Hey, guys! Welcome back to Into the Dark! I'm admittedly a little later than I would've liked, but...hey! Still technically on time! Anywho, let's get on with the reviews!

Thanks so much to Arbuzowaqueen, Guest, Thebestbunny75 (Aw, thank you so much, and welcome back! You're too kind :) I'll have to check out your story sometime soon!), and Starkit6 (x3) (Alas, 'twas time for the accent to fall XD And no, my name's Allison, actually. Perhaps you're mistaking me for someone else?) for reviewing! I gotta admit, I was having a bit of rough week with school and all, but...you guys really made my day. :)

And with that, on with the chapter!

Chapter 7: Learning More

The Fall of the Snow Sprites

By Don Inflems

Across the tsardom of Soluna, there exist many diverse races of people, some magical, some not. Among the ranks of the most powerful of the magical races are-or rather, were-those known as snow sprites.

Snow sprites lived almost exclusively in Iskald and its closest surroundings due to their bodies' requirement of cold climates. At one time, a large number of sprites populated the coldest region, living in harmony with the rest of the races present, humans especially. Now, however, only one has been confirmed alive.

What caused such a drastic drop in the sprite population? On its surface, the answer is quite simple: the Nightmare King. Behind these words, however, lies a complicated, sinister plot that led to the fall of the race.

Using his ability to manipulate fears and distrust, the Nightmare King turned the rest of the tsardom against the snow sprites, most specifically targeting the humans whom the sprites had previously considered friends. He convinced them that the snow sprites were demons plotting to overthrow the tsar and take control of the tsardom, sowing seeds of terror and paranoia within their minds.

As a result of the Nightmare King's manipulation, raids on snow sprite villages began, in which the attacking humans primarily used fire to weaken the wintery people. While the adults perished in the flames, the children were captured and delivered to the Nightmare King, who then extracted their magic and turned them into Fearlings. No one could have possibly predicted the gruesome fate that befell almost all of the snow sprites in Soluna.

All...except for one.

Over the course of several years, numerous snow sprite sightings were reported, starting in Central Iskald and steadily moving southward. At the time, it was believed that the sightings were of different sprites, as specific information on the individual's appearance was limited, but it was recently revealed that instead, it was one boy making his way across the region, on the run from those who would have him share the same fate as his people.

The boy in question, Jack Frost, the newly appointed Guardian of Fun, is allegedly the last snow sprite in existence. As far as anyone else in the tsardom is aware, there are no others. Rumors have been circling that, perhaps, others besides Mr. Frost might have survived the raids as well. However, as stated, they are only rumors. It is unknown whether or not there is any truth to these claims.

()()()()

As desperate as Jack had been to question Dr. Fletcher further the moment he had discovered that the man was a snow sprite, his wish was not granted until a few days after the fact, given that the desert heat had rendered him far too weak to remain conscious and speaking for long periods of time. However, the moment he had recovered enough to sit fully upright in bed without passing out, as well as talk without experiencing a sharp pain in his throat, he seized the opportunity to begin asking the doctor all he could.

"So you said...you said this is an underground city populated by snow sprite survivors…?" Jack began tentatively, still unnerved by the "underground" factor of matters, but forcing himself to ignore his discomfort. "There...there are more of us…?"

Dr. Fletcher smiled and nodded in response. "As I said, my boy, there's a community's worth of sprites down here. Many of our people perished in those raids of six and a half years ago...but those of us who lived in the southernmost reaches of Iskald, as well as just past its borders, had a chance to escape, and so some of us managed to." He paused a moment, then looked at Jack, eyebrows raised. "Which reminds me...where are you from? I'm afraid I can't quite decipher your accent…"

"Most likely because it has become a blend of accents…" Jack mused, partially to himself. "I'm originally from Central Iskald, but I suppose that accent has faded somewhat during my time away from there."

The doctor gave a wry smirk. "Well, I haven't heard you say ''tis' or ''twas' yet, though your voice does still possess what I believe I remember as the Central Iskaldian lilt…"

Why does everyone find the Central Iskald accent so hilarious…? Jack thought dully. Instead of voicing his thoughts, however, he merely shook his head and continued.

"Yes, I...I believe my accent has melded with that typically spoken with in Soluna City," he said. "I've been living there for the past five months, after all."

Here, Dr. Fletcher raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Hold on…" he cut in, holding up a hand. "You've been living in the capital? For five months!? How...how did you manage to avoid being caught for so long?"

With a start, Jack realized that, with the man having lived underground for the past six and a half years, there was no possible way that Dr. Fletcher could be aware of recent events. He doesn't know I was made a Guardian...the boy silently acknowledged. He doesn't know I don't need to hide my identity anymore…

"Well," the younger sprite began slowly, unsure of how exactly to phrase his explanation. "Technically speaking, I didn't need to worry about getting caught…"

The doctor frowned, his confusion evident in his expression. "What do you-?"

Before he could finish, however, the door suddenly opened, and a young girl of about twelve or so-another snow sprite, Jack noticed-timidly entered, carrying a basin filled with water. As the attention in the room focused on her, she bit her lip nervously and said quietly, "I...I brought the water you asked for, Papa…"

Dr. Fletcher's puzzled expression melted into a smile as he nodded fondly at the girl. "Ah, yes, thank you, Cynthia. Bring it over here."

As the girl tentatively stepped forward to give him the basin, Dr. Fletcher turned to Jack and told him, "My boy, this is my daughter, Cynthia. Cynthia, this is-" He suddenly paused, then chuckled sheepishly. "Ah...I don't believe I've ever asked you your name, now that I think about it."

"Oh, um, it's Jack," Jack answered. "Jack Frost." He gave a slight smile and waved to Cynthia, striving to look as non-threatening as he could to the shy child (not he was capable of much intimidation in his current state).

Despite his best efforts, however, Cynthia still awkwardly averted her eyes, merely mumbling out a nervous, "Hi…"

"You'll...have to forgive her, Jack," Dr. Fletcher said softly. "She's been down here for just about half of her life. She's not used to meeting new people." He smiled. "But don't worry; I'm sure she'll come around soon enough."

"Um...Papa?" Cynthia began quietly. "There's more...Arios said he was coming to talk to you soon…he sounded angry..."

The doctor's smile dropped once more, this time in favor of exasperation. "Of course he did…" he sighed, rubbing his forehead.

Jack's dark eyebrows raised slightly. "Er...Arios?" he questioned, tilting his head to the side.

"My son," Dr. Fletcher clarified. "And Cynthia's older brother. He's...a bit of a spitfire, you could say. Regrettably enough, us taking you in has riled him up quite a bit, it seems...don't worry, his animosity wasn't caused by you, but rather...the person who attacked you."

"The bandit?" Jack asked, eyebrows furrowing. "What about him…?"

"A bandit, eh…?" the man mused, stroking his short beard. "That could cause trouble…" He shook his head. "The issue is that...well, he is human. A race known to show an admittedly large amount of prejudice towards us sprites in recent years...and my son is concerned because we have brought him down here as our prisoner."

Jack frowned. "Your prisoner…? Why?"

"Unfortunately," the man continued. "When a group of us rescued you, your attacker got a rather good look at who he was dealing with." He sighed. "We cannot afford to let any word get out that we are still alive down here...if that was to happen, we would no doubt be searched for with the intent of further eradication. Thus, we were forced to hold him down here. Most of us are content to keep him with us as a prisoner, just so he can't deliver information about us to the rest of the tsardom, but…" Dr. Fletcher's expression hardened. "Others, Arios included, would rather see him killed."

Despite how the end of the doctor's statement unnerved him, Jack found himself unable to draw his focus away from something that had been stated at the start of the explanation. "Hold on…" he said slowly. "My attacker...was still there when I was rescued?"

The man nodded. "That's how it seems, yes. I was not part of the rescue party myself, but I did see them bring you and the bandit into the city."

"But...but that doesn't make any sense!" Jack exclaimed. "The bandit...he left immediately after he attacked me...and I must have been lying there for hours...it's impossible for him to have still been there…" He thought for a few moments. "Um...let's backtrack for a moment here...how did you end up finding me in the first place?"

Dr. Fletcher didn't quite seem to understand where Jack was going with all this, but he complied with the boy's request, answering, "Well, a few days before we found you, we had noticed a large magical signature passing overhead. We have charms in place all over the city to stop our own magic from being detected, but we can still sense what's going on outside. Now, we have since figured that the magic we sensed at first must have been yours, but at the time, we assumed that it was a large caravan crossing the desert, all decked out in cooling gems. They radiate similar magic to ours, so it's often hard to distinguish the two.

"A few days later, during what I assume was your return trip-I'm curious as to why you needed to cross the desert in the first place, but I suppose that story can wait for a bit-we felt the magical signature again, only this time, it stopped instead of moving on. Now, we initially thought it was the same caravan merely stopping for a rest on the way back to where it had come from...at least, until the magic's power began to fade, as though its owner was dying. Considering the fact that cooling gems obviously cannot die...the only other explanation was that, somehow, some way, there was a fellow snow sprite up there that was in dire need of rescue.

"As such, a rescue team was sent to recover you, and, thanks to your impressively strong magic, the team was able to track you down quite quickly. However, you were not the only one they found. They also came across-and brought down here-a sprite-bred white stallion, which I assume belongs to you-"

Zephyr, Jack thought as he gave a relieved nod. He's alright…

"-and a young man standing over you, believed to have been your attacker."

"Dr. Fletcher," Jack said suddenly, looking up at the man. "You said you saw us being brought down...could you describe the man for me?"

"Sure thing, my boy," the doctor replied. His expression became thoughtful. "Let's see...he was a fairly young lad, though likely a handful of years older than you. If I remember correctly, he had dark red hair, was dressed in a gray cloak, and wore an earring in his left ear."

Jack's eyes widened.

"Though, certainly, the most surprising thing about him was that-"

No...it couldn't be…

"-the young man had a quiver on his back, but he was missing his left arm."

...Simon…

...I love my boy Simon too much to not properly bring him back. I hope you guys like him too, 'cause there'll be more of him coming up soon! See you guys next time!

Until then, Sapphire316, out.