"Morgan Black you're dead!" A young, freckle-faced spirit with jet black hair and hazel eyes searched every inch of the Amazon, hunting down his older sister. "You can't hide in the shadows forever, Morg!" Without another word, he lit several fireballs and shot them toward all areas that were shaded, obliterating any and all shadows within his line of site. With a sly smile, he muttered, "Bingo," before mounting his Nightmare and charging at his target.
Before the auburn-haired girl with grey eyes had the chance to shadow-travel again with her Nightmare, she was pinned down by her brother, who then surrounded them both by a wall of fire. After noticing both of their Nightmares were effectively scared away by the flames, she kicked her brother off of her and shouted, "Nice going, Cayden! You do know you've officially alerted Mom and Dad thanks to you scaring off Brutus and Stella. And get these flames away from me if you want a fair fight!"
"Yeah right," Cayden countered. "Just so you can shadow travel again and have your boyfriend protect you because you know I'm a better fighter than you? I don't think so!"
"How did you know about -" Morgan started, but was interrupted by a sudden disappearance of the flames. Oh great, we're in for it she groaned internally.
"How did Cayden know about what?" Amberlynn asked. Dismounting from Onyx, she approached her children and crossed her arms impatiently. "More importantly, why are you two going at each other's throats this time?"
"And why did Brutus and Stella come back to the lair without you two?" Pitch asked, coming up from the opposite side of his kids holding the reins on their Nightmares. Amberlynn laughed and said, "That's because there was a wall of fire not too long before you returned, annwyl. How many times do I have to tell you yer Nightmares are a bunch of llwfrgi. But back to the matter. Cayden and Morgan, how many times do we have to stop you guys from fighting each other?"
"I swear I'm the victim," Cayden protested, "...this time. Morgan had the brilliant idea to send Aphrodite's daughter, Vanessa, a love letter with my name on it! It was disgustingly mushy and sappy and I'm gonna kill her!"
"Easy there, tiger," Pitch said, wrapping a nightmare-sand lasso around his son and yanking him backwards toward the King of Nightmares. "Save your energy for later today, when you're on assignment with Mother Nature. She has a cold front she needs you to keep from hitting the Midwest."
"And take your coat with you!" Amberlynn called as Cayden walked off. Cayden groaned, "Mom, I don't actually need a coat to stay warm, you do know that right?" Placing her hands on her hips, Amberlynn retorted, "Be that as it may, it's still supposed to be a nasty one. You're taking care of this cold front for me, do this one little extra thing for me as well." He turned to his father for help, but Pitch merely held out the black nightmare-sand jacket he created for his son and whispered, "Do us both a favor and don't let that redheaded temper of hers get to you...because I'll be collateral damage in the process."
"I heard that!" Amberlynn shouted in protest, to which Pitch laughed and asked, "And where is the lie, my love?" Cayden stormed off with the jacket, muttering something about "old people love" and "my poor ears," causing Pitch to shake his head and chuckle. He frowned for a moment and turned to his daughter.
"As for you, young lady," he said, "You can wait for me back at home in the globe room because we have an assignment as well. You still have much to learn about shadow-travel, and you can start by placing Brutus and Stella back in their stalls."
Morgan slowly walked up to her father and took both reins from his hand. "When are you going to teach me how to fight with nightmare sand and how to create whips, lassos, and scythes with it?" He looked toward Amberlynn and, with a slight smirk, answered, "During the exact same lesson that your mother teaches Cayden how to disintegrate said weaponry with fire. Equal opportunity lessons, Morgan."
"Ugh, you and Mom's 'equal opportunity' crap!" she groaned as she stepped into a shadow, taking the Nightmares back to the lair with her. Amberlynn approached Pitch and wrapped her arms around him into a hug. "I almost feel bad for her," she said, "but she has to learn to use that devious cunning she inherited from her father so she can think two steps ahead of her brother rather than use brute force."
"As much as I'd love to take complete credit for our children's deviousness," Pitch countered, "Who is it that has now messed with the last...three Winter Olympics and warmed up each of their regions?" The summer spirit looked at her husband and giggled. "You're absolutely right," she admitted before kissing him.
The duo stood contentedly holding each other until Pitch muttered, "I'm gonna kill him." Confused and slightly taken aback, Amberlynn asked, "Who, Cayden?" He chuckled and replied, "No, not Cayden! Frost."
This time it was Amberlynn's turn to laugh. "Okay now you'll have to be more specific on which one: the one who's dating our daughter or his father?"
"Would it be a bad thing if I said both?" he teased, to which the summer spirit playfully slapped his arm. She pointed out, "I don't think Toothiana would be too thrilled if ye took out either Jack or Owen. For what it's worth, I spoke to Tooth earlier this week and Owen hasn't told either her or Jack about him and Morgan dating, either."
Amberlynn never thought she'd see the day it actually happened, but ever since Toothiana became a mother, she truly has mellowed out. Sure, she's still squeaky and chirpy, but her overall need to smother people has finally toned down. Amberlynn is even proud to call her a friend.
"Huh," she muttered. Pitch looked at her and asked, "What is it?" She shrugged and, with a devious smirk on her face, replied, "I was just thinking. Neither you, Jack, Tooth, nor I have received any open, honest dialogue with our children about them seeing each other since...how long ago was it when we found out about their involvement? You're not happy that Morgan's been hiding this, I'm not happy she's been hiding this, and I'm certain neither Tooth nor Jack are happy about Owen hiding this. What do you say we do one more alliance with two of the Guardians, just for the sake of messing with our children?"
"I say," Pitch replied with a wide smile, "that I defer all responsibility of our children's devious behavior to you, now. And I love you for it!" He summoned Onyx to come forward, and they both mounted the mare before heading to the Tooth Palace.
On the ride to Asia, Amberlynn hugged Pitch tightly, her smile never leaving her face. She looked on toward the rising sun thoughtfully and fondly recalled what the Sun said to her all those years ago when she was first granted her restored memories: to help guide her to find what she may gain. Thank you for giving me this second chance at life. Thank you for the memories of my past life, and for all that I have gained as a spirit. I shall never forget what you have done for me. She brought her focus back to her husband, kissed his cheek, and laughed with childlike delight - gathering all her fiery red hair together to keep it from whipping around with the wind - as Onyx quickly dove toward the Earth in preparation to begin shadow travel.
She had never before imagined that her life would turn out like this: a devoted husband, two incredible children, a closer friendship with the Guardians than she ever thought possible, even her improved relationship (she'd almost even dare say friendship) with Mother Nature. As crazy and dysfunctional as it all may be, this was her new normal. Amberlynn, a daughter of the Sun, married to the King of Nightmares, with children who possess varying versions of powers of night and day. Not in her wildest dreams could she have imagined such a life, and she wouldn't want it any other way!
Annwyl-dear
llwfrgi-cowards
Ahhhh I almost didn't want to post this epilogue, because that meant I'd be finished with this story! Thank you soooo much to all my readers out there, you guys seriously are the best! I hope you enjoyed this crazy rollercoaster of a ride as much as I did. Not sure what or when my next project will be, but seriously, thank you for coming along with me on this adventure.