"You mean to tell me, that the two of you are not only siblings… But your twins as well?" Kora asked, her red eyes widening.
Khione and Jack nodded, "Uh… Yeah? We don't get how that's so weird."
"It's because the two of you are parallels," Lucas answered, running a hand threw his blond hair.
"Parallels?" The twins asked.
"Oh, don't tell me you haven't heard of the parallel principle!" Connie asked, her green eyes narrowing as she studied the two.
"Um…" Jack trailed off.
"No?" Khione said uncertainly.
Connie sighed and leaned back in her chair, twirling her wand like one would twirl a drumstick. "The parallel principle is something associated with assassins and their soul protector. It's kind of like the soul mate principle, but the bond isn't a romantic one, it's usually just very protective."
"Wait, the assassin's protector, isn't the assassin supposed to protect their parallel?" Khione questioned.
Lucas shook his head, "No, it's because the assassin is supposed to remain in the shadows. So the responsibility of being believed in, if the parallels are even meant to be believed in, is up to the assassin's parallel."
"So, my believers would be Khione's believers?" Jack asked, feeling a new sense of responsibility.
Khione shook her head, "I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the whole, Jack being my protector thing."
Kora laughed, "It may have something to do with the fact that you're both predatorily, and it also may have something to do with your season's spirit animal."
~…..~
"What is she doing here?" Bunny questioned as he spun around and stared at the child.
North patted down his coat and his eyes widened. "Ah, snow globe!" he muttered.
"Crickey! Somebody do something."
"Oh, don't look at me. I'm invisible, remember?" Jack asked.
"Elf! Elf!" Sophie giggled, dragging one around.
"Don't worry Bunny. I bet she's a fairy fan!" Tooth zipped over and posed for Sophie, "It's okay, little one."
Sophie gasped and ran over to Tooth. "Pretty," Sophie cooed.
"Oh! You know what? I've got something for you!" Tooth inched over and opened her hand to reveal a bunch of teeth. "Look at all the pretty teeth, with little blood and gum on them!"
Sophie glanced up before wailing and running away. Khione sighed and formed a little butterfly and flew it to the child, calming her down.
"Blood and gums?" The twins asked.
"When was the last time you guys actually hung out with kids?" Jack asked as Sophie chased a herd of eggs underneath one of the egg domes with the butterfly trailing after her. Jack sat on top of it and Khione sat down right next to him as they looked at the guardians.
"Peak-a-boo!" Sophie yelled.
"We are very busy bringing joy to children. We don't have time…" North stops. "for children," he realized.
If one little kid can ruin Easter, then we're in worse shape than I thought," Jack said, creating a small snowflake that he sent toward Bunny. The snowflake hit Bunny in the snout and Jack's magic brought a smile to his face.
Sophie laughed as she watched an egg bloom from a flower. "Want to help paint some eggs?" Bunny asked her.
"Okay!" she giggled, and grabbed Bunny's paw.
It was then that everyone realized the army of eggs that came storming out of the various tunnels. "Rimsky-Korsakov!" North marveled, "That's a lot of eggs."
"Uh… How much time do we have?" Khione asked from atop Jack's shoulders, her brother chuckled and looked down as he balanced on his staff.
"Yeah, didn't you say Easter's tomorrow?" Jack questioned.
Bunny ran through as flowers began to shake color from their petals, painting various eggs different colors.
"All right, troops, it's time to push back. That means eggs everywhere! Heaps of you in every high-rise, farmhouse and trailer park!" Bunny ordered. "In tennis shoes and cereal bowls. Oh, there will be bathtubs filled with my beautiful googies!"
Khione flew threw and but some bands of white light on the eggs, after the light faded they were left with little intricate designs that seemed almost impossible to form on an egg.
North picked up one of the eggs and studied its little legs moved around. "Okay, that's a little strange."
"No mate," Bunny called with a whole bunch of eggs crawling on him and butterflies flying around him, "That's adorable."
"There will be springtime on every continent!" Bunny called out and continued directing his troops of eggs. "And I'm bringing hope with me!"
Bunny hopped past a yeti, "Too Christmassy mate, paint them blue," he told him, causing the yeti to shout in exasperation.
"Oh, what's over there?" Bunny asked Sophie asked as they looked over at a pretty little egg.
Sophie giggled and scooped it up.
"Aw, that's a beauty! Now, all we got to do is get him and his little mates through the tunnels to the top, and we'll have ourselves Easter."
Jack and Khione soon joined the two, their eyes focused on the onslaught of eggs. "Not bad," Jack sighed.
"Not bad yourself," Bunny said, looking over at the twins.
"Look, I'm sorry about the whole… You know, the kangaroo thing," Jack started.
"And… the threating with my knives… Oh, and the growling," Khione added, twirling one of her knives on her finger.
"It's the accent, isn't it?" Bunny asked, and gave a slight nod toward Khione. "Oh poor little ankle-bitter, look at her all tuckered out," Bunny said, shifting Sophie in his arms.
"I love her," Tooth cooed. "I think it's time to get her home."
"How about I take her home?" Jack asked, glancing at Khione who just nodded in response.
"Jack no, Pitch is-" Tooth began, fluttering over in concern.
"No match for this," Jack said, and twirled his staff.
"Which is why we need you here with us," Bunny insisted with his brows furrowed. He really didn't like the idea of Jack being out there on his own. And the possibility of him being attacked and of the Warren being invaded was enough to put him on edge.
"Trust me, I'll be quick as a bunny," Jack reassured, "And you'll have Khione here with you guys. It'll be fine," he took Sophie in his arms and made to leave, but not before Khione gave him a small hug. Bunny sighed but nodded and led Jack to one of the tunnels that would lead him out of the Warren.
"So Khione, you and Jack, are rarely separated, no?" North asked Khione, who already began her nervous habit of spinning a knife around on her fingers. She appeared younger, even if her mask still remained. Her makeup was gone, washed away from a mixture of battle and tears, and her hair remained down, its waves reaching past her hip. And the girl didn't even bother to zip up her leather jacket, so she didn't look as pale. Still unnaturally pale, but at least she doesn't look like death run over.
"No, we'll, not that much anymore. We separated from each other for three whole decades before, but after that, well, we keep the amount of time spent on either seasonal business, or in my case, judgements." Khione said.
"I never got why you kill people," Bunny said, hopping back over to them.
Khione scoffed and rolled her eyes, "I'm only placing judgement, I don't decide who lives or dies."
"Eh? What do you mean?" Tooth asked as they began to move forward with the eggs.
"It's a seasonal thin-" Khione stopped and her eyes narrowed. Bunny stopped as well, his ears twitched as if he heard something.
"Crikey!" Bunny yelled, and readied his boomerang. North pulled out his swords. Khione whipped out her bow, and tossed tooth one of her knives.
"I want it back later," Khione told her.
Tooth nodded.
And then they heard it.
The first neigh.
Khione wasted no time, she was immediately took to the sky and began shooting from up above. Tooth was zipping by with incredible speed, the blade she possessed deadly in her hands. Bunny began to throw his boomerangs with fury. And North was surprisingly more than just a barreling force of muscle and swords, he was also nimble and quick as he sliced through Nightmares. The only complication of the battle was avoiding the egglings.
"Bunny, duck!" Khione yelled, before releasing an arrow that pierced five Nightmares behind him. Bunny saluted Khione before moving on.
But it soon became apparent how powerful the forces were, and how outnumbered they were. With all their attention on the attacking forces, the Guardians and Khione failed to notice the ones that were set on destroying the eggs till it was too late.
"No!" Bunny yelped at the sound of their shells shattering. All of the eggs were broken, the ones in the tunnels, still in the Warren. Everything. Everyone retreated to the back of the Warren, weapons raised in hopes of them maybe making it to the surface. Khione nearly gasped when one lashed out at North and cut through the fabric of his coat, grazing his skin.
Having enough Khione reached around her neck and pulled out a chain. And on that chain was a silver ring with a large black diamond, with two smaller black jewels dotting either side of the diamond. Khione quickly slid it off the chain and slipped it on her left ring finger.
The Nightmares neighed and began to charge as a deadly wave of black. "Khione, Tooth, Bunny, get behind me," North commanded, his swords held at the ready. The latter did as said, but Khione walked in front of them all with a steely calmness. Before any of the Guardians could protest the Nightmares were upon them. Khione lifted the hand with a ring and…
They stopped.
Coming to a screeching halt the Nightmares stopped and froze at the simple raise of Khione's hand. The Guardians stared at the girl in wonder as her shadow morphed into a cape that wrapped around her shoulders and brushed the ground. "You will return to the surface," Khione told the Nightmares, her hand still raised, "and never return to this place."
The Nightmare whined and then turned on their heel and disappeared through the tunnel. Khione took off her ring and the cape morphed back into her shadow.
"What was that?" Bunny asked.
Khione shook her head, "A little bit of history."
Bunny frowned before his eyes narrowed. "You! You knew Pitch before this! And not as enemies, you two were together!"
"Yeah, and?" Khione questioned with an edge in her voice.
"You traitor, you slacker! You could've pulled that ring trick moments ago, as soon as they entered the tunnel. You could've done it before Sandy…"
Khione clinched the ring in her fist. "I could only do it, because Pitch was nowhere near me when I did this, the ring only gives me so much control," Khione said.
"And earlier?"
"I thought we could handle it," Khione told him.
"Bloody hell! How do we know that? For all we know you could just be stringi-"
"Bunny! Enough!" Tooth shouted, getting a sense of déjà vu from the day before. "We'll figure this out when Jack comes back and were all up on the surface."
Bunny growled and took a threatening step toward Khione, before thinking better of it and stepping back. "There won't be much to sort out."
~….~
Jack struggled to put Sophie down and when he finally did get Sophie to let go, he made to leave, only for her to turn and fall off the bed.
"Sophie? Is that you?" Jamie and Sophie's mom called from downstairs. Jack gasped and quickly draped a blanket over her and then put a stuffed lamb down on the ground next to her.
"We should get back," Jack told Baby Tooth once they were safely outside. But then he froze.
"Jack…" a little girls voice chimed threw the air.
"That voice, I know that voice," Jack muttered.
"Khione!"
Jack took off in the air in search for the voice.
"Jack!"
He finally came near a clearing in the woods.
"Jack? Khione?"
In the center of the clearing was a broken bed. And despite Baby Tooth's protest, Jack approached and jumped down the whole that hid underneath. As they walked through the tunnel, Baby Tooth tried to pull him back.
"Baby Tooth, Baby Tooth, come on! I have to find out what that is," Jack said, pulling away.
He looked around to see that the cavern exposed thousands of cages that contain other little tooth sprites. Jack gasped and flew up to one of the cages. "Shh! Keep it down, I'll get you out of here as soon as…"
"Jack?"
Jack looked down at the pile of tooth cylinders down below.
"Khione?"
"…as I can," Jack whispered jumping down and sifting through the teeth.
"Looking for something?" A new voice asked, and Jack spun around with his staff and blasted a shot of ice at Pitch's shadow. Pitch's laughter rung out throughout the cavern. "Don't be afraid, Jack. I'm not gonna hurt you…. Or Khione."
"Afraid?" Jack asked as he jumped up onto a passage, "I'm not afraid of you."
"Maybe not. But you are afraid of something," Pitch said. Not bothering to face the winter sprite.
"You think so, huh?"
"I know so!" Pitch claimed. "It's the one thing I always know. People's greatest fears. Your two greatest fears. One, is similar to your sister's, the fear of losing one another, and the other? It is that no one will ever believe in you. You're afraid you'll never know why," Pitch chuckled, and Jack fell through a shadow and landed roughly.
"Why you, why were you chosen to be like this?" Pitch asked as he appeared in front of him. "Well, fear not. For the answer to that, is right here," Pitch held out two golden cylinders. Each one had a face of a brown haired child with brown eyes, except one was a girl, the other was a boy, and they were obviously twins. "Do you want them, Jack? Yours and Khione's memories?" Pitch taunted.
Jack reached forward before snatching his hand back. Pitch chuckled and disappeared. "Everything you wanted to know, in these two little boxes."
"Why did you end up like this?" Pitch questioned, "Unseen. Unable to reach out to anyone but your darling sister. You want the answers so badly. You want to grab them and fly off with them. But you're afraid, afraid of what the Guardians will think." Jack snarled at Pitch's words, revealing his canines as his eyes flashed blue.
"You're afraid, of disappointing them. Well, let me ease your mind about one thing. They'll never accept you. Neither of you. Not really," Pitch said.
Jack clinched his head and screamed, "Stop it! Stop it!"
"After all, you two aren't one of them."
"You don't know who we are!" Jack screamed, pointing his staff at Pitch.
"Of course I do! You're Jack and Khione Frost, you make a mess and bring death everywhere you go. Why, Jack, you're making a mess of things right now," Pitch threw the cylinders at him, and Jack caught them.
"What did you do?" Jack asked.
"More to the point, Jack, what did you do?" Pitch questioned as he disappeared into the shadows. Jack charged forward and into darkness, only to meet a dead end. He quickly turned and was faced with a door, which he tried to break open.
"Baby Tooth!" Jack remembered and looked around for his friend.
"Happy Easter Jack," Pitch's voice sounded, and Jack turned to see him in one of Bunny's tunnels. Easter eggs cracked and shattered on the ground.
~…..~
"There aren't any eggs," A voice sounded as Bunny hid in the bushes uncertainly. Khione watched the scene from her place in the trees with a blank expression.
"There's nothing here."
"I give up."
"He didn't come."
"I don't understand."
"Maybe he just hid them really well this year?" a little girl questioned hopefully.
"Kids wait!" Bunny said, hopping out of the bushes towards the children.
"I checked everywhere. There's nothing," a little boy said.
"Yes there is! There is!" Bunny said. "I mean, these aren't my best looking googies, but they'll do in a pinch."
"I can't believe it," the little girl said.
"I know," Bunny chuckled.
"There's no such thing as the Easter Bunny," the girl sighed in disappointment.
"What?" Bunny asked, "Wrong! Not true! I'm right in front of you mate."
A child walked through him.
"They don't see me… They don't see me," Bunny repeated as he dropped to the ground.
Jack entered the clearing and before he could say anything, a blur of, black, blue, and white crashed into him and hugged him tightly. "You're okay!" Khione whispered.
"Jack!" North called, and the twins separated to look at North. "Where were you? The Nightmares attacked the tunnels. They smashed ever egg, crushed every basket. Nothing made it to the surface. And we wouldn't have either… if not for-"
"Jack!" Tooth said, flying over to him, before gasping and staring at his hand. Khione frowned and looked down, only to have her eyes widened at what she saw. "Where did you get those?" Tooth questioned.
"I was…It's…" Jack stuttered.
"Where's Baby Tooth?" Tooth continued, "Oh, Jack, what have you done?"
"That is why you weren't here?" North asked. "You were with Pitch?"
"No, listen, listen," Jack started. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."
"They have to go," Bunny said, walking forward.
"What?" Jack asked, while Khione placed a protective hand on his shoulder.
"We should never had trusted you two! This just proves that they were both in cohorts!" Bunn yelled, drawing his hand back to punch Jack, but stopping at the warning growl that tore from the back of Khione's throat. Bunny sighed "Easter is new beginnings, new life. Easter's about hope. And now it's gone."
Bunny walked away and Jack turned toward North and Tooth. North sighed and turned his back on the twins. Jack looked at them with hurt eyes while Khione refused to meet anyone's eyes and instead hid her face behind her hair. Jack dug out the little nesting doll and stared at it before throwing it on the ground. Then he grabbed Khione's hand and they took off.
~…..~
Deep in Antarctica, Jack made to throw both of the cylinders of teeth, but stopped and groaned before sitting down on the cliff edge with Khione. Her mask was sitting on her side. She sighed and leaned on her brother's shoulder.
"I thought this might happen," Pitch said, appearing behind them. Khione and Jack tensed, hands twitching as his closed around his staff, and Khione's closed around her bow. "They never really believed in you," Pitch continued. "I was just trying to show you two that. But I understand."
Khione and Jack sent a blast of light and ice at Pitch, who brought up his own defense, a shield of sand.
"You don't understand anything!" Jack yelled, as they began to shoot at Pitch.
"No? I don't know what it's like to be cast out?" Pitch questioned, "To not be believed in? To long for a family," Pitch eyes met Khione's. "All those years in the shadows I thought, no one else knows what this feels like. But now I see I was wrong, in fact, I realized that a long time ago."
Khione clutched her necklace that rested underneath her shirt, and Jack lowered his staff.
"We don't have to be alone. I believe in the both of you. And I know children will, too."
"In us?" Jack asked.
"Yes!" Pitch said, and wrapped his arm around Khione's waist. "Look at what we can do," he gestured over to the structure of ice and black sand that glowed with northern light. A creation that was formed by their fight. "What goes together better than cold, judgement, and dark?" Pitch asked. He pulled Khione over to one side of the sculpture before letting go of her waist and walking to stand between the twins. "We can make them believe. We'll give them a world where everything, everything is-"
"Pitch Black?" The twins asked.
"And Jack and Khione Frost, too. They'll believe in the three of us."
"No Pitch, they'll fear us," Khione said, walking forward a little. "And that's not what we want."
Jack nodded and made to grab Khione's hand, "Now for the last time, leave us alone," Jack said, and just as his hand was about to grab Khione's did Pitch grab her wrist instead and pulled her back.
"Pitch!" Khione protested, and tried to pull her arm back.
"Very well. You want to be left alone. Done. But first…" With his other hand he held out Baby Tooth.
"Khione! Baby Tooth!" Jack shouted, and came forward.
"The staff Jack! You have a bad habit of interfering," Pitch said. "Now hand it over, and I'll let them go."
"Jack, don't you dare-" Khione was cut off by Nightmare sand wrapping around her mouth and both wrist, pulling her further back.
Jack pointed the staff before handing it over. The frost disappeared as soon it touched Pitch's hand.
"All right," Jack said, "Now let them go."
Pitch smirked, he waved his hand and the sand faded from Khione's mouth before he glanced at Jack with a sinister grin. "No. You said you wanted to be alone. So be alone!"
Baby Tooth squealed and stabbed Pitch's hand. Pitch hissed and threw the little tooth sprite. "No!" Jack yelled. Jack turned to see Pitch snap Jack's staff in half.
"NO!" The Twins screamed.
Jack clutched his chest in pain before Pitch threw a blast of black sand, knocking him into a chasm.
"JACK!" Khione screamed, and struggled against her bounds. Pitch laughed and threw the remains of the staff down below.
"Khione!" Jack called back, before he gasped, feeling his twin disappear in darkness. Jack looked around and spotted Baby Tooth on the ground and rushed over to her. "Baby Tooth!" He shouted, and scrambled over to her. Baby Tooth shivered and sneezed. "Sorry, all I can do is keep you cold," Jack apologized.
He sat up and gathered Baby Tooth in his hands
Jack sighed. "Pitch was right," he told Baby Tooth, "I make a mess out of everything."
YAY! I got the movie back! Anywho... Finished with this chapter, now you might see where my inspiration was heading. And now we're coming to an end of the first part of this book! So... yeah.
Thanks to lostfeather1 and ArchersCrown for following and favoring.
