Chapter 6

Luna faithfully took the three to the North Pole. Aisling's eyes lit up as she saw the beautiful workshop. "Wow!" she exclaimed.

They went in through an open window and landed in a large room with a globe and furry creatures making toys. Aisling was wide-eyed as they walked around.

Jamie called out to one of the big furry creatures, "Where's North?"

The creature pointed to another room and Jamie pushed in first. When they entered, they saw a group of spirits around a table. They looked up at their entrance, expressions freezing.

"I'm back!" Jamie said cheerfully, only to be tackled into a hug a second later by a teary-eyed, white-haired spirit.

Sophie went and hugged a very tall rabbit and Aisling stood watching the scene.

"Well, I'd best be going," she said and turned to leave. She was stopped by a hand gently tugging on hers and looked down to see a short golden man. "Hello?" she said.

He wrote a name in sand above his head.

"Hey, that's pretty cool, you can do the same thing I can." She said.

The name read, "Aisling". "

That's me," she said, "Do you know me?" she asked.

He nodded. He tried to ask what had happened, but she wasn't so adept in her picture reading.

She shook her head. "What?" she asked, "Listen, I need to get home or my dad will worry."

A question mark.

"Who is my father?" she asked.

A nod.

"I'm not sure, I just call him 'father'. I've forgotten his name." she replied.

Another question mark, which she interpreted to why.

"I lost my memory. Father says I was sick and when I woke up, I couldn't remember anything." She explained, "Now I really must be going."

She tugged free of the small hand and headed for the door. A tall woman with a dress made of vines had the last question, "What did you say your name was?"

"Aisling Pitchner."

The room was frozen again as the name sank in. Aisling calmly walked out the door and back home.

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Her father was angry when she came home. "You promised not to leave without me!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry," she said, looking down, "I had to, and I came right back."

"You are grounded!" he said, "You are allowed to go to the training room and back to your room and that is it! The nightmares will watch you."

Aisling agreed to the punishment readily. It was only fair after all- she broke the rules. She knew she could easily lose the Nightmare and run off, but decided to take it with grace.

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Pitch was thinking. 'That child could be the death of me' He thought. Logically, he should get rid of her or take over her mind completely, but somehow, he couldn't bring himself to do so. Other matters were more pressing. When the child had taken the Bennet siblings and left, he had thought she wouldn't return. She proved these thoughts wrong by coming back right after she had finished.

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At the pole, the room had been silent. The silence was interrupted by a "What?" from Bunny.

Mother Nature sank into a chair. She had asked a valid question and received an answer she had not wanted to hear.

"Did she just say she was Pitch Black's daughter?" Tooth asked, confused.

"Jamie, what happened?" Jack asked, figuring the boy probably had the best answers.

"Me and Sophie were kidnapped by Pitch and brought to a room full of cages. Pitch locked us up and disappeared for a while, returning with Aisling. Pitch gave us nightmares, but they weren't affecting Aisling very much- she kept purifying them. He found out and started putting nightmare sand in her blood. When she purified that too, he had a nightmare constantly add nightmare sand. It was horrible, she kept getting weaker. One day, when she was too weak to do anything, he said something about a princess and instead of putting nightmare sand in her, he took what looked like black blood from himself and put it in her." He started to explain.

Mother nature interrupted, "He put a Fearling in her?" She asked incredulously. The other Guardians excluding Jack looked sick.

"What's a Fearling?" he asked.

"The embodiment of fear," she said, "No one has ever escaped the possession of one."

Jamie was upset, "We can't help her?"

Bunny shook his head, "We can't rule that out. We don't know if he put a Fearling in her. What happened next?"

"She whimpered and fainted. He took her away and we didn't see her for maybe a week or so. When she came, she chased the nightmares away and asked why we were in the cages. She didn't know who we were. I told her we had been kidnapped and asked her to take us here, which she did." He finished.

A yeti burst into the room shouting before anyone could ask more questions.

"Manny?" North asked. The yeti nodded. "Come!" he declared, "Manny wishes to speak to us."

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The spirits and Jaime stood in the moonbeams presented (Sophie had fallen asleep).

A voice drifted to them. "I saw when the child known as Aisling Fey ceased to exist. I feel I should tell you what happened. Pitch had been carrying the child through a moonlit corridor when she drew her last breath. No mortal child could hope to battle a Fearling. Her will held longer than her body. Pitch was upset at the loss and decided to make her immortal, sharing his own power with her. Thus, the spirit known as Aisling Pitchner was born. Her mind again battled for control. With the strength of an immortal, she won the battle and purified the Fearling inside of her. She is a powerful spirit, though quite young. She might make a good Guardian someday." Manny's voice and the moonbeams faded away.

"She died?" Jamie cried out, the only one seeming to be able to speak.

"That might explain the memory loss," Jack said weakly, trying to come up with something useful to say. The others looked at him, remembering what he had told them about becoming a spirit.

Sandy looked down sadly, knowing he had failed to protect his strongest believer.

Bunny sighed, "I have to get ready," he said, "Easter's in less than a week."

As he left, Tooth said, "We'd best get you home, Jaime."

Jamie turned to her, renewed determination gleaming in his eyes. "I'll help you take Sophie home and I'll talk to my mom, but then I'm coming back here with you. I'm helping you take down Pitch."

"Jamie-" Jack started, but was cut off by Jamie.

"No," he said, "I helped last time and I'll help this time. I'm an adult now and this is my decision."

Jack sighed and nodded, running a hand through his messy hair.

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Jack took Jamie and Sophie home with North. Jamie was subjected to a death hug by his mother as soon as he stepped in the door. Once Sophie was in bed, he told his mother his plans. She looked worried, but agreed that it was his decision. To their surprise, she then addressed Jack. "Take care of him," she told him.

This led to a whole round of questioning on how she could see him. She told them plainly that she had been wishing for a miracle when she felt a chill in the room and had been reminded of Jamie's stories of his best friend, the winter spirit. To her surprise, she had thought about it and then saw a white-haired teen leaving. The police had been confused as to why she wouldn't stop staring out the door.

The visit home having gone well, they returned to the North Pole.

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I'm just churning out the chapters. Good thing its spring break!

Tsalyah