In the decades after Emily's death, America declared its independence and Jack's tiny village started to grow. Human wars, Jack discovered, were fickle, and when viewed from Jack's perspective, were relatively quick and caused largely by a lack of communication. The American Revolution, for instance, was caused largely because Britain was too busy waging war with The rest of Europe to deal with the disquiet in the New World. Jack lost interest in human wars early on in his tenure as an immortal simply because there were so many of them, most of them small and not within reach of the Eurocentric world. The latest revolution was one of those that would be referred to with big capital letters in the future, but it was a moderate blip on Jack's mental timeline of human wars. Always, the cold that he brought could level the playing field and once all were shivering in the cold, they ceased to be on opposing sides and all instead battled against the elements. Jack never expected to be the presence that halted wars, but the snow prevented all armies from functioning and cooled heated blood that would have otherwise been spilt. Emily's descendents were still close with Jack and every month or so, he would meet with the heads of the family to discuss things he found during his travels. He was relieved when the war failed to reach them due to the village's remote location.
While Jack observed human wars to an extent, other wars occupied more of his attention. Jack found many more spirits that either existed as phenomenons of the weather, or manifestations of belief. These had their own wars that had greater consequences than human wars could ever produce. There were old spirits who inhabited the Earth's plates and when they rubbed each other the wrong way, earthquakes and tsunamis happened and changed landscapes in mere minutes. These big ones didn't take corporeal form, often only visible as swirling masses of pure energy. Other spirits, like the primitive serpents that existed in South America, or the dragons in Asia, lived slow lives because of their size, but could easily summon monsoons and fires. Jack usually let them do as they please and only ever stepped in to protect human settlements. Otherwise, he could accept them as natural manifestations of belief magic.
Around the beginning of the revolution, Jack stumbled across a black presence in Valley Forge hanging around the dark corners of the cramped hut where the soldiers slept. Jack was in Valley Forge trying to figure out why so many people were dying. Sure, disease was more likely to crop up in the bitter cold, but the mortality rate was uncommonly high, even to his standards. He tracked the nebulous black figure for a few days and decided it was the cause. Something about its mere presence prolonged illness and blackened moods. He cornered it one day as the sun was setting in the woods. All things freeze, his instincts seemed to say, so he froze the figure with the kind of ice that wasn't made out of water and froze fast and harsh. As he inspected his catch, he got a good look at what the creature was and recoiled at what he found. The dying sunlight lit the clear ice so that every detail of the creature might be seen. It was humanoid with its skeleton clearly visible through its inky, translucent flesh. Its face consisted of two yawning holes where its eyes should have been and a gaping mouth that leaked black ichor. It was a revolting creature to behold. With a firm strike of his staff, Jack shattered the ice and the creature into microscopic bits that could never be reassembled.
This encounter left Jack extremely worried and wary. His misgivings were not eased even as he found no more on the whole of the continent. Not knowing what to do, Jack travelled to Big Root to tell Ombric. As he described the creature, Ombrics face turned to stone and he paled considerably.
"This creature was in a war zone, you say?" Ombric spoke each word carefully running a hand through his beard.
"Yeah it was scary looking. Black flesh and veins everywhere. Do you know what it is? I thought at first that it was a Wendigo, but," he crinkled his nose, "that was definitely way, way scarier than a wendigo."
"Yes, it is something like a Wendigo, but more like a pure manifestation of the kinds of things that make Wendigos." Ombric looked at Jack with steel in his eyes. "They're demons, Jack."
Jack was stunned, a cold lump of dread forming in his chest. "Demons? That sounds...bad. What are they?"
"Your predecessors never encountered them?"
"No, this is all completely new. I have knowledge of tons of things-ghosts, devils, banshees, jiangshi, vampires- never demons." Jack paused, suddenly remembering something, "Unless you mean Christian demons, like fallen angels?"
"No, no. These were never anything at all like angels. These are the physical manifestation of all things that hide in the dark, negative things like fear and envy. Evil. The Christian demons you speak of were from the dark ages when the spirit of fear was the most powerful."
Jack gulped. "Why hadn't my predecessors seen them? In all of Earth's history, these hadn't appeared in the collective knowledge of my predecessors."
"They are from the Golden Age. Billions of years ago, there was a great empire in space-"
"Space? What's space?" Ombric looked pointedly at him. "Sorry, sorry. Bad habit."
"Space is the expanse that holds Earth and trillions of other planets and stars. When you look up into the night's sky, the great black sky that you see is space. Anyhow, there was once a great shining empire led by people who piloted ships the size of planets and space was teeming with life. Every life form resembled the immortals you know here on Earth and had control over some form of magic."
"Golden Age, huh? Sounds kind of like paradise."
"Well it was. The only problem was that evil, which exists everywhere life does, lurked in every dark corner. They could possess people and such pirates were a constant problem. The people of the Golden Age tried to seal that evil away all at once, but that plan backfired and, well, let's just say space isn't as full of life as it used to be."
"These demons are the same things from back then?"
"No, demons are from even before the Golden Age. The nightmares, manifestations of just fear, from the Golden Age needed to originate somewhere. Demons are the ultimate concentration of all evil, which includes fear and all other things."
"I defeated the one I found pretty easily. It doesn't look like they're that dangerous."
"No, they can't do a lot of physical damage, but their presence is an indication that fear and suffering are on the rise. Once one is born, its sole purpose is to keep evil there and spread it like a disease. That you only found one is a good sign. I can't say for sure since all of this is even older than me, but I think we can assume that this one was born as a result of the war only. If you find more, you need to kill them on sight."
"Can do. That thing was creepy anyway." The problem was that he did find more, once in a great while. The second, he found within a decade of the first. The third, he found in less time. Jack froze the fourth like before and took it with him to the Cavern and immediately went to fetch Ombric. The old man looked grave as he bent to take a closer look at the demon.
"This one is different than the ones mentioned in the old books."
Jack quirked an eyebrow. "How so?"
"It takes human form. Old demons tended to be indistinct black shapes. This is full on human with the same anatomy."
"What does that mean?"
"Possibly nothing, but more likely that they feed off of human suffering specifically." Ombric straightened. "Either way, it is not a good sign that you found more. Evil is getting more powerful."
"I think it might just be caused by the population increase. You say these things are concentrations of the evil in humanity, right?" Ombric nodded. "Well, the population's grown a lot in the last few decades, and I mean a lot. It's pretty much tripled or quadrupled. Since these guys exist wherever life exists, their numbers might be proportionate to the population."
"Well yes, that is a possibility, but it is still not a good thing. If they are growing in numbers, so is the power of the spirit of fear. It is unlikely, but if he should return, we are all in great danger."
Jack glanced back at the frozen demon before him. He brought his hand down in a slicing motion and the demon dissolved violently into oblivion.
Despite the ominous revelations he'd made with Ombric, Jack's first century passed with much positive growth on his part. Since his predecessors had knowledge of other immortal spirits, he knew where to look to find more. Curiously, however, he didn't run into Sandy's colleagues, the Guardians of Childhood, until sometime in the early 1800s when he came across a tiny fairy that looked like a hummingbird peaking out from under the pillow of Ben's grandson. Trying not to startle it, Jack crept up to it and quickly cupped both hands around the tiny fairy and opened his hands again just a crack to talk to it.
"Hey, little lady," he smiled to the fairy, who was startled, but unafraid. Seeing Jack's teeth, the fairy's body immediately relaxed and a deep red blush bloomed around her cheeks. Jack opened his hands all the way.
"Sorry, I was just curious. I spent a long time looking for a tooth fairy, but I'm never around long enough at night to see one. Are you THE toothfairy? You're kind of small."
The tooth fairy shook her head, still reeling from the absolute sparkling perfection of Jack's teeth. She squeaked and twittered at him and through some creative signing, managed to tell Jack that no, she wasn't the actual tooth fairy, but her mother was and many other tiny fairies like her could collect the teeth to make the work faster. No, she was not too small to carry baby teeth, but yes, the New World was still new to believing in the tooth fairy. While the tiny tooth fairy had other work to do and other teeth yet to be collected niggled in the back of her mind, she stayed and talked to the owner of the magnificent teeth so she could stare at the perfectly white enameled gems. When she could resist her mother's call no longer, she waved goodbye to Jack.
"Bye, baby tooth," Jack said as she fluttered away, "Don't be a stranger. Come visit me any time!"
She did visit as well as many of her sisters. Baby Tooth, as Jack had come to know the little fairy, came around every now and then to talk to Jack, but also to look at his teeth. Jack was oblivious to her fixation on his teeth, only happy to expand his circle of friends. Another half century passed before he met another of the Guardians. It was a late Winter and Jack was hanging around his village bringing down a soft snowfall over most of the coast and cold winds through the prairies. As he wandered through the grassy fields where the buffalo grazed, he suddenly felt the ground shift under him. Shooting up into the air, he was surprised to find the fuzzy head of a giant animal pop out of a hole in the ground.
"Crikey, this place is all flat land. I can't make heads or tails of this place." The furry creature spoke with the strange accent Jack heard around New Wales. It occurred to him that this must be the Easter er Kangaroo? Bunny?
"Good day," Jack said as he touched down in a flurry of snow in front of him, "I can help you find your way here if you're lost."
"Holy Dooley! Where did you come from?"
"Sorry, sorry. Bad habit." Jack perched on his staff and offered his hand in greeting, "I'm Jack Frost, the Steward of Winter. It's good to meet you."
"Aster," the Easter Kangaroo accepted the handshake, "I'm the Spirit of Easter or Spring or Hope, whatever you prefer."
"Wow, all those things? What, Mother Nature didn't have enough hands? Are you one of Magu's?"
"What, the Stewardess of Spring? No, I deal more with the idea of Spring, like hope and life and plenty. Easter's my main job. I'm the one who hides the googies for the ankle biters. Bit of a new thing, wouldn't be surprised if you didn't know."
"Ohh yes the children told me about the eggs they find on Easter. That's new. The eggs aren't, but hiding them is."
"Yes, yes, but none of that makes any difference if I can't find these bloody settlements."
"I know where all of them are, if you'd like my help." The gruff spirit looked at Jack warily, but agreed. However, he was not prepared when Jack grabbed his elbow and called for the winds to lift them both up in the air. Aster was too busy screaming to form coherent words, but when they touched down at the first settlement, he unleashed a terrified tirade at an amused Jack.
"You bloody Drongo! You could have killed me!" Aster yelled as his tirade came to an end, "I hate flying. I hate it. My paws were meant to be planted firmly on the ground and no where else." He shivered. "Thank, you but I think I prefer running."
"Well if you're sure-"
"I'm sure."
"It'll be slower-"
"I don't care! Thank you for your help, but I think I'll be fine with running."
Bunny spent the rest of the day running behind Jack as he flew from settlement to settlement, still miffed about the flying experience. Jack was sure he liked the laid back kangaroo? Rabbit? Wallabee? He'd have to ask. He especially liked Aster's eyes, the exact color of new grass in Spring. Aster spent the next month in North America, scouting the place out. Belief in the Easter Kangaroo had evidently only reached the continent recently and he needed to carve tunnels mile by mile through the vast expanse of it all. Winter was coming to a close, but Jack figured he'd test his tolerance after all these years and stayed well into April when Spring had firmly arrived. Officially, he'd told Aster that he wanted to help out his tunnelling endeavor. In reality, he just wanted to figure out what species Aster was.
"Are you a cavvy?"
"No, Jack."
"A mongoose?"
"No."
"A raccoon?"
"NO." Aster huffed dejectedly and looked up from his map of tunnels, "If you must know, I'm a Pooka. On Earth, you might call me the equivalent to a rabbit."
All of a sudden, Jack was in his face. "You mean you're an alien?"
"No, I'm a rabbit."
"A space rabbit?"
Aster could only offer an exasperated sigh.
"Why are you still here?"
"You're fun and new."
"You're hanging around because I'm an anomaly?" Jack nodded with a silly grin plastered onto his face. Aster shook his head, but didn't object. He was pretty helpful, after all. Easter approached and went off without a hitch. The tunnels were completed expediently with Jack's help and his googies wandered through them and into their hiding places. There weren't very many children there compared to Europe, so the workload only marginally increased. As his job that year came to a close, Aster sought out Jack to celebrate.
"Aster Aster Aster!" Jack's excited voice sounded behind him. They were in Canada-ish at the last settlement of the day.
"What are you on about now?"
"We're done!"
Aster chuckled and ruffled Jack's fluffy white hair. "Yes, everything went well today." He stretched wearily. "This holiday is getting to be a lot of work."
"Must be worth it to make the little ones so happy."
"It is, mate."
Jack was elated and filled with excited energy over this new holiday he never got to experience since it happened in the thick of Spring. This buzzing excitement distracted him from the deteriorating state of his body and he didn't notice the pain right up until that moment when he collapsed in a dead faint into Aster's arms.
"Oy! Jack! What's wrong? Stay with me here."
Jack stirred but little, teeth clenched in pain as his body trembled with the waves of burning heat passing through his body. "'s okay, kangaroo, j's tired."
"You're obviously not okay, you larrikin."
"Ah so Winter has overtaxed himself," a voice behind them said.
"Who's there?" Aster crouched defensively over Jack.
"Heyyyyy Magu. Ca va?"
"Oy don't lapse into French on me here, mate. Stay with me."
Magu drifted closer and inspected Jack. "He is burning with fever. He has strayed too far from Winter. Curious, that he did not succumb sooner."
"He's a tough little thing. Said something about his tolerance being better. What should I do with him?"
"Antarctica sounds really gooooood, kangaroo," Jack slurred, "you'd like it there. I have a great tricked out cave and everything."
"You're speaking nonsense there, frostbite."
"No," Magu interjected, "it is his sanctuary there. He can go there to recover. Go now, before he melts." She waved them away as if they were menservants and Aster opened a tunnel to the bottom of the world, running through it like mad with Jack in his arms. They emerged in the thick of a blizzard and Aster whipped his head around searchingly.
"I can't see a bloody thing in this snow!" Aster trudged forlornly around in the snow that reached at least his knees.
"'S okay, kangaroo. I called my little buddy...be here in no time." Jack mumbled before dozing off, suddenly more comfortable in the freezing tundra. Shaking his head, Aster sniffed the air, looking for any sign of Jack's sanctuary. Suddenly, he felt himself being picked up by the scruff of his fur and Jack pried from his grasp. He squawked ungraciously at the intrusion and looked around to find that his captor was a giant ice creature with a featureless head examining him owlishly. Another stood nearby holding Jack protectively.
"Little buddy, Jack?" Aster snorted, still struggling to get out of the ice creature's grasp. Sensing that Jack was at ease with these creatures, Aster gave up the struggle with a huff and grudgingly allowed himself to be carried off into the blizzard.