This is what I like to call the 'let's see how much important stuff we can cram into this thing before the readers go insane' chapter, because a lot of important stuff happens here. There's a small bookie detail mentioned, and it envolves the swords. I'll stop talking now and leave you with I don't own RoTG.
We flew around town, the kids having the time of their lives. Taking Caroline's carpet, I showed her how to do a loopty-loop. The other kids picked up the trick fast and that led to corkscrews and crazy deep dives. The skies rang with laughter.
"This is awesome Caroline!" Sarah shouted out.
"Yeah!" Ian agreed.
"Hey Misty, does Jack Frost exist?" Jane asked. I looked back and smiled.
"Yep, and so do the Sandman, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny," I said, directing the carpets to the center of town. Jane smiled, but Caroline looked at me confused.
"What about Santa?" she asked. I looked at her sadly.
"He does too, but he's not exactly himself right now," I replied. Caroline nodded, and then proceeded to laugh when Sarah and James purposely ran into her carpet. She bumped them back and a new sport was invented: Bumper Carpets. It was Jane and Ian vs. Caroline vs. Sarah and James. The kids turned out to be really good flyers and continued the game until the center of town came into view. I'm still not sure who won, but Caroline was pretty ruthless.
We touched down and I high-fived the kids. Caroline tugged on my shoulder and I turned around. Standing across the street were the Guardians and six other kids. The Guardians looked bad. Tooth's wings weren't beating, Sandy was completely tan, Bunny had been reduced to a fluffy puffball, and Jack was using his staff to keep himself up. Baby Tooth perched on Jack's shoulder, unable to fly. The six kids looked worried, but the shock on their faces was pretty obvious. How many times do you see eight-year olds on flying carpets?
Jack looked up and we met eyes. He gave me a smile and I inwardly gasped. I knew that smile. My eyes traveled to his hair, still messy, but now white. His eyes were now a beautiful blue. Oh, moon help me, I wanted to run and pull him into a hug. I slowly walked to the center of the road, the kids following me and Jack did the same thing, the Guardians and kids following him. We met in the center of the road and I took a deep breath.
"There's a lot of things I could say, and there's a lot of things I want to say, but I'm not going to say them. Because all I really need to say is I'm sorry," I said. Jack smiled and I couldn't resist any longer. I threw my arms around Jack and a few tears leaked out of my eyes. Jack returned the favor and wrapped his arms around me.
"We didn't even get to say goodbye," Jack whispered in my ear.
"Maybe it's because we knew we weren't leaving each other," I whispered back. Somehow, we silently agreed to not mention our relationship until after this mess was dissolved. We pulled out of the embrace and turned to the bemused expressions of the Guardians and all eleven kids. A little boy with brown hair walked up to Jack and looked in my direction, puzzled.
"That's my cousin Jamie," Caroline whispered.
"Jack, is someone next to you? I can see her, but she's a little fuzzy," Jamie said. I looked at Jamie curiously. What did he mean I looked fuzzy? I shouldn't be fading yet.
A rumble of thunder alerted us all. We looked to the giant wave of fear and nightmares. Jamie and his friends stood their ground, as did Caroline and her friends. Pitch looked at us and laughed.
"I think it's time to finish what I started," Pitch said, looking in my direction. His eyes glowed and I felt myself rising up. Not again! Little Sand darted off my shoulder and Jack reached out to grab me, but he could barely lift himself up. Caroline screamed as I rose up to Pitch's level.
"Oh, did Misty not tell you? She's got some extra fear in her system," Pitch said. Jamie and his friends retaliated. My guess is they new exactly what was in my system. Jane, Ian, Sarah, and James backed away, no longer fearless. Only Caroline stayed put, looking at me with determination. Pitch laughed as I struggled to escape his control.
"Did you really think they would believe in you?" Pitch asked me. He turned to Caroline. "Why do you still believe child?" Pitch asked her. "Misty has my nightmares in her heart. That means that I've got a nice new spirit under my command." Pitch sneered and held up a fearling. This was it. I was a goner, nothing more than a fearling, a shadow of myself. Why did I ever believe anyone would believe in someone like me?
"I don't care," I heard a voice say. I looked down at Caroline. Her face was set and she stared Pitch down. There wasn't a shred of fear on her face.
"I don't care if Misty does. She's my friend, and she would never hurt any of us on purpose. Misty, don't listen to him! I believe in you, and I always will," Caroline said. Her words flooded through my system, a feeling that started from my heart and spread outward. I suddenly realized, I wasn't afraid. I understood Pitch's plan. He was never really targeting the Guardians. His only goal was to get me onto his side. Pitch realized my powers and knew that if I was on his side, nothing could stop him.
Pitch looked down at Caroline and sneered. "Well Caroline, scared yet?" Pitch let the fearling go and sent the mass of nightmares straight for Caroline. Almost as if we had planned it we both looked Pitch dead in the eye and together, we stared him down.
"I may be afraid of some things, but you don't scare me," we said together. Caroline brought up her hand and the second the nightmare mass touched Caroline's hand, I whipped my flute to my lips and blew. A clear note sounded from my flute and the nightmare sand turned to golden dreamsand on contact with Caroline's hand. The fearling stopped in its tracks. Everyone looked on in wonder and I looked at my hands. I had resisted Pitch's control. The splinter couldn't affect me any more. I straightened my spine and looked at Pitch, smiling wider than I had in a long time. I took three things from my dress and threw them in the direction of the Guardians.
"Sandy, Tooth, catch!" I shouted. Sandy and Tooth looked up and caught their respective items. To Sandy, I threw the phial of dreamsand and to Tooth, I threw the two swords. Sandy took out the stopper and drew the dreamsand out, his body turning back to gold. Tooth's wings started beating and she started to fly again. Pitch looked shocked, but quickly regained his composure.
"Get them!" he shouted. I sent out a gust of wind and spiraled down to the ground. Jack joined me in the air and blasted anything that looked remotely like a horse. We worked together to reduce the nightmare count. He looked in my direction and I laughed. Not a hollow or forced laugh like I had to usually do, but a real, true laugh. I couldn't help it. I was free, and no longer under Pitch's spell.
Sandy joined us, using his dreamsand whips on everything in sight. It's really amazing how just a little dreamsand can make such a difference. Sandy gave me a high-five and a little someone flew over to me. Little Sand settled onto my shoulder and Sandy gave me a wink. Something told me that he knew our little secret. I spun away and continued to fight.
I somehow found myself next to Tooth. She was slashing left and right, her swords cutting through the nightmares. The nightmares quickly learned that Tooth was to be avoided if they wanted to live. She looked at me and smiled.
"Forgive me?" I asked. Tooth scrunched her eyebrows and then gave me a grin.
"Considering you got my swords back, saved Little Sand, and you got five more kids to believe…yes, I forgive you. Now, stop talking and start hacking!" she shouted. I took her words to heart and started slamming my staff into nightmares. Some little part of me had forgotten that Tooth was a warrior queen, and it certainly was showing now.
I flew down next to a now full-grown Bunny who was causing destruction to a legion of nightmares. A quick blast of water got me into the mix and we fought. Bunny threw an egg grenade and the nightmare population decreased dramatically.
"Glad to have ya back, mate," Bunny said as I ducked from an incoming boomerang.
"Glad to be back, Bunny," I replied as I smashed my staff into a nightmare's face. Caroline ran over and touched the nightmares around us, turning them to dreamsand. I gave her a smile and then flew off. I met Jack in midair and we took off in Pitch's direction. Jack sent a blast of frost and I sent a gust of wind. Pitch blocked both and sent a wave of nightmares in our direction. Tooth slashed through the nightmares and Bunny popped out of a hole, sending his boomerangs in the direction of Pitch. Sandy flew in and used a dreamsand whip to knock Pitch off the roof. We flew down, our weapons at the ready.
"Give up Pitch. There's no place to hide," I stated. Pitch disappeared into the shadows and we glanced around, looking at the silhouettes of Pitch.
"Misty look out!" Jack yelled. I felt someone behind me and I turned around and saw Pitch's scythe come down on me. I closed my eyes and held up my staff for a blow-
But it never came.
I opened my eyes and saw that Pitch's scythe had been cut in half. A large man in a red coat, a big furry hat, and holding two scimitars stood over Pitch. Pitch looked at the man in horror and shock as he was thrown back. Pitch landed a few feet away and passed out. The man turned around and smiled.
"North!" we all shouted. I ran over with Jack, Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy hot on my heels. The weirdest group hug ever ensured as we all collided. Somehow Jack and I got caught in the middle as North's burly arms wrapped around both of us. Little Sand and Baby Tooth flew out of the way to avoid being crushed.
"Ah, is good to be back, no?" North asked. I laughed and untangled myself from the group hug. Jack followed suite and reached out for my hand. I let him take it and I looked into his eyes.
"How long have you known?" I asked. Jack shrugged his shoulders.
"Actually, I didn't quite realize it until now. For some reason, my memories never showed the time we spent together," he replied. I smiled and then felt something moving in my heart. I looked down and saw the splinter work it's way out of my chest. I guess I had conquered my worst fear during the fight. I pulled it out and closely examined it. No longer black, it was now a pale gray and it was bigger than I thought it was, about the size of my pinky. Hmm…that's no splinter.
Caroline came running over, the ten other kids following close behind. She looked at the splinter in my hand and I held it out to her.
"Do you want to do the honors?" I asked. Caroline touched the splinter and it slowly turned gold. It started swirling and a lot more dreamsand came out than I expected. That splinter must have been super concentrated.
But the dreamsand didn't head back to Sandy.
The dreamsand started swirling around me and I floated up into the air. It swirled higher and higher until it completely surrounded me. I felt myself changing, becoming stronger, and the fear finally leaving my body. I looked into the swirl of sand and I saw two figures sanding. One was a young woman in a long blue dress that flowed down to her ankles. Her hair was the color of a fast moving river and she smiled. I held up my hand and waved. The woman smiled and motioned to the girl standing next to her. The girl looked my age and had long, golden hair. Her long golden dress fluttered around her ankles and she smiled. I could hardly believe my eyes. I was looking at Acionna as she used to be, and Stella.
Stella motioned to a reflective surface between them and I looked at my self. My hair was the color that rivers should be, a rich blue that's hard to find. I was no longer wearing a dress, but an aqua colored shirt that stopped at my elbows and gray pants. My shirt had curved teal lines sweeping from my left shoulder down to my right hip. I looked at my eyes and found them the color of the sky, a brilliant blue. My amulet was shining and the raindrop was bright. This was the Misty that the world had forgotten. This was the real me.
Acionna gave me a smile and then walked over to me. Her image wavered and she turned back into the wind, but if I looked close, I could still see her. Stella walked over to me and she pointed to the night sky. The evening star glittered and Stella smiled. I smiled back. Stella was no longer just a Creation, she was the Spirit of the Evening Star. Stella started to fade and I reached for her. Stella gave me one last smile and disappeared. The evening star glowed bright and I knew she was going to be all right.
The sand started to fall away and I was lowered back to the ground. Everyone gathered looked at me in shock. When my feet touched the ground, I was a foot away from Jack. He took one glance and then he wrapped his arms around me. I brought my arms up around him and we embraced.
"I've missed you, Misty," Jack said to me.
"I've missed you too," I replied. When we stopped hugging each other and looked up, North looked shocked, Bunny and Tooth looked bemused, Sandy looked understanding, and the kids looked confused. Jamie looked at me and I could tell he could clearly see me. The splinter must have had another little side effect on those whose creative spark was fading. I looked fuzzy to them.
"Jack, who is that?" Jamie asked. Jack turned in his direction and gave him a mischievous smile.
"Well Jamie, this is Misty Fog…" Jack paused for a second and I gave him a grin.
"…my twin sister."
To this day, Jack and I still argue on whose jaw dropped the lowest.
*watching angry mob disperse* Whew, thought they'd never leave. See, I told you everything would be okay. The next chapter will be the last one, but Misty's not going away anytime soon. You'll see what I mean. Please review and wait for the next update.
...that sounded really lame...