Escaping Darkness

“Why do I have to wear a suit again?” Jack complained, tugging at the navy tie around his neck. Ju immediately swatted his hand away. She was now up to Jack’s eyes because of the heels she undoubtedly wore beneath her ballgown.

“Would you stop playing with that?” Ju asked as she adjusted the snowdrops Aster had provided Jack to wear. The Guardian had since given up complaining about having to wear flowers after Ju pointed out she had her seasonal flower in her hair and leaves were pinned all over her dress.

Tooth fluttered around to make a few minor adjustments here and there on everyone. To Aster, she donned a pair of tiny green spectacles that were apparently hidden in his old coat pocket. The fairy actually took a comb to North’s beard and eyebrows. There wasn’t much she could do for Sandy, so she just left him alone. A bit of lipstick on her teeth and a few stray hairs were all Tooth had to fix for Ju. When it was Jack’s turn, Ju had to remind Tooth not to get lost in his teeth. Aria escaped only to have the May Queen show up and insist upon doing her hair ten minutes before they all had to leave.

“Jack,” Tooth called, pulling the frost spirit out of his thoughts. The fairy was hovering directly in front of him, with- was that a comb in her hand? “Sorry, Sweet tooth, but we need to brush your hair.” Before she even finished, Jack was already halfway across the room.

“Wha- But I haven’t brushed my hair in over three hundred years and no one’s cared before,” the frost spirit protested as his back met with the very firm, unmoving expanse that was the wall.

“That’s because ya haven’t stayed at a formal event fer more than half an hour in that time, Frostbite,” Aster explained, setting himself down on the nearest couch. Jack would have denied this if Tooth wasn’t bearing down on him with the wretched comb. Besides, the white haired teen had technically stayed longer than what the Easter Kangaroo had claimed before. Albeit it was rare, but still.

“Jack, I don’t see what your problem is. Even Aria brushes her hair on a regular basis!” Ju added. It was clear she was trying not to laugh at Jack’s pouting face.

“That’s because my hair covers most of my back when not tried up and I would be stupid to leave it without a regular brushing like that,” Aria replied as she walked into the room. She automatically made her way over to the nearest chair and draped herself over it with her legs dangling off one of the arms. The May Queen followed after, with chidings for her to sit properly.

“Wow, she actually is a girl,” Jack commented, his mouth twitching up into a smirk. The French girl responded with a growl at the white haired boy, which only caused his smirk to grow. Ju rolled her eyes at the childish behavior between the two before straightening the orchid in Aria’s hair.

“Anyways, Frost, I don’t see why you are complaining. You don’t have to wear a freaking dress!” The temperamental spring spirit exclaimed. She threw her head back with a groan as Ju, once again, slapped her hand for fiddling with her fringe-gusset-whatever.

“Aria, just shut it, it’s only one night out of the entire year you have to do this,” Ju snapped, finishing her own personal inspection before letting Tooth take over. As the start of the ball drew ever closer, the fall spirit’s patience waned.

“Remercie la lune,” the blonde muttered. Her discomfort was shortening her already fiery temper.

“Wait, Aria,” North called, drawing Aria’s attention. “Did you not grow up during time which girls wore dresses every day?” The groan that came from the girl brought out some chuckles and a glare from a now very impatient Fall Season.

“Now that we’ve settled how unreasonable and childish Aria’s complaints are, shall we all get to the ball?” Ju asked. When Aria attempted to defend herself, Ju turned to her smiling in a way that, although sweet, threatened a great level of pain should the group to tarry any longer. The Spring Season decided to go for the golden choice and shut her mouth.

“Right, we should get going! Everybody, to the Sleigh!” North exclaimed, walking out of the room with a skip in his step. Both of the more childish seasonal spirits perked up at the mention of ‘sleigh’ before taking off after the Russian Guardian. Ju shook her head in exasperation at the three’s display.

“No sleigh,” the Chinese spirit interjected. The three instantly deflated, turning to look at her like children with their favorite puppy snatched away. “I am not about to have all of my hard work be ruined by a crazy sleigh ride.”

“But Ju...” Aria pined while Jack muttered, “Crazy fun sleigh ride…” behind her back.

“No. Now, a snow globe will take us there just as safely, if not faster, without ruining our clothes,” Ju stated, leaving no room for argument. Behind her, Aster let out a sigh of relief. North sighed but relented, motioning for one of the yeti to bring out a snow globe. The Christmas Guardian muttered the location of the Ball and threw the globe. The older Guardians and the May Queen entered the portal first while Jack and Aria took their dear sweet time. Ju stayed behind to make sure the two did not attempt to make a break for it. At that moment, the Autumn Season decided to do a quick glance over to make sure everything was in place.

“Jack,” the Chinese spirit called, addressing the now fearful boy. Her tone was sweet sugar laced with deadly venom. “Where are your shoes?”

Aria did not believe it was possible for the frost spirit to become paler than he already was. Of course, she had been proven wrong before, but never this quickly. She quickly gave her comrade a pat on the back before hopping through the portal, leaving Jack at the mercy of a very pissed off Ju.

Aria already felt her eye twitching by the time Jack and Ju arrived at the ball. As soon as she exited the portal, the May Queen dragged her off to greet the Seasonal Courts. That was not the annoying part, quite the contrary actually. She was able to enjoy talking battle tactics with the Summer Knight until all the Queens present began to scold her. Eventually, she was reluctantly pulled into the standard Court Gossip. Normally, Aria would be able to tune out the annoying chatter, but it seemed like tonight the group of fairies and nymphs decided to make an attempt at including her into their chatter as well. By the time Aster came to her rescue, she was silently begging for anything to put her out of her misery.

“Looks like yer having fun there, sheila,” Aster commented jokingly. The blonde just rolled her eyes as the two made their way away from the chattering annoyances. The spring spirits chatted more as the two made their way to the refreshments table at the outskirts of the crowd. Thankfully, it seemed like none of the jokesters had gotten to the punch yet, so they both grabbed a glass before continuing to the edge of the room. Both leaned against the wall and sipped their drinks while exchanging flora tips when an even bigger annoyance decided to rear its head.

“There you are, Ianthe,” an annoyingly familiar voice called out. Aria made a sound that was between a groan and a whimper as she dropped her head in resignation.

“What do you want, Groundhog?”

The abnormally large rodent stood before the two with his arms crossed. He looked as much like his namesake as Aster looked like a rabbit. Reddish brown fur covered the entirety of his body. There was an everlasting debate on whether he was really fluffy or if he had just put on some weight since becoming a spirit. “I came to talk to you about Winter’s Herald.”

Aria found it in herself to suppress the groan that wanted to surface, and replaced it with a sigh as she brought her fingers to pinch the bridge of her nose. “What about it this time, Groundhog? Just because I am a Season does not mean I can go after a different season’s spirit, especially one that is on the court.”

“You are too soft on him!” Aria rolled her eyes at the start of the familiar argument, but let the rodent continue. “I made a prediction for an early spring and, for the most part, it was followed. But that little piece of frostbite decided to stick around, spreading his cold until Easter, and in my home to boot! I think the only reason Hoppity here didn’t complain this year was because he was too busy dealing with a belief drought to care about it.”

Aster snarled at the rodent’s accusation. Of all the stupid, uninformed pieces of- Aria stepped in between the Pooka and the Groundhog. She spotted a familiar mop of white hair not far off over the rodent’s shoulder, but chose not to draw attention to it.

“Groundhog, as I already stated, I may not interfere with another season’s court. And even if I could, what Jack Frost chooses to do in his territory is entirely up to him, so long as he does not upset the balance of nature, which he did not. Now I suggest you stop trying to cause a fight and actually go learn of the latest news in the court. I’m sure Jack would not like it if I were to attempt to fight his battles for him.”

A blast of cold shot down the rodent’s back, coating the glossy fur in a sheen of white ice before melting into the Groundhog’s skin. “As much as I am thankful for you for attempting, Aria, it is unnecessary.”

“Frost,” the Groundhog hissed and whirled around to face the smirking teen. The rodent raised a clawed paw, ready to rake the pretty boy’s face to shreds, but the spring spirit let out a small cough, bringing the rodent’s attention back to the ball. The Spring Herald did a quick glance at the surrounding crowd, a good portion of whom were now watching. Calculating the possible consequences to his actions, the Groundhog lowered his paw and backed off. He cast one last glare at the annoying trio before making his way over in the direction of the Courts.

Now that the show was over, the surrounding crowd returned to socializing. Jack stepped closer to the two spring spirits and greeted them. “Thanks for the save there, Aria. He’s never been very happy with me.”

“It’s alright, Frosty. Sides, he’s been after me since before I became a Season about how ‘lenient’ I am on everybody, especially winter spirits,” Aria replied, shrugging off the thanks. She glanced around at the guests gathered together. It looked like most of them were present, meaning it was about time for all of them to sit down in the dining hall for the feast. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Jack fiddling with something on his feet.

“I see Typhoon Juhua managed ta ge’ ya inta a pair of shoes, Frostbite,” Aster said once he noticed the winter boy’s fiddling as well.

“Yeah and they’re uncomfortable. I don’t see how people can wear these all the time. How come you don’t have to wear any, ‘Roo?”

“Kinda hard ta find shoes that fit a rabbit, mate. Especially one my size,” Aster pointed out with a chuckle. Over the past couple of months, the Pooka learned to ignore the names the teen Guardian threw at him. They were always used in a joking manner, so they weren’t as irritating. The idle chatter continued between the three for a few minutes before a large set of doors opened and a fairy came out.

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the spirit world, your food is ready.”

As soon as the words were out of the fairy’s mouth, Aria kicked off the wall with a sarcastic remark of, “Yay, speeches,” and followed the crowd. This left Aster and Jack alone to find their seats. Jack turned to the Pooka and shrugged before walking after the blonde, not noticing the small trail of white petals behind him.

“Looks like Mother Nature chose not ta come again this year,” Aster stated as they entered the dining hall. Jack gave him a confused look, which begged for an explanation. “Mother Nature has only shown up a handful of times since Ju was chosen as tha Season of Fall. Before that, she would make a big speech ta start the festivities, but now regulates that off ta Aria and Ju. Most she does now is leave a little message in tha form of a flower ta show she isn’t completely neglecting her duty.”

“What’s this year’s mean?” Jack asked, seeing the Snow Queen sitting at one of the front tables on the exact opposite side of the room from where all the spring spirits were seated.

“Let’s see. This year’s an iris, so that would mean good news. Anyways, Frostbite, we should be heading ta our seats.” Jack nodded in agreement before going off to the Winter side of the room.

Looking at the arrangement of tables, the Winter Herald was reminded of that set of movies he watched with Jamie, about that boy from England that went to a wizarding school. There were five long tables in the front, each spirit seated by season with non-seasonal entities in the center. The ‘warmer’ seasons sat on one side and the ‘cooler’ sat on the other. Behind the five tables was a table where the seasonal courts sat. The Courts sat in the order of herald, knight, queen, and king for spring and summer and the reverse for the autumn and winter. While making his way to his seat, Jack spotted the Summer Knight politely chatting with Lady June. As soon as his eyes landed on the Knight, Jack felt a cold glare fix on him. He glanced back behind the Courts’ table to where the Seasons sat and his gaze met Juhua’s. Through that glare, she silently told him the horrors he would face should he go through with what was obviously going on in his mind. That did make Jack waver for a moment, but he ultimately chose to ignore the warning. After all, this party could certainly use some livening up, and the frost spirit knew the Summer Knight would be happy to help, with some competition, of course.

“Whatever you are planning, Jackson, don’t,” warned a cool, feminine voice accompanied by a drop in temperature around him. Jack looked up to see, surprisingly, the entirety of the Winter Court gathered. The Snow Queen, the owner of the voice, wore a dress that reminded Jack of blue and white cotton candy. Her shawl looked as though it was made out of fur, but was, in fact, made out entirely of fresh, powdery snow. With each movement the Snow Queen made, snowflakes were sent spiraling through the air. Father Frost sat to her right, reminding Jack of that guy with the sideburns from that tried to take over that Norwegian Kingdom a couple centuries back. The only difference in outfits, outside of the solid blues and whites only, was the cape that flowed down his back like a waterfall, dissolving into diamond dust before hitting the floor. Both the Queen and Father Frost wore simple silver crowns on top of their ice white hair. General Winter sat on the other side of the Snow Queen and already looked a little intoxicated, which translated to probably about five shots of vodka. He actually looked like those old drawings of North when he was younger, if North had silver hair and wore World War I uniforms back then.

“I have no idea what you are talking about, Lady Lumi,” Jack replied, painting the look of pure innocence on his face.

“Come now, коротышка, you had same look as Дед Мороз when he gets idea for new toy!” General Winter proclaimed, slapping Jack on the back. Any conversation, or continuation of, was halted by the chiming of silver on crystal. The entirety of the ball turned to look at the source, seeing the only two standing Seasons calling for attention. Both Aria and Ju had smiles spread across their faces, but Jack had a feeling at least one of them was faking it.

“Good evening ladies, gentlemen, and friends, welcome to the 1,841st Mid-Annum Ball,” Ju started off, giving off the feel of a welcoming hostess.

“We would like to thank you on behalf of Mother Nature, who, sadly, was not able to make it this evening but sends her regards.” Huh, so Aria could manage to act like a welcoming hostess after all. Who knew?

“Tonight, we are here to celebrate another successful year and to recognize each other’s achievements and triumphs.”

“Triumphs such as the successful capture of the centuries old, mortal witch Baba Yaga, which was lead by Summer’s Knight, Ochieng Kiangazi.” There was a pause in the two’s speech as cheers erupted to congratulate the Knight. Ochieng stood and bowed before the crowd in gratitude, glowing with pride at the cheers, before sitting down again. When the roar died down, the Ju continued.

“Sir Kiangazi’s success is not the only one we must celebrate, though. This past Easter, the Guardians fought and defeated Pitch Black once more, this time with the aid of the newest Guardian, Jack Frost.” This time, the cheers weren’t so forthcoming, only consisting of polite clapping with some enthusiasm coming from the other Guardians and the Seasons.

“What?!” A screech rang through the hall, silencing what little cheer had accumulated. The hall’s attention turned to the Spring Court, where the Groundhog now stood. “What do you mean he was chosen to be a Guardian? He already has a position on the Winter Court! Most of the spirits in this room will never be given the privilege of having either title, yet that little piece of frostbite holds both! How is that fair?”

Aria, Ju, and the other Guardians opened their mouths to reprimand the rodent and defend the boy, but an unexpected voice spoke up in their stead.

“Jack Frost was given both titles on both the amount of power he holds and his own merit, Groundhog.” All heads swiveled to the Summer Knight, who was now glaring at the rodent. “Frost has held the title of Winter Herald for nearly three centuries, and has never once overstepped his boundaries. Besides, it was Mother Nature who had appointed him the role then, and it is the Man in the Moon who has chosen him now to become a Guardian. In case you have forgotten, neither party has any say at all in what the other does and he is not the only spirit to have been offered both. Nicholas St. North and E. Aster Bunnymund were both offered to be part of the Courts of Winter and Spring when they first became Guardians, from what I have heard.”

“Sir Kiangazi is correct, Groundhog. Although we were not present when those offers were made, we know of them.” Ju agreed, drawing attention away from the two seasonal spirits who now looked ready to have a brawl.

“Also,” Aria continued, flexing her hands behind her back, “even if we were to agree with the seeming unfairness of the choosing, we have no say in what either Belle-Mère or the Man in the Moon do or who they choose; especially if the one they choose is outside of our court, Groundhog.”

The Groundhog stood there for a few moments, looking ready to explode into a flurry of protests. Thankfully, none came and the rodent stiffly returned to his seat, shooting a glare at each of the young seasonal spirits. Ju heaved a short sigh before addressing the crowd of gathered spirits once more. “Now that there are no more complaints on Jack Frost’s titles, let us enjoy this bountiful feast that the Autumn Court is so generous to provide!”