Ack, sorry fort the slight delay, guys. I wrote twenty-one pages of thy other story yesterday and proofread all of them and after that I just had to take a small break to refresh my mind
And other sad news: Life, jealous mistress that she is, having decided that I am devoting too much attention to my stories and not enough to her, took a frying-pan to my head. So I might not be able to update for a few days while I cater to Life's every whim in an attempt to appease her and avoid anymore frying-pan-induced headaches.
In other news. I probably stated somewhere in the last Interlude that I wouldn't do many chapters that weren't from Jack's point of view. So of course that means I almost immediately do another chapter from someone else's pov. Here's to Bunny.
...Or In Which Set Is Explained...
Bunny sits on a rickety, wooden chair beside a small bed upon which lies the unconscious form of Jack Frost. The Pooka always thought Jack looked small, but only now, with the child wearing only a set of thin, cotton scrubs, can Bunny see just how emaciated he really is. Every one of Jack's ribs can clearly be seen under a thin layer of skin. His skin-tone, naturally unearthly pale, is made even more so by the dark purple bruising and angry red lacerations covering him. All of it is bandaged now, but when the Guardians took the boy up to North's workshop to treat and saw the extent of damage, they had to pause to collect themselves.
While they were dressing his wounds, they found old scars under his new ones, numerous and diverse, suggesting he'd been through this before. One of the worst was a gouge mark running from his left shoulder to his right hip. It was rough and uneven, made by something more similar to a fishhook than a blade. Branded into his lower back in painfully intricate calligraphy was the word: Claimed.
But for all the wounds that were obviously inflicted by Set, the ones that were self inflicted hurt the Guardians more. On each of the boy's wrists were several, small white scars. At his temple was a faint, round burn, just the size of a bullet. At least two attempts at suicide, and Bunny can think of so many more methods that wouldn't leave any scars for the Guardians to see.
When the three Guardians had finished bandaging the boy, Pitch stepped out of his shadows and suggested, "You might want to check for internal damage in the pelvic region," Everyone had glared at him simply for being there, but he'd refused to leave the boy's side, and when Jack had fallen from the tree, Pitch was the one who caught him, so the Guardians made a grudging allowance in him staying.
They had followed his advice as well, and when they found signs of rape, Tooth had to leave.
Now, with Tooth still recovering from the revelation and North outside comforting her, Bunny is watching over the child and actively ignoring the constant presence that is Pitch Black. Jack whimpers and clutches his staff tighter - he wouldn't release it, even unconscious - and before Bunny can do anything, Pitch is there, wiping the boy's forehead with a cold rag.
Unable to stand it, Bunny asks, "What are ya doin' 'ere mate?"
"I'm making sure you incompetent fools don't mess this up more than you already have," The shadow spirit shoots back.
"Yeah? An' why do ya care about Frostbite here so much, eh? He wasn' nothin' to ya until you thought he was one o' us," Bunny only barely manages to restrain himself from shouting as he stands from his chair and faces down the Nightmare King, "Ya probably jus' want 'im ta 'elp ya take over the world!"
"Means nothing to me? I spent fifty years chasing after this boy, trying to figure out who his is!" Pitch retaliates, surging up as well and looming over the seven foot Pooka, "What have you done for him, Guardian? I'm not the one who rejected the boy. I'm not the one hurt him, who broke him, but you know that, don't you rabbit? You know what you did when you met the boy; it's you're fault he's like this! What right do you have to say about what I'm going to do with him?" His sass seemingly expelled, Pitch shrinks back to his regular size and sits next to Jack, opposite Bunny, and resumes wiping his brow.
Bunny looks down the limp form on the bed. He knows Pitch was simply reading his fears and spitting them back in his face, but he can't help but think that he is right. If Bunny had taken the time to listen then, could he have prevented this? If he'd lent a shoulder to the boy then, would the bullet mark still be there? No, no it wouldn't be, he is sure of it.
It's all his fault.
He's shaken out of his wallowing when he hears Pitch snickering at him, "Ya bastard," He spit, sitting back down, "Ya did that just ta get a rise outa me,"
The Nightmare King shrugs, "Perhaps, but that makes what I said no less true,"
Bunny grits his teeth. He knows that, and he will have time to be regretful and try to make it up to the boy later. Right now, he and everybody needs to care for Jack's physical needs and find Set. He can't be wallowing in misery just yet.
Set...
The lunatic spirit wasn't anywhere near the lake by the time the Guardians had gotten there. Apparently, he'd already left by the time Pitch had arrived as well; although, Bunny still doesn't trust the King of Fear enough to take his word at it. If Pitch didn't know about what was happening, how did he find Jack before the Guardians? He is interrupted from his musings when Tooth and North reenter the room, Tooth having recollected herself. She flits to the bed, Plume (who had been forced to stay out of the room while Jack was being treated) darting from her shoulder to land beside Jack's head.
"Why-how could Set do this?" Tooth whispers, "He's just a child,"
"Th' bloke's off 'is rocker, ya know that," Bunny replies, although he's in just as much disbelief as she is - if not for the same reasons.
Set had once been a good spirit, or at least a moderately tolerable one. He'd always been a braggart. Of course, he could often back-up his prideful boasts with his extraordinary combat prowess. Bunny still remembers his first meeting with the - at the time young - spirit.
Set had the reddest hair Bunny had ever seen, and it constantly moved as if it were blowing in a breeze, even if wind was nowhere to be found. He was smiling - when was Set ever not smiling? - and hugging his newlywed wife, Nephthus, about the waist with one arm as he chatted with his brother, Osiris.
Bunny had been invited to the wedding, although he wasn't sure why. He'd heard of Set, of course - it was hard to when he went around playing tricks, causing storms, and generally just making a nuisance of himself - but he'd never personally met the young spirit before.
He soon discovered why when, after a grand feast, Set invited him to a duel. Set, Bunny learned, never bypassed a chance to showcase his skills, and what better way to prove battle prowess than take on the infamous Bunnymund - inventor of martial arts?
Bunny accepted the challenge, naturally. He'd teach the braggart a lesson.
The battle lasted three days before they called it a tie.
Their next duel, a few years later, Bunny won.
And Set took the next victory.
Over the years, the two warriors had bonded over their fights. Whenever Bunny wasn't busy taking care of his googies, and Set wasn't causing a storm, they'd get together and discuss various strategies and techniques, or Set would sometimes try to set his senior up with a date. It never worked.
Once, Bunny had given Set and his wife a matching set of glass eggs inside which the Nile flowed through a desert in miniature for their first centennial anniversary. They were one of a kind and Bunny had put hours of back breaking work into making them.
In return, Set flooded the Warren.
No lasting damage had been done, and Tooth got a laugh out of the whole ordeal, more from Bunny's grumbling face than anything. Really, though, no one could expect anything different with the Spirit of Chaos. The phrase, "Expect the unexpected," was practically invented for Set.
Chaos was his Center, and he used it to keep life interesting for both humans and spirits.
But then something had gone wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. Set's Center twisted and warped. It consumed him. It happens, occasionally. Something happens to a spirit that pushes them over the edge, drives away their sanity and allows their Center to run wild. All spirits are vaguely aware that it could happen - in the same way that people are aware of violent murders and natural disasters. It happened; it just didn't happen to people you know.
So when Set's harmless pranks became a little less harmless, Bunny didn't think anything of it. He figured that maybe Set was simply having a bad week or was currently in one of his rare arguments with his beloved wife. It never occurred to him that Set's Center was spinning out of control.
Not until Set took his brother Osiris and ripped him to shreds with his bare hands.
Only then did Bunny realize what was going on, and by then it was too late. Set was too far gone. So, Bunny did the only thing he could do, he gathered the Guardians to hunt down his friend before he could do anymore damage.
But Set was unpredictable on a good day. Fueled by the single desire to spread chaos as he was, Set was nearly impossible to find. All they could do was follow the disasters the rampaging spirit left behind and hope for a lead.
They were on the hunt for two years before they finally discovered where he now took residence. It was a cave - a maze of tunnels really - the entrance of which, Set could open anywhere he chose. That day they didn't find Set, but they found Aphrodite, bound by chains to a wall in a dark room. Even after they got her out and treated her and put her back in the company of loving friends, she refused to talk, to sleep. She refused to do anything until eventually her Center of Love faded away and she slipped from existence. Manny quickly chose Cupid to replace her; the world couldn't go on with no Spirit of Love.
They found Set a month later, while he was freely gifting food to a hungry child. Despite knowing better, Bunny had tried to talk to his best friend and fellow fighter. He tried to bring him back, to no avail.
Set attacked them, not out of self-defense or anger, but simply because he could. He laughed hysterically, and cried hysterically, but he was always smiling. Set always smiled.
This battle also lasted three days, but this time, Bunny won.
There are two ways to kill a spirit. The first, many know of. A spirit is dependent on his or her Center. If they go against their Center long enough, they will fade from existence, just as Aphrodite did. The second is a closely guarded secret, one Set discovered on accident. It is possible to kill a spirit by physical means, but it takes nothing less than ripping every limb apart and keeping the limbs apart so they don't heal back together. Set did this to his brother, and as Bunny crouched above the defeated Set, he couldn't bring himself to commit the same act.
Instead, Set was cuffed in moonbeams and placed in an eternal slumber by the Man in the Moon before the Guardians placed him in an egg-shaped cocoon of Bunny's making and buried him under the Nile. Set had always loved the Nile.
They had hoped that if he rested peacefully for long enough, that would be considered going against his Center of Chaos and he'd be able to fade away without the violent and painful act of tearing him to pieces.
Obviously that didn't happen.
Bunny couldn't figure out how Set escaped the spell placed on him, still couldn't quite believe that his one-time friend would be willing to do this, but he knew one thing. He would find Set, and this time, he would ensure that Set could never take any victims again.
Sorry, this chapter has very little plot progression, but I figured now's a good a time as any to learn about Set. Also, that thing about tearing up his brother. That's part of the actual myth. The. dude. has. issues.
Also, it just occurred to me that I ten to make Bunny an ass in all of my stories... I wonder why? I mean, I actually do like Bunny...
Next chapter: Stuff will likely happen.
Okay, Fun Time!
Thanks to everyone who favorited/followed this story so far! I'm now into triple digits. Tears. Of. Joy.
Dreamaker401: Thanks. It pleases me to know I am ripping hearts out... aaand that's not weird at all. Nope. Pitch is fun because I can be all kinds of melodramatic with him.
AyameKitsune: Yeah, ooh boy. Well, first, Jack's gonna have to convince eveyone he's not crazy when he tells them the Wind has a crush on Pitch. Wow. that. Conversation.
Qwerty124: Yes. Yes they are. With Pitch there, the plot might actually progress a little.
Tello: Feeling ways about stuff is always good. I'm glad you think it's good.
Jackiefrost: Yeah, I'm a total Pitch sympathizer so I just couldn't resist but add him in. Yeah, the Guardians have a bad habit. It's like if you don't talk, they forget you're there. The same thing probably happens with Sandy a lot too.
EpicDetour9: Sorry for missing a day. I'll do my best to keep up my updates... but Life is holding that frying-pan very threateningly... And I hope you like the explanation of why Set does what he does...
I.F.T.S: Set's past, from Bunny's pov. Just to make this story a little more tragic.
Guest: Good, or, ya know... moderately tolerable.
Night-Fury1: Blows on fingers. Yes I am. Glad you liked the last chapter that much.
Mystery Girl Who Writes: I in every way agree with your statement. Emphatically.
LuvFiction Xxxx: Well, I hope you can learn to tolerate Pitch. He's a cocky bastard, but he'll be showing up a bit if for no other reason than I love to write him. And poor Bunny; I have a bad habit of making him an impulsive idiot. Well, hopefully you'll continue to enjoy the story!
Guest: Tentatively. They very tentatively put aside their differences. With lots of glares. and banter. and Pitch showing everybody up.
Fumus000: Manny. I have a whole rant in my head right now about Manny that I won't subject my readers to. And Sandy. Don't worry about that. I've got it handled. Mostly. Kinda... A little... Yeah, I like Set because he does all the crap he does just because he can. There's no better bad guy than the bad guy who does bad things just cause he can.
Goddess-of-Genius: I haven't actually read the Guardian's of Childhood series, but I can almost certainly tell you that he is not from those books. But neither did I make him up. Set (or Typhon) is from Egyptian mythology. He was the God of Chaos. I took that and bent it to my purposes.
Alaia Skyhawk: Yes. Yes he should have, but then we wouldn't have this wonderful story because Jack - being Jack - would have mostly recovered from his extremely traumatic experience and would have made a friend in Bunny and there'd be no angst.
Whitewolf: Pretty much. Unless one of the characters decide they don't wanna cooperate with the plot and I have to make changes to my plan. That happens more often than I'd like to admit.
Eternal She-Wolf: You mean "seeing Pitch SNARK at the Guardians" I don't think he'll ever stop being an ass.
phantomworks: Set's really strong. I don't think they be able to fight Pitch and Set at the same time. Especially with Jack mostly out of commission. Especially with their believer count so low... Wow, the Guardians are in a bad way right now.
Lady dream-chan: Jack will love it. Once he stops freaking out and panicking about it. I'll try to keep updating as much as I can for sweet readers like you.
Guest: Thanks! ALways nice to know people like my characterization. And Yeah, without Pitch, there'd be almost no plot progression so thank Mim for him. And Set, well, he's mostly explained above. Why specifically Jack? Well, perhaps it's just because he's gone completely insane... or perhaps there's something more.
Final Syai Lunar Generation: The plot is developing very slowly. Rabid Jack was fun to write. Sorry on the chapter dedicated to only Set. Every story needs a boring backstory chapter.
Sleepery: I should clarify. I won't explicitly write the rape out, but I'll imply and infer the hell out of it. Oh NOES you found my one weakness! Must. Resist. The British. Accent...
KitsuneMagic48: I do too. I'm a sucker for a good happy ending.
therosebaron: Oh, hello again no-longer-an-anon. Hopefully, following this story will lead you to great places.
Thank you again great people! Sorry for the possible mini hiatus that we may all have to suffer through.