Chapter 13: Two Sides to the Same Coin

Crystal's POV

Thinking in one's mind can really show new things. I have done nothing but think lately it seems. During the battle with Pitch when he hit me with the Nightmare Sand, I didn't really feel any pain or fear. If anything, I felt relaxed, despite the fact I could hear the sounds of fighting from below me and I could almost sense Jack's anguish. But I felt as though I was trying to sleep, until something awakened in me. I do not know how I would ever describe it, yet I guess it kind of felt as though something in my mind just woke up from an endless nap.

The amount of adrenaline and feeling that I felt was overwhelming and I guess that that was why I fell off the branch. This feeling though, felt both exciting and dangerous. I had not felt it in this way ever and was afraid that Pitch had truly done something to me. I told Jack he hadn't though, he looked to be really upset and I knew why too. To him, he failed his promise to Jamie again. If I let him know just what had happened, I was afraid that Jack would go on a rampage for vengeance.

Anyways I was pacing around thinking about Man in Moon had told me before when one of the mini tooth fairies flew in front of my face. I jumped slightly but extended a hand for her to sit on, "What is it Baby Tooth?" She gestured herself and then pointed to my brain. I asked, "Did Tooth find my memories?" She nodded furiously and I laughed, "Slow down there. Don't want to lose your head now." She began to fly again, "Tell Tooth that I will be there shortly. I want to go find Jack." She saluted me and flew out the window.

I walked over to where I saw Jack sitting out the window, in a brooding mood. His hood was over his head and didn't look happy at all. "Um, Jack?" I asked quietly. He looked up and he smiled yet in his eyes I could still see some residual grief.

He spoke quietly, "How are you feeling?" Before I could answer he continued, "I let him hurt you again. I swear, if he ever even looks at you again…"

Something inside of me snapped at that moment. I don't know how it happened but it felt like something just exploded and I shoved him and screamed, "Stop doing that Jack!"

His eyes widened and he at me and for the first time, I saw fear in his eyes. I recoiled slightly myself and my eyes widened, "Oh my god…Jack…I'm so…" I trailed off.

His eyebrows knitted together and he muttered, "No, you are right." He smiled weakly, yet I could tell that it was forced, "I really shouldn't focus on the negative. I should focus on what I should be thankful for." He stood there awkwardly, and I didn't know how to move past it. It was the first time I had yelled at him, and for something so stupid too! I don't understand.

Finally I said, "Tooth found my teeth, want to come with?" I felt horrible asking for this just after I chastised him for being so worried about me.

He nodded glumly and instead of flying we decided to take one of North's globes. I didn't think that I wanted to be in the air with Jack until we got past this. I didn't think he would hurt me, but the fear in his eyes showed that I could hurt him by accident.

We arrived at Tooth Palace and found Tooth waiting for us. In her palm she was holding a small box with a detailed image of myself, I assumed, as a child. She handed it to me and said, "All you need to do is touch the top of the box and your memories will be shown to you." She looked at me and frowned slightly, then she looked at Jack and the frown deepened. She raised a questioning eyebrow in my direction but I shook my head sadly. Jack was staring off into the distance and barely even paying attention to anything.

My heart began to pound with anticipation as my fingers ran over the edges of the box. Finally, I touched the center of the top and I saw stars rise out of it and go into my head. I closed my eyes and let the memories take me where they needed to go.

I opened them and found myself standing in a wheat field. The sun was shining and I could hear laughter to my side. I turned and see a much younger form of my sister, maybe around four years old, her laughter contagious and giggly. I looked down past and I ran to my sister and brought her to…my parents? I was so confused yet I could hear myself yell, "I love you Mom and Dad!"

I didn't understand what was happening because the man and woman in this memory were not the adults that I saw in my house sleeping last night. These two looked completely different. The image faded into another and I saw that I was in some kind of courthouse, tears running down my face as I watched my mother and father be put in handcuffs and taken away. I screamed, "Mom! Dad! Please!" My voice was hoarse, "Please don't leave us behind!" I looked over at a notice that proclaimed: "Married Couple Convicted for the Murder of Government Officials".

My heart seized up in pain and I wanted to scream, but before I knew it, the memory changed again. Now I stood in the house that I had seen last night and I could tell that I was smiling, yet I felt the conflicting emotions inside of me: anger and hate. Before I could react to this predicament, the memory changed yet again and I saw that years had passed, bringing me closer to the age that I appeared as now. I wore nice designer clothing and I was typing at a computer furiously. Reading what I wrote sent a chill down my spine:

"My foster "parents" are so horrible. I hate them. They look at me differently, I know it. Maybe it's because I was old enough to remember my real parents clearly. I hate my real parents for abandoning me and my sister. I hate my school life. Everybody makes fun of me because I'm the daughter of the people who got arrested. If they don't make fun of me, they just ignore me. Don't they see who I really am? Can't they see that I'm different? Well if they think I'm a criminal, they are going to get what they wished for soon."

The memory changed again and I was at a school building at night, holding something tightly to my hand. I put it down and the moonlight streamed through a window and I could clearly see what it was: a bomb. I felt shock run through me, yet my memory self didn't seem to react. If anything, I was smirking. In my head, I could hear myself thinking, "Tomorrow is the day. Tomorrow is the day they all will pay. Tomorrow January 26th, 2226."

I had had enough, I wrenched myself out of the memory and when I opened my eyes again, I saw that I was at Tooth Palace. My hands went limp and the box holding my teeth fell out of my hands. My knees wobbled and I collapsed soon after. I landed on all fours and I began to wail loudly. I distantly felt Jack by my side, holding my shoulders, asking me what was wrong, what did I see that made me upset. I couldn't answer though. Another thought was present in my mind: I am no Guardian. I was…no am evil, a person who tried to kill everyone. Why did Man in Moon bring me here? Why am I a Guardian if I couldn't even protect the people that I lived with?

Jack POV

Glow's outburst towards me earlier really shocked me. I didn't know that she felt that way about what I was doing. I could also tell though that she was really guilty about saying it too. Maybe it was about the way she said it too that made it more painful.

I was waiting for Glow to finish viewing her memories, looking out the window thinking about what else I could have done differently when I heard her begin to scream in pain. I immediately turned to find her on the ground, the teeth box a few inches in front of her. She was wailing and crying incomprehensibly. I moved to her side to ask what was wrong, what did she see, but she didn't answer. She just kept on wailing.

After a few moments, I sensed a dark presence nearby. I turned to look up and saw Pitch riding one of his Nightmare horses. "Not now!" I thought angrily. I moved to a protective stance in front of Glow and Tooth flew up to my side as well.

We heard Pitch laugh, "Aw. Is little Glow sad? Did she see something that she didn't like?" I was about to retort back when behind me I heard a tiny whimper. I turned and for the first time I saw her cowering from Pitch. She didn't try to stand up to him, she just gave up. What has gotten into her? My heart felt as though it was breaking in two at the sight of her being so afraid, so feeble.

I shot a wave of ice and snow towards Pitch and he jumped off of his horse. Some of the horses disintegrated immediately but it seemed as though the horses were endless yet again. Tooth let out a battle cry and dove into the midst. I stood back to guard Glow and heard, "Ah Jack Frost. A pitiful attempt to protect a wonderful girl with such potential."

I turned around to see Pitch on the opposite side of Glow and I called on my ice magic. I growled, "You will never have her. I won't let you."

Pitch raised an eyebrow in surprise and laughed, "Ha! You might be able to protect her. But who will protect you?" Before I could react, a wave of Nightmare sand slammed into to me and I flew directly into the wall. I felt myself losing my ability to stay conscious and the last thing I saw before I completely blacked out was Pitch reaching for Glow.

"Jack? Jack! Vake up!"

I slowly opened my eyes and shook my head in an attempt to lose some of the drowsiness. Faint memories of what had happened before I blacked out came to me. North was kneeling by my side, worry etched across his face. I groaned, my head screaming in pain, "What happened?" North didn't respond and my heartrate began to increase. I stood up, a little too quickly as nausea swept over me, and shook him, "We beat him right? Tell me we beat him!"

Bunny appeared at his side, looking sadder than the time when he wasn't believed in. His ears were drooped and he said, "I'm sorry mate."

My eyes must have become wild because the others backed up slightly. I screamed, "Where is she?!"

Tooth walked up to me and whispered, "I'm sorry Jack. I couldn't get there in time." My heart plummeted at hearing those words. She continued, "I was in the middle of fighting Nightmares when I saw get knocked out. I tried to get to Glow but he grabbed her arm and pulled her up from the ground. She seemed to pass out after that." By the time I could reach them, a swirling vortex of darkness appeared surrounding everything. Pitch disappeared."

She stopped speaking and I asked again, "And Crystal?"

The others looked surprised when I used her other name but North sadly said, "He took her with him. I'm sorry, Jack, but she is gone."

Everything seemed to go fuzzy for a moment and I stumbled towards where I last saw her. Only the box of the teeth remained. I fell to my knees and slammed the ground with my fist, a layer of ice appearing. I began to scream, just as Glow had a few moments before. In my mind, I was inconsolable. I was angry because Pitch took the one I loved away from me, but I was in anguish as well because once again, I failed Jamie.

After a little while, I rose to my feet and looked up towards where the moon was shining brightly. With tears running down my face I murmured, "Man in Moon, if you can hear me, then keep her safe. Keep her safe until I can find her. Because when I do, I won't hold back against Pitch. I know that it isn't what the Guardians are supposed to do, but if I find him, I am going to kill him. Permanently."