Happy Jack Frost Day, everyone! I rushed to get something done for the occasion, which is why it's only the first half of what turned out to be an arc ^^; Also, in case I get too busy over the next week and am not able to get out a Christmas chapter, Merry Christmas!

I hope you enjoy your request, half-crazy; I've certainly been looking forward to writing it :P

Disclaimed

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Power Hungry Part I

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The first few weeks of winter were always the best; well, in Jack's opinion, anyway. The way the oranges and browns of autumn faded and were promptly buried under a layer of white, and the excitement on the kids' faces when they realised it was snow season again never failed to bring a grin to his face.

Perched on the branch of one of the taller trees around his lake, Jack surveyed his most recent handy-work. Nobody would be falling through that ice in a hurry. He had also been sure to dump an extra few inches on the town itself so that the usual, boring school Monday turned into an awesome snow day Monday. No child would suffer boredom indoors when Jack Frost was around. Not if he had any say in it, anyway.

Jack paused in his musings at a rustle in the bushes nearby. It was probably just an animal or something, but it certainly wouldn't have been the first time the Burgess kids had tried (keyword: tried) to get the jump on him unawares. He usually caught them pretty quickly, especially if they had Sophie with them, but so far they hadn't given up.

He jumped nimbly down to the forest floor, straining his ears for any sign of booted feet crunching on snow or a muffled giggle (usually Sophie). All he could hear, though, was his own light footsteps and the wind blowing between the branches. Had he just imagined it? Or maybe it really was just an animal. A squirrel or something that had forgotten it was supposed to be hibernating.

Better safe than sorry, he mentally shrugged. There was no way he was going to let the kids get one-up on him because he was too lazy to check it out. He'd never live it down. And so, with near-silent steps, Jack crept ever-closer to the suspicious bush.

"Ha!" he cried, bringing his staff down in front of him as he leapt behind the plant. He blinked in surprise at what he saw, straightening to his full height. "Lleu?"

The summer spirit sat crouched behind the bush, looking a little sheepish that he'd been caught. The area directly around him was wet with melted snow. "Uh, hey?"

"What are you doing here? And why are you hiding behind a bush?"

"Ah... you know, just... thought I'd drop by? Yeah, let's go with that."

"O-kaaaay," Jack raised a brow, not really buying it. "And the bush?"

Lleu shrugged and pet the plant. "It's a nice bush."

Jack took a step back, allowing Lleu more space to get to his feet. The summer seasonal swiped at the water marks on his board-shorts as he stood.

"So, how's summer?" Jack asked when it was clear Lleu wasn't going to say anything.

"Good, yeah, nice and warm," Lleu replied. "Winter?"

"Cold and white," Jack looked pointedly at their surroundings. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Never better!"

Jack eyed him suspiciously. There was definitely something going on he wasn't aware of, but if Lleu didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't press the issue.

"So, hey, this is your hometown, right?" Lleu asked suddenly.

"Yeah...?"

"Why don't you give me the grand tour?"

"Haven't you seen it in summer?"

"Yeah, but I want to see it in winter, too."

Jack shrugged, not finding any reason why he shouldn't. He waved vaguely around them, "This is the lake and the woods."

Lleu raised a brow. "Fascinating. You should get a career as a tour guide."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Come on, then, smarty pants. I'll show you the town." He turned his back and started trudging away.

A hand grasping his wrist stopped him, the burning contact making him cringe.

"Um, ow!" he spun back around and tugged at his hand. "Mind letting go?!"

Lleu's grip tightened. "I have a better idea," he said, his mouth stretching into a sinister grin.

"Lleu, you're hurting me!"

"Don't worry, it won't hurt for long."

He'd never seen Lleu act like this before, and to say he was alarmed would be an understatement. Jack idly wondered if Pitch could sense his growing fear. With rising panic, he struck out with his staff, blasting Lleu with a face full of ice and causing the summer spirit to release his grip. Jack leapt backwards a fair distance, staff held in front of himself defensively.

The ice melted almost immediately, just as he'd expected it would, but the distraction had bought him some breathing room.

"What the hell?!" he snapped.

"Wow, ice against summer. Really?" Lleu mocked.

"What did you want me to do? Stand still so you could burn my hand off?"

"Not what I was going for but standing still would make this easier for both of us."

"Make what easier?!"

Lleu only grinned. The way it contorted its face looked very out of place on the usually so carefree spirit.

Something was clearly wrong with him, and Jack had no intention of fighting. He was far from powerless, but against the embodiment of summer, he didn't stand much of a chance. He and the other seasonals were like the elements, each strong against one and weak against another. Summer was without a doubt his weakness.

"I'm not going to fight you, Lleu," Jack declared, taking another step back.

"Good. I wouldn't want this to have to get messy," Lleu replied. "But if I have to break something to make you obey then I will."

Yep, definitely not his normal self. He needed help. Maybe Mother Nature. Jack called on his wind to carry him away, immensely relieved at having it wrap itself around him.

"Uh-uh, not so fast!" Lleu laughed. Before Jack's eyes he started to change. His face warped and became more slender, his red hair becoming chestnut brown in patches. The end result was like someone had morphed Lleu and May Queen together into one being.

He barely had a second to register the change before vines sprung out of the ground, wrapping around his legs and dragging him back to the frozen earth. Jack squirmed against them, feeling them start to freeze in his panic, but by the time he'd made any real headway, Lleu/May was already upon him.

"You're not Lleu," he glared. "Who are you?"

"Ah, very clever," Not-Lleu/May cackled. "But, sadly, too late." They crouched down, placing one palm on Jack's chest. "Just hold still and this'll be over in a jiffy."

Jack forcefully broke a hand free, sending ice shards scattering around him, and grabbed their wrist as tightly as he could. It burnt his hand, but he was giving as good as he got; whoever they were, they were about to get the worst case of frostbite in history.

"You're making this harder than it needs to be," they sighed, features twisting again until all traces of May were gone. The heat pouring off them increased and Jack was forced to let go.

"What do you want?" he seethed.

"Only your powers."

Before Jack had a chance to respond, he was overcome with searing pain from the point of contact, and not just because of the higher body temperature. It was like the spirit was trying to suck out his core. Maybe they were. He bit down on his lip to keep from crying out; he refused to give them the satisfaction. He tasted blood in his mouth.

"What... what did you do to Lleu and May?!" he ground out, bringing his legs up and kicking outwards. He caught his assailant in the chest, knocking them back enough that he could break the last of the vines and get to his feet.

Not-Lleu/May lay still for a moment before barking out a laugh. "You have more fight in you than I gave you credit for," they said, amused, as they pushed themself upright again. "But it won't save you. You're only delaying the inevitable!"

"Answer the question!" Jack demanded. They had said they wanted to take his powers. Did that mean...?

"From the look on your face, I think you've already figured it out!" they cackled. "That's right, little snowflake, your precious summer and spring spirits are no more!"

"No!" Jack struck out with his staff, sending shards of ice hurtling straight for the other being. It was a lie. It couldn't be true. He would not accept that.

Not-Lleu/May didn't even blink. Their features twisted again until white started coming through in their hair. With a single wave of their arm a strong wind knocked the shards off course and impaled them in a tree trunk.

Jack gaped. He'd only been pinned for a moment and already they had stolen some of his powers from him? But not all of them – there was only a little white hair. That was it. Did that mean they'd only been able to get a little bit of May's powers? Where was she? Was she okay?

And what did it mean for Lleu?

Not-Lleu/May's grin stretched wider, if it were possible. They opened their mouth to say something, perhaps taunt him further, but any possible words were cut off by a loud battle-cry and something falling from the sky directly on top of them. Both Not-Lleu/May and the thing from the sky crumpled to the ground.

"Ow, ow, ow," the thing, which turned out to be a person, rolled off his target, groaning. "That is so much more painful without magical powers."

"You're the one who insisted," Ceres rolled her eyes, landing off to the side with May at her side. The spring spirit had several black strands through her hair and all the flowers in her braid were dead. She looked like she hadn't slept in days.

"Yes, well, when one spends almost eight hundred years being able to fall from the sky and not bat an eye, they tend to forget that human bodies are weak. I'm human now. I'm allowed to not be perfect," the guy countered, staggering to his feet and brushing his golden brown hair out of his eyes.

"So what was your excuse for before?" Ceres smirked.

"Didn't need one. I was flawless."

Jack slowly started putting two and two together. "Lleu?!"

The guy's attention snapped over to him and Jack felt a surge of relief. "Hey, Snow Cone! Or should I start calling you Oreo? Sorry we're late, by the way."

It was all a bit much for Jack to take in, really. So, in the end, he really couldn't be blamed for the highly intelligent, "Huh?" that escaped him.

"This is hardly the time," May snapped at them, eyes locked intently on the slowly rising figure of Jack's assailant.

"Judging from the fact that you're here, I'm going to take a guess and assume you know what's going on. In which case, would one of you mind explaining to me?" Jack called, never once taking his eyes off Not-Lleu/May.

"We'll explain later," May replied. "For now we need to get as far away from this thing as possible."

"Nuh-uh," Lleu shook his head, marching forwards. "I have a few bones to pick first."

"What are you intending to do without any powers?" Not-Lleu/May laughed, putting their hands on their hips as they took stock of the situation.

"I'll pommel you with my bare hands if I have to!"

"I'd like to see you try."

"Good, then it looks like we're both gonna get what we want!"

Jack snagged Lleu with the crook of his staff, pulling him back before he could do something he'd regret.

"Let me go, Jack!" Lleu staggered. "Don't you realise what that thing has done?! Not only did they get the jump on me, steal my powers, attack you and May, who, by the way, wouldn't hurt a fly, but they made me human. Human! Do you know what this means?! It means I now have mortal responsibilities. I can't live like this! What if someone tries to make me make a phone call?! Or book an appointment? Or both?! I wasn't made for adult-ing, Jack."

"Those are your priorities?!" Ceres stared.

"Well I'm sorry if adulthood stresses me out, okay?!"

"Can we focus, please?" May stressed. "You can have your existential crisis when we're not about to be attacked by a power-stealing spirit."

"Uh, does anyone know where the 'power-stealing spirit' went?" Jack hedged. At some point in their conversation the thing must've moved, because it was no longer where they'd last seen it.

"Thanks, Lleu, you distracted us with your breakdown and now we lost it!" Ceres grouched, turning her glare on the ex-summer spirit.

"Wow, guys, you're all so kind to me," Lleu deadpanned.

"Uh, guys, the spirit?" Jack tried to pull them back on track, glancing around warily and half-expecting to be attacked from behind at any moment. A warm breeze brushed against his face. Eyes widening, he grabbed Lleu by the arm, hauling him behind him, and sent ice careening upwards. "Watch out!"

The spirit, taken by surprise, was knocked back to the ground with a hiss.

"Holy Mother Nature your hands are freezing!" Lleu gasped, rubbing furiously where Jack had grabbed him. He was ignored.

Ceres held her arm out wide towards a willowy tree and swiped towards their assailant. Copying the action, the tree groaned and swayed as if in a gale, and whacked the spirit upside the head with enough force to knock them flat on their face.

"...Since when have you been able to do that?" Jack stared at her.

"Ex-goddess, Jack," was all she said.

"Emphasis on ex," the spirit snickered, pushing themself back up. Except for now being covered in snow, they didn't look any worse for wear.

Ceres growled, thrusting her hands forward in preparation for another attack. She never got the chance to see it through. The spirit sent a powerful monsoon-strength wind straight for her, sending her flying into the now thawed lake.

"Ceres!" May cried, immediately hurrying after her.

Jack spared the girls only a second's glance, sure they could take care of themselves, before leaping towards the spirit on a blast of icy wind. He would have to be careful not to make his attacks too powerful, else he accidentally hurt Lleu and the girls as well. The spirit sensed his hesitation and didn't make any move to dodge. When Jack was close enough, they grabbed his staff and swung him around until he was slammed into the ground.

"Shall we finish where we left off?" they grinned.

A second later they were tackled off him.

"Don't touch him!" Lleu barked, staggering upright before the spirit had a chance to recover.

"So you want to do this the hard way?" the spirit laughed. "Well then, don't say I didn't warn you. You could've lived out the rest of your days together as humans – all I was interested in was your powers – but now I'm not feeling all too benevolent."

The wind around them started picking up drastically, the force of it whipping at the four seasonals' hair and clothes, and melting every patch of snow around them. Jack threw his arms up to protect his face, but it did little against the scorching air. He could feel the charge building around them, the water evaporating. There would be a storm here in a matter of moments.

"Take cover!" he heard someone shout.

Something tugged on his arm. "Run!"

Jack obeyed without question, unable to properly open his eyes and not really sure which way he was heading. But at that moment it didn't matter; they just needed to get as far away as possible. It was becoming clearer that, equipped with all of Lleu's considerable power, they would be hard pressed to do anything more than delay the spirit. They needed to think and come up with a proper plan.

He could hear the spirit still laughing somewhere behind them.

He didn't look back.

Guest Review Responses:

Dingbat: I did XD Yay~ I'm glad I could make you happy :3 Yes, the Jack Frost Festival is the real deal, on Prince Edward Island, Canada. The dinosaurs I stole from the Festival's website; apparently the 2016 festival is going to feature them (and dragons omg) Thank you so much!

Noellesmells1: Don't apologise; it's fine! It's right at the end of the summary so it might be a bit hard to see ^^; Yeah, let me know for sure when I open them again :3