Family, Souls, and Secrets

by animefan021513

After being walked through, Jack returns to his pond, but when he does there's a beautiful woman standing there. Mother Nature. She offers him a home and place to hone his powers. What will it be like living there? What people will he meet? What kind of relationships will blossom while he's there? How is he connected to Bunny's youngest brother? Read and Find out!

2. The Next Day

When I woke up, it as to the sun shining through my ceiling. I looked up and noticed that there was a large Oak tree hovering slightly over the sky light and mainly on the furthest side of the room. I looked further up and noticed that another tree just barely covered the sky light. I jumped out of bed and got a better look at it, and I'm guessing Mother Nature is right that Manny must've given me knowledge, and for some reason...a lot of plant knowledge, because I the tree that hovered over my bed was a Mahogany tree. "Huh...for some reason the trees make me like the room even more..."

I walked over to the dresser that Mother Nature said would have clothes for me, and I opened the first drawer. "Ah, underwear. That makes sense." I took a pair of undershorts out and placed it to the side where there was a small table. I then opened the first drawer and it seemed to be endless. I noticed that there were shirts that I was familiar with, but I also took note of the other shirts that I've never seen before, but they looked like they would suit me just fine. I pulled out cerulean blue shirt, and examined it. It was long sleeved and had loose sleeves like the shirt I was wearing, but it also had a different type of collar and seemed to have buttons going down the middle that nearly blended in with the shirt. I took my cape, vest, and shirt off, and I slipped on the shirt I was holding. Once I had it on, I was pleased with the fact that the middle of the shirt was loose, but not too much. Then I looked next to where I found the shirt, and noticed there were vests. "I'm used to these...but they also have buttons going down the middle...which means they meet in the middle..." I found one that had the same matching buttons as the shirt, and noticed that it was a beautiful white vest with silver thread forming snowflakes into the pattern of the vest. I put it on and buttoned it up like I did the shirt, and aligned the buttons. "Huh...not bad." I then looked in the third drawer and found pants of different types, but the ones I like the most were the ones that looked similar to the ones I was already wearing, but they were black, and even had the leather that wrapped around the calves. These were newer of course, so they weren't torn at the bottom. I put those on and put my dirty clothes in a basket in the corner of the room, and that's where I noticed a tall mirror. I looked at my reflection and my eyes widened at the sight of me. "Well, I don't look half bad, but these clothes seem to fit me better than my last ones...and my last ones were freezing.

I grabbed my staff that laid against the wall next to the bed, and I headed out of the door. Once I closed the door behind me, I bumped into someone. "Oh! I'm sorry!" I quickly said as I rubbed at my nose.

"Jack?"

I looked up and it was Mother Nature. "Uh...yeah...sorry again for bumping into you. I um...I found the clothes."

"Yes...I can clearly see that." She told me with surprised eyes, and a slight smile. "I must say, these seem to suit you better."

"I thought so too when I looked in the mirror." I smiled up at her and we started walking. "So, what are we going to do today?"

"Well, right now, we are heading down to the dining hall on the first floor. It is where my children and I eat."

"Who cooks the food?"

"Hmm?" She hummed at me as if she were lost in thought, and by the look on her face, I'd say she was.

"I said who cooks the food?"

"Oh, a few of my morning spirits and I cook the food. I just got changed."

"Oh." I said as I took in her appearance. She was wearing a sapphire blue shirt with lace at the end of it that hung just at her thighs, black pants that seemed to hug her legs, and black shoes that I haven't seen before. "This may sound like a ridiculous question...but are some of the clothes from...the future?"

She looked down at her clothes and chuckled lightly. "Yes, some of them are. The outfit I'm wearing right now is. I'm wearing this, because after breakfast I will begin training you or at the very least, see what you're capable of."

"And that would be difficult to do in a dress, I assume."

"You have no idea. So, a long time ago, I was getting tired of training my spirits in a dress, and I noticed how the times were changing and so was the fashion. So, I talked with a man named Father Time and he put little bits of enchantment on the knobs so that whatever dressers or closets are inside, it creates clothes inside for the owner of the room. He didn't mind the idea at all, and found it quite amusing."

"Father Time?"

"You'll meet him someday, I'm sure."

"Alright...so...we're in some sort of...secret place, yeah?"

"It's called a Domain. It's my Domain, and yes."

"When will I be able to go to the outside world?"

"Nothing is stopping you. You can use that staff the same way you did to get you here. Tap it against anything beneath your feet and it will take you back to the pond since that's where you first used it. Eventually I may put the same enchantment in your hand, but not anytime soon. However, I would still like to train you. You may not be able to be seen, but what you do still has an impact on the world."

"Then...I think I should train for now." I sighed out, not wanting my powers and magic to hurt anyone.

"That's a good choice." She commented with what I noticed to be a bit of a proud smile.

We walked down the stairs until we reach the first level, and then we walked until we made it to one a very large set of double doors. "I take it...this is the banquet hall?"

"Well, technically it's the doors to the banquet hall, but yes."

"Are all of your children inside?"

"No, some of them are out doing their jobs. You see, as much as I would like to...we can't all be together in the same day. All of us have our different jobs to do."

"Even you?" I asked carefully, because the way she made it sound, if she could, she would have everyone together everyday, and that even sometimes her children couldn't even see her if they needed to.

"Even me. I look after my children, nature, animals, and though I am no Guardian, I help them look after the children of the Earth."

"Guardian?"

"A much much longer discussion for another time. For now, let's go and eat. Most everyone should be there by now. You can sit by me if you like." She opened the large door with a wave of her hand and when I walked through, my jaw dropped. There were wooden tables that seemed to be made out of coated and polished oak that went on for a good two hundred feet, and there were six of them. At one of the tables, I saw the two men I had met last night, and on the table there was a seemingly endless amount of food. There was what I recognized to be eggs, bacon, biscuits, grapes, strawberries, peaches, bananas, lettuce, cheese, at least ten different types of bread, pork, chicken, butter, and there were large pitchers that I assumed were filled with juice, milk, or water. "Wow..."

My reaction seemed to grab the attention of the two men I had met because they had looked at me with smiles on their faces. "Jack!" Abungu shouted and waved from where he sat. "Good of you to join us!"

"Yes, come! Join us! You can sit by me if you like!"

"Mother Nature already made that offer." I chuckled out as I walked towards the table.

"Awe!" Nimbus seemed to pout. "I wanted you to sit next to me."

If the pout had seemed fake I would've laughed it off, but it seemed real, and just like seriousness, sadness didn't fit his face either. "So, what side of you will I be sitting on?"

His eyes seemed to brighten with joy and for some reason it had me grinning right back at him. I walked towards him and he scooted his chair closer towards me and patted the other side of him. "Sit in between me and Abungu! Some of the others should be waking up soon."

I sat where he asked me too, and as soon as I did, a plate appeared right before my eyes. "Um...I'm going to guess that the chairs are enchanted."

"Good guess, and let me take a good look at you." Abungu said and he seemed to be looking me up and down. "You look much better than before. You don't seem so much like a twig."

"Funny, coming from a forest spirit." I laughed out, and noticed that Abungu's smile grew as did his eyes, but his eyes held a look of joy rather than amusement. I then looked at his and Nimbus's plate and noticed that they already got their food, so I helped myself to some of the fruit and eggs as Mother Nature sat across from me, doing the same. Once my plate was full I reached for one of the pitchers and was pleasantly surprised that I was right about one of them. There was orange juice. I poured some in my glass and set the pitcher back down.

As soon as I sat back in my chair I heard the door open and seven more spirits came through. They all wore various different types of clothes that seemed to come from many different cultures and some seemed to be of the futuristic clothing variety. "Oh..." The one with bright orange hair and glowing red eyes started with an intrigued look. "...it seems we have a new spirit, and by the looks of it, he's met Abungu and Nimbus already."

I got up from my seat and went to meet the other seven. "Hello, I'm Jack Frost. It's nice to meet you." She held out her hand to me and I shook it.

"I'm Adara. I'm a fire spirit." She smiled at me and then noticed my white hair. "And from the look of your hair...are you a snow or ice spirit?"

"I'm a winter spirit. Mother Nature said so...I'm also going to be her General of Winter."

"G-General?"

"Okay...what's the big deal about me being the General of Winter? Nimbus had the same reaction."

"Well, it's no surprise no one told you...you must've gotten here just last night. The Generals are the most powerful out of all of us. The reason they sleep and live on the same level as Mother is because their powers are equal to hers. Mother can fully control Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. The Generals are like extensions of her power without actually being a part of her. She sends them out during the specific season to spread that season so that she can tend to other matters. So, when you say that you're going to be her General of Winter, you're basically telling us that despite you being new...your power is on par with Mother's in the winter aspect, and the fact that since you said that...and she hasn't refused your claim...means it was offered to you."

"It...It was offered to me, but I'm not stupid enough to think that my powers are on par with hers. I haven't seen the full extent of her powers and I don't know the full extent of mine yet, so to think I am already on par or even close to...it would make me not only extremely stupid, but arrogant as well."

"Huh...a very intelligent spirit." The one that seemed either the closest to my physical age beamed brightly at me with a surprised risen brow. He had dirty blond hair and sky blue eyes. "My name is Summer. I'm the General of Summer."

"Hey Summer! Adara!" They both looked past me along with the other four along side them and looked to Nimbus. "If you want to know how powerful he is, ask him to make it snow!"

"That's impossible!" Summer laughed out. "No one can use their powers inside the castle. It's stupid to think that he-" He immediately stopped laughing as I made it gently snow above his head, and just like last time it was as if there was a barrier just before his feet where the snow just didn't exist anymore. "Y-You...you made it snow!" He stuttered out with a shocked look on his face. "How?" He asked as he looked at me, and there wasn't any anger in his voice, but more of a determined curiosity.

"Honestly, I don't know. I just can. I remember when I met Nimbus last night, he seemed to get serious when Mother Nature and I mentioned that I would be her General of Winter...and serious wasn't a good look at him...all I wanted was to make him smile a bit and I felt it in my veins almost...then I focused just above his head and it started snowing there."

"Well, I think that's more than enough proof that you're fit to be the General of Winter." A woman with auburn colored hair and orange colored eyes smiled at me as she put a careful hand on Summer's shoulder. "My name is Autumn. I'm the General of Autumn or Fall...depending on what you want to call the season." She held out her hand and I shook it briefly.

I nodded my head, and I suddenly wanted to get off the subject of being the general, and I felt an urge to know the others that stood there patiently waiting. "Alright...so far I know Adara, Summer, and Autumn..." I trailed off after pointing to those the names corresponded with. "...what about the rest of you?"

"My name is Bram, and I'm an animal spirit. I can transform into any type of bird." The man with jet black hair and piercing golden eyes smirked at me, causing me to send a grin as a reply.

"My name is Mesi. I'm a water spirit." A woman with short brown hair and light blue tips at the end, and cerulean colored eyes stepped forward and shook my hand.

"I'm Isla. I'm an Earth spirit." A woman with dark tan skin, long chestnut colored hair, and maple colored eyes stepped forward and shook my hand as well.

I looked to the other, and noticed that she had dark pink hair mixed with a grass green color, and her eyes were a light lavender color. She seemed a bit shy, and for some reason it caused me to smile warmly at her. "And who might you be?" I asked carefully, and for some reason I felt the need to talk to her like a child.

"Would ya look at that." Summer chimed in. "He seemed to guess that her mental and physical age don't match."

"Yeah...it's just a feeling I have..." I admitted. "How old is she mentally?"

"Ten." Mesi answered with a soft smile.

"Right...well..." I looked back to the girl in front of me that didn't look all that much older than myself, but was apparently mentally younger. "...I don't think I'm that scary. Do you mind telling me your name?"

"I-I'm Flora. I'm the General of Spring." At the last sentence she smiled up at me with a wide grin and stepped forward a bit more, earning surprised gasps from the other spirits she stood among.

Ignoring their gasps for now, I simply smiled at her. "There now...that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No...it wasn't. I like you. You're nice."

"Why, thank you, Flora."

"Can...can I sit next to you?"

"How about you sit between us, Flora?" Nimbus questioned, and the look of delight on her face warmed my heart a bit. I don't know what it was about seeing them smile and be happy that had that affect on my heart, but I wasn't about to complain.

"Okay!" She said excitedly as she practically ran to her new spot which was Nimbus's old spot.

"Let's go eat." Summer said, and we all made our way towards the table, and I sat back in my seat from before. Once we were all seated and the others filled their plates, I felt Summer's gaze on me so I looked up. "You know...she's extremely shy around others...especially new people. It took her at least a full day to talk to any of us...and then she says that she likes you? You're impressive, Jack."

"I don't really think so." I told him as I popped a grape in my mouth. I then slide my gaze in a sideways glance to Flora who had watched me pop it in my mouth. "Hey, Flora, do you want to see a trick?"

"Sure!"

"Alright." I smiled, and I didn't know how I knew I could do it, but from now on, anything I knew how to do I was just going to chalk up to something Manny allowed me to be able to know and other stuff, by instinct. I took three of the largest purple grapes and I held them in my hand. "You ready?" I asked as I turned in my chair to face her.

"Yeah!"

"Okay..." I smiled at her and started juggling the grapes.

"Wow!"

"Yup, now watch this." I told her as I caught all of the grapes in one hand. I then started tossing the grapes in the air and catching them with my mouth, moving to adjust to where the grape was. Once I caught the last one I started eating them. After I swallowed them I smiled at her. "That was good...and fun!"

"Hmm...so my newest General is an entertainer?" Mother Nature questioned as she smiled behind her glass.

"Well, why not? At least you won't be bored."

Mother Nature rolled her eyes with a chuckle. "At least there's that."

I looked around at the others and instantly noticed they're shocked expressions, and they mimicked the look of shock Nimbus had. "What?" I asked them.

"You got her to chuckle...that's...impossible. None of us had ever heard her so much as snicker." Adara stated as her eyes remained widened and fixed on Mother Nature.

"Um, I did, last night." Nimbus commented with a smug grin. "Although...that was also Jack."

I narrowed my eyes in a mischievous manner, and smirked at Mother Nature. "Just how boring were you before I arrived?" I heard some of the others gasp again, but out of the corner of my eye I could see the extremely intrigued looks on their faces while my eyes remained on Mother Nature.

"You may want to watch your words with me, Jack." She smirked back. "I'm still going to be training you after breakfast."

"Well, how are we going to train?"

"A sparring match...in order to test your abilities."

"If I win will you tell me why you seemed to have been boring before I arrived?"

"That's if you win, which you won't, but I'll humor you. IF you win, then I will tell you why I haven't laughed, chuckled, or so much as snickered before you arrived."

"Can't wait." I smiled.

"Oh, I'm not about to miss that!" Nimbus laughed out with excited eyes. "What about the rest of you?"

"Nope, I'm too intrigued." Summer said as he crossed his arms. "No one's ever dared to speak to Mother like that...especially on pretty much their first official day."

"I'd like to see that match as well." Abungu chuckled low. "Should be entertaining if Jack is powerful enough to make it snow in the castle."

"Well then, I suggest you all should eat your breakfast and meet in the training grounds." Mother Nature smirked as she continued to eat her breakfast.

oOoOoOoOoOo

We all ate quietly after that, and we were now at the training grounds. The others followed behind Mother Nature and I, and I stood across Mother Nature while the others stayed a safe distance away. I rested my staff on my shoulders and held onto it with my fingers tapping at it. "So, are there rules?"

"Hmm...the first one to get the other to fall to the ground three times wins. Not that you will, but if there should be any rules, I'll allow that one."

"When do we start?" I asked, and I felt it almost as an instinct to immediately duck.

"Now, seems like a good time." She smiled at me with mischief in her eyes, and I found myself enjoying that look in her eyes.

"Ah, very well then!" I told her as I flew up into the air and felt the power and magic thrum through my veins. My mind and heart somehow instantly knew how to use a good portion of my magic for more than just snow and frost. I dove down with a joyous laugh and I swung my staff thinking, 'Wind! Knock her off her feet!' And it did just that. I landed behind her and she looked up at me from the ground with a stunned expression. "Hmm..." I chuckled out as I heard the shocked gasps from the others, but chose to ignore them. "That's one for me I believe..." She narrowed her eyes at me and tried to send a bolt of lightning at me, but I dodged it immediately by flying back into the air, giving a loud, "Whoa!" I smiled down at her, and she continued to shoot lightning at me. 'Hmm...seems like pure energy more than lightning...' I then focused on my staff and started remembering how much I wanted Nimbus to smile, but at the same time I focused on needing to attack my opponent, and as I pointed my staff at her, a pure beam of lightning and ice mixed together shout out and struck the ground next to her. "Alright, that's pretty cool."

"How did you...!?" She asked as she looked at the ground next to her that quickly frosted and just as quickly melted.

"Nah uh..." I laughed out. "That wasn't part of the deal. Now...I have two more hits I need to deal to you, and you need to catch up. You're the one that said oh so confidently that you'd win."

"OH!" She growled out while smiling, and she continued to try and shoot her lightning at me.

"Hmm..." I said as I dodged the lightning. "That doesn't seem to be working!" I teased in a sing song voice. I then dove down to the ground and started running towards her. Once I was next to her I gave her a cocky smile and slammed the butt of my staff on the ground, causing pure ice to form underneath her, and making her slip as she tried to send another lightning bolt at me that I dodged flawlessly as I flew into the air. Once she was on her back I glanced at her children and they were dumbfounded by the match. "Tsk, tsk, tsk..." I told her as I clutched to my staff in mid-air. "I told you it wasn't working. Maybe you should try something else...oh...and that's two for me...zero for you."

She placed a hand on the ice and instantly melted it. "Very well then. You want to play it like then?" She stood up and gave a stance as her legs stood at shoulder length and I watched her stomp her right foot, and to my immediate surprise, vines erupted from the ground and they started whipping at me.

"Whoa!" I laughed out as I bobbed and weaved in and out of them. "Now that's more like it!" I tapped my staff to one of the vines and it froze solid. I then hit my staff against the frozen vine, shattering it to pieces. "But perhaps it's not enough." Right at my words I quickly noticed a wicked smile appear on her face and I felt one of the vines wrap around me tightly, swiftly bringing me to the ground.

She walked up to me and brought her hand up, and therefore, bringing me up to face her on eye level. "Don't get cocky." She told me with a mischievous smirk.

"My lady, I believe you'll find that you were being cocky before I was." I chuckled low as I froze the vines that surrounded me, and focused on the ice energy my staff let out to force it onto the vines. "Or perhaps calling you a lady is a bit of a stretch." I challenged.

"How dare you!?" She asked as she started whipping at me again with her vines, but now she was also shooting lightning at me. "Stay still, you ass!"

"Oh, my...so brash!" I laughed as I continued to freeze and smash her vines while dodging the lightning. "Yeah, Lady was definitely a stretch."

"Oh really!? Then, what do you see when you look at me, if not a lady?"

I quickly headed towards her, and dodged a lightning bolt as I came up behind her and hooked my arms under hers. "I see a woman." I told her as I then pushed her to the ground. "And a fierce one at that." I chuckled out. "Now, that's three for me and one for you." I held out a hand to her and she shook her head with a laugh as she took it.

"You are not just powerful but patient and witty as well. Allow me to see something."

"Alright." I told her and she held a hand up to my mind, and then one to my heart.

"Huh..."

"What is it?"

"Nothing, it's just you talk older than you are...but there was honesty in your voice."

"Oh? And how old am I?"

"Physically, mentally, and emotionally fourteen, but I can tell that your mental and emotional age is still aging, but it's doing so at an incredibly rapid pace. I suspect you'll be mentally and emotionally eighteen before the year is out with how fast it's increasing...and then with what I sensed...it should stop around twenty by the middle of next year. If anyone asks, just tell them you mentally and emotionally aged normally. That goes for all of you as well. You all know that aging that fast mentally and emotionally is almost unheard of and I would like to keep it that way."

"Yes, Mother!" They all said collectively.

"So...the answers you owe me...do your children know them?"

"Yes, and they've been told not to tell another soul...living or otherwise."

"Okay...so why haven't you snickered, chuckled, or laughed before me?"

"Before I became Mother Nature I was someone else. I had a different name..."

"Mother...are you really going to tell him your name?"

"I might as well. He did defeat me fairly, after all. Besides...all of you know it, and if he's to be my General of Winter, I have to trust him."

"I'm guessing names are important to us spirits."

"Yes, they are. Names can be used against us if our trust is ill placed. There are those that can say a portion of our name and it be fine, but if they use our full name...and our trust is ill placed...it can hurt or even kill us."

"I understand. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."

"No, you earned it. Especially since you were able to get me to chuckle and laugh." She smiled at me and continued. "Before I was Mother Nature, I went by the name Emily Jane Pitchiner. My father was the Lord High General of the Galaxies, and he ruled honorably and justly. He loved me and my mother very much...that is...until he was consumed by darkness and became unwillingly corrupt. Now, on earth...he is known as the Boogeyman, but many call him Pitch Black. The loss of my father...the man who could always make me smile or laugh so freely...it hurt me greatly."

"Ah...I apologize."

She tilted her head at me with a confused smile. "What have you got to be sorry for?"

"I'm sorry you went through that. I'm sorry that happened to your father."

"Huh...usually most people aren't sorry for my father's fate."

"Why is that?"

"Because, Jack...the Boogeyman gives fear and nightmares to the people of Earth..."

"Okay and? That's still no reason to not feel sorry for his fate. He didn't choose it, did he?"

"No, but..." Her eyes went wide, but I decided to continue.

"And without fear, you wouldn't know bravery...without nightmares you wouldn't know dreams...isn't that right?"

"That's...exactly right." She breathed out in shock, and I quickly noticed the relieved and somewhat joyous look in her eyes.

"Okay then. Unless he harms me or those I come to care about...like my new friends I've just gained in a matter of hours...I don't see any reason for me to immediately dislike him, but I do feel sorry that he suffered so much. If he loved you as you say he did...I don't believe he would've willingly chosen something he likely knew would've hurt you."

"Thank you." She sighed out as she nodded her head. "I think I've needed to hear someone else say it for a very very long time."

"You're very welcome...my lady."

"Oh!" She chuckled out as she placed her hands on her hips. "So NOW I'm a lady?"

"Yes well...you are when you're not trying to whip at me, and when you're not cussing at me, demanding me to come down. When you're not being a fierce woman, I can see you as a lady."

"What's your definition of a lady then?"

"Calm, patient, understanding, cunning, and intelligent. You are all of these things when you're not fighting. When you're fighting...from what I've seen...you are fierce, brash, still cunning, but also willful, wild, determined, and not someone to mess with that's for sure."

"I-Is that so?" She questioned with widened eyes and surprised smile.

"I wouldn't have said it if it weren't."

"Well..." She breathed out as she looked to her children who were now looking at us with stunned eyes and knowing smiles for some unknown reason. "...why are all of you looking at us like that?"

"No reason." Nimbus commented as he briefly lifted his hand slightly off of his crossed arms.

Mother Nature smirked and shook her head slightly. "For some reason it doesn't make me feel better when that answer comes from you, Nimbus."

"Ah!" He held a dramatic hand to his heart as he dropped his jaw. "Mother, I'm hurt!"

"Yeah, and you go ahead and be as dramatic as you please about it too. Now go on, you have work to do. Europe requires a storm."

"Farewell, Mother. Later, Jack."

"See ya later, Nimbus."

I watched as he went through a portal and vanished, then I noticed Abungu coming towards me. "That was a brilliant battle. I'm impressed, and I'm willing to bet Mother is too."

"I am." She answered calmly. "No one's ever won the first sparring match before."

"Not even the Easter Bunny or the Sandman." Abungu commented as the other spirits went through their portals and went their separate ways.

"Easter Bunny? Sandman?"

"I'll explain another time. Abungu, can you show Jack around? I'm going to go help the others prepare lunch, and then I'm going to be off to speak with the snow and ice spirits. I have to tell them that they have a General."

"Wait...I'm their General too?"

"Jack..." She smiled softly at me. "...when they say you are my General, it means that you rule just under me. When I say that the snow and ice spirits have you as their general, it means that they also follow your orders as well as my own."

"O-Oh! I had no idea."

"Well, now you do. Now, I must hurry to the kitchen and then speak with the snow and ice spirits. Farewell, Jack."

"See ya later, Mother Nature."