Nightmare Assassins

𝐒𝐈𝐗. 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬

Crystal Winter Frost

After five days of supposed resting, Alanna and I were wary of whether Manny would start to train us or not. Alanna was also starting to bother me with questions, and so it was getting irritating.

"Crystal, Crystal—d'ya think Manny is going back on his word?"

"Crystal, Crystal—d'ya think Manny's gonna show up as a human being?"

"Crystal, Crystal—if the Guardians aren't gonna train us, then who will?"

"Crystal, Crystal—"

"Alanna, please stop." Conceal, I thought, then shook my head. That only encouraged fear to grow.

You're a Moon Spirit and a Nightmare Assassin now, so you can't create fear. I thought to myself again.

"Just have patience." I opted to say to Alanna—not without a long eyeroll.

Just then, Uncle Kristoff came into the living room where we were seated. "Girls, could you please explain why there is a large wolf-like creature, a woman with wings, a short man with golden sand, and another that looks like Santa Claus on the bridge, and why they're on a sleigh with flying reindeer?"

"Eeeeeeeeee!" Alanna let out an excited squeal. "They're finally here!"

"What did I tell you?" I looked at my cousin pointedly. "Good things come to those who wait. Like, actually wait."

Alanna gave me a pout and pushed past her father to go greet the 'strange people' coming towards the castle. Sighing, I followed Alanna too—after all, they were the Guardians, close friends that worked with my father, as well as my godparents. It was only polite to formally greet them, even though I knew they would bring painful memories to my mind.

Even though I had gotten better, the thought of where Dad and Mom were had never left my consciousness. Every day, I worried about them and hoped they would return soon, but Gale never came with news, nor did Nokk, Bruni, or the Earth Giants.

"Well, look who is here to greet us!" I snapped out of my thoughts and found myself standing in front of North, one of my godfathers. His booming voice and accented English resonated across the grand sitting room, which we had found ourselves in. I waved at Uncle North apprehensively.

"Did you prepare cookies?" he smiled with an eyebrow raised.

My eyes widened about three sizes and I gulped—we had not yet prepared any.

Fortunately, Alanna saved my life by shouting, "Yep! Loads and loads of them in the kitchen!" My cousin then proceeded to grab Uncle North's hand and led him to where the cookies were waiting.

Aunt Tooth flitted over to me, eyes twinkling with excitement. "Come, let's see those pearly whites!" With that, she pried my mouth open and started to examine my teeth—I had long since given up on protesting and begrudgingly obliged, and tilted my head upwards. "Just like your father's and mother's, sparkling white as freshly fallen snow." Aunt Tooth remarked proudly, but I felt tears starting to well up in my eyes.

My aunt seemed to sense my discomfort and released her strong grip on my jaws. "What's wrong, honeybee?" she asked tenderly.

"Nothing," I said quickly, brushing away my tears.

A hand came to rest on Aunt Tooth's shoulder. "Toothiana, leave her be."

In response, my aunt just looked up fondly and swatted the hand away. "Oh, none of your beeswax, Bunny."