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Guardian of Wishes

Summary:

Asha, a fairy godmother in training, comes to answer the wish of a young winter spirit who wishes to be seen. She needs help from Star, before all three of them end up whisked away to help the Guardians of Childhood protect the children of the world from the Boogeyman, Pitch Black, and an army of nightmares.
Unfortunately, Pitch Black has an ally, a certain dark sorcerer-king from Asha's past, who will challenge all she knows about protecting wishes.

Chapter 1: Jack Frost and Star

Chapter Text

Inspired by this edit on my Tumblr.


The sun set. Giggling children were ushered away to their homes, to warm dinners and comfy beds. For the most part, the snow on the lawns and streets melted away, leaving behind just another chilly late-winter evening.

Asha joined her new friend on the rooftops, looking up at the sky. The pure black of night was broken only by the luminous face of the moon. Such a being had never meant much to her, now - but that was before she had met the boy who stood next to her now.

Said boy was Jack Frost - white-haired, youthful, immortal, and charming. But she wouldn't have guessed any of that from him now, with the hood of his dark blue jacket pulled up over his hair, his expression solemn, eyes wondering, as he gazed skyward, clutching his staff. Just this afternoon, he'd used that gnarled crook to summon up a flurry of icy delight for the children in the park to frolic, laugh, and play; but now, he leaned on it as if he couldn't stand on his own two feet.

How many nights had he stood here alone, looking at the sky for answers? A hundred? A thousand? She didn't even know how old he was, only that he'd been fifteen for centuries now.

Asha said softly, "So that's the Man in the Moon? The one who made you a spirit?"

"That's him," Jack confirmed, slightly startled that she had joined him. He'd half-expected her to walk off and vanish, like everyone else did when his snow ceased to be as brilliantly exciting as before. But no, here she was, next to him on the rooftops, under an endless night sky. She'd been able to see him and speak to him the whole time, Jack reminded himself. Whatever she was - whatever power she held - he didn't know.

Asha stared up at the face of the moon. "He made you a spirit but didn't give you a purpose," she said softly. "Why would he do that?" At least her celestial friend and guide was truthful to her, telling her about the power that she held even when he wasn't by her side. But the Man in the Moon couldn't even do that?

"You wouldn't believe how many times I've asked," said Jack, not taking his eyes off the sky. "He never tells."

Well, if the moon wouldn't tell Jack, Asha doubted he would answer to her either. Which frustrated her even more than before. Have you ever wondered why you look up at the sky for answers? But a part of that sky clearly wasn't telling.

"Well," she said then, "he doesn't have to. We'll find out, anyway. But before we do, I need a friend."

Jack glanced at her. "A friend?"

"Yes! Don't worry, he's not too far," Asha said. "He never is." Not as distant as the Man in the Moon, at least. She just hoped that Jack wouldn't think she was mocking him or rubbing it in his face how easily her celestial friend and guide would answer her.

She took a deep breath, and sang. The same melody had called to him once, and now, he heard her every time. "So I call out for the stars to find me, and throw caution to every warning sign; I know there will be challenges that find me, but we can take them on if we align!"

Jack actually looked at her, as if she had lost her mind. "Um. Why, exactly, are you singing?"

Asha snickered, but shook her head. "Please, don't interrupt. He likes when I sing to get his attention."

"Who's he?"

"Just watch!" To the sky, Asha sang again. "So I make this wish, to have something more for us than this. Star, please hear this wish, to have something more for us than this!"

The last note echoed over the rooftops of a suburban neighborhood. Jack, mildly confused, actually took a step away from her. "Right," he said flatly, figuring quickly, "I get it. Of course the one person who can see me is nuts -"

His derision was cut off by a change in the sky. Raising his head, he saw that the blackness was broken. Now, a thousand fractals of starlight spun and swirled through the air. The black turned to azure. A thousand points of white-gold starlight blinked down at them. The radiance was filled with a love and warmth he couldn't remember ever having felt before. For a moment, he felt with great certainty that something brilliant and wonderful was closing in on them, fast.

Then the light faded away, and the sky returned to black. The face of the Man in the Moon looked down on them once more with unceasing neutrality.

"...Oh," Jack said quietly. "Okay, so I was wrong about the 'nuts' part, I guess. Um, sorry?"

Asha laughed. Clearly, his apology was accepted. 

"Well. You can sing and make the sky glow," Jack said, brushing his hood back off his hair. He didn't know of anyone who could do that. Not even any of the Guardians, as far as he knew - the Northern Lights definitely didn't feel the way that bright warmth had felt. "What now?"

"Now," Asha said, still smiling, "just wait a moment."

"Wait?" Jack echoed. "What are we waiting for -?"

And then a ball of pure golden joy pelted at him from absolutely nowhere, and almost knocked him flat on his back on the roof.

"Him!" Asha said, beaming. "We're waiting for him. Jack, meet Star!"

"What the -?!" Jack scrambled back from the ball of light. No, it wasn't a ball. It was - exactly as Asha had said - a Star, five points with a round body and a face that was little more than a pale heart-shaped smudge with two eyes and a mouth. Said mouth grinned happily as said Star zoomed around Jack in a whirl of light and trailing stardust.

"He's really excited to meet you," said Asha, her eyes twinkling.

"Yeah, I wish the feeling was mutual!" Jack said, leaping up at the first moment he thought he was in the clear. With another leap, the wind carried him to the next closest roof. When Star zoomed after him, Jack pointed the crook of his staff right at the shiny little being.

"Not a single step closer!" said the winter spirit in the toughest, most intimidating voice he could muster.

Something changed in Star when he heard that. The wide smile disappeared and the eyes narrowed. That luminous, open expression morphed instantly into sullen expression of dismay and hostility that looked so wrong on such a warm and joyful little face. He put his fists together like he was ready for a fight.

Asha's smile faltered and she interceded, reaching out to cup Star in her hands. "Oh, no, no, Star, it's okay!" She said, as the star spun to face her. They held a conversation that Jack missed half of - how Asha understood the little Star, he wasn't sure. She nodded and assured her friend, "I know, his voice sounds just like - and the staff - I know. But Jack's not like Magnifico. He's my friend. I called you here because we're going to help grant his wish!"

Star hovered in Asha's hands and turned back to look at Jack mistrustfully.

Asha sighed. "I'm sorry, Jack. He's just a little over-exuberant when he meets new people. He wants to help you, just like I do. Can we try this again? And introduce you two properly?"

Jack stared at her. That bright little comet clearly wanted nothing to do with him. If it were up to him and Star, he wouldn't be trying again. But since it was Asha, he lowered the staff and leapt onto the wind, gliding back to the same rooftop where they stood. Still, he kept his distance.

Star folded his arms, still glowering at Jack. But the Star stayed nestled trustingly in Asha's hands as she crossed the roof, approaching Jack. Her strides were measured, smooth, and unfaltering. Clearly, she was confident that the two of them would get along once they got past this rocky introduction.

When she was close enough, she held Star out towards Jack.

Jack said, "What, am I supposed to reach back?"

"It might help," said Asha honestly. "Just, without the staff. Please."

What did she suddenly have against his staff, Jack wondered, but he did as she asked, moving his staff into the opposite hand, pointing it purposefully away from her and Star, and reaching out with his other arm.

Star squinted at the offered hand like he was inspecting a suspected forgery of some sort. He glanced back at Asha.

"It's okay," Asha repeated with a smile. "I promise. I know he's not Magnifico."

Who the heck was Magnifico? Jack wondered. That was the second time he'd heard that name, and now he was starting to realize that whoever this Magnifico was might have been the source of this star's mistrust, in some way.

Star took flight from Asha's hands unexpectedly, and zipped over to - Jack's staff. Jack turned as the little star poked at several spots on the stick, then took the end of the crook and shook it slightly, his little brows furrowed in concentration. Jack had never had anyone try and grab it like that before.

"Hey!" Jack exclaimed, trying to pull it away, but Star held on and went swinging through the air wildly as Jack shook it, scattering stardust. "I thought you said not to -"

"Just let him look," Asha requested, her tone gentle, placing her hands over Jack's. "Please. He won't break it, he just wants to see."

"See what?" Jack said.

Asha hesitated. "To see that you're not -"

"That Magnifico guy," Jack guessed.

She paused again. "Yeah. Him," she said quietly - the kind of quiet that Jack hadn't heard from her before. She could be exuberant, and gentle, and anywhere in between, but whoever this Magnifico guy was, he clearly wasn't someone she liked to talk about. Whatever Magnifico, whoever the heck he was, had done to hurt Asha and Star, Jack immediately decided that guy was his enemy.

So Jack held the staff still. Star shook off his dizziness and then continued his study on the staff. When he couldn't dislodge the crook in any way, he examined several whorls in the grain of the wood. Still nothing suspicious. The wood was worn from centuries of use where Jack's fingers wrapped around it, and Star poked it there, too.

Then, Star turned to look at Jack.

"Um. Hi, little guy," Jack said, still deeply uncertain how this joyful little force of life would react to him.

Star abruptly zoomed up to stare intently at Jack's face. Jack backed away out of instinct, because no one had ever looked at him this closely before. "Are stars aware of the concept of personal space?"

Unexpectedly, Star's eyes crinkled slightly, and his mouth parted in a grin. He kicked his legs, and Jack realized that Star had just laughed. Not in a mean way, but with the innocence of a baby experiencing all the wonders that life had to hold.

Then, Star stuck out a single arm and booped Jack on the end of the nose. A spark of stardust flew.

"Oh," Jack said, completely baffled. "What does that mean?"

"It means he's warmed up to you!" Asha said with a smile of relief. "He knows we can trust you."

Star bobbed his head - more like his whole body. Then, catching sight of something interesting behind Jack, he suddenly dove over Jack's shoulder, and... into the hood of his pullover, snuggling in like it was a comfy blanket.

"Don't tell me," Jack said, "he's going to want to stay there for a while, isn't he?"

Asha shrugged, her eyes sparkling. "Probably."

"Just what I wanted," Jack said sarcastically. "Taxi service to a star. Well, I guess it is purpose!" But he would be lying if he said that he didn't feel a warm relief sinking into his chest. At the same time, it seemed even more strange and wondrous. The Man in the Moon wouldn't speak to him, but Asha could sing to the skies and a literal Star would come down to her call?

Star laughed again. Then, abruptly, the little star poked his face out of Jack's hood, peering around wide-eyed.

"Oh," Asha said, seeing his expression. "What is it, Star?"

Star floated to the edge of the roof and looked down on the street. Then he glowed brightly, and with another scattering of stardust he was off, zooming down over the streets below.

"Oh! Star, where are you going?!" Asha exclaimed, racing to follow him.

Jack leapt onto the wind and grabbed her, carrying both of them down to the ground. A wispy golden dust rippled through the streets, not nearly as luminous or dazzling as Star's dust, and Jack recognized it. "It's fine," he said to Asha. "It's just dream-dust from the Sandman."

Asha blinked. "What's a Sandman?"

"Right, I keep forgetting," Jack said. "You don't know that the Guardians are. Trust me, Star's gonna be fine. Even if he runs into the guy, I hear the Sandman's pretty chill. Come on." The wind carried them both to alight on the trestle of nearby power lines. "There's nothing to worry about!"

Asha hoped he was right, though she still worried for her friend. Yet she knew, that if Star needed her, nothing could keep her from going to his side the instant he asked for her. So she followed Jack, crossing the powerlines like a tightrope walker, listening to the quiet streets below.

Then a shadow zipped past with a gust of winds that rustled her braids. She jumped, and Jack, alarmed, caught her.

"What was that?" She said, hoping he knew, but the startled expression on his face didn't assure her.

The wind whisked them both away when Jack asked it to, chasing the shadow.

Around a corner, they landed on a lamppost, and as Jack looked around, the shadow raced past once more. This time, it rustled a thicket of trees. There were the snap of twigs and the crunch of weight on foliage. It was substantial, that was for sure. Then it took off down the street.

Asha and Jack ran after it. Half buoyed by the wind and half obeying gravity, it was a bizarre feeling for Asha, only partly weightless as she and Jack sprinted over cars; they shook the cars enough that the sirens went off.

Out of the neighborhood - Asha worried about leaving Star - and into a street of shops, the shadow ducked sideways just in time for them to see it. Asha and Jack climbed over a roof and looked down on an alleyway. Bricks on three sides. Only one way out.

The shadow was nowhere to be seen.

Jack knew this had 'trap' written all over it. "You don't have to follow me," he whispered to Asha, "but I'm going down there to find out what's going on."

"There's no way I'm letting you go down there alone," Asha replied.

Like an overprotective sister or something, Jack thought. But after centuries of barely anyone who actually acknowledged his existence, having someone else to watch his back was... still such a new feeling, he didn't want to push her away. Instead, he settled for a brusque, "Suit yourself."

They climbed down together. Still, Jack kept his staff aloft, ready to respond to any danger that presented itself.

Then, from behind them: "Hello, mate."

Jack and Asha spun around. Asha had a wand, which Jack hadn't seen until now - a rod of pearly white and radiant golden - outstretched and pointed at the silhouette who had spoken.

Long ears. A boomerang. Australian twang. Already, Jack figured who it was.

"Been a long time," said the voice. "Blizzard of '68 I believe. Easter Sunday, wasn't it?" He stepped into view.

Asha took a slight step back. She was staring at a 6-foot tall (8 if you counted the ears) grey-furred rabbit. Her first impression was that some poor bunny had suffered a magical mishap, like some of her earlier practices.

Then, Jack lowered his staff. "Bunny!" He said in an easy tone, that Asha could immediately read: Jack didn't consider this guy any genuine threat. "You're not still mad about that, are you?" His innocent eyes and charming smile were almost laughable, and if it weren't for the large rabbit's attitude, she might have laughed.

"Yes," said Bunny, completely serious. "But... this is about somethin' else." He spun the boomerang in his hands and inspected the edge of it, as if he didn't have a care in the world. Then, he said, "Fellas?"

"HEY!" Jack yelled as he was grabbed by something covered in shaggy fur. "North Pole Yetis? What the heck is this?!"

"Let him go!" Asha shouted, waving her wand. A stream of sparks hit the two Yetis, and both of them jumped back, shouting something she didn't understand. Jack toppled to the ground, but as Asha rushed to help him up, a heavy velvet bag came down over them both. She lost her footing, and tumbled. The drawstring was pulled shut behind them.

Pinned with Jack inside a sack that was hardly big enough for the both of them, she called out, "Star! Star, I need you! So I make this wish -"

Both the Yetis laughed at her muffled song. One of them shook a snowglobe and tossed it. It immediately opened a swirling portal, and they tossed the bag towards it.

Only a millisecond later, Star shot past them both, to their shock. The little star grabbed onto the drawstrings of the bag and tried to pull it back, but the portal's current was too strong. He could only slow it down for a couple of seconds. Realizing fast that it was futile, he held on tight to the drawstrings and relinquished, letting the portal pull them in.

Whoever it was trying to kidnap Jack and Asha, Star determined, were about to be very sorry.

Chapter 2: Star and the Guardians

Chapter Text

The second they were through the portal, Star rocketed at the nearest perceivable threat. He ricocheted like a ball in a pinball machine between two yetis, a small gaggle of elves, three stacks of toys that toppled, and at least two tiny bird-like beings that he knocked out of the air.

The next thing he collided with was something round, golden, and so warm that he thought it was another Star. He bounced off this new obstacle, shook himself slightly, and looked up.

This wasn’t another Star, but it was someone familiar – a squat, beaming man with hair that stuck out in all directions and shimmering golden sand woven into his robes. A similar golden dust spun above his head, forming signs:

⭐️❔😃

[star, question mark, smiling face]

Star blinked, hardly able to believe his eyes for a whole moment. He knew this person! This was the Sandman! After all, when wishes and dreams went hand-in-hand, every Star knew who the Sandman was. He’d chased the dream-dust through the streets of the neighborhood where Asha and Jack met, but he’d never expected to meet the real deal himself!

Behind him, the bag squirmed and shuffled. The drawstrings came loose. The mouth opened wide, and instantly, Asha shot to her feet in a blur of purple and brown, wand outstretched, ready for a fight.

“Alright,” she said fiercely, “whoever you are and whatever you want with us, you’d better explain fast, or – oh!”

She stopped in her tracks because Star swooped up and just about flattened his face against hers. Best way he knew how to stop her before she acted a little too brashly – or when he just wanted her attention. She hopped back, startled, lowering the wand, as Jack finally emerged from the sack, his eyes darting around.

“Ha! There he is!” exclaimed a tall, imposing man with a long white-and-grey beard. “Jack Frost! And, uh – girl with star!” He added, referring to Asha as she finally managed to brush Star off her face. “We certainly weren’t expecting you!”

“I can tell,” said Asha. She’d lowered her wand, but she wasn’t going to put it away just yet. She didn’t know what – or where – this place was. Or who these people were. Aside from the tall, white-bearded man, there was the tall bunny she’d seen before, a small golden figure with twinkling eyes, and a turquoise-feathered fairy with iridescent wings.

“Wow,” Jack said, awestruck. “You got to be kidding me.”

“Do you know these people?” Asha asked him.

These are the Guardians,” Jack informed her. “That’s North, that’s Bunny, that’s –” He was interrupted as two yetis stomped up behind him, grabbed him by the arms, and hoisted him off the ground. “Hey! Hey! Put me down!” Jack snapped, and thankfully, the yetis dropped him back on his feet.

“I hope the yetis treated you well!” said the white-bearded man Jack had called ‘North’. Asha wondered if he was trying to be funny.

“Oh yeah,” Jack said sarcastically, kicking his staff up from the ground and into his hand. “I love when my new friend and I are shoved in a sack and tossed through a magic portal.”

North didn’t get the sarcasm. “Oh, good. That was my idea! You know Bunny, obviously,” he added, gesturing to the tall, lanky lagomorph leaning on a nearby pillar.

“Obviously,” Jack agreed, looking like he wished he were anywhere else other than here.

“And the Tooth Fairy –”

The Tooth Fairy didn’t wait for introductions. She zipped in front of Jack, her wings moving hummingbird-fast, followed by two or three tiny fairies. “Hello, Jack! I’ve heard a lot about you! And your teeth!”

“My-my what?” said Jack blankly.

The Tooth Fairy beamed. “Oh – open up!” She grabbed Jack’s jaw and peered inside his mouth. “Are they really as white as they say? – Yes!” She gasped, the feathers on her head fluffing up slightly. “Oh, they really do sparkle like freshly fallen snow!”

Two of her fairy followers squealed in excitement.

Asha pursed her lips and really, really hoped that the Tooth Fairy wouldn’t turn to her next. She glanced at Star questioningly. He only shrugged in response.

“And, the Sandman!” said North. “Although it seems to me like the Star already knows him – eh, Sandy?” He nudged the round golden one, who was asleep, drifting a few inches above the ground. “Sandy!”

The Sandman woke with a start, landing on the ground lightly. He mustered a sleepy smile of greeting for them.

Star pushed on Asha’s shoulder. He wanted her to step forward. Perplexed, Asha did as he asked – only because he was Star, and he had never pushed her into any kind of danger before. Clearly, he was at least familiar with these people; with the Sandman in particular, she realized as Star zoomed in circles around the round little man.

The Sandman blinked at her, still smiling. Pictures of wispy golden dust floated over his head.

✨🪄🧚💫❔

Asha interpreted the images as best she could. Sparkles, magic wand, fairy, swirling star, question mark. “Um. I’m Asha. Just thought I’d say that, since it seems like you already know Jack. I’m… like a fairy godmother. I try and help people see their wishes come true.”

She held out her wand to show the Sandman. He examined it in interest, tapped the tapered end, and smiled even more widely when a puff of golden magic fluttered out. He looked at Star and gave a nod that seemed like approval. Star shimmered brightly.

Well, Jack figured, at least Asha was off to a good start with the Guardians… whatever they were here for. “Hey, so, anyone want to tell me why I’m here?” He said, slinging his staff across his shoulders.

The Sandman stuck his hand in the air, like a child answering a question in class, and Asha stepped back so Jack could kneel down to listen. Well, to watch. More images appeared above the Sandman’s head: moon, snowflake, a silhouette of some sort, a spiraling swirl that made no sense to either Asha or Jack, several other silhouettes all different from the first in rapid succession, followed by another swirl, and then a bunch of other symbols that moved so fast Asha couldn’t even get a good look.

“Uh, that’s not really helping,” Jack said, “but thanks, little man.” He stood and strolled away. He had no fear about turning his back on the Guardians. That, at least, helped put Asha more at ease.

“I must have done something really bad to get you four together,” Jack remarked. A little elf scuttled up to him with a plate of cookies, but he froze it with the simplest flick of his staff. “Am I on the naughty list?

Asha hurried to unfreeze the little elf with a wave of her wand. She then accepted a cookie, which she immediately passed to Star. He'd developed quite a sweet tooth after being spoiled with cookies from Dahlia.

“Ha!” Said North with a snort, as if Jack had just suggested something truly hilarious. “You hold the record. But, no matter. We overlook. Now we are wiping clean the slate!” He brushed imaginary dust from a tattoo on his arm that read NAUGHTY.

Jack paused in his aimless pacing. “How come?”

“Good question,” said Bunny sullenly.

“How come? I tell you ‘how come!’” North proclaimed grandly. “Because now, you are Guardian!” He raised his arms in the air. Two yetis lifted torches. A gaggles of elves with odd instruments tooted a celebratory tune. Banners unfurled from overhead with a stylized G on them.

Asha gasped in delight. A Guardian! That had to be a purpose, right? That was what Jack was searching for. For a moment, it seemed this wish might just resolve itself by sheer timing. Those were some of the most wonderful wishes, the kind that didn’t actually need help – just a community.

And then she saw the look on Jack’s face, taken aback and slightly overwhelmed; an expression that only increased the more pomp and circumstance popped up around them. This was not what he wanted.

A pair of tiny turquoise fairies, Tooth’s helpers, swooped down with a garland of paper snowflakes that they tried to deposit on Jack, only for the boy to back away. “What are you doing? Get off me!”

He backed right into a yeti, who patted him on the shoulder.

“This is the best part!” Laughed North.

Now there was confetti, and a whole platoon of marching elves; louder music, and even a brand-new pair of shoes presented to Jack. The expression on his face said exactly what he thought of that idea, and he was content to remain barefoot.

Asha tried to duck under the fire-spinning tricks of one of the celebrating yetis, to get to Jack’s side, but the big furry creatures held her back. Star shot past with ease and dove into Jack’s hood once again, just so their friend wasn’t alone out there.

Jack rolled his eyes, and yet, he was still a little grateful. His annoyance with Star’s antics felt like forever ago, and he’d rather goof off with the sparkly little ball of light than be here.

A yeti brought North a massive old tome with leather covers. The Sandman raised a glass of sand in a toast to Jack. Bunny remained thoroughly unimpressed. The Tooth Fairy and her little fairies looked on fondly. North opened the book and turned the pages.

Jack had had enough of the empty grandeur. He scowled, raised his staff high, and slammed it down on the ground. Frost bloomed instantly like a crackling, spiraling flower. A gust of arctic wind whipped out, ruffling the banners, extinguishing the torches, and sending musical elves skidding away.

North, who almost had the book blown out of his hands, blinked in shock. The Tooth Fairy and the Sandman looked surprised. Bunny didn’t.

“What makes you think I want to be a Guardian?” Jack demanded.

For a second, there was silence. Even the yetis were so surprised that Asha successfully managed to slip past, taking center floor with Jack.

Then, North threw his head back and laughed uproariously. For a few moments, his laughter echoed around them. No one else joined in, but that didn’t seem to matter to him.

“Of course you do,” he said, as if it were a given. “MUSIC!”

A single elf began to toot on his horn once again.

Jack sighed. “No music!”

The little elf paused, looking grumpy. He threw down his horn and stormed away. Asha watched him go, feeling sad for the little guy.

“Look. Uh. This is all very flattering,” Jack said, regarding the four Guardians assembled in front of him. “But… you don’t want me. You’re all – hard work, and deadlines!” He leapt up on a desk. “And I’m snowballs, and fun times!”

“Yeah,” said Bunny, nudging North. “That’s exactly what I said.”

Both North and Sandy gave him looks. The Tooth Fairy, however, wasn’t easily deterred. “Jack, I don’t think you understand what it is we do,” she said, zipping past him.

Asha turned around to follow the fairy’s flight, and she was stunned. She’d been so focused on what was going on in front of her, she hadn’t even looked around where they’d arrived. They were in some of kind workshop – floors and floors of balconies overlooking a central gathering place, and at the center of it was a massive globe, showing the continents and oceans of this world. And that globe was lit up with a million points of shimmering light.

“Each one of those lights,” the Tooth Fairy said, “is a child.”

“A child who believes,” North agreed. “And good or bad, naughty or nice, we protect them.”

Asha stared at the globe in wonder. She’d never heard of such a thing. So that was what the ‘Guardians’ meant. She’d wondered since she’d first heard that word used to refer to them. And now they wanted Jack to be one of them?

“Alright. No more wishy-washy!” North declared suddenly, setting down the book with a thud. “Pitch is somewhere out there doing who-knows-what –”

Jack identified the name. “You mean the Boogeyman?”

“Yes!” North confirmed grimly. “When Pitch threatens us, he threatens them as well!” He pointed to the globe lit with countless children’s belief.

“All the more reason to pick someone more qualified!” Jack argued. “How about Asha here? She’s plenty responsible… I think! She sang a few notes and an entire Star showed up to help her, bet you don’t know anyone who can do that!”

“What, me? Oh,” Asha said, her face feeling warm. “I mean, I’d love to help –”

“Pick?” North repeated. “You think we pick? No, Jack. You were chosen! Like we were all chosen! By Man in Moon!” He gestured to an open skylight above, and in the middle of a glacier-blue sky, the face of the gibbous moon gazed down at them.

Jack looked at them like they were crazy. “What?”

“Last night, Jack, he chose you,” said the Tooth Fairy.

“Maybe,” said Bunny gruffly.

Chosen by the Man in the Moon? The only one who knew Jack’s true purpose? Could it be that he’d finally answered Jack’s questions? Asha turned to see the look on Jack’s face.

For a few moments, that expression was sheer shock and surprise. “Man in the Moon,” Jack said, “he talks to you?”

This question went unanswered. North said, “You see, you cannot say no. It is destiny.”

Jack looked up at the moon once more, realization crossing his face – then giving way to frustration, and outright anger. “But why wouldn’t he tell me that himself?

None of the other Guardians had an answer to offer him – the only one who opened his mouth was Bunny, and Asha tried to intervene before a snide remark could be thrown. “Sometimes… answers don’t appear in the way you expect them to,” she said gently, stepping between Jack and the rest of the Guardians.

Jack scoffed. “Easy for you to say. Star shows up for you whenever you ask!”

“And there are thousands of souls who will never hear the Stars answer them,” Asha countered. “Not because they’re not worthy, or because the Stars want to ignore them, but because the answer they’re looking for isn’t always as simple as they think.”

That wasn’t to say that she liked the Man in the Moon, or that she particularly enjoyed speaking in defense of him. But she’d been with Star long enough to realize that sometimes, a purpose was never as straightforward as you thought.

Jack scowled at her. Asha didn’t back off. Star peeked his little face out of Jack’s hood nervously.

“There’s always more to learn,” she insisted.

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re right. And I’ve learned that I have absolutely no interest in being here any longer, no interest in being a Guardian, and absolutely no interest in ever listening to another ‘answer’ that the Man in the Moon tries to give me! Because after 300 years, this is the best answer he can give me? To spend eternity like you guys,” he snapped at the Guardians, “cooped up in some hideout thinking of new ways to bribe kids? No, no. That’s not for me!” He shouted at the moon.

Oh, boy. When he got that worked up and that angry, his voice reminded her too much of someone she didn’t like at all. Asha found herself backing away out of sheer instinct, even though she knew Jack was her friend. Star, it seemed, felt the same, diving out of Jack’s hood to nuzzle up to her protectively.

A moment later, Jack turned back to the Guardians with an honest, “No offense.”

“How is that not offensive?!” Bunny exclaimed, his ears twitching. “You know what I think? I think we just dodged a bullet!” He said loudly to the other Guardians, before stooping down to scratch his ear with his back paw. “I mean, what’s this clown know about bringing joy to children anyway?”

Bringing joy to children? Asha thought about all the delighted grins and joyful laughter she’d heard at the park today, where she’d first met Jack Frost. When he called up all the powers of winter, the children cheered – even if they couldn’t see him. Jack knew a lot about that, and Asha was about to say as much, but Jack beat her to it.

“Uh, you ever hear of a snow day?” He drawled. “I know it’s no hard-boiled egg, but kids like what I do.”

Bunny straightened, staring him down. “But none of them believe in you, do they?”

Jack’s eyes narrowed. Asha got between them both, because the last thing she wanted was for Jack to start shouting again. “That’s enough. Disrespect won’t help anything –”

“You’re invisible!” Bunny jeered. “They walk right through you like you don’t even exist –”

The Tooth Fairy grabbed onto Bunny’s arm and pulled him back. “Bunny! That’s enough.”

To Asha’s surprise, however, Jack’s voice was icy and cool. “No, no. The kangaroo is right.”

Bunny’s ears twitched again. “The – what did you call me? I’m not a kangaroo, mate.”

“Oh? And this whole time, I thought you were,” Jack said, with a sneer in his voice that unsettled Asha once again. That was almost worse than the shouting. But as Bunny and Jack advanced on each other again, she didn’t want to get in the way this time, because it looked like punches might actually be thrown.

“If you’re not a kangaroo, then what are you?” Jack said.

“I’m a bunny,” said Bunny. “The Easter Bunny!”

(Asha was only vaguely familiar with the holiday of Easter. Rosas didn’t celebrate it. The only higher power they had ever celebrated was a certain wish-hoarding sorcerer king, and outside holidays were slow to take hold even now that they were ruled by a welcoming, non-magical queen.)

“And people believe in me,” Bunny added.

This remark earned him a shooting Star right to the face, knocking him to the ground. Asha jumped, because she hadn’t even realized that Star had left her. The Sandman rolled over backward, kicking his legs in laughter at the sight of Bunny knocked to the ground, trying unsuccessfully to fend off this dizzying little bolt of radiance.

Asha whistled five notes – so I make this wish – and Star came racing back to her, dropping into her hands with a satisfied finality as the bunny managed to stagger back upright.

“What the heck is that thing?!” Bunny complained.

Star blew a raspberry at him.

“He’s a Star. From the sky,” Asha informed the Easter Bunny – whatever that title meant. “A lot like the Man in the Moon. Difference is, he doesn’t abandon someone for three whole centuries with no good reason!” She shouted at the skylight.

Jack, whose spirits had been significantly lifted by the Star vs. Bunny takedown, smiled slightly. As least Asha was still on his side, whatever her talk about answers not always appearing the way he hoped.

Then, unexpectedly, North stepped forward. “Jack,” he said in a surprisingly stern tone, “walk with me.”

Jack’s smile faded. Great. Now he was in trouble for sure. But he waved Asha off when she began to step forward. He was not one to shy away from the consequences of his actions… especially not when he’d insulted the Guardians.

North and Jack walked away, leaving the rest of them – elves, yetis, the other three Guardians, and Asha and Star – where they were.

Star was still staringly menacingly – well, as menacing as such a tiny star could be – at Bunny.

Asha winced. This had spun out of control so quickly. When she’d arrived at the park today, she’d been searching for a wish she heard, and then she’d met Jack – a spirit with wondrous powers, yet invisible to almost everyone. Then she’d called Star to help, and now they found that the Man in the Moon wanted Jack to join the Guardians – something that the moon couldn’t even tell him himself.

At least she wasn’t a nervous wreck this time like she had been when she first met Magnifico.

Asha turned, taking Star with her, and walked towards the end of the balcony. For a moment, she paused at the railing, looking down.

This was a workshop, floors and floors filled with yetis, elves, and wondrous toys – unlike anything she’d ever seen in Rosas. What were all these toys for? A legion of toy robots marched across the floor. A troupe of ballerina dolls traipsed into formation. An elf was wrapped in a string of brightly-colored lights, only to be zapped loudly when his friend plugged them into a nearby outlet. Dozens of balconies looked over the central globe. Outside the windows was icy cold and glacial white, but inside the workshop, with richly-patterned wallpaper and ornate pillars, it was nothing but warm and welcoming.

Behind her, the Easter Bunny said, “Well, this was a bust. Definitely for the best, though.”

“Hush,” the Tooth Fairy chided him. Then, she darted in the direction that Asha had left. “Asha, I’m sure we can have the yetis drop you off right back where they found you!” She said to the girl, like that was helpful in some way.

But Asha had no interest in retreating from this situation. “Thank you, but don’t worry about it,” she said, and climbed the balcony railing.

Then, with a swirl of light, she leapt. But instead of falling, swirling golden light formed under her feet like stairsteps, climbing closer to the globe covered in thousands of lights. The first time she’d done this trick, practicing by leaping from her wishing tree, she’d been so uncertain that the magic had dropped her, and Star caught her from plummeting into the sea below. Now, however, she stepped forward without hesitation, approaching the globe.

“What? Hey, you’re not allowed –” Bunny tried to scold. The Sandman interrupted him with a forceful nudge.

Within arm’s reach of the globe, Asha examined one of the continents and the countless shining points of light that represented the children who believed in the Guardians. Shining light that represented belief, and from that belief came a certain power. Where had she heard that before?

Star floated next to her. Asha said to him, “You know what I think when I see all those lights? I think about all those hearts, and the stardust inside them.” The way that stardust shone inside all living things, the way their hearts glowed with the power to make their wishes come true…

Star nodded in agreement. That was what he thought, too.

But much like their stardust, Asha thought, these lights were under threat, too. Only difference was, she didn’t know who she was up against this time. Only a handful of people she could ask, she supposed.

She turned back to look at the Tooth Fairy, who was hovering close by in worry. Asha said, “What’s a Boogeyman?”

The Tooth Fairy flinched a little at the name alone. But before Asha could apologize, the fairy explained, “He’s Pitch Black, the king of nightmares. He wants nothing more than to spread terror through the world… starting with the hearts of children. These children,” she said, looking at the globe.

The king of nightmares.

“And you know for sure that he’s out there?” Asha said. “That he’s why the Man in the Moon chose Jack to be a new Guardian?”

The Sandman, drifting nearby like he didn’t have a care in the world, gave her a solemn nod.

Asha looked at Star. He looked back at her. He put his little fists together in determination, and she agreed. “We want to help.”

Help? With what?” Said Bunny, the only one left on the balcony below and very much content to stay there. “You’re not a Guardian. We don’t even know who you are!”

“I told you,” Asha said firmly. “I am Asha, from the kingdom of Rosas. My friend is Star, and I’m a fairy godmother. I help see that wishes come true – isn’t that helpful against a terror like Pitch Black?”

“We don’t need a fairy godmother,” Bunny insisted. “We don’t even need Frost. This isn’t your problem.”

“It became my problem the second those yetis threw a sack over my head!” Asha retorted. “I’m here because I’m trying to help Jack see his wish come true, and if this is a part of it, Man in the Moon’s answer or not, I’m not leaving Jack – especially not with you around!”

“You can’t be serious,” the Easter Bunny said. He looked at his fellow Guardians, expecting them to back him up, but neither of them leapt to help. “Tooth, Sandy, help me out here!”

The Tooth Fairy considered it. But she looked at Asha’s wand, the magic that carried her in the air, and Star hovering by her side… and the fairy only shrugged. The Sandman straightened, but the images that appeared over his head weren’t helpful to Bunny in the slightest.

✨🧚‍♀️🌟😃!

[sparkles, fairy, shining star, smiling face, exclamation point]

To Asha, that looked like support. Still, she added, “Even if you kick me out, you can’t stop me from trying to help.”

Bunny scowled, but didn’t argue. Because even he figured that if she was so insistent on being around to help, she might as well be where they could keep an eye on her.

First Jack Frost, now Asha and Star – what was the Man in the Moon expecting the Guardians to do with these teenagers Babysitting?

Bunny hoped not. He was not particularly fond of children, he’d always thought.

Chapter 3: Asha and Bunny

Chapter Text

When it seemed like Bunny had given up on arguing, for now at least, Asha moved on to another practical matter. “So. If you all are stuck with me for a while, I might as well know who you are,” she said, turning to the Tooth Fairy. “North called you the… Tooth Fairy?”

The fairy beamed. “Yes! My name is Toothiana, but you can just call me Tooth if you’d like!”

Asha still didn’t understand her obsession with teeth. “Okay. And that’s the Sandman,” she said, turning to said guardian as he seemed engrossed in a conversation with Star, “and he has something to do with… sand?”

“He brings dreams to children,” Tooth said.

Dreams to children. Okay, that made more sense as a ‘guardian’ than an obsession with teeth. And Jack had mentioned dream-dust, so it wasn’t hard to make the link there. “Interesting,” Asha said, as Star giggled happily. “And what about the bunny?”

Bunny scowled at her from where he remained firmly on the balcony floor. But at least she didn’t call him a kangaroo, he thought.

“That’s E. Aster Bunnymund,” said the Tooth Fairy. “The Easter Bunny. Or just, Bunny.”

“Right.” Again, she wasn’t sure what a giant, mean-spirited rabbit had to do with protecting children, but then again, she didn’t have all the details. So Asha asked, “What’s Easter?”

“What’s Easter?!” Bunny echoed, as if she had insulted her very existence. “Where have you been, living under a rock?”

“More like a secluded island kingdom that was ruled until very recently by a sorcerer who took away our wishes.” Asha carefully descended from her magical perch by the globe, sliding down from the balcony railing so that she stood across from him. “While we welcomed people from all over the world, not a lot of us… left, or saw new places, or learned new things,” she continued, while Bunny looked at her slightly mistrustfully. “So… sorry, but no, I don’t really know what Easter is.”

Bunny squinted at her. His little pink nose wiggled slightly, his ears angled back in concentration, like he could sniff out a lie. Did he have that power? Asha wondered. It wouldn’t matter if he did or didn’t, because this wasn’t a lie.

Then, he said, “Easter is a holiday, to celebrate springtime and new beginnings. I travel all over the world and hide these little painted eggs for children to find!” He cupped his paws together as if he were holding one of those painted eggs, and his eyes softened slightly. “It brings them joy, and hope.”

His surly and assertive attitude told her that he took this job very seriously. And honestly, that sounded like fun, Asha thought. “Maybe someday you can come and hide eggs in Rosas,” she said, even though in the back of her mind, she was still wondering if the Guardians could even come to Rosas. Their island wasn’t visible on the globe at the center of the workshop. “My friend Safi has a bunch of chickens who would be happy to contribute.”

“Hm.” The Easter Bunny’s ears twitched. He didn’t look particularly hopeful about that. “We’ll see.”

But Asha figured his gruff response was more out of frustration with Jack and Star than any real disinterest in Rosas. She thought about children in the streets, looking for painted eggs. They could make a game of it, maybe, with treats and stuff like that. She was sure that Bunny would tell her more some other time, when he was less disgruntled with this situation.

But they weren’t arguing with each other anymore. Asha wasn’t the only one who considered that a victory. “So!” Tooth said, flittering down to Asha’s side. “How did you… end up with Jack Frost, of all people?”

“Like I said. I’m a fairy godmother, or learning to be,” Asha said, as the Sandman drifted past once again with a thumbs-up of approval to the matter. “I can perceive people’s wishes, and do my best to help them. So I heard Jack’s wish, and I came to help him.”

“Frost made a wish?” Bunny said skeptically. “Let me guess. He wants to be seen and believed in?”

Seen and believed in. He made it sound so… small.

“Just because you might take it for granted,” Asha said, fixing her eyes on the bunny, “doesn’t mean it’s so simple.”

No one takes it for granted,” Tooth interposed quickly. Even without Jack in the room, she knew Star would still answer any disrespect with hostility, and she didn’t want that – even if Star and the Sandman were friends. “We all know how precious it is to be believed in, don’t we, Bunny?”

Bunny, never one to admit when he was in the wrong, kept his mouth shut. Asha appreciated that he could at least do that.

“You don’t understand how long he’s been wandering, without friends, without a purpose,” she said. “Suddenly it seems like he’s had a purpose all along, but the Man in the Moon decided to just not tell him? How would you feel?”

The Sandman frowned, dream-dust making a rainy cloud formation over his head. Star looked sad, his topmost spike wilting slightly and he covered his mouth emphatically. A couple of Tooth’s little fairy friend made sympathetic sounds.

“The biggest matter of it all is that I do believe that Jack could be one of you!” Asha told the three present Guardians. “He cares about children – he might not admit it, but he does – if something were to threaten them I know he would try to protect them with all he’s got. But to drop this responsibility on him with no warning after so long? Wouldn’t you be indignant, too?”

Tooth nodded sadly.

Bunny crossed his arms, scowling, but despite his attitude towards this entire frustration, his feelings on the matter showed thought. His ears lowered.

Then he said, “‘Least he’s got you.”

She tried to smile. At least Jack had her… “For a matter of hours,” she said softly, reaching out a hand as Star drifted in for a cuddle. “I only met him today.”

Star laid his little face against her necklace as she cupped her hands around him. He couldn’t imagine being so lonely and unseen for centuries… he’d always had those he loved, and other stars like him. The skies were never lonely.

And yet a being of the skies, the Man in the Moon, was responsible for Jack’s loneliness – his exile. Perhaps that word was harsh, but Star didn’t think that it was. Because when he was so alone, with no one to turn to but himself, unheard and unseen but almost everyone, what else could that be but exile?

Asha wouldn’t say so to Jack, but she knew how he felt. Wandering without purpose, feeling overlooked, her words misunderstood if they were even heard at all; those were the same feelings she’d felt that night after she’d failed to become Magnifico’s apprentice, when she tried to reveal the truth to her family, only for her grandfather to turn her away. When she’d wandered through the streets of Rosas, thinking about all the wishes she’d seen that day that belonged to all the people of her beloved home.

The memories and the wonder that had been taken from them, dreams and hopes that they might never see realized…

She was lucky. Her wish had been answered by the very same Star that she felt so fortunate to call her friend every time she held him close. How many wishes had Jack made that had never been answered, until she heard him?

Asha took a deep breath, pulling herself back to the task before her. Jack was still off with North somewhere else in the workshop, but that didn’t mean she couldn't work on the problem from her own angle, too. “If you know that the Boogeyman is out there,” she said to them, “Do you know where he is?”

Tooth, Bunny, and the Sandman all exchanged looks. Bunny, who had started fiddling with another one of his boomerangs, answered her. “We don’t know yet. North saw shadows cover the globe, and the Man in the Moon confirmed his return, but…”

Somewhere on the globe behind them, an alarm sound began to ring. All three of the Guardians jumped. Bunny leapt to the railing to see what was going on, studying the globe, but whatever he could see, Asha couldn’t tell.

Then, Bunny turned to her and said, “I’d like to change my answer.” There was the hint of a smile on his face, both some humor and some semblance of looking forward to a fight. Asha actually laughed, but ran after Bunny and the Sandman as they sprinted off into the workshop to find Jack and North. The Tooth Fairy and her fairies raced for an open window, not wasting a moment.

They caught up with Jack and North on one of the balconies high above the workshop, and Bunny informed them both: “We have a problem, mate. Trouble at the Tooth Palace!”


“I told you, I’m not going with you guys!” Jack argued as North and the other Guardians shepherded him and Asha down a long passageway. North ignored him, shouting orders to various Yetis racing about. They stormed through a pair of heavy timber doors and into an icy cavern beyond.

Jack was still protesting. “There’s no way I’m climbing into a rickety, old…”

Another pair of doors across from them opened. The first thing that Asha could detect from the darkness behind them was the clashing march of a dozen powerful hooves.

“…Sleigh,” Jack said, his eyes going wide as a team of Yetis marshalled forward a formation of reindeer – at least eight feet tall each, with polished antlers, thick shiny coats of brown and white fur, with tresses decorated with delicate-looking bells. The creatures huffed, shuffled, knocking into each other and kicking at their teammates, snorting and anxious.

“Oh my stars,” said Asha quietly, her fingers slipping as she tried to tie the pink bow on the front of her cape. “Valentino will be so jealous he missed this.”

“Hey, hey!” North moved forward, trying to calm the team of reindeer. Their march revealed the sleigh attached to the end of the reins – a massive hull of red wood with brass and iron. It moved smoothly on four sled-like treads, and as it cleared the doorway, airplane-like wings unfolded from each side.

To Asha, who had never seen such a thing, she had no clue what she was supposed to be looking at. But judging from the expression on Jack’s face, it seemed to be something surprising and impressive.

North smiled proudly, folding his arms in his red velvet coat lined with fur. He gave Jack a look of, you were saying?

Jack blinked. Then, “Okay, one ride. Then that’s it.” He climbed onto one of the wings and leapt into the seats, a bleachers-like slope of benches.

Star dashed to follow, diving into Jack’s hood again. Jack didn’t even care this time. Asha followed Star, leaping over the rim. She was back in the light blue cloak that she’d been wearing when she’d first met Jack in the park, and the tassel attached to her hood swung wildly as she took a seat. The Sandman zoomed up after her.

North chuckled as he climbed aboard. “Everyone loves the sleigh!” He paused at the reins, shifting a couple of weights, and then called back, “Bunny, what are you waiting for?”

Bunny hesitated, studying the sleigh. “I think my tunnels might be faster, mate –” He lifted his leg and gave the side one good kick with his back left paw. He didn’t like the sound it made. “And, um, safer.”

“Ach!” North rolled his eyes and grabbed Bunny by the scruff as he tried to walk away. “Get in!”

Bunny yelped as he was deposited in the seat next to Asha.

“Buckle up!” said North.

Bunny searched the bench. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, where are the bloody seatbelts?!”

“What’s a seatbelt?” Asha said blankly.

“HA! That was just expression,” North laughed. He straightened his fur hat and grabbed the reins. “Are we ready?!”

One of the Yetis answered with a response that sounded like gibberish to Asha. But judging from the way he was shaking his head, the answer seemed to be ‘no.’

North didn’t seem to get that. “Then let’s go. YHA!” He snapped the reins. A pair of elves hurriedly repairing a horseshoe scurried out of the way as the sleigh lurched into motion. Asha, who thought she was prepared, found herself knocked back in her seat – but not as bad as Bunny, who dug his claws into the lacquered sideboard, petrified.

“Out of the way!” North shouted as the sleigh shot forward.

They raced into a long, icy tunnel. There were hills, dips, pillars to dodge, corners to round – sliding halfway up the wall in the process – and icicles that rattled ominously as they thundered below. Asha held on for dear life, and found herself clutching Bunny’s arm, the closest thing she could reach. She’d ridden in an out-of-control wagon once, but this was entirely new, and she wasn’t sure she was having a good time.

They passed by a watchtower manned by Yetis, who looked alarmed.

“Slow down! Slow down!” Bunny yelled frantically, his eyes shut tight.

North laughed maniacally, and did not slow down. Instead, the sleigh slid up the wall and upside-down.

“I hope you like the loopty-loops!” North proclaimed.

Bunny did not like the loopty-loops. “I hope you like carrots,” he complained, feeling sick.

At least Jack, Star, and the Sandman were having a good time. The Sandman stuck his arms in the air like a kid on a carnival ride, Jack was grinning ear-to-ear, and Star kicked his little legs in delight.

“Here we go!” North shouted as white light shone at the end of the tunnel. He threw a lever by the reins, but what exactly said lever did, Asha didn’t know, because she was far too concerned with trying to stay in her seat, covering her eyes with one arm as she was.

The sleigh raced through the mouth of an arctic cave and up a rickety wooden ramp. The sleds clattered and clacked loudly, and then the sound went away. The rough, shaky race ended, just like that. But Asha could still feel the nip of arctic wind through her cloak and tugging at her braids.

She lowered her arm, daring to peer out. Ahead was the reindeer, with their belled harnesses, and beyond them… pure blue sky.

“BLASTOFF!” North roared. The sleigh was in the air, flying, pulled by the reindeer.

Asha dared to turn her head and looked back. Behind them, seemingly impossibly small on the white mountain slopes, was a multi-turreted workshop with rounded roofs and decorated windows.

Jack clambered to the back of the sleigh to see what they left behind. “Whoa!” He caught a glimpse of Asha looking back at him, still holding onto Bunny, and joked, “Hey, Bunny, look at this view!”

“Wha?” Bunny said, turning his head – just as the wind knocked Jack off the back of the sleigh with a shout of surprise. The bunny winced, held on tighter, and yelped, “North! He’s – he’s –”

Asha gasped, scrambling to the back to see where Jack might have fallen – only to find Jack sitting easily on one of the rudders below the sled. Oh, right, she told herself, he was friends with the wind.

“Aw, see, Bunny does care,” he said smugly.

Bunny must have heard, because he griped, “Oh, rack off, you bloody show-pony!”

Asha rolled her eyes as she settled back into a seat and Jack climbed back aboard. Ahead of her, she could see Star doing a superhero pose as the sleigh zoomed through the air.

“Hold on, everybody!” North said, grabbing a glass orb from near the reins. “I know a shortcut!”

“Oh, I knew I should have taken the tunnels!” Bunny said.

Asha looked at the glass orb. She could see something inside it, but that was far too small to be a captured wish, so what was it? She knew that some traders had come to Rosas recently who had mastered the art of preserving little scenes in transparent spheres, but none of those moved and swirled with little flashes of light like this.

North shook the glass orb and spoke to it. The swirling light inside formed an image that Asha couldn’t make out before he hurled the little orb forward, ahead of the sleigh. It exploded into a thousand fractals of rainbow light that wove together like a tapestry.

North snapped the reins again, and the sleigh shot towards it, passing through the light in a heartbeat.

When Asha blinked the spots out of her eyes, she looked up again, and was stunned. There was no longer rolling snowy plain, expanses of white and blue. Now, ahead of them, sharp brown peaks jutted about through sheets of white mist under a lavender sky.

But the change of scenery wasn’t the only thing to be astonished about, because only a second later, their sleigh came under attack.

Chapter 4: Pitch Black and Magnifico

Chapter Text

Ahead of them loomed a swarm of strange, shadowy streaks in the air. North’s voice was mystified. “What?”

And then the streaks rocketed towards them, zipping past the sleigh like a barrage of dark shooting stars. North pulled hard on the reins to steady them all, and Asha ducked behind an umbrella that the Sandman summoned to shield them from the oncoming stuff.

“What are they?!” North exclaimed.

A streak exploded against Sandy’s umbrella, becoming a poof of black smoke and a scattering of dark grains, like sand, over Asha’s cape. She tried to wipe the stuff away, but it stuck to her hand.

Jack looked up, watching the trajectory of one of the streaks arcing high overhead. No… it wasn’t a streak, not exactly. It had four legs and its long, streaming tail made the streak-like effect. It had a sleek black coat stretched over a bony body with spikes along the spine and a narrowed face, like a horse’s.

And it sprinted through the air in pursuit of a tiny blur of turquoise – Tooth’s fairy helpers! Almost a dozen of them were already trapped inside the creature’s translucent ribcage.

Jack didn’t know what was going on, but he knew that he had to help. “They’re taking the Tooth Fairies!” He yelled to the others, before he leapt into the air, soaring high overhead. He reached out, his fingers closed on something feathery, and he yanked a tiny fairy out of the path of one of the pursuing creatures. It galloped past, unconcerned, and Jack sank back into the sleigh below.

He opened his fingers as Asha scrambled to sit next to him to see. Sitting in his cupped hands was a tiny little fairy, even smaller than the rest, slightly crumpled and trembling with her eyes shut.

Jack spoke in the gentlest voice he could. “Hey, little Baby Tooth. Are you okay?”

The little fairy opened her eyes and squeaked. She was okay, for now.

“We’re not going to let anything hurt you,” Asha promised, as Star zoomed back to see what the interest was about. His light warmed Baby Tooth and made her feel better, at least a little bit. He snuggled in close to her, trying to help.

Another creature shot past, perilously close, making the sleigh rock. Asha looked up. These things were chasing fairies? Why? And where was Toothiana? Was she alright?

One thing was for sure. Asha knew she had to help. She grabbed Star – and Baby Tooth – and stuffed them into Jack’s hood.

“Hey!” Jack said. “What –”

“Keep Star safe!” Asha told him. “I’m going to try and get to these things and free some of the fairies. I have to try!” She insisted when he opened his mouth, presumably to argue. Then, without another word, she leapt over the back of the sleigh, cloak whirling in her wake.

Running on golden light, the same kind that had lifted her to the globe in North’s workshop, Asha couldn’t help but feel uneasy. She was so high in the air, she couldn’t see the ground through the mist below, and she was running right into the path of these rampaging… creatures.

Okay, admittedly, not her most well-thought-out choice ever.

But she had to help!

One creature was racing right towards her. She side-stepped, timed the jump right, and leapt up onto its back. She’d done this trick with one of her neighbors’ old work horses a hundred times when she was a kid. It wasn’t that different now.

The creature – a Night-Mare, she understood somehow, almost as if it had told her that itself – threw its head and whinnied loudly. She took the opportunity to stick her wand in its mouth, horizontally, like the bit of a bridle, and pale golden traces formed from either end, like reins. She pulled on them, hard, and the Night-Mare reeled, whirling around in a frantic circle like it was trying to throw her off.

But Asha held on tight. She’d gotten this far, she was not about to give up now.

Jack looked back as the sleigh sailed towards one of the mountains. From here, he could see Asha on the back of a Night-Mare like it was a horse, and – just as the Night-Mare began to glow – she disappeared from sight through the archways of the hollow mountain.

Inside of Tooth’s hidden sanctuary, they soared past gilded golden tower-like stalactites. Through another archway and back into the light outside, they passed carved towers inlaid with red, pink, purple, and gold – and then a Night-Mare streaked past. Then another.

North saw a chance. “Here!” He barked, shoving the reins into Jack’s hands. “Take over!”

“Huh?” Jack said, but logic caught up with him a half-second later and he seized the reins. He snapped them sharply with a “HYA!” as North leapt onto the foremost ledge, a saber in hand.

Jack guided the sleigh in, fast and swift. North’s saber cut through the Night-Mare with ease. Black sand peppered them, and small, cylindrical containers clattered to the floor.

Bunny grabbed one, hoping it wasn’t what he thought it was – but it was true. “They’re stealing the teeth!

Star’s eyes widened. Without warning, he dove out of Jack’s hood.

“Hey, where are you – Asha’s gonna kill me if you get hurt!” Jack tried to protest, but Star shot ahead of them like a comet. He plowed through one – two – three – four Night-Mares in a row, dispelling them into whirlwinds of dust and freeing fairies, who tried to catch the falling containers of teeth.

Distracted by this, Jack didn’t see where they were going until North yelled, “Jack, look out!”

Jack looked ahead. They were on a collision course with one of the tower platforms. He yanked on the reins, but it was too late; they slammed down on the tiles and skidded to a rocky stop.

Star swooped down to check on them. Jack looked up, shook off his shock, and offered Star a reassuring smile. Star booped him on the nose once again.

Overhead, Toothiana flitted from one tower to another in a panic.

“Tooth!” North shouted, stumbling down from the sleigh. “Are you alright?!”

“They… they took my fairies!” The Tooth Fairy gasped. “And the teeth! All of them! Everything is gone!”

The rest of the Guardians flew, leapt, or climbed up to help. The Tooth Fairy sank to the ground, astonished and aching. “Everything…”

Star nudged Baby Tooth, who emerged from Jack’s hood and flittered up to join Toothiana.

“Oh, thank goodness!” The Tooth Fairy cried, reaching out as Baby Tooth zoomed into her comforting embrace. “One of you is all right!”

Jack smiled. At least this hadn’t been a total failure. But then he remembered who wasn’t here that he cared about most – Asha. Last he’d seen, she was wrangling a Night-Mare outside. Was she okay? Did she know where to find them now?

And then a smooth, lofty, cold voice echoed around them. “I have to say… this is very, very exciting. The Big Four, all in one place? I’m a little starstruck!”

Star’s eyes went wide and he put his little fists together, looking around for the voice. Jack turned with his staff at the ready, immediately certain that this was a threat, but reached up, grabbed Star, and shoved him back into his hood.

Then, above the Guardians, a narrow, haughty figure looked down from the balcony overhead. This figure became a pale-skinned man with amber eyes, spiked black hair, and a black cloak.

Jack was not one to get cold, but for the first time, even he felt a shiver. No one had to tell him, but he knew – this was Pitch Black, the king of nightmares. Known to children as the Boogeyman.

“Did you like my little show on the Globe, North?” Pitch inquired, tauntingly calm. “Got you all together… didn’t I?”

North snarled. That had to have been Pitch’s plan the whole time!

“Pitch!” The Tooth Fairy shouted, rising into the air. “You have got thirty seconds to return my fairies –” She raced towards him, but he disappeared, melting into the shadows.

Or what?” His voice echoed, as he reappeared on another balcony, mocking her. “You’ll stick a quarter under my pillow?”

North pointed a sword at him and demanded, “Why are you doing this?!”

“Maybe, I want what you have,” Pitch answered coolly, fixing his eyes on them with a sneer. “To be believed in!” He melted into the shadows once more, but his voice echoed again. “Maybe, I’m tired of hiding under beds!”

“Maybe, that’s where you belong!” Bunny shot back.

Pitch wasn’t impressed. He appeared from the shadows right below their platform, staring at the Easter Bunny like he’d just said a very bad joke. “Go suck an egg, rabbit.”

Bunny lunged over the ledge, trying to get at the Boogeyman, but his paws closed on empty air.

Okay, Jack thought, whatever made the Guardians act this on edge was obviously something bad. Yeah, he’d heard stories about the Boogeyman, but never met him face-to-face; never wanted to, either.

And then Pitch’s voice sounded again. “Hold on. Is that… Jack Frost?” He laughed, a low and menacing sound. Jack turned again, still wary, refusing to let Pitch have a chance to sneak up on him. Pitch said, “Since when are you all so chummy?”

Oh, great. The Boogeyman knew who he was, too. “We’re not,” Jack said uneasily.

“Oh, good.” Pitch materialized, looking down again from an overhead ledge. “A neutral party. Then I’m going to ignore you, but you must be used to that by now.” He smiled mockingly.

Jack tightened his grip on his staff. He couldn’t expect the Boogeyman to be nice, but did he have to jeer at him like that?

Star, however, took the same offense that he had when it had been Bunny saying the mean things about Jack’s existence. The shooting star raced towards Pitch in fury.

But Pitch didn’t flinch, or even look even the slightest bit surprised. He tilted his head slightly, merely a little puzzled, as Star charged straight towards him.

And then, only a few feet from Pitch, Star slammed into a wall of green light. It was so sudden, the flash of light so bright, that even Jack flinched back. That hadn’t been Pitch, had it?

No, it hadn’t. The source of this power became evident only a moment later, with a green shimmer like a mirage that rippled into existence behind Pitch. Then it wasn’t a mirage anymore, and there was another man – completely unfamiliar to Jack – standing there, holding a long, sinister-looking staff in one hand.

This man looked like Pitch’s opposite in every way, with robes of beige and white, silvering hair, menacing green eyes and a charlatan’s smile. But Jack barely noticed any of that, because his focus was back on Star.

The moment that this man appeared, Star cowered. Star turned tail and tried to race off to safety, but the green light encircled him in a bubble-like prison that crackled when he hit the side of it.

The unfamiliar man moved the staff in a swift, sweeping motion, pulling the green bubble closer to him.

“Well, well. This is almost perfect!” Said the unfamiliar man, in a tone that made Jack’s skin crawl, as he stared at the captured Star. “I thought I’d have to make an effort to get a star this time, and yet… oh! It’s even the same one!

The same one? Jack thought.

Bunny jumped, his ears angled back. Like Jack, he noticed how Star was acting, and like Jack, he figured that anything or anyone that Star was afraid of was bad news. “And just who are you?!”

Pitch smiled wider. “Oh, how rude of me! Allow me to introduce a new friend,” he drawled, “someone I just happened to come across…”

Asha’s voice cut him off with a furious scream. “MAGNIFICO!

The sinister man looked up from the captured Star just in time to dodge a blast of searing golden light. He made it out of reach just in time to keep his cape from being singed, but the light broke the green bubble that trapped Star, just as Asha made a dramatic return.

She was riding on a golden horse, the Night-Mare that she had tamed Jack assumed, and thundered across the gold and mosaic rooftops with her cape flying behind her. She had her wand in hand, and there was an expression on her face that Jack had never seen before: complete loathing.

And then Jack realized what name she’d said, and remembered why it was important.

Magnifico spun around with a whirl of his cape, bright green eyes flashing. “And you. I should’ve known you would always stay close to your stupid little star!” He pointed the staff at her as she closed in fast.

Jack made his move then, leaping into the air. “Hey, Magnifi-jerk!” He shouted. He’d have time to think of a more insulting nickname later. What mattered was that Jack was in the right place at the right moment to sling a barrage of sleet and half-frozen snowballs when Magnifico spun around.

Battered by the wintry (and wet) assault, Magnifico staggered. Jack hoped he’d fall, but he didn’t, just disappearing like an illusion. Pitch had already slipped away into the shadows right when Asha arrived, so there was no telling where he was now, either.

The golden horse’s hooves slammed down on the platform, scattering chunks of snow and ice, and Asha dismounted before it had even come to an actual stop. She stumbled when she hit the floor, but Jack caught her, and she let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding.

When she approached, when she’d first seen Magnifico, all she’d seen was a glimpse of his staff and a captured Star, and for a moment, it took her right back to the castle roof in Rosas. Magnifico’s power that turned wishes to stone, that imprisoned Star and blocked out the sky, trapping the people of Rosas far below…

But Star dove below the hood of her cloak, to safety, and the cold next to her now wasn’t Magnifico’s dark magic but the presence of a friend, someone she trusted.

“Ah. I see you two are already acquainted,” said Pitch in faint amusement as he reappeared on another high perch.

Immediately, Toothiana went on the offensive once more. “PITCH!” She shrieked, shooting towards them both, only to be stopped in her tracks by one of the black, spiny Night-Mares.

It pushed her back in the air, its eyes glowing menacingly.

“Whoa! Easy, girl. Easy,” said Pitch, reeling the Night-Mare back. It tossed its head and snorted angrily. Pitch stroked its side, drawing up a handful of black dust, and waving it over the Guardians. “Look familiar, Sandman? Took me a while to perfect this little trick… turning dreams into nightmares.”

The Sandman scowled. Dream-dust whirled in his hands.

It was the same thing! Asha realized. Night-Mares were formed of dream-dust, but corrupted somehow?

“Don’t be nervous,” Pitch taunted them as the Tooth Fairy retreated. “It only riles them up more. They smell fear, you know.”

“What fear?” Bunny called out. “Of you? No one’s been afraid of you since the Dark Ages!”

“Oh, the Dark Ages!” Pitch echoed in a sentimental tone. His eyes were lit up with cruel joy. “Everyone frightened, miserable. Such happy times for me. Oh, the power I wielded! But then, the Man in the Moon chose you to replace my fear with your wonder and light. Lifting their hearts, and giving them hope. Meanwhile, everyone wrote me off as just a bad dream! Oh, there’s nothing to be afraid of, there’s no such thing as the Boogeyman! Well, that’s all about to change.”

With another ripple of green light, Magnifico appeared behind Pitch. The evil sorcerer smirked, staring menacingly at Asha and her Star.

Star, tucked inside Asha’s hood, clung to her. He was scared. Not scared of Pitch Black, but scared of Magnifico. Scared for himself and for Asha. She was a fairy godmother, sure, but against Magnifico’s dark magic, how effective would her power be? He’d hoped they’d never find out.

How was Magnifico back in the first place? Why wasn't he still trapped inside the mirror-like shard of his staff?

But Asha raised her wand, and Jack pointed his staff, so an attempt at an attack was not a great idea. Even Magnifico could tell that. Besides, here and now wasn’t the right time or place, anyway. There would be so many better chances.

Relax, kids,” Magnifico drawled, his eyes glinting. “There will be so many more times for a friendly chat, right?”

“Not if I can help it,” said Jack.

Before either of them could make a move, the cavern walls shuddered. Dust rained down, and fractures flinched deep into the gold and purple tiling around them. Pitch observed, “Oh, look. It’s happening already. Children are waking up all over the world, and realizing… the Tooth Fairy never came. It’s such a little thing…” He gave the Tooth Fairy a cold smile, as quiet horror came over her face. “But to a child…”

Jack looked around, warily. It was hard to get a good measure of the damage taking place without turning his back to see – but he wasn’t about to leave Asha on her own against Magnifico. “What have you – what’s going on?”

“They… they don’t believe in me anymore,” the Tooth Fairy whispered.

“Didn’t they tell you, Jack?” Pitch called out. “It’s great being a Guardian… but there’s a catch. If enough kids stop believing, everything your friends protect – wonder, hopes, and dreams – it all goes away! And little by little… so do they.”

Jack scowled. He wanted to shut that jerk up so much, but he was too far away for an effective attack.

“No Christmas, or Easter, or little fairies that come in the night,” Pitch continued. “No dreams, or even stars… there will be nothing but fear and darkness. And me. It’s your turn not to be believed in!” He hissed at the Guardians.

“So you think,” Asha said. Her arm was staring to hurt from how hard she was holding her wand, how long she had it raised, ready to fend off any attack, but she refused to waver. “People are much stronger than you know. Just ask your new friend!”

She leapt forward. A bolt of bright golden light arced towards them.

Magnifico cut it apart into a shower of hot sparks with a slash of his staff, but Asha’s attack had been nothing but a cover for a different assault. Two of Bunny’s boomerangs cut through the air, and Pitch ducked. Magnifico didn’t, and one of the boomerangs hit him hard enough to send him toppling to the ground.

Pitch leapt on his Night-Mare and dove down from the perch. Asha mounted her golden horse and gave chase instantly. Jack and the Sandman raced up to the platform to try and corner Magnifico while North, Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy followed Asha in pursuit of Pitch.

But Jack and the Sandman got to the platform just a second too late. Magnifico recovered fast, seized his staff, and disappeared in a whirl of green light. So they leapt over the railing and joined the others.

Bunny threw egg-shaped smoke bombs, but Pitch dodged all of them. Furthermore, he managed to loose a blast of dark dream-sand that slammed into Asha’s steed, throwing both of them back. Her horse disappeared with an alarmed whinny, and Asha fell before she could focus enough to summon her magic. North caught her with one arm.

Below them, Pitch disappeared through a crevice in the cave wall.

The Guardians landed, reassembling on the cave floor, ready for another attack. Asha splashed down in a shallow pool of turquoise water, in a little cove beneath a mosaic, and held out her wand once again.

But nothing happened. Neither the Boogeyman nor the evil sorcerer reappeared. All was quiet – peaceful, even.

“He’s gone,” North said.

“Both of them,” Asha agreed, her heart sinking in her chest.

Chapter 5: Asha and Lillah

Chapter Text

“Okay, alright, I admit it,” Bunny said grumpily, glancing at North. “You were right about Pitch.”

Asha kept a tight hold on her wand, out of instinct more than anything else. She was still on alert. Even if Magnifico was gone… for now. Obviously, he would be back. And she had to be ready for that, because if she wasn’t –

A tug on her cape surprised her. She looked down. The Sandman had a fold of her cape in his hands, and he was examining the traces of blackened, corrupted dream-dust that still clung to the pale blue fabric. He looked up at her curiously. Asha only shrugged. She didn’t know what to tell him.

She brushed off the cape, left it for the Sandman to inspect, and went to help Tooth, who was sitting on the ground, surrounded by the little golden metal tubes – only a handful of them, all that they’d managed to rescue.

Asha knelt down to pick one up. She was surprised. Painted on the end of it was the face of a beaming child with glasses and braided black hair, and through the glass plates on the top, she could see rows of tiny pale objects – teeth – nestled in a velvet interior.

Jack came over, helping to gather the other cylinders and try and make sure they were safe. “I’m sorry about the fairies,” he murmured, crouching next to Tooth.

The Tooth Fairy’s wings gave a twitch, but she didn’t look up. “You should have seen them,” she said softly. “They put up such a fight.”

Baby Tooth circled Jack and Asha as Asha knelt down next to them. “I – I don’t understand,” she said. “Why would Pitch and Magnifico want all these… teeth?”

“It’s not the teeth they wanted,” the Tooth Fairy said, looking up. “It’s the memories inside them.”

“The – wait. You’re telling me that there are memories inside of the teeth?” Asha said, baffled.

“Yes. That’s why we collect them,” the Tooth Fairy explained. “They hold the most important memories of childhood.” She got up, her wings buzzing, and showed them to a mural on the wall, painted at the end of the cove. Jack and Asha followed her over the turquoise waters; Jack walked on ice where his feet touched the surface, and Asha walked on the same light as before.

On the stone wall, there was a mural that showed children from all over the world with their arms outstretched to Toothiana and her fairies. “My fairies and I watch over them,” Tooth said to Jack and Asha as they stood, looking up at the mural. “And when someone needs to remember what’s important, we help them.”

They kept memories in teeth? Asha had never heard of such a thing. Then again, she had never studied magic extensively. She’d like to – another part of the reason she’d hoped to be Magnifico’s apprentice – but then again, he probably would never have told her about memories being kept in teeth. He took the memories of the wishes he “protected” in his tower, and if someone had the power to get their memories back… she didn’t want to imagine what he might have done. He was never one to handle anything he perceived as a challenge lightly.

Was that the reason he and the Boogeyman had come after the teeth, here?

“How many kids’ teeth did you collect?” Asha asked.

“Children from all over the world,” Toothiana responded. “Maybe not your home, but everywhere that we knew about.” She turned her head to Jack. “We even had yours, too.”

Jack blinked, a strange expression coming over his face. “You mean… my memories?”

“From when you were young,” the Tooth Fairy confirmed. “Before you became Jack Frost.”

Jack took a step back, puzzled. “But… I wasn’t anyone before I was Jack Frost.”

“Of course you were,” the Tooth Fairy said, smiling. “We were all someone before we were chosen.”

“You were?” Asha said, startled. “But… why doesn’t Jack remember? Do you all remember who you were?”

North, Bunny, Sandy and Star must have been listening from the shore, because North chuckled, “Ha! You should have seen Bunny!”

Bunny shoved him, hard. “Hey, I told you never to mention that!”

Worried, Star zipped out to join them on the water.

“That night at the pond,” Jack said faintly, slightly reeling, “I just… I assumed… are you saying – are you saying I had a life before that, with a home, and… and a family?

His voice was somewhere between frightened and ecstatic.

The Tooth Fairy’s smile faded as she realized. “You really don’t remember?”

Asha touched Jack’s arm. He didn’t even react. That was fine, because he had a lot going through his head right now, she thought – and he wasn’t the only one. “But why… when you were chosen, what happened to your memories?” Unfortunately, her thoughts jumped to the worst possibility. “Were they taken from you? Why? Who would do that?”

The Tooth Fairy’s expression said she had no answers for them.

“Right now I don’t care about that!” Jack said to Asha, a little more loud than he’d meant to, and she jumped. “All these years, the answers were right here! If I find my memories, then I’ll finally know why I’m here. You have to show me!” He said to Tooth, before taking a flying leap and sailing back to shore, almost knocking Asha over in the process. She lost her balance, but fortunately Star caught her and pushed her back upright.

The Tooth Fairy said sadly, “I can’t show you, Jack. Pitch has them!”

Jack landed on a crag on the rocks and pointed his staff. “Then we have to get them back!”

Asha stepped back on shore. “Yes, I agree with that, but – how do we do that?” She pointed out. “Pitch Black seems scary, and Magnifico is… well, you saw how he acted about Star. He’ll stop at nothing to secure his own power.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, we’re not scared of some pretty-faced jerk!” Bunny said, a little more valiantly than necessary.

While Asha appreciated the bravery, she also felt that Bunny wasn’t taking this seriously enough. But her next thoughts were cut off by a gasp from the Tooth Fairy.

“Oh no!” Brilliant green, purple, and blue feathers dropped to the ground under Tooth, and behind her, the mural on the wall began to turn a rotten, bleached hue. “The children… we’re too late…”

North objected. “NO!” He shouted, swinging his sword which Sandy had to dodge. “No! No such thing as ‘too late’!” He had to stop and think, squinting at the cove waters below. Even the waters seemed to be losing their luster, turquoise fading into a washed-out greyish hue. “Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait - IDEA!” He bellowed, sticking one of his swords in Bunny’s face.

Bunny leapt to safety on a higher ledge.

“WE! Will collect the teeth!” North exclaimed, gesturing with his swords for emphasis.

“What?!” Toothiana gasped.

“We get teeth, children keep believing in you!” North said.

“We’re talking seven continents and millions of kids!” Tooth informed them.

“Give me break!” North said, grinning. “You know how many toys I deliver in one night?”

“And eggs I hide in one day?” Added Bunny, warming to the idea.

“And Jack! If you help us,” North said to him, “we will get you your memories.”

Jack’s expression said he was onboard. North turned to the last members of their gathering. “And you! Fairy godmother and the Star! How about you?” He called.

Asha looked at Star, who rubbed his little hands together in anticipation. She knew what that meant. “Sounds to me like we’re in.”

Not that she could have turned her back on Tooth in good conscience, anyway.

~~

And this was how she found herself sprinting over the rooftops of a Balinese city under a deep purple sky, followed by Star and racing Bunny and Jack.

“Hop to it, rabbit! I’m five teeth ahead!” Jack jeered.

“Yeah right! I’d tell you to stay out of my way, but what’s the point?” Bunny snapped. “’Cause you won’t be able to keep up, anyway!”

“Is that a challenge, cottontail?” Jack said.

“You don’t want to race a rabbit, mate!” Bunny punctuated this comment by shooting far ahead, leaping from roof to roof like a cannonball.

“Is it a race? Aha! It is a race!” Crowed North, popping out of chimney after chimney, courtesy of snow-globe portals. “This is going to be epic!”

Asha couldn’t help the grin on her face as she slid down the slope of a roof and leapt to another. Tooth was directing them from overhead, calling out every tooth she could locate. “Four bicuspids over there! An incisor two blocks east! Is that a molar? They’re everywhere!” She flew into a billboard. “Ow!”

Asha and Jack came to check on her, fast. “You okay?” Jack asked, poking his head over the top.

“Fine!” Tooth rubbed her nose. “Sorry – it’s been a really long time since I’ve been out in the field!”

“Long time?” Asha echoed, as Star zoomed up to them with a tooth in his arms. “How long is a long time, exactly?”

“Four hundred and forty years… give or take.” Toothiana’s attention was immediately captured by the next tooth, and she zipped off in pursuit.

Jack, Bunny, North, and Sandy’s competition turned into outright cheating and even sabotage. With Bunny’s magic tunnels, Sandy’s dream-sand, Jack’s ice and North’s snow-globes, they were collecting teeth at an incredible rate. Once, Asha slipped into an apartment to collect the teeth of a pair of twins who had lost their front teeth in a soccer match skirmish, only to fall down a tunnel that Bunny had set.

Fortunately, it wasn’t bottomless. After landing, Asha looked up and spotted Bunny’s head peeking through the hole overhead.

“Hmm. Thought you would be Frost,” he said, not quite apologetic.

Not entertained, Asha pointed her wand at him and a dazzling blast of starlight sent him spinning back. By the time he recovered, blinking spots out of his eyes, Asha had collected every lost tooth in the neighborhood and moved on, gliding through the air with Jack and Star.

Star alternated between being on Jack’s team and then on Sandman’s and back. He loved holding the teeth they collected, cradling the little white things in his tiny arms and wondering about the memories held inside – and all the wishes that those memories could form!

“You collect teeth and leave gifts almost as fast as my fairies!” Tooth exclaimed when they presented her with large bags of teeth, and then she saw the slightly sheepish expressions that came over their faces. “…You did leave gifts, right?”

No, they hadn’t. Fortunately, after collecting some change, they were off again, giving coins and other treats – candy canes, Easter eggs, and other nice things – for the children who had put their teeth under their pillows.

The chase for teeth took them from city to city, province to province, even country to country. Asha saw places she’d never even imagined before; there were towering cities where every building was as tall as the castle of Rosas, and deserts with sand as far as the eye could see, and mountains covered in ice. Sure, she’d read about places like this, but there was nothing like this on Rosas!

Even stranger were the machines – some had wings like North’s sleigh and flew through the air. Some had wheels like carriages but didn’t need horses. Some carried horses or other animals, which seemed so backwards. Whatever this world was, Asha knew she had much to learn – and she wanted to learn everything she could. She wanted to take stories of all of this back to Rosas! Along with stories of Christmas, whatever that was, and Easter, and Toothiana and the Sandman.

And Jack Frost! Rosas had never had ice and snow – at least, not that she could remember.

Well. That was when she made it back to Rosas, whenever that might be. Helping Jack’s wish come true was taking a lot of different turns.

And there was yet another turn just ahead for her.

~~

Somewhere in a city, in a place that Tooth identified as Louisiana in a country called the United States, Jack, North, and Bunny were still racing each other – and sabotaging each other – in their teeth collection quest. Star zoomed here and there, contributing to the chaos however he could, and leaving Asha to peacefully collect the teeth she could find on her own.

A tap of her magic wand unlocked a window, and she slid it open. She climbed inside carefully and her flats landed on a thick carpet dotted with toys – mostly soft dolls and plush animals. On the far side of the bed from her, there was a pair of crutches covered in flower stickers. A little girl was tucked into bed, under a rainbow comforter, fast asleep on her side.

Very gently, Asha reached under her pillow, but couldn’t feel a tooth. So, carefully, she rounded the bed to the other side. She had to be very particular – if the girl woke up, she was sure to see her. Fortunately, the girl stayed soundly asleep as Asha extracted a tiny white premolar from under the pillow, and replaced it with a coin.

She dropped the tooth in the pouch on her belt. Then, as she turned and rose to her feet, she noticed a posterboard propped up against the wall by the door to the bedroom. The moonlight from the window fell on it in a perfect square, illuminating the forms of five little fairies drawn on the surface.

Asha took a step closer, just to get a better look. The fairies all wore flower dresses, with translucent shawls wrapped around their shoulders and down their arms. Each of them had a different pair of butterfly wings. They all had wands and were surrounded by sparkles.

Then, there was the sound of a sneeze from behind her, and Asha froze.

When she turned, she found a pair of bright brown eyes staring at her. The little girl had woken up.

“Are you the Tooth Fairy?” Asked the little girl.

“No,” Asha said quietly, smiling, “I’m a friend who’s helping her tonight.”

The little girl tilted her head slightly. Black locks fell around her face, coming loose from he braid they’d been tucked in. “The Tooth Fairy needs help?”

“Everyone needs help sometimes,” Asha said. “My name is Asha. What’s yours?”

The little girl fidgeted. She said, “Lillah.” Then she turned to her pillow.

“That’s a beautiful name,” Asha said, but Lillah wasn’t paying attention.

Lillah pulled out the coin that Asha had put under her pillow, and inspected it like she was some sort of professional. “Where’s this from?”

Asha had to wrack her brain for the name of the last place they’d stopped to pick up coins. It wasn’t precise, but she tried. “Somewhere called Australia, I think.”

“Australia?” Lillah echoed. “How’d it get here?”

“Well, we go all around the world to collect the teeth,” Asha said.

“Who’s ‘we’?”

“All the Tooth Fairy’s friends – the Sandman, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and Jack Frost.”

Lillah cracked a grin. She was also missing one of her front teeth, but Asha figured that Tooth’s fairies had picked up that one on a previous night. “That’s funny! The Sandman, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, collecting teeth for the Tooth Fairy?”

“That’s right,” Asha said proudly. “She doesn’t want to disappoint a single child.”

“But what about you?” Lillah was such an inquisitive child, Asha thought. “They’re all famous. Why aren’t you?”

“I’m… getting there,” Asha replied with a shrug. “I hope. Someday, maybe, I’ll be as wonderful as the rest of them, but for now, I’m just another fairy godmother trying to do her best when someone needs her.”

Lillah’s face lit up. “You’re a fairy godmother? Like Cinderella’s?!”

In training! Asha didn’t add that thought. She just nodded.

Lillah sat up straighter, suddenly. “I need your help!” She reached for her crutches.

Slightly startled by this response, Asha didn’t know what to do. She almost moved automatically to reach out and pull the crutches closer – a response ingrained in her from her years of friendship with Dahlia – but reminded herself that this was a complete stranger. “Would you like me to help?”

Lillah nodded. Asha carefully moved the crutches within reach, and Lillah took them and got up. She wore braces on her legs which took a moment to stand right, but she headed towards the door persistently.

Asha hoped she didn’t intend to leave the bedroom and go somewhere else in the house, but thankfully, Lillah stopped by the door and pointed at the posterboard. “Look.”

Asha joined her, looking down at the art. “I see fairies,” she said genuinely. “They’re all so beautiful.”

“I know they are! I drew them.” Lillah’s eyes sparkled with pride, yet there was something hesitant in her smile. “But are they beautiful enough to win my class’s art competition? That’s the problem.”

“Oh,” Asha whispered as realization dawned on her, what Lillah might be expecting from her.

“Can’t you do anything?” Lillah said hopefully.

Not anything more than you already have done, Asha thought. But she had a feeling that Lila wouldn’t listen to that; it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Asha didn’t have the power to magically compel any kind of judge to choose Lillah’s work over the rest (and even if she did have that power, she would never use it).

But she figured out something else. She feigned a pensive expression, like this was a real puzzle. “Well, it’s not much… but…”

Lillah saw the look. “But what?” She asked eagerly.

Asha lowered her voice. “I’ll let you in on a secret,” she said conspiratorially, and Lillah leaned in to hear. “You did so well, all I have to add is a little sparkle, and everyone will see what a masterpiece it is!”

Lillah squealed and clapped her hands, bouncing a tiny bit on her feet. “Do it! Do it! Please?”

Asha obliged, and raised her wand, which glowed. But Lillah interrupted her before she could do anything, asking, “Do you have magic words?”

Asha paused. “Magic words?”

“You know,” Lillah said, like it was obvious. “Like Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother did?”

The young fairy godmother smiled, her eyes sparkling. “Oh, of course I do! All fairy godmothers have the same magic words. Do you know them?” Lillah nodded, and Asha pretended for another moment, like she was trying to remember something. “Well, you might have to remind me.”

Lillah’s eyes danced with delight. She began, “Salacka-doo-la, menchicka-boo-la –”

“Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!” They said together, and Asha waved her wand over the drawings.

Beads of starlight fell like sparks, settling onto the surface, the crayon lines and finger-painted flowers, until every fairy glowed with her own light – green, pink, blue, yellow, or orange.

Lillah clapped again, her eyes stinging with tears. In the past few weeks she’d worked so hard on this piece, but it hadn’t seemed like it was enough. It was like whatever it needed to truly shine, she couldn’t provide. But a fairy godmother could, easy! And when it shone so brightly like this, now, she really felt it was finished and ready.

Then the door to her bedroom opened, yellow light from the hallway pouring in. Her mother’s voice came in Arabic, “Lillah Nadiyya al-Bey, why aren’t you in bed? I thought you went to sleep an hour ago!

Lillah turned towards the door, a little stunned by the bright light. Then she looked back to where her fairy godmother had been standing… and there was no one there. There was motion on the other side of the glass window, and she caught a fleeting glimpse of moonlight on long braids and a lovely smile.

Then, she was gone from there, too.

Jack lifted Asha onto the roof of Lillah’s home. He’d seen everything through the window, and was part of the reason she’d been able to make such a quick departure when the adults had entered the scene. “That was really sweet, with that little girl,” he said.

Asha smiled. She didn’t often get to work with young children – they rarely had such finalized, heart-driving wishes that they would call on her – but the encounter had left her in high spirits. “I really hope she wins her competition.”

“Why wouldn’t she?” Jack leaned on his staff, slightly puzzled. “Didn’t you just grant her wish?”

Asha was quick to correct him. “Wish-granting isn’t what I do,” she said. She had never used those words, for good reason. “I help make wishes come true, but it’s not as simple as a sparkle of magic and all your dreams are handed to you. Wishes come true because of what a person does to achieve their wish… it’s just that, sometimes, a little magic flourish can help it along, or bring it all together.”

“And that’s what you do,” Jack said.

“That’s what I strive to do,” Asha confirmed.

Star came rocketing up to them, carrying about a half-dozen teeth, including one that looked like it might still have a little bit of blood on it. He brandished these at Asha, who accepted them gingerly.

“Oh, buddy,” she said, examining the red-tinged one. “Do I want to know what you were getting into?”

The expression on Star’s little face brought her no reassurance about that.

Chapter 6: Dream-Dust and Mishaps

Chapter Text

High above, silhouette against the stars, North’s sleigh sailed effortlessly. A second later, another whirling snow-globe portal bloomed into existence and whisked them away to somewhere else.

The watching Night-Mare snorted, its cold amber eyes glinting. Then it took off, streaking across rooftops and down through an abandoned alleyway. It disappeared through a sewer grate, and, a few seconds later, arrived in the Boogeyman’s underground lair.

In the rocky eaves of the subterranean caves, a thousand tiny Tooth Fairies cowered behind metal cage bars. Below, Pitch paced impatiently around a blackened version of the globe in the center of North’s workshop, complete with glowing lights – too many, the Boogeyman thought with a sneer.

“The lights,” he hissed. “Why aren’t they going out?”

The Night-Mare informed him.

Pitch paused, taken by surprise. “They’re collecting the teeth?”

A racket suddenly sounded from above. All the tiny fairies were chattering and fluttering about, shaking the bars of their cages, making them sway from their chains.

“Oh, pipe down or I’ll stuff a pillow with you!” Pitch snarled.

A blast of green magic arced through the air, slamming into several of the cages and shaking the fairies. Magnifico stepped forward to join his new friend by the globe, appearing far more patient than he really was.

Pitch snapped at the Night-Mare, who dissipated instantly. Catching a handful of the blackened dream-dust, he mused, “Fine. They can have their last hurrah…”

“Yeah, and for how long?” Magnifico drawled. “Your corrupted nightmare-dust can only do so much for me. I need a star, or this stupid staff will drag me back in again!”

“You said it yourself,” Pitch said, watching the streams of black dust writhing in his fingers. “That Star with the Guardians is the same one you met before. Sounds to me like a perfect chance for payback, don’t you think?”

“Or just another chance to make everything more complicated than it has to be,” Magnifico muttered, but didn’t argue further. “So, since the Guardians stepped up their game, what’s next for us?”

Pitch smiled – a sinister, cold expression. “Exactly the same as before. Come tomorrow, all of their pathetic scrambling will be for nothing.”

In his fingers, the black dust formed the image of the Sandman, which he crushed in a single fist.


“Left central incisor,” Toothiana said, holding up the tiny white tooth, “knocked out in a freak sledding accident.” She gave them a sly smile. “I wonder how that could have happened, right, Jack?”

Asha smiled innocently. Between them, a child slept soundly in his bed, unaware of the three magical beings gathered around. A dog was curled up tightly at the foot of the bedspread, but she also slept uninterrupted.

Jack, looking at the drawings on the boy’s wall, shared Asha’s innocent expression, only his fooled nobody. “Kids, huh?”

Tooth’s eyes twinkled. She twirled a single gold coin in her fingers, which she placed under the boy’s pillow. Then, hovering on her wings, she floated above the bed for a few moments, looking down at the child with such fondness.

“This was always my favorite part,” the Tooth Fairy said softly. “Seeing the kids…” She smiled, but only for a second. As her smile faded, she folded her arms, becoming sad and withdrawn. “Why did I ever stop doing this?”

Asha tried to help, because of course she did. “Because you’re one fairy, and no matter how powerful you are, that’s a lot of kids to try and take care of on your own,” she offered.

“It’s a lot different up close, huh?” Jack said.

The Tooth Fairy looked up. She smiled again. “I’m so glad that you two are here,” she said, and put a hand on Jack’s should. “I wish I’d known about your memory. I could have helped you.”

I could have helped you. Jack was still getting used to the idea that Asha, who was answering his wish, wanted to help him – much less an actual Guardian. He tried to deflect it, like he didn’t care. “Yeah, well… look, let’s just get you taken care of. Then it’s Pitch’s turn.”

North’s voice interrupted. “There you are!” The big Guardian galumphed loudly through the window with difficulty, followed by the Sandman and Star.

The Tooth Fairy shushed them with her finger to her lips, pointing to the bed. The child mumbled something sleepily, but didn’t rouse.

North – the only one making noise – stopped in his tracks and lowered his voice. “What gives, slowpokes?” He flashed a smile. “How you feeling, Toothy?”

The Tooth Fairy grinned, her wings buzzing. “Believed in!

Tooth chuckled. “That’s what I want to hear!”

Bunny surfaced through one of his magical rabbit holes, took in the scene, and, predictably, griped about it. “Oh, I see how it is. All working together to make sure the rabbit gets last place!” He leapt into the room.

The others shushed him once again. All except for Asha, who was quietly emptying her belt-pouch of teeth into Jack’s sack, because she knew exactly what was coming next.

“Oh, you think I need help to defeat a bunny?” Jack swaggered forward, brandishing his bag. “Check it out, Peter Cottontail.”

Bunny was unimpressed. “You call that a bag of chompers?” He lifted a sack almost twice as large as Jack’s. “Now that’s a bag of chompers.”

North pushed between them. “Gentlemen, gentlemen! This is about Tooth. It’s not a competition,” he said, as Asha exchanged looks with Star. “But if it was –” North dropped a massive, rattling sack on the floor. “I win. YEEEEEEE-HA!

His celebratory whoop and dance was interrupted by the quiet click of a flashlight. A bright light turned on from the bed, and North froze. All the Guardians turned.

The boy was awake, very baffled, and aiming a flashlight at each of them as he tried to identify them. “Santa Claus? The Easter Bunny? Sandman? The Tooth Fairy!” He grinned. “I knew you’d come!”

“Surprise! We came!” Toothiana said, beaming.

“He can see us?” Jack said hopefully. But the child’s flashlight had passed right over him, Asha, and Star.

“Most of us,” Bunny said with considerably less hostility than usual. The child’s wide, wonder-filled eyes flittered between the four of them, but the winter spirit, the young fairy godmother, and her star remained unseen.

(This was by Asha and Star’s choice. If Jack couldn’t be seen, there was no reason for them to be seen either.)

Jack’s hopeful expression faded. Star cuddled up to him, trying to make him feel better.

“He’s still awake!” Toothiana whispered, before a conversation could emerge.

“Sandy,” the Easter Bunny said, “knock him out!”

The Sandman put his fists together toughly.

“Huh?” said the boy.

“With the dream-sand, you gumby!” Bunny said.

For a second, the Sandman looked slightly disappointed. Then, another wildcard got involved in the situation.

The commotion had woken up the dog, who bolted upright. She was a sleek, mean-looking thing, who locked her eyes on Bunny, bared her teeth, and started to growl.

“No, stop! That’s the Easter Bunny!” The boy shouted, trying to pull her back by the collar. “What are you doing, Abbey? Down!”

Bunny, never one to show fear, tried to master the situation. “Alright, nobody panic –”

“But that’s a greyhound,” Jack commented. “Do you know what greyhounds do to rabbits?”

“I think it’s a pretty safe bet she’s never met a rabbit like me!” The Easter Bunny blustered, ears twitching. “6-1, nerves of steel, master of tai chi and the ancient art of –”

This whole time, Star had been distracted by something on the child’s bedside table – a round contraption with two bells on the top. After inspecting every inch of the surface, he poked it.

The bells went off with a tinny ringing noise.

Abbey jumped.

“Crikey!” was all Bunny could say before the greyhound tackled him to the ground.

The Sandman juggled a ball of dream-sand as chaos broke lose. Bunny shot around the room, leaping over the bedspread and off the walls as Abbey pursued him like a comet. The child shouted, “No! Down! Sit!” to no avail. Toothiana and North tried to get in the way, to help, just a second before Bunny slid into Sandman, sending his dream-sand off course.

Tooth got a face-full of the stuff and sank to the ground, sound asleep. The dream-sand spun in tooth shapes over her head.

The Sandman readied to try again. As the Easter Bunny shrieked, “She’s rabid! Get this dingo off me!” Sandy aimed for said ‘dingo,’ only to nail Bunny instead. He toppled to the ground, snoring, with golden dream-dust carrots spinning above his head.

Oh, great. They were down two Guardians, and the situation still wasn’t under control. Asha stepped in, grabbing the dog and pulling her away from Bunny, only for the Sandman’s next blast to catch them both. The dog sank to the ground, dreaming of tasty bones. Star caught Asha and pulled her onto the bedspread as the dream-sand gave her dreams of woodland creatures dancing along to her grandfather’s lute.

Sandy tried again. This time he got North, who woozily admired the dream-sand candy-canes circling his head before he passed out.

Finally, Sandy got the right target, and the young boy sank back on his pillow, asleep.

“Whoops,” Jack said, poised on the dresser where he’d been avoiding the chaos.

One of Bunny’s dream-carrots grabbed a dream-candy-cane and starting doing a dance to the melody of Asha’s grandfather’s lute.

“Oh, I really wish I had a camera right now,” Jack said, stifling a laugh, as he flew to the window. Star bobbed in agreement.

The Sandman turned with a prideful expression, only to see the eyes of a Night-Mare peering in through the open window. As Jack whirled around, the Night-Mare darted away into the night.

But Jack saw a chance – a lead. “Sandy, Star, come on!” He shouted, leaping into the open air. “We can find Pitch!”

The Sandman and Star, however, hesitated. Star remained close to the sleeping Asha, and the Sandman contemplated the scene – all the other Guardians, down for the count. If they went with Jack, Sandy would be the only Guardian out there.

Then again, Jack was already giving chase, so if there was trouble… one Guardian was better than no Guardian, right?

Star looked at Sandy. He’d go with Sandy’s choice. So when Sandy climbed up on the window, Star followed, and both of them flew out into the night to follow Jack.

Chapter 7: Star and the Sandman

Chapter Text

Star and the Sandman soared through the streets of the neighborhood, chasing Jack, who chased two of the evil Night-Mares. Jack whooped with joy, but for the Sandman and Star, it wasn’t nearly as thrilling.

Houses raced past, light glinting off windows and shadows flitting under the light from the streetlamps. The Sandman surfed on a cloud of dream-dust to keep up, with Star coming in last. He took a turn too steeply and raced through the windows of a warehouse, upsetting a cat, a flock of pigeons, and a couple pieces of machinery left for the night, before shooting back outside.

He raced right into the path of a Night-Mare, sending it reeling in surprise. In a flash, the Sandman caught up with it and leapt on its back. When he seized it, the corrupted dream-dust turned golden again, purified – a trick he learned from Asha – and he re-shaped the horse into a swooping, graceful manta ray.

Now Jack and Star were shooting after the last Night-Mare. They dodged chimneys, crested the peaks of the roofs, and as the Night-Mare arced over the roof of an apartment building overhead, Jack shot at it with a bolt of ice.

White ice coated the Night-Mare’s sides. It whinnied loudly and disappeared below.

“I got it!” Jack whispered, and he and Star flew to see.

On the rooftop, the Night-Mare was reduced to a frozen mound of black dream-dust slumped on the tiles. Jack poked it with his staff. It seemed frozen solid! “Sandy! Sandy, did you see that?!” Jack called out, as Star did a loop-de-loop of delight. “Look at this thing…”

Focused on the frozen creature, neither Jack nor Star noticed the shadow looming behind them until Pitch’s cold voice sounded. “Frost?”

Jack spun around. Pitch effortlessly dodged a blast of ice, melting into the shadows. But his voice echoed around them, calculating and soft. “You know, for a neutral party, you sure spend an awful lot of time with these weirdos…” The Boogeyman reappeared, a graceful black shadow looking down from a higher peak. “This isn’t your fight, Jack.”

Star glared like he was ready for a fight, before Jack grabbed him and pulled him back. “You made it my fight when you stole those teeth!”

“Teeth?” Pitch echoed. “What do you care about the teeth?” A second later, he looked down. Standing next to him was the Sandman, a full meter shorter than Pitch, yet the Boogeyman jumped back as if he had just been confronted by a particularly awful bug.

The Sandman folded his arms and stared at him, unimpressed.

Pitch cracked a smile. “Now this is who I’m looking for!”

The Sandman moved fast. Whip-like strands of dream-dust lashed out at the Boogeyman, and Pitch leapt back to avoid them, only to retaliate with a sweeping, axe-like weapon that sailed right over Sandy’s head.

Jack dove to the ground to avoid slashes of gold and black. Star angrily stuck his head out of Jack’s hood, watching the battle.

A second later, a new attack arced down from above – a grasp of green, evil light. Fortunately, Jack saw their shadows cast on the pavement just a heartbeat before it was too late, and rolled onto his back, deflecting Magnifico’s attack with a shield of ice. The green magic slammed into a nearby AC unit.

The evil sorcerer sneered. “You again? Really?”


In Asha’s dream, she was sitting contentedly outside her cottage, watching her grandfather play his lute. Woodland animals – squirrels, rabbits, birds, deer, even a turtle or two – came frolicking to the notes, dancing with glowing hearts and delighted smiles. Somehow, there was a single carrot there, dancing with a strange-looking cane-shaped stick of red and white. How odd.

Abruptly, her grandfather’s music stopped. He turned towards her, his white hair shining brightly in the moonlight streaming down from above and his wizened face filled with concern.

“Asha,” he said, “where is Sandy and Star?”

Asha tilted her head. What an odd question. What did Star and Sandy have to do with –

Then clarity came over her, and she remembered.

A moment later, she bolted upright, awake. Nearby was Bunny, North, and Tooth – all sleeping. And there was no sign of Jack, Star, and the Sandman.


Sandy got a lash around one of Pitch’s arms, and threw him into the air, high overhead. Then he dragged him back down to slam on the roof – then a wall – then another wall – another sweep into the bank of AC units – and then released him to tumble over the edge and onto the street far below.

Jack would have been impressed was he not scrambling back, trying to get to his feet as swiftly as possible without turning his back on the sorcerer as Magnifico advanced.

Then, Sandy’s next lash ensnared Magnifico’s staff and yanked it out of his grip.

“Hey! Careful with that!” Magnifico snarled, whirling around, but that was enough distraction for Jack to hit him again from behind, this time with enough sleet and ice that he actually fell flat on his face.

Laughing, Jack, Star, and the Sandman leapt over the ledge and sailed to the street below, where Pitch was just barely managing to get to his feet.

“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Jack said to Sandy.

Sandy made a gesture that might have been something like likewise.

“Okay – easy – you can’t blame me for trying, Sandy!” Pitch tried to plead. “You don’t know what it’s like, to be weak and hated! It was stupid of me to mess with your dreams! So, I’ll tell you what… you can have them back.”

Those words were full of such malice that immediately, Star knew, this was his plan all along!

A stampede of Night-Mares erupted from the nearest sewer grate. Another contingent of the creatures loomed atop the closet building. A phalanx of them crept from an alleyway. There had to be at least five dozen of these creatures! They all leered at Jack, Star, and the Sandman.

Surrounded, Jack lifted his staff and tried to rationalize. “You take the ones on the left, I’ll take the ones on the right?” He offered.

The Sandman shrugged.

Star floated out of Jack’s hood, and tried to be ready for a fight.

Pitch Black mounted the largest of the Night-Mares, and looked at the three pathetic spirits opposing him. He hissed at them, “Boo!

The Night-Mares surged forward.


Magnifico shook off the last of the remaining ice from Jack’s attack, and reached for his staff. But a familiar face stood in his way.

Asha held her wand tight, and willed herself not to show fear.

Magnifico snarled, “You just can’t stay out of the way, can you?”

“Not where you’re concerned,” Asha replied.

Magnifico lunged for her. A blast from her wand send him reeling back, but when he held out his hand, his staff flew to him on command. When he turned back to her, staff outstretched, she faced him without fear.

He spared only a dismissive glance for the wand that she held. She hadn’t had that when they fought last. A gift from her shiny, pathetic star, he guessed – another pretense at how she could ever match up to his powers. It didn’t particularly need to be involved, did it?

With a flick of his staff, tendrils of green magic tore the wand out of her grasp, and it went skidding out-of-reach. As Asha spun to try and reclaim it, he sent another attack right at her.


The Night-Mares charged in one rush of darkness, closing in around Star, Sandy, and Jack. Star’s light shone brightly, repelling a few; the Sandman summoned a sword and a whip that could turn them away; Jack relied on his staff. A second later, North’s sleigh careened overhead, dangerously close.

The Sandman got an idea. He informed Star, and then grabbed Jack’s arm. A funnel cloud of dream-dust swirled around them, rocketing into the air overhead. More advantages here – especially when all three of them could fly so swiftly. The Night-Mares rose up like a spiraling tide to follow them.

The Tooth Fairy leapt out of the sleigh to join the fight, taking down several Night-Mires with a single strike. Jack cut down two others, and Star did the same trick as before, turning into such a bright little comet that any Night-Mare he touched dispersed into nothing.

Pitch ordered more from the ground, but Bunny sailed down from above, ready for a fight.

North stayed at the head of his sleigh, dual-wielding his favorite curled sabers, laughing triumphantly.

If Pitch was looking for a fight, he’d got one.


Green light streaked towards her, and Asha leapt back.

Not like it could help her, Magnifico thought with an arrogant smirk. Asha had succumbed to such an attack before; no matter how strong she pretended she was, this would cut her down, just like it had so long ago, on the castle rooftop high above Rosas. When his magic had almost choked the hope out of her – out of everyone – along with her life.

But unlike then, when she had reacted with horror and agony, she showed none of that now. No, she stayed where she was – foolish, he thought – and then her heart glowed.

A luminous radiance that came from deep within her shielded her from his magic. The snakelike tendrils of green light squirmed, curled, and retreated from her.

“What – how?!” Magnifico cried. Without her wand, and that star, she should be powerless!

Asha held her head high, as if nothing could touch her. “You can’t hurt me anymore! We are all stars, and you can never take that from us!”


High above, the Sandman battled the Night-Mares, a disc of wispy light surrounded by a horde of dark, writhing creatures. None of them dared to get too close, for fear of his light, but with so many distractions, he had no time to notice as Pitch rose up behind him –

Aimed –

The Sandman froze as pure, penetrating, ice-cold darkness pierced his back.

From somewhere below, Jack howled, “NO!”

The coldness crept all around him like a blight, draining the color from his dream-sand and snuffing out the light. Pitch crowed in triumph, “Don’t fight the fear, little man! I’d say ‘sweet dreams’… but there aren’t any left.”

Jack and Star rocketed upwards, towards the Sandman, trying to reach him in time. But the Night-Mares closed in on the golden cloud of dream-dust as the black rot overtook the Guardian of Dreams. Still, the Sandman tried to stand strong, with his back straight and head held high, peacefully closing his eyes.

He had done all he could to protect the children of the world. Now, he had to trust that the others could do it without him.

Unlike what Pitch said, the Sandman had no fear. Not now, and not ever.


Asha heard Jack’s cry, and saw the dark swarm above strangling the light. She understood.

Tears came to her eyes. She couldn’t help it. The Guardian of Dreams, defeated? How was such a thing possible?

Magnifico grinned. “Well, there goes that adorable little guy, huh?” He said, his tone mockingly bright. “I’m sure he put up such a fight –”

Asha shut his voice out; that same voice that had lied to her people for decades, promising them such wonderful things if only they gave up the most beautiful part of themselves. Had Magnifico ever really, truly understood the meaning of the things that the Guardians protected?

So long ago, they had talked about the meaning of wishes, how no one should ever have to experience their wish being destroyed. And yet he turned around and helped the King of Nightmares, and set out to destroy dreams?

A deep, familiar heartache came over her. A heartache she’d hoped she’d never have to feel again. When she’d lost her father, years ago, it had felt like all her dreams left the world with him. With the Sandman, it was much the same feeling – and perhaps, even more literal.

But unlike last time, her frustration and anger could be directed at a tangible target.

Asha screamed at Magnifico, and the light from her heart blazed, slamming into him with a crackling force that threw him all the way back across the rooftop, across the next, and he tumbled out of sight over the edge, looking stunned.

The light faded, along with her anger. Now she just felt drained, as if that had taken all of the energy she could spare. She collected her wand, and raced to follow him. He couldn’t be given the chance to hurt anyone else!

But when she leapt over the ledge and onto the street below, there was no sign of him.

Above, there was a clash like thunder. She looked up to see Pitch’s entire battalion of Night-Mares glowing with a silvery light that splintered like brittle ice, and then – they were gone, flakes of black ice floating through the air. That had been Jack’s work? How?

She sprinted into the air, racing on light. The sleigh swooped low for her to board as Toothiana dove down, carrying a barely-conscious Jack.

“Jack,” she said as he stirred, “how did you do that?”

Jack sat up, blinking. “I didn’t know I could… Asha, there you are. Where’s Star?”

“He’s right here,” Bunny said unexpectedly, lifting the flap of his boomerang pouch to show Star curled up inside, sniffling.

When Asha held out her arms, Star zoomed straight to her, smushing his little face against her bodice as he trembled. Asha tried to console him, “Hey, it’s not truly hopeless. Sandy’s never really gone. Do you remember what we learned from Elisa? A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you’re fast asleep…

Star sniffled again, and then burst into tears.


Magnifico watched as the sleigh soared through the sky and then disappeared through a snow-globe portal. He clutched his staff tightly, his eyes glowing green, as he thought over every detail of the fight.

He’d meant to go after Star, of course. But that bratty little winter kid had to get in the way, and then Asha jumped in to confront him… only he wasn’t sure he was actually angry about that. Sure, he hadn’t gotten Star… but, thinking about the way that Asha’s heart glowed, the surety of her power, the force with which that power had lashed out…

“Well, that was quite the show that kid put on, huh?” Magnifico said as Pitch rejoined him.

“Finally!” Pitch laughed maniacally. Far from being upset, he too now understood that perhaps, he had uncovered something new. The way that Jack had frozen solid a swarm of Night-Mares, sent them breaking apart like the bitterest blizzard – “Someone who knows how to have a bit of fun!

“Or at least how to make a show of it,” Magnifico said. “And you’re not the only one who found out something new that can change the game.” He shifted his staff in his hands, admiring the twisted mirror-like point in the moonlight.

“And how do you plan to do that?” said Pitch, smiling, anticipating something truly wicked.

“It’s that stupid Star,” Magnifico began.

“You didn’t get it,” Pitch guessed.

“No. Because someone else got in the way, and… opened my eyes, you might say,” Magnifico said slowly. “I was thinking too small with that little ball of light. Why settle for a spark when I’ve found a blazing fire, just waiting to be harnessed? With that power under my command, I could never be challenged ever again!”

“And just what is this ‘blazing fire’ you’ve found?” Pitch wondered. He was too elated by the Sandman’s defeat to be even slightly annoyed with how Magnifico was dragging it out.

“Not what. Who,” Magnifico corrected. “And lucky for us, she’s already put herself into the situation.”

In the mirrors at the crest of his staff, a green light kindled within. A moment later, it revealed the form of Asha, sitting forlornly in the sleigh as she gazed into the distance, feeling as lost as she had the day she lost her father.

Chapter 8: Asha and Jack

Chapter Text

As the sleigh cruised peacefully above a sea of clouds and under the night sky, lit up with stars and moon alike, Jack said to his friend, “Asha, I think we need you to tell us about Magnifico.”

Asha looked up. Star was still curled up against her. She’d figured that they would ask, but still, composing her words was difficult.

“He was once King of Rosas, my home,” she began. “He told the people that he wanted to protect our wishes, that all we had to do was give up the very thing that drives our hearts… and our memories of it… and he would protect them for all time. When the time was right, he would grant that wish and we’d get our memories back, and so we would never know the pain of struggling to see our wish come true. But, if he decided that he would never grant a wish, he still kept it from its rightful owner, and that person was just… going to go about their lives, missing a part of themselves, because he thought it didn’t deserve a chance.” Her fists clenched. “But all wishes deserve a chance!”

“You don’t have to tell us twice,” said Bunny, surprisingly gently, putting a paw over her hands. “No one here’s gonna fight you about that.”

Asha took a deep breath. She hadn’t had to explain this to anyone before, but recalling it now – so quickly after the loss of the Sandman – was dragging up a lot of awful feelings. Still, she tried to keep her voice level. “Once, I wanted to be Magnifico’s apprentice, but I found the wish that belonged to my saba – my grandfather. It was the most beautiful thing… when I held it in my hands, it was like… I was holding something so precious, so infinitely wondrous… his wish was to create something to inspire people. But… when I asked Magnifico to grant his wish, Magnifico said that it was too dangerous, that it could inspire a mob. But it wasn’t dangerous,” she said firmly. “Believe me –”

“We do, Asha,” said North, not unkindly, listening from where he was manning the reins at the front of the sleigh. The Tooth Fairy nodded in agreement. Jack and Bunny continued to listen patiently.

Right. She was among friends, Asha reminded herself. If anyone could understand, it would the Guardians – and Jack. “That’s when I saw the truth. That Magnifico believed, because of his power, he had the right to choose who deserved to live fulfilled lives, and who didn’t deserve such a thing. He didn’t want the wishes to have the chance that they truly deserved, and the people would just live without the most beautiful parts of themselves because he said so. He promised that my grandfather and my mother’s wishes wouldn’t be granted, because I had questioned him.”

“Some benevolent protector he was,” Jack muttered.

“And not even my grandfather wanted to hear about what I had found out, because it would only hurt,” Asha continued. “So I wished on the stars, wished for something more than this, and… that’s when Star answered me for the first time.”

Jack hummed the melody quietly. So I make this wish… Something so simple had called on such a powerful force.

Star giggled, and booped him on the nose again.

“Exactly,” Asha said with a sad smile. “Star showed me how every living being is formed of stardust. We meant to steal back my family’s wishes, but… Magnifico felt so threatened, so he turned to forbidden magic, refusing to relinquish any kind of power. To punish me, he crushed my mother’s wish –”

The Tooth Fairy gasped in horror, covering her mouth. Baby Tooth shrank down to hide in Jack’s hood.

“And then realized that, by crushing the wishes he’d sworn to protect, he could access unprecedented power,” Asha said. “My friends and I tried to free all the wishes, but Magnifico set a trap for them, absorbed Star into his staff, and captured all of Rosas. He proclaimed that there would be no more wishing on stars, ever again… but he didn’t realize that we are all stars. When we stood against him, our power overwhelmed his. The wishes were restored, Star was freed, and Magnifico was imprisoned in a piece of his staff. Last I heard, it was being stored in the castle vault in Rosas.” She paused. The story ended there, or at least, it should have.

“I don’t know how Pitch got to the staff, fixed it, or got Magnifico out, but we have to be careful,” she cautioned them all. “He’s capable of some truly awful stuff. He may not be able to hurt me, anymore, but I don’t know what he could do to any of you… or any of the children that we protect.”

She almost flinched. She hadn’t meant to say we, like she presumed she was one of them. But none of them, not even Bunny, argued or told her off.

In fact, no one spoke at all as the sleigh rode across the arctic winds. North’s workshop loomed in the distance.


Inside the workshop, they were greeted by Yetis and elves, whose expressions all turned somber when they saw that one of the Guardians were missing. They held a vigil for the Sandman, with Tooth placing candles around his emblem at the foot of the globe as the elves jingled their belled hats sadly, the Yetis looked on, and the three Guardians – and Asha and Star – mourned their friend.

Jack didn’t join the gathering. Pulling his hood over his head, he sat alone by one of the large glass windows, looking out. When he touched the glass, a swirling pattern of frost formed the silhouette of the Sandman.

After some time, Asha also went to sit alone, with Star following her. He curled up in her arms. He’d stopped crying, but that didn’t mean he felt any better. Someone he looked up to was gone, and now, the children of the world were without their Guardian of Dreams. The Boogeyman had won one battle… now what did the darkness have planned next?

Out of the corner of her eye, Asha caught a glimpse of North joining Jack by the windows. Jack tilted his head, barely listening, as North talked to him. Watching them, Asha didn’t realize that Bunny approached her until he spoke.

“Asha,” he said.

Asha gave a slight start, shaking herself out of her daze. “Yeah?”

Bunny’s ears were lowered. “I just wanted to tell you,” he said gruffly, “I think you were very brave, fighting against that sorcerer when no one else would.”

She stared at him for a couple of seconds, and almost questioned what she was hearing. “I didn’t feel brave,” she said quietly. “Just lost.”

Bunny crossed his arms. “There’s more than one kind of bravery,” he stated in that familiar ‘I know better than you’ tone. “Without you, the people of Rosas might still be under his power, convinced to hand over their wishes.”

Asha looked down at Star in her arms. When she didn’t say anything, Bunny let the matter rest and went back to join Tooth, the elves, and the Yetis at the vigil being held for the Sandman.

Convinced to hand over their wishes. In Rosas, when a person came of age at 18, they were expected to relinquish their wish to Magnifico; this tradition had only recently been stopped, for obvious reasons. Queen Amaya was working on crafting a sort of civil service program for 18-year-olds now, a way to help guide them in contributing to their community, as a sort of replacement.

And Asha would soon be turning 18 years old, herself. How soon was that? She wasn’t sure how time passed between realms. But after having spent her whole life being raised to believe that her wish was to be given up when she turned 18, approaching such a milestone now felt so strange when there was no reason to have to surrender it. It was undoubtedly good – that her wish, which belonged to her, would stay where it belonged – just strange.

When North left Jack by the windows, Asha decided she’d had enough of sitting quietly. Carrying Star, she went to sit by Jack and bother him.

“Hey,” she said as she sat next to him.

Jack gazed out the windows and said, “North asked me what my center is.”

Asha paused. That had been such an abrupt response, she wasn’t sure what to make of it – if she’d even heard it right. “What? Your center?”

“When he took me aside to talk in his workshop,” Jack explained. “He said that each of the Guardians has their center, what they embody and protect and put out into the world. He asked me what mine was.”

“Oh,” Asha whispered, understanding.

“North’s is wonder. Tooth’s is memories. Bunny’s is hope. Sandy’s is – was… dreams.” Jack paused. He looked away from the windows, and stared at the wall ahead of them. “I don’t know what mine is. How can I figure out who I am without knowing who I was?”

Asha didn’t have an answer for him; she couldn’t say that she knew him better than he knew himself. If he didn’t have an answer, now, all she could do was try to help. “There’s always time to figure it out –”

“But I know what yours is.” Jack turned his head towards her.

Asha paused again, once more caught by surprise. “What? My – you mean my… center?”

Jack nodded. “It’s wishes, isn’t it? What you fight for, what drives you, what you protect and what you bring to others,” he said. “It’s why Star came to you when you asked for him the first time, because he saw your center.”

Asha stared at him. She was getting better at telling his voice from Magnifico’s – it was all about the tone of his voice, the way that Jack’s voice held a lighter note to it that Magnifico’s had never carried – but still, the resemblance struck her, and this sounded so weird.

Star floated out of Asha’s arms. When she looked at him, he nodded, confirming Jack’s words.

Asha tried to figure out some kind of sensible response to that. “Okay. So what if that is my center? Does it matter? I’m not a Guardian. You’re the one that the Man in the Moon chose,” she reminded Jack, “regardless of how we feel about him.”

Jack stared at the wall again, hunching his shoulders, like he wished he could retreat into his hood and disappear. How dismal did a situation have to be for him to wish he was invisible?

“Well, he shouldn’t have chosen me,” said the winter spirit. “It’s my fault that Sandy’s gone.”

Asha didn’t believe that for a heartbeat. “No, it’s Pitch’s fault.”

“I was the one who chose to race into that fight,” Jack murmured. “Sandy followed me.”

Even if that was the truth, Asha didn’t think that meant anything. “What was the alternative? Snoozing like the rest of us? Standing by while Pitch wrought havoc and threatened the children of the world?”

“I could have done more!” Jack said.

“You did all that you knew you could, and then some!” Asha said, knowing every word to be true. “If taking down Sandy was Pitch’s plan all along, then no amount of evading him could have worked. But because you were there, because you stood up to Pitch and destroyed his swarm of Night-Mares, the rest of us were able to get away safely.”

Oh, she hated talking like that – like the Sandman’s death was some predetermined, unavoidable fact.

Jack slid his hood back, revealing his shock of spiky white hair. He asked her, “Where were you during that fight?” He didn’t ask it in an accusing way, but after their loss, Asha still felt some sense of shame that she hadn’t been there.

But it wasn’t like she had been hiding, Asha reminded herself. She had been facing another threat, one that she feared could have overwhelmed the Guardians regardless of Jack’s power. “I was dealing with Magnifico.”

“At least tell me you sent him packing,” Jack said.

“I hope so.” Asha tried to muster a smile. The memory of sending Magnifico flying back from nothing but the sheer radiance of her light was a wonderful memory. “We faced each other, but his magic couldn’t harm me anymore, because I understood my own power of stardust. I threw him across a couple rooftops and he disappeared.”

“Good.” Jack mirrored her smile, a little more confidently than hers. “The less we have to deal with him, the better. But I still owe him so many snowball barrages for the way he hurt you and Star.”

Star giggled, kicking his little legs.

Then, from close by, they heard Tooth’s voice as she exclaimed, “Look how fast they’re going out!”

Jack, Asha, and Star leapt up. Racing to the railing, they looked down on the globe as countless golden lights, the belief of the children that the Guardians protected, blinked away like they had never existed.

“It’s fear,” Jack said knowingly, taking flight. “He’s tipped the balance.”

Toothiana and North watched in dismay. Star sank down onto Asha’s shoulder, looking crestfallen. Even if Stars didn’t need to be believed in to exist, this was still such a heart-wrenching sight.

Only one Guardian wasn’t concerned. “Hey, buck up, you sad sacks!” Bunny shouted. He sprang onto a railing panel and perched there, ears high and voice confident. “We can still turn this around!” He stood tall. “Easter is tomorrow, and I need your help!” He glanced up as Jack descended from the air and Asha and Star came to join the gathering. “I say, we pull out all the stops and we get those little lights flickering again!”

Tooth’s wings buzzed. North straightened his shoulders, looking important. Jack smiled, and couldn’t even find a snarky comment to toss at the Easter Bunny.

Even if the Boogeyman had managed to defeat one Guardian, the rest wouldn’t just give up. Sandy hadn’t gone down without a fight, and neither would the rest of them – Star and Asha included.

Chapter 9: Easter Eggs and Stardust

Chapter Text

“Bunny is right!” North declared, leading them through the workshop. They were on a mission once again. "As much as it pains me to say, old friend, this time, Easter is more important than Christmas.”

Bunny’s eyes twinkled. “Hey – did everyone hear that?!” He said.

Star laughed.

“We must hurry to the warren,” North said. “Everyone! To the sleigh!”

But Bunny had other ideas. “Oh, no, mate. My warren, my rules!” He said, grinning. “Buckle up!” He beat the ground twice with one foot.

“Shostakovich,” North muttered, before the floor under them opened up like a yawning mouth.

Asha grabbed Star just a second before she fell, pulling him down with her. She did not like the feeling of falling down any kind of tunnel. But unlike before, when Bunny trapped her in a dirt hole during their teeth-collecting race, this time they slid down a passage with mossy green walls and smooth curves.

North flailed, screaming. Tooth was so caught by surprise she couldn’t tell what was up or down as they tumbled through the tunnels. But Jack whooped with joy, managing to brace himself right-side up, cruising on his staff like he was snowboarding. Following his example, Asha managed to right herself and hung onto Star, who zoomed gleefully forward, ever excited to see what came next.

A few moments later, the Guardians, Jack, Asha, Star, a small gaggle of elves, and a half-dozen yetis were deposited on the ground at the end of a tunnel.

“Ha, ha. ‘Buckle up.’ Is very funny,” North half-complained as he sat up.

Bunny crouched on a nearby rock, looking smug. “Welcome… to the warren!” He spread his arms wide. All around them were mossy green stones and carved walls. Clusters of brightly-colored plants bloomed here and there, bursting with blossoms of every hue.

And then, from behind Bunny, there was motion. A pair of large, egg-shaped statues that Asha had thought were just carved boulders stood up on two legs. Behind them came a swarm of strange little things with smooth white bodies – more eggs! She’d never seen eggs that could walk before!

With a delighted giggle, Star zoomed in for a closer look. Several of the eggs backed away from him, stumbling into each other with little clacking sounds when their shells smacked into each other. Asha called him back with another whistle, not wanting to break any of the eggs.

At that second, Bunny suddenly tensed. He sprang around to face the other way, his ears alert. He sniffed. His ears twitched, turning this way and that.

He said, “Something’s up.”

Immediately, all the Guardians were on edge. Bunny whipped out his boomerangs. North had his swords in hand in a heartbeat. Jack pointed his staff, the yetis pulled out their meanest faces, and Asha raised her wand. Only Star didn’t leap to hostile attention, staring off down the tunnel that Bunny indicated with an open, curious expression.

There was a faint, high-pitched scream from the dark.

The larger, egg-shaped stone statues spun like tops, revealing angry faces where there had once been smiles or passive expressions.

Bunny screamed a war-cry. North echoed his fierce shout, followed by Jack, Tooth, and many yetis. When Bunny charged, they followed, surging towards the dark mouth of the tunnel.

Only for Star to shoot ahead, face them, and stop dead, shaking his entire body like no, no, no!

Asha, who trusted him the most, stopped almost immediately. The others, caught up in their momentum, skidded and stumbled slightly. Bunny nearly tumbled, regained his composure, glared at the little star, and demanded, “What’s the meaning of this, mate -?”

Then, from out of the darkness, a little figure came trotting into Star’s light – the source of the disturbance. It stopped dead, and looked up at them all.

They looked down at a small child, only five years old, with badly-cut blonde hair and a pair of costume fairy wings on the back of her pajamas. She looked up at them in surprise, with three eggs in her arms, their legs wiggling uselessly.

“Oh,” Bunny said.

Star, who had been able to tell it was a child all along, gave them a cocky look that said see?

“Sophie?” said Jack, baffled.

Everyone quickly put away their weapons, smiling innocently.

The little girl – Sophie – immediately lost interest, because she’d spotted one of the North Pole elves in their conical getups with the bells on top. She dropped the eggs as she chased the elf, which scurried away erratically.

“What is she doing here?!” Bunny exclaimed.

“Ah. Snow globe,” North guessed.

Asha sighed. He’d mentioned something about a missing snow globe after she’d woken them up, but there hadn’t exactly been time to search for it then.

“Crikey – somebody, do something!” Bunny said.

“Oh, don’t look at me,” said Jack, smirking. “I’m invisible, remember?”

“You’re freaking out about nothing,” Asha tried to put in.

“Elf! Elf!” Giggled the little girl, now dragging the poor elf by the peak of its hat.

“Don’t worry, Bunny! I bet she’s a fairy fan!” Tooth said, zipping past the girl to get her attention. Sophie immediately whirled around, gasping in delight at the sight of Toothiana and her wings, and Tooth preened a little under the attention. “It’s okay, little one –”

“Pretty!” Sophie gushed.

“Oh!” Tooth blushed slightly. “You know what? I’ve got something for you! Here it is!” She held out a handful of small white teeth, and didn’t see the expression on Sophie’s face falter. “Look at all the pretty teeth! With little blood and gums on them!”

Sophie’s eyes went wide and she sprinted away, wailing in terror.

“Blood and gums?” Jack echoed, giving Tooth a look. “When was the last time you guys actually hung out with kids?”

“We are very busy bringing joy to children,” North said. “We don’t have time –”

Sophie was fast distracted from her terror by the sight of Asha in her purple dress, and the little girl ran up to her with a gasp of delight. “Pretty princess!”

“For children,” North finished, as the impression of how ridiculous that explanation was sunk in.

“Me? A princess? No, I don’t think that’s right,” Asha said, kneeling down to Sophie. “You are the princess! I’m a fairy godmother! See my wand?” She held out her wand for Sophie to see, and Sophie stared, mesmerized. Her fascination was only broken by the approach of something brighter and more shimmery than Asha’s wand – Star himself.

“And that’s Star!” Asha said as Star spun around Sophie and booped her on the nose. Laughing wildly, Sophie reached up to try and catch him, only for him to sail out of reach. She toddled after him, her little wings bouncing, and chased him under a rock with a crowd of eggs.

“PEEKABOO!” She yelled into the little cave, and the eggs came sprinting out, followed by Star. She resumed the chase.

“Well. If one little kid can ruin Easter, then we’re in worse shape than I thought,” Jack remarked to Asha as he settled on top of the rock where the eggs had been hiding.

“Ruined? Who said anything about Easter being ruined?” Asha replied.

Jack tilted his head slightly. “Yeah? What are you thinking?”

“You’ll see,” Asha said. Then she called, “Star! Sophie!”

Star came zooming back to her, with Sophie following close behind. Again, when Asha knelt down, Sophie came right to her.

“I need your help, Sophie,” Asha said to her. “Will you help us?”

Sophie nodded happily.

Asha looked up at Star. “And are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Star grinned, and rubbed his hands together. He knew exactly what Asha was thinking, and he was so ready for it.

To Sophie, Asha sang, “Have you ever wondered why you look up at the sky for answers? Or why flowers in the wind are effortless and eloquent dancers? What forms the rings in the trees, turns a pine from a seed?

Sophie listened, transfixed. When Asha took her by the hand, she followed. Star zoomed ahead of them, and when his stardust fell on the nearest flowers, the plants moved, leaves stretching and petals yawning like they were walking up from a long nap. With a gasp, Sophie stretched out a hand, and the little flowers reached out to her, too.

What's passed down generationally, to you? And to me? And why our eyes all look like microscopic galaxies? Have you ever wondered why you look up at the sky for answers?

This was the lesson that Star had taught Asha mere moments after they’d first met, when he brought a forest to life with the power of stardust that was in every living being. Fortunately, the plants of the warren weren’t that different, and Star’s light brought the world to life.

The Guardians watched, stunned.

“Rimsky-Korsakov,” North whispered.

But Bunny smiled. “Come on. We got no time to waste!” He bounded down a slope, following after Asha and Sophie. Whatever sparkles Asha and Star were capable of, this was his holiday, and he was in charge.

Fortunately, Sophie was more than enthralled with all of this magic. She watched as little white-shelled eggs emerged from tulip-like bulbs, and several thousand of the tiny things rushed through the hills and gullies of the warren.

“You want to paint some eggs? Yeah?” Bunny said, and Sophie’s eyes sparkled.

The living flowers scattered colorful powders over the stampede of eggs below, turning them all different colors – blue, pink, purple, red, orange, yellow, green, and everything in between. Star raced under the shower of hues and emerged drenched in purple and pink, which he quickly used a little stardust to fashion into a dress like Asha’s. It was almost as fun as his favorite yarn!

“Alright, troops, time to push back!” Bunny declared, his voice echoing over the warren. “That means eggs everywhere! Heaps of you in every high rise, farmhouse, and trailer park! Tennis shoes, cereal bowls – oh, there should be bathtubs filled with you beautiful googies!”

Sophie laughed as she rode on Bunny’s shoulders. He bounded over streams of eggs, between living bushes.

The melody of Asha and Star’s song floated in the air. “Well, you don't have to look too hard, it's all around and not too far - if you're try'na figure out just who you are, you're a star! Do you know you're a work of art even in the deepest dark? If you really wanna know just who you are, you’re a star!

Butterflies and dragonflies, hearts all aglow with stardust, hovered here and there, helping to decorate the eggs with wings like paintbrushes. Squirrels and chipmunks helped to dunk eggs into streams of multicolor dye, making marbled effects. The long strands of willows curled around the eggs and helped lift them up, leaving wispy patterns in the wet paint. Flowers used their petaled faces like stamps. Birds used their talons to scratch fine designs into the surfaces of some eggs. Asha and Star bestowed magic and stardust to ensure that every egg shone beautifully.

Asha even enchanted a stick and gave it to Sophie so she could help with the task, giving every egg the finest possible finish. Sophie was ecstatic, and scattered magic dust on everything within a ten-foot radius, including Asha and Bunny.

But Bunny was far too happy to be even remotely frustrated. “There’ll be springtime on every continent!” He proclaimed, shaking stardust off his ears. “And I’m bringing hope with me!”

You don't have to look too hard, it's all around and not too far! If you're try'na figure out just who you are, you're a star! No matter where you end or start, we're all each other's counterparts! If you really wanna know just who you are –

“I’m a star!!!!” Sophie shouted, waving her magic stick with gleeful abandon. Poor Phil the yeti got a faceful of magical glitter.

“Oh, what’s that over there?” Bunny said playfully, pointing past Sophie. She turned and saw a beautiful egg painted with the same stripes and polka dots as her pajamas, and she scurried to pick it up. “Oh, that’s a beauty!” Bunny said. “Now, all we gotta do is get him and his little mates through the tunnels, to the top, and we’ll have ourselves Easter!”

Bunny, Sophie, Asha, and Star all looked down on the marching eggs as they divided neatly into seven tunnels in the valley below them. Every tunnel led to a different continent, though Asha found herself wondering where Rosas would be.

“Told you Easter wasn’t ruined,” said Asha, as Jack, North, and Tooth joined them.

Bunny snorted. A moment later, Sophie yawned wide, stretching out her arms. An errant streak of magic flew off the magic stick and put a nearby elf into a ruffled dress.

“Oh,” Asha said, smiling, as she retrieved the magic stick, “trust me, magic like that is best used when awake.”

“Poor little ankle-biter,” said Bunny, as Sophie curled up in his arms. “Look at her, all tuckered out.”

“I love her,” Toothiana said softly as she brushed the little girl’s hair out of her face. “I think it’s time to take her home.” She carefully took Sophie, and started to get up.

“How about I take her home?” Jack offered.

The Tooth Fairy hesitated. “Jack, no. Pitch is –”

“Is no match for this.” Jack indicated his staff.

“Which is why we need you here, with us,” Bunny said firmly.

Jack shared a look with Asha. She only shrugged. She knew he was capable of handling himself, and the choice was hers, but she didn’t think it was that much of a good idea, either.

“Trust me,” Jack insisted. “I’ll be quick as a bunny!”

Judging from Bunny’s face, he was not half as amused as Jack would have liked. But he didn’t protest when Tooth carefully let Jack take the girl. Protecting children was the most important thing, after all; someone had to make sure that Sophie made it safely home, that Pitch – or Magnifico – couldn’t threaten her.

Though he would have preferred it if Jack took Asha and Star with him, but he didn’t. The young winter spirit darted away swiftly, and the fairy godmother and her star remained.

Asha and Star sat on the ledge, watching the eggs heading for the tunnels – for topside. Despite the darkness’s best efforts, it seemed, Easter would arrive on time.


Fools. They lit this whole place with starlight, and didn’t expect him to find it?

Magnifico looked down on the warren from his shadowy perch, and hated the wait. It would be so easy to move now, take what he was after, and leave ruin in his wake. That was wait he’d planned, after all.

But now, he had a better idea. He just had to wait a little longer – until it seemed feasible that the winter brat would be back from his errand dropping off the child – and, if he played his cards right, Asha – and all of the Guardians – would never know what hit them.

Chapter 10: Deception and Disaster

Chapter Text

A few minutes after Jack’s departure with Sophie, Asha sat on a rock and took out her sketchbook. There were so many things she wanted to record, like the Easter eggs, the other Guardians, Lillah and Lillah’s fairies, Sophie and the boy they’d woken earlier – Sophie’s brother, Jamie – and the Sandman.

Asha paused, then flipped through the pages of her sketchbook. There was a blank page just across from a drawing of her and her father sitting on their wishing tree. From her belt-pouch, she took out a graphite stick and began to draw. Slowly, a figure formed on the page, with wispy hair, short limbs, and a beaming smile. The Sandman stood on a cloud, with one arm raised, towards the swirls of dream-dust spinning overhead.

Asha set down the graphite and just looked at the page for a few moments. It looked like her and her father were looking up at the sky, at the Sandman above. It almost felt apt. For all those nights she’d sat with her father on the wishing tree, when he told her about the stars – especially in his final few months – all she’d dreamed about was for him to get better.

A tiny smear of turquoise hovered at the edge of her vision on blurring pink wings.

“Hi, Baby Tooth,” Asha said, looking up. “Are you tired of hanging out with Star?”

The tiny hummingbird-like fairy shrugged, then poked an inquisitive needlelike beak towards the pages of Asha’s sketchbook.

“I’m just drawing,” Asha said, and turned the pages to show the fairy. “Since we don’t have a fairy to protect our memories, in Rosas… we have to do it ourselves. I protect mine by putting them here.” She pointed at the figures on the pages. “This is my father. He’s the one who taught me about stars. This is my mame, Sakina, and my saba Sabino.” She flipped the pages. “Sometimes, I even hoped… that when I turned eighteen, when I was supposed to give up my wish… I could hide my sketchbook somewhere, and it would still keep the memories of my wish in it, so I could still know what it is.”

Forget without regret, the people of Rosas had once said. But for Asha, when memories were all she had of her father, she never wanted to lose a single one for any reason – not even for the chance at something even more wonderful. Because what could be more wonderful than the memory of her father’s love and wisdom?

Of course, she’d never said as much aloud. Not only could it have been… maybe slightly illegal, but when so many people happily gave up their memories and entrusted them to the heights of a magic tower for potentially far greater reward, no one really needed to know how much the passing of her father had hurt her, right? When his death had struck a shard of grief deep into her heart, so awful that not even the promise of a wish coming true could make anything better – what was the use of making that pain known to others?

Baby Tooth laid her head against Asha’s hand, like she could sense the fairy godmother’s sadness.

Asha shut the sketchbook, lightly running her fingers over the Rosas rose emblem on the cover.

Then, from behind her came a voice. “Hide it? You don’t think they’d find it?”

Asha leapt up, startled, but already knew the voice. “Jack!” She said in relief, turning to face the winter spirit as Baby Tooth poked her face over her shoulder. “You’re back already? How did it go, taking Sophie home?”

Jack tilted his head. With one hand shoved in his front pocket and leaning on his staff, he looked so nonchalant it was almost funny. “Kid’s all tucked in and sleeping soundly,” he reported, but not with the smile that Asha would have expected. “Right where she belongs.”

Asha tried to reason why he wasn’t smiling. “Did you… run into any trouble from Pitch and Magnifico?”

Jack shrugged, and didn’t say anything.

But it wasn’t a confirmation of anything, and if there had been danger, she was sure he would tell her. “That’s good,” she said, putting her sketchbook back in her belt-pouch. She looked out over the valley, the parade of eggs streaming towards the tunnels. “Sun will be coming up in Asia soon – I think Bunny said something about Pacific Islands. We should probably try to make sure all the Easter egg searches go off without a hitch.”

Jack looked bored, as if her words couldn’t possibly interest him any less. Instead, he looked towards the ridge overhead, where North and Bunny were watching the eggs march on while Tooth corralled a few stubborn stragglers. Star was somewhere among the talking flowers, dozing in a beehive.

“Oh, look at that,” he said. “Everyone’s here.”

Asha looked at him in confusion. “Of course we’re here,” she said. “Where did you expect us to be?”

Jack shifted his grip on his crook-like staff. “Well, I certainly didn’t expect you to make it this easy.”

“Making… what easy?” A cold sort of anxiousness settled over Asha. His voice had taken on an edge that made him sound way too much like…

Jack spun towards the valley, his staff outstretched. But instead of gossamer frost, the power that surged from the weapon was a torrent of poisonous green that poured down over the warren.

“NO!” Asha shouted, lunging forward and seizing the staff. As she did so, illusion magic flickered and faltered, and revealed – perhaps only to her – the cold, malicious smile of Magnifico.

From somewhere overhead, Tooth shrieked, “Jack, what are you doing?!

They must not see through the illusion magic like she did. “It’s not Jack!” Asha yelled to them, trying to wrench the staff out of the sorcerer’s hands. “It’s –”

Magnifico swept the staff aside, throwing Asha with it. She tumbled down the slope. Below her, once-green grass was now a withered, wiry brown. Verdant tree branches had become desolate, leafless seams of black overhead. As she came to a stop in a brush that had turned gnarled and thorny, and raised her head, she saw that all the eggs – all the wonderful little beings that were meant to usher Easter, new beginnings, hope into the world – had been reduced to brittle, bleached, empty shells.

She scrambled to her feet, grabbing for her wand as the sorcerer approached. “What have you done?!”

Magnifico smiled. “You provided so much stardust for this place… it was simply irresistible. Too good to pass up. I drained it all.” He raised his staff.

The gem-studded rod glowed a sickening bright green.

Asha knew what it was capable of. Dahlia, who had consulted the book of dark magic it came from, said it was meant to trap the power of a star. Magnifico had used it to capture Star, once, but after Star was freed and the people’s stardust overwhelmed Magnifico, it had imprisoned him itself. Was that how Magnifico had gotten free? Providing it a different source of power?

“OVER HERE, FROST!” Bunny, charging down the slope, slung a boomerang towards the sorcerer.

“It’s not Jack!” But Asha’s insistent shout went unheard in the chaos as Magnifico slashed the boomerangs out of the air and sent another crackling tidal wave of magic towards the three, knocking the Guardians to the ground with significant force. North and Bunny didn’t move. The Tooth Fairy’s wings buzzed, then went still.

Star, however, evaded the attack by flying high overhead, and now, he dove down like a shooting star towards Magnifico. The little star caught the staff and almost yanked it out of the sorcerer’s grip, but Magnifico was too strong for that. Another attack – a mere spark – threw Star back.

As Star wheeled around for another charge, Asha shouted, “Star, no! Go find Jack! The real Jack!”

Star hesitated, his expression morphing into worry. Even as he swooped this way and that, trying to avoid giving Magnifico a steady target, his eyes remained locked with Asha’s.

Trust me! Her expression pleaded.

Which Star did, resolutely and without doubt. So, after dodging another attack, he zipped off to find Baby Tooth, and then Jack Frost.

That left Asha alone, to face Magnifico.

Magnifico swished his cape back dramatically, basking in the tense silence. Ever the dramatic sorcerer he was, he swept a few lose locks of hair out of his face and said, “Is it just me, or do those Guardians get more pathetic every time?”

He turned back towards Asha, only to get a face-full of bright starlight from her wand in response. It sent him staggering back several steps, and Asha advanced. She froze when he pointed his staff at her.

“You’re no fun after hanging out with these morons,” Magnifico complained.

Asha glared at him. He liked to talk, to have an audience. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of disdain. Instead, she demanded, “Why are you doing this? Joining forces with Pitch Black – threatening children of a realm that isn’t ours –”

“Same reasoning that you’re protecting ‘children of a realm that isn’t ours,’” Magnifico replied. “Because I can, and why shouldn’t I? When fear and despair rule the world, no one will have any use for wishes anymore, and they won’t fight back when I take those wishes from them!”

Asha’s eyes stung with tears. No. The darkness had already taken dreams from the world; she would not let it take anything more. “I will stop you,” she vowed.

“I’m sure you’ll try,” Magnifico said, smiling. “In fact, I’d be disappointed in you if you didn’t. But you won’t stop me, because you can’t.” With a whirl of his staff, he sent another spiraling blast of green magic right at her.

Asha leapt aside. The magic struck a boulder behind her and shot upward, curling in the air like a plume of smoke. His next attack was deflected by her wand and crashed into a tree, splintering the trunk and sending it toppling.

Asha darted back, and the tree fell between her and Magnifico. She ducked into a gully, sinking down below the ledge and using the cover of settling debris to scramble a safe distance away.

“You might have stardust to power your staff,” she called out, “but it will run out again, and then, where will you be?” She climbed up on a rock and stood, wobbling slightly, trying to keep her balance on the precarious curve where Jack – the real Jack – had sat before. “You’ll be powerless again. But I won’t be!”

“Believe me,” Magnifico said coolly, having not taken a single step. “I’ve got a plan for that.”

He wasn’t chasing her, Asha thought. Great, so clearly he had another trick up his sleeve. She was starting to regret sending Star away – but she needed him to be safe. Magnifico couldn’t be allowed to capture him again. And someone had to make sure that Jack was alright.

Magnifico’s next attack fizzled against a barrier of light, but the force of it pushed her back. Off-balance, she just managed to catch herself and slide down the back of the boulder instead of tumbling blindly.

Unfortunately, she was running out of options on where to race to. She didn’t want to lead him anywhere near the unconscious Guardians. A greenish haze lingered in the air. His magic flickered like embers on the dead grass, and rose up like a barrier of roaring fire if she got too close to it. That was why he hadn’t moved, she figured. He was trying to trap her.

He was succeeding. If she ran for the tunnels that led topside, he’d see her and block her. The terrain provided only so much protection. And she wasn’t used to trying to use her wand to fight. That wasn’t what it was for.

But it wasn’t like she had a choice.

Another crackling blast of green power split the boulder she was hiding behind, and she had to move fast.

Magnifico laughed. Watching Asha scurry like a scared little animal was fun. But sadly, it was about time to bring this to an end. He had places to be.

With a wave of his staff, green magic fire swirled around them. Luckily for Asha, he had no interest in hurting the Guardians right now, but the force of the dark magic tore the branches from trees and sent fractures through the warren’s stone foundations. A crack snapped through the ground in front of her, bleeding green smoke, and she skidded to a stop, slipping in the dewy grass.

But Magnifico allowed her to get back up again. After all, this would be so much more fun if she thought she had a chance.

She pointed her wand at him again, but by now he knew that all she could do was bright light, and swept the light away with ease. It joined the green fire that surrounded them and was absorbed instantly. Another tendril of power encircled her wand and tore it from her grasp; it too crumbled, the pearly white surface flaking apart as the rot of dark magic seeped through it.

Clearly, he’d learned since their last encounter. Pulling her hands back like she’d been stung, Asha braced herself. Without her wand and surrounded by dark magic, she felt like she was at the center of a whirlwind, with the power pulling on her braids and her dress like it was trying to drag her off her feet.

Seeing the crack in her composure, Magnifico taunted her. “What’s wrong, little girl? Scared of a little magic? Weren’t you the one who told me I could never hurt you again?”

Why would he remind her of that? Asha questioned. Did he want her to fight back that way? She’d beaten him before, why would he want her to do so again?

But the dark magic closed in around them like claws, and her determination won over her confusion. She wouldn’t go down without a fight, without doing all that she possibly could. She straightened her shoulders, shut her eyes, and called on the brightest starlight in her heart.

She glowed. For one radiant moment, her heart shone so bright that once more, it repelled the power enfolding her.

But Magnifico’s smile didn’t change, not like before. He raised a hand to shield his eyes, and with the other, directed another attack – one that Asha didn’t see coming.

A vein of green light rippled through the ground, then, like a snake, reared up to strike, encircling her. Asha had only a moment to realize what it was before its power struck her heart.

In a flash, the light emanating from her faded away. It wasn’t snuffed out, it was drawn back into her. It brought with it pain like nothing she’d ever experienced before – a deep, penetrating burning that came from within, from dark magic and her own starlight – how was this possible? – and she sank to her knees. The pain was so great she could hardly draw a breath, much less scream.

Magnifico cackled in triumph. “You were right about one thing, Asha. I need a star.” He pointed the staff at her, the sharp tip gleaming like a spear in the green light. “Fortunately for me, you reminded me that we are all stars… even you.”

Even you.

He hadn’t meant to capture Star after all. He’d meant to capture her!

Tears slipped down her face. How could she have been so foolish? The glow in her heart had turned from warm golden to a sickly green hue, the same light that simmered deep in the core of the evil sorcerer’s staff.

Even with the pain that possessed every vein in her body, Asha tried to retain dignity. She held her head high and shut her eyes as green magic overtook her.


When the Guardians woke, moments later, all they could see was the blackened warren valley. Dead branches littered the ground among the remains of eggshells and burnt grass.

Only Tooth spotted a single speck of white among the ruin, and flew to it.

She found Asha’s sketchbook lying open on the grass. On the pages it had fallen open to, the drawing of Asha and her father and the Sandman blankly faced the sky above.

Chapter 11: Deceit and Despair

Chapter Text

Jack Frost – the real winter spirit – took Sophie home swiftly. He laid the sleeping girl on her bed, caught her from falling off of it, then left her room. Creeping through the house carefully, just to check on her brother Jamie, he glanced into the other bedroom and saw the boy and his dog snoozing soundly on top of the bed.

There was still a wispy scattering of golden dream-dust on the carpet. Somewhere in the room, he could still faintly hear the sound of music playing from Asha’s grandfather’s lute. Jack thought he’d heard the melody somewhere before. Lyrics came to mind. When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are…

Well. With nothing amiss here, he left the house and glided to the roof.

Alighting there, he looked up at the sky. Not the moon, as he had done countless times, but the stars. They shone in the sky where the moon’s light wasn’t so bright, a thousand white jewels that twinkled in the blackness. He’d never paid attention to them before; never had a reason to. But since meeting Asha, the skies held something new and wonderful, more than the silent and unyielding moon.

Were all the stars alive in the same way that Star was? Jack wondered. He had so many questions he wanted to ask Asha, but those had all sort of gotten lost in the whole “join the Guardians and fight Pitch Black” thing. When all this was over – once they’d put Pitch back in the shadows where he belonged – there would be time for all those questions.

But that was after they beat Pitch, and the other Guardians were waiting. It was time to go back.

Then, from somewhere in the distance, a girl’s voice called his name.

Jack...

He turned suddenly in the direction it seemed to have come from. That voice – he knew that voice. But how?

Jack...”

He took flight. He had to know what that voice was – who was calling for him? Why were they calling for him?

Did… did they believe in him?

Over roofs, streets, and powerlines, he searched. But the voice had gone silent, and just as he landed on a peaked roof – just as he started second-guessing what he’d actually heard – there it was again, more clearly this time.

Jack!

It was coming from the edge of the houses, where a dark forest of black pine stretched out endlessly beyond. But Jack was fearless, and dashed after it, whisking past branches and brambles, leaving frost in his wake.

The voice still called. “Jack!

He landed on a rock and looked down a slope of frozen ground.

Jack!

Below him, in the basin of a small, dried-up pond, there was a twisted, bare bedframe, warped and splintered from the cold; underneath it, a perfect hole in the ground like a yawning black mouth.

He approached it slowly, carefully, on foot. Peering through the broken bedframe into the darkness below, he listened intently for the voice calling his name. He couldn’t see how far down the hole went, and it surely wasn’t one of Bunny’s tunnels. Jack slammed his staff against one of the boards barring the way, and it splintered, plummeting into the dark.

Then her voice came again. This time, it was more like a question. “Jack?

Jack leapt into the hole and disappeared down into the dark. At the bottom it curved into a tunnel, lined with sharp stalagmites and stalactites that he carefully crept past.

At the end of it, the passageway opened into a cavern. Shafts of dusty moonlight leaking through the ceiling revealed massive cages hanging from the stone eaves, wrought iron holding back a thousand tiny, chattering mini-fairies that had been taken from the Tooth Palace. Their restless noise turned into a clamor when they saw him.

Jack flew between the cages, hardly able to believe his eyes. “Shh! Keep it down!” He whispered. “I’ll get you all out of here just as soon as –”

Jack?

The girl’s voice was closer, clearer than ever before. Puzzled, Jack turned.

Ja-ack!

Her voice was singsong-like this time. Then Jack saw, on the cave floor below – mountains of glinting bronze cylinders. All the teeth that had been taken from the Tooth Palace… and somewhere within them, his memories! Was that what was calling to him? “That can’t…”

But he flew down to it, and began to search, pushing cylinders out of his way when they looked unfamiliar to him.

Then, a familiar, menacing presence crept up behind him.

“Looking for something?”

Jack seized his staff and whirled around, unleashing a barrage of ice towards Pitch. It spun uselessly against a wall as Pitch disappeared through the shadows, his laughter escalating.

Jack chased his shadow. On the far side of the cavern, a series of winding staircases, like a broken castle, meandered here and there, and no matter where he saw the Boogeyman’s shadow, Pitch wasn’t there.

“Don’t be afraid, Jack,” Pitch taunted. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“Afraid?” Jack leapt onto a high arc and poised there, ready for an attack. “I’m not afraid of you!”

“Maybe not.” Pitch materialized at the far end of a high corridor, and Jack stalked towards him, staff held high. “But you are afraid of something,” Pitch continued nonchalantly, with his back to Jack as he closed in.

“You think so, huh?” Jack challenged.

“I know so,” Pitch said coolly. “It’s the one thing I always know. People’s greatest fears. Yours is that no one will ever believe in you.”

Jack hesitated. Pitch’s shadow loomed high, and then the floor disappeared from under him. Unprepared, Jack dropped, loosing his grip on his staff.

Pitch’s voice continued to mock him. “And worst of all, you’re afraid you’ll never know why… why you? Why were you chosen to be like this?

Landing on the ground below, Jack recovered fast, grabbing his staff. But when he turned to chase the Boogeyman’s shadow once more, he suddenly faced a stone wall in his path. Jack spun around to find another way, but through the next archway he found nothingness below him. Trying to fly, he was boxed in by a chipped stone ceiling. Then there was a floor below him again, and he had nowhere to go.

“Well, fear not.” Pitch’s voice was right behind him. Jack whirled around to face him, but the Boogeyman wasn’t interested in attacking. “For the answer to that… is right here.”

He held out one of the tooth capsules. It had ornate bronze scrollwork and, at the end of it, a smiling boy with spiky brown hair that was undeniably Jack.

“Do you want them, Jack? Your memories?”

Jack stared at it. Why would Pitch offer him this? It made no sense. This couldn’t be right. He pulled back the hand that hesitantly, almost without knowing it, reached out to take the teeth.

Pitch chuckled. And then he wasn’t there anymore.

Jack gave chase. Through the winding corridors, broken staircases, cages of fairies, Pitch’s voice still echoed to him.

Everything you ever wanted to know… in this little box. Why did you end up like this? Unseen. Unable to reach out to anyone but one pathetic little so-called ‘fairy godmother’ –

Keep Asha out of this! Jack wanted to yell.

You want the answers so badly. You want to grab them and fly off with them. But you’re afraid… of what the Guardians will think. You’re afraid of disappointing them.

Pitch’s shadow loomed on the stone wall behind Jack.

Well, let me ease your mind about one thing –

And then, from seemingly nowhere, a streak of starlight pierced the shadows of the lair and struck the looming shadow.

Pitch shouted in pain and frustration. Star and Baby Tooth zoomed down from the heights of the cavern that could still reach the sky above, searching for Jack. Jack backed away as they rejoined him, and Pitch’s shadow flitted away from the light.

Behind them, Jack saw a wrought black globe shining with lights. But unlike the globe in North’s workshop, these lights weren’t something to protect; here in Pitch’s lair, these lights were something to be eliminated.

Baby Tooth cowered in Jack’s hood. But Star, never one to back down from a fight, stood back-to-back with Jack, ready for anything.

“Oh, a little star comes to help his friend. How sweet,” Pitch drawled, from somewhere in the dark. “But useless. It doesn’t change anything. The Guardians will never accept you. After all, you’re not one of them.”

“You don’t know what I am!” Jack yelled, and hated how his voice trembled. He couldn’t let Pitch get into his head. He couldn’t!

Pitch cackled. “Of course I do! You’re Jack Frost. You make a mess wherever you go – just like you already did at the Easter warren!”

“What?” Jack whispered. A mess at the Easter warren – he hadn’t left a mess. He’d left a triumphant parade of eggs, a swirling world of starlight. Something had happened while he was gone?

Above them was a flash of green light. On a platform high overhead, Magnifico appeared, looking down at the pitiful gathering of heroes with a smug smile. A star, a winter spirit, and a tiny tooth fairy – so little to be afraid of. In his hands, he held his staff, but it shimmered and crackled with a brighter power than they had ever seen from it before.

Momentarily distracted by the sorcerer’s arrival, Jack actually flinched when the glimmer of metal flashed in the dark. He reached out on instinct, and caught – the capsule of teeth. His teeth, his memories.

Pitch’s amber eyes shone in the dark. Jack lifted his crook to keep Star from charging at him.

“What did you do?” Jack said softly.

“More to the point,” said Magnifico from above, “what did you do?”

Star launched towards Magnifico. At the same moment, Jack leapt towards Pitch’s figure in the dark. But there was nothing there, and he careened down a dark corridor, out-of-control.

Above, as Star closed in fast towards Magnifico, the sorcerer looked unconcerned. With a wave of his staff, Star crashed against a green shield that physically stung him when he struck it. Star reeled back angrily, and Magnifico taunted him.

“You can’t hurt me, little one.” The sorcerer tilted his staff. The shard-like jewel glowed a vicious green like Star had never seen before. “Not without hurting her.”

STAR!” Jack’s voice yelled from somewhere.

Her? What did Magnifico mean? Confusion aside, Star quickly figured an attack was useless. He rocketed off to join Jack, and together, they hurried back to the warren where they had left the other Guardians and Asha.


But when they arrived there, Jack stopped dead. He looked down on a desolate burrow, barren as if it had been scorched. The plants that had once been so vibrant with starlight were curled and brittle husks. The trees were shriveled, withered down to mere bones. He didn’t see any animals… but that was no consolation. The remains of eggs lie scattered on the paths, rotting corpses of hope.

“No,” he whispered. “No, no, no – Star, what happened here?!”

Star dove down into the valley to search, wide-eyed. Frantically, he flit from crevice to crest, cave and grotto, every last hiding place that he could find. He ignored the fragments of eggs, the piles of rubble. The only thing he cared about for several selfish, awful moments was Asha. Where was she? Where was his most wonderful, most precious thing in the entire cosmos?!

There was a ring of barren ground, like the grass or even the mere possibility of life being rooted there had been burned away. There, he found a single telling clue. As Jack raced to keep up with Star, the celestial being lifted up a single, hair-thin white splinter.

Jack looked at the tiny shard as Star held it up, and his heart sank. “No. Don’t – don’t tell me… was that… A-Asha’s wand?”

Star nodded sadly. Something had destroyed Asha’s wand – he was scared to wonder what. But at the same time, he knew the only answer. Holding it tight, focusing all his powers, Star tried once more to restore the wondrous thing.

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t. When his powers tried… they couldn’t.

“Star? What’s going on?” Jack said, startled, as Star suddenly dropped the splinter.

Star looked down as the splinter fluttered to the ground. He didn’t understand. He had never failed before – to create her wand in the first place, a mere magic stick, and then to craft it into a proper wand for her once he saw who she could be – but now, it was as if the wood was… dead, drained of light and power.

But that couldn’t be!

“Star?” Jack said.

As cold despair started to creep up on him, Star tried to push it back. Searching for a distraction, he tried to tell Jack about it all. But Jack didn’t understand him the way that Asha did, so Star tried something different. Remembering how the Sandman conjured up whirling dream-dust to make his thoughts known, Star tried to do the same with shimmering stardust. He whirled through the air and drew shapes in the shower that spread out behind him.

Star explained to Jack how he had made Asha’s very first magic wand – adding a spark of magic to a twig taken from her wishing tree. Later, it had become the magic wand that Jack knew and had seen. But, this wand was created for Asha, so in a way, it was linked to her; sort of a bridge between them, a tool capable of drawing on both Star’s powers and Asha’s own light.

With this connection, so long as the connection existed, the wand should always be able to be repaired. But it couldn’t now. Why? Star sank towards the ground as if his fear was a palpable weight settling over him. His powers were intact – he knew this. So then somehow, the wand must be… disconnected, or something like that, from Asha herself.

But how? What could possibly split their connection this way? He knew of no answer to that. Even if… even if Asha was dead – and he let out a wail of pure grief at the mere thought of that – the wand and its powers would still rejoin her. He would know where she was. She’d be a star in the sky, like him.

But he didn’t know now.

He’d felt this uncertainty once before. The only time he had ever felt so lost, severed from her, was when Magnifico had captured him inside that evil staff –

You can’t hurt me, little one. Not without hurting her. Magnifico had told him that.

With a stab of sudden understanding, Star cried out again. No! He had Asha!

“Star!” Jack shouted, grabbing the star and wrapping him in the warmth of his hoodie. “Star, what is it?! I get you can’t recreate Asha’s wand –”

Star made more stardust images. The sparkling silhouette of Asha was captured in a bubble and drawn out-of-sight, into a familiar spired staff wielded by a menacing sorcerer.

Jack understood. “Magnifico… has Asha?” Realization came over him. “He must have attacked the warren while we were taking Sophie home! I – we – ”

Star motioned towards the tunnels.

Jack understood. They had to get to the other Guardians.


Bunny watched in cold horror through the branches of a thicket as, on the other side, children gave up their search for eggs that weren’t there. The banner above them read in bright letters EASTER EGG HUNT, but the brightness didn’t match the crestfallen expressions on their faces.

“There aren’t any eggs,” one boy said sadly.

“There’s nothing here,” said another girl.

“I give up.” A young boy sniffled, disappointed.

“He didn’t come?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Maybe he just hid them really well this year?”

“I checked everywhere. There’s nothing.”

Bunny lifted a basket of the few dozen eggs that had survived the catastrophe at the warren, and bounded out to try and reassure them. “Yes, there is! There is! I mean, these aren’t my best looking googies, but they’ll do in a pinch!” He held out a bright pink and green egg to a child.

“I can’t believe it,” said another girl.

“I-I know.” Bunny smiled, trying to cheer them up. “I was just a little, uh, late –”

“There’s no such thing as the Easter Bunny,” said the girl, and then Bunny realized she wasn’t looking at him. She hadn’t even heard him speak. But he was – he was right here!

“No. Wrong. Not true! Look at me, I’m – I’m right in front of you!” He exclaimed, but the children were dropping their baskets and starting to leave. He turned to one child, only for the child to walk right through him, like he wasn’t there.

Bunny froze. He’d never felt such a thing before. “They don’t see me. They don’t – they don’t… see me.” His ears lowered. As he sank down on the grass, the Tooth Fairy came to try and comfort him.

North, watching from a distance, noticed the approach of Jack and Star. Star was a welcome sight, but North noted the absence of Asha – and the presence of someone else. “Frost,” he said in a warning tone, lifting a sword and pointing it at him.

“I’m – I’m sorry,” Jack stammered. “I didn’t mean –”

FROST!” Bunny roared, leaping up and bounding towards him with furious eyes.

Jack drew back. Star leapt forward, getting in the way and pushing Bunny back. With more drawings of stardust, Star illustrated to the three Guardians the silhouette of Magnifico, morphing into Jack to attack the warren without them seeing him coming.

North, Tooth, and Bunny all stood back, but at least they weren’t leaping at Jack to hurt him. Jack, however, now fully understood what had happened. Magnifico had taken on his appearance to get close to them and destroy everything!

Even worse. Magnifico had used his appearance to get to Asha, and now he had her trapped…

“Asha said it wasn’t Jack,” said Tooth quietly.

“Sure sounded like him!” Bunny retorted.

Fighting back panic, Jack pleaded, “Where’s Asha? What happened? You have to tell me!”

The other three Guardians didn't immediately say anything, which was almost worse. After a couple of moments, Tooth explained, as gently as she could, "Magnifico destroyed the eggs and decimated the warren… we were all knocked out. Asha sent Star away and last we saw, she was facing Magnifico. When we woke up, it was too late to help her. All that we could find..."

Bunny reached into his bag and took out a light brown book with stitched binding and the emblem of Rosas on the cover. Star grabbed it, knowing what it was immediately. Asha's sketchbook!

“Where were you?” North said gruffly, looking down at Jack.

Jack didn’t know how to answer. He knew they wouldn’t like the answer of how he had been distracted, lured to Pitch’s lair…

Tooth saw the capsule in his hands, the teeth inside, and gasped. “Where did you get that?”

Jack hadn’t realized he was still holding it. He’d meant to put it in his pocket. “I was… it’s…”

Tooth looked around then, her eyes going wide. “Where’s Baby Tooth?”

The little fairy was gone? Guilt sank over Jack. The expression on his face said everything.

Tooth whispered, “Oh, Jack, what have you done?”

“That is why you weren’t here?” North said in disbelief. “You were with Pitch?

“No, listen!” Jack insisted. “Listen. I – I’m sorry. I would never sabotage Easter and I didn’t mean for any of this to happen! I –”

“He has to go,” said Bunny, his fur bristling.

Jack turned to him. “What?”

“We should never have trusted you!” Bunny snapped, baring his teeth. Jack backed away, sure that the Easter Bunny might be about to try and tear him apart, and Star even readied to intercede, but Bunny’s anger broke. There was no use in screaming or shouting. Everything had already gone wrong. He didn’t know how to fix it. “Easter is new beginnings. New life. Easter’s about hope.” His ears went down. His eyes brimmed with tears. “Now it’s gone.”

Bunny turned and slunk away. Jack turned to North and Tooth, and he wanted to appeal to them. He wanted to explain what happened, and somehow they’d figure out how to fix all of this. They had to. They were Guardians!

But there was no hope on either of the Guardians’ faces.

He’d screwed up, Jack realized. Exactly as Pitch had said he would. He hadn’t been there to help the Guardians when he should have. He hadn’t even been there to help Asha, who was only in this situation with them because of him. Easter was ruined, at least in some part because of him.

And if there was any way to fix this, it sure as heck wouldn’t involve him. Because why would they trust him again after this?

Jack took flight. He wanted to be anywhere but here.

Star flew after him, but Toothiana called for him.

“Star…”

Star paused and turned back to look at the three Guardians. He wished he could help them, but he couldn’t. He wasn’t a Guardian. And his best friend, the fairy godmother, had come here to answer Jack’s wish. If she couldn’t see this through and find some way to make his wish come true, then Star knew it was up to him. That, at least, hadn’t changed, Easter or not.

So Star soared away, following Jack’s trail.


On the other side of the park, Lillah looked at the deserted egg hunt banner, puzzled.

Behind her, her mother took her posterboard out of the back of their van, careful not to bend or tear it. On the surface were the fairies that Lillah had drawn, each of them shining with the magic of her fairy godmother. As she shut the back hatch, another adult came over to talk to her.

“Oh, Saniya! You made it!”

“Yes,” said Lillah’s mother, smiling. “Lillah was so scared it wouldn’t be good enough, but it’s just like – overnight, she changed her mind, and she’s so proud of it. We’re not too late to enter the competition, right?”

“No, of course not. It starts in a couple of hours still.”

As Saniya followed the other adult towards the neighborhood center at the end of the park, she called for her daughter. Lillah turned and went to rejoin her mother as Saniya and the other adult waited patiently. But just a few paces towards them, something clacked gently against one of her crutches, and Lillah paused in surprise.

Lillah looked down. Her crutches had hit an egg – a painted, shimmering Easter egg. She carefully stooped down to pick it up. It was purple and pink (the exact shades of her fairy godmother’s dress!) and the glitter was so fine, and it didn’t rub off on her hands at all. In fact, it reminded her exactly of the magic that her fairy godmother had bestowed on her drawings.

“Lillah,” her mother called again.

Lillah put the Easter egg in her messenger bag that hung by her side, over her puffy indigo winter coat. She set it next to a homemade doll; two popsicle sticks that she’d glued together, with a purple fabric dress and long brown yarn that looked like braids. She’d added glitter-glue freckles to the clay face, ribbons for a shawl, and a pair of paper fairy wings for good measure.

Because all fairy godmothers had wings, right? Asha must have just been hiding hers when they met.

Then, with high hopes and a bright smile, Lillah went to rejoin her mother and enter the art competition she’d been looking forward to for weeks.

Chapter 12: Cold and Dark

Chapter Text

Consciousness came back to her in sparks. Slowly, Asha became aware of her surroundings. The air was still, almost oppressively so. There was total silence, not even the faintest of sound to break it. She was lying nearly face-down on a cool, smooth floor of some kind. Her entire body ached, but it was a far less piercing pain than the moment that Magnifico’s magic had seized her stardust for its own power.

She opened her eyes. It was dim here, but there was some light from somewhere. She pushed herself up to a sitting position and brushed her braids back behind her shoulders, turning her head.

For a few moments, she was sure she had to be dreaming, because… she knew this place.

It was a tower room with diamond-paneled wallpaper, bookcases filled with books and scrolls, a partly-burnt tapestry behind the desk, and a familiar emblem emblazoned on the front of the desk: a blue starburst with a stylized M at its core. That was Magnifico’s symbol. And this was… Magnifico’s office?

Was that how the world inside the staff presented itself to her? She’d never expected it to be anything at all.

She slowly got to her feet, wincing when the ache inside her flared. Everything looked just like it had on that day that felt like forever ago, when she had been interviewed to become the powerful sorcerer’s apprentice. Not a book out of place; not even burn marks on the desk where Star’s magic had caused a fire when they snuck in to get her saba’s wish. The office was darker, more shadowy than before, like the lights weren’t turned all the way up.

As Asha brushed off her dress, she found one thing unexpected. Wrapped around her wrists were binds of green magic, thin strands that writhed like snakes despite their delicate appearance. When she tried to pull on them, she couldn’t get a good grip on them. She tugged on her sleeves, but the manacles remained. Her fingers passed through like it was only light, but the evil green glow was much more than that. She had no doubt.

She looked across the office. There was the wall of obsidian mirrors – a secret doorway that led to the observatory where Magnifico had kept all the wishes of Rosas. She approached the mirrors, but as she did, she noticed something.

The images in the mirrors moved. It was more than her reflection, it seemed as if she could see another place, another time maybe. Or – was it the outside world? It was blurry and pale… but in the distance, she could make out a familiar figure, accompanied by a smudge of brightness.

Her heart sank.

It was Jack, accompanied by Star. And if this was what she thought it was, then Magnifico was following them closely.


When Jack first saw Asha, they were at the park. Watching the children slide around in the snow and ice he’d conjured up, Jack spotted her from across the frozen pond. She stood out in her pale blue cloak with the hood up.

Old-fashioned, he’d thought. But it wasn’t like he could judge. He watched her walking around the crowd of kids, studying each of them and saying something to herself – thinking aloud, he guessed. As he crossed the pond, and the gaggle of kids sprinted away to get Jamie’s tooth taken care of after the “freak sledding accident,” Asha stood on the shore with her back to him.

It wasn’t… any of them?” She said to herself, puzzled. “Then whose wish did I hear?

Jack, also used to talking to himself when there was no one who could hear him, said, “Wish? What did you say?

Only for Asha to wheel around with a startled scream and sparks from her magic wand flung him back across the pond.

Taken by surprise, Jack didn’t recover fast. He’d never had anything throw him into the air like that before, and he couldn’t call up the wind to right himself before the solid ice below rushed up to meet him, and he landed awkwardly. Good thing he wasn’t a mortal. He probably would have broken a bone. His staff clattered a short distance away.

A second later, Asha rushed to help him, not slipping on the ice even once. “Sorry! I’m so sorry!” She said, helping him sit up. “I thought you were – someone else –

Jack grabbed his staff and was back on his feet in a moment, alighting on a rock at a distance he judged to be safe from her. “Do you usually scream and throw people around as your greeting?

Asha smiled sheepishly. “No, definitely no.” She took a better look at him. “Wait, why are you barefoot? It’s freezing out here. And you’re not wearing a coat –”

Yeah, neither are you,” Jack retorted, before he realized what those details meant. His heart leapt into his throat. “Wait… you… you can see me?

Yes,” Asha said.

And you can hear me?” He said.

Clearly,” Asha replied, wondering what the problem was. “And considering I just hit you and then helped you up, you’re solid and I can interact with you. Why is that puzzling?” She paused. For a moment, she and Jack just looked at each other. Then, realization came over her.

Oh,” she said softly. “It’s your wish that I heard.

Once again, her words confused him. “A wish? What are you talking about?

A wish. I can hear them,” she told him, “and yours stood out to me, so I came to help. My name is Asha. I’m… a fairy godmother!” She spread her arms like ta-da!

Jack was unconvinced. “A fairy godmother,” he said flatly.

Asha’s smile was undeterred. “Yes!

I didn’t think those existed,” he added.

Well, I do!” She said.

You sure you’re not a new Guardian they just sent to play a prank on me?

What’s a Guardian?

Her tone was genuine. Besides, the Guardians wouldn’t know the entertainment of pranks if it bit the Easter Bunny’s fluffy tail. And besides-besides, there were things in the world that people didn’t know existed. Like him. So Jack carefully stepped down from the rock.

I’m Jack Frost,” he said.

Asha lowered her hood, revealing braided hair and her freckled face. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Jack.

And now – how much time later? Jack couldn’t tell – she was had been captured by her old enemy, and it was partly his fault.

The Antarctic wind whirling around them was a far cry from the serene chill of the park. It whipped past him, pulling on his hood and sleeves, as Jack stood at the top of the crest and cocked back his arm, ready to fling the capsule of teeth – his memories – far away, to be lost in the snowy wasteland that stretched out endlessly below them.

But Star grabbed onto the capsule. When Jack tried to throw it, it was dragged back.

“What -?” Jack turned, and saw the star carrying the burnished gold cylinder. When Jack grabbed and tugged, Star didn’t let go – not that it mattered, when Star was so small he couldn’t put up much of a fight. Jack shook it, trying to dislodge him. “Star, come on, let go!”

But Star held on, scattering stardust in the air, and when Jack stopped shaking him, the star gave him a stubborn look. Jack needed his memories, even if the brash young winter spirit didn’t see it. Without his memories, how could he see his wish come true?

Jack turned away with a frustrated scoff, giving up. “Okay, great. You keep them, then!”

Fine, I will, said Star’s face, in a slightly smug way.

Then, another voice broke through their conversation. “Isn’t that just like the little spark? Thinking that he knows what’s best for everyone else.”

Star’s eyes went wide, and Jack didn’t need to be told twice who it was. He leapt to attention, whirling around to point his staff at the figure who stood just down the slope from them – a familiar sorcerer with silvered hair, wearing pale robes with an intricately-woven cape.

“Easy there, champ,” Magnifico said, smiling, as if they were having nothing more than a friendly chat.

Jack didn’t buy it. “WHERE’S ASHA?!” He yelled.

Magnifico raised an eyebrow. “Oh, she’s right here.” He motioned with his staff. Flashes of the Antarctic sky reflected in the facets of the jewel-like shard at the tip. “The outside world can’t hurt her. There’s no need for you to worry.”

Star trembled slightly. He still remembered being trapped within that evil weapon – a void of nothingness that existed only to draw off of his power, to use it to hurt others. Asha had led the people of Rosas against Magnifico, and she had saved him. But now, Asha was the one who was trapped, powerless – and Star… Star didn’t know what to do. He’d never been a strong leader. He had always been happier to contribute to something grand instead of commanding it. But if Asha was relying on him…

Jack seethed at the casual, almost soothing tone of the sorcerer’s voice. Magnifico didn’t take him seriously – no one took him seriously. “Let. Her. Out.”

“Oh, sorry.” Magnifico feigned a regretful expression. “Can’t do that.”

Jack lunged. A barrage of ice, sharp like icicles, shot towards where the sorcerer stood. In a flash of green, Magnifico was gone.

Within the staff, the green shackles around Asha’s wrists brightened, and tendrils of green magic lashed around her, pressing her arms against her sides and closing around her chest in a vise-like grip. She fell to her knees as the pain inside her, inside her heart, flared from a simmering spark to a roaring fire. The ethereal claws of magic tore through her, searching for her light. This was Magnifico’s magic… using her stardust to make him stronger. She slumped on the steps, willing herself to stay awake through it. She couldn’t give up, not when Jack and Star were on their own.

Where were the other Guardians?

Star darted to Jack’s staff and tried to push it aside – to not provoke Magnifico so brashly. Star knew from experience how it felt when that evil weapon had leeched its power from him, but the idea of Asha suffering the same way… he felt as if his heart might break.

Jack pushed Star away with a thoughtless shove. He was far too angry to listen to reason – anyone’s reason.

Again, Magnifico’s voice cut through the whiteness that surrounded them. “I don’t know what you’re so upset about.” The sorcerer reappeared a short distance away. “It wasn’t like she cared. She was only hanging around to grant your wish!”

Jack spun towards him. Those words meant nothing. He had no reason to believe anything that Magnifico said. It didn’t matter what he claimed about Asha, Jack knew there could be no truth to it. “That’s not what she does. She’s not like you!”

Magnifico looked amused. “And what do you know?”

“More than you!” Jack attacked again.

This time, Magnifico knocked the icy assault aside with an easy swipe of venomous green magic. Then, with a slash of the staff, he sent a plume of green crashing into Jack, knocking him down. “I can see why you two got along so well,” Magnifico remarked as Jack landed in the snow with a thud! “Both of you are far too willful to listen to those who know better than you.”

Wow, this guy loved to hear himself talk, Jack thought as he reached for his staff. And he was starting to hear how familiar Magnifico’s voice was. How could this jerk sound so much like him? “Know better? What a joke.” Jack faced the sorcerer again. “So what if you made yourself look like me –” (And how Jack resented the way that Magnifico had used his appearance to capture Asha.) “You know nothing about me!”

But Magnifico smiled. He had such a conceited and ugly grin, Jack thought. “Oh, but I know everything about you, Jack! Everything that matters,” he said. As Asha figured, the sorcerer relished having an audience – even one that glared at him with contempt.

Jack aimed his staff. But Star grabbed the handle of it, and when Jack looked down at him, he finally understood the expression of fear on the little being’s face. He swept Star into the pocket on the front of his jacket, so that Star and the memories he still held onto would be hidden from Magnifico.

“I was just like you, once,” Magnifico continued, almost taunting. “Young, and alone, when not even the heavens themselves saw the worth in answering me. I made a wish once, but no Star ever answered me. So I forged my own path, mastering my own powers, without the guidance of the skies. I had no choice, just like you.”

Momentarily released from the draining grasp of magic, Asha raised her head, looking into the mirror’s surface. She heard everything that Magnifico said. He had… wished on a star once? She couldn’t imagine him, of all people, turning to anyone else but himself.

“So what?” Jack retorted. “Lots of people get stuck on their own.”

“But we shouldn’t have had to be alone!” Magnifico said. “Asha makes a wish and that Star came to her. The other Guardians hear from the Man in the Moon whenever he feels like talking to them. What makes us less worthy than they are?”

Jack hated that he actually understood that feeling. “Asha said… sometimes the stars aren’t the answer.”

“I’m sure she thinks that explains everything,” Magnifico sneered. “And it must be so easy to think that when they’re always there for her. But the rest of us are left to fend for ourselves. And then others believe that they can demand our benefaction, they can demand that we protect them – and why? When have they ever given back to us? Children don’t believe in you… and my kingdom, the world that I built, turned against me when I decided I would no longer grant their wishes!”

Total nonsense, Jack thought, only he used a word far cruder than ‘nonsense’. But he was stuck listening to it until he could figure a way to shut Magnifico up, preferably without Magnifico retaliating with the staff. “And what, exactly, is the point of you telling me this?”

Magnifico smirked. “Well. I suppose I just wanted you to have a chance. Isn’t that what Asha’s always on about? Chances?

“A chance to what?”

“To understand. To know that there are people out there who understand you. Unlike the Guardians.”

Jack scowled. “We were actually getting along fairly well until you got involved!”

“But you don’t really think that would last, did you?” Pitch’s voice floated to him from somewhere behind him. Jack tightened his grip on his staff. He was surrounded. Just fantastic. “They didn’t really believe in you,” Pitch continued, his voice almost but not quite sympathetic. “I hoped you would see that sooner.”

Well, there was one good thing about Pitch’s arrival: Jack now had a target to lash out at with far less certainty of hurting his friend.

“YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!” Jack snapped, spinning around and sending spikes of ice towards the Boogeyman. Pitch disappeared with a swirl of black dust that scattered on the snow, but Jack was already in motion, sprinting towards where he had last been.

He leapt into the air, landing once more as Pitch rematerialized. “No? You don’t think I know what it’s like to be cast out?” Pitch jeered, brushing aside Jack’s next vicious attack. He sent a blast of black sand shooting right at Jack like a spear, and Jack raced into the air to avoid it. “To not be believed in?”

Jack’s next volley of ice was deflected, swirling into the air in a high, spiky, almost graceful arc.

Watching through the mirrors, Asha pressed a hand against the silvery surface, as if she could reach through and help. But she couldn’t. Magnifico was standing back, watching the back-and-forth like he found it entertaining.

“To long… for a family,” Pitch said as the icy winds cleared. Jack pointed his staff, and the Boogeyman paused, but the effect of his words had already sank in. Jack’s eyes went wide and he lowered the crook.

“All those years in the shadows, I thought no one else knows what this feels like,” Pitch said quietly, his gaze locked with Jack’s. “But now I see I was wrong. You don’t have to be alone, Jack… I believe in you. And I know children will, too.”

Jack looked down at the snow under his feet. “In… in me?”

“Yes!” Pitch grinned. “Look at what we can do…” He gestured to the sweeping, jagged curve of ice that reached high into the air. Now Jack saw how the ice was mottled with streaks of black among the frozen silver stillness. “What goes together better than cold and dark?

Jack looked up at the sky, where the highest reaches of the icy claws faded into the gray sky.

We can make them believe!” Pitch exclaimed. He sounded like an excited child. “We can give them a world where everything, everything is –”

“Pitch black?” Jack guessed.

Pitch paused. “And Jack Frost, too. They’ll believe in us.”

No! Asha wanted to protest. That wasn’t who Jack was. She knew that.

“The three of us will watch over a perfect world… a world where the living can’t escape us,” Pitch said, savoring the thought. The three of them – Pitch Black, Jack Frost, and Magnifico – overseeing a world of fear, cold, and despair; it was such a perfect ending “A world where we won’t be cast out, or cast down…”

But Jack knew, already, no matter how the offer disarmed him... there wasn't really a choice. “There’s a difference between believing and fear,” he said. “And that’s not what I want.”

He turned towards the Boogeyman, ready for another fight. Unfortunately, so was Pitch – but he was prepared for ice, not Star rocketing towards him. This time, Pitch was so surprised he actually tumbled backwards into the snow, and a second later, a bolt of green light collided with Star and threw him into a snowdrift.

No! Star! Asha cried. However awful the pain of Magnifico’s magic draining her starlight was, seeing her friends be threatened and hurt was so much worse.

Star!” Jack yelled, racing to him. He’d already lost Asha, he couldn’t lose Star too! The little being was buried under a small mound of snow, but Jack dug him out and lifted him in his hands. Star was curled up on himself, his eyes pressed shut tight. There was a streak on his side, where the vibrant golden hue was sapped of color, like a wound.

But Star opened his eyes. He started to glow again, but it was so much weaker this time.

Jack’s heart raced. Star rose up, floating like he always did, but wobbling slightly. He put up his fists like he was going to fight… then nearly fainted again.

Jack grabbed Star tight and dove behind a bank of ice and packed snow to give them cover from the next attack – flashes of green and whirls of black that hung in the air like smoke.

“Star, no,” Jack whispered, looking down at the star in his hands. “You can’t fight. I can’t let them get you. You have to go back to the sky where you belong!”

Stars eyes went wide and he shook his entire body like no, no, no!

“You have to,” Jack insisted. “Please. Get away from here, and – when you hear Asha’s song again, it’ll be safe to come back. But not before. Please! Go!”

Star hesitated still. The next assault of green light broke apart the barrier protecting them, and Jack was thrown through the air. After he landed, after a couple of moments to recover his wits, he looked around again, and he didn’t see Star. Far above, gold twinkled against the grey clouds – and then that was gone, too.

“Stupid kid,” Magnifico sneered, strolling down the icy slope like it were a walk in the park. “Told you he was too headstrong to join us.”

“Yes,” Pitch muttered, masking his disappointment behind cold indifference. “Still. It felt only right to at least ask. Now, let’s deal with him.”

“Gladly!” Magnifico aimed his staff for the gnarled crook that lay feet away from where Jack had landed. Distracted by Star’s injury, Jack hadn’t even paid attention to where the crook had fallen – and he was about to regret that.

Jack staggered to his feet just a moment before green fire struck the staff, breaking it into two jagged, splintered pieces. But it wasn’t just shock that brought him to his knees – it was a deep lash of pain at his very core, as if some part of him were fractured along with the staff. He struggled forward, grabbing for the broken pieces, but it was useless. It might as well be just a stick now for all the good it could do, twisted and frozen wood with nothing more to offer.

Two menacing shadows crept towards him. Pitch and Magnifico looked down at the powerless boy kneeling in the snow – just a child with a stick.

“Too easy,” Pitch said softly, gloating. “And I didn’t even need to use the little fairy I caught!” He held out a hand, uncurling his fingers. A clump of turquoise and dainty wings fell, and Jack scrambled to catch it. It was Baby Tooth. She must have been captured when Pitch lured him into the lair earlier.

“Oh, kid,” Magnifico said in a voice of fake sympathy, “really is disappointing to see you insist on a losing battle like that.”

Jack gave them both the strongest glare he could muster. He lunged forward and grabbed Magnifico’s staff tightly, trying to pull it out of his hands. It didn’t matter if they’d rendered him powerless, broken his crook, if he’d had to send Star away. Jack would not go down without a fight.

He owed as much to Asha.

Magnifico laughed and kicked Jack back easily. Jack landed on his back against hard-packed snow, and was it his imagination, or did it hurt more without his powers?

“You have an unfortunate habit of getting in the way,” Pitch said grimly. “And I’m afraid we’re going to have to put a stop to it.”

Magnifico raised his staff. Snakelike tendrils of green light coiled tightly around Jack and lifted him into the air.

Jack grit his teeth and refused to scream. That power burned his skin, even through his clothes, and gnawed at his core like a ravenous animal.

Magnifico grinned, his eyes glowing green. “Do you feel that?” He said. His voice was low, but there was no disguising the satisfaction in it. “That’s the same thing that Asha feels.”

Jack didn’t even have the strength to fight back this time. Pitch and Magnifico tossed him like a rag doll into a deep, icy crevasse, and when he landed, he didn’t move again for a while. Cackling, Pitch dropped the broken pieces of the crook next to him.

And there they left him.


Watching through the mirror, Asha’s eyes burned as tears slid down her face. Jack! Star! Baby Tooth… how she wanted to be there to help hem…

As the fiery magic entangling her eased up once more, she laid her head down against the cool stone steps and shut her eyes. Her friends – the Guardians – the children of the world, and even the people of Rosas, they were all in danger, because she had failed to protect them. Because Magnifico had managed to outwit her, and now, no matter what she tried…

Why did this happen?

Asha opened her eyes. Was that a voice? She could swear that she’d heard that with her own ears.

Can’t you help me?

Yes, she definitely heard that. It was a young boy’s voice, and a voice she didn’t known. She raised her head, looking around for the source.

Aren’t you supposed to grant wishes?

Wishes? She knew about wishes. But who was speaking? Was there someone else here?

She got to her feet, unsteady. She was trembling – from pain, exhaustion, she didn’t know – but she ignored the sensation. If there was someone else here, then she could at least help them. She had to try.

Where are you? She tried to call out, but she couldn’t speak.

Listen to me!” The boy’s voice pleaded. “Answer me!

I’m trying! She wanted to say.

Do something, anything!

There was no one in the office. There was no place anyone could hide. Not on the balconies above, not in the narrow spaces between the bookshelves, not under the lecterns or behind the staircases. Asha checked behind the desk, and then the dumbwaiter cabinet, where she had once snuck in –

Snuck in to find her grandfather’s wish. And in doing so, she’d witnessed Magnifico open a descending staircase, an underground passage. Did that exist as a copy in this place, too? What if that was where this voice was coming from?

She hurried to the mirror-doors. Thankfully, there was a crack, a seam where she managed to hook her fingers and pull. She tugged it just a couple of feet – enough of an opening for her to edge through sideways – and then into the observatory beyond.

Shadows abounded here. This place was empty now, the heights vacant of the wishes once held here. But above wasn’t what she was looking at. Her concern was the floor.

In the center of the observatory floor, like an open maw, a winding staircase descended downwards into the dark. She stood at the topmost step and looked down at the shadows below.

The boy’s voice echoed to her from the depths.

Can’t you help me?

He – whoever or whatever ‘he’ was – was down there. So Asha started down the steps, into whatever lie below.