A/N New chapter! Hope you enjoy it!
Denisova
Jane looked up, at the caves, she'd left her cloak at home as had most of the other Grims seeing as it would be beneficial for the Guardians to see what they were doing. The only Grims that were still wearing their cloaks were those who were acting as the surprise.
Many of the grim reapers weren't there, most who weren't there were either guarding over the children at the top of Santa's naughty list, had Reapings scheduled, or were guarding the perimeter around Santoff Claussen.
Katherine had assured them that Claussen was safe, but Jane had argued that having a few reapers around would mean that if they spotted him in the area, they could call him in. To which Katherine had acquiesced.
And Reapings could not be rescheduled no matter how much you wanted to.
"Any idea what we're going to do about light?" Bunny said annoyed.
Jack pulled out his dagger and stared at it, the glow lighting up his face, "Hey little Moonbeam, ready to guide us?" He asked softly.
The light of the dagger flickered as they answered Jack, Jane didn't understand what the moonbeam was saying, but some part of Jack left over from his Nightlight days must have kept the ability to understand moonbeams because he didn't appear to have any issues understanding them.
Jack smiled and held up the dagger and all together they entered the cave.
The cave system like all cave systems was a labyrinth, nearly impossible to navigate. Sandy sent out his sand along every crevice, looking for the missing Williams child.
For a long time, it felt to Jane like they were just walking around in circles like Theseus and his men just walking around getting lost before walking unsuspectingly into the minotaur's presence.
Jane held back a snort, she'd come a long way. Before she'd died Jane hadn't even known who Theseus was, now she was referencing him in her thoughts.
"What?" Bunny asked annoyed, Jane grimaced she hadn't hidden her laugh as well as she'd hoped. "Think Will missing is funny, do you?"
Jane rolled her eyes. "No, I had a funny thought."
"About Will-"
"For the love of-" Jane cut him off exasperated while turning around, her eyes practically blazing with annoyance. "No! Greek Mythology. This reminded me about the labyrinth that Theseus had to traverse."
Bunny blinked before his face hardened. "Like I'd believe that."
"Believe it or don't." Jane hissed turning back around. "I don't really care."
"Enough." Jack hissed at the two of them. When Bunny went back to ignoring Jane, Jack leaned toward Jane "You fight worse with Bunny than I do," he whispered.
"Thank you," Jane said brightly.
She could barely see Jack's face in the daggers light, but she could tell he was taken aback by the thanks. "That wasn't a compliment," Jack said.
"Speak for yourself." Jane sniped with a half grin.
"I – I am." Jack said sounding confused "I'm the one who said it. I am speaking for myself."
Jane rolled her eyes. Still inwardly she was gleeful, it felt nice bantering with her brother, even if he had no idea who she was. It was natural, right, like this would be how they would treat each other had they both lived past their 17th birthday.
"Guys," Amelia said nodding in front of them. "Sandy's trying to say something."
The three of them turned around to see Sandy, visible from the light of his sand, gesturing heavily to a right turn.
Jane, Bunny, and Jack looked at each other deciding that this conversation could wait until after they'd dealt with the monster who got his kicks from hurting little children.
They followed down the tunnel, walked for what felt like another 30 minutes, turned another corner, and almost fell into a huge cavern.
Before they could truly get their bearings, they heard Will's voice call out in the darkness:
"Mother Goose, North, Bunny? Jack?"
It was Will. With no Krampus in sight.
A/N Jack's line "I am speaking for myself" Is based off of several conversations I've had with my sister, where she says something to me, and I reply: "Speak for yourself" and she's just like "I did."
Hope you enjoyed this.