Chapter 3

Stella felt a wave of dizziness wash her as the sleigh crossed the portal, but she ignored it when she saw the Workshop ahead.

"Your house is incredibly big!" Stella sounded like an ignorant 3 year old child that saw an ice cream. Everyone laughed at her reaction, even Jack. The sleigh landed smoothly in the snow. Yetis tended the reindeers as all climbed down the sleigh. Jack offered his hand like a gentleman to help you go down the sleigh.

"It was so kind of you." Stella smiled to Jack making his face grew to a shade of red, but luckily Stella didn't noticed. All went in to the pole. Stella looked around; it was rare to come in to the Pole.

The environment was warm and welcoming, and the Christmas Spirit was well felt. The smell of cookies drifted through their noses. Elves were running in circles around them. Yetis were busy making toys. An elf approached and offered Stella a plate of newly baked cookies. She gladly ate it, giving the remainder to the elf, who jumped in joy. It was definitely delicious.

After this, all headed to a massive door on the end of a long hallway. Two yetis opened the doors and Stella was amazed at what she saw.

A big globe stood on the middle of the room. It was big that it reached several floors. The room was also enormous. The noticeable thing here was the lights on the globe.

"What are these lights?" Stella said as she approached the globe and attempted to touch it. But her inner self told her it wasn't meant to be touched, so she just put her hands at her back.

"A light represent a child who believes in either of the Guardians." Jack said as Stella looked at it curiously.

"Why do you need to have believers?" Stella asked hesitantly. She was a terrible liar and her thoughts easily slip out of her mouth, causing her to curse herself in a mental whisper.

"We will disappear and Pitch takes over." Bunny replied as Stella happened to gaze at the other Guardians. Tooth was commanding some of her hummingbirds, or so it seemed. Sandy was having a little tug of war with an elf trying to snatch his glass of eggnog. Stella wondered if they guard the children for their safety, or for the children's safety. But she just shrugged it off.

"Pitch is back and we need to stop him from dominating the world." Tooth replied and then went back to her hummingbirds. Stella was amazed at Tooth's skill of multitasking.

"And we can't do it without you." North tapped Stella in her shoulder, his blue eyes shining at her.

"Why me? There are many other beings there more capable than I am." Stella replied to North, brushing his arm out of her frail shoulders.

"Manny thinks you have something special inside. So what's your center?" North asked as Jack and Bunny shared a knowing glance, but Stella can't decipher it.

"What center?" Stella asked.

"Follow me." North gestured to an elevator. Stella step inside and it rose. She swore that she heard Jack say, "Here we go again with the center talk."

The two passed by the elves that were testing toys. One even wrapped himself in Christmas lights, and the other elf plugged it, causing the elf to be electrocuted. Stella looked at the elf in worry, but she quickly catch up with North who was halfway across the room. They passed by a yeti who was painting some robots blue. North said to change it to red. She looked to him in pity as she realized he painted a whole lot of robots blue, and he grumbled angrily.

North motioned her to go inside a room. As she and North stepped in, the door automatically locked, leaving the two inside the room. It looked like North's private office. North looked at Stella in a bit of furious way and she backed out on the door. North placed his hand on the door.

"What is your center?" North asked again, this time in a forceful kind of way.

"How am I supposed to know?" Stella replied innocently.

"I would show you." North said as he walked towards a cabinet and got a thing that looked like a wooden nesting doll. He handed it to Stella, who looked at him. "At the outside, I look big and intimidating. Continue opening it."

Stella hesitantly followed. She opened it to reveal North drinking eggnog.

"I am jolly, but I am also mysterious." Stella opened the doll to reveal Santa hiding in a cloak with mysterious eyes. She continued opening it.

"I am Fearless!" North pointed to the doll. It was holding a sword with the Naughty tattoo exposed.

"Now here is my center." North opened the doll for her, revealing a baby North.

"What do you see?" North asked, handing the doll to Stella's little hands. She looked at it carefully.

"I see you as a baby wrapped in red blanket. You also have surprisingly big eyes." Stella replied.

"That's it. Big eyes!

Eyes that have always seen the wonder in everything! Eyes that see lights in the trees and magic in the air. This wonder is what I put into the world and what I protect in children. It is my center." North replied making Stella look at the doll once more.

"What is everyone's center?" Stella asked as North looked at her.

"Sandman is Dreams, Tooth is Memories, Aster is Hope while Jack is Fun. I'll ask again, what is yours?"

"I don't know." Stella replied, making North spark a bright idea in his head.

"Tooth can help you by giving you your past life's memories." North exclaimed, then on realizing the loudness of his voice, he immediately shut up.

"I know I live in the past life due to my dreams, but does Tooth have it?" Stella doubtfully asked. Something's telling her it was not on the Tooth Fairy's possession.

"Of course, and if you want another evidence, I'll search your name in my lists. Do you remember your former name, before you became Stella Maris?"

"No."

"Come on, we should pay the Tooth Palace a visit." North gently put his arms around on Stella's neck, and they walked towards the door, only to be opened by a bothered Pooka.

"Trouble at the Tooth Palace." Bunny said. The three rushed to the globe room, welcomed by the sight of Tooth losing feathers out of panic and tension.

"We shall ride the sleigh!" North suggested, only to be denied by Bunny. But everyone agreed.

"There is no way I am going to ride that death machine. My tunnels are safer." Bunny scoffed, leaving North to pull him in the sleigh in hurry.

"Buckle up!" North shouted while Bunny grasped the side of the sleigh.

"Where are the seatbelts?" Stella asked innocently.

"Ha! Just expression." North replied as the sleigh advanced to a tunnel of ice. In some time, the tunnel turned upside down.

"I hope you like the sleigh." North said to the shouting Stella. But she was not shouting in fear, she was shouting in joy as adrenaline coursed to her veins. The sleigh now was not touching the ground. North threw a snowball in front of them and crossed it.

They were welcomed by an army of Nightmares kidnapping Mini Tooth Fairies. Stella, in instinct, made herself light as bright as she can, making the Nightmares that made contact with the light disintegrate. The fairies that were free immediately fought off another army of Nightmares as they struggled to free their beloved sisters.

Sandy and Tooth flew off to fight, leaving Jack, North and Bunny on the sleigh. Stella was lighting the way to free the area of Nightmares. But the Nightmares were smart. They avoided the front were Stella is fighting Nightmares, and attacked the back and sides of the sleigh. North handed Jack the reins and fought with his swords. Bunny overcame his fear of heights as he fought Nightmares using his enchanted boomerang.

But on some point, a Nightmare crossed the three and attack Jack, leaving him to fight for himself. As he fought, the reins were left unhanded, and as he noticed it, it was in the last moment. The sleigh crashed in one of the pillars of the Tooth Palace. Stella quickly flew down to look at them while killing the Nightmares that got too near her using her ball of light.

"Is everyone okay?" Stella asked as everyone stood, revealing them all on proper conditions. Sandy then noticed the sleigh and also went near the group. The sleigh luckily landed on the pillar where Tooth was staying.

"Pitch! Come here and return the teeth." Tooth said as a figure formed in the shadows. It was a man with gray skin and spiky black hair. His golden eyes were looking at the Tooth Fairy triumphantly.

"Or what, you'll stuck a quarter under my pillow?" the man asked sarcastically in his German accent. Everyone, even Stella was on their fighting position.

"What do you want this time, Pitch?" North asked calmly, hoping this will all end easily, but his hopes were not too high.

"Maybe I want what you have, to be believed in. Maybe I'm tired of hiding under beds!"

"Maybe that is where you belong!" Bunny shouted, throwing a boomerang at the man, which he easily avoided.

"Go suck an egg, rabbit." Pitch grunted. He looked around and noticed Stella, who incredibly has a low concentration of fear.

"Ah, who do we have here?" Pitch appeared behind Stella and grabbed her by the waist, shocking the Guardians and Stella herself.

"Who are you milady?" Pitch mockingly gave a small salute.

"I am Stella Maris, but why do you care?" Stella replied as she struggled to let go of Pitch's grasp.

"I can't ignore you like Jack before. It made me regret some things. But I sense no fear from you. You are not a normal person." Pitch glared at Jack before whispering in Stella's ear. "So what are you?"

Stella shone again in a light brighter than before, burning Pitch's hands. He let go Stella as he looked at his hands.

"You burned my hands!" This time everyone attacked but Pitch eventually disappeared.

"He had the teeth and half of my fairies!" Tooth said as Sandy and North comforted her. The Tooth Palace was slowly disintegrating.

"It's not too late." Bunny said as everyone looked into him.

"Like before, when this happened." Bunny replied as it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Will you help us, Stella?" Jack approached Stella.

"Of course!" she replied happily.

"Let us get going! We still have half the Mini Fairies and The Guardians!" Tooth exclaimed as all the remaining Mini Fairies scrambled around her to receive orders.

"Tooth, do you have my teeth?" Stella asked the Fairy, avoiding the confused glares from the other guardians. Tooth thought about it carefully.

"This can't be happening." Tooth replied as everyone gave the two more confused glances.

"Why?" North asked.

"We don't have Stella's teeth. She is not a non believer too." As Tooth said this, everyone thought of a possible explanation for this event. But none came up with an answer.

"Meaning, she is not a human?" Bunny asked as he scanned Stella from head to foot. Nothing uncommon except her powers, which are normal for spirits.

"It only means that MIM intended Stella to discover her memories by her own." North concluded.

"Why are you thinking of my memories. The world is at stake here, so we better keep going." Stella smiled as she grabbed a sack from the sleigh and said. "Let's go!"

Everyone just smiled and used their own means of transportation to go to the first place, Asia.