Trapped by Fear

Chapter 9

(Jack's POV)

Stupid North, stupid list, stupid errands. I thought to myself as I flew through the crisp morning air. I had got a bit distracted with some kids who were having a snowball fight, and then I chased away a dog who was scaring a cat, frosted some windows...

Ok I was procrastinating alright! Now onto the list. The first item waaas (drumroll please)- faerie dust?

Fey, it just had to be Fey! Deciding to just get it over with (and maybe making up for lost time) I took off at full speed towards Elphame. (A/N; I encourage you to go find out about this for yourselves 😉)

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--Pitch's Lair--

"Stupid Guardians! Stupid Frost. My plan was going perfectly until you came along and ruined it. I was so close to finally achieving my goal. And where am I now? NOWHERE!"

Pitch slammed his fists into the wall causing the whole room to shake. His two henchmen backed away in fear. He was unpredictable when he was like this and there was no guarantee that he wouldn't turn his anger on them.

"Just a few days with those blasted Guardians and that girl starts to fight me again! It took me years to break her down enough for my plan to work. It's infuriating! How can someone so weak be so strong! That girl is the key to either my success or my downfall. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT!" he yelled at his henchmen, who had almost made it to the door. "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!"

The henchmen fled to wait until Pitch calmed down. Meanwhile, Pitch continued his temper tantrum.

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(Jack's POV)

Arriving at Elphame, I soon found who I was looking for.

"heyy Jania, how've you been?" I asked sheepishly.

"Well well well, if it isn't the Winter spirit himself. What do you want?"

"Is that anyway to greet a friend?"

"Friend? Ha! Don't make me laugh."

"Hey, why so upset?"

"You know what you did!"

"Aww, c'mon it was just a prank. No need to be so grumpy."

"JUST A PRANK! You paint bombed my sister's wedding! I looked like a blazing CIRCUS!"

I laughed at the hilarious memory but Jania was not amused and just glared at me. My laughter died out and I amended, "Look, I'm sorry okay, But this is important, *mumbles, I think* "

"What was that at the end there?"

"Nothing!"

Jania looked at me skeptically. I could see that she was weighing her options and finally said, "Fine then, IF, you can clean up my old potion room, then we'll talk." She said with a smirk.

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Fey potion rooms were notorious. Apart from the regular potions which were already unstable and messy, Fey liked to experiment. Sometimes it worked and the results were amazing. But most of the time they flopped and made a mess everywhere. And these weren't just regular messes, you should know, they were magical messes. Potion ingredients mixed and spattered everywhere. It was pretty and cool at first but as more potions mixed it became...unstable. These rooms were extremely difficult to clean so most Fey just closed the door and moved onto a new potion room. This one was no different. The walls and floor were covered in rainbow splatters and colourful glitter. You could feel the room pulsing with wild magic. I was beginning to regret my decision. With a smug grin, Jania handed me a bucket and mop. 

"Are you sure-"

But she had already left. I ran to the door just in time to hear the lock click. 

"Jania let me out!"

"Not until that room is clean. Good luck Mr. Frost. You're going to need it." 

I heard her laughing as she fluttered away. Ooh, she was so going to regret this! Just maybe not today.

--many hours later--

I was finally finished. I was covered in blobs of different colours and I would probably have to wash my hair for the first time in 300 years, but I was done. Sure, I may have missed some spots, and I'm pretty sure the mop was alive now, but it was good enough. Jania inspected my work and nodded in approval. Before she gave me my reward however, she just had to rub salt in the wound.

"Oh my, you sure do look colourful," she snickered, "And don't worry about it washing out too soon. That there is some pretty powerful stuff. So you can wear it for as long as you like."

I just glared at her.

"What?" she asked, "Not a fan? Oh! maybe you should've been wearing white first, then it really wouldn't come out."

"Are you done?" I huffed.

Wiping away tears of laughter, she nodded and handed me a small bag filled with faerie dust. And this was only the first item on the list. Maybe this was North punishing me for being top of the naughty list.