Author's Note: This chapter took forever to write! It took me a long time to figure out where a good stopping place would be. Anyway, I seem to recall saying a few chapters ago that you guys would get bonus points if you guessed what reference I did in the first three lines. This is at the very beginning of Chapter Sixty-Nine: Racing Time. Nobody guessed, so I'll just tell you.
It was a Rise of the Guardians movie reference! If you'll notice, it mentions the cool breeze, the darkness and how scared Jamie is.
In other words:
It was cold.
It was dark.
He was scared.
Oh well.
Reviews:
Crossover Junkie: It is really interesting to see how different things are with different characters. I kinda wish I could take 1974 Gethen and keep him forever. Ah well.
Lady Syndra: Yes, Leif is at fault too, along with the other Seasonals. I really was going to have Leif be remorseful of what he did, but then things changed and well. Right now Leif's too ticked off to be regretful of what he did. I think it would take a long time for him to get there. Although if you'll notice in this chapter there is a point where Leif does feel a little bad, so it's a start! I'm also finding it hard to believe that Gethen is the one being more adult about all of this out of the two. I can't really see Leif ever apologizing though. He's a complicated character for one of the "good" guys.
Chapter Seventy-Two: Jamie's Adventure: A New Light
"We need you to use Seasonal powers to move the clouds away from the moon," North explained.
Leif blinked in surprise.
"..What?" he said in confusion.
Sandy had golden symbols above his head appear of the sleigh, then North's Workshop and then finally, of the moon. Tooth noticed the symbols and nodded.
"Sandy's right," she agreed. "We should have Leif move the clouds away at the North Pole. Manny can help Jamie there and Jamie won't have far to go to get help."
Leif's confused look hardened as his gaze fell on Gethen.
"Who's all going?" he asked.
Sandy gestured at the Guardians and Gethen and then at Leif. Leif frowned in response but didn't have time to answer as North spoke up again.
"We must hurry, is not much time." North proclaimed.
"We're going too," one of the male Spring Spirits spoke up with a frown in Gethen's direction.
"Where's your sleigh?" Leif asked the Guardians.
North gestured back towards where they had appeared from and Leif nodded in response.
"Then let's go," he said.
He glanced back at the female Spirits and the rest of his Sprites.
"You stay here and keep things safe," he told them.
They reluctantly nodded and the male Spirits moved in closer to Leif. Leif gestured at the Guardians, motioning them to come over.
"Gather 'round," he said, "I'll get us out of here."
Everyone gathered around Leif and in a swirl of flower petals, they all disappeared.
Gethen wasn't amused to see that he was left behind.
The Guardians and Leif all appeared back outside of Leif's home, right near where Gethen had teleported them all inside. Leif surveyed the area with a frown on his face, not pleased to see the large patch of brown grass where the portal had been.
He bent down to brush his fingers across the dying blades of grass gently and his frown deepened.
Tooth was looking around at the others and she looked confused.
"Where's Gethen?" she asked.
Leif didn't comment on it as he was absorbed in examining the grass and Sandy frowned at the Spring Seasonal. Had he done that on purpose?
Leif gasped as a hole black as midnight opened up under his fingers and he yelped as he felt a strange sensation on his fingertips that had accidentally touched the hole. He quickly yanked his hand back and scrambled backward, cradling his hand to his chest.
"Leif?" North called out. "Are you alright?"
Leif opened his mouth to respond but was cut off as Gethen half climbed, half fell out of the hole. When he had first opened the portal, it had been easy to make the hole appear on the sloped ground of the hill, but on the other side, it had appeared in thin air. So Gethen had made the portal on the flat, level ground and had jumped down into it, which made appearing on the hill that much more awkward, since the hole there was more of a slanty sideways on the sloped ground.
Gethen managed to pull himself out and sat up. He looked embarrassed as he noticed the Guardians were all staring at him.
Great, just great.
Leif's eyes narrowed as he noticed that when the portal disappeared, the grass underneath was more dead than ever.
"What are you doing?!" he shouted at Gethen in outrage.
Gethen hastily stood, brushing himself off and he frowned at Leif.
"I had to let myself out, seeing as you didn't bother bringing me along," Gethen said to Leif, his tone accusatory.
Leif opened his mouth to respond, but North, seeing another argument brewing, hastily cut Leif off.
"We must hurry!" North said urgently. "Now!"
Leif found himself being tugged into the sleigh by Tooth as he sat up front behind North with her and one of his Spirits, while Sandy sat in the back with Gethen and the other Spirit. As the sleigh took off, Leif glanced down at his fingertips, which looked no different than before and rubbed them together. For just an instant, when that blackness had touched him, it had felt like he was going to fade.
The sleigh appeared from one of North's magical portals and had landed outside near the Workshop. North and Tooth had rushed off, while Leif seemed to lag behind a little. Sandy graciously allowed the two Spirits, Gethen, and Leif to go ahead of him not that anyone paid much attention. He cocked his head when he noticed Leif gesture to the two Spirits to go on ahead.
Gethen moved to hurry past Leif as well, but Leif grabbed his upper arm tightly, stopping him in his tracks.
"Just what do you think you're doing?!" Leif hissed, keeping his voice low so that the others wouldn't hear. Apparently, he either had forgotten or hadn't noticed that Sandy was behind them, able to listen in.
Gethen yanked his arm out of Leif's grasp and gave the Spring Spirit a look.
"I'm not doing anything," he said.
Leif glared at the dark spirit.
"Spending time with the Guardians? Did you think you'd gain favor with Mother if she knew? You know what she said! She said - "
Gethen cut the irate Spring Spirit off.
"And I believe she told you and the other Seasonal Spirits to leave me alone! But I don't see that happening, do I?" Gethen spat, glaring at Leif. "Mother already had words with me and I know what's at stake. Maybe I didn't go about it the right way, but the fact remains that you and your little friends tormented me constantly. Not to mention what you all did to Mistral!"
Leif clenched his hands into fists.
"You think that excuses what you did?" Leif said scathingly.
Gethen leveled a look at Leif.
"Nothing will ever excuse what I did," he said, the anger draining from his voice as he suddenly sounded weary. "We don't have time for this. There's a child who needs our help."
Gethen walked on, leaving Leif behind with a mixture of confusion and guilt on his face. Leif shook his head and before Sandy could ask Leif what was wrong, Leif followed after Gethen silently.
Sandy tilted his head at Leif's back, thinking over their conversation. He wondered what Bunny would make of it. After all, Leif was Bunny's friend. With a sigh, Sandy hurried after them. Gethen was right, they really didn't have time for any of this.
It didn't take them long to find Bunny still in Jamie's room. The two were sitting on Jamie's bed with Jamie burrowed into Bunny's side and Bunny gently stroking Jamie's hair while murmuring into his ear.
"We found him!" Tooth sang triumphantly as they all entered the room.
Bunny jerked his head up and stared at Leif and the other Spring Spirits.
"Wha.. What happened ta you?!" Bunny said, aghast, as he took in Leif's pale and tired appearance. He couldn't ever remember Leif looking so drained before. He had wondered why he hadn't seen Leif when he heard rumors of Leif's reappearance, but with Leif looking so exhausted, he could see why. The poor Spring Spirit was probably still recovering from whatever had happened to him. It must even be a chore just to perform his normal duties.
Leif shot a look at Gethen, who hunched his shoulders and didn't say anything.
"It's a long story," Leif finally said as he ran a hand through his hair. "I hear you need some clouds moved?"
Bunny hastily nodded as he scooped Jamie up into his arms and stood up.
"We need the moon uncovered right away," Bunny said. "I'll get Jamie to the globe room and hopefully that'll fix him right up."
As Bunny hurried out of the room, everyone followed after. Once they arrived in the globe room, Leif noticed all the clouds he could see in the high windows that were apparently blocking the moon. He nodded and gestured at his two Spirits to follow after him. They stood in the center of the room, where Bunny would eventually have to stand with Jamie.
"Use just enough power to get this done," Leif said quietly to his Spirits. "Remember, it's still Spring and we have much to do."
Bunny's ears twitched at that and he shot Leif a look of concern. Moving clouds should be nothing to a Spring Spirit, but Leif sounded as if he hardly had enough energy for even that. Just what had happened to him in those hundreds of years that he'd been missing?
Unaware that Bunny had overheard him, Leif raised his hand toward the windows along with his two Spirits. Their hands began to glow in unison and Leif frowned a little as he concentrated.
"Something doesn't want the clouds to move," he said to the Guardians after a moment as he watched the unmoving clouds in the windows.
"Is it Pitch?" Tooth asked, her wings fluttering rapidly as her worry grew.
"Gotta be," Bunny growled as he cradled Jamie in his arms. He glanced down at Jamie, who had been ominously silent since Leif's arrival. What was happening to the poor boy?
Leif wiped his free hand across his forehead, wiping away the cold sweat that had formed when he started using his powers.
"..I'm not.. I'm not sure I can do this," he admitted, his voice sounding a little faint as his other hand continued to glow.
"You hafta!" Bunny practically commanded. "Jamie needs our help!"
The two Spring Spirits shot Leif a look of concern as Leif grit his teeth in irritation. They knew Leif didn't like admitting when he couldn't do something, and the Spring Seasonal had to be feeling especially poorly to even admit that much.
Leif's frown deepened, but he put more power into trying to move the clouds. As he did so, the wind outside picked up and a few clouds started to move. But as a few clouds moved out of the way, more arrived to take their place, with ominous dark shadows swirling amongst them.
"Do we.. Do we need the others?" one of the male Spring Spirits asked, as he panted with the exertion of using his powers to help out Leif.
Leif really didn't want to head back after they'd traveled all this way already, but he could see that they had little choice. He wasn't strong enough to combat whatever was keeping the clouds in place himself and his two Spirits were already straining themselves too much. After a moment of hesitation, he cut his powers off and gestured to his two Spirits to do the same.
"..I need.. the others.." Leif said as he looked away from the windows.
The Guardians were all looking at him in concern since had looked beyond exhausted before he even started and now he seemed to be even moreso.
"Is that a good idea?" Tooth asked anxiously. "One of us could - "
Leif cut Tooth off with a dismissive wave.
"None of you can take me into my home," he said absently. He turned to his Spirits, who straightened up a little at their Seasonal's gaze. "You two stay here. I'll be back shortly."
They nodded and soon Leif had vanished in a swirl of colorful flower petals.
"Why don't you two sit while we wait for Leif to return?" North said to the two Spirits kindly.
The two Spirits glanced at one another but then looked over at Gethen, as though they were expecting him to do something.
Gethen noticed this and put his hands up in a surrender gesture.
"Don't mind me, I'm just.. observing," he said a little lamely in his opinion. "Not doing anything at all."
Bunny glanced at Gethen sharply at that. Just what was that supposed to mean?
"You know, we've been meaning to ask you about that," Tooth said to Gethen. "What's going on with - "
Before she could say too much, however, Leif reappeared in another colorful swirl of flower petals.
Leif staggered and might have fallen if it weren't for his Spirits catching him.
"Leif!" one of the female Spirits cried out in alarm as she clutched at him, helping to hold him up.
Leif shook his head and managed to get his feet under himself as he stood.
"I'm fine," he said faintly, convincing no one, not even himself. "Just a little dizzy."
"Ya sure yer up ta this?" Bunny asked, feeling his concern grow for his friend.
"Yes," Leif said a little testily.
He gestured at his Spirits, and they all took up their positions again.
"Hit it with everything," Leif commanded, this time not wanting to hold anything back. "We have to get this done."
With that, he held up his hand towards the clouds with his Spirits clustered protectively around him, doing the same. Their hands all began to glow and finally the breeze outside turned into quite the gale that sent the clouds away from the moon. As the clouds moved aside, one by one the glowing faded from the hands of the Spirits.
The two male Spirits who had been using their powers as much as Leif stumbled and one collapsed to his knees. The two female Spirits looked pale but were otherwise standing. And Leif, who had done more than he should was only upright because the two girls were helping to hold him up. Gethen, for his part, was standing awkwardly off to the side near where Sandy was and tried not to look too guilty about this.
"The moonlight!" North cried in delight as he saw the light shining down intensely into the globe room. "Bunny! Is time!"
Bunny quickly moved into the center of the room where the symbols were that were carved into the floor and stood there with Jamie in his arms. Jamie began to stir as the moonlight enveloped him.
"..No..!" Jamie cried out, his eyes shooting open in panic for a moment before he scrunched his face in pain.
Bunny patted Jamie gently, not knowing what else to do to soothe him.
"It's alright," Bunny told him, "Manny'll fix ya up."
Jamie's hair started to lighten back to its brown and his skin began to look less gray. After awhile, however, it was apparent that he wasn't going to go completely back to normal.
"It's not enough!" Tooth said in alarm as she saw that Jamie didn't seem to be changing anymore.
"B-belief fights it," Jamie gasped out, trying to talk past the pain and the voices that were still trying to tear at him. "Last time.. my friends helped.."
The Guardians all exchanged looks of horror and alarm at that. Had they started something that they couldn't finish?! Jamie's friends weren't here and they didn't have anyone that could possibly help them!
Tooth looked over at the globe frantically and saw why Jamie was having a hard time.
"Jamie's belief isn't strong enough to fight it!" she said as her eyes widened. "We need a strong believer to help us out!"
"Crikey, we ain't got time ta find some kid," Bunny groaned. "'Sides, a lotta the kids' belief was hurt."
"We have to do something!" Tooth cried out. "Jamie's hurting!"
Gethen, feeling particularly useless, looked down at his hands. If only he had powers that could help. But was it only children's belief that could help?
"What about a spirit's belief?" he asked as he looked back up. "Would that help?"
Tooth and Bunny didn't seem to be paying him much attention and North was too busy scanning the globe to answer. Sandy, had heard him though and patted Gethen's arm to get his attention. Gethen looked down at Sandy, having half-forgotten the silent spirit was down there.
Sandy gave him a smile and a thumbs up as if to say that it couldn't hurt.
"What do I do?" Gethen asked, and Sandy paused at that.
Sandy wasn't quite sure what Gethen would do to with his belief to help, but he grabbed Gethen's arm and tugged him over by Bunny and Jamie. Golden symbols formed over his head rapidly and Bunny couldn't help but notice. Once he managed to decipher what Sandy was trying to say, he furrowed his brow. Sandy had a point.
"How'd yer friends' belief help last time?" Bunny asked.
"Hands," Jamie gasped, "Put.. hands.."
"Uh," Gethen looked hesitant. "I don't - "
But he didn't have time to say anything else as Sandy gave him a forceful nudge that nearly had him falling on Bunny.
"Watch it!" Bunny growled.
Gethen's hands shot out and he wound up grabbing Jamie's shoulders to stop himself from falling over more than anything. He looked down at the little boy who looked so pained and a determined look crossed his face. He would help this child. He just had to believe.
"It's working!" Tooth gasped as she watched Jamie, whose hair had resumed lightening.
But to the Guardians' dismay, the lightening stopped and Jamie's skin still had a gray tinge to it. They could also see that Jamie's eyes had started turning back to brown, but they still had far too much gold swirling in them.
"No, is not enough!" North groaned.
"Now what?" Bunny grumbled. "There ain't time ta get more kids ta help."
As Bunny finished speaking, his question was quickly answered in the form of a young girl running across the room to them. Having been woken by all the commotion, Lillian had wandered towards all the noise. Apparently, she had witnessed the last few minutes as she wasted no time in tucking her hand in Jamie's and squeezing it tightly in hers.
"Get better," she told Jamie quietly.
Lillian's light on the globe had once been so dim, but now thanks to Sandy's good dreams of all the Guardians and Jack Frost, her light shone more brightly than ever. Her belief had gone right back to where it had been before she had all the nightmares.
As though overwhelmed by the strong belief, the last of the darkness left Jamie's hair, while his skin went back to its normal color. As the moonlight shone down brightly on them all, the very last of the gold left Jamie's eyes and they returned back to their usual brown.
As he went back to normal, Jamie slumped against Bunny, feeling tired out from all the time he'd been hurt by those voices and in pain. Not to mention it was way past his bedtime.
Satisfied that Jamie was all better, Sandy wasted no time in forming a golden ball of dreamsand and knocking Jamie out with it. Sandy dusted his hands off and then went over to Leif and his Spirits and did the same. They obviously were in no condition to travel and half of them had looked ready to pass out anyway.
"I see we will need to ready more beds," North said in amusement as he took in the sight of all the knocked out spirits.
Gethen pulled his hands away from Jamie once Jamie was back to normal and Lillian gently pulled her hand away from Jamie's. She was standing right next to Gethen, but as she didn't know anything about the Spirit of Decay, she couldn't see him. She could, however, see Leif and his Spirits and was looking over at them with interest.
"Are they ok?" she asked as she pointed over at Leif and his Spirits.
Gethen hid a wince at that and tried not to look too guilty, although Bunny's sharp eyes caught the look anyway. He narrowed them a little at the spirit, but they had bigger things to worry about.
"They're just tired," Bunny said, trying to downplay Leif's exhaustion to the child. "They'll feel better after a good night's sleep."
"I think we all could use a good night's sleep," Tooth said as she eyed the exhausted Spirits, Gethen included, a sleeping Jamie and Lillian, who was rubbing an eye sleepily. She had only slept a few hours while everyone had been rushing around.
"Da," North agreed. "Let's get everyone settled and we will get everything sorted in morning."
It was late the next morning when Jamie and Lillian finally woke up after having pleasant dreams from Sandy. Gethen awoke shortly before them and the Guardians had been the first to rise, all of them having spent the night at North's. Soon everyone minus the Spring Spirits was gathered around the dining table with a plate full of eggs and toast and in some cases, cookies.
"Really? For breakfast?" Tooth said as she stared in disbelief at North.
"What?" North said innocently as he bit into a Christmas cookie.
"All that sugar is horrible for your teeth!" Tooth groaned.
Jamie smiled at the exchange as he snuck some of his bacon to an elf that had wandered over. Lillian giggled at Tooth and helped herself to some of her eggs.
Gethen, who was unused to being around humans in general, let alone children, looked rather uncomfortable as he toyed with his eggs with his fork. He kept glancing at the two children nervously, as though expecting them to do something unusual.
Bunny rolled his eyes at the nervous Gethen.
"They ain't gonna bite," he said to Gethen.
Gethen jumped a little at being addressed by Bunny and shot him a panicked look.
"Huh?" Lillian said in confusion as she looked over at Bunny. "Who?"
"Bunny's talking to - " Jamie said, and then froze. He turned toward Gethen and stared at him with wide eyes. "Omigosh..!"
"Jeez," Bunny said. "Here we go again."
"Now Jamie," Tooth said soothingly.
"No need to panic," North added on.
Sandy added in with a few helpful golden symbols above his head, not that anyone was paying any attention to him.
Gethen had a deer-in-the-headlights look as he stared at Jamie who was staring at him. Gethen looked just as panic stricken as Jamie and if the situation wasn't so serious it'd be quite funny.
"You can see me?!" Gethen said, his voice a little higher than normal. "No one.. No one's ever seen me before!"
Jamie blinked, and some of the panic left his eyes at that. Even though Gethen was supposed to be super evil, that sounded kind of sad.
"No wonder you're so evil," Jamie said. "You just want to get noticed."
Gethen facepalmed at Jamie's declaration.
"I'm not evil!" Gethen exclaimed.
"Gethen's right," Tooth nodded. "Remember what we found out last night about his future self?"
Jamie looked confused at that and furrowed his brow. The snakes on the Amulet of Protection wriggled and shifted a little and suddenly Jamie gasped loudly paling as the memories came back to him.
"I.. I.." Jamie squeaked. "I almost.."
"It's okay, Jamie," Bunny said as he reached over and patted Jamie on the shoulder. "Yer safe now and nothin's gonna get you."
Lillian looked terribly confused as she watched the exchange. Not only had she been asleep and missed most of the excitement the night before, but she also had no idea who Jamie was talking to or about and it was very strange.
"What's going on?" she asked, her quiet voice causing the Guardians to look at her. She ducked her head at the sudden scrutiny and looked back down at her plate. She hated being the center of attention.
"Jamie's talkin' to a spirit," Bunny told her helpfully. "His name's Gethen and he's the Spirit of Decay."
Lillian glanced up at Bunny at that.
"Decay?" she asked.
"He's.. sorta like the Seasonal Spirits," Bunny hedged. He wasn't certain how to explain Gethen's powers in a way that Lillian would understand.
"Oh!" Lillian exclaimed quietly.
And to Gethen's discomfort, she looked over suddenly and stared right at him. Apparently, the Easter Bunny's word was enough to get her to believe in him and now another person could see him.
"I h-help keep the separation of the seasons," Gethen stammered in explanation. "I cause the plants to die at the end of a season and for the fall leaves to fall off the trees."
Jamie gasped and started to laugh at that.
"You keep the seasons separated?!" Jamie loudly exclaimed, causing Lillian to jump.
Gethen bristled as Jamie laughed at him.
"Of course I do!" he told Jamie, sounding offended. "Mother Nature trusts me to help keep the balance!"
"Mother Nature is far too trusting," Leif grumbled as he stomped into the dining room, having followed the sound of conversation and the smell of food.
Leif looked much better than he had the night before and he sat across the table from the Guardians, glaring at Gethen as he did so.
Gethen scowled at Leif in return, not appreciating the comment.
Jamie sobered at Leif's comment and looked at Gethen warily before looking back at Leif.
"So.. is Gethen evil?" Jamie asked him hesitantly.
Lillian's eyes widened and she looked over at Gethen with trepidation.
Gethen frowned at the two children and then turned his frown at Leif.
"I'm not evil!" he said emphatically to Leif, who snorted in return.
"That is a matter of opinion," he grumbled, having sat closer Bunny and farther away from Gethen.
Bunny looked from Gethen to Leif.
"What's yer problem with him? And what happened to ya? Ya look like you got run over by a truck." Bunny asked the Spring Spirit.
Leif stabbed moodily at the plate of eggs he'd been given with his fork as he shot Gethen an accusing look.
Gethen noticed said look and his eyes widened a little in panic. Leif wouldn't tell, would he? Everyone really would think he was evil then!
"I'm not allowed to talk about it," Leif said as he stabbed a particularly large piece of scrambled egg on his plate that might have slightly resembled Gethen's face.
"What do you mean?" Tooth asked curiously.
Leif let out a loud sigh as his scowl deepened.
"Meaning it's a Seasonal thing that Mother Nature specifically told me not to talk about," Leif grudgingly explained as he shot Gethen another glare.
"So ya can't explain anything?" Bunny asked in bewilderment.
"No," Leif grumbled, still looking upset as he stabbed some more eggs with his fork, causing Gethen to wince a little at the ferocity of it.
Jamie looked from Leif to Gethen thoughtfully.
"Well, if he can't talk about it," Jamie gestured at Leif and then looked at Gethen, "Can you?"
Gethen froze with a forkful of eggs partway to his mouth. He hastily set his fork back down, trying and failing miserably, to not look as nervous as he felt.
"M-me?" he asked, his voice a little higher than normal.
"Yeah," Jamie nodded. "It sounds important."
Gethen shot a panicked look over at Leif, but Leif pointedly ignored Gethen and set about tearing up his bacon into pieces before eating it.
"Uh," Gethen floundered, trying to think of a good reason not to say anything at all. By now, everyone was looking at him very curiously, even Lillian.
Gethen looked very uncomfortable and looked down at his plate as he tried to think of what he could possibly say.
"We just.. We've never really gotten along," Gethen finally admitted, ignoring Leif's snort. "And.. Well.. It's personal. Let's just say that Leif and I have both done things we're not proud of and Leif's still.. recovering from some of them."
Jamie's eyes widened as he took in the irritated form of Leif. While the dark circles under Leif's eyes weren't so pronounced thanks to the good night's sleep Leif had finally gotten, he still looked pale.
"You hurt Leif?" Jamie gasped as he looked from Leif back to Gethen.
Gethen hunched his shoulders and toyed with his eggs miserably. There was a long, awkward silence before Gethen spoke up.
"..A little.." Gethen finally admitted, his voice very quiet.
Jamie tilted his head as he looked at Gethen. This Gethen looked really sad. He would've expected an evil Gethen to boast about all the bad stuff he'd done and not even be sorry about it. This Gethen looked.. ashamed.
The Guardians all exchanged looks at this strange conversation. They were also a little apprehensive since they weren't entirely sure that it was one that should be in front of Jamie and Lillian.
"Right!" North loudly proclaimed as he clapped his hands together, causing Lillian to jump at the unexpected noise. "New subject! We must figure out what we are going to do next."
Jamie drank some of his milk as he looked at Gethen thoughtfully but finally decided to drop the uncomfortable conversation they'd just been having.
"I should get to 1968," he told the others, but then his brow furrowed. "Or.. four years ago..? That'd be.. what, 1970?"
The others nodded at that.
"But I can't just leave here either," Jamie said. "Not with all those Nightmares around. We never even saw any until it was my time and that's way in the future. Things are getting all messed up."
"I don't like all the Nightmares either," Bunny admitted. "But if ya can fix what needs fixin' with the time, then all that wouldn't have happened anyway, right?"
Jamie furrowed his brow again in thought.
"..Yeah.." he said slowly as he thought about it. "But I also have to visit Lillian in the past and give her that message. I don't want to mess time up."
"What message?" Tooth asked in puzzlement.
"I saw Jamie around four years ago," Lillian explained quietly. "He told me all about Jack Frost and the Guardians. He also told me that I would meet him later on and to tell himself to watch out for Gethen and he also wanted me to tell himself 'Don't let it break.' He said even though it sounded crazy, it was really important."
Tooth gasped and a golden exclamation point appeared above Sandy's head.
"Is not sounding good," North said seriously.
"But what Gethen was I talking about?" Jamie asked in frustration. "The Gethen from my time or this one?"
Jamie gestured at the 1974 Gethen, who flinched at the accusation that he might do something to a child. Leif shot Gethen a look.
"I'd watch out for both of them," Leif told Jamie. "You never know."
Gethen sighed at that but didn't say anything to defend himself. What else could he say?
Jamie glanced at 1974 Gethen but didn't comment on what Leif said.
"Still, I don't know what time to go to," Jamie said.
"Ya gave yerself those messages fer a reason," Bunny told Jamie. "If ya don't know yet, then I think ya should go to 1968 first. Somethin' must happen that makes ya think of givin' yerself those messages."
Jamie nodded.
"That sounds like a good plan," Jamie said as he reached into his shirt, but then paused. "Wait.. I'm supposed to go to Easter Sunday in 1968. It's already past Easter!"
Bunny winced at that. It was definitely past Easter now.
"Can ya travel backward a few days?" he asked Jamie.
Jamie shook his head mournfully.
"I can only travel one month or two years," he said with a big sigh. "I guess I could go back a month and just hang around until Easter again."
Jamie sounded glum at the prospect, but he didn't know if Father Time had an hourglass that could take him back only a few days. Besides, the more hourglasses he had, the more likely it was that one would be stolen. Two was more than enough for him.
Bunny rubbed his forehead.
"Great," he muttered. "Now I'm gettin' a bunch of weird memories involvin' you."
Jamie heard Bunny and blushed in embarrassment.
"Sorry I'm messing time up so much," Jamie said with another sigh. "At least all this stuff won't have happened yet."
Leif had been listening quietly up until that point.
"Wait wait wait." he interrupted. "Are you telling me that this child can travel through time?"
Jamie gave Leif a sheepish smile.
"Surprise?" he said. "Father Time sent me on a mission. My time in the future is all messed up and I have to go back to Easter of 1968 to change whatever got changed and then everything will go back to normal."
Lillian looked over at Jamie at that. She remembered how he tried to tell her that something in her past had been messed up and how her life was supposed to be very different from what it was. She hadn't wanted to hear what he had to say, because she was afraid that he wouldn't be able to fix whatever it was and she would spend her whole life waiting for something amazing to happen that never would. She didn't want to be haunted by what could have been if it was never going to happen.
Leif shook his head at that.
"Everyone's gone insane," he announced to no one in particular as he ate the rest of his eggs and bacon and stood. "My Spirits and I have to get home, and the sooner the better. I have no wish to be part of this time traveling nonsense."
Gethen nodded in agreement, surprisingly.
"I should get back home as well," he said.
"I've got school," Lillian announced. "I have to get home too."
Jamie pulled out the bronze hourglass.
"I guess I could just travel back in time right now," he said with a decisive nod.
He held the hourglass upright and then began to turn it backward.
"Wait!" Tooth cried out, but Jamie had already completed the turn.
Jamie looked at Tooth questioningly, but he only had a moment before he vanished in bronze colored sparkles.
"What is it?" North asked Tooth questioningly.
"If he used the hourglass here," Tooth said looking worried. "Won't he reappear here?"
"Da," North agreed in amusement. "I think.. I am remembering this. At least is safe place for Jamie to appear. One month with us is not so bad, no?"
Bunny shook his head.
"Kid's reckless," he grumbled. "He didn't even say what time of the day he had to appear in at Easter in 1968. He might get there durin' the day only to find out it had to be early mornin' or late at night."
"Father Time gave him his mission," Tooth said as she thought about it. "He might have been able to clarify some things. We could have visited him."
"Too late now," Bunny shook his head.
"Hm, Well.. Let's go to globe room. We can get snow globes to take you all home. Easy as cake!" North declared jovially.
"I can get myself home," Leif said quickly. "I just need to get my Spirits up."
"It's no trouble - " Tooth started, but Leif had already rushed off.
Bunny shook his head at the retreating Spring Spirit's back.
"He's actin' strange lately," Bunny commented.
"Let's go to globe room, and I will get snowglobes," North said.
It didn't take long for everyone to get out there. Even Lillian had gone with, more out of curiosity than anything. While the other Guardians all stood around and chatted quietly to each other, Lillian stood next to Gethen and examined the globe with awe.
"This is amazing," she said quietly as Gethen nodded in agreement.
Gethen really didn't need a snowglobe to get back home, but he also didn't want to mar anything in North's workshop either, so he thought it would be the safer of the option.
"Hey," Lillian said suddenly. She pointed up at the globe. "What are those blue lights?"
The Guardians all stopped chatting and looked over at Lillian curiously.
"What do ya mean?" Bunny asked. "There's only one and it's always been very dim."
"Nuh uh," Lillian disagreed. "There's another one at the top and it's bright."
The Guardians (minus North, who was getting snowglobes) all rushed over and stared at the globe. Sure enough, there was a bright blue light at the top of the globe.
"That means it's at the North Pole," Bunny said in confusion.
Just what are those blue lights?
Author's Note: It took me awhile to think of what to do during breakfast here. Obviously the plot had to move along, but I was having so much fun in 1974. I think instead of following Jamie along right away, I'll show in the next chapter what's going on with these guys. Sandy still has to have a serious talk with the other Guardians about what he overheard and we never did get to see what was happening with Pitch. You guys get bonus points if you figure out what's going on with the blue light.
I bet you didn't see that coming about Gethen helping out. And yes, Jamie did leave poor Pitch with the Nightmares in 1974, but like Bunny said.. if he can get time back on track it won't even matter anyway. Unfortunately, we all know it'll take awhile (and even more adventures) until that happens. Do you think it'll have a big impact on time? Guess we'll just have to find out, won't we?
As always, thanks to all the follows and faves! If you guys have any ideas, feel free to let me know! I'm not sure when the next update will be. I think I might try updating HP Child of Spring or Let it Shine next. For those of you who care, I actually set up my profile page after forever. You can check it to see what current stories I'm working on, or else you can also scroll down to see what stories I've given up on and others that were at some point going to be a reality and for now are just ideas that I've had and might not ever be written.
