12. Rain, Rain, Go Away!
Note: Thanks for the review, VulcanTrekkie! You make some good points about character descriptions, though it may take a while to alter my style.
Old Man Winter's Mountain
Russia
Jack hissed in annoyance as he was pulled to his feet and dragged back into the icy hallway. His head was still spinning from the magic void surrounding the fallen winter spirit, so dealing with Pitch wasn't exactly the top of his priority list. "Get off!"
The Boogeyman scoffed at the implied threats, but allowed the younger to slip out of his grasp nevertheless. "There is no point staying here, the mirror is gone. We need to figure out our next move." Jack felt his magic sharpening as his anger increased. He hated this! He hated Pitch! Unknown to the Guardian, his eyes began to glow white, hair standing in frosted spikes as the temperature decreased. Whoever had killed Old Man Winter would suffer, he'd chase them to the ends of the earth if he had to! He'd-
Wham!
Jack's head slammed into the stone as Pitch pushed him back, causing the white light to recede. The younger spirit fell to the ground, one hand cradling his aching skull. What was going on? He blinked as his vision cleared, revealing Pitch farther down the hall, watching him warily. "What happened?"
"Get up, Frost. We're leaving." The Nightmare King disappeared down the hallway in a swirl of robes, leaving the confused teen to follow behind.
Atlantic Ocean
200 feet up
Once again, the two spirits were traveling, this time the location being a witch in Salem (so much for it being a stereotype!) who specialized in spirit world history. If anyone would know who took the mirror, Pitch claimed, it was Hester Morgaine.
By this point, Jack had pretty much forgotten his earlier anger, and was a little confused by Pitch's insistence that Jack fly in front of him. For his part, Pitch felt that it would be a long time before he would turn his back to the winter spirit. The boy's magic seemed to be increasing, giving him new powers and heightened sensitivity to magical auras. It also seemed to be making the teen unstable in ways that forcibly reminded Pitch of his future apprentice. It was possible that being exposed to the pure Summer Blaze of Lady Midday had activated some of Jack's dormant strength. It made sense in a way, since no seasonal spirit should be as reliant on their weapon as Jack was on his staff. MiM really had no business creating a Seasonal.
"How long till we get there?" Jack shouted over the wind. "About an hour. We need to-
Pitch yelled in shock as he was knocked out of the air by a blast of wind, hitting the dark water with a sickening slap. Jack winced at the sound before spinning around. Something was wrong, the wind never did that without consulting him. Swooping down, he joined Pitch, who was hovering above the ocean, scanning their surroundings. The sky darkened as clouds rolled in, obscuring the sun. "Pitch, what's going on?" Jack felt an unfamiliar energy rubbing against his skin. It was…damp, and lukewarm, and zapped against his magic painfully, making the teen feel slightly ill. "I'm guessing you weren't the one using the wind," the Nightmare King didn't look at him, pupils dilating as a rumble of thunder sounded from close by. "No."
"Then you're about to meet another of Mother Nature's little helpers." The water below them began moving restlessly, a wave nearly catching Jack's bare feet. The two began flying again, slowly, as everything around them turned gray. It wasn't long before they were forced to stop again, this time due to the presence of a girl floating in their way.
"Frost, meet April Showers."
Crap.