Chapter 31: Children of the Seasons

"This—is—where—you—live?" Jack hadn't known what to expect when he and Mother Nature got on Night to her home. He was curious why they were heading towards the ocean. It was big and vast and very empty. They had passed many small islands along the way and were heading towards the middle of the ocean, with nothing around it.

That was until they passed by some energy field. Jack wasn't sure what it was but it tingled his pale skin as they passed through it. When they reached the other side, Jack couldn't contain his shock.

It looked like something off a storybook.

What he thought was an empty space of clear blue water was a huge island. In the middle was a huge castle that seemed to glisten in the moonlight. The island on the four corners, surrounding the castle, was breathtaking. There was an area that was filled with golden brown sand, another was filled with snow (lots and lots of snow), another was filled with blooming flowers and plants, and the last was filled with colorful leaves falling from the trees. Jack recognized it as the four seasons. Though, he wasn't sure how he knew that.

Jack felt Mother Nature's arms tighten slightly around him, but he didn't pay any mind to that. He was preoccupied with how beautiful everything looked.

"Yes, along with several sprites and your siblings," Mother Nature replied as they flew over some snow covered trees.

Jack blinked at the answer. Jack had no idea what sprites were. However, at the mentioned that he had siblings got his attention. Jack looked over his shoulder to look at Mother Nature with surprised blue eyes. "Siblings? I have siblings?"

Mother Nature smiled at him, but it seemed tight. It was like she was sad about something, but was putting on a calm face as she replied: "They are not your biological brother and sisters. They are Seasonals, much like you. The four of you are all connected to each other as well as the seasons, so the four of you are siblings, in a sense, if you wish to see it that way. I know they do."

Jack's smile was radiant as he absorbed what Mother Nature said about the other Seasonals. As he turned back to look in front of him, Jack's mind wandered to his siblings. I wonder what they look. Jack narrowed his eyes slightly as several images came to mind. He shook that thought away when his mind began creating crazy images of humans with animal features. With a small shrug, Jack trained his eyes in front of him as they got closer to the castle. He would meet them soon enough. He smiled. I wonder if they like pranks.

Mother Nature knew her three children's centers told them who Jack Frost was to them. She also figured they would have figured out an idea of the situation of the last couple of months. They had known her for centuries, especially Blaze. Blaze and Old Man Winter (before he faded) were the oldest of the Seasonals. Blaze lived during the Ancient Greece era and became a spirit before the end of the Greek-Punic War. Autumn became a spirit before the end of the Western Han Dynasty and Flora became a spirit during the Anglo-Saxon period.

Old Man Winter was a different case altogether. When she crashed into this planet, Old Man Winter and several other spirits were already on Earth. He had been nice and kind at the time. Old Man Winter was always mysterious and closed off. It didn't surprise her when he began distancing himself and getting colder as the decades came and passed.

Then again, she had never really been close to the Winter Seasonal. He had shown his dislike through his harsh blizzards when she chose new Seasonals to take the load off her when it became too much. Though, she was disappointed that her children couldn't get along with Old Man Winter. Then again, Old Man Winter had been alone for so long and didn't think he needed others help or attend the Seasonal Sessions to coordinate the seasons each year.

Mother Nature sipped her vanilla and honey flavored milk as she watched Autumn drink her herbal tea. She knew her children were smart and would have figured it out, given time. She knew her children would pick up on her unpredictable moods. Mother Nature had always had unpredictable moods, a family trait sadly. It wasn't like her moods weren't common knowledge among the Spirit Community. However, only a few are able to read her moods so well to tell what was normal and what wasn't. Her children just happened to be those few who could read her, along with her father and Father Time.

Even then, she should have known that at least one of them would confront her about it. They were smart spirits and just as protective of her as she was with them. Mother Nature knew right away that they figured it out (to some extent) when she returned to the castle with Jack. They had all been depressed since Jackson's death. But when they returned, her three children's state were less depressed and more shocked and happy, yet confused. They had been crying (it was obvious by their slightly red eyes and the signs of them hastily wiping tears away), but with the way they kept glancing at her and then at Jack with questioning eyes told her that they figured some things out.

Of course, the three had figured out right away that Jack Frost, formally Jackson Overland, had no memories of his previous life. Blaze and Flora were for once speechless as they stared at their new sibling. Thankfully, Autumn was more composed and collected than her two talkative siblings. She managed to handle introductions quite smoothly and then sent the three to go tour the castle and to show Jack his room, leaving the two of them to go to her private study to talk. Blaze and Flora took the hint and were more than happy to play tour guides (for now). Blaze had taken the role quite quickly and lead a curious Jack down a set of halls while telling him the history of the castle and what spells Mother Nature cast on them and around her island.

That had been a little over a half hour ago since they parted ways. Mother Nature had been sitting on her chair in her study with Autumn ever since. Mother Nature didn't mind the silence. It was peaceful and calm, but that peaceful atmosphere was about to break with a simple question.

"Why didn't you tell us about Jackson's death, Mother?"

"And this is my favorite room in the entire castle." Blaze gestured to the light green room that they were currently in with a huge smile on his tan face. "The kitchen!"

Jack eyed the huge space in wonder. There were huge wooden tables along the walls of the kitchen and another right in the middle of the room. Cabernets rested on the long walls, storing cups, bowls, plates, different ingredients and other stuff Jack hadn't seen before. On one of the walls, Jack noticed a strange rectangular thing resting on the wall. It was white and had doors on it. It reminded him of a very updated ice box (how he knew that he wasn't sure). He wondered what it stored.

On the long table near the wall were bowls and other ingredients and other things to mix stuff. There was also a rectangular thing with lots of buttons. Hmm...he wondered what was.

"Cool right?" Blaze asked excitedly. Jack nodded.

"Yeah, what is this stuff?"

Blaze smirked as he puffed out his chest, his thumb pointing to the strange objects. "That is a fridge and that is a freestanding stove. It's an oven and a stove in one machine! Isn't that cool?"

Jack nodded dumbly at the strange machines. He knew what a stove was but he had never seen anything like that. Jack tilted his head a bit in confusion. How did he know what a stove was anyway?

"I know. I had the same reaction when I first saw this," Flora said with a smile. "Many of this stuff is from Mother's home world."

Jack blinked at that. "Really?"

"Yup, this stuff was actually what survived before the planet got destroyed. This stuff belonged to Mr. Doom and Gloom. Mother convinced Father Time to go back in time to get this stuff and to make it look like new."

"Mr. Doom and Gloom?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Ignore, Blaze," Flora told him with an amused smile. "That's Blaze's nickname for Mother's father."

"Don't forget Man of Fear," Blaze interjected with a smirk. "He hates it when I call him that."

Jack chuckled softly. "Man of Fear? What is he? The Boogieman or something?"

Blaze and Flora blinked simultaneously before staring at each other, their eyes looking uneasy. "Yes."

"Oh," was Jack's response. The three of them were reduced to an uncomfortable silence. Jack wasn't sure why, though. It felt like he should know who this Boogieman was. "What now?" Jack asked his two siblings.

"Well, we have the library, the gardens, and the bedrooms," Flora said.

Blaze perked up at this. "Hey, the sprites should be in the gardens."

"Blaze, no!" Flora scolded with a frown. "No, pranks. Mother said not to prank her sprites anymore."

"You're no fun, sis," Blaze whined.

"What kind of prank?" Jack couldn't keep the curiosity out of his voice.

Blaze's grin widened as he rested his arm on Jack's shoulders. "Tell me, little brother, have you ever launched three thousand sticky fruits at unsuspecting sprites with the aid of Wind and then having those sprites get covered in feathers and vines afterward."

Jack blinked. That actually sounded awesome. "Noooo."

Blaze continued to smile as he grabbed his arm. "You are now!" And then Blaze pulled him out of the kitchen and into the hall. The two of them laughed as Flora ran after them.

"Blaze! Jack! Get back here! Mother is so going to kill us!"

"No, she's not!" Blaze said as he laughed. "She's going to have to catch us first!"

Autumn knew Mother Nature well enough to know that she had her reasons for not telling them. Though, that didn't mean Mother's methods were the right choice or even made sense at times. As of right now, Autumn was still trying to make sense of the situation and why Mother chose to not tell them after she managed to process what Father Time told her. Sure, she understood that Mother wouldn't have been able to do much due to winter been harsher this year, hence needing more of her attention to direct it. But she still was a bit confused.

"But, Mother, even with you being very busy doing winter this year, you should have told us. We could have helped."

Mother sighed sadly as grayish-green eyes stared into hers. "Autumn, you know the rules. Elementals, Seasonals, Sprites, and all Non-Nature Spirits are forbidden to get involved in other spirits wars."

Autumn frowned at the calm tone of Mother Nature. They all were aware of this. It would disrupt the balance of nature if they ever got involved in other spirits affairs. They all learned the consequences of that when the balance was thrown off course when many of them got involved in a war between the Roman Gods and Goddess and the Greeks. It had gotten so bad that they had to call the aid of the Norse Gods to help stop the chaos before Earth (and maybe several other worlds) got destroyed from the crossfire.

"I know Mother. We have no intention of getting involved in other Spirits' wars and conflicts, but we still could have helped Jackson before he fell into the lake."

Mother's lips tighten into a frown. "Autumn…" The firmness of Mother's voice made Autumn tighten her grip on her mug. There were reasons why no one ever questioned Mother Nature's authority and just labeled her as unpredictable. Mother Nature was by far the most powerful spirit in the Spirit Community, alongside Father Time and the Roman Gods, and would not hesitate to put someone in their place. They all knew when not to push Mother Nature.

Autumn swallowed nervously as three of her leaves dislodge themselves from her hair and fell to the floor. She would be lucky if she didn't get hit by a lightning bolt by the end of this.

"Jackson was on Death's list." Autumn paled at that. Death wasn't exactly mean, evil, or heartless as some spirits believe (by that she meant Non-Elemental/Nature Spirits and the Gods), but he did have a temper when others intervene in his work. Death and his Horsemen were just very busy and it was rare for them to show themselves, even to other spirits. But when he did, he could be quite frightening, even at a distance. Autumn remembered seeing him once when she was delivering fall to Europe. She had happened to be near a house where a person was dying. She had seen Death in his skeleton form when he arrived on his ashen horse. His appearance alone was downright frightening, but he wasn't a bad guy as she came to learn later on.

"But, Mother, wouldn't Death be annoyed that you and Lunar intervened in his work?" she asked in concern. The last thing they needed was a vengeful and angry Grim Reaper going after them.

"He was aware of a possible resurrection," Mother Nature said with a raised brow. "Don't worry about him coming after us. He is aware that Jackson was supposed to be my Head of Winter." Mother Nature picked up her glass of milk again and resumed drinking it. "That was one of the things that were clear. Jackson's death, it being the Guardians fault, and my father wanting revenge were the only things that were clear. Everything else was very vague and kept changing. There was nothing you or the others could have done."

"I see," Autumn said softly as her shoulders slumped slightly. Well, now that Mother put it that way...there wouldn't be anything they could have done in the end. If they did try to help, they would somehow get involved in the war and breaking Mother's rule. And it also wouldn't matter anyway since Jackson was meant to die, considering that he was on Death's list. Autumn ran her hand through her hair. Everything just sucked. It was unfair that Jackson had to die so young. But what was more troubling was the outcome of him dying before becoming a spirit: him losing his memories. "Mother? Do you think we could get Jackson's tooth box?"

Mother Nature frowned as she thought. "I'm not sure. After what happened on Christmas, I'm sure the Guardians upped their security. Besides, none of us are scheduled to be near Asia at the moment."

Autumn nodded as she pondered that thought. If the Guardians were now isolating themselves in their homes (if the rumors she heard were true) then it would be next to impossible to get the tooth box without raising suspicion.

"Mother Nature! Mother Nature!" Autumn blinked as she heard several frantic yells from three of Mother's sprites, who were knocking on the door. Mother Nature swiftly got up from her chair and walked towards the door of her study. When she opened it, she was faced with three upset sprites. The thing about the sprites was that they were covered in white and gray feathers and vines.

Autumn covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a laugh as Mother's right eye twitched. Blaze was in so much trouble when Mother was done with him.

"BLAZE!" was all Mother yelled before she stomped out of the study with flames starting to emerge from the tips of her hair. Autumn shook her head as the three sprites ran after a furious Mother Nature. Blaze would never learn.