Author's Note: Holy.. man. This chapter is LONG. It's over 5400 words and that's WITHOUT my author notes. I didn't even begin to get into the real drama at the Seasonal Meeting either, as a whole scene with Bunny and Lillian popped up without my permission and then Pitch had to freak out..
Whew! Anyway: Reviews.
A guest was wondering if Mother Nature was mad at the Seasonals or Guardians and the answer is no. If you looked into Mother Nature's info you miiight be able to figure out my plans, but I'll tell you that right now she's just a little unhappy with Lillian and Jack for certain reasons. That's all I can divulge. It'll become clear in the next few chapters, I promise.
CrossoverJunkie figured that Pitch would be rightfully super stressed/distressed about Jack and Lillian sneaking off, so we'll see how he is later on. :)
Now, I present to you: The super special long chapter of doom.
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Jack's Ill and Pitch's Daughter
Jack wiped his forehead as they all exited the shadow into Pitch's lair. He barely had time to glimpse the inside when Pitch was shoving him back into the shadow.
"Wha..?!" Jack exclaimed as he stumbled backwards out of the shadow.
He looked around and found himself at snowy white expanse of the North Pole, with North's place nearby. Usually if he had to go any place cool, he would go to Antarctica. His brow furrowed in confusion. He knew that Pitch didn't really like the Guardians, so why was the North Pole the first place he could think of?
Jack shrugged and went to go play in the snow before announcing his arrival to North. His cheeks were still flushed from being in the heat too long and he did feel a little strange still. Usually when the temperature crept up into the mid-seventies in Burgess, he would take off to cooler climates.
He had only stuck around since it wasn't quite near his usual time to leave, but the weather was acting more strange than normal. He had heard people talking about 'global warming,' but Jack knew that something else was up.
His mind flashed back to his invitation to the Seasonal Meeting that was coming up. May 7th.. that was only in a few days. Mother Nature hadn't given them much notice this time. Normally they got the invitation at least a week in advance.
He sat in the snow and fell backwards with a plop and stared up at the sky, wondering why Mother Nature had waited until the last minute this time.
He closed his eyes in contemplation and the next time he opened them, he found himself in an unfamiliar room.
He sat up, surprised he had fallen asleep. He blinked and looked down, as he realized he was indoors now, in a bed and wearing pajamas. He looked around, seeing that the window in the room was open, to make it colder for him. He leaned back against the pillow again, and wiped his forehead.
Even though the room must be pretty cold, he still felt a little warm. The wind ruffled his hair, and Jack could tell by its wintery whisper that it was worried about him.
"I'm okay," Jack said softly to it. "It must have been the heat from earlier, I guess."
As Jack finished reassuring the wind, the door to the room opened with a loud bang and a worried Phil rushed in. He saw that Jack was awake and began to rapidly speak in yetish, waving his arms for emphasis.
Jack tilted his head in confusion and Phil huffed in annoyance. Before Jack could ask what was going on, Phil stomped out and soon returned, dragging North along with him.
North looked relieved to see that Jack was awake.
"Jack! Is good to see you are finally awake. Phil was concerned when he saw something blue outside in the snow. He says you were flushed and looked warm. Is very cold outside, how can this be? Are you not feeling well?"
Jack shrugged.
"It's so hot in Burgess," Jack explained. "I was outside for too long. Pitch made me come here, so I thought being outside for awhile would help, but.." he shrugged again. "I still feel a little strange. It can't be a cold, since I don't get cold."
North nodded.
"You do seem to be very warm however. Even though room is freezing, you still do not look cold enough. I'm afraid I know very little about matters such as these. Bunny knows more than the rest of us. Would you let him take a look and see if he can help?"
Jack looked uncertain at this. Even though North was being very nice about it, he really just wanted to go home and crawl into his own bed. Pitch always seemed to know what to do.. But Pitch had sent him away this time, so maybe Pitch wouldn't know how to deal with an unwell Jack.
Jack reluctantly nodded and gave North his consent.
It seemed like it only took a few seconds for Bunny to get there, but Jack had closed his eyes again and unknowingly fell back asleep. He awoke to the sound of Bunny entering his room.
"B-Bunny.." Jack said, and tried to sit up a little. His cheeks were warm, and his normally bright blue eyes looked a little dull. Jack's voice also sounded a little rough, as if his throat were scratchy.
"Hey there, Frostbite," Bunny said gently to Jack. Poor kid. It looked like he had a heck of a cold. Bunny walked over to Jack's bed and soon had taken Jack's temperature. "Hm.." Bunny said as he looked at the thermometer. "Yer temperature's cooler than a human's, but I'm not sure what it's supposed ta be at. Judgin' by the way ya look, yer definitely runnin' a temperature. Does yer throat hurt?"
Jack nodded, looking miserable.
"Can I go home..? I want Pitch," Jack said softly in a small voice.
Bunny frowned a little.
"Burgess is a sauna. I know Pitch's place is underground, is it cool enough fer ya?"
Jack shrugged.
"I can make my room cold enough for me. I'll make it snow."
His eyes started to close again while he was speaking. He was really tired and didn't feel up to answering all of Bunny's questions. He just wanted to go home and sleep for the next few years or so.
Bunny looked hesitant at Jack using his powers.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," he started to say but Jack's eyes flew open at that.
"N-no! I want to go home!"
Bunny and North exchanged a look. Jack was sick and wasn't up to listening to logic. They knew how it was with kids. All kids wanted to be in their own bed and have their parents take care of them. Pitch was practically a parent to Jack, so it only made sense that Jack would want Pitch there.
It made sense to North, anyway. Bunny wasn't so certain.
Jack's lip started to tremble and he was looking very upset.
Bunny sighed. Jack Frost looked more like a kid than ever, especially with that lost look on his face.
"Tell ya what," Bunny said, trying to calm Jack down. "What if Pitch came here? It'll probably take ya a few days to get over yer cold. You and Pitch can stay here, where it's cold. Lillian too, if she wants."
North was quick to agree with this.
"I have many rooms! It would be fun, no? Once you are better, you can all work on Christmas presents."
Jack thought about it for all of two seconds. He decided he didn't really care where he was, as long as Pitch was there. He nodded at Bunny and North.
Pitch had been worried long before he shoved Jack in the shadow, sending him off to the North Pole. Lillian had always insisted every year that Jack had kept his lake cool enough for himself, and Pitch had believed her. Which never lead to Pitch realizing that Lillian actually snuck off with Jack every summer to colder climates.
Now that Jack was living at Pitch's, they wouldn't be able to do this. It was one of the reasons that Jack had stuck around despite the climbing temperatures. Jack also didn't want to disappoint his new believers or Lillian.
Pitch hadn't been worried at first, as he imagined the simmering temperatures all around except for at Jack's lake, which he imagined to be a small winter wonderland. It wasn't until Pitch had that sinking feeling that something was wrong, that he started to worry.
He was especially worried as lunch came and went and neither Jack nor Lillian came back to the lair to check in with him. So naturally, he had gone to Jack's lake to discover that not only was it not a winter wonderland, but that Jack was melting in the shade of a tree while Lillian (very irresponsibly, in his opinion) was busy splashing around in the lake with Jamie and the kids.
Pitch was so upset he could barely contain himself as he grabbed Jack and Lillian, roughly pulling them into the shadow. He had immediately shoved Jack back into the shadow once they were in the lair and sent him off the North Pole in the hopes that if there were anything wrong with Jack, that North would immediately spot it and help the winter spirit.
It was immediately after that, that he had inadvertently heard Jamie and the kids talking about him via the shadow and with his nerves already a mess from anxiety over Jack, he had snapped at them before returning back to Lillian at the lair.
He had started pacing around his globe room, half wondering if he should have followed Jack to the North Pole.
Lillian, who wasn't used to such a worried Pitch, watched Pitch anxiously.
"Um.. Pitch?" she asked hesitantly, hoping to snap him out of it.
Unfortunately, it just caused Pitch to take his temper out on her.
"What were you thinking?!" Pitch said as he shot Lillian a glare. "You know Jack is a WINTER spirit, and yet you were playing while Jack was busy melting in the heat!"
Lillian's eyes widened as Pitch yelled at her. Pitch hardly ever yelled at her and this had to be the harshest scolding she had ever recieved from him.
"I thought you were more responsible than that! Now Jack is probably melting in the North Pole right now, and I swear if anything happens to him it will be all your fault!"
Pitch probably would have continued ranting, but it was at that time that a bright light suddenly appeared as a portal from the North Pole formed in Pitch's globe room.
"Pitch, Jack is needing you!" North exclaimed as he left he portal, which closed behind himself. "Come, we can return using snow - "
Pitch didn't even wait for North to finish his sentence as he hastily grabbed a stricken Lillian and dragged her through one of the shadows in the corner of the room.
" - globe." North finished, then blinked as he noticed he was alone in the room. Realizing that Pitch had dashed off without him he shrugged and tossed down another snow globe, after telling it to take him back to his workshop.
Pitch practically flew out of the shadow in the globe room at the North's, dragging Lillian behind him.
"Where is he?!" Pitch demanded.
Thankfully Phil had anticipated a distraught Pitch arriving soon after it had been decided that North was going to fetch him. Bunny had been left behind to look after Jack. As a Pooka warrior, Bunny was used to taking care of others' wounds and illnesses and thus this had also extended into his life as a Guardian.
Thankfully as spirits however, they rarely got sick. Bunny could only presume that the heat from Burgess had lowered Jack's defenses, thus causing him to be more susceptible to catching the nasty cold he currently had.
Bunny watched Jack as he had Jack drink another glass of water, insisting that Jack drink as much fluids as he could.
Jack couldn't complain too much, as the coldness of the water felt good on his sore throat.
Even though he had been expecting Pitch, Jack wasn't quite expecting Pitch to come bursting into the room at full speed.
So it was when Pitch burst into the room after being lead there by Phil that Jack jumped in surprise, startled by it. Thankfully had just finished off his water, otherwise he would have spilled it all over himself.
Pitch let go of Lillian's arm and practically shoved Bunny aside as he hurried over to Jack's bedside. Pitch reached out and felt Jack's forehead with the back of his hand.
Pitch frowned as he noticed that Jack was far too warm.
"How are you feeling?" Pitch asked Jack, in a demanding tone.
Jack flinched a little at the harsh demand from Pitch. Pitch never spoke to them that way.
Bunny noticed that Pitch was not only freaking out Jack, but he was also freaking out poor Lillian, who was shivering in Jack's room in her swim suit still. Pitch had been so worried, that he hadn't even given a second thought to Lillian's attire.
"Hey, it's alright," Bunny said, frowning at Pitch. "Jack's got a bad cold, but it's not fatal. I can go ta my Warren and fix a remedy for 'im, no problem."
Pitch barely spared Bunny a glance as he continued to look at Jack.
"Well?"
"My throat's sore and I feel sort of weird," Jack admitted to Pitch.
At this, Lillian burst into tears.
"I-it's all my f-fault..!" she sobbed as she ran over to Jack. She flung herself onto the bed and wrapped her arms around Jack, hugging him close. "You wouldn't have gotten sick if it wasn't f-for me!"
Jack's eyes widened as Lillian shook from the force of her sobs and also from her being cold.
"Lillian," Jack said softly to her. "It's not your fault. I wanted to stay."
But Lillian wouldn't hear of it, and she refused to leave Jack's bedside until Bunny pried her away. He shot Pitch a look, but Pitch was too busy hovering around Jack, looking worried.
Sighing, Bunny looked down at the shivering Child of Spring in his arms.
"Hey, ya want ta help me get some medicine together fer Jack in my Warren?" Bunny asked Lillian.
Looking upset still, Lillian nodded to Bunny. She didn't want to admit it either, but Pitch's complete dismissal of her in favor of Jack also hurt. She knew Pitch didn't really like Jack more than her, but in moments like this, sometimes it seemed like he did.
Bunny held Lillian close, hoping to warm her a little with his fur at least.
"How 'bout on the way, we stop at yer place and get ya some warmer clothes, yeah? At least have ya change into somethin' dry."
Lillian's lip trembled as she watched Pitch hover around Jack, having Jack lay back in bed. Pitch was tempted to cover Jack up, but he compromised by covering Jack with a thin sheet. He asked Phil to bring in some snow from outside to place on the bed with Jack.
Pitch didn't even realize that Lillian was leaving with Bunny and as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks she nodded.
She tried to tell herself that it didn't matter. What mattered right now was helping Jack to get better. If she wasn't so selfish, Jack wouldn't even be sick right now.
Lillian buried her face in Bunny's fur as Bunny tapped the ground with his foot, creating at tunnel right in the room, a no-no at North's. But he knew that North would understand.
Jack doesn't deserve a friend like me, Lillian thought as she mentally berated herself. All of Lillian's worry and fear were at the forefront of her mind as Bunny raced through the tunnel with Lillian in his arms.
It was only a matter of minutes before they arrived in Pitch's lair, but when they did, Bunny's ears twitched.
The lair wasn't quite as dark and gloomy as it used to be, since Pitch had several oil lamps around. Bunny snorted as he noticed Pitch forgot to put them out, but thankfully since most of the furniture and walls were made of rock, they didn't really have to worry about anything catching fire.
Bunny was about to set Lillian down on her feet when his ears twitched again.
Did he seriously hear something neigh?
Bunny was about to comment on it when the cold Lillian wriggled out of his arms and raced off for her room. Thankfully she had still been holding her letter, and she carefully tucked it into the pocket of her dress. Hoping Jack hadn't lost his, she wondered how she and Jack were going to get to the Meeting, since Pitch was so much into Adult Mode now that there was no way he'd ever let Jack attend the Meeting, and Lillian wasn't interested in going without him.
Lillian brushed her wet curls with a hair brush as she suddenly felt guilt creep in. Here Jack was, super sick with a cold and all she could think about was not wanting to go to a meeting by herself. Sighing in disgust she finished putting on a dress before grabbing her warmest winter cloak in concession to the coldness of the North Pole.
She was about to leave her room, when she heard the stamp of a hoof. She turned, and practically came face to face with a Nightmare.
Her eyes widened as she saw the monstrous black horse. She didn't remember ever seeing them before, since all her memories of the Nightmares were very fuzzy. Making a frightened squeak, Lillian took a step back.
With its golden eyes blazing malevolently, the Nightmare stepped towards her.
Lillian took another step back and let out an earsplitting shriek when the Nightmare snapped at her. Barely avoiding getting bit, Lillian turned and ran.
Bunny was trying to investigate where exactly he had heard the neighing, when he heard Lillian shriek. Concerned for her safety, Bunny took off towards the sound.
Lillian tried to aim a blast of spring magic at the evil looking horse, when she realized to her horror that Jack still had her bracelet. She had given it to him for safe keeping while she had gone swimming.
"BUNN - OOF!" Lillian cried out, as her scream for help turned into a muffled thump as she ran headlong into Bunny.
Bunny gasped as Lillian ran into him, but it only took a split second for him to realize that a Nightmare was right on her tail. He quickly shoved Lillian behind him and threw one of his boomerangs at the Nightmare, causing it to disintegrate in a shower of black sand.
"I thought those things were gone!" Bunny fumed as he caught his boomerang and sheathed it. He glanced back behind himself to see a pale Lillian, staring wide-eyed at where the Nightmare had been.
Oh yeah. Bunny had forgotten that Pitch, Jack and Lillian all had some form of amnesia thanks to the Man in the Moon.
"Hey, look. It's gonna be alright," Bunny said gently to her, trying to avoid having her freak out. Judging from the terrified look on Lillian's face however, that wasn't going to happen.
"Wh-what was that?!" Lillian cried out, as suddenly more neighing could be heard. She didn't realize it, but all the emotions from Pitch earlier, combined with her own terror now were calling the remaining Nightmares right into the lair.
Bunny didn't have time to answer as he found himself fighting off more Nightmares. It wasn't until he heard Lillian cry out in alarm that he realized the little spring spirit was in danger.
"Use yer powers!" Bunny instructed as he threw his boomerangs at more Nightmares. How had this many gotten away from them?!
"I can't!" came Lillian's panicked reply as she dodged a particularly vicious bite from a Nightmare.
"Crikey," Bunny muttered to himself. Catching his returning boomerangs, he tapped the ground and then quickly grabbed Lillian, jumping down into the tunnel.
Thankfully the tunnel closed as soon as they were inside, preventing the few remaining Nightmares from following them.
As they jumped out of the tunnel and into Bunny's Warren, he couldn't help but wonder what else was going to happen to them.
He had no idea how much he would come to regret that thought.
North hadn't much luck getting Pitch to stop overwhelming poor Jack, so he had resorted to setting off the aurora and calling in the other Guardians to help him out. Tooth and Sandy had arrived at about the same time while North explained what was happening.
Sandy's eyes widened as he realized what was going on. Pitch was very stressed by his memories of becoming Pitch Black, in which he thought his daughter, Emily Jane, was being held captive in the prison where the Nightmares and dream pirates were kept. That, combined with everything else that had been going on was causing Pitch to become extremely clingy to poor, sick Jack.
Jack wasn't sure what to do with this extremely clingy Pitch as he wasn't used to this sort of mothering at all. He shot the Guardians a "help me!" look when they entered the room.
After trying to tell Pitch that Jack would be alright and Bunny would be able to get him fixed up in no time, only to have Pitch essentially ignore them and demand that Jack close his eyes right this minute and rest, Sandy decided to take matters into his own hands.
He formed a ball of dreamsand and expertly tossed it so that it hit Pitch square on his head. The ball then bounced off Pitch and hit Jack.
Satisfied with his handiwork Sandy dusted his hands off as both Pitch and Jack collapsed on the bed, with golden dreams above their heads. Jack's golden dream had him playing with Pitch and Lillian happily, while Pitch's dream was very different.
Sandy was surprised to see that in Pitch's dream, a golden Pitch was sitting with a woman and a little girl. They had the child sitting inbetween them and the golden Pitch was animatedly telling the child a story, as she appeared to be listening with rapt attention.
With a start, Sandy suddenly realized that Pitch was dreaming about his former family. A sad smile tugged at his lips as he silently watched Pitch and Jack dream.
Freaked out from the earlier attack, Lillian clung to Bunny as Bunny showed her where his private gardens and home was kept. Bunny's house was a small cottage of sorts, completely with a few bedrooms and kitchens. If she hadn't been so frightened, Lillian would have found it amusing to see that Bunny slept in some sort of nest.
Bunny had Lillian sit down in the kitchen, as he prepared the herbal remedy for Jack. It was an old recipe, one he always used on the sick kits once upon a time. He only hoped that it would work the same on a sick winter spirit as it had once worked on a sick Pooka kit.
Bunny worked quickly and efficiently as a subdued Lillian watched Bunny prepare everything.
"Bunny..?" Lillian quietly asked.
"Yeah?" Bunny responded, sounding distracted.
"Wh.. what were those things?" Lillian asked with a shiver. Those horse things were scary.
Bunny paused in preparing the remedy to glance at Lillian. She still looked a little pale and despite the warm cloak she was wearing, he saw her shiver.
Poor kid didn't even remember what the Nightmares were.
"Those were Nightmares," Bunny said. "They're dark creatures that are attracted ta fear. Ya don't remember, but there were a ton of 'em runnin' around Burgess around Easter. I thought we had defeated 'em all, but I guess we missed a few."
Lillian clasped her hands together as she shivered again, looking for something for her nervous hands to do.
"But why were they in our home?" she asked him desperately, not realizing that the lair had been crawling with them before.
"Ya'd have to ask Pitch that, but I don't think he remembers anymore," Bunny said unhelpfully as he returned to making Jack's cold remedy. Soon he had finished and had it placed in a steaming mug.
"We're gonna hafta take a snow globe back, since I don't want this ta spill," Bunny told Lillian. "And don't worry, we'll make sure yer home is clear after we get Jack all better."
Still looking uncertain, Lillian nodded and followed Bunny through the portal that appeared when Bunny threw down a globe.
Bunny was less than amused to come back to find North, Tooth and Sandy all standing in Jack's room, watching Jack and Pitch sleep. Bunny had complained that it'd be hard give Jack the remedy with him sound asleep, but with Tooth holding Jack's head up, they managed.
Bunny told the others that Jack needed plenty of rest and suggested that the sleeping Pitch be placed in another room. He also told Lillian that she shouldn't hang around Jack too much, or she ran the risk of catching Jack's cold too.
But Lillian refused to listen to that order and over the next few days, she spent as much time in Jack's room as she possibly could.
Thankfully by the time that a few days had gone by, Jack's fever had broken and thanks to Bunny's remedy, he already seemed to be on the mend. Unfortunately for everyone else, this meant that Jack was bored. And a bored Jack was a troublesome one.
It was also difficult for Jack and Lillian to talk about the Meeting, as once Pitch had been convinced to stop hovering so much had told Lillian and Jack that in no uncertain terms were they going to the Seasonal Meeting. No way whatsoever.
So it was in the very early morning of May 7th that Jack and Lillian were plotting. Jack still felt a little icky, but his throat wasn't as sore and he didn't feel too warm anymore.
It was because of this that Pitch had seen to it that Jack's window was now shut and locked, to prevent the winter spirit from sneaking out. Jack had retaliated by turning his room into a winter wonderland, with piles of snow everywhere.
It was because of this that Lillian had her cloak on with the hood up and her gloves.
"I'll get in trouble if I don't go, right?" Lillian asked Jack who looked uneasy.
"Mother Nature won't be happy if you miss it," Jack said to Lillian.
Lillian sighed at this.
"There's no way Pitch will let you go while you're still sick."
She had gathered together their invitations and Lillian was holding hers, while Jack had his on his lap.
"Pitch will understand that I have to go," she said, sounding more like she was trying to convince herself. "How do I go again?"
Jack gestured at the letter.
"All you have to do is say 'Mother Nature, I accept your invitation,' and then poof! You're at her palace."
Lillian quickly repeated the phrase and it was as Mother Nature's magic swept him away too, that Jack realized his mistake. All you had to do was touch the letter and say the phrase, and Jack had the letter in his lap.
Lillian's jaw dropped as Jack and Lillian both appeared outside of Mother Nature's palace. They appeared to be near a jungle maybe, since there was lush foliage everywhere, as well as plenty of trees.
The palace was covered in an assortment of flowers, plants and vines all from the various seasons. Lillian was trying to figure out how this was actually possible, when she noticed that the temperature wasn't quite Spring, but it wasn't super hot like Summer. It was slightly cool like maybe in early Fall, but crisp enough to be comfortable for Jack.
Jack blushed in embarrassment as he realized that he had arrived to a Seasonal Meeting in pajamas and he didn't have his staff. When he first arrived at the North Pole, he had clung to his staff as his one comfort, but eventually the Guardians had convinced him that it would be better for his staff if he left it leaning up against the wall.
Feeling rather powerless without his staff, he quickly lead Lillian inside the palace. Her gasp, drew his attention and he smirked a bit.
"I know, right?" he said, addressing her awe of the place.
As Jack lead her through the palace, she marveled at the various rooms they passed. There seemed to be a room dedicated to each season. The Spring room had all sorts of lovely spring plants around as well as what appeared to be a blossoming tree in the corner, while the Summer room had plenty of windows to let in the light and various Summer plants, as well as a small pond. The Fall room had leaves carved intricately into the ceiling as well as several pumpkins and even a scarecrow.
Speaking of the ceiling, Jack directed Lillian's attention the ceiling in the hall. She gasped again as she saw the very long mural painted on it. She realized that she was looking at the pictures of all the Seasonal Spirits there ever was. They each had their name painted nearby their picture. As they drew to the end of the seemingly neverending ceiling mural, Lillian pointed up at the ceiling suddenly.
"Your picture is there, Jack!" she said delightedly as she pointed.
Jack chuckled at Lillian's enthusiasm.
"After today, your picture will be up there too. We use our power to create our own picture. And since you and I are the newest spirits, our pictures get to be right next to each other."
Lillian was ecstatic about this and she practically skipped into Mother Nature's throne room, where all the other spirits were already gathered.
The various Summer and Fall spirits and sprites all stopped chattering to one another as they all turned as one to stare at the late arrivals.
August Bay and Jasper paused in their conversation to look at the troublesome Winter and Spring spirit.
"Now that you all have arrived," Mother Nature said as she stood from her throne, her tone even and kind, "Let us begin our Seasonal Meeting."
Lillian shot Jack another look as Jasper droned on and on and on about all the leaves that had been painted last Fall. August had talked incessantly about all the surfing he had done, and let the lesser Summer spirits explain about the Summer they had spread.
Not able to handle yet another detailed description of a leaf, Lillian interrupted the meeting.
"August started Summer early in Burgess!" Lillian said in a loud accusing tone as she pointed at August.
"Excuse me," August said snootily to her, "But I've been in California and my Summer sprites have been busy elsewhere."
"But it's been over eighty degrees there!" Lillian exclaimed.
Mother Nature put an end to the argument and told the Seasonals of her worries about all the strange weather that had been going on.
"We must find out what is causing this imbalance, as it will effect all the world. Keep a close eye out for anything strange," she instructed her Seasonals.
As all the other spirits had explained what had happened with their Seasons, a smug August and Jasper had been delighted to hear Lillian get called out on her late start to Spring.
"Your job is ensure the balance of the Seasons," Mother Nature said in a gentle, yet scolding tone. "It is imperative that you start Spring when it must. Your duty is to spread the warmth with your Season, to encourage the end of Winter and the start of new beginnings."
Lillian had nodded at Mother Nature, looking down at her feet with a blush of shame on her face. Her very first meeting and here she was already getting in trouble.
"I must admit, I'm also concerned about the rumors of Seasonal Spirits disappearing. We have never found out what happened to the former Spirit of Spring and I notice that not one other Spring Spirit or Sprite has turned up for this Meeting. Please be very careful, my children," Mother Nature said in her gentle tone while the other spirits prepared to leave as the Meeting drew to a close.
Jack was wondering how in the world they were actually going to get back home when Mother Nature's voice rang out.
"Lillian. Jack Frost. I want you to stay behind," Mother Nature commanded, her voice which once had been gentle, was now as cold as Jack's powers.
Jack and Lillian looked at one another as the other spirits all left the throne room, and then Jack and Lillian looked at Mother Nature.
What trouble were they in now?
Back at the Pole, Jack and Lillian hadn't realized what a disturbance their sudden departure had caused, as Pitch had gone to Jack's room to check on them, only to see two letters left on Jack's bed.
Pitch's eyes widened as he realized that they were both gone.
Again.
Author's Note: Whew, that was long! That was the longest chapter yet. Hopefully this didn't seem rushed as I really just wanted to skip to the Seasonal Meeting. I realized I did rush the meeting, so I might expand more on that in the next chapter. If you're wondering about the Nightmares, you've probably noticed that a few have been hanging around the lair anyway, and with all the fear around, BOOM. Thankfully Bunny was there to save the day. I couldn't help sneaking in a little bonding time there.
You'll have to let me know what you thought of the chapter. Was Pitch overreacting? What do you think Mother nature wants to talk about? Stay tuned until next time! I plan to update at least by the end of the week, maybe sooner.
