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The declaration had made her laugh. As though one spirit's opinion mattered at all to her. Letting him have a sense of triumph, she chose not to rise from her place in the snow. A peculiar sensation had come over her as he towered there. She had the impression of an invisible connection existing between her and the white haired spirit. Disregarding the affinity she had felt for him given their mutual rapport with the winter elements, she still sensed some attachment to the youngest guardian.
Though Pitch had gone to great lengths to tell her about his 'near escape' following his battle with the Guardians, she had always felt he had embellished a bit on the danger they had posed. Her assumption was justified by the inaction of the others as Jack stood over her. It was clear that they were all waiting for her to weigh her options. Likely they expected her to surrender. Outnumbered and sure to be hungry, they likely figured she would just capitulate. She briefly considered a false armistice as it could easily allow her to slip away at a later time. Reneging on the agreement would certainly not diminish her position in their eyes, nor would it be the first time someone had failed to honor a détente.
Ultimately it was her curiosity with respect to the mysterious link seemingly connecting her to the ice wielder that influenced her actions. Just as he had called forth a tidal wave of elemental fury by channeling his energy through his staff, so Annis prepared to do. Bracing her hands against the ground, the snow falling thickly over them, the evil witch concentrated on pushing her essence into the earth beneath her. Though the elements were sluggish in responding to her, the few seconds that passed between Jack's announcement and his understanding of her intent were all she needed.
It did not escape her notice that he could apparently feel the energy she expended. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him. His own orbs widened as he felt the rumbling underneath his feet. When his eyes glanced downward, she took the provided opportunity to rise to her feet. Drained from using her essence in such a manner, she wobbled a bit. The fairies which had pelted her with the dull, brick-colored dust had rallied around their mistress, their rapidly buzzing wings creating a slight breeze. Extending her hand outward, palm upward with only her forefinger extended, she crooked the clawed phalanx in an attempt to coax the air to her will. Feeling it bend and approach, she smiled in malicious delight.
Misinterpreting her gesture, Bunnymund drew his boomerangs, firing both towards the witch. "You want it, sheila? You got it!" The first hit its mark, cracking soundly against her outstretched hand. Hissing from the pain as she felt several small bones break, Annis reached up and snatched the second wooden projectile from the air. The rabbit's eyes widened momentarily before narrowing as he bounded toward her, snow flying into the air as his feet displaced it.
Cackling laughter echoed about them when his body collided with hers. The wind she had cajoled into her service carried her further from him than was the hare's intent, the momentum of his attack covering the act. Kneeling, she allowed her hair to cover her face, the blue hue of her skin providing an icier appearance. One knee poised beneath her and the other foot flat against the ground, she appeared to push against the frozen dirt beneath her. Instead, her talons sunk into the soil, siphoning the small amount of her essence with which she had so recently infused it. The crack of nearby trees as their life was sapped from them effectively covered the noise of the frozen surface of the canal behind her breaking apart.
Stepping forward, Jack used the moisture in the air to create blocks of ice around her hands, attempting to hold her in place. "You have no minions to aid you, Annis. Your reign of terror ends now." Punctuating the final word with another barrage of snow, the wave's crest crashing against her crouched form created a dome of white around her. Looking up at the ice wielder, she chuckled mirthlessly.
"Does it now?" It was no struggle for her to pull herself from the manufactured winter prison. "I think you've forgotten something, Jack."
"I'm not the only one who seems to have a faulty memory."
Annis' eyes widened in surprise as the winter spirit drew on the moisture from the sluggishly flowing waterway behind her in order to build a wall of ice, effectively removing her most convenient exit. The twinkling chime of crystallized water had drawn her attention to the barrier. Jaw dropping slack in surprise, she was unprepared for the blow to her left cheek from Toothiana's fist. As she staggered to catch her balance, left hand rising to her jaw to rub the forming bruise, she glared at the fairy, placing her back against the solid sheet of ice.
"Going to drop it on me, Jack? Not exactly gentlemanly."
The white haired guardian snorted derisively. "No need to treat you with civility since you can hardly be considered a refined being."
She snarled, launching herself at him. One of the hag's claws entered his left shoulder as their forms collided. The pain from the injury lanced through the ice wielder. His head fell back as a scream of agony ripped from his throat. Annis' wicked smile once more covered her face as Jack's knees buckled. A rush of elation coursed through her veins as she slowly drained his essence from him directly. Untainted by the darkness that permeated the nightmare king, the thrill consuming her senses was wholly different. His immortal energy tasted sweet and tangy, not bitter and rotted like Pitch's had. She reveled in it, savoring each morsel she drew out. Her single-minded concentration on siphoning the winter guardian's core left her unprepared for the unexpected sensation of North's sabre severing her finger at the knuckle. Her unadulterated distress echoed through the lifeless trees of the nearby woods. She withdrew her hand quickly, hissing through her teeth. Raising her head, she glared at the Christmas spirit, confused as to how his weapon had been able to harm her.
The witch's consternation was shared by the jolly guardian. Staring at the cossack blade in utter shock, he somewhat resembled a gawping fish. She sneered at him, preparing to charge him. Recovering from the jarring effect of his sword penetrating her form, North raised the weapon as she headed for him, prepared to skewer her. With the momentum that carried her forward, she knew she would not be able to halt her advance in time to avoid the sabre. Calling to the wind once more, she reveled in how well it responded with Jack's energy flowing through her being. Using the elemental force to propel herself over the Russian, she saw the gleaming tip of the sharp blade as it passed within centimeters of her remaining eye.
Letting her injured hand fall to her side as she landed, she was hardly prepared for the bruising force of the dream weaver's sand train. Whether he had been waiting for her to be in an open area or simply for his fellow guardians to not be collateral damage, Annis was unsure. The one thing that was clear to her was that she needed to end this. Pushing herself up from the snow, shaking the precipitate from her face as she rose to her knees, she briefly mused that it would be a simple matter to let them ice over the mouth of her cave with her inside while she clawed herself another entrance. The only thing preventing her from taking that easy path was the fact that the witch simply did not want to give them the brief satisfaction that they would derive from thinking that they had defeated her.
Hands still surrounded by the white powder, she drew on her connection to the winter elements. She could not remember a time when the earth's decay had not bent to her will. The season marked a time of death, ice and snow working together to create frozen tundras of melancholy. Children playing in the wintry weather after dark had often fallen prey to her in times long past. Her affinity for the cold and all its accoutrements was apparent. Annis threw her head back as she stared past the other four, focusing on the injured mischievous youth.
"Do you know what you forgot yet, Jack?" She watched as the winter spirit rose from the ground pressing a hand to his shoulder. His glare bespoke his hatred for her. She chuckled as she continued to goad him. "I'm just as much in touch with the winter as you are."
The anger that infused the normally convivial ice wielder felt like fire rushing through his veins. Cyan sparks arced from his fingertips as he allowed the emotion to overwhelm him. Bellowing his rage, he froze the air around her, encasing her in a block of ice. The malicious smile fixed on her features enraged him further, causing him to call forth a torrent of snow. The powdery substance fell over the cube, obscuring it fully from their sight. Drained from the outburst, Jack fell to his knees on the white plain, his panting breaths evidence of his exertion.
"Good onya, mate. Except now we haveta uncover her."
"Why bother?" Though his voice was strained, the ice wielder's question was heard clearly by each of the others. Upset by his attitude, the wind blew snow in his face. Glaring into the nether, Jack sighed. "All right. Just... Give me a minute. Can we at least leave her in the ice block?" North crossed his arms over his chest, one eyebrow raised. Sandy's hands were on his hips as his narrowed eyes stared at his comrade in displeasure. The miniature tooth fairies buzzed about his head in disdain of his suggestion. Batting them away, the mischief maker capitulated. "Okay, okay! Sheesh."
"Don't you worry none, mate. Between the five of us, we'll be able to herd her back into that cave and keep her there until we can find the right spice." The lagomorph gathered up his boomerangs as he spoke, sheathing them once more. When he walked around to the back of the snow drift, the hare noticed the furrow in the earth, just under the blanket of snow. Seeing the hole at the base of the icy prison the youngest guardian had created, he frowned. "Nevermind, mate. She's flown the coop."
"How is that possible?" Toothiana's voice bordered on shrill as she quickly flitted over to verify the rabbit's observation. She rocketed upward, trying to catch sight of the witch. Unable to see anything but snow-covered ground, she landed once again, pacing in agitation.
Throwing his head back in frustration, Jack groaned. "I can't believe I fell for it."
"Chto?" North's brow was furrowed in confusion as he tried to determine the mischief maker's meaning.
Rubbing the back of his neck as he let his head fall forward, the ice wielder looked at each of them sheepishly. "She can control the winter elements. She set a trap, knowing I would react in anger after she attacked me. I walked right into it."
The hospital had been stifling. It was one thing for Libby to think she was not completely sane. She could also understand her mother's concern over her mental state and agreement to admit her to the facility for evaluation. What she could not reconcile was why she had to be locked in a room and denied the ability to walk outside.
Maisie had simply had enough of it. When they came to give her the medicine, she waited by the door. As the cart pushed through, she reached her hand onto the door frame, poking her head out a bit and giving the night's assigned visitor a broad smile. Moving her hand to the door, she pulled it open wider, gesturing for him to enter. Taken aback by the friendly demeanor of a patient he had been told was surly and uncooperative, he smiled back, never noticing the thick paper she had attached to the side of the door with chewing gum. Directly underneath the latch for the door lock, the gum peeking just over the top would hopefully catch the metal as it was pushed back in, keeping the lock from bolting completely.
She took the pill cup, swallowing the medicine. Knowing she would have about an hour before the drugs began to maker her drowsy, she handed the empty cup back and climbed into bed, grabbing a book to deter conversation. Shaking his head, the orderly simply backed the cart out of the room, not noticing as he made his was down the hall that the door had not fully closed.
Waiting for him to enter the next room was an excruciating process for the young girl. The paper thin walls alerted her to his location within a few minutes as the patient he was trying to medicate began screaming and yelling. Maisie smiled as she quickly rose from the bed, slipping the hospital gown over her head to reveal her street clothes.
She cracked open the door only a bit, making sure there was no one in the hallway who could ambush her before she made good her escape. It was not as though she intended to run away or lead them on a merry chase. She only wanted a bit of fresh air. Their 'considered medical opinion' was that she would not benefit from it, and so she had been denied a walk outside.
Determining that she would be able to make it to the elevator without incident, she stepped out of her room. She pulled the door to, not quite letting it latch, before sprinting to the lift. Pushing the button a bit more forcefully than she needed to, she tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the indicator signaling its arrival to light. After what seemed to her mind to be hours of tortuous delay, the car finally appeared. Quickly stepping in, she was glad to see it was empty. She pushed the button for the ground floor, glimpsing the orderly coming around the corner just as the doors slid closed.
She paced the confined space as she waited for the lift to open once again. Darting from the tiny box that had borne her downstairs as soon as the portal slid apart, she raced to the main entrance. A smile lit Maisie's young face as she stepped out into the clear air once more. Though she knew she had only been in the hospital a very short time, the stale feel of it made the passage of time comparable to eons.
For the first time in a long while, she twirled about as the snow fell, arms stretched upward to the sky, reveling in the beauty of the falling precipitation. Enraptured by the long denied pleasure of the simple and not sterilized open air, she took no note of the hunched figure approaching her. Letting her arms drop to her sides, she stayed in front of the infirmary doors, not wanting to wander off into the night. Closing her eyes, Maisie smiled as she felt the light at her back an the cool snow-filled air in front of her.
Strong fingers closing about her arm had her opening her eyes. As she took in the horrifying visage staring down into her face, she inhaled a large gulp of air, preparing to scream. The clawed hand closing about her throat effectively silenced her, only a small squeak passing through her lips. Pulling her head back as far as she could when the terrifying woman leaned toward her, she fervently wished she had simply accepted their edict. Maisie had no doubt that the single silver orb trying to pierce her soul belonged to the witch Annis. Her dismay was palpable as the witch spoke.
"I'm famished after that row with Jack." The eye slid closed as the hag inhaled. "Fear is such a sweet scent." Eye popping back open, the evil spirit let a hideous grin form on her face. Opening her mouth as she prepared to consume the child's soul, her whispered words burned themselves into the young girl's mind.
"You'll do."