Chapter 35: Winter Sprites

Toothiana couldn't ignore the pain and guilt she felt whenever she thought about the child that died in the lake. Our fault. She could not stop thinking about the boy's sister who walked through her. She had yelled at them for being stupid and said so many other things…

Where they really that bad? It was their job to protect children. But right now…she felt like she failed.

Our fault we lost them.

Her belief (much like her brothers) was one of their strongest and now…it was gone. She no longer believed in them.

Toothiana never felt so empty before. The loss of two believers was one thing, but to be yelled at by a child they promised to protect and to see their enemy in agony was something totally different and nervewracking.

She had never seen Pitch cry before. Despite how Bunny felt, she could not shake the fear she felt when Pitch screamed. He seemed broken and hollow…and then the Fealings returned. But what shocked her the most was what Pitch yelled before the Fealings attacked them.

"LITTLE BROTHER!"

Toothiana stared at the barrier, silently watching the Nightmares as they tried to break through.

"Where the bloody hell is Sandy?"

"I don't know!"

Toothiana ignored Bunny and North as they tried to summon Sandy again. The Nightmares had been attacking for two hours now. They were relentless in their attacks. North thankfully had the barrier up, but she wasn't sure if it would hold. Not that it mattered anyway. They were no match for them

Toothiana sighed as her thoughts swirled around Pitch's words.

"Jackson! Don't go!

Don't leave me!

Please, come back! We just found each other!

We were going to be a family again!

LITTLE BROTHER!"

Toothiana closed her eyes as she rested her head on her folded arms. She didn't know Pitch had a brother. Why hadn't Manny told them? They could have protected him. Toothiana felt her eyes water with tears as North and Bunny began to panic. The Nightmare Horses seemed to be getting through.

What have we done? Toothiana couldn't help but wonder. Mom and Dad would be so disappointed in me. Toothiana remembered the time before her parents were killed. They were loving people. Her mother was the ex-queen of the Sister of Flight and her father was the kindest soul there ever was. They would not be happy to see her now. I had been angry when they were killed in front of me. I had wanted vengeance. I had moaned their loss. Toothiana ignored the tears that leaked from her eyes. We deserve this. What have we…

And then she felt a sharp pain in the center of her chest. The pain was agonizing. She fell out of the seat that she was seated on and landed on the warm floor of the Globe Room. She barely heard the concern shouts of her friends as she began crying out in pain. She felt like she was being torn from the inside. Toothiana gasped as her head snapped up, staring passed her friends as they knelt in front of her, trying to get her attention, as the pain and fear settled in.

"My fairies!"

Finding his siblings wasn't as hard as he thought. Somehow he just knew that Blaze, Flora, and Autumn were currently at the dining room that they ate at last night. He wasn't sure how he knew this, however. Maybe it had something to do with them being connected to each other. Mother Nature and Autumn did say something about that.

"Good morning, Master Frost," a group of female Winter Sprite greeted when they spotted him walking down the hall. Jack noticed that they were cleaning the huge windows and then dusting them with a light layer of snow. "Did you sleep well?"

Jack found himself smiling at them. "Good morning. I slept very well, thank you." He paused for a moment before asking, "If you don't mind me asking, what are your names?"

The three Sprites blinked at the question. "You don't know, Master Frost?" This Sprite had light blue eyes and medium length white hair. She wore a pretty blue dress that sparkled like freshly dusted snow.

"I guess no one told you yet." This Sprite had long white hair that reached her waist and short bangs. She wore a blue dress with small ruffles on the bottom.

The Sprite next to her had her white hair tied into a bun. She wore a blue dress that had swirl patterns on it. She also seemed older than the other two. "I'm sure they meant to tell you today during training. It's easy once you get the hang of it."

"Training?" Jack asked in confusion. "You mean like understand my powers and how to fly?"

They nodded. "Yes, that's part of it," the Sprite with the long white hair said. "As a Seasonal, it's your job to direct winter as Mistress Nature's instructs. Winter is one of the harsher seasons, but with some guidance, you will pick it up fairly easily."

"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but you should be able to sense where Master Heat, Mistress Leaf, and Mistress Fall are at and should be able to tell if they were in a danger or not."

Jack's eyes widened at that. "Actually I kinda do," Jack admitted, getting soft smiles from the three Sprites. "Is this normal?"

"Yes, it is, Master Frost," the Sprite with medium length hair said with a soft laugh. "You are connected to the very fabric of the season, much like the other Seasonals are. It is also that same reason that you would know every Winter Sprites and animals name."

Jack blinked as he tried to absorb that information. There seemed to be a lot he needed to know about being a Seasonal. He didn't doubt that his siblings would give him a very thorough (and hopefully not boring) explanation. Oh, what joy that would be.

"In the meantime, my name is Chrystal," the oldest Sprite introduced herself.

"I'm Eira," the Sprite with medium length hair said.

"And I'm Neva," the Sprite with the long hair said with a warm smile.

"It's nice to meet you," Jack said with a smile. The three Winter Sprites reminded him of children. It made his chest warm inside. "So, are you all Mother Nature's Sprites?"

The three Sprites laughed. "Oh, winters, no!"

Jack's brows arched in confusion. "We might not look it, but we have been around before Mistress Nature stepped foot on his planet. We were originally Master Winter's Sprites," Chrystal explained.

"Who?" Jack asked.

"Master Winter," Chrystal repeated. "He was the original Winter Seasonal before you."

"He was commonly known as Old Man Winter, Father Winter, or Father Frost. Though, he preferred to be called Master Winter," Eira added.

Jack tilted his head at that. Why did he get the sense that this Old Man Winter was not a good spirit? "He wasn't the nicest, but no one deserves to fade away."

"Fade...away?" Jack felt like he heard about this before. But from where? Jack frowned as he heard a male voice (though, he had no idea who the owner of said voice was) in his head telling him the same thing.

"Many spirits fade over time when people stop believing in us. It's a very painful process.

When spirits fade (like Old Man Winter for example) it's like never existing. It's not the same as dying when we are human.

When a spirit fades it's because they were destroyed from the inside out. When that happens there is no way to be reborn."

"That's right," Neva said with a nod. Jack mentally pushed the voice away, deciding to not think about the dizziness when he tried to force himself to see who this person was. "Master Winter was too harsh with his magic. His magic became imbalance and as a result, he ended up fading away."

"It had not been very pretty," Eira murmured.

"What you mean?"

They glanced at each other, a silent question passing between them for several seconds before Chrystal took up the explanation. "Well, you see, several months before Master Winter started fading, he became very violent and cruel." The Sprites had sad frowns on their delicate features. The memory must not be very pleasant. "He started making the weather far to cold for the animals to live. He started fighting with the other Seasonals more and more. It had gotten so bad that he started killing his own Sprites."

The gasped that left his lips and his hand tightening around the delicate wood of his staff must have been the response they were expecting. They just nodded and looked at him sadly with their delicate wings and fingers twitching ever so slightly. "There are not many of us left, Master Frost," Neva said softly.

"Mistress Nature managed to save those who were left and gave us shelter in her home," Chrystal picked up the explanation. "Unlike the others, we only help her out as thanks for saving us and because of her kindness. However, we do not serve her. The Winter Sprites would and also will be loyal to the Winter Seasonal only."

Jack was taken aback by the comment. If the Winter Sprites weren't loyal to Mother Nature and if they weren't her Sprites then did that mean that they were his? "Is that's why you call me master?" He was the new Winter Seasonal now after all.

They nodded. "It is our way, Master Frost. As the new Winter Seasonal, in centuries, we serve only you," Chrystal said with a smile. Jack's heart warmed at the statement. He didn't know what to say to that.

"I don't know what to say," he admitted. "I don't know a thing about being a Winter Seasonal, let along taking care of Sprites, but I promise I will try my best," he added quickly.

The three Sprites just smile at him. "We believe in you, Master Frost," Chrystal said warmly. "And, please, do not worry. I know you will be a better Seasonal then Master Winter. You are far kinder than him and we appreciate that."

Jack smiled at them. He didn't know why, but the comment reassured him in a way. If they believed in him then he would make sure he did his job right. Looks like he had some learning to do.

The four winds echoed their distress at how huge the blizzard was getting as it got more harsher, more wilder, more deadly. This information shocked her to her core. This blizzard was more massive than she had expected. Who would have thought that Susanna would create a blizzard this big? She dreaded the outcome of the balance and the extra work the Spirits and Sprites would have to do to fix this mess.

Mother Nature felt the balance shift; the snow and cold were spreading. The Earth was crying. The Earth was confused on why it was snowing in Asia and why it was so cold when it was supposed to be spring? Mother Nature had no answer for her. All she could do was sent calm to the Earth, telling her of a new Winter Spirit losing her child to the Guardians and lashing out in a fit of rage.

The Earth understood. A mother's wrath was a scary one. The Earth pitied the mother and wished for her to help the woman ease her pain. Mother Nature intended on doing just that, but first, she would have to caught up to her, first, and ease the blizzard that was growing by the minute.

The temperate suddenly dropped and then the winds roared Susanna's wishes. Destroy! Destroy! Destroy! The blizzard must be bigger! Ice be formed! The Guardians will pay! Pay! Pay!

This was not good. She had to hurry.

Night galloped through the shadows, checking out every inch of the castle. The castle was pretty impressive. There were many rooms, each one different from the others. There was a study, a library, a kitchen and dining room, other bedrooms, a ballroom, the weather room, an infirmary, an impressive training room, and many, many others.

Night was very impressed. Night flicked her tail when she sensed her master had left his room. She only left just to memorize every inch of the castle. She had to make sure there were no surprises she might encounter if Master ever got lost.

Night exited out of the shadow and materialized in front of Master. She noticed he was wearing a new outfit. It suited him.

Blue eyes looked startled for a moment at her sudden appearance before they were replaced with amusement. "Morning Night," Master greeted with a smile. "Where have you been and how did you do that?"

"I was exploring the castle. It is quite impressive." Master nodded as if he expected that. "And I was shadowing."

"What's that?" Master asked curiously.

Night blinked. It hurt that he did not remember. "It's an ability I have. I can travel through the shadows. You have that ability as well."

"I do?" Master asked, looking excited.

"Yes, I will show you later. Right now I believe we have breakfast to eat."

Master nodded before they made way to the dining room.

The words made her small heart ship beat as she took in what the Winter Spirit said, this Snow Queen. Mother killed a child? No! That had to be a lie! Mother loved children. She would never harm one.

She wanted to yell at the Winter Spirit, to tell her that she was wrong. But the rage and pain in the woman's eyes stopped those defensive thoughts. The emotions seemed too raw, too real, to be a lie.

The young Tooth Fairy shivered violently at the freezing temperature. Thick clumps of ice clung to the feathers on her wings and began spreading to her chest and feet. She chirped in surprise as the ice grew too heavy for her to stay in the air, forcing her wings to gave out. Fear filled the young Tooth Fairy as she fell away from the platform and towards the ground below as the winds picked up.

This is the end, she thought, moments before a familiar, yet powerful, voice (that she had only heard in passing) yelled disbelievingly: "What are you doing Susanna?!"

Jack shifted from foot to foot nervously as his siblings just stared at him. "Is something wrong?"

It took a moment for the other three Spirits to realize that they were just staring at him for a little too long. And it took another moment for them to snap out of whatever trance they were in. Hopefully, this wasn't anything bad. All he did was put on the new clothes.

"No, not at all," Autumn said with a smile. "It's just that the traditional outfit looks nice on you."

Jack's brow arched. "It's traditional?"

Autumn nodded as she gestured for him to sit down at the table. Blaze and Flora sipped on some coffee as they waited for the Sprites in charge of cooking to finish preparing the food.

"You see, Jack, that outfit is the traditional clothing of the Winter Seasonal." Jack blinked. Wasn't Old Man Winter the Winter Seasonal before him? "When this earth was very young, the original Winter Seasonal, Old Man Winter, ruled this land. The different seasons did not exist at the time, so it was an eternal winter."

"It was also unbalanced," Blaze commented just as the Spites exited the doors to bring in their breakfast.

"It took several centuries for that to happen, but that's not the point at the moment," Autumn said as she thanked a Spring Sprite when he placed a plate of eggs, ham, bacon, and a baked potato in front of her. "You see, the Winter Sprite made that outfit for Old Man Winter when he was a young Spirit. When Mother crashed onto this planet, she loved the outfit. The Winter Sprites were more than happen to restore the originals for the next Winter Spirit and even taught the other Seasonal Sprites how to create similar outfits for us as well."

"You have one too?" Jack asked, finding his curious mind wanting to know more as he absorbed the information.

"Of course," Flora said chirpily. "Though, we only wear it on special occasions."

"Like?" Jack asked.

"The Solstice and the Equinox ritual," Blaze answered as he ate his eggs.

"The what?" Jack remembered Mother Nature yelling that at Blaze and something about a war.

Autumn placed her fork back on the table after finishing a piece of the baked potato she had cut up moments ago. "They are rituals we perform for the passing of the seasons. Mother will explain this to you when the time comes for the ritual."

"Speaking of Mother," Jack said as he nibbled on some toast that a Fall Sprite placed on the table for them. "Where is she?"

"There was a rogue Winter Spirit creating a freak blizzard in Asia," Blaze said as he spread strawberry jam on his toast. "Mother went to stop it."

"Oh." He really wanted to thank her for the clothes and to ask her about his Winter Sprites.

"But don't worry!" Jack looked at Blaze. Blaze had a huge smile on his face and a glint in his eyes that Jack could not decipher. "Mother put us in charge of your training until she gets back."

Jack looked at his three siblings curiously. Blaze and Flora looked excited, while Autumn looked exasperated. "What type of training?"

"Well, you need to learn how to fly with Wind," Blaze said.

"And how to control your powers and what to use them for," Flora added.

"Mother would want you to know the history of the Spirit World, how we conduct the weather, how to work with other Seasonal animals and Sprites, and about Mother's rules for Elementals and Nature Spirits." Jack blinked as he looked at Autumn.

"Rules?"

"It's nothing serious," Autumn said with a reassuring smile. "Not all Spirits are nice, Jack."

"Especially those who are not Elementals or Nature Spirits," Blaze mumbled between bites. Flora scrunched up her nose in response.

"Blaze don't talk with your mouth full!" Flora tried to reprimand her brother, but he just stuck out his tongue in retaliation.

"Mother had certain rules to protect us from certain Spirits, especially those that are at war." Autumn ignored the other two and continued talking as if they hadn't spoken at all. "Mother might seem harsh at times, but believe me she does it because she fears of losing us."

Jack frowned. Jack knew he normally didn't like rules. He felt rules were too constraining. He would following them, to an extent anyway. However, Mother Nature's rules must be for a reason and should be followed. Jack didn't know what these rules were or what happened, but it must have been bad.

"What happened?"

Autumn smiled at him sadly. "War, Jack. At the last war, more than half of the Elementals, Nature Spirits, and Sprites were killed. That war almost destroyed this planet."

Jack's eyes widened. "Are you serious?" That would cause anyone to place rules down. He wondered what the rules were.