This is one of the weirdest and scariest installments of Frosted Pen. Good luck, my dear readers.
A yeti entered his office.
A tiny ice sculpture met its inevitable fate when it greeted the door.
A series of yells in Russian and Yetish were exchanged in the office.
Silence reigned.
A gasp elicited from the big man himself.
A slip of paper fell on the wooden floor.
Loud footsteps echoed from the Globe Room.
The Aurora Borealis was activated.
They were going to have a Guardians meeting.
Four Guardians arrived in the North Pole with perfect punctuality an hour after the auroras were activated. North was pacing in front of the controls, his fingers rubbing his white beard. He took a deep breath, stared at the envelope the elf was guarding and continued with his pacing. He could have burned the floor with ease if it weren't for the arrival of the other four Guardians. All didn't look happy. They were obviously disturbed from their work but they can't help it. Once the auroras are activated, they will drop everything and gather in the North Pole. To them, the auroras symbolize emergencies and crisis and well, that can't be ignored.
Bunny was the first one to break. "Wat ta hell da ya want now, North?" Everyone nodded in unison. They were all ticked off. After a couple of years that passed, no one was the same after the incident. They couldn't escape work and crisis but they might as well die trying to avoid impending news about the death of a particular someone. "Watch it, Bunnymund." North never used his full surname before and they all knew that that triggered something drastic.
They all followed the man's gaze. Everyone looked at the elf who stood in unease because of the scrutiny the Guardians gave him. He was just the holder of the envelope. "Dingle, hand me that letter." The elf obeyed and put the pristine white envelope on the big palm of Santa Claus. After the exchange, he bolted off to somewhere. Nick released a profound sigh before facing the four Guardians. Toothiana was deprived of sleep from her nights in the field. Sandy looked like he didn't have any rest at all and the man loves his nap times. Bunny was dirty from several paint splats and his paw looks like it needs to hold a paintbrush before it drives him crazy. Jack was silent as ever, his hoodie covering his face. North didn't want to prolong the agony so he coughed and opened the letter, the envelope falling on the floor with a soft thud.
The sender's name glared at the Guardians and they all gasped. Mother Nature, it read. Their moods drastically changed from pissed to confused. What the hell is happening and what is the bloody contents of that letter? North cleared his throat and began to read the golden words from the Queen of Nature.
My beloved Guardians, Protectors of Childhood,
I hand you news. It is your choice to perceive it as whatever, may it be good or bad. Gossip spread like wildfire in my territories and I've heard a certain summer spirit sprung out from a cylinder of black sand. She is a newborn but as I constantly watch over her, she was brought to my presence and elected as the new Summer Spirit of the Seasons Court in order to replace Aelius.
It also came to my knowledge that she attained certain powers that I didn't even hear before, such as the summoning of Night Terrors that my father can only do. I'm sending her to you for you to protect her. Her case is also somewhat similar to our dear Winter Spirit. She was a human that didn't regain memories from her past.
She will be in your hands in a couple of hours. The South Wind will be guiding and accompanying her through her journey towards the North Pole. Be careful with her. She is very fragile and I hope that you would be careful with your words. Some things can trigger her mind and she could go berserk. I could not restrain her from her powers because that is one of our laws here. She can only be restrained if she committed a crime, which she hasn't done yet. She is just a child. 8 years, give or take.
Good luck, Guardians. And I hope to the Moon above that you would not let her go for the second time.
—Mother Nature
Silence befell, engulfing the minds of the Guardians. Who is she? Who is the new Summer Spirit? They pray to the Moon above that she would not be like Aelius. But what does Mother Nature mean by not letting her go for the second time? As if of cue, the window shattered open and a girl rolled on the floor in front of them. She hastily stood up, ruffled her short pecan-colored hair with a side braid and smiled sheepishly at them.
She was wearing a tattered orange hoodie, black knee cut pants and black gloves with orange stones embedded on the palm coverings. She pointed a thumb from the window. "I'll fix that. I'm really sorry. South Wind was messing around and pushed me through the window. Um, what are you staring at? Is there something on my face?"
They were indeed staring because they could not believe it. It was a like ghost that appeared in front of them but she is alive and breathing. They thought she was gone. They thought she wouldn't come back but why now of all times? It was her, no doubt of it because she acts and talks the same. She looks the same. She just possessed magical powers and immortality. She just cut her hair short. She's still the same.
Jack was the first to break.
"...Teddy?"
"Oh, you mean the ones I wrecked as well? I'm sorry about that." She scratched her nape and smiled sheepishly. She was the not same. She had grown too mischievous and naughty. She was not the girl before but it was still her. She didn't just any memories, that's all.
"Your name is Teddy, right?" Tooth pointed out at her, her face blotching from the tears rolling down her face.
The summer spirit's mood turned somber from staring at Tooth's crying face. "Sorry, why are you crying? I hope I didn't do anything wrong. And my name's not Teddy." She frowned, as if what she said was wrong. And yet, the name Teddy was foreign to her tongue.
"Ya must be jokin'! How many years da ya need ta run away from us, huh?" Bunny burst out, North catching his shoulder before he could tackle the suddenly afraid girl.
The stones from her palms started to glow and she covered her face with her arms and hands. "I don't know what you're talking about but Mother Nature told me you're nice people so act like one!" She shouted at them and that sobered them up.
"You don't remember anything, do you?" Jack said in calculated tone. No one can believe it. "Sorry, no. I'm going to leave now if you don't have any jobs for me." She backed up to the window but Sandy caught her arm, shaking his head and smiling. He looked inviting enough.
"We need to give her her tooth box!"
"Did you forget that it went missing after her disappearance?!"
That shut Jack up.
"But your name is Teddy, right?" Tooth smiled with tears still in her eyes. She was trying to be strong for the girl but she can't hold it much longer.
"I'm sorry but I'm not Teddy. Who's Teddy, anyway?" They couldn't answer because the answer is right in front of them and she couldn't even tell herself.
"Wat's yer name, little blighter?" Bunny asked with a serious face and a pissed off tone.
"I—" She paused, suddenly deep in thought. "I don't know actually. They all just call me the Summer Spirit but South Wind likes to call me Sammy so yeah." She shrugged, seemingly nonchalant with not having a permanent name.
"Her name is Teddy! Freaking Teddy!" Jack suddenly burst out, releasing a flare of ice. He was so fed up with everything. She's lying. He knows it.
"Stop it! You're hurting me." Sammy pleaded with irritation and boiling anger. "You keep insisting me that I'm Teddy but I'm not. Whoever Teddy was, I think she fled because of your persistence and perfectionism. I bet she's so fed with all of you." That hit them all to the core, especially when it came from her. Remorse painted their faces and Sammy immediately regretted it. She heaved out a sigh and faced them. "Look, I'm really sorry but whoever Teddy was, I can't replace her. She seemed to be a nice person to all of you and you deeply cared about her but she's not me, so please stop. I feel like you're ripping my identity away from me." They all stared at her, too dumbfounded and too remorseful.
Tooth, for second time, burst out.
She lunged to her, grabbed her shoulders and shook her for a while, crying. She was like a mother to Teddy and everything's rushing back to her. She was strong but she's not strong enough to hold back the tears and guilt. It was eating her away. "But you are our Teddy." She gritted out every word and Sammy had to close her eyes. She was scared that she might hurt the lady but when she opened her eyes, she just looked into her sad purple orbs and something smacked to her like a thick brick. It was only for a split second and it was just there for one moment. It was just one little thing and nothing more came. Something came back to her empty memory but she doubted that would happen again. She tried remembering but all she got was headaches so she gave up on it. But something finally wiggled out from the locked chest that contained her memories. That one name that she couldn't let go of. Mother Nature never mentioned the Guardians' names to her but she knows that it belonged to the broken fairy.
"...Tooth?"
Dear readers, whether anonymous or not,
First of all, I'm very sorry for not updating for three full months. School was a heavy burden but I passed my second year with flying colors. As for the ending of Frosted Pen, you can gather enough information to know what was happening. Base your hypothesis from the last chapter as well. I ended Frosted Pen too quickly because it didn't sit well in my stomach. I lost everything that I planned for it after a crash that happened in my laptop. I couldn't remake my thoughts so I simply gave up on it. Frosted Pen was not a good project for me, simply because I wasn't even updated with it myself. I forgot a lot of things and I don't want to mess it up even further. I'm also saddened with the fact that a lot of readers discovered this story when I gave up on it because I couldn't make it up to them.
I'm not saying the idea's really finished but I'm not continuing with it. I might fix it up in the future but for now, it will be on permanent hold. I ended this story with this chapter so that I won't leave it open. I know a lot of readers hate it when authors didn't finish their stories so I had to end it with this. I'm really sorry. I'll make it up to you with another story or something.
As for now, I'm going to sleep. I'm going to respond to a lot of reviews when I wake up tomorrow morning. I know that you're hunting me down right now.
Read and review and this is the end, for now.
Sincerely, Star.