patterns evolving into a wicked curved point. It was ornately decorated with jewels of all sizes and lines of dark metal like veins, but it had one 'gem' that stood out. It wasn't even a gem, really, but a gem-shaped ball of pulsating energy that glowed bright blue.
It was eerily reminiscent of the fae crown.
Bunny didn't like it.
Apparently his opinions didn't matter, though, because the creature began speaking without waiting for his thoughts.
"I bet you're all wondering why I've brought you here," it said. "I just saved all of your lives, and your helpers will probably be appearing in their places of residence once the summers realize you've gotten away and go back to their plane. In return for this favor, all of you will shut up and hear me out until I am done talking, and then I will leave. Capiche?"
Bunny exclaimed, "No, that is not okay! Why were you even there? What are you? Wh-"
"Yes, yes, we're getting to that part. Will the rest of you listen to what I have to say, then?"
The others nodded. Traitors.
"Well, to start off, I apologize for the actions of the winter fae seven years previous to now. I was not in power then as I am now, and I stopped the abductions as soon as was possible once I did gain my throne. However, my claim to the throne of the fae is still contested daily, so if you don't want the entire court going to ruin again, you'll need to give me a hand.
"I helped you because I need your help. Until I can legitimize my hold over the fae, my family is in danger. I need to recover the three relics that have always been synonymous with the ruler of the winter fae. One is the Spear of Jormungandr, which I clearly fixed by myself," it gestured with its staff, "and you kind of stole my crown-the Crown of the Jotun. I'd like that back, if you don't mind."
"What?! Mate, there is no way we're giving that back! Jack died for that! You're not getting it!" Bunny shouted, taken aback. The faerie stiffened.
"Died?" It asked.
"Don't act like you don't know! He died stealing that crown, so you fae couldn't keep killing people! There is no way we're gonna just give it to you!" Bunny was furious, in its face now, though he still couldn't make out any distinguishing features besides the glowing-bright eyes.
Tooth came forward to support him.
"Bunny is right," she said, "If we give the crown back to the fae, who's to say the kidnapings won't start up again?"
The fae nodded.
"No one is. But I can give you my word, on my life and the lives of my loved ones, not only will I not allow my court to fall into disorder and chaos as it did when the previous king was killed, but once my position is safe and I am guaranteed not to get spontaneously killed, it could be arranged for you to see your lost spirit. He never did die in our realm-rather, he gained energy from it! Once I have the crown I can bring you to our realm, and I will do so once it is safe."
Somewhat suspiciously, North stepped forward to join the conversation.
"You said get three things. What is the third part?"
The faerie gave the impression of a smile.
"The challenge, of course! It would hardly be a proper adventure without a challenge. Since you've proven yourselves to be decent thieves, I need you to locate and steal back the Fenris Cloak. Once that is done, we will negotiate the return of your friend. By the way, I suggest looking in the court of the summer fae."
With a bone-deep cracking sound, the fae king disappeared.
They only noticed once he was one that the coffin and tombstone had been destroyed, and the crown stolen from right under their noses.
Actually, come to think about it, how did he know they had a safe place to go to at the Pole?
The king of the winter fae returned to his realm regretfully. He didn't like this, didn't like this at all.
Since the previous king had been killed by assassins sent by the summer court, he couldn't go to get the cloak himself, no matter how much he wanted to. It was almost certainly in enemy territory, and he had next to zero chance of getting out again once he entered. His fae would panic and start the abductions once more, desperate to compensate for their lack of leadership with pure power.
Since they couldn't prove the fire fae had killed the last king, they couldn't declare war until the summer fae did something substantial. They couldn't search the summer court, either.
His position was tenuous enough already without adding war to the mix.
Then again, fae were pretty weird. Maybe they'd want a war.
He'd spent years trying to learn the ways of ruling, especially the ways of ruling fae. Fae had odd traditions, and he had been surprised how many of them he'd had to consciously suppress when he'd dealt with the Guardians.
Since the previous king had died and the cloak had been lost, the fae had lost control. They had panicked, certain that the summer court would attack them while they were leaderless and helpless, and had compensated with increasingly desperate feeding and searching for their new king. The spear that was now his staff had been broken, and it was feared that with only one of their three ruling relics, they would fall to ruin before they had a chance to find a new ruler. Some wondered if there would even be a new ruler, without the relics.
They had accordingly been overjoyed when he showed up, and though he'd been confused at first, he had eventually come to understand that he was to rule them whether he liked it or not. He had chosen to do it on his own terms instead of being kept in a gilded cage, but there were fae who didn't approve of his unorthodox background. He had to wear a hood now, to prevent anyone from seeing his face and using his identity to track down his loved ones. Not that they could, but they might try.
After a year of learning how to control his fae, how to fix and later fight with his broken spear, and a crash course of how not to accidentally propose to someone or insult their heritage or threaten to eat their chicken farm, he'd begun trying to get to the mortal realm to consolidate his power. He wouldn't be able to safely visit his family or friends again until he was sure he wasn't endangering them, so he'd needed to grab the crown as soon as he could.
He'd found the portal, propped open with an ice shard that had gotten stuck. It had taken him almost six years and a huge chunk of power to widen the gap to allow him to slip through.
When he'd sensed the summer fae on the mortal plane, he'd had to go see what was happening. He'd found the attack and he'd been alarmed. His fae couldn't get through the portal yet, so the best he could do was distract the summer fae and get the Guardians out. He'd gotten back the crown, though, so he counted it as a victory.
Now that he had the crown back, he could send fae to anywhere cold enough on any plane, if he so chose. He could only send them to the poles on the mortal plane, since the rest of the world was rather warm, but it would have to do. He'd be able to travel more conveniently himself, as well.
His spear allowed him finer control over the ice, in addition to expanding his powers dramatically. Once he had all three relics with him, he'd be able to create 'living' ice, harder that diamond with the ability to change shape or location of he so desired. According to his teachers, he would also be able to turn things into ice and teleport to any living ice anywhere near him.
Sounded pretty convenient, really.
The cloak of Fenris was...interesting. He had no idea why it and the others were named after Norse myths, as the fae were much older than the Scandinavian cultures who had made the tales, but that was how it was.
The cloak would allow him to absorb ice and gain energy from it, and once he had all three artifacts, it would allow him to absorb his fae's energy like they absorbed mortals' energy.
Since the fae considered stealing someone's energy and turning them into one of you a great honor, they should be thrilled that he was able to-essentially-eat them.
That particular aspect of fae culture was a little weird.
Yep. That made him a bit uncomfortable.
He became aware of a presence watching him, but didn't turn. It wouldn't do him any good to turn and see someone invisible.
"Go with the Guardians. I know you want to, and they'll need your help and guidance. I wish you all the best. I wish I could have joined you..."
He shook his head. He knew he belonged out there, fighting, playing, getting things done!
But he also knew that he couldn't afford to do that anymore. He had more than himself to think of now, he had an entire race depending on his safety and direction. He would do more good trapped in a realm that had kidnapped him with so many others and forced him to be king than in a realm that wanted his blood.
"Good luck, Wind," he whispered.
So I need a beta. This is terrible and rushed, and I don't like it.
But...I had so much fun watching you all react, it was ridiculous. I FEED off the unhappiness of my readers. FEED ME WITH SADNESS! I DEMAND SACRIFICES!
Yup. You are all the best. I wish to give you brownies and ad-less youtube videos!
Big thanks to ArtistOfLight, who is infinitely flattering and wonderful!
