I AM SO SORRY! This should've been out WAY sooner but I got caught up in a stressful couple of weeks. Anyway, enough excuses. I swear this chapter was supposed to be serious. But Lleu wouldn't let me. I blame him. Also this is a longer arc than I was expecting, so there's going to be another part after this ^^;
But, hey, I managed to get 2SexyForMySkirt's request in, too :D
Disclaimed.
...
Power Hungry Part II
...
That's it; I'm gonna die, Lleu thought, hunched over with his hands on his knees as he wheezed, trying to catch his breath. When he'd felt the storm system forming, he'd done what any sensible person would do and ran for his life. Unfortunately, he hadn't managed to get very far before his now mortal body had declared enough was enough. But he'd made it out of the woods, at least (literally speaking, anyway).
A voice in the back of his mind that sounded suspiciously like May Queen said, Well, what did you expect when you spend all your time either flying around or lazing about?
"Sh-shush, May," he said, earning himself several strange looks from passersby (if they hadn't already been staring at his less than seasonally appropriate attire).
Really, the situation couldn't get much worse; he was completely alone (which was thankful, if only because the other three would've slapped him for tempting the universe), dressed in a t-shirt, board shorts, and flip flops despite everything around him being covered in snow, the power-stealing whosit was still on the loose with his powers, and to top everything off with a nice fat cherry, he was human.
Blegh. Responsibilities.
"Alright," Lleu said, slamming a fist into his palm, "if I d-don't want l-life as I know it to c-come to a m-miserable, dramatic e-end in which I h-have to p-partake in the endless c-cycle of 'n-need experience t-to get a j-job, need a j-job to get exp-perience'–" he shuddered "–then I s-seriously need to f-fix this."
He paused where he was. "F-First thing's f-first: figure out w-where the h-heck I am."
A woman was staring at him, holding her purse close to her side, as she scurried past him.
"Oh, hey," Lleu called out to her. "C-Could you t-tell me– or you c-could just run away. T-That works t-too."
He got the same result with several other randoms, and in the end came to the conclusion that he was on his own. He knew he was in Burgess – he and the girls had gone to the place they'd most likely find Jack – but where in Burgess remained a mystery. Lleu supposed 'where' didn't really matter if he could find one of the others. But, of course, he had even less of an idea as to where they were than he did himself.
"I-Is this what b-being an adult is l-like?" he asked himself, trudging down the street and trying not to show how badly he was shivering. "T-Tromping around and p-pretending you know w-what you're doing? Because I d-don't like it. I w-want a r-refund."
He was getting more weird looks, not that he cared all that much anymore. Let them think the summery guy talking to himself was insane! They'd probably be right, come to think of it... Bah, details.
"Hey, mister, are you okay?"
Lleu looked up from his brooding to see a group of kids in front of him. They were all decked out in their winter gear (and he was totally not jealous) and the brunet boy at the front had a sled tucked under one arm.
"N-Not really," Lleu admitted, hugging himself. "You w-wouldn't happen t-to have a s-spare coat, would you?"
"Here," the tallest kid in the group, a mean looking girl in a tutu, took off her thick pink coat and handed it to him.
"T-thanks," Lleu grinned, slipping it on without a second's hesitation. It was a bit short on him, with the sleeves ending almost at his elbow, but it was warm. It was a nice colour, too.
"What're you doing out in the snow dressed like that?" she asked, frowning.
"I got l-lost. I'm l-looking for my s-siblings."
"But why are you dressed like that?"
"I'm n-not from around h-here."
"It shows."
"You're looking for your siblings?" sled-kid interrupted. "What do they look like? Maybe we could help you look."
"Ah, I d-doubt that, kid," Lleu sighed. Jack and May might've had a more noticeable aura now, but they would still be about as visible as Ceres.
"Why?"
"L-let's just say they're the world ch-champions of hide and s-seek."
"It'll be faster if we help," one of what appeared to be a set of twins said.
Heh. Not likely.
"We're looking for someone, too," the blonde boy with glasses shuffled nervously.
"Y-yeah? W-well, maybe I c-could help y-you look," Lleu suggested.
"Maybe you'll find your siblings on the way," the girl in the beanie smiled.
"G-good thinking, 99." The kids obviously didn't get the reference but Lleu didn't mind. As they set off in the direction he had come from, he said, "I'm Lleu, by the way."
"I'm Jamie," sled-kid introduced. Then, pointing from one member of the group to the next, "This is Pippa, Monty, Cupcake, Caleb, and Claude."
"You n-name is C-Cupcake?" Lleu twisted his head to look at her.
"You got a problem with that?" Cupcake growled. She looked like she was getting ready to pound him into dust.
"N-nah, I was just t-thinking that's a p-pretty awesome n-name, actually."
Cupcake blinked, as if she hadn't been expecting that sort of response.
"So who're you g-guys looking for?"
"You might not be able to see him," Jamie shrugged. "He's better at hide and seek than your siblings."
Lleu raised a brow. "I highly doubt that." He paused as Jamie's words sunk in. Might not be able to see him. "Are you looking for a s-spirit?" Another thing clicked in his mind. "W-wait. Are you Jamie as in the Jamie as in the golden child who remixed that video of P-Pitch?"
The kids stopped walking.
"How do you know about that?" Jamie frowned in suspicion at the same time the others asked 'what video?'.
Lleu couldn't help it. He laughed. "This is awesome! W-we're looking for the s-same person!"
"You're looking for Jack?"
"Yeah! Crazy right?"
"Hang on," Pippa held up her hands. "Jack's your brother?!"
"In all but blood," Lleu smirked. He stooped into a sweeping bow, "Spirit of summer, at your service."
"You're the spirit of summer," Claude said sceptically, giving him a once-over.
"Well, I was the spirit of summer but then some psycho, power-hungry whackadoodle stole my powers."
"'Psycho, power-hungry whackadoodle'?"
Lleu gestured for the kids to huddle closer. "Gather round, kiddies, for I have a tale..."
...
...
While the spirit thing (and man did they really need a proper name for it) had stolen some of his powers, it seemed to Jack that it hadn't taken his ability to fly. He had run for a little while before remembering duh power of flight and took to the skies. It was far easier to gain your bearings when you had a bird's eye view of your surroundings.
Unfortunately, his high altitude didn't make it much easier to find the others. Jack wasn't sure who had dragged him away from the clearing, but as soon as they'd let go he'd lost them. Ceres could still fly, he knew (assuming her dunk in the lake hadn't done too much damage, which he doubted), and May could for short bursts, so they'd probably find him before he found them. As for Lleu, well... that was going to be harder.
It had only taken a single glimpse at his reflection in a store window to realise what Lleu had been talking about when he'd called him 'Oreo'. Like May, his hair was now streaked, though with brown instead of black. It was a concerning development.
Jack perched on the edge of a building and scanned his surroundings. There were plenty of people walking around, all dressed warmly for the season. From the looks of things, none of them had noticed the bizarre weather going on in the woods, but they surely would soon enough.
"It was the strangest thing," a woman's voice reached him. Jack looked down, easily spotting her below him, a mobile phone pressed to her ear as she gestured widely with her free hand. "He was hardly wearing anything, as if he'd expected to go outside and find it boiling! And talking to himself, too. Honestly, sometimes I worry about those young people. It's like they have no idea what they're doing with their lives."
Jack blinked. Well, that sounded like a description of Lleu if ever he heard one. He jumped down onto the sidewalk and started following the woman, but when it was clear he'd gain no further hints from her he turned around and headed the way she'd come. With any luck, he'd run into Lleu before the guy could give himself hypothermia.
"There you are!"
Jack looked up at the sudden, blissfully familiar voice in time to see May landing behind him.
"Ceres isn't with you?" he questioned. He was sure the two of them would have escaped together.
"I lost her in the woods."
"Was she okay?"
"Yes. I think her pride was bruised, more than anything."
Jack could understand that. "I take it you haven't found Lleu, then?"
"No," May started weaving through the streets alongside him. "You're the first."
"Well, let's not split up again. I heard someone mention having seen him, so I'm hoping if I retrace her steps I'll run into him."
May nodded. "Let's hope we find him before our adversary does."
"Or Ceres."
"Or Ceres."
...
...
"And that, boys and girls, is why we don't tick of the fire spirits," Lleu concluded.
The group of kids huddled around him exchanged wide-eyed expressions of amusement and an appropriate level of horror.
"Too bad you're no good at following your own advice," a woman's voice snapped.
Lleu stopped dead in his tracks and spun around, causing Pippa, who had been behind him, to crash into him. "Ceres!" he cried in relief, arms wide as he made to throw himself on her.
Ceres nimbly stepped aside, sending Lleu staggering a few paces.
"Ceres?" Cupcake frowned.
"Yes, Ceres, you hapless mortal," Ceres snapped. Sadly, Cupcake was oblivious to her presence. She rounded on Lleu, looking him up and down and sneering at his borrowed coat, "And as for you..."
Lleu cringed. "Please don't hit me."
"Why would we hit you?" Jamie asked.
"I'm not going to hit you," Ceres rolled her eyes. Lleu wasn't sure but he thought he might've heard something along the lines of 'but sometimes I want to' muttered under her breath. He quickly dismissed it as his imagination though, because he was a perfectly lovable guy and no one in their right mind would want to hit him.
"Where are the others?" he tried to see past her, as if expecting Jack and May to appear out of nowhere.
"I don't know, obviously, or I'd be there instead of here."
"You're so kind to me."
"Who're you talking to?" Caleb cut in.
"Oh, right," Lleu smiled sheepishly. "Kids, I'd like to introduce you to my older sister-in-all-but-blood and spirit of autumn, Ceres," he waved to where she was standing.
Ceres crossed her arms and turned her eyes to the heavens as if sending a prayer for strength. She was a Pagan goddess, though, and so probably wouldn't have been praying to a Christian deity. But you get the idea.
The kids were confused, obviously seeing nothing but empty air, until Lleu nudged them and said, "You have to believe. Like you do with Jack." It took barely seconds after that before they were openly gaping at the older spirit.
Ceres glanced at them before turning away again.
"Whoa," they breathed.
Ceres' gaze snapped back so fast she probably gave herself a concussion. "They can see me?" she muttered.
"Wait, are you Ceres, as in goddess Ceres?" Pippa asked, eyes alighting with recognition.
Ceres preened at the girl's amazement. "Why, yes, I am," she replied, puffing out her chest and running a hand through her hair. "How very educated you are."
"Ex-goddess," Lleu corrected. "Don't fuel her ego."
Ceres glared at him.
"So what about the spring seasonal spirit?" Monty hedged.
"That's May. You'll get to meet her when we can find her," Lleu informed him. "And, of course, you already know our baby brother."
"Wait, baby brother?" Cupcake raised a brow. "Jack's, like, three hundred or something."
"Yes, well, Ceres here is over two thousand, I'm eight hundred and something – I forget – and May's about six hundred. But even without that, we're still physically older than him, too. After Jack, May's the youngest based on physical appearance and she's, like, seventeen or eighteen."
"Seventeen," Ceres corrected.
The kids looked like the information had blown their minds.
"So, yup, baby brother," Lleu laughed.
Thunder cracked in the distance. All eyes snapped in the direction it had come from – the woods.
"That's not good," Lleu muttered, sharing a look with Ceres.
"It'll be even less good if we're still separated when it comes for us," she replied.
"That's the psycho, power-hungry whackadoodle, isn't it?" Jamie asked gravely. Ceres stared at him like he was insane.
"'fraid so," Lleu sighed.
"So what do we do?"
"We do nothing. I'm pretty sure Jack would kill me if I let you guys get involved. You guys should just head home or something."
"We helped beat the Boogieman," Jamie pointed out.
"And that was super awesome but this thing isn't Pitch."
"All it wants is your powers, right? It has no reason to attack us."
"Did you twist the story so it was G-rated?" Ceres deadpanned.
Lleu winced. "Maybe?"
"Listen up, brats," Ceres said. "This thing doesn't just want our powers. It wants to kill us. It's already tried to kill us, and it's far too powerful for us to defeat. Kids like you would be obliterated before you could blink. Heck, it's bad enough we're letting Lleu help, given his current state."
Lleu pouted.
"Oh suck it up, you big baby."
"So what are you guys planning on doing, then?" Cupcake crossed her arms.
"Yeah," Lleu turned to Ceres. "What are we gonna do?"
"Why are you asking me?" Ceres huffed.
"Well, you're the oldest. Shouldn't that also make you the wisest? And didn't you deal with things like Titans and giants? Shouldn't a psycho, power-hungry whackadoodle be a piece of cake for you?"
"You may have forgotten this since you pointed it out two minutes ago, but I'm an ex-goddess. I'm nowhere near as powerful as I used to be. And never did I do such things alone. There were other gods and goddesses involved, not to mention more than one demigod. You are neither of those. You're no longer even a spirit."
"Wow, she really doesn't sugar-coat things at all, does she?" Pippa whispered.
"You don't know the half of it," Lleu grunted.
"Well, if you can't stop it alone, then we'd better find Jack and May quickly," Jamie piped up. "Four heads are better than two, right? Or ten heads are better than eight if you count all of us."
"He has a point," Cupcake shrugged.
"Ugh. Fine," Ceres spat, marching forwards a few steps before taking to the air. "I'll be the eyes in the sky. You'd all better keep up!"
'Keeping up' turned out to require a fair amount of running. Lleu's mortal body was not impressed.
...
...
"Did you hear that?" May turned in the direction of the woods, where dark clouds had gathered.
"Sounds like that storm's finally developed," Jack replied, following her gaze. "It'll probably head towards the town soon. Hopefully people will have enough sense to stay indoors."
"We should keep going. It won't be long before that thing comes for us. I doubt it would give up so easily."
"Yeah. How're you holding up?"
"A little tired, but I'm fine," May held out her hand. "Shall we?"
Jack grasped her hand and together they stepped off the roof they were standing on. It felt like they'd been all over Burgess but they'd yet to catch even a glimpse of the older two seasonals. How hard could it be to find a guy in shorts and a haughty autumn spirit? Apparently very.
"It's too bad we can't just ask someone if they've seen them," Jack sighed as the two of them perched on the statue in the park.
"The one down side of being a spirit, I suppose," May agreed.
"There's more than one downside, but let's not get into that."
May cast him a long look but didn't comment.
Thunder boomed again, closer this time. If Jack really concentrated, he thought he might've heard laughter in the distance. The sound made the hair on his neck stand on end.
"We need to lure it away from Burgess," Jack decided. There was no way he was going to let the town get destroyed.
"Where do you suggest we go? There's hardly any unpopulated areas nearby, except the woods," May replied.
"Then we go to the woods and try and keep it there."
"I hardly think it will follow us when Lleu is such an easy target."
Jack grinned at her. "Then maybe we shouldn't let it get a choice."
May sighed in obvious exasperation. "Sometimes I think you have a death wish."
Jack merely shrugged. "So, are you in?"
"If we die I'm blaming you."
"Is that a yes?"
"It's as close to a yes as you're going to get."
"I'll take it!"
The two of them launched themselves towards the oncoming storm system. It was even bigger up close, with electricity palpable in the air. They would have to be careful lest they become lightning rods.
Jack and May came to a halt midair a few hundred feet from the beginning of the mass. Neither of them would be able to dissipate the storm now that it had begun, but they were nature spirits; weakened though they were, they were far from powerless.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Jack shouted to her, struggling not to be drowned out by booming thunder.
"Unfortunately!" she called back.
"On the count of three!"
May grimaced and braced herself.
"One... two... three!"
The two seasonal spirits summoned the most powerful gale they could, frigid and warm winds mingling together into a single entity that pushed back at the humid air blowing towards them. Thunder and lightning cracked the sky at the collision of air currents.
At first, it seemed like all their efforts had done was make the storm worse, but slowly the system started moving back in the direction it had come from. It was working!
Something shot out of the darkness, slamming into May. She cried out in shock as she lost control of her already unstable flight pattern and plummeted out of the sky.
"May!" Jack called.
"Such a pity," a familiar voice said with mock sincerity.
Jack's attention snapped around. The power-stealing spirit hovered before him, a sinister grin plastered on its face, which was completely Lleu's. Jack growled in frustration and took off after May. The thing's laughter followed him down.
"And where do you think you're going, little snow spirit?" it cackled, hot on his tail.
Jack swerved and spiralled, desperately trying to put some distance between himself and his adversary. As long as it was using Lleu's powers, he was at a serious disadvantage.
May wasn't too far ahead; she was clearly trying to regain her flight, stopping and falling sporadically. Jack quickly rolled over, sending the largest blast of frost at his stalker he could before putting on a burst of speed.
"Is that the best you can do?!" the power-stealing spirit taunted.
The ground was close now. Too close. If he was going to catch up with May he wasn't going to be able to pull off a proper landing. But if he didn't catch up with her, she was going to be in for a painful reunion with the earth. There was no choice at all, really.
Jack reached out his free hand, managing to snag May by her flailing arm and pull her close. He twisted so his back was to the ground just a second before they crash landed via several branches.
"Jack!" May quickly pushed herself off him. "Oh my goodness, are you okay?! Why did you do that?!"
"Oooooow," Jack groaned. As it turned out, slamming into trees and the frozen earth was a painful thing to do. "Is it still coming?" he managed.
May glanced upwards. "I can't see it."
"Aw, are you looking for me?"
Jack craned his head back as far as he could. The power-stealing spirit was steadily making its way towards them, looking like it was enjoying itself immensely.
"May, run," he whispered.
"I'm not leaving you," she replied, just as quietly. "Can you get up?"
"Uh, yeah, I think so."
"No, no," the spirit tutted, slamming them with a wall of hot air that sent them both tumbling. "No conspiring."
Jack, now on his stomach, pushed himself up onto his elbows. May was a short distance away, already back on her feet.
"Now, who would like to go first?"
"How about we take a raincheck?" Jack quipped, hauling himself upright. He belatedly realised he'd lost his grip on his staff. He spotted it quickly enough, but it was closer to May than it was to him.
"Sorry," the thing shrugged. "Limited time offer; no rainchecks."
"Well that's lousy. Maybe I'll just take my business elsewhere, then."
"It's a very client-specific setup; I doubt anyone else would take you."
"It's worth a shot, though, right? I have good credentials."
"Do you have references? Nobody wants to deal with someone without experience."
"Yes, I have references! ...They're probably not good ones, though."
"I rest my case."
May, who had been watching the exchange, stared at the two of them with wide eyes. "What are you doing?!" she mouthed at Jack.
In response, Jack's gaze darted to his staff and then back to her. Thankfully, she seemed to take the hint, her mouth forming a small 'o'. Slowly, she started sidling towards it, keeping her eyes trained on their adversary, who was still smiling smugly at Jack.
"What is this, a court of law?" Jack said, trying to keep the spirit distracted.
The spirit glanced around itself. "Looks like a forest to me."
God, it was even starting to sound like Lleu.
"Now, can we get on with this, or do you want to employ another diversion tactic?" it raised a brow. "I wouldn't touch that stick if I were you, missy."
May froze, one hand hovering over Jack's staff. Her face set in determination and she hurriedly snatched it up and tossed it to Jack. Frost spread on the wood as soon as his hand made contact with it.
The spirit sighed, hung its head and shook it, as if Jack and May were two little kids that it was being forced to babysit. "Nobody ever listens."
Before it had the chance to act, Jack swung his staff in a wide arc, forming a make-shift ice wall between them and the spirit. "Run, May!" he yelled. "I'll be right behind you!"
May hesitated but eventually nodded and took off between the trees.
"How very noble of you," the power-stealing spirit said, literally melting a hole through his wall. "Sacrificing yourself to buy her some time."
Jack grit his teeth, staff held out defensively in a white-knuckled grip. He silently prayed May wouldn't come back.
"It's futile, though. You've realised this, haven't you?" the spirit continued. "After I deal with you, getting her powers and that witch Ceres' will be a piece of cake. You will all fall, in the end."
"Why're you doing this?" Jack demanded.
"Isn't it obvious? Power! Who would dare take me on with all the magic of the four head seasonals behind me? I could rule the world!"
"How cliché."
The spirit shrugged. "I've always had a thing for clichés."
"Yeah? What about the cliché where the bad guys always lose?"
"There's a first time for everything, right?" And with that, it launched itself at him.
Guest Review Responses:
Dingbat: (Ch.96:) Thank you! It's okay ^w^ (I really appreciate that you took the time to review when you could, though) I knooooow ;A; I don't know what to call it XD Try thinking of it this way: if it's just 'the spirit' it's referring to the bad guy. I'll never refer to any of the others like that except accompanied by an adjective or another noun (e.g. 'the winter spirit') (Ch.97:) Hahaha I was already planning on doing more chapters with Pitch, anyway XD And yes, he will be back in future :P Thank you! (Review for Just For the Night:) Aaaaaaa thank you! Oh gosh it's been ages since I've done a first line prompt. You're right, I should do more. I might do another one after I finish my other project (a RotG/Avengers crossover that's taking forever to write :P) You mean like a massive collection of first line prompts? Hmm... I have a generator I use that randomly selects the fandoms, though... Thank you so much!
FantasyForger:Yeah, it did it again ^^; Don't worry; Jack and Pitch shenanigans are sure to return! :P Thank you!
Painapple: He most certainly is