Hi guys! Glad to see you're still reading and reviewing! I know the last chapter was kinds short, but I'm making up for it now! I swear!

Thank you to these reviewers:

WOTSWs, the Bloodless, Angel Raziella, Sofiaesteban37, Guest, Collins, KraZiiePyrozHaveMoreFun, SkyressFantesys, Starskulls, and ChaosWithImagination. You guys are what give me motivation to keep writing! Hope you like this chapter!

Alrighty then! Let's get started!

When Tooth woke up, she was in a small brightly-lit room. She had no idea how she'd gotten there. Nor did she have any idea why there were thick blankets covering her, or why she felt so sick.

Her stomach felt like it was eating itself and the rest of her body wasn't feeling too well either. Her head felt like she'd cracked it against something hard, but the pain seemed to be going away. Slowly, but surely.

The room around her had walls made of cold gray stone, a door on the other side of the room made from oak wood and iron hinges, and there were about a dozen flickering candles burning low all around the room. They filled the air with the scent of peppermint, pine needles, cookies and hot chocolate. Tooth didn't have to wonder long where she was.

Pine needles! She thought excitedly. I must be in North's workshop!

She smiled. North workshop was the most comfortable place on earth. True, there was too much snow for her liking, but the rooms were nice and cozy. Just like the one she was in now. It even had a large ornate fireplace made from red brick and stone. North knew she disliked the cold more than Bunny, though she was careful never to say anything of the sort around Jack.

But why am I here? She wondered. The last thing I remember was falling unconscious after that strange fit I had. Obviously someone had found her and taken her here. Or maybe it was Baby Tooth. Yes, that would make sense. Baby Tooth must've sent word to North that something had happened and he'd come to the Tooth Palace and taken her back here.

That fit. . .what caused it? She wondered. I haven't eaten anything recently, and it can't be stress. That horrible feeling. Tooth shuddered. The feeling had been unbearable. Like a part of her had just died.

Tooth shook her head. It would not do to have gloomy thoughts now. Right now she had to figure out what was going on and where everyone else was.

She sat up slowly, careful not to bring her headache back again. She stretched her arms. They felt fine now. She wiggled her fingers. Numb, but still moveable. Whoever put her here must've laid her on her arm by accident. Then she pushed back the thick blankets and heaved her legs out and onto the cold floor. Her legs felt fine too.

Tooth braced herself against the bed and tried to stand. After a coupe tries, she was on her feet again. It felt good. She stretched again, popping her back and rolling her shoulders. It had been a long long time since she'd actually slept in a bed. Her room in the Tooth palace was barely ever used because she was so busy working.

"Now for my wings," she said to herself. Tooth raised her beautiful gossamer wings up and they started to flap. One flap. Two flaps. Tooth could feel the power of her wings growing. Faster and faster they moved, ten flaps. Eleven flaps, until finally Tooth gave one strong Push! and she leaped into the air circling the room, careful not to knock any candles over.

"Yahoo!" she said, zooming from one end of the room to the other. She loved flying. She loved everything about it! The wind in her feathers, the thrill of moving so fast that you have to dodge things the second before they hit you, speeding up past the highest trees and houses and then diving back down. It was the greatest feeling in the world.

Once Tooth had gotten over being able to fly again, she hovered over to the door and tried the knob. It was locked.

"Crumbs." Tooth said, jiggling the knob up and down. Nothing. "Hello?" she said loudly, banging on the door with her small fist. "Anyone there?"

Silence.

Tooth fell back onto her bed with her hands folded over her chest. "Why the heck is the door locked?" she wondered aloud. "It's not like I was going to fly off the second I woke up."

She listened for footsteps. Nothing. No one was coming.

Tooth sighed. "Well, If I'm going to be stuck here I might as well get some more sleep." She slid her legs back beneath the blankets and pulled the covers over her. They felt warm and soft. Tooth closed her eyes, hoping that the pain in her stomach, which was quickly receding, would be gone when she woke up again. The pain was gone in minutes. Unfortunately her rest didn't last much longer than that.

"Tooth?" a high-pitched female voice said. Tooth felt something shake her made a sound like a a creaking door and rolled over on her side. She was mostly asleep, but she could still hear the voice tutting and the tapping of a shoe on the stone floor. "Toothiana I know you can hear me. Wake up!"

Tooth made the creaky-door sound again and rolled over. She was more awake now. Not awake enough to open her eyes, but awake enough to mutter, "No one home. Leave a message."

Tooth heard a sharp exhale of breath. Then she was jerked completely awake when the mystery person grabbed her blankets and yanked them off. "Tooth come on! This is important! The others are all waiting for you!"

Tooth's eyes snapped open at the sudden shock of cold air as the blankets were lifted off her. "Hey!" She said, grabbing the blanket edge as it was pulled off her bed and yanked hard.

"'Hey!'" the voice mimicked. "You sound like a teenager. Come on! We need to get the meeting started and to do that, we need at least two Guardians! Up and at 'em!"

Tooth's attention suddenly moved from the blankets to the person who had woken her. She was a short woman wearing a hot pink shirt, blue jean-shorts and flip flops. Her skin was peachy-pink and her eyes were bright pink and full of mischief. That look in her eyes reminded Tooth a lot of Jack.

"Do I know you?" Tooth asked the woman. The woman let go of the blankets and brushed back a stray strand of hot pink hair from her face.

"Of course you know me!" she said, flinging her hands up and smiling. "True, I haven't seen you in a hundred years, but you should remember me!"

Tooth blinked. The young woman's smile grew by a couple of molars. Tooth's eyes zeroed in on the woman's teeth. They were dazzling white and completely void of cavities. Beautiful. Then Tooth blinked again. Focus girl, she told herself. I've got to remember just who this is.

Tooth thought hard. A high voice, female, pink eyes and hair. . . then it came to her.

"Aphrodite?" Tooth said, squinting at the woman before her.

Aphrodite's face lit up like the candles around them. "Yes! It's me, Aphrodite!" she squealed, throwing her arms around Tooth and hugging her tightly. "It's been a long time, I know. It's so good to see you again!"

Tooth had to smile. Now she remembered. Aphrodite, (who preferred to be called Tina,) was an older spirit that she had met at least three hundred years ago, during a complicated situation regarding a fighting couple. The girl had punched the guy and Tooth was there to take the tooth. Aphrodite was there to try and mend the broken tie. They'd initially disliked each other, but once Aphrodite realized Tooth wasn't going to keep the couple apart and Tooth realized Aphrodite wasn't going to take the tooth, they got on quite well. After that they'd kept in contact for two hundred years, then Tooth had become so engrossed in her work that she hadn't had much time for old friends.

"Good to see you too Tina." she said, returning the hug. "I'm sorry. I didn't recognize you for a second. My mind was a bit groggy."

Aphrodite grinned. "No problem. You did just wake up, after all."

Tooth smiled. "Yeah."

She released the goddess of love and looked her up and down. The last time she'd seen Aphrodite the goddess had been sticking to the commercial Cupid-look. Namely, a long pink taffeta dress that was a little too see-through, a pick laced bodice and a large bow in her hair. Now, she looked more like a girly teenager with dyed hair.

Aphrodite returned the glance-over and said, "Well, you look a bit better than the last time I saw you. You still using that parakeet feather-shine stuff?"

Tooth blushed. Well, you didn't get feathers like hers naturally. "Yeah. I also found a shampoo for peacocks that works wonders on my crown." she reached up to pat the yellow and green feathers on her head.

Aphrodite nodded appreciatively. "Good going. I found this nice hair dye-shampoo a few weeks ago that keeps mine looking glossy and smooth. The dye doesn't even fade!"

Tooth frowned. "Doesn't your hair keep that color anyway?"

Aphrodite shrugged. "Yeah, but it still fades slightly each time I wash it without the stuff. And it takes so much energy to re-grow faded hair that I usually pass out afterword. It's a bitch!"

Tooth gave Aphrodite a terse expression. "I thought you stopped cussing!" She said accusingly.

Aphrodite shrugged. "I did, but it's a habit that goes away slowly. I'm trying, believe me! I don't like cussing anymore than you do. God knows I've heard enough marital disputed that begin when the couple starts throwing foul-mouthed insults at each other."

Tooth nodded. Then she remembered something that Aphrodite had said before she'd recognized her. "Um, Tina. . ." She said slowly, trying to remember exactly what she'd said. "You said something before about a meeting?"

Aphrodite clapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh shit! I forgot! Come on, we've got to hurry! Oh shit! Father's gonna kill me!" And with that Aphrodite grabbed Tooth's hand and hauled her off the bed and towards the door. "Hurry up!" She moaned, tugging on Tooth's arm.

Tooth, who was now even more confused and worried, lifted her wings up and hovered behind the agitated goddess. When Aphrodite threw open the door and tugged her through it, Tooth tried to say something but the goddess was too busy mumbling to herself. "Oh gods, Father's gonna kill me!" She said, yanking Tooth through a doorway and up a flight of stairs.

Tooth was still hovering, but she wasn't hovering far enough above the stairs not to stub her toes with every step.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. OW! Tina, hold on a second! My toes are being bludgeoned to death!" She said, slipping her hand out of the agitated goddess's grip and hovering a meter above the stairs.

"Tooth, we don't have the time!" Aphrodite said exasperatedly. "Father is waiting with the others, and I promised them I'd bring you!"

Tooth frowned. "Father?" she asked, confused. "Who-"

"Please Tooth! I don't have the time! We need to get to the meeting room now!"

Tooth was more confused than ever. "What meeting room? Who's 'Father'? And by the way, what the heck are you doing here?"

Aphrodite's breath hissed through her teeth. "Tooth, listen to me closely: Something bad has happened and we need at least two Guardians to make the meeting complete. I promise I'll explain everything later, but we need to go!"

Tooth mulled it over for about a minute, then she sighed. "Fine. Where are we going?"

Aphrodite let out a sigh of relief and high-tailed it up the stairs. Tooth followed about a foot behind her and a meter above her.

"We're going to the second landing, in front of the globe." Aphrodite said as she ran. "All of them are there. Father Time, Grim, Patrice, Gaia, even Jack and Sally came! Bunny is the only Guardian besides you awake at the moment, but the others should be up and about in a bit."

As Tooth listened, her eyes became wider and wider. From what Aphrodite was saying, something had called the entire spirit realm to North's workshop. That had never happened. Not since she'd been a spirit anyway.

"All of them?" she asked. "But why? Have you had any messaged from Manny?"

Aphrodite shook her head. They were on the landing now, running and hovering down a long corridor. "Nothing but a request for there to be two Guardians present. He didn't say which two, but since Bunny was awake when he got here and you were the first to wake up, we decided on you two."

Tooth started. "Wait a minute, Bunny? He's here? What about Sandy and North?"

"Yes yes, all here. The only one who isn't here is that second-rate Boogeyman, Pitch Black."

Tooth nodded. "Of course. He wouldn't show up unless he absolutely had to, no matter what the problem."

Aphrodite nodded grimly. She'd only met Pitch Black once, and it hadn't ended well. Pitch had been in the bedroom of a teen who was dreaming about his girlfriend. He'd turned the dream into something nasty, and Aphrodite had found out. Pitch had walked around in a bright pink robe with bright pink spiky hair for a month.

Tooth and Aphrodite turned a corner. "Do you have any theories on what happened?" Tooth asked.

"Nothing." Aphrodite said. "The only common denominator is the nasty twinge of pain we all felt an hour ago. Everyone says they felt it. Bunny's seemed to be more violent that the rest of us. What about you?"

Tooth shrugged. "It hurt like heck." she offered. "My stomach felt like there was a live badger thrashing around inside it."

Aphrodite hmmed. "Mine didn't feel anything like that. Just a sharp nasty twinge. It only lasted about two minutes."

Tooth nodded. Interesting.

They ran/hovered around another corner and there they were. The globe was in front of them. A crowd of people stood on the other side of the room, talking in hushed voices. When they saw Aphrodite and Tooth, all heads looked up and the talking stopped.

Tooth laced her hands behind her back. She let her gaze travel slowly around the crowd. Some of the people she recognized. Ferthermore Tyme, commonly known as Father Time. Tall with golden robes and golden hair. He looked like Sandy's older brother. He regarded her with a warm smile.

Gaia or, more commonly known, Mother Earth. A goddess, like Aphrodite. Mistress of the seasons and Jack's boss. She was wearing a long green shimmering dress, and her black hair was braided down her back, threaded with vines and leaves. Her green eyes regarded Tooth coldly. Tooth didn't like Gaia, and the feeling was mutual. Gaia was, in her opinion, a huge snob who thought that just because she was a goddess she could walk all over people.

A small woman in green tights with a shock of spiky orange hair and pointy ears. Patrice Connors. The Leprechaun. Tooth hadn't had enough interaction with the woman to get a definite idea about her demeanor, but the Leprechaun nodded at her and smiled good-naturedly.

A tall dark shadowy figure, wearing a black hood and leaning one a very large black scythe. The Grim Reaper. Tooth shuddered. She never liked that guy. He made Pitch Black look like a rank amateur when it came to scaring. At least, he scared her, and that was hard. Tooth didn't scare easily. She couldn't tell if Grim was looking at her because of the hood, but she had a feeling he was. The hood moved a millimeter every time she bobbed up and down.

Then her eyes landed upon Bunny. He was crouched on his hind legs at the edge of the crowd, examining his boomerangs. When he noticed the lack of conversation he looked up. Then his eyes followed the direction everybody was looking in until he saw Tooth and Aphrodite.

"Sheila!" He said, bounding over to them. "Boy, it's good to see ya up and about. How ya feelin'?"

Tooth smiled. "Good to see you too Aster. I'm feeling fine. What about you?"

Bunny smiled in return, thumping his chest. "Alive and kicking, as you see."

Aphrodite nodded at Tooth and Bunny, then walked over to the crowd of immortals and started talking to Father Time.

Bunny didn't pay any attention to Aphrodite. He was too focused on Tooth. "So, did she tell you anything?" He asked.

"Nope." Tooth said. "Just that something bad happened and all the spirits are being called here."

Bunny nodded. "Yep. That about sums it up. Every single spirit in this world was called here. We were only waiting on you."

Tooth nodded thoughtfully. "I see. So, do you know if North, Jack and Sandy are alright?"

A smile crept onto Bunny's face. "Yep. North is in his bedroom. Out cold. Sandy and Jack are in two of the guest rooms. Both sleeping like babies."

Tooth was about to ask another question, but a loud chirping sound interrupted her.

"Baby Tooth!" Tooth said, staring at the tiny fairy-girl who was buzzing around her head happily like a large rainbow bumblebee.

Ofcourseit'sme! Baby Tooth squeaked. Iwassoworriedaboutyou! Whathappened?Youpassedoutatthepalace!"

Tooth held up a feathered hand and made a gentle shushing sound. "Shhh. Shhh. Calm down. I'm completely fine. I just took a little turn is all." Baby Tooth flew up to her mother's face and nuzzled against it.

Iwasworriedyoumightnotwakeup! She chirped. Youwereasleepalonglongtime!

"Shhh. I'm fine, Baby Tooth." she said, patting her tiny daughter's head. "Now, I have some very important things to do. Can you go back to the palace and take care of the others?"

Baby Tooth shook her head resolutely. No!I'mstayingwithyou! Oneoftheotherscan-

"Baby Tooth," Tooth said sternly, stopping her tiny daughter's protests. "I need you to do this for me, OK? They need you at the palace."

Her daughter gave her a reproachful look.

"Baby Tooth, I will be back in a few hours at the latest. You can keep things going until then. I know you can."

Baby Tooth smiled proudly. Then she nodded.

Tooth patter her daughter's head again. "Good girl. Off you go."

Baby Tooth saluted hesitantly and zoomed off.

Tooth turned back to Bunny, who was staring at her with a small smile on his face.

"What?" She asked defensively.

"I've always thought those things were more like little possessed piles of glitter that birds." He said, staring after Baby Tooth. "Yeah. Little chirping squeaking piles of glitter."

The joke broke the nervous tension and Tooth laughed. "Yeah. She is a little sprightly." She admitted.

"Just like her mother." Bunny said, folding his arms over his chest with a satisfied smile on his face.

Tooth beamed. Bunny, annoying and negative though he may be at times, was a great friend. "Thanks Aster."

"Toothiana!"

Tooth turned around and saw that Father Time was striding over to them. His golden robes were shimmering and his bright blue eyes were covered by a pair of half-moon silver spectacles. His arms were outstretched and Tooth flew into them, hugging the old man gently.

"Ferthermore! How nice to see you again." she said, releasing the golden-robed man. "How is the Clock Tower?"

The Clock Tower was where Father time lived, in London. Humans called it Big Ben. It was a ninety-story building built in historic London in the eighteenth century made from wood, glass and stone. The numbers of the clock were made from black marble and the face was made of white pane-glass. The hands of the clock were also black marble and crafted carefully by the best artisans of the time. It was a beautiful piece of work. Tooth had only seen it once before, but once was enough for her to appreciate the great piece of old architecture.

"Fine. Fine. A little dusty but I'm used to it."

Tooth smiled. She remembered the interior of Big Ben had been remodeled by Father Time when he'd first moved in to the tower. The last time she'd seen it the inside had been decked out in gold and blue. Gold walls, blue edging and furniture. It was beautiful. Not much compared to the outside, but beautiful none the less. Hourglasses were stacked around the room in piles and the entire place had a glimmering aura that made you feel happy and content. It was a strange feeling for the lord of Time's domain, but Tooth hadn't paid much attention to it.

Tooth smiled. "Ah."

Father Time turned to Bunny and gave his paw a firm shake. "Aster. How nice to see you. It's been a long time."

Bunny nodded. He wasn't partial to the lord of time. They'd had previous dealings in the past and sometime during those dealings Bunny had developed a grudging respect for Father Time. A grudging respect tempered by a small amount of annoyance because of past confrontations.

"Yes, it has been. How have you been?" Bunny was careful to be polite in Father Time's presence. You never knew what could set off the older spirits.

"Well enough. Well enough." Father Time said, releasing the rabbit's paw. "I wish we had time to talk, really I do but there is a crisis going on and we need the two of you over here now."

Tooth nodded. Right. The mystery crisis.

Bunny nodded too. "Any theories?" He asked.

Father Time shrugged. "Plenty theories, but no real evidence. Gaia thinks it might have something to to with that fear spirit. Pitch."

Bunny growled. He had a score to settle with Pitch for destroying his eggs two Easters ago. "Pitch. Of course. He's the only one not here."

Tooth scanned the crowd of spirits. There were at least three dozen people standing there, and Pitch was not among them.

"So," she said, following Father Time over to the crowd. Conversations had begun again and no one paid much attention to the Guardians. "How did you call them all here?" Aphrodite said that Father Time had instigated this meeting and to do that, he must've had a way to contact them.

"Oh, we spirits all have our ways." Father Time said, winking. "I called Gaia and Grim, Gaia called her minions and sent out a world-wide call for spirits. The spirits from other realms were a bit harder to reach, like Jack and Sally." Father Time gestured to a tall skeletal man in a black suit with a spider tie and a woman with red rag-doll hair wearing a patch-work orange dress. She had blueish-gray skin and stitches going down her arms and face.

Tooth smiled. "Jack, Sally!" she said happily, flying over to the couple. The woman looked up and let out a squeal.

"Toothy!"

A broad smile split the skeleton's face. "Toothiana. My my, you are looking as radiant as ever." He bent and kissed Tooth's hand.

Tooth giggled. Jack Skellington was so old-fasioned. Kissing hands and bowing.

Sally wrapped her pale-blue hands around the fairy's shoulders. "It's been a long time!" she said, careful not to block Tooth's wings. She was still hovering.

"It has. At least three decades!" Tooth said. "How's Halloween Town?"

Sally released her and she and Jack shared a knowing look. "It's fine. The mayor retired a few years ago and my Jack took over. He's been doing an amazing job!"

Tooth smiled. "Well well, mayor Jack Skellington. It has a nice ring to it."

"Yes it does, doesn't it?" Jack said, smiling. "Almost as nice as Mrs. Sally Skellington."

Tooth gaped, staring from Jack to Sally. "You two got married?!" she nearly shrieked. A few heads turned her way.

Jack and Sally both blushed. "Yes." Jack admitted.

"You have to admit, it was long overdue." Sally added, making her husband blush more.

Tooth smiled and Bunny made a polite cough to announce his presence.

Tooth moved to the side so that Jack and Sally could see him.

"Aster!" Jack said, striding forward and bending down so that he could hug the six foot tall rabbit. "My goodness it's good to see you. How've you been?"

Bunny, who looked like he was about to faint in the skeleton's grasp, cleared his throat. "Oh, you know," he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "The usual. Busy with Easter. Egg-painting. Stuff like that."

Jack released the rabbit and beamed down at him. "Ah. The curse of the holiday spirit!" He said, laughing. Both Bunny and Tooth felt a crackle down their spines. "How is Sandy Claws?" He asked.

Tooth frowned. "Who?"

Jack winced. "Oops. I mean North. How is North?"

Bunny shot Tooth a quick I'll tell you later look and replied, "North's fine." a look crossed Bunny's face and his face split into a small smile. "He'll probably be sad that he didn't see you."

Sally let out a small laugh and covered it up with a cough. Jack shot his wife an irritated look but Sally ignored him, examining her fingers innocently.

Tooth, who had no idea what they were talking about, (because she wasn't a spirit when the whole Nightmare Before Christmas fiasco had gone down,) gave everyone a scrutinizing look. Jack laced his finger-bones together behind his back and stared at his black shoes. Sally had a small smile playing across her face and Bunny's expression was neutral.

"What-" Tooth began, but Bunny interrupted her.

"Old conflict." He said. "Skellington had a bit of an identity crisis and tried to take over Christmas."

Tooth's eyes widened. "You what?!" She said, staring at Jack.

Jack frowned and said, "I did not have an identity crisis!" He said testily. "Yes, I did misinterpret a sign from Manny, but it wasn't that bad!"

Sally was giggling behind her blue hands. Tooth glanced at Sally beside her and they both rolled their eyes. Men.

"Not that bad?!" Bunny demanded. "Not that bad?! You kidnapped me and North!"

Tooth's eyes widened further. "Say what?" She asked, looking from the irritated skeleton to the glowering rabbit.

They ignored her.

"You make it sound like I was personally responsible!" Jack said. "Lock Stock and Barrel just made a slight mistake!"

"A slight mistake?!" Bunny spat out through his buck teeth. "They drugged me with that nasty-smelling plant and stuffed me in a sack!"

Tooth sighed and turned her back on the male spirits. "Come on." she said, beckoning for Sally to follow her as she flew a towards the other spirits. "I have a feeling those two are going to be at it for a while."

"I know." Sally said.

"Men." they both said, then they giggled.

Tooth floated past a large brown creature with round spectacles perched on his nose. The Groundhog, she thought. "So, did you feel the twinge?" She asked Sally as they meandered through the crowd. She hadn't seen the young woman in thirty years and yet she still looked the same.

Sally tugged at a loose stitch on her wrist. "Yes. So did Jack. It was horrible."

Tooth patted her shoulder gently. "I know. I felt it too. Any idea what it might be?"

"No." Sally said, stepping around a crowd of Elves carrying milk and cookies. "But I've never felt anything like it before. It was like-"

"A piece of you died." Tooth finished.

Sally nodded. "Yes." Sally was a relatively new spirit. She didn't really have a job. She was just another resident of her world. Halloween Town. Jack was the real spirit of Halloween. The Pumpkin King.

Tooth and Sally walked past Father Time, Grim and Gaia, who were speaking in low tones. Gaia looked annoyed, Father Time was trying to placate her. Tooth could tell by the way he raised his hands.

Sally was watching them too. "I've never met these many spirits in one place before." she said.

Tooth nodded. "Ditto. I recognize a few of them, but-"

"Ladies and gentlemen," Father Time interrupted her loudly. He was standing in the middle of the crowd. Gaia and Grim stood off to the side. All talking ceased. "Now that we are all here, I would like you all to please find a seat so that we can get started."

Thousands of Elves brought chairs and set them down in a huge semi-circle and the crowd silently compiled. Sally and Tooth moved back towards Jack and Bunny, who were sitting three seats apart and looking in opposite directions.

Sally patted her husband's cheek as she sat down and Tooth punched Bunny's shoulder.

"Ow!" Bunny said, rubbing his upper arm. "What did'ja do that for?"

Tooth shrugged. "'Cause I can." she said. "Now will you shut up so that we can find out what the heck is going on here?"

Bunny glowered. He was not having a good day.

"Thank you." said Father Time. He was sitting in a chair close to the globe. Gaia on his right, Grim on his left. Obviously those three were the head honchos here. "Now, as I'm sure the rest of you are aware," he said, speaking to the entire room. "This meeting is to determine the origin of the pain experienced by every one of us."

There were murmurs around the semi-circle.

"We received a message from the Man in the Moon an hour ago, requesting that two Guardians be present when he explains. Now that the Guardians are here," He nodded to Tooth and Bunny. Bunny and Tooth nodded in return. Faces turned to stare at the two Guardians. "We will have our explanation."

As if waiting for his cue, the moon appeared from behind a cloud bank.

Everyone looked up. Tooth and Bunny included. The Moon lazily moved until it was shining right into the center of the circle of spirits. In the center of the floor was a large mosaic with the crescent moon in the middle. A shaft of light shone from the moon and onto that crescent and the moon on the floor began to glow.

The assembled spirits stared at the floor, watching the blueish light spread like spider-web cracks along indents and lines. Tooth knew what was happening. The floor split open in the center and two halves slid back, revealing a circular hole where the crescent moon had been. There was a resounding click and a grounding sound, like a rusty gate being drawn upwards. Something rose up from the hole in the floor. It was a large blue gemstone, crusted to a metal pillar etched in bronze and gold designs. The stone began to glow.

Tooth's eyes were wide. The last time this had happened was two years ago, when Jack had been chosen as a new Guardian. Was he choosing another one?

All the spirits were silent. Father Time was slack-jawed. Tooth looked around and saw that the other spirits wore similar expressions. She frowned, then she remembered that none of the other spirits had seen the blue stone before.

Manny sent down another shaft of moonlight and the stone's glow grew until it was reflected in each spirit's eyes. It was beautiful.

Tooth waited with baited breath. What was going to happen? Was there to be a new Guardian?

Bunny was thinking similar thoughts. Only his were mingled with please not the Groundhog, please not the Groundhog.

Sparks began to appear around the blue stone. Blue sparks. They played around the stone like Jack's snowflakes. The shining light emanating from the stone sharpened and focused upwards, like a blue spotlight. Whirling sparks mingled with the shining light. The sparks solidified into a blue glowing orb. The orb was huge, maybe a foot and a half across, and perfectly spherical. It looked like the same kind of material as the glowing stone beneath it. The orb rotated and spun slowly, like a golf ball on a concentrated flow of air, bobbing whenever the blue beam of light pulsed, like a heartbeat.

What on earth is going on? Tooth wondered, staring at the orb.

Suddenly the orb began to spin faster, rotating clockwise and then counter-clockwise. Faster and faster the orb spun. Tooth was holding her breath. Yes, the stone had never done this before but she was curious to see what would happen next.

The orb spun faster and faster, becoming a blue glowing mass as it spun. Then the orb began to get bigger. The faster it spun, the larger it got, It was inflating, like a balloon. The orb grew to the size of a baby elephant. Then larger and larger still. Tooth wondered what Manny needed the orb for. The orb spun 'round and 'round. Tooth was getting dizzy.

Then, suddenly it stopped.

Thank goodness. Tooth thought, shaking her head a little to clear the dizziness out.

The orb was half the size of the globe now, floating on top of the stone's beam of blueish light. Everyone was still silent. The orb bobbed there for a few seconds, then an image began to form on the outside of the orb.

Tooth watched with fascination as the picture took shape. This must be like Sandy's dream-sand balls, she thought. They show a video-like scene or memory. Sandy had used these to communicate with her several times.

The scene was fuzzy at first, like an up-close zoom lens, then it sharpened and focused. The picture was of a dark shadow with familiar spiky hair, bent over a child's bed.

"Pitch." Tooth heard Bunny growl.

Indeed it was Pitch. He was giving a nightmare to a child. Tooth could see the blue orb floating above the child's head and she could see the tiny girl's face was twisted in fear. Her brow was furrowed and she clutched the sheets of her bed, whimpering. Of course there was no sound, but Tooth could see the little girl opening and closing her mouth but forming no words. Hence her assumption that the girl was whimpering.

The other spirits watched carefully. Was it Pitch that had made them hurt so? Those who knew Pitch wouldn't be surprised if it was.

Beneath the blankets, a small glow appeared. It was easy to see, since the glow was white and the rest of the image was blue. It pulsed slowly, like a heart. Then Pitch smiled and touched the nightmare, and the pulsing quickened.

Tooth watched, her mouth open in a perfect O. What was Pitch doing?!

The girl whimpered again and turned in her sleep, but the glow still remained, pulsing faster and faster.

It was her heart, Tooth realized. Something's happening to her heart!

The girl's heart beat faster and faster. The glow disappearing and reappearing almost as quickly. Pitch stood up and it looked like he was about to leave, but then the little girl's eyes opened. Pitch froze. The little girl opened her mouth to say something, but the light went out. Her heart had failed.

Tooth kept her eyes on the orb. Had Pitch killed her? Yes. The white beat of her heart was no more. Pitch stood frozen, staring at the girl. Her hair had turned from whatever color it had been to a blinding white that made Tooth blink.

Then, it was over. The orb broke up into millions of tiny blue sparks and floated down to the floor, disappearing before they touched the ground. The beam of blue light was pulled back into the stone. Manny's light disappeared, and the stone slowly descended back into the floor. The sliding circle shut with a loud bang, and the room was completely silent.

Ok, before any of you start sending me messages about how inaccurate my description of Big Ben is, I'm gonna say this: I barely have any internet connection and it takes me forever to write these chapters! Usually I have time to research on whatever real thing I plan on using. This time I didn't. Forgive me all British people on here for probably using false information about Big Ben.

Anyway, Read, review, and enjoy. Thank you.