Chapter 12 - To Meet and Be Met.

Sally said it would take Hallow another day to wake up. In the meantime, Jack went exploring. He'd missed a lot of her world when he'd been chasing her. There was a lot he wanted to see. Sally offered to act as his guide, but he declined. He had someone else in mind.

"Hey! Áedán!" he called out, spotting the ghost hovering close to the bottom of Hallow's stairway. The boy turned at the call of his name, silvery wisps turning with him. He grinned at Jack and raised a hand in greeting as Jack ran to catch up with him, "Hallow's sleeping and since I can't really get home, I wondered if you'd mind showing me around this place a little more?" the pale face lit up with a grin at the request,

"Sure! There are so many people you could meet. We'll start with the pumpkin fields, you can meet Jill!" Áedán begun to move down the corridor, walking with his feet level with the stone. Were it not for the wall Jack could see through his face, he'd almost think him human.

"Who's Jill?"

"She helps Mister Jack Skellington with growing and maintaining the pumpkin fields while Hallow sleeps. Cute little thing, you'll like her. Oh, don't go thinking they do all the work though, Hallow helps too - and she distributed the pumpkins, checks each one individually while they're growing…Jack and Jill water them and plant them, but she's the one who handles most of caring for them and making them perfect. Jill's really sweet though, always flitting through the fields…" Áedán had a stupid grin on his face as he spoke. They passed through the large main doors again and once more Jack was overwhelmed with the expanse and beauty of the darkness in front of him. For a moment, he just took it all in, before Áedán was calling for him from halfway down the hill.

The boy was still talking.

"-Now don't get me wrong, I like pixie wings as much as the next, but butterfly wings are just so much prettier when you can SEE the colours and tell where they are. Jill wings are definitely the prettiest though. They've got these bright shades of blue in them, and it all fades to silver at the edges with this black lining that just draws attention to the lovely curves and spiralling detail at the top and bottom-" Jack halted for a moment,

"Woah, woah, hold on a sec. What is Jill?" Áedán blinked at him, then chuckled,

"She's a spritekin. An Earthen spritekin." Jack didn't even need to ask before Áedán continued talking, "You get varying spritekins here, for Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Light, Dark, Thunder, Energy, Spirit…each one has a different power and sometimes they help out. Jill started helping a century, three decades, seven months and four days ago. It was so cute when she showed up, she'd been helping the pumpkins grown when Hallow found her, and the look on the sprite's face – You'd have thought she'd been destroying them! But Hallow was happy for the help; she only really got this place running smoothly about five decades ago thanks to everyone who volunteered to help out. Halloween doesn't make itself you know…well…I suppose technically Halloween is caused by the weakening of the gateway between worlds but that's beside the point, the FESTIVAL side of it doesn't make itself." Jack was quickly learning that Áedán was one of those people who could talk a hundred miles a minute without a breath. It was similair to holding a conversation with Tooth. But something he said did pique his curiosity,

"Are you and Jill…" he gave the spirit a grin that Áedán returned with a look of embarrassment,

"N-no it's not like that! Really, it isn't. I mean, she's cute and sweet but…well she's completely ignorant of anything outside the pumpkin patches…she doesn't know about me at all…she can't know about me at all…" the ghost shrugged as the two continued down the path, veering left onto a narrow side track, "I don't mind too much. Hallow's more likely to find out I'm here if Jill knew-"

"Yeah, that's the other thing, your sister? Completely impossible to understand! I saw her today go out and get herself cut to ribbons by this…I don't even know what it was…" Jack gagged a little as he recalled the thick stench of blood he'd smelled clinging to the girl's skin. How she'd been able to stand it… Áedán was giving him a mirror of Sally's sad smile.

"What?"

"If I tell you a secret, will you keep it?"

"Uuuh…sure"

"When you showed up, we all felt it. The disturbance of someone who was not a part of this world. If you'll excuse the irony, it was like a chill in the air. Then when I found you, when I saw who you were, I crossed my fingers and hoped and prayed that you'll be the one to help Hallow get back on the Guardian's good sides. She needs strength without sacrifice, and someone not dead or though up in a child's imagination to talk to." Áedán gave a small smile, "You've probably already heard this from Sally, and I'm sorry if I'm just repeating things, however there's so much to her. So much that she does, that she gives up for us and for this land. Sally keeps her as healthy and sane as she can - but she can't be near Hallow all the time, even I can't, but I see more than she does. You want to know what happened with her and Pitch? I can tell you…better yet I can show you, but promise me you're not here to hurt her? She's felt and still feeling enough hurt. Moreso than she'll show-" Jack held up a hand, cutting him off.

"Everyone's telling me to help her. That she needs helping. And really? I get it, I do!" Áedán looked surprised, having stopped moving to look at him. Jack gave him a grin. "Look, I saw her smile when she told me to chase her. No one can really kill off the joy in their hearts. I know there's still happiness in there, and I'm gonna bring it out in her. no matter how deep she's buried it, I wanna help her find her center. Hallowe'en's supposed to be a fun holiday, how's it going to be fun if the one in charge of it is miserable?"

The spirit was silent for a few moments, eyes blinking in surprise. Jack frowned, wondering if he'd said something, before Áedán laughed. A thick, rich sound that Jack, as a guardian of fun, could appreciate. After a moment to compose himself again, the ghost turned to Jack with a smile, "Thank you, Jack Frost. I think you'll do fine. Now, let's go see Jill!"

Jill turned out not to be the cute sort of spritekin Jack had expected. When he saw her, he wondered to himself just where exactly evolution has decided to spew Tooth's fairies from. Because so far, none of them seemed to exist here.

Jill was small, of course, but still bigger than Jack had expected, almost reaching his hip, her head about level with the top of his thigh. Her hair was tousled, a deep black-indigo shade knotted with violet flowers. Dark skin clothed in what looked like sewn leaves and flowers tied with vines, her back twitching with the two large blue and silver wings Áedán had been mooning over earlier (Jack didn't care what he said, he had it bad for the girl). Wide violet eyes rose to meet Jack's as he entered the dirt field Áedán had pointed him to before flitting into the air above them and disappearing with a whimper as soon as she looked in their direction. The spritekin frowned at him, staring at the ground where he stands for a moment, before speaking,

"I will give you warning now, Bringer of Frost. Should your ice abilities return and cause the ground of these pumpkin fields to freeze, I promise it will not be simply forgiven without bloodshed." A light smile followed the violent threat. Despite the threat, Jack could tell this was someone he could get along with. There was an aura, a presence to her that made it seem like she knew so much more than she would let on. He laughed at the threat before motioning to his staff,

"For some reason, they just don't work all that well here. I can do some things, but I'm sorta limited." Jill gave him another smile, turning back to the dark earth, making small dips in the earth with her fingers and taking out seeds from the small pouch attached to her vine belt. She held the seed in a tight fist for a moment, a small green light radiating out from the curled fingers before placing the seed in the pit, smoothing the earth over the top.

"Mistress Eve designed this world to limit or nullify abilities of those who were not a part of it, to stop incidents occurring from outsiders getting in…I must admit, I am surprised you were able to get here." That explained a lot. Jack leaned on his staff as he watched the creature,

"So…you're like the palace gardener?" that earned him a glare.

"I am more than a common 'gardener' Jack Frost. I am Mistress Eve's most prized worker and one of the few who holds the honour of calling her a close friend."

"Why do you call her 'Mistress'? Isn't that a little too formal?"

"She is my master, in that I work for her. However she finds the term distasteful. 'Mistress' was our compromise although I am not allowed to address her as such in person." Whether it was because of her focus on her work or just the way she was, all her answers seemed rehearsed and she didn't seem interested in Jack at all. Strangely, despite annoying him, he saw the same care she was putting into the pumpkin seeds as he saw North put into his toys. Leaning a little more on his staff, he smiled at the comparison.

"What kind of a name is 'Jill' for a fairy anyway?" She looked up at him, wings fluttering slightly a she moved to the next point to bury a seed,

"Spritekin. And my name is not 'Jill'. My name, my true name, is written and spoken in kinscript – unpronounceable to normal people – but when written…I suppose Mistress Eve thought it to appear in likeness to the name 'Jill', so it stayed as 'Jill' by her call. besides" She gave him a grin, showing sharp white teeth, "what sort of a name is 'Jack' for a guardian?" and Jack couldn't answer. He did return the grin with one of his own though

"I did not think we would meet this early either. You have no business in the pumpkin fields; the Frost Giant's or Ice Drake's territory seems more fitting for you to have visited before here." Now those eyes seemed curious, head tilting to the side as she observed him from the patch of dirt she hovered over. Before Jack would answer, her expression became soft. Bringing herself up level with his eyes, she took his hand and placed something in it,

"Perhaps it is nothing, but you may find this useful. Mistress Eve will understand what it is. I recommend growing it first. they like cold soil." With a smile and a nod, she turned away. Uncurling his hand, he looked at the tiny seed in his palm, the size of a poppy seed, deep blue in colour streaked with bolts of white. Like him. Something about it tugged a slight half smile to his lips and he slid it into his pocket. Áedán joined him as soon as he was out of Jill's sight, rabbitting on about something or other again, and Jack found himself enjoying the mostly one-sided conversation.

It was only when he was halfway back to Hallow's castle he realised he'd never told Jill his name either. It hadn't even been three days...

Did everyone know him here?

You people are honestly the most fantastic people I've ever known. To everyone who's waited this out, you all deserve some of Hallow's cookies. Now I do actually have an explanation for the three month absence:

1. the exam period started and I have been revising like a madwoman to pass these things. I have one left then a three month gap during which I need to get a job but will be continuing this when I can.

2. my laptop decided it didn't want to connect to the internet for the better part of a month and a half, and I was working only on my dad's laptop (on which I not only couldn't access the files but had limited access time) whilst trying to balance point 1.

3. I've been pretty tempermental recently and not in a writing mood, then I rewatched ROTG and realised I could continue this. It could work, I'd be fine. so it is now 11:37pm, I need to go to sleep, but I have given all you beautiful, wonderful people a chapter which will allow me to rest happy.

Thank you to everyone who has stuck by me, as usual, ideas and criticisms are welcome, and grammar corrections please point out, I miss things when I haven't slept.