Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Wake me up when September ends
Avery would sing when he was gone
The innocent can never last
No one could hear her but Billy, but she still sang
Falling from the stars
She couldn’t even remember the words properly, not in order anyway. She blamed that on lack of practice
Like my Fathers come to pass
Her father would never let her sing. Thankfully, Billy’s father was rarely home. She had asked him about his mother, but the child was sketchy on the details. That was fine with her, she’d be his mother. She was also his friend, caregiver, father, sister, brother… funny how you could be a child’s everything when there wasn’t anything of you left.
She was there when he got off the bus, she fed him, played with him, read to him, sang him to sleep, sometimes sat up while the child slept wondering if his father would come home tonight. She hoped he wouldn’t.
Most of the time she could protect him from his father – soothing the man’s anger before it boiled - but she insisted that she shouldn’t have to. Even when he was being kind to Billy she hated his presence. She couldn’t play with him then, the boy’s father enraged at his son’s imaginary friend. The kindness was just a lie – one her own father had told her enough. A trick she had believed every time despite her better judgment. The monster always came back no matter how kind the prince could be - Was he a monster that turned into a prince, or a prince that became a monster?
She tried to help when the monster came out, but her fists went straight through the man’s back and her screams went unheeded. She frequently had to remind Billy not to mention her around his father, not to worry about her when the monster came out. No one could hurt her anymore.
She had never been allowed to watch television, at least not that she could remember. She lived at the library when she was younger, hoarding books like a squirrel. She hid them from her father – he often burned the ones he found. She stopped bringing books home at some point, choosing instead to memorize the tales. She’d whisper the stories across the dark room to her sister. May had been afraid of the dark but father wouldn’t tolerate nightlights.
Avery whispered the same tales to Billy when he couldn’t sleep. She didn’t have to whisper anymore since Billy was the only one who could hear her, but she whispered all the same. When Billy was asleep she’d lay awake and imagine that his father simply wouldn’t come back. The neighbors would call the cops, hell; she’d walk Billy down to the police station herself and coach him in what to say. But as long as that man came home they were stuck. Billy wouldn’t leave his father – even if he would, that man would sweet talk his way into anger management classes again.
She fantasized about finding a house in the woods somewhere, the two of them living like the brother and sister in the Grimm’s tale. Somehow she doubted that there was enough wild land left anymore to hide them. A hundred years ago, maybe there would have been. She occasionally tried to convince the child to run away with her, but he always backed out.
She kept the house immaculate for Billy to stave away his father’s wrath. She’d be cleaning from the time Billy left for school to the time he got back, singing as she went. It was liberating, being invisible and being silent to the world. Avery had been wishing for that since she was five. She was happier now than she’d ever been. She’d help Billy with homework; cook the meal while he cleaned more. They had yet to fail an inspection since Avery arrived. When his father came home – those days when he bothered to come home – Billy would go about his business, acting like Avery wasn’t there. She’d stand at attention, watching his father’s facial cues and body language, coaching Billy on what to say and how to behave.
Most outbursts could be nulled that way. Some never could, the problem being something other than Billy. She’d advise him even then, telling him when crying would enrage his father and detecting when tears were what the man was after. She had mastered reading people even if her sister never quite had.

***
After Pitch ‘fled like a little girl who discovered that ponies bit’ as Bunnymund put it - they’d all collapsed at Santoff Clausen for a few days before heading home. Not that they planned it that way. Sandy apparently decided that it was time for a break and they all woke up days later in a pile on the floor. Jack had attempted to slip out a window while Tooth was carrying on about schedules and boundaries.
“Normal people use the door.” He jumped at the sound of Bunny’s voice. He stood in the doorway, running the blade of a boomerang on his finger.
“Normal people - said the giant anthropomorphic rabbit.”
The rabbit shrugged. “Where can we find you anyway Frostbite?”
“I uh, guess I’m a nomad.”
Bunny only raised an eyebrow. “Ya mean you’re homeless.”
“Burgess is home.”
“We thought ya’d have a snow castle or something. At least an igloo.” Bunny paused. Something passed over his face. “Look, kid,”
Jack was gone before he could get another word out. Whatever Bunnymund was about to say, Jack didn’t want to hear it.
Weeks later spring had put an end to Burgess’ snowball fights. The southern hemisphere left him with little land to work with and even fewer children to play with. In truth he could actually take those months off and let nature decide the snow.
He’d been building an ice castle since he left the North Pole. Or maybe it was an igloo – he’d know what to call it once he got a wall to stay up. He’d just pulled himself out of another collapse when he noticed the northern lights hemming the horizon.
Jack grinned before taking off. He was starting to think he’d have to wait another hundred years for Pitch to show his face again before Jack got to see – could he really call them his friends?
One day he’d get up the guts to ask North for some snow globes – or get up the nerve to steal a few. Until then the wind was more than happy to oblige. It playfully dumped him on a rooftop next to a skylight. He was halfway through the window when he thought better of it. There had to be a door somewhere, right?
Jack hadn’t bothered with the doors to the workshop in two hundred years, always finding them locked. At least, they were always locked after those first few tries. He felt his face light up when the door actually opened for him. He shook his head as he entered.
No, that was stupid. Of course they’d leave the doors unlocked for an emergency meeting. He frowned, his staff leaving a trail of ice behind him on the red carpet. What was the emergency anyway?
“North? Phil?” the wind howling outside was the only sound to be heard, doors left open to hallways, toys left neatly stacked and waiting. Jack walked further into the silence, ears straining for anything.
His pulse quickened. “Guys?”
Could they have left without him? But then, where were the elves and the yetis?
“This seriously isn’t funny.” Were they getting back at him for something? It was a long list, but they knew there wasn’t any malice behind any of his pranks, right?
“Tooth?” he picked up a paintbrush from a worktable, clean and waiting by a palette. The paint was starting to congeal on the top, but the brushes were clean and sat at attention. So that ruled out a kidnapping.
No, it was a joke. Any minute now they’d pop up and shove him in the sack again. He hoped they had at least washed it from last time.
“Sandy? Bunny?” Had he broken a rule? There were rules to this guardian stuff, right? He really hadn’t done anything… at least not since Easter. Unless that was what this was all about. No, that would be a confrontation not… whatever this was. Even if this was an outside force who could take them on? Who would have a grudge?
Bunny had mentioned something about Fae stealing people away in the blink of an eye. At least an entire island of people had disappeared that way, Roanoke or something like that. Not even the Guardians knew what became of those people. There had been a conflict between the Guardians and the Fae before, judging by the hushed tone Bunny had used when he mentioned it.
But there was no sign of a struggle - it didn’t even appear that they’d been spirited away in the midst of daily activities. Maybe there had been trouble at the Tooth Palace or the Warren. Would they have really left without him? He didn’t think he was that late, but he honestly had no idea how long the lights had been in the sky before he’d noticed them.
He saw a flash of movement in the corner of his eye. He whirled around staff ready, but nothing was there. He silently thanked the moon that he hadn’t yelled ‘freeze’ or anything so ridiculous.
Slowly he lowered his staff, wondering if he really was alone there. He heard a sound, a whoosh of fabric; he spun around as North pounced on him, swords flying. He jumped onto a table, barely blocking the blow.
“The hell, North?”
North answered with a guttural scream. He knocked Jack off balance with one sword, slicing him across the cheek with the other. Jack fell from the table, jumping behind another one.
“North, what’s going on?”
What had he done? North threw the table aside, sending toys crashing to the floor. He barreled after him. Jack ran.
‘They’ll never really accept you’ He’d replayed that sentence in his mind before, turning it over. He’d imagined them ignoring him, excluding him from all but the most important functions. But this? They wouldn’t hurt him.
Daggers whizzed pasted him, grazing his arm and burying themselves into the walls.
So what had happened to North?
North threw a chair. It shattered on impact where he had just been. He had to get out of here. He’d find Tooth or Sandy; they’d know what to do. His heart dropped to his stomach. He’d been late - they’d have gotten here before him. That meant…
North jumped out in front of him, blocking the hall. He froze the man’s feet to the ground, dodging his swords. He left a trail of ice behind him, coating the hallway. North broke free and was after him again, briefly slipping on the ice.
The hallway came to a sudden turn. Where was he? Which way had he come in?
North appeared in front of him, blocking the hall. Pain erupted in his neck as North’s blade caught in his staff. He wrenched it from his hands, head spinning as he heard it clatter away.
North gripped him by his shirt holding him above his head, other sword back. Jack closed his eyes, putting his concentration in his shaking hand. A blast of energy sent them both flying back.
Jack crashed through a door, wood splintering around him. He struggled, pinned beneath the rubble. He heard North approach, footsteps echoing in the large room. He placed a heavy boot on his chest, sword inches from his nose. Crap.
North drew the sword back though, a thoughtful look passing his face.
“I don’t know, what do you guys think? A four?”
“A one, maybe.” Bunnymund’s voice came from the rafters.
Golden sand pulled the rubble off of him and North helped him to his feet.
“A good first try, but I have few pointers.”
He flinched away from North’s grasp. “The. Hell. Was. That.” He was still shaking, anger slowly replacing fear.
North’s smile broadened, throwing his arms in the air. “Is Sparring day!”
They were in a large round room, balconies going several stories up. Skylights in all directions set in the round ceiling, yetis and elves hard at work moving furniture and setting up colorful gym mats and punching bags, hanging racks of weapons. Tooth and Sandy flew to ground level, Bunny simply hopping down to the floor.
Mini fairies darted out the doorframe, returning with his staff. He took it from them, letting them nuzzle his face as they fluttered around checking him for injuries. They fussed over cuts they found across his cheek and knuckles, flying at North in scolding chirps.
“Sparring?”
“Pitch caught us off guard last time. Will not happen again.”
“So we go kamikaze on each other once a month?”
“So we train!” North slapped him on the back, nearly knocking him off his feet. “Once a week, except around holidays.”
“Seriously? Like you guys have time for this?”
Tooth threw her arms around him, knocking the wind from his lungs. “We’ll make time. Sandy and I already agreed.”
Sandy nodded excitedly - Kung Fu fights and swords flying around his head.
“Yetis are already getting room ready for training. We are all rusty, and since Jack needs most training –“
“Wait what? I need the most training?”
“We all train Jack. Will work with swords, different styles, and honing powers – “
“Seriously North?”
North continued on, waving his swords around wildly. “… Perhaps create new style!”
“He can hear me right?” He looked over at the others. “You guys hear me?”
Bunny shook his head. “He don’t hear much when he gets like this. Give it a minute.”
“Long swords, broadswords, scimitars, sabers…”
He leapt in front of North. “I have my staff, what do I need a sword for?”
North set a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Ah, but Pitch broke staff. He can break it again.”
“How did you even -” he stopped short, finding Baby Tooth in the crowd of Teeth. He glared at her as she chirped and darted behind her mother’s head.
“Little traitor.” He turned back to North, unwilling to back down now that he had the man’s attention. “I can use my powers just fine.”
“Ya had an ability you didn’t even know existed.” Bunnymund put in. “Seems to me, you could use some work.”
He sighed, rubbing his forehead. “You guys aren’t going to drop this are you?”
“Nope.”
“No,”
“Probably not.”
He didn’t even look up to see Sandy’s response.
“And if I just say no?”
Bunny shrugged. “We could have North chase you down and drag ya here once a week. Ya know he would.”
“Is fun!” North agreed.
“You did take the oath.” Tooth reminded.
“There’s some fine print for you.” Tooth flinched at his response. Guilt stung at him. Anger aside, actually spending time with people seemed… nice. A familiar longing mixed with an itch for freedom. But how free could he really be with a crazed Russian constantly tracking him down?
“Fine, whatever. Just don’t do that again.” He’d think of some conditions later.
“No promises. But next time, you will know sneak attack is just game.”
He had a few games in mind for them now.

Chapter Text

Apparently, nothing made sense anymore after you died. Ghosts roamed the streets and stalked walkways, creatures Avery couldn’t name played pranks, and tiny birds flitted out of windows at night carrying… teeth? It had been weeks before she could get a ghost to respond to her.
He wore the rags of a sailor uniform like she had seen in a text book once. A noose hung around his neck, tossed over one shoulder. He leaned against the stoop of an old building, dead eyes floating around in their sockets.
“Where ye going there girly?”
Avery flinched. “You… you’re talking to me?”
The man shrugged. “Don’t see any other girlies. Newly dead, judgin’ by your rosy complexion there. Have a seat, we got all the time in the world.”
She hesitated, glancing around. An escape route, no witnesses - no, she was dead. No one could hurt her anymore. She sat down on a barrel next to where the old man was leaning. The scent of tobacco and rotted fish hit her like a wall. Who would have thought a spirit would have a scent?
Avery stared down at her bunny slippers. “So… any advice for the ‘newly dead’ then?”
“Find a medium. That’s always ye best bet.” He fiddled with the hook he’d replaced his hand with, never quite getting it to fit right.
“A what now?”
He shrugged, sending his eyes bobbing again. “A medium, psychic, necromancer… t’aint that many words for ‘em. They be the only ones that can readily see us. Sometimes a mortal will glimpse ya, usually in the dark or ina mist. But a medium will always feel ya, even if they don’t see ya right away.”
She ran a hand through her short auburn hair. “What about children?”
“Aye, children are easier. They often have the gift, though most outgrow it outa self-preservation. Halfa the time a mortal won’t see ya outa sheer stubbornness cause they don’t believe in ya. Or won’t believe in ya. Even without the gift children are more likely ta see ya cause they’ll believe.” He paused, a thoughtful look passing over his rotted face. “Though, truth be told I have heard sometin’ about ‘kindred spirits’ or some nonsense like that. Gift or not they can always see ya, whether they believe or not. Some say it’s because you’re two ‘o a kind, others tell that ye were meant to meet. That is, till ya died. But what do I know? Might not even be true.”
Avery’s stomach knotted.
She swallowed hard, brushing over the topic. “So what do I need a medium for?”
“Ta help you move on. Ye don’t want to be stuck here forever, do ye? You’ll get all bonny like me.” He laughed. Somehow, she didn’t think the dead should be this happy.
“How do I find one?”
He grinned. “Ah, that’s the trick, idnt it? Mediums are rare in the first place, and if a ghost has a medium they protect it like the grail.”
“Protect them? Protect them from what?” They couldn’t all have parents like hers, could they?
“Other ghosts that don’t wanna move on. Demons. Fae. The boogey man even. Nature spirits even have problems wit ‘em. Cause if a mortal can see this world then they become very popular. If a mortal can see you, you can touch them. Ifn’ you can touch ‘em, you can hurt ‘em. Plus, their souls are valuable if you know how to take them. Or so I been told.”
“Why are you here?”
“Ta find me hand, I think. Truth be told, I don’t remember. After bein’ dead awhile ya start to lose yourself. Ye seen the walkers, just wandering around the same path, moaning the same thing. They forgot who they were, what they were lookin’ for, why they’re here. Now all that’s left is that broken memory.”
Forgetting didn’t sound all that bad. She’d been wishing for that for some months now. But a walker? They were dead even to other ghosts, she’d passed right through one she’d tried to talk to like it had been alive. At least a mortal would have shivered as it walked through her. Maybe there was a way.
“In the end lass, it all comes down to how to spend eternity. Silly mortals wishin’ for forever, when in reality ifn they get it they ‘ave no idea what to do wit it.” He slid an arm around her thin shoulder. “Spendin eternity wit a lass like you would make it bearable.”
She sneered at him, breaking away. “Your accent breaks. It changes too. “
He smiled, showing rotten teeth. “Do it now? Well, I guess even me voice forgets who I’m supposed to be.”
He hadn’t been particularly helpful, but she hadn’t spoken with anyone since Billy.

Chapter Text

North gathered them on an upstairs balcony while the yetis cleaned up the destroyed door below. The scent of pine and sawdust hung on this floor, masking the cinnamon and hickory that seemed to be imbedded in the walls. North had a round table set up on the balcony, the start of some design freshly carved into the wood. Most of it was buried under saw dust, faint pencil marks that have yet to be carved out. North hurriedly set a sheet over it as they approached, sawdust flying in the air.
Jack heard some of the yetis grumble about the shattered door below - occasionally North’s name was muttered. Frost barely understood them at the best of times - the phrases ‘get out’ and ‘intruder’ were the first he learned. Understanding was one thing - he never could imitate the sounds. The wind laughed every time he tried.
Tooth brushed the sawdust off of her seat while Bunny tipped the debris off his.
He flopped on a chair, propping his feet up on the table. Bunny glared ahead as North carried on, though Jack had stopped listening a while ago. It took him a moment to realize that the glare was meant for him, that he was one of the people North was addressing.
“…have been working on new projects. Most will not be ready until Christmas, if lucky.” He dragged them out here to pick on the new kid and show off new toy designs?
“But I do have some gifts for now.”
Guardians got presents? Tooth and Bunny exchanged glances, eyebrows raised. Sandy’s chest shook in a silent laugh as he clapped his hands together.
“First for Tooth,” With a sweeping bow North pulled a long box out from behind his back. Tooth laughed while Bunny rolled his eyes. At least there was no orchestra this time.
“They cannot replace the ones you lost, but I did make them special.”
Her face lit up as she delicately tore into the package. She held up the twin blades, bright gunmetal grey.
“Oh, you got the balance just right!”
He handed Sandy something that from where Jack was sitting looked like an amber glass jar. Bunny’s was a switch blade. North was grinning ear to ear as he handed Jack a small box. All eyes were on him suddenly. He slowly pulled the ribbon off the box. A small brass key nestled in tissue paper. He grinned, fighting back a laugh. Better than a glass jar, he guessed.
“Wow, thanks, North.”
North smiled wider, turning back to business.
“Have several bigger surprises underway for Christmas. Need to get measurements for Jack, and Sandy’s gift is still in development.”
Somehow, the idea of getting groped by a yeti with a tape measure didn’t sound like good times. If what North had in mind was anything like those shoes, he’d pass. For the time being, he just hoped North wouldn’t bring up the discarded gift.
“Am working on special explosives for you, Bunny. I had hoped to have them ready by now, but testing has proved them to be…temperamental. Might also be missing an elf, I have to do head count.”
Bunny’s ears shot up. “My explosives killed an elf?”
“Not killed, just missing. Trust me, would take A-Bomb to kill elf. They have tried most anything but that, and still around.”
Self-destructive behavior from the elves didn’t surprise him, except that North would notice. Must have been on a large scale, he’d ask Phil later.
Tooth fidgeted in her seat, drumming her fingers on the hilts of her blades while Bunny and North continued on, forgetting everyone else in the room. Sandy sighed, looking from Tooth to the two arguing men. Sandy studied Jack for a moment, turning his head to the side. He tumbled out of his seat and skittered to the other end of the loft. Jack chuckled, watching him waddle instead of float.
Tooth bit her lip, running her thumb over the edge of one of the blades. “Not to complain North, really, but did you remember iron?”
The two remained oblivious, North gesturing wildly while Bunny kept his arms crossed over his chest.
“Is not animal testing, elf testing!”
“Still inhumane.”
“They enjoy!”
Tooth didn’t wait for an answer, closings her eyes as she ran her palm over the dull spine. “I think I feel iron. Silver too? You really did cover the basics.”
Sandy started digging through chests of weapons, tossing some over his shoulder before disappearing into the box.
“Demented little things probably don’t even know what they’re doing.”
“Would like to see you try to stop them.”
Was Bunny actually sympathetic with the elves, or did he just like arguing? Tooth flitted to the air, holding the swords up to the light.
Sandy emerged from the chest, holding a club up to Jack. He shook his head and continued digging. What was he looking for?
Tooth swung her blades around, making them whistle in the air. “And they’re so light!”
Sandy held a flail up to Jack, briefly considering. Back in the chest it went.
“Where do we even start, North?”
“We started with assessment”
Bunny nodded. “Kid got a one.”
“A four,” Jack muttered. Sandy moved on to the weapon racks, shoving elves out of his way. “Do they do this a lot, Sandy?”
Sandy nodded, spreading his arms wide
Tooth’s voice echoed from the rafters. “You even remembered my favorite gems for the hilts!”
“We start with lessons and light sparring.”
“Lessons in what, mate? The kid has no focus.”
Tooth flitted around the balconies overhead. “Where is that practice dummy? I saw the yetis bring it in earlier…”
“You teach him, then.” North continued.
“Teach him what? Tai chi? I’d have better luck with the fairies with that.”
“If going to complain, you can at least try to help.”
Jack wondered how long it would take them to notice if he slipped out of one of the skylights. Sandy leapt down from a balcony, weapon held over his head. Jack swung his legs off the table, stretching as he got to his feet.
“Whatcha got there, Sandy?”
Tooth was by his side in a second, the breeze from her wings stirring up sawdust. “That’s a bo staff, sweetie.”
“Bo staff!” North boomed. “Great idea, Sandy. Is perfect weapon to start with.”
Jack turned the bo over in his hands, feeling for the weight. “Don’t really see the difference.”
Bunny pointed a finger at him, pinning him to the spot. “The difference is, we won’t get frozen to the ceiling trying to teach you basic forms.”
“Ceiling? Please. Railings maybe, definitely the floor.” Although he could probably get a few elves up there. He handed the bo staff back. “Really won’t be a problem.”
“It will be a problem, Jack,” Tooth said. “Having believers will make you stronger.”
“What, all seven of them?”
“There will be more. It always starts out like that.”
“Except we already had believers when we became Guardians. He might catch on with the kids, after a few centuries.”
She glared at Bunny, feathers ruffing down her spine. Jack took a step back, remembering the swords clutched in her small hands. North stepped between Tooth and Bunny.
“Tooth, you are wanting to test out swords?”
“Oh yes!”
“We will spar. Sandy, you and Bunny show Jack bo staff form.”
Tooth flitted across the room. North placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder, handing him back the bo staff.
“She’s, uh, kind of scary.”
North nodded. “Should have seen her in younger days. Terrifying. Much calmer now. Hard to make her mad, but please, Jack, don’t try to. It’s not worth it.”
“Yeah, don’t have to worry about that.”
Every sound echoed in the gym, North and Tooth’s battle cries at avalanche volume. Jack raised an eyebrow at the sounds.
“Why are they…?”
“Keeps adrenaline up, keeps ya breathing. You’ve never been to a dojo before? A boxing match even?”
“I guess not.” He had seen fights, battles that bled out in the snow. No one ever bothered to explain why they were screaming, he’d always just assumed fear and rage powered them.
He tried to focus on Sandy, copying his movements. Every now and then Sandy would correct him, gently nudging a limb to the right position. The wind had done the same thing when teaching him to fly. The screams kept pulling him back, his mind wandering to all the poems he’d ever heard about blood on snow.
“Couldn’t we have some music or something? A kazoo even?” An elf kazoo band came to mind, Phil conducting with a candy cane. Not that big of a stretch, in his opinion.
“As if you didn’t have enough problems concentrating already, Frostbite.”
Tooth fluttered by, flicking Bunny’s ear. “What’s wrong, Aster? Don’t you like music anymore?”
The wind almost knocked him off his feet. “Wait, wait. Aster? Who the hell is Aster?”
“I’m Aster, stupid.”
“Then why are they always calling you Bunny?”
“Bunnymund. It’s my surname. E. Aster Bunnymund.”
Jack laughed. “Seriously? Isn’t an aster a flower or something?” Sandy slashed a finger across his throat, shaking his head. This was just too fun.
“Yes.”
“So why did your parents give you a girl’s name?
North sighed. “Oh moon.”
“It’s not a girl’s name, it’s a Pooka name.”
“Now you’re just making stuff up.”
“I’m a Pooka.”
“I thought you were a Bunny.”
Bunny closed the space between them. “Bunnymund”
“If you’re not even a bunny, why’d you get so mad about the kangaroo thing?”
“Who wants cocoa? Bunny, elves have new recipe.” North led Aster away, as subtle as ever. Jack placed the bo down on a bench, taking back his staff. He turned it over in his hands, still expecting to find it cracked and splintered.
“I thought I should warn you Jack. North is worried about you losing your staff… worried in general, really. We all were after you left…” Tooth was wringing her hands, trying not to look at him. Baby Tooth perched on Jack’s shoulder, apologetically nuzzling his cheek.
‘Didn’t mean to tattle’
“We wanted to ask you what happened on Easter, but you left in such a hurry when we all woke up. I asked Baby Tooth what happened after the um, slumber party. She kept going on about you being her hero... it never occurred to her that you wouldn’t want us to know.”
“It’s fine. Not like I can stay mad at her anyway.”
The little bird chirped happily, pecking his cheek.
She relaxed. “You really didn’t know, Jack? About Aster?”
He shrugged. “I just assumed a cranky rabbit stood up one day and decided to yell in Australian and paint eggs. Makes as much sense as anything else.”
Tooth giggled. “He only really has an accent in English. He was in Australia when he mastered it, back when it was still being settled. He hadn’t bothered with many human languages before then.”
“Human languages? What did you all speak before then?”
“Russian mostly, for North’s sake. He knew a few other languages too, from his bandit days.”
“Wait, what? Bandit days?”
“Oh, he’ll love to tell you all about it. Nick St. North, the bandit king.” She giggled again. “He probably exaggerates the stories, but who knows? If you want a more accurate account, go to his library. The chronicles there were written centuries ago, when his fish tales were only minnows.”
He laughed, wondering where Sandy got to. “So what does the E. stand for?”
“He won’t tell us. He claims it’s because names are magic, but I think it just embarrasses him.”
“Names are magic?”
“Well, to Fae they are. Or at least they used to be. Some spells will only work with a full or ‘true name’. We’ll have to teach you magic, too. Voodoo, runes, potions, exorcisms, enchantments,” her smile widened. “Maybe we can have music next time. We always had music before - I think North still has a gramophone somewhere.”
He smirked, holding back a laugh. “Gramophone? I haven’t seen one of those in a while.”
“I suppose it has been a long time. The gramophone was brand new when he got it. We didn’t really use it much, but before that…”she stopped short, wings slowing. “Before that we had this music box. It could play any song but only if we’d heard it before. We’d all heard a lot by then, it was really a strange mix. North actually wrote a few songs, the chords for them anyway. Katherine wrote the words, and once we even got Aster to dance…” her voice trailed off as she sunk to the floor. She smiled again. “Well, maybe you can show us some modern music?”
“I think I can handle that.”
She threw her arms around him again, wings picking up. “This is going to be great, Jack, you’ll see.”

Chapter Text

Soft thuds echoed off the high ceiling, grunts muffled by the sound of shifting sand. Sandy snuck wary glances at North after every few blows dealt to Frost.
Aster shook his head. “What’s wrong with him? We know he can fight better than that.”
“Even did better in assessment. Did I hurt him?” he hadn’t meant to but he was known to get carried away as the others often reminded him. Once he even… no, he didn’t want to think about that now.
“He’s holding back.” Bunny said.
“I think… I think he’s afraid of hurting us.” Tooth said.
Aster rolled his eyes. “Fat chance of that.”
“Well, yes,” Tooth soothed. “But he might not realize that.”
Sandy picked Jack up off the floor, halfheartedly returning to a fighting stance. If Frost wouldn’t fight back, none of them would put up much of an effort.
“I’ll take him.” Aster announced.
“Bunny…?”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this. I trained a few kits in my day.” He hopped over the railing. “Take five, Sandy, I’ll take on the goober.”
Jack tightened his fingers around his staff, watching Aster carefully. The rabbit stretched, ignoring the scrutiny.
“No weapons, no powers, no choke holds. Sound good to you, Frosty?”
Jack set his staff aside, never taking his eyes off of Bunny.
“Put ‘em up, kid, let’s get started.” Jack shifted into a fighting stance, hands held at his shoulders.
“I said up, Frost,” the first blow connected with his jaw. “Ain’t protecting nothing that way. Now up.”
Jack staggered back from the blow, raising his fists higher. The next one hit him in the gut.
“Elbows in.” He rounded the kid, knocking him on the back. “Keep moving.”
Tooth winced at the blows echoing in the gym. “North, shouldn’t we – “
“I think Bunny is onto something.”
“Nice dodge, Frost,” his foot swept behind Jack’s, sending him to the ground. “It put you off balance though. On your feet.” Jack flung away the next attack, Aster’s back exposed for a second.
He whirled around, backhanding the kid, knocking him to the ground. “If ya’d taken the shot, you’d have me on the floor now. On your –“
Jack jumped, his foot connecting with Bunny’s jaw. Bunny staggered back as Jack’s eyes grew wide in fear. “I – “
Bunny smirked, rubbing his chin. “Now that’s more like it. Let’s try that again. This time, see if you can knock me down. Well, you can try anyway.”
Jack slowly smiled, returning to a fighting stance.
North patted Tooth’s arm. “See? Now he understands. Is just a game.”
***
Aster lowered himself onto the bench, wiping sweat from his fur. Okay, so the kid had earned his four points. They’d get him up to five over the next month.
Tooth squeezed Aster’s shoulder before flitting over to Jack.
“Ooh, my turn! Let’s start with grappling!”
Frost took a step back from her, eyebrows raised. “Grappling?”
“You know, like wrestling? Oh it’s fun, sweetie, really!” She dropped to her feet. “See, just grab my waist like this,” she guided his hand to her waist, oblivious to the shades of red the kid was turning.
“I really don’t-” He stammered.
“So I grab your head…”
Bunny laughed. “Oh moon; are you watching this, North? I wish I had a camera. She’s gonna give the ankle biter a heart attack.”
North only nodded, absently sharpening his swords.
“So spill, North. What’s this really about?”
“What? Swords are dull.”
“You know what I mean. This ‘sparring day’ stuff. We ain’t trained in over a hundred years and suddenly we need to be prepared?”
North shrugged. “Was a mistake.”
“Getting you to say that should be like -” Tooth flipped Jack over, pinning him to the ground. “Pulling teeth.”
“We lost Sandy. At funeral, I could not remember last time we had done anything like this. All of us together, no world to save. When I did remember, I realized how long ago it was. That is mistake I will not make again.”
Aster rubbed the back of his head. Last time would have been when they buried Katherine – what was left of her. Before that, they’d rarely gone a week without seeing each other. They’d had birthday parties then, Christmas and Easter parties too. They’d spent time with kids then.
North stood, his back popping loudly. “Speaking of Sandy, I am seeing where he has gotten to. Keep Elves away from explosives.”
Bunny nodded, trying to clear painful thoughts from his mind. Nostalgia – pain from an old wound. Bless her heart, Katherine had even found dictionaries interesting.
A pained shriek made him jump. Jack was thrown across the room, slamming into a wall. He crumpled to the floor, a handful of colorful feathers in his fist.
“Pulling feathers, bad idea.”
“Oh I am so sorry, sweetie!” Tooth said.
Bunny chuckled. “You okay there, Frostbite?”
“Yeah,” his voice cracked. “I’m just going to lay here till the room stops spinning.”
Aster pulled Jack off the floor, shooing away the fairies swarming around him.
“You must have been a real ladies man in the day, Frost”
Jack laughed. “Nah, girls hated me. Something about being an immature heathen.”
“Heathen, eh? How’d ya earn that title?”
“Burst out laughing during the eulogy for the village idiot. Worst whipping I ever got.”
“You laughed at a funeral?”
“If you met the guy you’d understand. Ma told everyone I was delirious with fever at the time. The guy’s family was still ticked off.”
“And you remember all that?”
He stopped, a slow smile forming. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
Bunny smirked. “Think fast”
Jack raised his hand to block the boomerang, a second too late. He only laughed as it rounded back to Aster.
“Jerk.”
“Told ya to focus.” He stopped, seeing bright blood pooling down Jacks arm, soaking into his sleeve.
“Shit,” Aster murmured. “Hold still, kit, I’ll get a towel.” He grimaced at his own mistake. Kid, not kit. Frosty didn’t seem to notice though.
“What for?” he ran his hand over his face, smearing blood across it. He frowned, staring at his hand. “Huh,”
“Look what you’ve done now, you look like death.”
“I’m bleeding.”
“No kidding. Would you sit down before Tooth sees and we’re both in for it?” he glanced up at the ceiling, expecting her to swoop in at any moment. There was a second cut somewhere on his hairline judging by the trail of blood trickling down to his jaw.
“I don’t bleed.”
Jack continued to stare at his hand, blood dripping down his fingers.
“What do you mean you don’t bleed?”
“I haven’t bled in three hundred years. Trust me; it pissed a few spirits off when they couldn’t make me bleed.”
Aster snatched a towel from an elf, shaking his head. “You need to make better friends. Now you’re dripping on the floor” he tried to put the towel to Jacks head, but the kid took a step back, holding the bleeding hand at eye level.
“Hang on, I want to watch this.”
Asters eyes widened. “You want to… you are insane, you know that, Frostbite?”
Jack shrugged.
“If I have to get Tooth to hold you down, no one is going to be happy.”
It just figured that Tooth could throw him into a wall and the kid was fine, but Aster tossed a boomerang at him and he was bleeding. Aster took a plastic water bottle from a bench.
“Wow, it’s warm.”
“No kidding.” He tipped a water bottle over the towel, watching the fabric darken.
“I really thought it would have been cold. Do you think it was frozen inside of me the whole time?”
Bunny grabbed him by the hair, yanking his head back to get a better look at the injury.
“Kids believe in you. You’re real to them, so you’re real enough to bleed. You might even start leaving footprints soon. Now hold still or I’m getting North and Tooth to hold you down.”
Jack rolled his eyes as he complied, tilting back his head. Aster dabbed the blood away, wondering where to find bandages without alerting Tooth. The kid was right though, his blood was warm. Not hot, not nearly hot enough for something alive but much warmer than the surrounding skin. It might have been brighter than human blood too, though maybe it just seemed that way against white hair. Blood always did look brighter on white hair.
“Frostbite? Those… ‘Friends’ who wanted to make you bleed? What exactly happened with that?”
Jack shrugged. “People don’t like me. I probably brought some of it on myself, mouthing off when my first few attempts at making friends didn’t work. But for some of them it’s just a game; like dropping things in water to see if they would float. They’d cut me to see if I would bleed.”
“Was that all they did to you?”
His face fell. “No.”
Aster sighed. “Don’t let them know you can bleed now, okay? Don’t let anyone know.”
“No kidding.”
“I mean it, Frost.”
“I know, I know.”
He’d have to tell North, get the word out that the kid was under their protection.

Chapter Text

Sometimes I lay awake at night, and I gaze at the stars and think to myself, where the hell did the ceiling go?
It took Jack longer than he’d have liked to admit to figure out that the stark white sky he woke up staring at was in fact a ceiling. The sensation surrounding him was warmth, something he’d almost forgotten. He’d felt heat in the last three hundred years, but not warmth. Not the soft dip of a mattress beneath him, or plush flannel sheets. He slowly sat up, stabbing pain shooting through his head.
Heads up, Frostbite!
“Dumb bunny.” he muttered, fingers brushing gauze as he held his throbbing head. Why would you yell heads up when what you meant was duck? After three weeks of training, he supposed he should have known better. He could taste copper in his mouth, his tongue thick. Right, he could bleed now.
He warily glanced around the room – bookshelf, desk, dresser, mirror, a chair and a closet, all the same bright white as the ceiling set against cobalt blue walls. He had to admit, it wasn’t the worst place he’d woken up in by far.
North must have stuck him in a guest room – he couldn’t imagine a Yeti fitting in this bed. The window was open a crack, a frigid breeze blowing over his cheeks, adding a chill to the warm from the blankets. It was perfect.
Jack snuggled back down into the covers, content to leave consciousness behind until his head stopped aching. His hand fell onto his chest, fingers brushing over smooth buttons. His eyes snapped open.
“What the hell am I wearing?”
Pale blue cotton covered his arms, silver buttons down the front. The crescents of dirt under his nails were gone. Oh moon above, did they bathe him too?
He searched the room again in a new panic, noticing a note on the nightstand.
Clothes are cleaned and in closet; Phil will be by with medicine at 2. Stay at Santoff Clausen until well. Lock up room before you leave or elves will likely destroy.
- North
The brass key from earlier was nestled in the note. A sweater and pair of jeans were folded neatly on the dresser, a pair of sneakers sitting beside the jingle shoes beside the door. He stared at the key, a smile growing over his face.
“I’ve got my own room.”
***
Jack wandered Santoff Clausen the next day, leaning on his staff for support. The ground still swayed beneath him, but after two hundred some years of trying to break into the place he had to have a look around. He tensed at every yeti and elf he came across, waiting for them to yell at him or throw him out.
Jack almost wished North had set some boundaries, some tape that he wasn’t allowed to cross just so he could stop waiting for the other shoe to drop. He wouldn’t necessarily listen, but it would be nice to know just what would get him in trouble and what was safe. How many times had he crossed some boundary with a ‘friend’ that left him in a ditch? No, not friend. It wasn’t his fault, it was theirs. The Guardians wouldn’t hurt him.
He swayed as he rounded a corner, stars dancing in his vision. They wouldn’t hurt him on purpose, anyway. He eventually came to a library, half empty and thick with dust. The books were old, most hand written or from a printing press with the letters faded, few in English. The handwritten ones seemed to be two different sets of handwriting, one soft and looping the other sharp and quick, signed K and O respectively.
Well, if a guardian of childhood didn’t have time for children then he wouldn’t have time for his library either. Jack wondered if North would mind him adding a few books to it – he couldn’t find homes for all the abandoned things he found. He could think of three public libraries off the top of his head that had left the books behind when they shut down.
If Temperance could see all those books left to rot…
“Tansy.” He swallowed tears back, the room spinning again. Stupid rabbit. As soon as he could walk again he’d ‘borrow’ one of North’s bottomless sacks and run a few errands. After all, he’d promised Tooth music.
***
Jack set the red sack on the roof as he tapped on the glass. It was barely after dark, and the glass was still hot to the touch. He rubbed his burned knuckle, recounting in his head how long he had before he had to head for snow. Three days in the desert, a week if he found shade, a month if he could sleep somewhere cool. Unless he had to fight or he got hurt, then it could be days or hours before he got sick.
He’d spent fifty years testing his limits after finally giving up on finding friends. He’d walked into the Sahara just to see if he could, picked fights to see if he could bleed although he already knew he wouldn’t. The wind would scold him before dumping him in a snowdrift to sleep and heal. At some point it all lost its appeal – he’d learned his limits anyway. There was really no reason to worry the wind. He pulled his sleeve over his hand, rapping on the glass again.
Jamie opened the window.
“Jack! What are you doing here? School’s almost out”
“Right, you’ve got summer off. I always forget that.” He missed summer, he realized. Winter had always been his favorite, but he’d loved summer too.
“Are you going to make it snow? Cause that would be so coo- er, fun.”
Jack smiled as he ruffled Jamie’s hair. “I could get away with that in Colorado, but not here. I think Bunny would kill me out of principal.”
The young boys eyes widened. “Are they here? Is Pitch back? Should I get the guys? I have a new water gun.”
“Hey, slow down. Spooky’s long gone and the others don’t even know I’m here.” Jack dropped his gaze. “But I do need your help.”
“Really? With what?”
He looked up timidly. “Do you have a library card Jamie?”

Chapter Text

Sandy called it weaving. No one asked him, and he never told, but it was weaving. Threads of sand spun into dreams softer than cotton. Fast to respond and reform when touched but gentle enough not to startle children out of sleep. While he started the dreams, he left the ends open so children could finish them. After all, who was he to tell children how to create art?
He felt eyes watching him. He smiled, waiting for Jack to approach. Sandy hated being alone anymore after being taken by Pitch – being isolated in his own mind, barely aware of anything, struggling to remember what it was he was supposed to be doing. Then those moments afterwards when he realized his body had been used to hurt his friends, to hurt children, had driven him to sleep just to escape his thoughts for a few moments. For the first time he was truly grateful that Nightlight had avoided the fate of a Fearling.
But Jack should have approached him by now, should be playing with the sand. Could he even fly straight yet? A smile spread across Sandy’s wide face. He playfully shifted into a fighting stance, waiting for a sneak attack. He’d gotten jumped by Tooth a week ago, her giggling like a little girl as she darted away. She never should have left the field.
A shadow darted out of the corner of his eye. He whirled around, waiting. Nothing. He paused now, sending his sands out on their own. Tooth would have attacked by now. Aster?
He found the form hiding behind a tree. It leapt, darting under a bridge. North?
He followed it, question marks forming over his head. It ran again, far too small and fleet to be the old Russian.
Maybe it was Jack after all. But he should be at Santoff Clausen, still laid up with a concussion. Not that that would stop him. But why would he be running? Sandy was at full speed now, wind whipping past his ears.
He grinded to a halt in midair at the sound of a child screaming. Dread filled him, realizing the shadow was long gone. He followed the screams to an open window in an apartment building. A hysterical child huddled in a corner, flinching at the sight of him.
Neighbors pounded on the door, calling out to the residents.
“Lisa? Lisa, what is it? What is he doing to you?” Sandy frowned, following the child’s gaze. He took a step back, recognizing the stains spreading on the mass of fabric in the center of the room. Oh Moon.
Lisa sobbed, looking at anything but the maimed corpse in the middle of the room. Sandy took the shaking child in his arms, stroking her hair back.
“-Mark, so help me, if you’ve hurt her again…”
Another voice in the hallway joined in. “The police are on their way. Maybe this time…”
Sandy wove threads around the girl, slowly easing her into sleep. Her crying finally stopped by the time the police arrived. Sandy stayed with her until the social worker took her away. Then he was off to the North Pole, cursing himself for mistaking a shadow for anything but what it was.
***
Bunnymund arrived hours before the lights were due to appear in the sky, nose twitching in anger. Snow. In his warren. In the middle of June, no less. Easter blizzards were one thing, but June? He barely acknowledged the Yetis he passed; he already knew where to find the kit. He’d mop the floor with him.
Frostbite was in the gym kneeling in front of a mass of parts and wires, holding a screwdriver between his teeth. What had he called that thing? A stereo. Frost had been trying to fix the hunk of junk for weeks now, always coming back with new bits and pieces. He was actually wearing the clothes North had found for him. In jeans and sneakers the kit almost looked… normal. Then a little fairy flitted out of his pocket and the illusion was ruined. Half a dozen of them flew around Jack, bringing him bits and wires and diving into a bag of jelly beans at his side.
Frost pulled back a sleeve, scribbling notes in blue pen down his arm before setting down the screwdriver.
“You can save some for your sisters – you are all girls, aren’t you? But don’t let the boss know or we’re all in for it. “
“Is that a confession, mate?”
He glanced up at Bunnymund.
“Oh hey, Bunny. Want some? I gotta get rid of these before Tooth comes and—”
“I’ve got a bone to pick with you, Frostbite”
Jack sighed, setting the pen down. “Oh Moon, now what?”
“Any idea why it would be snowing above my warren in the middle of June?”
Jack tapped his chin thoughtfully, a smug grin on his face. “Well if I had to guess, it would have to be somewhere in the southern hemisphere? Wait, is it actually in Austraila, or does it float around like—”
Aster crossed his arms over his chest. “So you expect me to believe you had nothing to do with it.”
“I just told you, I don’t even know where it is. Believe it or not, there was snow before I was Jack Frost. I didn’t invent the stuff. Anyway, I even have an alibi. I was with Jamie yesterday.”
“You were in Burgess in June.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “There’s a thing called air conditioner, a real wonder. We were at the library, then I went dumpster diving for parts on my way back. I even burned my hand on a grate.”
“Right, what would you do at a library?”
“We were looking for my family. I don’t know what happened to them after I… left. If I’d remembered them I could have watched them. Maybe found a way to let them know I was all right. But I don’t know what happened to them.”
Aster’s throat tightened. “Did you find anything?”
“No. Not yet.”
Names and faces he could barely remember flashed through his mind. Poly, Poppy, Peony, Phlox, Pansy, Petunia… what was number seven?
“We had families too, Frostbite. Well, Tooth and I had families. I don’t know about Sandy, and North was a feral child. I think he sort of just popped out of the ground somewhere in Russia.”
Jack smirked. “Like a Cabbage Patch Kid?”
“Musta been a patch in a bad neighborhood. But don’t give up just yet.” He glanced at the heap in front of him. “Speaking of which, how’s that hunk of junk coming?”
Jack rubbed the back of his neck. “Um, it hasn’t shocked me in a few days so pretty good.”
“You have no idea what you’re doing, do you?”
“Half an idea, maybe. Can’t find the right parts.”
“You can’t just get one that works?”
“If it worked they wouldn’t have thrown it out.”
Tooth fluttered in the room from an open window. “I’m here, girls! What do you have there?”
Bunny snatched the bag of jelly beans out of Jacks hands.
“Jelly beans? Where did you get jelly beans?”
“That’d be me, Sheila. Want some?”
He popped one in her mouth before she could answer. Her eyes grew wide for a moment before she grabbed the bag from Bunnymund, finishing it off herself.
Aster shrugged at Jack’s dumbfounded expression. “She has a love-hate relationship with sugar. Won’t turn down chocolate but will be mad at ya for it later.”
By the time the meeting started, she was talking a mile a minute, hovering inches above her seat. The mini fairies flitted around the room, buzzing and chirping and dive-bombing the elves.
“Is she even speaking English anymore?” Frost whispered across the table. Sandy shrugged as North regarded him and Bunnymund suspiciously.
“From now on we agree- no more giving Tooth de sugar, yes?”
Jack’s face split into a grin. “Well,”
Bunny kicked him under the table. “Got it. Now what are we here for?”
North sighed, cracking his neck. “Is Pitch again. Sandy saw him last night. He’s murdered a parent. I believe there have been others.”
“Why is Pitch killing parents?” Jack asked.
“Does it matter?” North responded. “This is what we have been training for. Let’s go! We’re burning moonlight!” Tooth cheered before zooming away, North and Sandy following close behind.
The kit looked around the room, shrugging helplessly as he ran to catch up to the others.
“Wait, Frostbite!” Aster ran after him, dodging elves and yetis. One of these days he was going to sedate North, Moon help him. Weren’t humans supposed to mellow with age? North was already going through their gear outside the sled when he caught up to them, grabbing the kit by his hood.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he panted.
“Wherever you guys are going.” Jack responded.
“What?” Tooth said. “Jack, it’s summer.”
He rolled his eyes. “Why does everyone keep telling me that? I’m winter, I can keep track of seasons.”
“What happens if you get too hot?” Tooth asked.
He held up his hands in defeat. “I’m not a snowman, I won’t melt. I know my limits, promise.”
“Knowing your limits,” Aster sighed, “doesn’t mean you’ll listen to them. What do we do if you run yourself ragged?”
Jack shrugged. “Dump me in a snow bank if the wind doesn’t beat you to it. Air-conditioning, shade, frozen peas if you have to.”
“How long do you have?” Bunny demanded.
Jack grinned. “My record time was a month in Death Valley. Felt pretty good about that, until I realized I’d lost a few years sleeping off the sunstroke in Antarctica.”
Aster felt his blood pressure rising. “So, so what, you just pranced around doing crazy stunts to see what wouldn’t kill you?”
Jack nodded. “That’s about it. I was pretty sure I couldn’t die by then, though. “
“You’ve got problems, you know that?”
“So you keep telling me.” Jack deadpanned.
He set the kit down as North tossed him a leather bag. Aster slung the bag over his shoulder, Jack watching him warily.
“I don’t know, North, I don’t think I can really pull off the man purse thing like Bunny can,”
Bunny snorted. “I make it look good.”
“In bag are emergency supplies, flares, snow globes and weapons. Flares will help us find each other without alerting other spirits. If you find Pitch, light flare and stay on his trail. Do not engage. Do not let him see you.”
“Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars, no get out of jail free card…”
“Any suggestions on where to look?” Bunny interrupted. “Besides under beds?”
North shrugged. “Sometimes Pitch is in closet.”
Jack burst out laughing.
North looked to the others in confusion. “What? What is funny?”
The winter spirit wiped a tear from his eyes. “I am so not having that conversation with you guys.”
***
Sandy’s breath caught when he saw the flare in the sky. Already? It should have taken longer. It was a trap, it had to be. Why else would Pitch have been following him around? Sandy just hoped that whoever had found him had enough sense to stay put until the others arrived. He landed outside a cave his heart dropping when he saw who was absent.
“Aw shit, it’s Frostbite.” Aster moaned.
“Better hurry then.” North said.
They entered the cave, weapons raised. Pitch’s voice could be heard now echoing in the cavern. Screams of… rage? Pain? The path led them to a large room, fire casting violent shadows on the cavern walls as the boogeyman ranted and raved in the center. Jack leaned against a wall, head to the side as he watched. He glanced up, smirking as he spotted them. “Hey, guys. Found him.”
Pitch was still screaming, oblivious to their presence. He clawed at his chest, deepening bloodless gashes. Rocks and stalagmites shattered on the floor around him.
“Jack,” Tooth gasped. “What did you do to him?”
“Nothing.” the boy said. “He was like this when I found him.”
Pitch was speaking nonsense now, shrieking in languages that didn’t exist anymore. He took a sliver of rock from the floor, slicing into his chest.
“What is he doing?” Bunny said.
“From what I gather, trying to carve his soul out, even asked me to help. Then he started speaking in tongues and I lost him.”
“Enough of this” Bunny charged forward, immediately thrown back by the madman.
Jack nodded. “Yeah, I tried that. Didn’t work.”
“Sandy, would you mind?” North asked.
One sand bomb later, Pitch’s screams were silenced.
Jack knelt down, examining Pitch’s discarded stone blade. “Somehow, I don’t think he’s our guy.”
“Of course he is!” Bunny snapped.
Jack shook his head though, gesturing at the cave. “Look around though, he’s been at this for a while. There’s dust everywhere but here.”
“Or it’s a trick.” Bunny insisted.
“Sandy, you saw Pitch, right?” North asked.
Sandy paused. No nightmares, not even Pitch’s voice. Just a shadow. He shrugged, question marks and shadows forming over his head.
“But you’re sure the shadow was the killer?” Tooth said.
He nodded, claws and teeth flashing over his head.
Jack blinked in confusion. “Uh, what, a werewolf?”
“Claw marks.” Bunny snapped. “The body had claw marks. You’d know that if you’d been paying attention.”
“Werewolves wouldn’t leave the children alive but take the parents. If anything, it’s the other way around.” Tooth said.
Jack’s eyes widened. “Wait really? Werewolves? I was totally joking—”
“Most creatures’ first choice is children. If they take adults, bodies are never found.” North said.
“And I’m talking to myself again.” Jack sighed. Sandy patted his arm – he knew that feeling all too well.
“They’re usually quite young, too, unless they’re pregnant…” Tooth rubbed her arms. “Oh, but that hasn’t happened in centuries.”
Jack frowned. “Pregnant? Is that one of the things I’m not allowed to talk about?”
“Some of them don’t even exist anymore.” Bunny said.
“Barring unknown creatures, that would leave…” Tooth’s voice trailed off as the cave fell silent again. Pitch whimpered in his sleep, curling into a ball.
“What do we do with him?” Bunny asked.
“I think we have cages somewhere. Can cage him in here. Yetis will take care of it.”
He turned to leave, not looking to see if they followed him.
Jack leaned close to Sandy. “Seriously, werewolves? How did I not know this?”

Chapter Text

Chapter 7
Aster shivered, the torch in his hand making ghosts of his shadow. Dust had settled over smooth hewn stone of the labyrinth catacombs, each footprint they left desecrating the place. One hundred seventy-five years since he’d set foot in this place and it still felt sacrilegious to disturb the dirt. They should have visited – would have visited, if this weren’t the figurative gateway to hell. One of the outer circles, maybe. That Dante couldn’t count to save his life; there were far more than nine.
Frostbite trailed behind him, taking everything in like a tourist. “I’m not sure I’ve ever met a fairy besides Tooth.”
“Fae, not fairy.” Aster snapped. “Don’t let anyone else hear you make that mistake.”
Jack held his hands up in surrender. Bunny sighed, glancing around for a landmark. They should have made that map when they’d had the chance.
“The sooner we get out of here the better.”
“I thought you liked being underground.”
“Not in a tomb.” It’s not her tomb, he told himself. She wasn’t there, never was. There wasn’t anything left.
They came to a high ceilinged columbarium, three archways adjacent to the one they’d just come from. Ornate carvings crawled up the walls, trees with knotted roots, creatures that Aster didn’t even recognize. Their empty stone eyes still seemed to stare through him while the iron boxes inurned in the wall weighed down on him.
“Found it. One of us should circle back and let the others know.” He lifted the torch higher, squinting at a recess at the top of the wall. “You know, I never noticed the writing up there. I wonder—”
Jack grabbed the torch from him and took a running start at the wall, using his staff to vault to the top.
Bunny shook his head as Frostbite lit the trench of oil circling the room by the ceiling. “Remind me to never take you to Church.”
Jack knelt in front of the stone. “We’ve been wandering around in the dark for hours now, I’m bored.”
“So what’s it say, kid?”
“The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright—
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.
The moon was shining sulkily,
Because he thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done—”
Aster sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Ya can’t read, can you, Frostbite?”
Jack scoffed. “Yes, I can read — in English. This is like, Old Gaelic or Latin or something.”
“Ya could have just said so, ya nut.”
“Yeah, but this was way more fun,” he hopped down to the floor.
“Three hundred years and you only know one language?”
“I can speak a lot of languages, I only read English. Anyway, no one speaks Latin anymore.”
More lights emerged from the tunnel behind him, Tooth and Sandy blinking as their eyes adjusted to the increased light.
“Did you find anything?” Tooth asked.
Jack nodded. “I think it’s a tomb for a tree spirit. Forest spirit, even.”
“What?” Bunny said. “You said you couldn’t read it!”
“I can’t, but the tree motif was kinda a dead giveaway.”
Aster let out an exasperated growl, his paws clenching in a strangling motion at Frost’s throat. North entered, holding his torch high.
“Good, we found it. Sandy and I will speak to Seelie Court, Tooth will speak to forest guardians and solitary Fae. Bunny, you take Jack and speak to Unseelie Court.”
“Whoa, whoa – North, are you serious? Sending the kid to the Winter Court? Best case, he’ll never make it out of there. Worst case, he’ll start a war.”
North shook his head. “Fae are not strong enough to fight war. You will keep Jack safe, you know court politics. They will respond better to creature of spring if winter is with him. Jack, you listen to Bunny. We meet back at Santoff Clausen later.”
***
“Now what are the rules again, Snowflake?” Bunny drilled.
Jack rolled his eyes, counting off his fingers.
“Do not ask for their names. Do not give my name. Do not bleed. If I bleed, don’t let it fall on the ground. Don’t eat or drink anything. If anyone makes a pass at me, I am to run like hell. Don’t dance with them. Don’t sing with them. Avoid music in general. Be as polite as inhumanly possible, but don’t say ‘thank you.’
“Don’t let them know how much we really know — which shouldn’t be too hard since I don’t know anything. Avoid the topic of death and anything I care about. Don’t mention changelings, Roanoke or the battle of 1837. Don’t bet, imply a bet, play a game, or tease them. Avoid the topic of leprechauns and banshees at all costs.”
“And?”
Jack pressed his lips into a thin line while he tried to recall and fill in the blanks. “The… Standard Lady Rules?”
“Good boy,” he nodded his approval. “Those would be?”
“Do not ask about or comment on age, body mass, body parts, grey hair, or lady things I don’t even want to think about that the perverted bunny deemed necessary to mention.”
“Right.”
Aster walked ahead, raising the torch higher to peer ahead. He winced as the fire singed his ears again, wishing for a flashlight. He and North had argued over which would insult the Unseelie Court more; fire or technology. North had won in the end, although Aster knew the man truly didn’t care about the Court’s feelings. Honestly, he’d probably agreed with Aster that fire was more insulting and sent him with that out of principal.
Ice crackled behind him, Frost absentmindedly leaving a trail on the cavern wall.
“So… are you going to tell me what happened with North and the Fae, or is that just going to be the elephant in the room till I screw up again?”
He sighed. “No, you should know. But not here, not now. They might be listening. Remind me sometime, when we’ve got a minute and we’re somewhere safe.”
They approached the entry now, broad doors woven together from bleached branches.
“They like white.” Bunny explained. “It reminds them of death. Ash, bone…”
“And snow.”
“It stands out in the darkness, if that helps any.” The doors creaked open for them.
“Remember what I told you.”
Jack nodded sagely. “Standard Lady Rules.”
***
North glanced at the grandfather clock for the thousandth time that night. They hadn’t seen hide or hair of Jack and Bunny since they parted ways twelve hours ago. Meeting with the Seelie court had gone as well as expected, their gilded manners taking a book to say what could have been said in a sentence, if he didn’t need to verify every possible meaning of their words.
They didn’t know what had happened to the parents or Pitch and they didn’t care. Fae could not lie, but they were masters of deception nevertheless. So when the Seelie court boasted of their virtue, they believed every word they said. They chewed on lavender to cover up the blood and wine on their breaths, assaults were painted as epic and tragic romances, kidnapped children were compared to summer flowers that blossomed just for them and withered away too soon.
The Unseelie court on the other hand made no such efforts to deceive themselves.
The rest of them sat around a fire, mugs of cocoa in their hands, waiting for their missing friends. North glanced at the clock again. Twelve hours and five minutes. Moon, he never should have sent Jack.
“Oh, what a disaster.” Tooth sighed, seated on the floor in front of Sandy’s chair as he and mini fairies preened bark and leaves from her feathers. Sandy smacked away elves trying to steal feathers, not once looking up from his task.
She glanced towards the door again. “Should we go looking for them?”
Familiar voices came echoing down the hall, angry shouts nearly drowning out Phil’s cries. ‘They’re here, sir.’
“No need, Tooth.”
“If’n ya’d just listened—“
“You said not to ask for their names, you didn’t say anything about asking for their pronouns. Also, bite me.”
***
“Daddy’s home!” she laughed as the child scrambled into the kitchen, clamoring onto a barstool. “Daddy!”
The man briefly glanced over at his son, placing the groceries on the counter. “Hey, Billy.” The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, her back straightened. Tired. Discontent. Do not engage.
Billy saw none of this. “Daddy, I made a friend today!”
“Did you?” The man didn’t look up from the fridge. Maybe she was wrong.
“She’s real nice and pretty!” they couldn’t all be like her Father, right?
“I thought girls had cooties.” He said, voice dripping with disdain. No, this wasn’t good. she picked at her cuticles, fear rising in her throat. Billy, stop.
“Not Avy. She came home with me today. ”
He looked his son in the eye. “Avy is not a name, son.”
“Is too. It’s her name. Tell him, Avy
“No one’s there, Billy.” His voice was growing hard.
Billy shook his head. “No, Avy is—“
She jumped as the slap echoed throughout the apartment. Tears stung the child’s eyes, his jaw locked shut.
“There’s no one here. Avy is not a name. You’re too old for imaginary friends and I won’t have you telling lies. Put these groceries away. I’ll be back later.” He stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him. Billy remained frozen until his father was gone, eyes trained on the floor. They listened in silence to his footsteps thunder down the stairs, unmoving until they heard the car start up outside and fade away.
Finally he looked up, unsure if she would still be there. “What happened, Avy?” he whispered, his voice wavering.
“I think,” she swallowed, trying to keep her voice steady. “He couldn’t see me. I think you’re the only one who can.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re the first one who saw me since…” she couldn’t finish the sentence, not to him. How did you tell a child that you were dead? She sat down beside him, stroking his hair back. “Does – does he hit you a lot, Billy?”
His eyes flitted back down, shoulders hung. “He’s not home much.” That was a yes.
“Where is your mama?”
“Daddy says she went away.” It came out as a question, though, an uncertain memory. “She was sick I think, but she said she was coming back. I asked daddy but…”
“He doesn’t like to talk about it.”
“He gets sad and angry.”
There had always been her own doubt about her mother, if the woman had really abandoned Avery and May with their father, or if the man had deposited her body in one of the swamps he said no one ever came out of. That had been one of his favorite veiled threats, ‘there are places, girls, where no one ever comes back from. If you got lost there, they’d never find you.”
Maybe she and Billy could hide there.