Chapter 8- What is seen as strange is ordinary, what is seen as ordinary is strange

Ombric's brow was furrowed in deep thought.

Many things had happened recently, and his head was starting to hurt from trying to think too hard on such events. The villagers had started to leave Big Root and, sensing everyone's melancholy mood, had decided to quietly leave for their homes and rest after the long night.

Ombric heard a great sigh from beside him. He looked down to see Nicholas St. North sat on the snowy ground, looking completely exhausted. They were silent now, but the two had been able to make quick introductions after Pitch had vanished. The young man had looked like the whole world had just imploded before him, and Ombric could not help but agree. Seraphina had a lot of explaining to do.

"Now what?" The Russian man asked. He had an extremely lost expression on his face.

"We wait." Ombric looked towards where Seraphina was waiting, and then towards Jack and Katherine. "You have not had much contact with magic, I assume. I'm surprised you do not seem too worried about it all."

North huffed. "I have had a very strange night. It all involved magic, so I would be a fool not to believe it. It's gone past the point where I thought it was just a dream, these scratches I got from that giant beast seemed to prove it."

He spoke in a very resigned tone, letting his head fall back on the ground with a thump as he looked up at the sky.

"I must thank you. Without your help, I believe that the situation would have ended up a lot worse a lot more quickly."

"Ha! I believe we should be thanking the scary lady who showed up at the last second. It doesn't sound very fun, being eaten by a bear."

The old wizard had to agree. They probably would have died had Seraphina not shown up. Thinking back on it, he also remembered Katherine and the shield she was able to summon up. It was truly a miracle! Never had he met someone who had been able to do magic that powerful at such a young age. None, except himself, of course.

Ombric could not help but feel proud, as he thought back on the great skill that Katherine had wielded. No doubt that she would only get a lot stronger from here on out.

Looking over at the young girl, he noticed Jack was just leaving. Katherine was looking down at the book she held, a curious expression on her face. Ombric was curious as well. He did not remember ever teaching Katherine a shield spell of any kind, meaning that she must have gotten it from that book she held.

Magic books were fickle things. There are two kinds of magic books. The first are ones that can be used by anyone, in any way. They are much like ordinary books, with just the instructions for the spell, the description and the incantation.

The second are ones that can be wielded only by the person it has bonded itself to. These books can be described as having a mind of their own, bringing its owner to the page that they think about. They also contain extremely powerful spells in them, all unique to each book. But these books are rare, and Ombric only has a few in his library. Most of them are bonded to him, but there is one that never did. The last Atlantian could only wonder if Katherine had come across such a book.

Noticing her guardians stare, Katherine turned to look at him and gave a tired smile. As she slowly made her way over, Ombric could see exhaustion weighing her down. Her magic may be powerful, but that does not make it any less taxing.

"Ombric." She greeted.

"Katherine, are you alright?"

She swayed a little. "Yes, just a bit tired." she looked over to North, who had sat back up. "Thank you, for helping us."

The young man flushed at the praise. "Uh, no problem."

She smiled, and held out her hand. "My name is Katherine."

He took her hand. "Nicholas St. North."

She grinned and sat next to him. "A pleasure to meet you, mister North."

North looked as if he had never been given such courtesy in his life, and was looking quite bemused. To save him from further embarrassment, Ombric interrupted.

"Katherine, may I see the book you are holding?"

The young girl handed him the heavy tome. It was a beautiful indigo colour, with golden swirls and patterns covering it. On the front, in big bold letters were the words 'Volentes Astra'.

This was indeed the book he had been thinking about, and, just to make sure, he tried to open it. True enough, the book would not budge, indicating that it already belonged to another.

He smiled, and handed the book back. "This is a very special and unique book, Katherine. Treat it well and keep it close, and it will certainly serve you well."

Katherine held the book close to her, smiling softly.

"Now!" The old man clapped his hands together, startling the two on the ground. "I suggest we head inside and clean up those wounds of yours, North. Whilst we do so, you can explain how you got here and I shall clear some things up for you."

Nodding their agreement, Katherine and North got up from the snowy ground and followed the wizard inside the now empty Big Root.

{~}

Heavy snow fell outside, blocking out any path or sight beyond it. The howling wind brought little comfort to the occupant inside the dark cave.

A glowing boy in black armour sat at the end of the cave, knees up to his chest and his head clutched in his hands. He looked to be in great pain.

When he had first been told by the moonbeams to go protect the village, he thought little of it. It was simply that someone needed help, and he was asked to give it. It felt… right, doing it.

It had turned to night and the forest was covered in shadows. The bright moon was hidden behind clouds, and so the moonbeams that had accompanied the starlit boy flew down to illuminate the trees. The boy had gone down to the darkest part, his glow repelling the shadows that got close. As he wondered, he heard a cry. It was distant, but he heard it nonetheless and went racing towards its source.

The young boy had seen many Small One's on his travels during his short time in this world, but the girl he saw that night was unlike any other. He felt drawn to her, like she was someone whom he should stay close to. He felt magic coming from her, wild and powerful, but not yet tamed.

He had little time to dwell on the girl, however, as he beheld what it was that stood before her. He had seen these creatures before, but never so close. They were familiar, but he could never tell why. It oozed fear and suffering, surrounding the area with its dreadful presence. The spectral boy was unaffected by it, but the little girl was.

'Fearlings', the moonbeams around him whispered, and he nodded as that name clicked into place. Gripping his staff, the boy flew straight towards the fearling, stabbing it with the diamond tip. The result caused a bright light to emerge, blinding the small girl behind him.

When the light dimmed, the spectral boy found that his staff had broken. Sighing, he took the dagger from the end and tossed aside the two pieces of wood. He soon found himself leading the small girl back to where the other Small Ones were. He assumed her name was Katherine, as that was what they cried when they saw her.

The spectral boy felt relief swell within him at the sight of all the Small Ones safe. He felt another presence there as well, like snow and ice, but it was friendly and did not seem to hold any malice. The boy soon found his gaze settling upon a youth with snow white hair and pale skin. He held a wooden staff and was smiling softly at the group of Small Ones. the boy also sensed something else about this youth, it was like the faint presence of something else, almost feeling like...death.

An uncomfortable feeling came over the boy, and, curious, he stepped forward to investigate further.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the Tall One had finally noticed him. While the spectral boy had come across many Small One's and had delighted in their presence, he could only say the opposite for the Tall One's. They did not appear threatening nor did they seem evil, but there was something about them that put the boy on edge.

Sometimes, he would make his presence known to the Small Ones, and play with them in the snow. However, as soon as a Tall One showed up, the boy would tense up, and prayed that he was not seen. The Moon seemed to shine in his favour, as the Tall Ones never seemed to notice him. He was never quite certain if he truly became invisible or the Tall Ones were just plain stupid.

Whatever it was, whenever a Tall One came close, that same feeling washed over the boy, and he soon found himself flying away.

This, of course, is exactly what happened when the Tall One with the long beard came close to him. After a small game of 'hide and please don't seek', the spectral boy found himself amongst the clouds.

After some time (he is never sure how long, time never seemed to matter much to him), the boy found himself dancing on top of clouds underneath the comforting watch of the moon. He had discovered that, upon touching the clouds, they became tangible and stayed that way until they dispersed. He had taken it upon himself to see how many clouds he could use this ability on.

Now, most people would find this next situation odd and would be likely to stare in awe, shock, wonder, etc. But not this boy.

You see, this spectral boy simply looked on in faint curiosity as a group of horses galloped past him. This would not be so strange had they not been running across the clouds chasing after a few laughing moonbeams. In fact, the rider at the front of this parade seemed to be laughing along with them, his long red coat billowing in the wind behind him.

When the riders' and the boys' eyes made contact, the spectral being simply smiled and waved as the man went past. The man, too caught up in his wonder and laughter, did not seem to notice the oddity of a glowing boy dancing atop the clouds, simply responded in kind and sped off into the distance.

The boy had noticed that the man and his company were Tall Ones, and had hid from the others as they rode past, but he did not feel the need to do so in the presence of that strange leader. His presence felt kind and held the potential for many things, despite laughing like a lunatic as he rode upon some clouds whilst holding two pistols in the air.

The boy reasoned that the people of this planet were very strange indeed. He continued his game, idly musing on the things he had seen on his travels, when a very familiar presence made itself known.

Of all the things in this world that they boy had come across, this presence would be most familiar above all others. And why wouldn't he? He had woken up surrounded by it after all.

Much like a fearlings, this presence was full of cruelty and torment, but to a greater scale. It was the kind of presence that the boy most certainly did not want to go near. And yet, it also seemed to be coming from the direction of that village where Katherine is from. Deciding quickly, he sped off in that direction, flying as fast as he could. Perhaps too fast, in fact, as he soon found himself slamming into the source of that strong presence. He reasoned that slamming into the tall, shadowy being was better than slamming into someone else.

The Tall One (if he could even be called that, this guy was a giant) pulled his face out of the snow and snarled at the boy. He gripped his dagger tighter, ready for a fight… that never came.

The Nightmare King (that is what the moonbeams referred to him as) melted into shadow and sped away. Not wanting him to completely escape, the boy took to flying after him, but not before a voice called out.

"Wait, Nightlight!"

As soon as those words were uttered, a splitting pain rose within the boy's head, and he did the only thing he could think of in that moment: flee.

All thoughts of chasing after the Nightmare King had vanished, all of them replaced by the urge to just get away. Which leads us to the present, with the spectral oy hiding in a cave, waiting for the pain to subside. He wasn't really sure where he had gone, but he had little care on the matter for the moment, as one word constantly echoed in his head.

Nightlight.

Was it a place, a thing or a person? The boy could not tell. The only thing he was sure of was that it was important, but he couldn't tell why. It was there, on the edge of his mind, but just too far out of reach.

Unnoticed by the boy, the moonbeam within his dagger began to sing softly. The moonbeam had noticed that the spectral boy was in pain and had tried to glow in comfort, but the boy seemed completely stuck in his own head. So, it decided to sing a little tune instead. It was a song that all moonbeams knew, for they had all heard their Tsar Lunar sing at least once. He did not sing it often, only when he was feeling particularly lonely or down.

The spectral boy was interrupted from his thoughts by a soft lullaby. Intrigued, he noticed that the sound came from the moonbeam within his diamond dagger. The tune was soft and serene, the words sparking a thousand emotions.

Nightlight, Nightlight,

Sweet dreams I bestow,

Sleep tight, All night,

Forever I will glow

The pain in the boy's head subsided as the tune repeated itself. Eventually he began singing along, the song unheard by none but the occupants in the cave.

It all seemed to make sense to him now, as Nightlight sang his song alongside a moonbeam, relief and calm settling over him once more.

{~}

North sat in a comfortable blue armchair whilst holding a mug of hot chocolate. Now, if someone in his company had asked him, he would vehemently deny that he had a sweet tooth. But, as someone who had very little growing up, the small delicacies were always seen as a luxury for North. And this hot chocolate was heavenly.

Truly, the young man never imagined he would ever feel comfortable sitting in a giant tree.

After having a strange dream, riding over clouds, meeting a really beautiful lady, watching as his men got turned into stone, fight a possessed bear and then learn that magic really did exist, North's thoughts were surprisingly calm. It did not help that he spent most of it laughing like a maniac.

He sighed and rubbed his head. It had been a long night. Luckily for him, Ombric was very good at explaining things, and everything seemed to make a bit of sense. (Not really, he just spent most of his time nodding along, as if he understood)

Apparently, Santoff Claussen had been around for hundreds of years, completely hidden from the outside world. The strange events of today involved some Pitchy guy who killed a bunch of people thousands of years ago.

Huh. He's still surprised he got that much.

Anyway, the tall scary lady who saved his ass earlier is apparently supposed to explain even more things.

Katherine was his favourite person he has spoken to today. She hadn't explained anything. She simply smiled at him, cleaned some of his wounds and gave him a hot chocolate. She was polite too. Katherine was the kind of girl that you simply couldn't help but smile at.

Perhaps it was also because she reminded him of another child he met a few years ago, just before he decided to leave the Cossacks...

But enough reminiscing. He turned his gaze to where he saw Katherine curled up in her chair reading through her book. Or, she was. She'd fallen asleep at this point, her book laid open over her chest.

North smiled and got up from his chair. Reaching for a blanket, he gently laid it over the sleeping girl. It was people like Katherine, the innocent, that made him make his own band of bandits.

True, he stole, cheated and plundered. But he hadn't the heart for murder, only doing so to protect himself. The first time he did kill a person, they were holding a gun against a bystanders head, hand upon the trigger. It was a difficult decision, but knowing that he had saved someone's life made him feel only slightly better. It didn't stop him from throwing up until the early hours of the morning of the day after. He counted himself to only be around eleven at that time. He's never been quite sure of his age.

Life had never been easy for North, he could only hope that it wasn't the same for Katherine.

A cold chill was felt from behind him, and North turned around to find Jack Frost staring at him. North had never spoken to the spirit, and could only feel slightly unnerved by his presence.

Ombric had told North that Jack was more of a fun loving spirit, who was more likely to throw a snowball in your face than threaten you.

When Mother Nature- or Seraphina, Ombric also called her- had entered Big Root, she told them that she would speak later in the afternoon and that she had to 'gather her thoughts'. The only thing North could think was 'Man that woman is scary.'

Jack had entered a while later. Although his presence before North was undeniable now, when the spirit had first entered the threat tree, North had trouble focusing on him. It was like his presence was clouded and not all there. It became clearer as he came further in, eventually going upstairs without a word.

When North asked about it, Ombric explained that spirits are not usually seen by people. They only can be when a person believes enough or has a strong magical ability. Both are rare, as only children have a strong enough mind for such belief and even the smallest magic is hard to come by. North wasn't certain which category he fell under, he never had much time to explore his imagination when he was younger and he is fairly certain he has no ability for actual magic whatsoever. But, before he could ask about it, the old wizard had already disappeared.

And now, here he was, hours later, having a staring contest with someone who could freeze him to death at any given moment.

Joy.

Thankfully, Jack seemed to notice the young man's discomfort, and brought a teasing smile to his face as he sat in the chair opposite North. The winter spirit had a mischievous glint in his eye as he stared at the former Cossack.

"So." He started.

"So…" North trailed off, unsure of where this was going. The spirit before him did not appear to be any older than him, with snow white hair, blue eyes and pale skin. He had taken off the brown cloak he wore before, now simply dressed in a plain white shirt and deerskin trousers. He didn't look threatening, but North had learnt that appearances could be deceiving.

The spirit leant forward, and North tensed slightly.

"Is it true that you actually defeated an entire regiment of cavalry with a bent steak knife while eating?"

There was no disbelief in the words or teasing tone despite the look in his eyes. No Jack seemed to be in wonder, and truly asked the question in honest curiosity. North was so taken aback by this, that he could only gape silently like a fish, as he tried to get a grasp of the situation.

After a few awkward moments, wherein North sat down and drank the rest of his hot chocolate very quickly (and subsequently burning his tongue), he finally was able to string together an actual sentence.

"You want to hear how I did it?" The winter spirit nodded eagerly, leaning even further towards the edge of his seat.

And so, for the next few hours, the two regaled each other with wild stories of their travels, each more absurd than the other. One could never be quite sure if the other was telling the truth, but neither minded, as the beginnings of an everlasting friendship began to form.

As an apology for the previous chapter, I present you THIS!

As opposed to chapter seven, I loved writing this chapter. It was so much fun! So much fun, in fact, that it has properly gotten me back into writing the basis for my novel. Which probably isn't the best idea. School is starting again online in a few days and I'm studying English, History and Drama, which are all essay subjects. I have also decided to take on another diploma alongside that so... my poor keyboard!

But hey, as I am on a writing high, I spent all day on this and produce 3,500 which, for me, is pretty damn good. But I have rambled enough, with Covid on the rise again, I implore that you please stick to the restrictions in your areas to not only keep yourselves safe, but your loved ones too!

~Mystltaiin