This could... definitely be better. But I'm super tired, it's getting late, and it's already long enough as it is. So!
Requested by Fenrir Wylde Razgriz.
Happy Halloween everyone!
(There are still request slots available, btw)
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Samhain
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"Alright, everyone! Shut up and gather 'round!"
Conversation across the pumpkin patch immediately fell away as the guests all turned their attention towards the source of the voice. Jack placed his goblet of juice (at least he hoped it was juice) on the nearest table and joined the masses as they shuffled closer to where Jack-O-Lantern was standing on a haphazard pile of pumpkins.
"I've decided that this year we're going to do something a little different," Jack-O announced. His grin was so wide it looked like his skull was preparing to jump right out of his skin. "We're going to play a game! One we haven't played since… well, I'm sure you all remember that."
Jack had no idea what 'that' was, but judging from the way some of the spirits around him cringed, he probably didn't want to know.
"But we'll all be very extra careful not to repeat that, won't we?" Jack-O nodded solemnly. A second later, the grin was back in full-force. "So!" he clapped. "For the benefit of those who don't remember or weren't here, we are going to have a test of courage; but I promise it's nothing like those little expeditions the kiddies go on. In fact, there are no kids at all, because if I dragged hapless mortals into this someone–" he sent Jack a mock-glare "–will throw a hissy fit."
Jack glared right back. If Jack-O wanted to call protecting children and doing his job a 'hissy fit' then fine, he was throwing a hissy fit.
"As I'm sure you're all aware – and if you're not then what are you even doing here? – at midnight tonight the boundary between this world and the Otherworld will be at its thinnest, which means the spirits of the dead, the aos sí, and whatever else lives over there will be paying us a little visit. While they're visiting family, seeking revenge on enemies, and just generally having a good time, we have the perfect opportunity to sneak into the Otherworld."
Jack didn't think it was possible, but Jack-O's grin only grew wider.
"Each of you will be given a turnip lantern. Your test is to light it with Other-fire and bring it back here before sunrise. If your flame goes out before you return, you lose. If you get caught or don't make it back… well, it was nice knowing you. Game starts at midnight. And remember, I will know if your fire is Other-fire or not. If you get caught cheating, you'll regret it!"
Jack-O jumped down from his pumpkin pile as hushed conversation broke out amongst the crowd. Jack tried not to let his unease show on his face. He didn't know much about the Otherworld, but he was fairly certain you weren't supposed to sneak in. Getting caught by the aos sí was the least of his worries.
"So, Jacky, have you decided which Otherworld you're going to pick?"
Jack startled as an arm was suddenly flung across his shoulders. He turned, easily spotting Jack-O looming over him, grin almost feral.
"Annwn? Avalon? Tech Duinn? Or maybe you have something a little different in mind. One of the Lokas maybe? Or how about She'ol? Or Yomi? I hear Yomi's nice."
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jack asked, pulling away.
Jack-O's smile fell a fraction. "Are you going to chicken out before the game has even begun? Tut tut, Jack. I thought you were braver than that."
"There's a difference between being brave and being stupid."
"So true, so true," Jack-O agreed, pressing an unlit turnip lantern into Jack's hands. "Best keep your wits about you if you don't want to get caught. It'd be a shame if you didn't make it back." And then he was gone, off to harass the other guests.
Jack sighed and stared down at his turnip's sinisterly happy face. Idly, he wondered if there was a penalty for failing to get Other-fire, and if so if it was any worse than the risks of sneaking into the Otherworld. And on that note, how was he even supposed to get into one?
"Hey," he said, gaze drifting to the mangkukulam standing to his right. Normally, he would never have even considered talking to a being like her, but the Halloween truce was in effect, so he figured he was reasonably safe. "You wouldn't happen to know where the entrances to the Otherworlds are, would you?"
She turned her weathered face towards him. Her voice, when she spoke, was as old and husky as she looked, and he didn't understand a word of it.
"Um…"
She scowled at him. "Water," she said impatiently, switching to heavily accented English. "Boat coffins." She looked him over critically. "You might want to find another way."
"…Thanks," Jack forced a smile. A water entry point probably wasn't the best idea. Things like that often involved rivers, which meant leaving would involve fighting the current. Not to mention the water would likely put the fire out. But there had to be other entrances.
Hades was an option, he supposed, and he could always ask Ceres about it. But wasn't there a big three-headed dog guarding the place? Jack was fairly certain he'd heard that getting out was almost impossible. He needed something else.
What had Jack-O suggested? Avalon, he thought. Or Yomi. Avalon would probably be the easiest. It was an island, he was pretty sure. He could just fly in, find some fire, and fly back out. And England was a lot closer than Japan.
So when midnight came and Samhain began, Jack-O gave the signal and the guests dispersed in all directions, each, presumably, heading for their own preferred Otherworld. Jack didn't waste any time, immediately flying off to the south towards England. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he could stop worrying about it.
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It took longer than expected to find Glastonbury Tor, the place believed to be the site of Avalon. Mostly because even when he'd arrived he wasn't entirely sure he had the right place. There hadn't been a lake there for longer than Jack had been alive. And yet there was one there now; water dead-still and so dark he could see himself reflected in it. A heavy fog had settled on top of it, completely obscuring the island and its tower.
Ghost lake? Jack wondered. Was there only water here now because it was Samhain? Or was he truly in the wrong place? But, no, he thought, looking back at the lights of the nearby town. That was definitely Glastonbury. So this had to be the Tor. And a ghost lake. Who'd have thought?
Right, he told himself. Just fly in, find something to light the lantern with, and then fly back out. Easy. He patted his hoodie pocket, confirming the lantern was still there, and called on the wind. He shot off towards the centre of the lake, but his feet had barely left the ground before something snagged on his hood and he was jerked to a stop and flung to the ground, landing heavily on his back and left gasping.
What the hell was that?
Still regaining his breath, Jack's gaze darted to the figure looming over him. Pitch Black stared down at him, arms crossed and expression carefully neutral.
"What was that for?!" Jack snapped, surging back to his feet.
"You're welcome," Pitch replied, voice heavy with sarcasm.
"Oh, yes, where are my manners? Thank you!"
Pitch sneered at him, wholly unimpressed. "I had hoped you would still have a few functioning brain cells, but it seems your time with the Guardians has killed them all. Assuming you had any to begin with."
"What are you talking about?" Jack frowned.
"You're dead."
It was so blunt and so completely unexpected that for a long moment Jack just stared at him, face blank and jaw slack. He blinked, slowly processing the words. He was sure he'd heard right, but he still didn't understand. "…What?"
Pitch rolled his eyes. "You're dead," he repeated impatiently.
"Um." It was technically true. "What's your point?"
Pitch raised a brow and looked pointedly out towards the centre of the lake. "Where were you heading?"
"Avalon?" Surely that much was obvious. Pitch had been at the party. Hell, he was even carrying his own lantern. Jack would have (sarcastically) pointed out as much if not for the fact that he still had no idea what Pitch was getting at.
"Which is…?"
"One of the gates to the Otherworld?"
"And what are in the Otherworlds?" he asked, as though Jack were a particularly dense child.
"Ghosts?" Spirits was probably a more accurate term.
"Which are…?"
"Dead people?" Then, finally losing his patience, "Is there a point to this?"
"Yes," Pitch agreed. "Dead people. Like you. I daresay you'll fit right in."
Jack stared at him, still lost. Why did that matter? If anything, wouldn't it help?
"So well, in fact, that you probably won't be able to leave."
Oh.
That was… probably something he should have considered. He wasn't like Jack-O, who could do what he liked because no Otherworld would accept him permanently. If he went in, would he be able to get back out again?
And then another thing clicked.
"Aw, were you worried about me?" he teased.
Pitch's lip curled. "It was a spur of the moment decision. I already regret it."
That wasn't a no, though. But Jack decided he'd let it go this time and consider them even. He pulled his turnip out of his pocket and considered it. Pitch may have saved him from being stuck forever in an afterlife, but it left him with a new problem. "If I can't get into an Otherworld, how am I supposed to get Other-fire?"
Pitch smirked. "'If you get caught cheating, you'll regret it'," he quoted.
"Yes, I did hear that; I was th- Oh," Jack cut himself off as the hidden implication hit him. "If you get caught." Well, this was something he could work with. Now he just had to figure out how to do it. He thought over everything Jack-O had said carefully, and was completely unsurprised to find that they'd been given all the clues they needed.
Jack's expression shifted to match Pitch's. "So, any idea where we can find the aos sí?"
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Jack loitered impatiently on the sidewalk, trying in vain to spot Pitch through the window. Pitch had shadow travelled them into Glastonbury outside a party store, and had then disappeared inside without any explanation whatsoever. Jack had no idea what he was doing in there, but he had a feeling it probably wasn't good. But given the time of night, the store was closed and he had no way of chasing after him without breaking something. He was forced to wait.
"Here," Pitch said, emerging from the shadows and tossing something at Jack.
Jack fumbled catching it but somehow managed not to drop it. It was a mask, he realised – the kind of plastic ones they often advertised to kids for parties – designed to look like a skull. "Did you steal this?" he asked, looking up at Pitch.
Pitch watched him impatiently, only his eyes visible from behind the devil mask he was wearing.
"You look ridiculous," Jack told him.
Pitch glared at him. "And on you it'll be an improvement. Now hurry up."
"Why do we even need these?" he asked, even as he slipped it on.
"Because the aos sí are not generally known for their hospitality. It will make things much easier for us if they think we're one of them." With barely a gesture, a Nightmare emerged from the darkness. Pitch easily swung himself up onto its back and a moment later they took off down the street. Jack raced after them on a strong gust of wind.
"So where to now?" he asked.
"Now we find one of the aos sí with the ability to light the lanterns."
"And you know where to find them?"
Pitch cast him a sideways glance. "You really are completely clueless."
"I guess I must have missed out when they were holding the Aos Sí 101 class," he snapped back.
Pitch suddenly made a sharp left turn. Jack flew straight past it and was forced to double back. He suspected that might have been the intention.
"In the old days, the aos sí were given offerings and visited their homes and families that were still alive," Pitch began once Jack had caught up. "The human practices have changed since then, but the aos sí more or less behave the same."
"So, what, we just stake out residential areas and hope for the best?" Jack guessed. It sounded like a lot of waiting.
"Only if you intend to wait around for hours. Look for bonfires, preferably ones with lots of people."
Well, that made things a little easier. Knowing it would be easier to spot a bonfire from above, he switched his trajectory and shot off skywards until he was hovering well above the town. Below, Pitch had brought his Nightmare to a halt and was watching him.
The darkness should have made it easy to spot a bonfire nearby, but he could see no glowing lights on the horizon that were any brighter than regular street lights. Maybe heading back to Ireland would be a better option. The aos sí were more common around there, right? He was about to head back down and suggest as much to Pitch but paused when the wind carried the strong smell of smoke over to him.
"Where?" Jack frowned, swivelling around to face the direction the wind had come from. He squinted, trying to make out the tell-tale sign of embers or smoke amidst the town's lights. His wind tugged at him. "Show me."
With no further urging, the wind carried him over houses and stores, cars and the few lingering pedestrians, and ultimately just outside of town. It was then that he spotted it – a small, dying fire in a large open space. Partially illuminated by its light were a mixture of dark silhouettes. People? Or aos sí?
"Thanks, wind," Jack muttered. He mentally marked the location and turned, ready to head back and tell Pitch what he'd found, only to spot a Nightmare racing towards him. Wordlessly, Jack pointed down to the field.
Pitch reined the Nightmare in, but not before Jack was forced to dart out of the way to avoid being trampled. This too, he suspected, had been deliberate. Probably for having left him behind like that.
"Good enough," Pitch remarked and then he was charging towards the ground.
Jack chased after him with a grumbled, "You're welcome."
They came in to land well back from the bonfire's fading light, and without any verbal direction, the Nightmare disappeared into the darkness. Up close, the bonfire was bigger than Jack had assumed, though not by much. There were a lot of charred branches and ash around the edges, hinting that it had been much larger at one stage.
The figures gathered around it didn't seem to mind, though. Even from this distance, it was nearly impossible to determine who was human and who wasn't. They were of varying heights, and most were humanoid in appearance, but many were wearing masks and costumes. In fact, Jack wouldn't have been surprised if some of the costumes had come from the same party store Pitch had pilfered earlier. But there were others, figures that were lankier than humans or different shapes entirely, that were clear sign that even if most were human, there were still aos sí and other creatures among them.
"Do you think that's human fire or Other-fire?" Jack whispered. If it was the latter, it would certainly make things easy for them. But that was probably too much to hope for.
Pitch studied the crowd silently. "At least half are human," he said at length. "So I would presume human fire."
Damn.
"Oh? Newcomers?"
Jack and Pitch turned to the face the source of the voice. At first glance, she looked like a normal human woman(1), dressed as one of the superheroines from a recent movie, but the fact that she could see them was evidence enough that she was no such thing.
"And who might you be? I haven't seen you around before," she continued, her smile a little too wide to be welcoming.
"Travellers," Pitch said before Jack had a chance to get a word in edgewise.
"Indeed? And what brings you to these parts?"
Pitch pointedly held up his turnip. "We're only here to light our lantern." It didn't escape Jack's notice that he'd said lantern, singular. But he held his tongue. Clearly there was more going on here than he was aware of.
The woman's grin stretched wider, and the glint in her eyes had taken on a predatory edge that made Jack uneasy. "I could light it for you," she offered, as if completely oblivious to the bonfire continuing to burn behind her.
Pitch did not outwardly react. "And the price?"
Ah, so that was it. They would have to give something for the fire. Better to only pay once, and then just light the remaining lantern with the flame they were given. Smart.
The woman tilted her head to the side, clearly thinking it over. "I think…" she began, stretching out the word. Her gaze settled on Jack and her smile grew. "Alright. I will light your lantern and in exchange you give me the boy."
"What?!" Jack yelped. He turned his shocked gaze on Pitch. To his horror, Pitch was actually considering it. "Pitch!"
"Shut up, I'm thinking," Pitch said.
There was a painfully long moment of silence. Jack seriously started to consider just flying off before Pitch decided to pawn him off for fire.
"No," Pitch finally decided, and Jack practically slumped in relief. "Better not. I'll never hear the end of it."
The woman's smile slipped away into something dangerously neutral. "Shame," she said. "Let me know if you change your mind." And then she turned her back on them and walked off.
Jack glared at Pitch.
"What?" Pitch snapped back at him.
"You were going to sell me for fire!"
"I didn't, though."
"You were thinking about it!"
Pitch didn't deny it. Jack wanted to hit him. "Perhaps I should have said yes," he said casually, and stalked off in the opposite direction the woman had gone.
Jack scowled after him but made no move to follow. Fine, if that was how he was going to be, Jack would just find Other-fire by himself.
Steering well clear of the bonfire, Jack trudged through the crowd, trying to figure out who was human and who wasn't.
"Um, excuse me," he said, reaching out to tap a man wearing a cloak on the shoulder, "are you able to–" His finger slid straight through the man's shoulder. He jumped backwards with a surprised gasp. "Human. That one's human."
"The only downside of Samhain," a voice behind him said gruffly. "Almost impossible to tell who's what when everyone's in disguise."
Jack spun around. The owner of the voice was vaguely human-esque, with the vague appearance of an old man, but his taloned fingers, large fiery eyes, and far-too-long teeth gave him away as being Other. There was a deep crimson cap on his head, and in his left hand he held a pikestaff.
"What were you going to ask, boy?" the old man(2) asked curiously.
Jack debated the risk in telling him. One the one hand, the aos sí were probably not very trustworthy. On the other, he'd never get any Other-fire by sunrise if he kept it to himself. "I'm looking for someone who can light a lantern with Other-fire," he eventually confessed.
The old man grinned in a way scarily similar to the woman from before. "I can do that for you, boy."
Jack narrowed his eyes. "And what would you want in exchange?"
The old man laughed. "You're a clever one, boy! I like that. Complete a task for me and I will light your lantern."
"What's the task?"
The old man leaned closer, and Jack resisted the urge to step back. "There have been rumours," he whispered, "of some upstarts trying to take advantage of the thinning of the border between the realms. They seek to open a permanent corridor between them. A group of spirits have taken it upon themselves to prevent this. I want you to give this to them; it will help them succeed." He reached into his coat and pulled out what looked like an ordinary tree branch, except it was completely silver, as if it had been spray painted.
Jack accepted the branch awkwardly. How was something like this supposed to stop anyone from doing anything? Were they just going to hit the offending spirits with it? "Where will I find them?"
"The sídhe of Brú na Bôinne. It is in a bend of the River Boyne in County Meath of Ireland. Follow the river. You will know it when you see it. Come back before sunrise and I will give you your flame!"
Well, Jack supposed, even if there had been nothing in it for him he probably wouldn't have been able to leave this alone; not with something as important as the balance of the realms on the line. At the clear dismissal, he nodded his thanks and took to the air. Hopefully it wouldn't take long.
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Just as the old man had said, Jack knew exactly when he'd arrived; the area was dotted with grassy mounds – the sídhe. A reasonably large group of spirits had assembled by one of the mounds, and even from the air it was clear to Jack that many of them were not from these parts. Had they heard what was happening and decided to help? A quick scan of the area showed that there were no others nearby.
It didn't take the spirits long to notice him. And before Jack's feet had even touched the ground they were gathering around him. A nearly incorporeal one(3) at the front of the group stepped towards him.
"The silver branch," it moaned. "You have brought it for us."
"I was asked to give it to the spirits defending the borders," Jack replied.
"We are defending the borders," a female spirit assured him. Somehow, impossibly, she did not appear to have a face(4). "You have been most kind to do us this service."
No one had asked him to hand it over yet. "If you're the defence, where are the ones planning to force open a path?" Because he thought he should have seen them by now. But there was no one else there.
A spectral humanoid stepped forward. All that could be seen of its face in the darkness were a pair of glowing eyes, veiled by long hair(5). "We have no way of knowing which entry point they intend to target," it said silkily. "Instead of trying to track them down, we have decided the best option is to simply force the borders closed now. That way, the threat will be neutralised without the need for a confrontation."
Jack frowned. "Won't that force most of you to return to the Otherworld early?"
The spirit nodded sadly. "Yes, the vast majority of us reside within the Otherworld, stuck there for much of the human year. But we have agreed that cutting our trip here short is a small price to pay for the stability of the realms."
Jack thought of all the spirits from Jack-O's party who were undoubtedly creeping around the Otherworlds as they spoke. If the borders thickened now, how many of them would be trapped there? "Is there no other way to stop them? The borders will strengthen again at sunrise."
"Your concern is touching," the spirit said. "What do you think, Skadegamutc?" It turned to what looked to Jack like nothing more than a ball of light. "Is there another option? Are there protections we could cast to prevent the insurgents from damaging the border without needing to close it completely?"
For a long moment, there was only silence. Then, in a rasping whisper, "It is doable."
The glowing-eyed spirit turned back to Jack. "Perhaps you would care to assist us, dear boy. Your help would be much appreciated."
As much as he just wanted to give them the branch and be done with it, Jack knew that something as serious as this couldn't be left alone. With an internal sigh, he asked, "What do you want me to do?"
"We will venture just inside this entrance," it gestured to an opening in the closest sídhe, "and Skadegamutc will use magic to strengthen the border. The branch's magic alone is not enough to do this, nor is Skadegamutc's, but if we pool our magic together, I am certain it will be enough."
That sounded reasonable enough, Jack supposed. Except for one thing. "I don't think it's safe for me to enter the Otherworld."
"Do not fear, young one. The silver branch acts as something of a free-pass into the Otherworld. So long as you hold it, you will not be trapped."
He was still uneasy, but they were all looking at him like he was their saviour. How could he turn them down and disappoint them now? Besides, maybe there was a chance he could get some Other-fire while he was there, and not have to rely on the old man after all. "If you're sure…"
"Excellent!" the spirit replied joyously. "Now then, everyone please follow me." Then, without waiting for a response, it turned and slipped through the sídhe's entrance.
The spirits followed after it. Jack was jostled until he was somewhere in the middle. As he passed through the entrance and into the Otherworld, he seriously hoped he wasn't making a huge mistake.
"This is the spot," the glowing-eyed spirit announced. In the heavy silence, its voice seemed to echo forever.
Jack gazed around, but there wasn't much to see. Darkness stretched in all directions, and they stood in ankle-deep water that had no visible beginning or end. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but this emptiness wasn't it.
A tap to his shoulder made him turn, and he suddenly found himself face-to-face with a beautiful Indian woman(6).
"Take the branch up to the Skadegamutc, child," she told him.
Jack nodded, leaving his place in the line and following it to the front, where the glowing-eyed spirit and Skadegamutc were waiting.
"Ah, there you are," the glowing-eyed spirit said once it caught sight of him. "Come, and we shall begin."
"Are all the Otherworlds like this?" Jack asked, glancing around as the spirit gestured to the rest to form a circle.
"Dear boy, this is merely the boundary," the spirit explained. It placed a hand to Jack's back and gently nudged him to the centre of the circle where the Skadegamutc was waiting. "It is a halfway point, I suppose. Not quite within the Otherworld proper, but not on Earth either. It is here that we can most strongly connect with the border."
"So what do I do?"
"Just stand here, don't let go of the branch, and let Skadegamutc direct you," the spirit said, and then stepped back to join the circle.
Jack watched it go uneasily before letting his attention rest on the orb of light.
"Try to relax," it rasped. "Close your eyes, and let your energy flow into the branch."
He did as he was told. The Skadegamutc began to chant quietly, and Jack could feel its energy seeping into the water and flowing up through him into the branch. As it progressed, power from the spirits forming the circle around them joined it, growing in strength until Jack began to doubt whether so much power could be contained within him, let alone the branch still in his grasp. He felt like he was bursting at the seams, overflowing and threatening to explode. He sucked in a sharp breath. The chanting rose in volume.
Jack felt his knees buckle and he landed heavily, the water soaking into his pants. He couldn't breathe.
Somewhere, distantly, he heard a voice call, "Let go of the branch!"
"Stop him!" a different voice shouted. "Don't let him disrupt the spell!"
There was splashing from all directions, and vacantly Jack noticed some of the streams of power falter and die. But what remained was still too much. He was suffocating in it, unable to even move. He could hear shouting, but it was like someone had plugged his ears with cotton.
More splashing, more shouting, more streams of power from the circle dissipating. Jack forced his eyes open. He could see the glowing pathways formed by the spirits still in the circle, could see the Skadegamutc before him. But many of the spirits that had been there were missing now, leaving large gaps in the circle. He spotted them quickly enough. Beyond the circle's bounds they were fighting against something. With the bright light surrounding him he couldn't quite make out what it was, but he thought it might have been…
…sand?
"Jack!" a familiar voice called, still sounding like it was a million miles away. "Let go of the branch!"
Let go of the branch? But didn't he need to hold onto it so he could get out again? Didn't he need to help protect the borders?
He's right, a voice, feminine and nostalgic, whispered in his ear, louder than anything else. You need to let go, Jack.
"But…" he breathed.
Trust me.
He let go. The water that had hitherto been shallow swallowed him whole.
.
.
Jack awoke to a pleasant warmth. The ground beneath him was solid and dry, but not uncomfortable, and his head felt as though it were being cradled in someone's lap. There were fingers gently stroking his hair. Someone was humming. Confused but surprisingly at ease, he opened his eyes.
A woman with kind eyes was looking down at him. A very familiar woman. She stopped humming when she noticed him watching her, but her fingers continued to card through his hair.
"You always were one to get yourself into trouble," she said, fondly exasperated.
A lump formed in his throat and his eyes stung with the threat of tears. "Mother?"
"Hello, Jack."
Jack pushed himself up until he was sitting, and immediately missed her warmth. As if sensing it, she opened her arms to him and he gratefully sank into her embrace. When was the last time he'd been able to hug her? He couldn't even remember.
"How is this possible?" he asked, finally pulling away just enough to look at her. His mother was dead. She'd been dead for centuries. Surely there should be no way for her to be here with him now. But it was too vivid, too real, to be a dream.
"You already know the answer to that," she said. "Think."
Jack turned his attention to their surroundings. It looked vaguely like an island, he decided. But not an island he'd ever seen before. There was a beach – where he and his mother were sitting – which led onto grass, and then in the distance he could see the vague outline of some kind of city or town. But even from this distance he knew that he'd never seen anything like it.
He tried to think back to what he'd been doing before he'd woken up here. His memory was fuzzy, but he thought there might have been water. And pain.
"This is…" he began, trying to connect his scrambled thoughts. He remembered a mask, which he now noted was gone, and some kind of tree branch. He'd been asked to do something with it. Give it to someone. There'd been spirits. He'd thought they were good but… "This is the Otherworld?"
"One of them," his mother confirmed.
"Not ours, but when we felt your presence we thought it was worth breaking a few rules."
Jack spun around at the new voice. He'd thought it had just been him and his mother, but when he turned it was to find that there were two other people sitting in the sand behind him. One was another woman, the other a man. They all seemed around the same age, and the two new people were as familiar to him as his mother was, though he found himself struggling to put names to their faces. The woman started fiddling with her sleeve anxiously as soon as their eyes met, as if she was restraining herself.
His mother placed her hand on his shoulder. Jack leaned into her touch. God he'd missed her. "Do you remember them?" she asked gently.
He had a strong suspicion as to their identities, and he hated the lingering uncertainty and the guilt that came with it. He was going to have to try and wean some more memories from his tooth box, he decided.
Jack turned his attention to the man. If the woman pressed against his side was his mother, then this must be… "Father?"
He had no memories of his father; his tooth box hadn't shown him that – had barely shown him his mother, even. But the man, his father, beamed at him and swept him up into a tight hug, and Jack felt the tears that had been building up overflow.
"What about me?" the remaining woman huffed.
Jack shifted until he was able to see her properly. She had her hands on her hips like she was angry, but the expression in her eyes ruined the effect. He had trouble associating this woman with who he now knew her to be, but it was her.
With his mother on one side and his father on the other, he didn't have much room to move, but Jack managed to free one arm and held it out to her. "Flee," he grinned.
Flee practically flung herself at him, crying tears of her own. They were all crying.
Flee was the first to pull away, but only so she could punch Jack in the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?" Jack grouched.
"That was for leaving me!" she said. She punched him again.
"Ow!"
"And that is for never coming to visit us! All these years and you never once came by Burgess on Samhain!"
"Go easy on him," their mother chastised. "He probably didn't know."
"I didn't," Jack confessed. The thought that he could have been spending time with them every Halloween and he'd been missing out because he'd never put two-and-two together was equal parts frustrating and depressing. Why had he never considered it? He knew Samhain was when spirits returned to the living world. "I promise I'll come every year from now on."
"You'd better!" Flee glared at him. "There are a lot of people for you to meet."
Family members he'd never even been aware of. It was too good to be true. He made a mental note to bring Jamie and Sophie with him. And maybe even Mrs Bennett, if she was willing. They'd probably love to meet their ancestors. And he could bring the Guardians one day, too.
"I've got people I want you to meet, too," he said.
"And we want to hear about what you've been up to," his father chimed in.
"A story that will have to wait for another time, I think," his mother said reluctantly.
"But I just got here!" Jack protested.
"You should leave soon if you don't want to get stuck. And we need to return to our own Otherworld, too," she started fiddling with his hair again. "Besides, we can spend a whole night together next Samhain. A year isn't long."
Getting stuck didn't seem quite so bad if it meant he'd get to stay with them, Jack mused. If it had been even just ten years ago he probably would have decided to. But things were different now. He had friends and responsibilities, and as much as he loved and missed his real family, he knew his place was still on Earth. And there were still those spirits and the border between the realms to worry about.
Reluctantly, he pulled away and got to his feet. His family copied him.
"How do I get back?" he asked. In truth, he wasn't even sure how he'd gotten there to begin with. He recognised the voice he'd heard now as belonging to his mother. Had she also been the one to bring him here from the intermediate zone?
All three of them pointed out towards the ocean. Jack sighed. Of course.
"Take care, sweetheart," his mother said, sweeping him up into another hug and pressing a kiss into his hair.
"I will."
As soon as she let go, he was once again pounced on by Flee. "You'd better show up next year or I swear I'll come haunt you for the rest of eternity," she threatened. Her grip was so tight Jack was starting to wonder if she wasn't secretly North in disguise.
"That doesn't sound so bad," he chuckled. He'd probably enjoy it, actually.
"It is bad. It's very bad. You'll hate it."
Jack very much doubted there was anything she could do that he'd hate. Just having her there – haunting him or not – would be too good to be true. "I promise I'll come," he said anyway. "Nothing could keep me away."
"I'll hold you to that," Flee released him, pointing a stern finger at him.
Their father stepped in, ruffling Jack's hair with one hand even as the other steered him towards the water. "Go on," he urged. "Before you get stuck here with us. We'll see you next year."
Jack forced his legs to carry him out into the water, looking back over his shoulder at the three of them waving him off. They were crying again, but so was he.
"This isn't goodbye!" he called back to them.
"See you soon!" they waved.
Jack turned back to face the ocean, a bittersweet smile on his face. Yeah, he thought. See you soon.
"Oh, hey," Jack said, stopping knee-deep in the water, "before I go…"
.
.
He emerged in that same midpoint between the realms that he'd started in, jumping up out of the water only for his feet to find solid ground again in the next instant. Whatever path had opened up to allow him into the Otherworld was gone now. But that was fine.
Around him was chaos. The spirits that had brought him there were still there, but their circle had more or less completely disappeared in favour of fighting back against, presumably, whatever had attacked them earlier. At least half were collapsed in the water, unmoving except for the black sand dancing around them. But Jack could still see Skadegamutc and a small group trying to complete the spell they'd intended to use Jack for. Some kind of clearly reluctant wispy thing had taken his place.
He realised now that he'd been tricked. These spirits had no intentions of defending the borders, and though he didn't understand what the branch had to do with anything or what the spell was supposed to do, he knew it was nothing good. Nothing that felt the way that spell had could possibly be good.
Right, he decided. Time to put a stop to this.
Tightening his grip on his staff, Jack surveyed the scene going on around him, calculating range and the number of spirits he was dealing with. He slammed his staff down into the water. Ice spread from the point of contact, freezing the shallow water into spikes in all directions. Every spirit the wave touched found itself frozen in place. The silence that fell over them all was deafening.
Jack glared at the lot of them. They stared at him in stunned silence. Mostly because the vast majority of them had had their mouths covered by ice. Jack let his gaze drift over towards the Skadegamutc and the spirit still holding the silver branch.
"I'll take that," he growled, clearing the distance between them and snatching the branch. Skadegamutc had been frozen into a pillar of ice, so Jack turned to the glowing-eyed spirit from before and waved the branch at it. "Explain."
The spirit squirmed against the ice binding it but it was a futile attempt. "As we said," it hissed at him, "we are trying to defend the border!"
Jack's eyes narrowed and the ice crept a little further up the spirit's body. "Try the truth this time."
It cursed at him.
"Don't waste your breath."
Jack looked to his right. Pitch was suddenly standing right beside him. He held his scythe tightly in one hand. Like Jack, he had lost his mask.
"An Ikiryph like this will only ever try to deceive," Pitch continued, not looking at him.
"I still want answers," Jack scowled.
Pitch rounded on him, expression fierce. "Anyone with a modicum of intelligence would be able to put two and two together," he snapped. "Even you shouldn't have been stupid enough to fall for such an obvious trap! Any magic that involves a living being in the middle of a circle is clearly going to include sacrifice!"
Jack had to admit, in hindsight it had been pretty stupid of him to trust a group of spirits he didn't even know, especially when he'd been as uneasy as he'd been. He didn't appreciate being yelled at, though; least of all by Pitch.
"Because I'm supposed to know every spirit and spell there is!"
"You got your information from a Redcap!"
"I didn't know he was a Redcap!" Jack countered. "Besides, you're one to talk! If we're judging people by stereotypes then you're even less trustworthy!"
"Exactly!" Pitch spat. "If you had any brain cells left you would know that it's more than a stereotype and leave me alone!"
"I can't do that!"
"Why not?!"
"Because you're family!"
The both froze, caught off guard by the proclamation. Jack stared up at Pitch with wide-eyes. Pitch looked equally shocked. He hadn't meant to admit that. It wasn't a lie and he wasn't going to take it back but god he had not intended to say it out loud. He quickly averted his gaze, face flushing with embarrassment, and not least because they still had a very large audience. Maybe if he was lucky the Otherworld would open up beneath him and swallow him again.
The silence stretched on to the point that he couldn't take it anymore, and he finally dared to look up again. Pitch was gone.
.
.
"And here I was starting to think I'd seen the last of you!"
Jack forced a smile as he came in to land back in Jack-O's pumpkin patch. The man in question had his hands on his hips but there was a grin on his face.
"Sorry, I got a little caught up in something," Jack confessed.
Jack-O waved flippantly. "Did you get your Other-fire?"
Jack passed the silver branch over to the hand holding his staff and reached into his pocket, pulling out his turnip. It seemed impossible that the tiny flame would manage to survive all the water and then the flight back concealed within his hoodie (and also not set it on fire), but there it was, flickering merrily.
"Nice!" Jack-O plucked it from his hand and held it up for a closer look. "Yep, authentic Other-fire. Good work, Frost. If you don't mind me asking, where'd you get it?"
Jack grimaced. "Ah, it's a long story. Short version: my sister gave it to me."
Jack-O raised a brow in interest. "Oh? I think I want to hear the long version. Especially if it involves an explanation for why you've got a silver branch," he nodded to the branch in question.
Jack looked down at it. "You don't have any idea what to do with this, do you?"
"You could give it to me!"
Jack considered him. "I think I might just give it to North."
"Wow rude." Jack-O suddenly slung an arm over his shoulder and started guiding him back towards the party. Not all the guests had returned yet, but Jack still found himself trying to spot Pitch in the crowd. He didn't. "Well, we've still got at least an hour until sunrise. Why don't you tell me all about you're little adventure while we wait, hm?"
Jack sighed, resigning himself to the inevitable. There were some things he was going to be keeping to himself, though. At least for now. He needed time to process everything. Not to mention figure out what he was going to do.
"At first I decided on Avalon…"
(1) Just a random Fae
(2) Redcap
(3) Edimmu
(4) Faceless Woman
(5) Ikiryph
(6) Churel
GUEST REVIEW RESPONSES:
EriTheBear: Thank you! I'm sorry I'm not sure I'd be very comfortable writing that one :( It doesn't really fit well with the canon of this series
Crazy Fan: ¡Gracias! Muy linda idea! Lo agregaré a la lista
A fan: I'm really happy you liked it! Aw thank you!
EmLee: Hahaha yes Ramirez my bad ;) Thank you!
Guest: You are very welcome! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Lrig eht: I made sure I switched it back and forth a few times to make absolutely sure it made sense haha Thank you for the confirmation though!
JFunderburker: I've added your request to the list! Penguin capitalism ;)