Here's the second update. Enjoy!
The Summit
Home to Mother Nature and Father Time.
Many spirits rarely visited The Summit; not unless summoned at least. No one wanted to visit the harsh yet eccentric power couple. To have them even visit you was rather frightening visitation. Mostly because said visitations usually consisted of the nature and time spirit demoting or completely stripping the spirit in question of their duties. So far the Guardians of Childhood (minus Jack) had managed to stay under the radar of the couple. They only met Mother Nature once, and that was enough even for the friendly group.
The Guardians stepped out of the portal from North's Workshop and into the foyer. Jack's eyes scanned the room in awe. Seven pearl color pillars on his left and right lined the shiny marble floor. The hallway's walls were lined with ivy and narcissus that started from the front of the foyer, leading all the way to a golden filigree onyx door. Standing next to the door was a small green-headed girl with blue eyes waiting patiently for the Guardians to reach her.
"Hello. My name is April Showers. The meeting will start in just a few short minutes. Please come in." she said as she grabbed the gold handle and pulled open the door.
"We must be the last ones…" Tooth said as she fluttered in through the doorway. North came next, along with Bunny. Sandy gave Jack a small smile before he walked through. Jack took one deep breath before went through the doorway himself.
Mother Nature was truly a sight to behold.
She was a tall woman with a straight posture of royalty. Her red hair flowed down her back as she stood before her subjects in a majestic stance. Her golden dress was wrapped tightly around her body, leaving almost nothing to the imagination.
"I thank you for coming here tonight at such short notice," she said, her silky voice flowing across the room, "We are dealing with an important crisis. As you know, the balance is slowly deteriorating, and many spirits are weakening. Meanwhile, mortals are destroying the natural order. There have been less births yet more deaths. Wars have been rearing their ugly heads, and even worse, the world is slowly deteriorating."
Many gasps echoed around the marble chamber as the spirits began whispering around themselves. Nature continued, "As you can see, Father Time will be a little late but-"
"No dear, I am finally here." A short, tan man wander into the room with his hands behind his back. He was dressed in a white dress shirt with a black vest over it and black pants. His white leather shoes clacked on the linoleum floor as he walked over to Mother Nature's side. Father Time was half her height, yet he too demanded obedience and respect.
"I apologize for being late my lady, but certain events demanded my attention. The mortals have finally taken up arms and declared WWIII." He said.
Outcries bellowed in the chambers. The spirits remembered the last major world war. So much innocent lives taken, many spirits became MIA during and after the wars.
"SILENCE!"
Mother Nature's command echoed through the room, and it had the desired effect. She turned toward Father Time and looked into his eyes, "What was the event that sparked this?"
"A bombing of the UN, many leaders were there and unfortunately there were barely any survivors. Many countries are calling up to arms and preparing to storm each other." He said.
"And you couldn't foresee this happening?" she angrily asked.
Father Time was quiet for a moment before looking at her. Staring her dead in the eyes, he answered with a soft, "No."
Mother Nature's eyes widened. Father Time has never failed in that aspect. His sight was always accurate and rarely gave any trouble. For it to fail now...
"Mother Nature. Father Time. I apologize for being tardy, but I must discuss something with you in private. It is an emergency."
"Hey, who's the walking Adonis?"
Bunny smacked Jack on the back of his head."Oi you dingo. That's Cupid, or as he sometimes goes by, Eros. Show some respect."
"Oww. Damn it Bunny…" groaned Jack, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. He looked back at the blond, pink-stripe haired man as he approached Mother Nature and Father Time in quick steps. "I thought he would be…umm well-"
"Short and baby looking?" Tooth said. "He sometimes uses that form when he goes out for his work, but this is his true form."
Jack looked toward the front as Cupid - or Eros - quietly talked to the powerhouse couple.
Father Time, while listening, did a strange thing though. It was subtle yet Jack could have sworn that Father Time was looking at the Guardians. "Hey, North. I think Father Time is-"
"Looking at us? Da, I believe so too." North answered cautiously.
Tooth began wringing her hands nervously as Sandy began to form question. 'What do you think is going on?'
Bunny grumbled, "I don't know, but I don't like it."
Mother Nature finally looked up and waved Eros to the side, "It would seem that I have called this meeting too early. I would ask that we would reconvene in two days. If you cannot make it, send one of your helpers in your stead. But you better have a good excuse for missing this meeting."
"You are all dismissed…except the Guardians. Please stay behind." Father Time added.
The room got quiet as the different spirits tried to leave the room without looking in the five Guardians' direction.
"Holy shit, what did we do now?" Bunny exclaimed quietly as he watchd the room quickly empty out.
"Now Aster, be calm my friend. Maybe they be needing our help with certain problems," North said as he pulled his beard.
"Well, let's not keep them waiting." The Guardians all but ran to the front as Eros stood off to the side. Soon all but the Guardians, the Lord of Love, Mother of Earth and Master of Time had left the Sanctuary. Jack was surprised to find himself sweating under the gaze of Mother Nature and Father Time themselves.
"We ask you to stay because Eros believes that he may have found the source of the chaos afflicting this world," Mother Nature began, "There is a person who was not here tonight that you have dealt with more than any other spirit in this realm, and you will be helping Eros with finding him." Sandy formed question and exclamation marks above his head and pointed to himself and the other Guardians. "I will allow Eros to tell you." Mother Nature said as she conjured a tree stump to sit upon as she gestured for Eros to continue.
"Thank you, Mother Nature." Eros then turned toward the Guardians and began his story. "As you know, I control the business of falling in love. I make sure that mortals and sometimes spirits find a mate to settle down with," Eros then turned around to look at the marble wall and sighed, "What I am about to tell you does not leave this room. Very few spirits know about it and I would like to keep it that way. So I want your word that this secret will not pass from your lips or sand," Eros quickly said as he looked at Sanderson, "And into the ears of another."
Jack and Bunny looked at North, who nodded at Tooth and Sandy and then at them, "We swear." Eros turned back to them and nodded, "Good." Then he sighed and closed his eyes. "What do you know of the story, Sleeping Beauty?"
Of all things that Jack expected, that question was furthest from his mind. "The fairytale? The one about a princess pricking her finger and sleeping for a hundred years, waiting for true love's kiss?"
"Yes, that one," Eros answered with a roll of his eyes, "Except it is no fairytale."
Tooth gasped, "How can that be? Humans can't sleep that long unless..." she turned and looked to Sandy who, was shaking his head and waving his hands.
Eros shook his head. "No, the Sandman had nothing to do with it. In my early years, I noticed that many humans were getting married just for marriage's sake. Most dream of being with their soul mate, but accept their fate. I didn't like this, so with the permission of Father Time and Mother Nature, I created the Sleeping Beauty potion."
"Wait, wait, wait, you mean to tell me that-"
"Please Frost, let me finish," Eros interrupted as he began to pace back and forth. Mother Nature's eyes followed the obviously distressed Lord of Love while Father Time stood with an amused smile on his face. "As I was saying, I created this draught to put the drinker into a deep sleep. Death cannot touch them, nor sickness or disease, not even Time. Basically their bodies are frozen at that point of consumption. The only thing that can break the spell is true love's kiss."
All the Guardian's eyes were very wide as they took in the information. Sandy then formed a question mark, then a numerical sign along with a picture of a potion bottle.
"I have only used it a couple of times. The first two people were fine. Within fifty years, they both were awakened by their soul mates. Unfortunately, the next one was a disaster. It was after this, that I had to change the potion a little."
"May I ask what happened?" North asked.
Eros narrowed his eyes as he stopped pacing, "No, you may not."
Bunny scowled, "Oi, he was just asking a question…"
"And I was just answering, so shut your trap, rabbit."
Before Bunny could say anything else, Tooth placed her hand over his mouth and quickly spoke, "This is great and all, but what does this have to do us?"
Eros quirked his mouth as he stared at the Guardians. Then he slowly reached into his pocket and brought out a crumbled up baby blue handkerchief. He held it in the palm of his hand and began to peel back the cloth. "Earlier, I was going to use the potion on someone who I thought would desperately need it. Unfortunately, when I came to get the bottle, it was gone. All that was left on the pedestal was this."
Finally, Eros finished peeling the handkerchief back to reveal...black sand. "At first I thought it was the Sandman until I touch it. It held a feeling of...fear."
"That's Pitch Black's sand!" exclaimed Jack.
"I had thought so. Unfortunately, I couldn't confront him because the openings to his lair were closed. Do you know anything about that?" Eros asked nonchalantly.
"Well, we did seal his major entrances after our fight with him fifty years ago…" Tooth said as she placed her hand on Jack's shoulder.
"You did what?" Mother Nature asks quietly. The Guardians all froze as her voice echoed through the room, despite it's quiet tone. They watched as she stood up, her face blank yet her eyes fiery with rage.
"Mother Nature, please you must understand-" "Nicholas St. North, did you or did you not imprison a fellow spirit?" Mother Nature hissed.
"Answer her quickly and truthfully, Guardians." Said Father Time.
"He was scaring the little ankle biters and giving them nightmares. He attacked us, trying to get his power back!" the giant rabbit exclaimed.
"So instead of alerting Mother Nature or myself, you lot allowed yourselves to act as jury, judge and executioner. Not even thinking about how this would affect the world in general," Father Time stated without an ounce of question in his tone.
"But Father Time, what Pitch Black represents would not help the world, especially not the children." Tooth said as she began to wring her hands again.
"Is that what you think? Because last I checked, your titles are Guardians of Childhood, not Custodians of Earth. You do not know how things are run!" Mother Nature screamed.
"As much as I want to see the Guardians finally get theirs, we are on the deadline my dear." said Father Time as looked at his nails.
Mother Nature slowly calmed down and closed her green eyes, "Fine. But we will discuss this on a later date." She then opened her eyes and looked at the Guardians, "You will open the entrances and bring Pitch Black here. You will not do anything to him nor say anything to him. The only person who is in charge is Eros."
Eros sighed and shook his head toward her, "Yes, Mother Nature…" He looked toward the Guardians, "Let's go."
"Wait one moment, Eros. I'm sending one more person with you just in case," Father Time said as he pulled out a small onyx hourglass filled with white sand from his pants pocket. Mother Nature's eyes widened, "Father, are you sure you want to bother him?"
"I am very sure, darling. I trust Eros, but not the Guardians." Father Time looked up at the group with disappointment on his face. Then he smirked.
"Besides, Death will be willing to help in this situation…"