Author's Note: Hello everyone and welcome back to ROTC! =) Today's chapter is a bit moer of an informational/filler, but I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless. ^u^

- Chapter Nine -

Hitting the Books (Not Literally)!

The Guardians found themselves back in the library. North wasn't too pleased on returning to the "Place of Boringness," but it was the crime scene of the Guardians' sudden transformation. If they were to find any clues, it would be there.

Jack approached the table in front of the fireplace and studied it. The yetis hadn't yet cleaned up. Jack turned back to the Guardians and gestured to the space.

"Alright, I need you guys to focus," he said. Tooth and North were already wandering off, and Sandy seemed about ready to take a nap. Bunny stood grumpily with his arms crossed in the center. "Tell me everything that happened before you got turned into kids. Make sure to include every single detail."

Bunny sighed. "Well, we came in here for our meetin' and then we left to get something to eat." The Pooka shrugged. "Nothing unusual there."

"We didn't see anything weird coming back either," Tooth said, suddenly popping into the conversation. "We just walked in, there was a lot of hurting, and then poof! We're kids!"

Jack's brow furrowed. "What do you mean by 'hurting?'" he inquired.

"We were in pain," said North. He sniffed and rubbed his nose with his sleeve. "Felt like our bones were being ripped apart and shoved back together again."

"You didn't need to get that graphic," Bunny said.

"Jack said spare no dee-tails," North shot back. Bunny rolled his eyes.

"I think it's safe to say that this wasn't one of North's spells," Sandy's dreamsand flashed over his head.

North crossed his arms and frowned. "Why do you guys always suspect me?"

Bunny ticked off one finger. "One: you own the biggest magical library in the universe. Two," the Guardian of Hope counted another. "You were a wizard's apprentice. You're always experimenting with this kind of stuff."

"But that doesn't mean I'd spell you guys."

Sandy, Bunny, Tooth, and Jack deadpanned. North smiled weakly and scratched the back of his head.

"Okay, maybe I would," the six-year-old Santa admitted. He crossed his arms. "But I swear it wasn't me!"

"We know, North," Jack said. "Someone else is behind this."

The winter spirit glanced at the young Guardian of Wonder. "How many spellbooks do you have in this library?"

An impish grin crawled onto North's face; the mischievous spark in his eyes burning even brighter.

"Follow me," he said.

…

Jack knew that North's library was one of the largest. But oftentimes, even if we know something to be true, we don't fully believe it until it's proven.

In less than ten minutes, North had yetis pile up towers and towers of spellbooks for the Guardians to sift through. What was crazier, however, was that this was only a smidge of the magical tomes that he had in his library.

"Some of more are buried deep down in the archives and others are locked up 'cause they're too ancient to be used," North had explained proudly. "I can ask the yetis to bring some of them up if we need to look through 'em, though."

Jack thanked North but for now, he decided to focus on what was already set in front of him. The Guardians spent hours flipping through pages, hoping to find something—anything—similar to what the Guardians experienced. Unfortunately, they drew nothing. And they still had several more books to go through.

Bunny, who was sitting at the end of the table, shoved his book away and rubbed his eyes. "Crikey…I don't think I can read any longer."

Jack looked up from his book. "We have to keep looking," he said. "There has to be something in here that matches with what you guys described."

But if Jack were to be frank—even he was feeling fatigued. The Guardians were more of a handful than he thought they were, and he couldn't remember the last time he cracked a good wink of sleep. He was hoping to have found something by now, but it looked like things weren't going to be as simple as he had hoped.

North groaned and pressed his head against the table. "We've been in here for hours," he whined. He looked at Jack. "Can I break something?"

Jack was appalled. "What? No!"

"But I'm bored!" the ex-Cossack complained. "Can I play with your staff, then?"

Jack frowned and pulled his staff away. "North…"

"Come on, Jack!" North burst out. "Aren't you supposed to be the Guardian of Fun? Well, this isn't fun! This is anything but fun!"

"Quit being a brat and hit the books, North," Bunny snapped.

A frightening glint shimmered in North's eyes. "Now that sounds fun."

"NOT. LITERALLY!"

"Guys!" Tooth's cheerful voice interrupted. Everyone looked up. "Sandy found something!"

Jack got out of his seat and looked over Sandy's shoulder. Bunny and North crowded on the other side while Tooth hovered above them all.

Sandy's dreamsand flickered over his head to explain. "I didn't know much about youth magic other than it's difficult to master. I used that to narrow things down a little, and I came across this."

Sandy's finger pointed at the top of the page. It read "Antediluvian Practices."

"Ant-dill-vu-what?" North enunciated.

"Antediluvian," Bunny said with ease. "It means ancient or out-of-date."

"Like the Golden Age?" Tooth asked.

Bunny nodded. "When it comes to their practices, yes."

"I don't see how this helps," said North.

"This means whoever did this to you guys must be skilled with magic," Jack deduced. "A rookie wouldn't be able to change four of the most powerful beings in the magical world into children without knowing what they were doing."

"It says it's reversible, regardless of how powerful it is," Sandy added.

Bunny perked. "Does it say how it can be reversed?"

Tooth's expression grew nervous. "W-Well…we probably have plenty of time to have a counterspell…why rush?"

"Why not rush?" Bunny retorted. "Sandy? Is there anythin'?"

The golden little boy shook his head sadly. Bunny and North groaned. Tooth appeared oddly relieved.

Jack pursed his lips and turned to North. He knew almost every magical being in existence. "Do you know anyone who could pull this off?"

"No, not really," North replied.

"What about Ombric?" Bunny asked.

Suddenly, North's expression changed into something sadder than grief. He looked at Bunny; a shadow settled over his face.

"Ombric's gone," he said bleakly.

Bunny's ears faltered, and he turned away. Tooth settled in her chair, and Sandy slowly closed the book.

Jack looked at each of the Guardians. He sighed.

"...Then I guess we've hit a dead end."

They didn't have much to go off of, but Jack had hoped they'd find at least something that could lead them to change the Guardians' back. But it seemed the universe had other plans.

The room was silent for a few minutes until Jack felt something tug at his sleeve. Looking down, he saw North. His childish lightness had returned to his face.

"Jack…? Can we go play now?" he asked softly.

Jack sighed, and he smiled. "I guess." North brightened. "But don't cause any trouble for the yetis. They have enough on their plates already."

"'Kay," North chirped. He, Tooth, and Sandy left the library to find something to do. Jack looked around at the mess of books and began to pick them up to put away. Bunny came over and started collecting books as well.

Jack looked at the young Pooka. "Bunny…you don't have to—"

"I want to," Bunny interrupted. Jack knew he couldn't convince him to leave, so he allowed him to stay and help. They stacked books and brought them over to their designated shelves. Slowly, they ate away at the mountains of books they had brought in earlier.

Jack was so lost in the process, that he didn't notice Bunny calling his name until he tugged at his pant leg. Jack looked down. Bunny seemed embarrassed, but he covered himself up with a serious look.

"Jack, there's one thing Sandy didn't mention earlier," he said. "He probably didn't want to worthy North or Tooth. But only most antediluvian spells are reversible. This could become permanent if we don't act quickly."

Jack hummed. "That's what I was worried about," he said. The two began to walk back to the table to collect the last few books. "But we don't even know what kind of spell this is, or who cast it. There isn't anything to go off and…

Jack paused and trailed off, his anxious thoughts piling. Maybe this situation is more serious than I thought. What if I can't handle it? What if I can't help them?

The winter spirit felt a soft tug from his pant leg again. He looked down. Bunny was gazing up at him, a reassuring look in his eyes.

"Hey, you're not alone in this," he reminded. "We'll figure this out."

Jack smiled softly and ruffled Bunny's fur. "Thanks, 'Roo."

Bunny managed to quirk a grin.

…

"You guys are good staying with Phil and the others while I'm gone?"

The Guardians nodded. After cleaning up in the library, Jack rounded everyone up to tell them what they needed to do while he was gone. He had a few things he needed to take care of with his job and planned to visit Mother Nature to request her to take over for him while he dealt with the Guardians.

Tooth, however, wasn't too happy about Jack leaving. "Do you have to go?" she whimpered.

This younger Tooth reminded him so much of Sophie; she acted the same way whenever he left the Bennett household. Jack smiled softly, and he gave Tooth a pat on the head.

"I just have to take care of a few winter things. I'll be back as soon as I can," he reassured.

Tooth nodded. "Okay."

Jack grinned and turned to the rest of the Guardians. "I'll see you guys soon…and behave!"

Moon above… the winter spirit thought as he flew off. I'm beginning to sound like my mother.

Author's Note: Welcome to the world of parenting, Jack. ='D Also, kid-North is way too fun to write. XDD

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you all in the next one. ^u^

Until the next chapter!

~BeyondTheMoon1203