Jamie had found himself disappointed, that Easter had never showed as it had been canceled. And not only that, Jamie overheard why, all the adults had discovered the body of Nathan, and had kept it from the kids, however Jamie was smart. He overheard it, after finding out that there wasn't an Easter, that Story had been found dead. It was unknown why he died, but the adults suspected that it was due to some internal issue.
Jamie had been wondering why Easter had been canceled, and he knew why now, but that didn't explain why the Easter Bunny never showed up. He should have, Jamie thought. And his friends were past disappointed, he could tell that they no longer believed in the Easter Bunny. But He remembered last night, the Bunny was in his room, and so was the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, and the Sandman. Also Sophie had told of helping the Easter Bunny with painting eggs and dancing with them, and riding on the big Bunny. Jamie knew it had to be real, if Sophie said that she dreamed of the Easter Bunny. She also claimed to see the Tooth Fairy, and Santa Claus, along with a cold, yet nice, blue and white boy. And Jamie knew in his heart, that the Easter Bunny, Santa, The Tooth Fairy they were all real.
Jamie waited until his mother left and he hopped out of bed, and grabbed a stuffed bunny toy. He sat it on his bed and sat in front of it, and he stared at it, willing and believing it would come to life.
"Look," Jamie said finally, in all seriousness. "I've believed in you for as far back as I can remember. My whole life in fact, so I want to know why you didn't show up for Easter. What happened?"
No answer came and the boy waited patiently. There was no signs either.
Jamie waited a full minute before he spoke again.
"Come on," Jamie said, feeling like all hope was quickly leaving. "Story told me all sorts of stories about you, about all of you guys. I saw you guys, and so did Sophie, so you guys can't be a dream."
Jamie waited again, this time the silence was longer and the boy felt let down. He felt all of his hopes leaving, as he no longer thought it mattered. The Easter Bunny never showed up, and it seemed that it might have been all just a dream.
"I knew it," Jamie said, pushing the toy bunny to the floor. He started to believe it had all been a dream, and one that Sophie was joining in, only because she was still too young to know any better. He sighed as the sadness started to sink in.
Then he heard it, a light whispering, crackling sound, and he turned around and saw frost mysteriously forming on his windows. The boy blinked as he watched, suddenly saw what looked like an invisible finger drawing on one of the window panes. A drawn Easter egg started to form on it and Jamie turned around, and gasped.
It was a sign!
From the Easter Bunny, he wondered. But Easter never had powers like that, Jamie remembered from Story's tales. He then saw a drawn picture of a bunny start to form, and he smiled, feeling the hope return. The Easter Bunny was real.
Then suddenly the bunny became real, and started hopping around the room. Jamie watched in wonder as it bounced around him, faster and faster, higher and higher, until it popped into a explosion of snowflakes and flurries. This definitely wasn't the Easter Bunny's powers, Jamie thought in confusion.
Then it hit him. While Story was alive, he remembered his friend telling him about Jack Frost, after he had asked about it. Actually bragging seemed the best in calling it that, he remembered becoming annoyed as his best friend wouldn't drop. Story had told him that Jack Frost had powers over snow, the cold and loved fun. Jack was the cause of why kids had snow to play in.
"Jack Frost?" Jamie said, as he questioned his reasoning. Was it really Jack Frost doing this, the boy wondered.
"Huh?" Jamie heard.
"Jack Frost." The boy said again, as he looked around the room.
"That's my name!" Jamie heard. "He said my name!"
"Jack Frost!" Jamie said finally, seeing a tall lanky boy with a frosted blue hoodie and white hair. And true to what Story had described Jack, the Winter Spirit had a wooden staff.
"He said my name Nyfe!" Jamie saw and heard the boy exclaim. "He knows me! He sa-"
Jamie heard a sound like a soft breeze and he realized that there was a foot tall creature sitting on Jack's shoulder, who seemed to be talking. Jamie realized that this must be one of Story's famous Pixies that he talked so much about.
"Wait, he can see me?" Jack asked the Pixie.
Jamie saw the Winter Spirit look at him and he smiled.
"You can see me?"
Jamie nodded and he crawled to the end of his bed, as he saw Jack leap backward out of excitement.
"He can see me!" Jack almost yelled, in joy.
"You made it snow in my room," Jamie said, the joy and excitement getting to him.
"I know!" Jack said, leaping back to stand in front of the young boy. "Oh, remember the sled ride the other day?"
"You did that?!"
"I did," Jack exclaimed.
"That was so cool!" Jamie yelled.
"Jamie!" The boy heard his mother call out suddenly. "Who are you talking to?"
Jamie looked at Jack and wondered what he should say. Jack nodded, as if to say go ahead and the boy looked back at the door.
"Jack Frost," Jamie answered truthfully. He didn't know what to expect, but when he heard his mother laugh, he knew that that things were fine with her.
Then suddenly outside, they both heard a crack and a gust of wind blew the windows open wider. Nyfe shot out of the room and Jack ran over to the window.
The Frost spirit saw that it was North's Sleigh, and he hoped out of the window to meet them.
When he saw the Guardians again, Nyfe was hovering in shock, and Jack quickly realized why.
They looked bad, North looked like an old man, unable to stand without help. Tooth seemed to lost her color, as if it were fading, and Bunny looked so tiny and vulnerable. It was almost painful for Jack to see his friends in this shape.
"Jack, we are sorry for earlier," North quickly apologized for all of the Guardians. "Why are you here though?"
"Same as you," Jack answered knowingly as Jamie came running up.
North smiled as he was glad that Jack had forgiven them, seeing the Winter spirit wrap an arm around the boy and the child looking up at Jack.
"He can see you?" North asked in surprise.
"Yup," Jack said, as Jamie spotted Bunny.
The young boy walked over towards the Pooka and started scratching behind the bunny's ear.
"I thought you'd be bigger," Jamie commented to Bunny, seeing the furry creature thump his big foot in pleasure. "You're so cute now."
"Alright," Bunny said snapping out of the feeling, at the last comment. He shot Jack a look and quickly hopped over to the Winter Spirit, ready to fight. "You told him to say that, didn't ya?!"
"Actually," Jack said smirking down at Bunny. "I didn't."
"Jack made me believe in you again," Jamie told Bunny. "Just when I was starting to not to."
"He did that?" Bunny asked in surprise, as he looked up at Jack. He saw the Frost Pixie smiling kindly, and the Pooka realized that Jack seemed to look more mature now. Almost like a Guardian. Bunny then started to sniffle as he felt hope once more rising up within him. The Pooka realized then, that he had misunderstood the boy all of this time and found himself with a new respect for the Winter Spirit.
The moment was suddenly broken as they all saw the mass of pixies buzz up and soon settled down on the rooftops of each building. It was as they were waiting for something, and then they saw the Pixie King flying up and settling down on the top of Jamie's house.
The Guardians were expecting to have to fight the Pixie King again, yet they quickly noticed that the Duskwalker didn't move from his spot. In fact they realized that the Pixie looked tired and smaller.
Jack was a bit alarmed as he was sure that his friend had shrunk in size. And Story also looked a bit more darker, and more like a bug then what the Frost Spirit last saw him. But for all of the sharp wings and twisted look, Jack saw the clear green eyes of his friend and knew that Story was on their side.
The Frost spirit looked back at the Guardians, and smiled as he opened his mouth to assure them, but before he could, he heard Story.
"Get Jamie to safety," They all heard the Pixie King tell them. "Pitch is coming."
"Too late!" Jack heard from above. The Winter Spirit looked up to see the Dark man standing on a cloud of dark sand. "I see that you once more are fighting the good fight, Story. But I've made sure that I win this time."
"Not yet!" Jack yelled as he shot towards Pitch. He was going to beat the man, and bring back the Guardian's power and glory. Even if it meant that he'd pay the price. He was a Guardian, and he was going to protect the last light.
As Jack shot towards Pitch, Story watched, remembering Jinx's words about deciding who got the short stick. He watched as the Winter Pixie used his powers once more to try and blast Pitch again. However, the Boogeyman laughed and knocked the attack away.
"That worked once Jack," Pitch mocked. "That little trick won't work the second time."
And Story saw Pitch hit the Frost Pixie, causing Jack to land on the ground hard. Something suddenly snapped within the Pixie King then and his core seemed to shift. He growled and glared at Pitch, who went on to attempt to terrorize his Pixie, Jamie, and the Guardians. Anger, and with it, hate rose up inside of Story.
Pitch found himself with a snowball hitting him, which surprised him, giving Jack and the others the opportunity to make a getaway. However it also left Pitch alone and stunned.
Abruptly Story appeared, in a fury that the Boogeyman had only seen one time before, the time he had tricked the Pixie King. Pitch suddenly found himself defending himself against a very strong and angry Pixie. And he noticed that the King's eyes were red. Pitch was strong, but even he didn't figure that the Pixie King would turn the darkness on him. The Boogeyman however had the upper hand and the battle took place high in the sky, as Story took it there.
Then it was over, with Pitch as the victor.
Story plummeted from the sky, a trail of sparkling mist marking the path of his decent. And he hit the ground hard, causing his Pixies to flee. Story found he no longer had the strength to fight Pitch. And once more, Jynx's words came back to him, as the anger and hate slowly died. This time he was the puppet master, and he decided who got the short end of the deal.
During Pitch's and Story's battle, Jack and the others were having fun, mostly for Jamie's sake. And Jamie had his friends join in on the fun, with each gaining the ability to see Jack. And all too soon that ended, as Pitch was once again trying to end the new lights.
"You think that your little pathetic group of believers can stop me now?" Pitch asked the Guardians, mockingly. He laughed and looked at them smiling smugly.
Jack saw that the Nightmares were all around, and strangely not a pixie around to be seen. He did know that Nyfe was with him, as he felt the slightly larger weight of his partner on his shoulder. He frowned as he realized that the group were massively outnumbered. Still Jack had a duty.
"Get back Jamie," Jack said, pushing the boy back slightly. "I'll protect you."
"Oh!" Pitch laughed, and he gave the Winter Spirit a look. "Who will protect you?"
Jack faltered at that one, as he knew that there was no chance that he could defeat Pitch. He glanced at the Guardians and realized that none of them could. Pitch was just too strong now."
"I will!"
Jack's eyes widened as Jamie stepped forward and he had the most courageous look on his face, as if it had become an adventure. And Jack was taken aback, as Nyfe left Jack to settle on the boy's shoulder. It was in that moment that Jack thought that he saw a brief glimpse of Story within Jamie.
Pitch looked at the boy in shock, for a quick moment, then recovered and a smile grew on the man's face.
"I doubt that you alone can defeat this," Pitch said as the Nightmares suddenly started rushing at the small group. "Tonight I win!"
In a single moment, it was like the world slowed. Story summoned up one last burst of strength and Jamie raised his hand in an attempt to stop the dark sand from hitting him. Within the span of a second, the Pixie King acted instinctively, a powerful force pulling him to Jamie. And Jamie felt a link to the Pixie King.
It was like a soul bond, something Story once had. And it drew the Pixie to Jamie.
In that very point in time, that Jamie would have been hit by the dark sand, the Pixie King met the boy and the sand and under Jamie's power and very strong belief, the Pixie helped to cause a reaction that Pitch never counted on.
Story's form was obliterated in the impact, yet the effect was tremendous. The once dark sand was cleansed and they returned to the Golden sandy color it was meant to be. And Story's last thought was that they won agianst Pitch.
And true to his last thought, the Guardians found their powers returned to them. They were overjoyed and the Boogeyman found the tables turned on him. He fought as best as he could, but they quickly destroyed his defenses. And as a last ditch attempt, he decided to try and at least kill Jack.
However he suddenly found himself slammed against a wall and when he recovered, he realized he was looking into the face of the Sandman. And he wasn't happy.
Pitch decided to run for it, and recover in his lair. He ran for the safety of his home, when he abruptly stopped. In his path was a tall silver haired man with antlers, a colorful feathered lanky looking serpent-man, and a recognizable short roundish man. And he instantly knew them to be three of the Legendary Children, namely Tien Lung, Quetzalcoatl, and Tsar Lunar. And Quetzalcoatl looked pissed.
Jack and the other Guardians heard a cry and a howl of despair, and knew they had won. Pitch had been soundly defeated. Yet, later they realized the victory came at a great cost. When they returned to the North Pole, they discovered that all of Story's pixies were there and not one of them caused trouble.
North was glad, and yet saddened as he saw all of the Pixies in the rafters, as if waiting for Story. It was Jynx, who was waiting for the Guardians, who told them of what happened to Story. He also told them of the Pixie King coming to him for help, informing them that Story did what he thought was best.
It did little for Jack, as he was effected the most. Story had been close to him, and was the only true friend he had throughout the ages. And now the grand Pixie would not return.
"Jack," The Frost Pixie heard.
Jack looked up to see North holding a cup of hot coca and some cookies for the boy, and watched the man sit nearby.
"For you," North said offering the cookies.
Jack turned away, not feeling like eating anything.
"Jack," North said gently. "Story did the best for all of us. And for you especially."
"But he didn't have to die," Jack mumbled sadly. "He could have come up with another solution."
"He may have," North said, understandingly. "But then there could have been worse damages. He did what he did to save us."
Jack looked at North then, a lost look on his face. And the Russian man smiled softly.
"In all the of the time I've known Story," North told Jack. "He never stopped bragging about you. He would always defend your mischief, and he always would tell us that he had great plans for , he called, his Frost Pixie."
"Wait," North said.
Jack watched the big man get up and put the plate and cup down on a table. The Winter Guardian saw North open a drawer and start searching through it for something.
"Ah, here it is!"
Jack saw the man pull out a little journal and walked back over to the boy.
"Here," North said offering a brown leather wrapped journal to the Winter spirit. "This was once Story's and I believe it may have things that he may have wanted you to know."
Jack took it and looked at it for a long moment. It was during this time that North took his leave, letting Jack take this time to read.
Jack opened the book. And with it, a new chapter in his life.
While he read it, he learned so much, and with it he slowly came to realize just how much Story had went through, and how much Story had done for him. The Winter spirit spent days reading the journal, which in the end, Jack felt better.
He knew in his heart that Story would have not wanted him to remain sad. He was the Guardian of Fun, he knew that now. And if he kept the children believing, Jack believed that maybe Story would return.
In his heart he believed that he was what Story wrote in his journal.
He was the Frosted Legend.
I hope that you enjoyed this story, you can continue it in Fabled Child. Also if you want the past stories of Jack, the Guardians, Story and other new, or characters mentioned in this story, you can check out Twisted Amusement and Winter Frost. ROTG and the characters don't belong to me.