Hey guys! Wow…this is probably honestly the hardest chapter I've ever written. I had to do a lot of brainstorming and thought-mapping to make sure everything made sense. If you guys are still confused- I totally understand and feel free to PM me or leave a review.

Otherwise- HOPE YOU ENJOY!

Jamie came out of the kitchen with a large piece of poster paper. "Will this do?"

"Yes this is perfect, thank you Jamie." Tooth smiled gratefully. She popped the cap of the marker off with a satisfying 'pop', placing the tip on the blank sheet. "Oh geez, how do I even start? Um…"

Bunny placed a paw on her shoulder. "Maybe we should send a message to Sandy. He's the oldest out of all of us- he should be able to explain this the best."

Tooth shook her head. "No no no, he's doing his job on the other side of the world and making sure children are still dreaming. He's also keeping an eye out on Pitch and Death's activities for us…I-I don't want to burden him further. I can do this."

She took a breath, regaining her composure. "Okay. So. In the beginning of time, there was nothing. Just clear, empty space filled with random particles." She dotted the white sheet. "However, in one moment, all these particles randomly hit each other at the same exact point, and the collision created-"

"The Universe." Ariadne finished. She was sitting back on the couch regarding the drawing with narrow eyes. "I studied a bit of this back in school, we called it the Big Bang Theory."

Tooth blinked owlishly, looking at North. The large man shook his head, rubbing his beard thoughtfully. "Well…not exactly… it created a sort of… being of energy…er… capable of thought. How do you say in english…uh…сознание?"

"A consciousness." Laverna piped up. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor and everyone stared at her. She held her hands up in defense. "What? My past self was Russian!"

"Um, right. Sure. So, a single consciousness." Tooth continued sketching. "Now, upon realizing Its isolation in the universe, It began to learn how it can- um, move itself. Kind of how a baby constantly tries and learns to walk. It learned how to move particles and atoms together to create at first just rocks and dust floating in space. As time went on, It evolved and was able to create mass objects… like stars and comets. Soon, these began to differentiate into galaxies because large objects attract other objects together."

"Huh…physics." Jamie murmured with understanding. "And here I thought all of science would be refuted."

Tooth shrugged. "If that's what you humans call it, sure." She then flipped the page over drew a line. "Anyways, soon It realized it can create other things…like planets. So in one particular galaxy, It created various planets. However, It started to feel lonely, so It used its abilities to create another entity…one which chose to reside on a particular planet and give it life. This planet became known as Earth- and that entity herself is-"

"-Mother Nature." Ariadne concluded. She rubbed her chin with awe. "Amazing. I always figured life just burst from bacteria or single-celled organisms."

Elios rolled his fiery eyes. "Do you always have to interrupt?"

Laverna smacked him against his arm and he grunted in pain. "Chill Elios. Anyways, Ariadne you're right in a way, but it was Mother Nature who produced those cells in the first place."

Tooth nodded in agreement. "Right, now the Original Being knew that while Mother Nature had the ability to produce life, but that was the extent of her abilities. So It helped her extend herself to create the seasonal spirits. Spring," Laverna raised her hand.

"Summer," Elios nodded curtly before looked away,

Tooth paused, "…Autumn," she eventually whispered sadly. The whole room was silent for a moment, remembering the fate of their beloved friend.

"And Winter." A voice came from the stairs. Everyone turned to see Jack slowly wobbling to the entranceway. North immediately walked over to him to hold him upright. The Winter Spirit wore a loose white t-shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants, sweat matting his white hair. He was breathing heavily.

"Jack, you should be restin'." North spoke softly. "Yer in no state to be up and 'bout."

"How are you feeling?" Tooth fluttered her wings with worry.

"Loads better, thanks to Ariadne." Jack gave a tired but grateful smile to the woman. "Jamie told me what happened when I woke up earlier today."

Ariadne shook her head, rubbing her neck sheepishly. She hated how she suddenly felt self-conscious. "Nah, it's nothing. Anyone with the means would've done the same thing."

Jack opened his mouth to retort but Elios interjected. "Good, you're up. We need to talk."

Laverna grabbed the back of Elios' shirt to stop him. "Elios, let Tooth finish. We can talk to Jack after all this- it's all related anyways."

Elios looked down at the Spring Spirit and sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Fine."

"Right, well…" The Guardian of Memories grabbed another marker. "As I was saying, so the Original Being created the seasonal spirits to aid Mother Nature in creating abundant life on our planet. It initially thought that, once she had successfully created life that was capable of evolving, she would leave to another planet and- along with the other seasonal spirits- continue to bring life to all other planets.

"However, she grew fond of Earth and yearned to stay. She saw first hand how her creations evolved to so many different and versatile forms of life and grew fascinated. Of course, if she stayed, then the seasonal spirits also stayed. And in turn, since the Original Being had come to love It's first and closest companion, It decided to stay too. It formed a moon that would forever orbit the Earth, and chose to inhabit it so It could watch Its beloved world come to life. It is now known as the Man in the Moon."

"Wait, hang on." Jamie cut in, waving his hands in front of him with confusion. "I'm confused…why did the Original Being become…well… a 'Man' in the Moon? Or I guess, how did any one of you become human…like?"

"We'll get to that in a bit." Elios answered. "But first, you have to know that naturally, with only life existing, destruction was about to follow."

"As he watched the world bloom, he also saw how it wouldn't stop." He continued grimly. "Everything kept being born and overrunning the planet. Imagine, the roots of trees and plants that would not stop delving deeper into the ground…animals and bacteria that kept digging apart the soil…everything kept occupying the surface and breaking into the Earth itself, so much so that the planet began to fall apart.

"Mother Nature was devastated. Here she was, given such a gift, only for it to lead to the destruction of her beloved's creations. So the Man in the Moon created a being that would bring balance, or that should only bring balance…"

"Death." Bunny muttered angrily. Tooth nodded sadly. "That was his only purpose, he was just supposed to end life so it could be a continuous cycle- one that would eventually lead to less chaos and more order. For example, only those who possess certain qualities will be able to continue surviving, and those individuals will continue to shape the world."

"Natural selection, or in other words, Evolution." Ariadne murmered.

"Sure." Bunny shrugged offhandedly. "Whatever you guys call it. And for decades they simply existed: Mother Nature with the seasonal spirits to help bring life into the world, and Death, in turn, ending it- all to continue the cycle."

"But then humans came to exist, simply through means of evolution. And they changed everything." Laverna chirped. "Mother Nature grew fond of these species in particular- how well they adapted to their environment, how vastly superior their intellect was to all other organisms, and especially how similar they were to us personally. They had a conscious, a drive for a purpose, an innate ability to create.

"So to answer your question, kiddo," she turned to look at Jamie. "That's why Mother Nature looks the way she is today, along with why the Original Being is known as the 'Man' in the Moon, and why Death also appears human-like. Now as for the seasonal spirits, because they were created by Mother Nature with the aid of the Man in the Moon, they did not possess the ability to change their form as they pleased. But this wasn't an issue for a long time.

"But soon, as time progressed, the seasonal spirits began to lose control of their powers and Mother Nature struggled to keep life in balance. In response to hurricanes, harsh winters, raging forest fires, and other environmental catastrophes, Death had to increase his activities and really began to see firsthand the suffering that he caused to all living beings. Animals mourned, but their emotional spectrum was not as advanced as humans – so when he witnessed the despair and agony that humans exhibited, he began to lose his sanity and sense of purpose. As a result of both the seasonal spirits and Death going berserk, a mass extinction event occurred and wiped out about 80% of all life. The Man in the Moon had to intervene, he was empathetic and understood Death's grief, for he also was able to observe the effects of Death and the fragility of human life. Thus, he subdued the chaos and gave Death a certain ability - a way for those who passed to possibly get a second chance at life… a chance that would not disrupt the balance but instead, continue to keep it. Certain individuals who he deemed worthy could be brought back to life by infusing a spirit into them. This solution also stabilized the spirits by allowing them to possess a human body, which had enough similar qualities to that of the original entities, while also being unique in the sense of the body itself being a physical manifestation of Mother Nature's original creations- the body was made of billions of cells. As such, the Man in the Moon and Death agreed that to keep the balance secure, Death and the four seasonal spirits would be infused into human vessels. The Man in the Moon would select four unique individuals, and Death would revive them to serve as vessels for the seasonal spirits."

"And to help humans prosper," Tooth continued. "the Man in the Moon created other spirits that would shape the pure minds of their children, so that they could become more resilient as adults. These spirits are what you know of today as the Guardians of Childhood."

Ariadne let out an amused smirk. "So Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman."

"Yes, so over time, more humans were chosen to become vessels that would possess these spirits. Naturally, Sandman was the first of the four. Next was the Easter Bunny, then Santa Claus, then the Tooth Fairy, and most recently, Jack Frost. And typically, or what things should have been, is that once a human was chosen to be revived, they possess immortality. However, there are rare cases where the frailty of humans prevails over the spirit's sense of duty. Some humans, because they still retain their memories of their past life and thus their personalities, sometimes go mad and cannot accept their deaths and thus cannot fulfill their duties. Other times, they may succumb to desire and go mad with the newfound power they possess. It is then Death's duty to end their life, separate spirit from body, and and infuse the spirit with a new human vessel." Laverna explained. "That's why my, Elios, and Jack's human forms differ than our predecessors. Aurelia was the only one who stayed as the same human vessel since the beginning. Meanwhile, I've been Laverna for…I think 200 years now. Elios around 500, and Jack when did you become Jack Frost…300 years ago?"

"311, to be precise." He corrected with a weary grin.

Laverna playfully rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Anyways, Death, on the other hand, was unique in that because of his nature, his vessel would only last the average lifespan of a human, so he took on many different bodies over the millennia all the while continuing to maintain his original sense of purpose."

"Death, despite constantly inhabiting different humans, never succumbed to their immoral nature." Tooth murmured sadly. "He would never, ever, touch any life he wasn't meant to. He always did his duties, never strayed from his path."

"So what changed?" Bunny exclaimed furiously. "This form of Death seems to not give a damn about the balance of life, he's friggin' murdering the original entities! He has gone too far… it's like he's seeking to destroy the very essence of this planet."

"I don't know…but this Death… he 'as been with us for the longest- at least 100 years, no?" North inquired. "That's the longest I 'ave ever known Death to possess the same body."

"If he really wanted to destroy the very essence of this planet, I don't think he would have brought the Autumn spirit back to life." Ariadne's voice was quiet but resolved.

Everyone turned to look at her. "What do you mean?" Jack inquired.

She whipped her head up, not realizing that she had spoken outloud. She sat up straight and rolled back her shoulders, "I mean, think about it. If he was really trying to destroy the original balance that you so spoke of, then he would've just kept Aurelia dead right? Why bring her back to life and keep the Autumn spirit within her?"

Everyone was silent. "I don't know." Elios muttered finally but dejectedly. He then cracked his back and stretched. "Regardless, we're all targets here. We'll need to disappear, especially since he and the Boogeyman seem to know where we all would be. We need to find a new place to lay low."

"We took Mother Nature to the safest place we could think of- so we'll probably stay with her until she gets better. By then, she should be able to help us figure out how to stop this guy." Laverna informed. "It's unfortunate, but the seasons will have to disappear for a while."

Ariadne shrugged. "Humans will probably just attribute it to global warming, don't worry about it."

Bunny sighed and slapped a paw against his thigh before hopping to his feet. "Well…in the meantime, we'll just keep doing what we do. I'm heading back to the Warren. North, you gonna be okay with Christmas around the corner?"

North's eyes widened comically and he slapped one of his bear-like hands over his face. "Ah, черт…I completely forgot…"

"Hey! There's a child upstairs…no cursing!" Laverna hissed, whacking North in the leg due to her short stature.

"Oh…yes…sorry sorry…" North hushed. He then cleared his throat before trudging towards the door, pulling his thick fur coat off the rack. "Alrighty, Jack, I'll need yer help creating some ice for my sculptures…I have tons of toys in my mind waiting to be created!"

"Uh…yeah, about that…" Everyone suddenly turned to look at Jack, who eyes were facing the ground. Ariadne felt her blood turn cold as he brought his head back up and regarded everyone with a sad smile.

"Sorry North, don't think I will be able to help you with that anymore." He was still trying to maintain the jovial tone in his voice but his entire body sagged with anguish. His ice-blue eyes held unfathomable sadness.

"I don't have my powers anymore." He shrugged in defeat, his voice cracking with grief. Above their heads, deep in the starry sky, a dark shadow casted over the moon, as though the Man in the Moon himself was mourning.

Noo…Jack….my baby….*sobs*…

Anyways, feel free to leave a comment/PM your thoughts! Again, thank you for sticking with me! Love you all!

P.S. I realized that the LINEBREAK never appeared in the previous chapter so it may have been hard to read…sorry about that! I've tried reuploading it and fixing it but it just won't show up…ugh…FF why you do this.