Chapter 21: A Green-Eyed Jack Frost

Pitch couldn't help making Jack miserable. He enjoyed scaring the bratty teenager out of his wits, and the fear was delicious. The Winter Guardian had no clue how Bennett had died, and Pitch took advantage. He sent out dreams of Jack watching Jamie die horribly in front of him, or even Jack's own death. The dreams were quick in succession, making the fear incessant. Pitch loved it.

While he worked, he paced around his globe. Eve, the Spirit of All Hallows Eve, had given it to him hundreds of years ago as part of a deal to make her holiday more powerful. Pitch had helped, but the plan totally backfired in the long run. Now her holiday was all about candy and silly costumes, not fear and darkness and death.

The blinking lights on the globe were the bane of his existence. He wanted, no, needed those lights to go out. But how? Gemma wasn't with the Guardians, and he needed them by her side for his plan to work. He paused, letting Jack have it easy for a moment as he fed on the girl's fear. She had always felt alone, even more than Jack, but the hope of meeting the Guardians face-to-face had always been burning. When the Tooth Fairy didn't believe, that hope was gone and the fear that they never would believe had rekindled.

Pitch had tasted Gemma's fear before, but wasn't a fan. It always seemed wet, and wasn't appetizing at all compared to Jack's cold cowardice. He decided to snap Jack back into his Nightmare, making him scream in terror and waking him up. Pitch sighed irritably, but let it go. Jack would fall back asleep in time.

Meanwhile, he was still trying to figure out how to get Gemma back to the Guardians. Fear was radiating off of her and she was easy to find. She was in Australia; she hadn't strayed too far from the Warren. This could be a problem. That rabbit had the best ears in the universe, and almost as good as a nose. If he went there, the animal could easily find him again.

Despite this, he decided it might benefit if he went to go watch Gemma. Maybe an idea would come to him. Pitch called one of his Nightmares. When she arrived, he gave her his orders. "Go watch Frost, and if he moves come and tell me. But leave him alone and don't let him see you, understand?" The mare nodded, snorted, and took off into the sky.

She reared and began to fly north as Pitch watched. "Frost is taken care of," he said, turning to the globe, "now it's time to visit a new friend." He glared at the continent of Australia, preparing himself for anything. The girl, like all women, was unpredictable. He needed to be ready.

MEANWHILE

Gemma had ran to the edge of a tiny forest when she got out of the tunnel. Despite feeling safe in the trees, she wanted to get away from the Guardians. She needed to be alone; she feared she would hurt someone. So she ran through the wood, stopping near the edge of a 100' cliff that the forest sat on.

Thunderheads swelled above her, more powerful than ever, and fog engulfed the land below her. This is one thing she hated about her powers. She could control them, but if her emotions got too rioted she couldn't choose anything. Then she became extremely dangerous, and she didn't like being around others.

Gemma looked out at the fog, tears streaming down her already wet face. The wind picked up, blowing her long hair in and out of her face. She pulled up her green hood, trying to hide herself. She sank down to the foot of the tree behind her, loud sobs emitting from her mouth. What Jack had said had shocked her, and it had hurt. Everything was true.

She did feel alone. She wasn't the loneliest person on the planet, (she had her wisps to talk to) although she had wanted so desperately to be believed in. Gemma had especially wanted to meet the Guardians, and had approached them hundreds of years ago. But one by one they had ignored her. She talked to the Moon about it, however his usual reply didn't help. That stung a little, and she had never let it go.

But still, the hope was aflame inside her. Of course, no other spirits or humans could have seen her, as far as she knew, but she was still able to stay happy. Kids loved to play in the rain, and she always enjoyed hearing their laughter when she went to watch. She adored making others happy, even if she was the opposite.

Then there was messing with the spirits and people. That was fun. One of her favorite times was when she made Bunnymund lost for a good 12 hours. She could barely make the fog disappear because she was laughing so hard at his irritation. He didn't hear her laughing, and angrily blamed Jack Frost for his little adventure. Gemma decided to keep it that way.

So she had been able to entertain herself in this way for hundreds of years. This is how she had stayed sane for 370 years despite being ignored. Now, she had a handful of believers, and she was happy with that. The catch was that the one she had always wanted to talk to the Tooth Fairy. No, she needed to talk to her, or at least, some other woman.

Gemma needed a woman to talk to. No, she didn't mind talking to Jack and Bunnymund, and was excited to talk to North and Sandy, but it didn't satisfy her. She couldn't explain why, but she felt she could be more personal with Tooth. She had thought that maybe a woman-to-woman bond could be formed. It sounded silly, but it was true, and she had actually been to the Tooth Palace in hopes of making her believe. Unfortunately, the fog had only infuriated the woman and the mini fairies.

Bloody Mary had latched onto Gemma after she became immortal. Gemma's depression was incessant, and there was many a time when Mary had paid her a visit. They had pretty much the same powers, but the Scott's were more developed, making the Brit jealous. The Scottish-British rivalry had been alive ever since they met, so bonding with the half-crazed woman was impossible.

The royal always took advantage of the girl's depression. She always mentioned the fact that the Scott wasn't believed in and that she was. Or that Gemma had no idea who she was, since she didn't remember anything. Also, Mary never let her forget that people committed suicide in fog. That was literally a killer, but Gemma couldn't do anything about it since she couldn't be seen. That didn't stop Mary. The haunting words always floated in Gemma's mind: "You never try to save them. Why?"

Bloody Mary tried to take Gemma's powers at one point. She wanted the power to create fog, because the grey and gloom of the condensation made depression worse. That was really how Mary lived, and explained why she was suddenly so powerful. Depression rates were going up in teenagers and adults, and that was the reason why Pitch was trying to ally himself with her.

(AN: Now, the only person who knew that Pitch was trying to ally himself with Bloody Mary was Jack Frost, but he didn't know why. And for fear of Pitch, he hadn't told anyone. But I'm getting ahead of myself and probably confusing you, let's get back to Gemma. Also, this is where it gets kinda dark, and why this story is rated "T.")

Gemma was now blind from the tears in her eyes, and shook with emotion. The memories reminded Gemma of the fact that yes, belief was slowly coming to her, but not everyone would believe. Tooth was the screaming reality and if she didn't recognize Gemma, what kids would? She would always feel alone and unrecognized, no matter what would happen.

Gemma didn't understand why she was picked to be a Guardian if no human believed in her. How was she supposed to protect them if they couldn't see her? Why would the Man in the Moon pick someone who was partially associated with suicide? Wasn't that dark enough? Why not Kiangazi, the Spirit of Summer? Or maybe Xīnnián, the Spirit of the New Year?

Suddenly, a twig snapped in front of Gemma. She had been so caught up in her emotions that she hadn't noticed a teenaged boy walk by. He had his back to her, standing at the edge of the cliff, the air about him making Gemma nervous. He was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, a light blue hoodie, and had white hair.

"Jack?" Gemma asked. She stood up after no reply, realizing that Jack would never wear jeans and that the boy had a nice tan. The rain plastered his white hair to his head. She stepped to the left of the young man, looking at his face. She was staring at a green-eyed Jack Frost, she realized. Except for the usual mischief in Jack's eyes was replaced by dullness; this boy was depressed.

The wind began to howl even more, blowing their hair all over the place. The rain spattered against their contrasting skin, her's pale, almost white, and his almost bronze. Gemma was tall, but he was a good 6" taller than she. She pulled her hood off of her face, letting her hair absorb the weather around her. She took a tentative step closer, wondering why he was here.

He stared out at the foggy land below him, the rain soaking his clothes. He looked down and took a step closer to the edge of the cliff. Gemma realized that the boy was thinking about committing suicide. "No, don't, please!" Gemma pleaded, despite knowing that the boy couldn't hear her. "You have so much ahead of you! Don't ruin your life and the lives of others, please!"

He took another step forward.

She stepped beside him and reached out, hoping to stop his advancements. "Please, don't do this!" She was practically wailing now, her accent extremely thick. Her hand went through him. Gemma glanced from her hand to the sky, hoping it was nighttime. "Man in Moon, please do something! I can't watch another person die in front of me again!"

He took another step forward, this time his feet on the edge of the cliff. Gemma watched in horror as the boy paused, looking down below him. "You have killed people, Gemma…" Bloody Mary's words rang in Gemma's ears like church bells. The teenager put his right foot out over the edge, still blankly staring into the grey below him. "No." Gemma whispered, almost overpowered by the strong wind.

The white-haired human suddenly put his foot his foot back on solid ground. A glimmer of hope surged through Gemma, hoping he had changed his mind. A faint hint of a smile came across her face as the boy paused again, her faith in the boy's emotions rising. The wind continued to howl as he continued to stare down at the fog.

Then he leaned forward, and fell over the edge of the 100' cliff.

Yes, it's confusing and dark and sad and I'm sorry! :(

Anyways, please review! It helps and I enjoy it!

:)