Chapter 38: Eira, the North Wind
Long, long, long ago, when the universe was still new and young, there was nothing but darkness. No life existed, for there was nothing but the endless darkness of space and time. No beings existed for there were no worlds for them to live. No worlds existed for there were no realms. And with no realms there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
The universe was an empty place, void of any life beyond the cosmos. But the cosmos was not completely void of life, for within the darkness were shadows. Now the Shadows were not bad as some may think. The Shadows were, in fact, neither good nor bad. They did not feel, for they had no emotions to feel. They did not have a body in order to feel hungry, or cold, or warmth. Nor did they have a mind to feel emotions or even to think. The Shadows just simply existed. And with that existence, a purpose.
The Shadows purpose was to just expand. To spread their darkness among the vast emptiness of space and time. But much like the vast universe of space and time, the Shadows were not alone. Alongside the Shadows, simply existing, simply spreading, was energy. Raw energy. Destructive energy. Ever changing energy.
The two simply existed. Moving. Spreading. Waiting.
Unlike the Shadows, the energy had a greater purpose than just existing and spreading. For within the energy was a spark. A spark that the Shadows were not aware of. The spark of creation. The beginning of life.
As the two existed and waited, the energy grew in power. It grew in size as it expanded with the Shadows. Waiting. Watching. And then when the time was just right the energy exploded.
The universe was soon covered in light and magic. And from that magic formed a being of light — a woman. The woman knew her purpose was to create the first realm and only the first realm. For her body was lucid, tangible, and would eventually return to the cosmos.
Despite this knowledge, the being created and with that, she created the first Fae — a teenager and a child. The teenager would grow to be a brave warrior. Always guarding. Always watching. He was a protector, but not for the universe. He was created to protect and watch his brother as he grew and created. The child would grow to be the true creator of the universe. A king. A Wise King. A Gentle King. A Kind King. The King of the Faes and of every living thing throughout the cosmos/
From that moment came the beginning of creation. And with that the beginning of life. From that life came the creation of the Faes and the beginning of the Age of the Gods. But like all things, the good must have their evils. From the moment the energy exploded, the Shadows began to think. To form. To feel. But unlike the woman, who wanted to create, the Shadows wanted nothing but destruction.
As the Faes created, the Shadows corrupted.
As the Faes gave life, the Shadows brought death.
And from that destruction and death, came greed. The Shadows wanted the power the King had. They wanted everything. Everything the King held so dear. They had corrupted one of his Faes, making the Fae want to kill its King and everything he stood for. But the King had his brother for protection. It wasn't long before the two stopped the Fae, banishing him to another realm, and managed to find out that he had been tainted by the Shadows.
The King, upset, placed a protective barrier of light around his realm. Chasing all the Shadows from it and making them lose the bodies they have been given. Angered, the Shadows would wonder the cosmos, destroying worlds and creating fear. As the years gone by, the Shadows and the King would constantly fight as one attempted to overpower the other.
The Shadows would always grow furious when they didn't get their way. They had attacked worlds and as a result, the King would create those who would fight them. The war among the universe was only the start. The King had created intellectual beings that were both strong warriors and magical beings. These beings had fought them for decades. Many of the King's children fell to their possession, but that was only the beginning of their Fearlings' destruction. The beings were smart and then one day a man in gold managed to capture them and seal them away. Thus the beginning of the Golden Age.
But the King knew it would not last. For he had seen his child becoming the evil he fought to stop. And with that, he had gifted four of his oldest Faes with the power to protect the universe from the Fearlings (the Power of Wonder, the Power of Memories, the Power of Fun, and the Power of Hope) and from what was soon to come.
The Nightmare King was a frightening being. Always destroying. Always killing. The death of the Pookas had been the first. Followed by the death of the World of Lunar. At that moment, the Fealings believed they had finally won. They were powerful enough to destroy all and to finally bring the King to his knees. But they had misjudged the King's kind will, love, and cleverness.
The King loved all things, even the Fearlings. In their final attempt to stop them, the beings gave up their bodies, giving their powers to a select few, preventing the Nightmare King's destructive path. But they had not expected the beings they gave their powers to to not see the love the King gave them. While one laid dormant for many years, the others allowed the darkness within themselves to take over, causing a new war time and time again.
The ancient beings knew they could do nothing, for they were now invisible spirits. And they knew the King could do nothing for he gave all free will. The only thing he could do was guide them from afar, in hopes they would listen and make the right choice.
As the Age of the Gods shifted to the Age of Man, and slowly shifted to more troubling times, they could only watch as the Guardians caused conflict throughout the Spirit World. They started by seeking the destruction of the Nightmare King and his Nightmare, followed by convincing one of the Sandwielders to join their cause. The chosen ones were only a disappointment. They continue to ignore the King's whispers, only the Sandwielders seemed to listen once and awhile, but they knew the King still believed. They were not completely gone, at least for three of them anyway.
The King had high hopes. He continued to whisper. And much to their surprise, the Nightmare King finally listened. The Nightmare King listened and found what the King wanted him to find. Watching Pitch Black (formally Kozmotis Pitchiner) reunited with his brother was a sight to see. Seeing the spirit smiling and happy was what the King wanted, so it was very distressing when the King informed them of the Nightmare King grieving in Antarctica.
The North Wind specifically had been most concerned. Antarctica was scheduled to have a fierce blizzard lasting three whole days and today was only the second day. Concerned, Wind personally decided to find out what was wrong with the spirit, that made the King very concerned. She had left Mother Nature's palace while the other Seasonals were explaining to her charge the importance of his conduct.
Wind had been around for a very long time, she wasn't older than the King or his brother, but she had seen many things in her life. She had seen war and the sadness it brings the moment she had been created. She had seen death and destruction and the grief it brings. She had seen many things in the last several eons. But none of this prepared her for the scene she come upon when she reached the location of the blizzard.
The spirit had looked so broken as he yelled and sobbed brokenly. The spirit hadn't seemed to notice the way the blizzard was cutting his skin or they way his blood was dripping to the snow. It was heartbreaking to watch. But what really concerned her was the fact that Pitch Black still believed that the child was dead.
She knew things would only get worse from here on out. The King had warned her of what would happen if Pitch was to truly allow the Fearlings to take over his soul. The Fearlings could kill what was left of the man and return to the death of all living creatures. She didn't want that to happen. This was why she decided to stop the blizzard. But there was another reason for her actions. She knew that the child would not want his brother to grieve and blame himself like he was doing now.
The North Wind tried her best to comfort the spirit, even if it meant lying to him. It was sad he couldn't hear or understand her. He was not a Seasonal or Mother Nature or the Fae, making communication very difficult.
The North Wind wanted to tell him that the child was alive and at the palace, but she couldn't. And it only got annoying when Pitch thought she was Jackson.
She got annoyed very quickly. But the gust in the face seemed to knock some sense into him in the end. She was thankful for that.
The North Wind wished she could have stayed with the grieving spirit, but it was in that moment when she heard her charge calling her. The Seasonals were calling them all. With a silent sigh, knowing that she would be leaving Pitch, for now, she left. The pain in Pitch's voice would forever haunt her.
"He will be fine, my dear," a gentle male voice reassured her. The voice, the Wind realized, was the King. She sensed that he was on Earth, working on creating new animals for the mortals. Somewhere in Europe, if the current from her siblings was anything to go by.
"I hope you are right, your Highness. The child has no memories and Pitch Black is heartbroken."
The King laughed. "My child, young Jackson and Kozmotis will meet again. I have foreseen it." Wind felt her spirit lift at this, swirling around the trees in her excitement. If the King had foreseen it, then the meeting will come to pass. The child will be happy! So very happy! There will be no more war! No more hatred among this immortal family!"It will be a long time before they meet again, however." The toner in King's voice brought a depressing sense of dread. The King sounded so very sad. She hated hearing her King sounding anything but the happy, wise, kindhearted King that he was (they all did actually). When the King was sad it would rain. Water would come faster, coming in short bursts as it traveled along the land and sea. Snow would fall faster, creating unexpected snow falls. The ground would shake. The mountain would quake. And the last of the Greek Gods, the Earth, would cry for she knew the being that created her and the entire universe was hurting inside.
In a way, the King sounded like Mother Nature when he was upset. But that was because before the expansion of the universe and before the wide scale attack from the Dark Faes and the Fearlings, the King and the other Faes used to attend to every planet without worry. It was for this reason that the King gifted a select few to have control over the weather and elements. It was he who created the original Seasonals of Earth and it was he who gifted Mother Nature, Father Time, and all the other Ancient Spirits their powers. The Fae trusted the protection of Earth to their care while he fought the corruption sprung forth by the Dark Fae.
"Your majority?"
"Yes, Eira." If Wind still had her body, she would have smiled. No one but the King ever addressed her by her birth name. And it had been several years since she and the King had a nice conversation. Shame he didn't spend that much time on Earth. The King had other worlds to attend to, especially those that were at war and close to destruction.
"When?"
From the currents, Wind could senses that the King was sighing softly, staring at the light blue sky. "That is very hard to say." He paused for a brief when another voice called out to him. It was his brother, she realized. Once Agamemnon spoke what needed to be said, the King returned his attention to her. "Nothing is for certain my dear. It can be tomorrow. Next week. Next year. Or even in the next century. Their meeting will come to pass. When that time comes and what they do will be completely up to them."
I hope you all liked this chapter. This chapter is to explain what was happening to Pitch in the last chapter with the Wind. Of course, this actually was a good time to give a little background for the four winds. Now for all that might be wondering, the King and Agamemnon are OC from a novel I'm currently working on. The background was just changed just a bit to fit this universe. The two will make brief appearances throughout the story and maybe even meet Jack later on.