Chapter Nine: There is Still Something

Jack stood at the hole where Pitch's lair was located. His eyes narrowed as he thought through his plan. Jack knew that it probably wasn't the best idea to go inside of the Boogeyman's lair by himself, but he didn't have time to convince the other Guardians to help him in case anything went wrong. Besides, if Jack was correct, things would be fine.

Jack drew in a breath. He held up his staff and slammed it against the ice, causing it and the dirt below to fall into the dark tunnel that led into Pitch's lair. Jack stared into the dark hole and, not knowing if he was being brave or crazy, jumped inside.

Jack landed swiftly and held out his staff in a defensive position. He walked across the dark, distorted bridge he had first crossed when he had been searching for his memories. Jack did not see Pitch waiting at the end though, and continued his way through the twisted hideout.

"Jack Frost. To what do I owe the pleasure?" came a voice from nowhere. Jack whirled around and did not see Pitch in sight. Still, he grasped his staff, ready to blast the Boogeyman in case he jumped out of the shadows.

"You know full well why I'm here," said Jack. Pitch stepped out of the shadows from behind him and Jack turned around to face him.

"Unfortunately, I don't," said Pitch as he towered over him. Jack pointed his staff in his direction and frowned.

"Don't step any closer," Jack growled.

"Oh my," said Pitch, unamused. "What are you going to do? Pelt me with snowballs?"

Jack's brow furrowed. "Tell me, what were you doing by my lake?"

"You mean the frozen one just a few ways from my lair?" said Pitch. "I haven't stepped foot out of here since those pathetic Guardians confronted me there."

Jack's grip tightened on his staff. "You were there. I found nightmare sand all around my tree. Now answer the question," Jack took a step forward, his staff sparking with blue energy, "What. Were. You. Doing. There?"

Pitch put his hands up, a look of bemusement written on his face. "I already told you what I was doing there, and I told you I haven't stepped out of here since the Guardians thwarted my plans. So, whatever you're talking about," Pitch batted Jack's staff out of the way. "I don't know of it. Do you really think I'd step out in the state I'm in right now?"

Was Pitch telling the truth? Jack did not know because nightmare sand only meant Pitch Black, and if it wasn't him who erased everyone's memories, he didn't know who did.

Jack dropped his staff to the side, a new thought appearing in his head. What if Pitch had forgotten too?

"So, you don't remember when I was there when you were dragged back to your lair by your own creations?" asked Jack.

Pitch cringed at the embarrassing memory, but replied. "You were never there, Frost."

Jack internally sighed. He waved his staff and froze Pitch's feet to the ground and flew out of the lair before he even shouted his name.

…

Once Jack had left, he made sure to seal the hole once again to make sure Pitch wouldn't try to escape. He flew to his tree and leaned against it. He watched as the sun began to set and sighed. Jack would normally enjoy the beautiful sight but now that he was on the clock to reverse the memory wipe, he watched with a frown. He was slowly running out of time.

Jack sank to the ground and looked out toward his lake. Would he really be alone for the rest of his eternal life?

He then spotted a colorful dot hurriedly making his way toward him. It was Baby Tooth. She flew up to his face and twittered something so that Jack wouldn't have understood even if she was chirping normally.

"Whoa, whoa, Baby Tooth, slow down!" said Jack. "You know I don't understand you when you talk like this...and any other time you talk to me."

Baby Tooth huffed and pointed to her head and then him. Jack blinked.

"I don't understand," said Jack. Baby Tooth rolled her eyes in annoyance. How she wished she could just tell Jack. The fairy looked around and picked up a stick and began to draw in the snow. Jack watched as she made a miniature drawing of Toothiana and an arrow pointing to her head.

"Uh...what about Tooth's head?" asked Jack. Baby Tooth then drew stars around her eyes and a thought bubble with him in it.

Jack was confused. What was she trying to tell him? He stared at the picture a little longer and Baby Tooth pointed to the picture and chirped.

Then, it hit him. "Oh! Did Tooth remember something?" asked Jack. Baby Tooth nodded vehemently and Jack smiled.

"Wait...Tooth remembered something?" repeated Jack. How did she remember something? And if so, what did she remember?

It did make sense for Tooth to remember something first, but what about the other Guardians? Jack knew that Bunny must have remembered something when he went to see him in the Warren, but he thought that would only happen once. Jack smiled. So, there was still something left in the Guardians that remembered him.

But then there was the fact the Tooth said everyone would forget and wouldn't remember what they forgot until the seal was broken. Why were the Guardians suddenly remembering things?

Jack looked at Baby Tooth. "Did she have some sort of weird, blue glow around her eyes?" Jack asked. Baby Tooth nodded.

"What happened before that?" asked Jack. Baby Tooth put up her finger and then flew into a tree trunk and backed up.

"She crashed into a wall. That's not unusual," said Jack with a chuckle. "Then what?"

Baby Tooth wrote out "I'm fine!" in the snow.

"'I'm fine…'" repeated Jack. Then he remembered while they were collecting teeth in place of Tooth's fairies, Tooth had crashed into a billboard and said she was fine.

"Wait...so the lost memories can be triggered?" said Jack. "So maybe this won't be as hard as I thought it would be!"

If the Guardians could recall at least a few memories, that meant that Jack wasn't entirely forgotten after all. Maybe they would soon—hopefully really soon—realize what happened and aid Jack in finding who caused the memory wipe and break the seal that was keeping the spell going.

"Okay, Baby Tooth," said Jack. "You're going to have to get the Guardians to remember as much as they can, okay? Just do something that will make them remember something and maybe they'll realize what's going on."

Baby Tooth saluted the winter spirit and Jack saluted her back. Baby Tooth twittered and then flew off to the Tooth Palace. Jack hoped his plan would work.

"Hey, Wind?" The Wind ruffled his hair and Jack laughed. "Take me to the North Pole. I'm going to have to look at a few books in North's library."

The Wind swirled around him and picked him up and Jack flew toward the direction of Santoff Claussen. Jack was in a hurry to end this spell before he was forgotten forever.