"That, dear child, is a Nightmare. They strike fear into the hearts of the children." he said, pushing the sleigh further towards the Tooth Palace. As another Nightmare, then another, then another still flew past, Jack started to freeze them. Sandy made something that looked like a horse whip out of dream sand. Bunny kept throwing little exploding easter egges at them, but North kept pushing forwards.

After the fifth Nightmare flew by, I started to notice something. They're ribcages were...

Actual cages. And in those cages held a dozen mini-tooths, each.

"Guys! Don't let the Nightmares fall! The mini-tooths are in them!" But no one heard me. And by the time we reached the actual Tooth Palace, all the fairies were gone. Tooth franticly fluttered around, looking in little slots in the golden walls.

"They took all of them. All the teeth. All the fairies." She floated towards a hallway, and dissapeared down it. Jack, Bunny, North, Sandy, and I exchanged confused glances, then followed. At the end of the hallway, it was a Japaneese-style zen garden. A sheer rock wall with a japaneese-style mural rose up at the far end, over a crystal clear pool. She sat down dejectedly at the edge of the pool, her face fallen and sad. Jack went down to sit next to her.

"I'm sorry about the fairies," he offered.

"You should have seen them. They put up such a fight." She answered, crestfallen.

"Why would Pitch take the teeth?" I asked.

"It's not the teeth he wanted, Ashllyn. It's the memories inside them. That's why we collect the teeth. They hold the most important memories of childhood."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked. Tooth flew over the water and Jack followed by freezing the water under his feet. I walked as close to the wall as I could, then stepped on some stepping stones.

"My fairies and I watched over them. And when someone needs to remember what's important, we helped them."

As she talked, I felt something tingle. A warm, fuzzy sensation in the pit of my stomach. I felt suddenly invigorated. But, as Tooth looked sadly at the mural, its paint started to flake and fall off.

"Huh! Oh no! The children! We're to late!" Her feathers started to fall off.

"No. NO! No such thing as to late!" North bellowed. He gathered us around him.

" .Hm...Wait. Wait, wait, wait! IDEA!" He said, swinging his swords. "We, will collect the teeth!"

"What?" Tooth asked, bewildered by such an idea.

"Yes, we get teeth, children keep beliving. In you!" he said to her.

"We're talking seven continents, millions of kids-"

"Give me break. You know how many toys I deliver in one night?" North said, his chest puffed up a little.

"And eggs I hide in one day?" Bunny interjected. Sandy floated to head-hight, and flashed a thumbs-up sand-sign.

Jack and I looked at each other. "I'm in!" he said.

"Me too!"I put in. That tingly feeling was back. I felt as if I could do anything. I felt like I could touch the sky, hold fire, run faster than light. As the feeling reached its peak, my fingers sparked. Like they had been stuck in an electrical socket. I tried to do it again, and this time, a miniature purple lightning storm formed in my hands.

"Ashllyn, what is keeping you?" North asked. I had been lost in thought so long that I hadn't even realized that the others were in the sleigh.

"Oh, nothing. I'm coming." I would have to expariment more with that. All I could think about was that mini puple storm I had conjured. That is, until we hit our first stop.


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