Chapter 22

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"What in the name of jingle bells is going on here?" North's groggy voice filled me with a sense of impending doom.

"Uh, I c-can explain." I stuttered.

"Jack..." North trailed off in surprise.

I was so caught up in my nerves, I didn't realize that he was staring at my now 55% brown hair.

"I-I know, I'm sorry but I promise I had a good reason this time." I cringed as the words left my mouth. North has no reason to believe me. Before I was a guardian I tried to break into his place for years. He probably just lost all the respect he had for me and-

"Your-your hair," North sputtered with wide eyes. "It's turning..." He trailed off.

Thinking under pressure was never my strong suit, so I said the first thing that popped into my head. "It's mud."

Oh, that's rich! Like he'll ever believe that you dipshit, the voices in my head berated me.

North had an unamused look on his face. "Mud? In only half of your hair?" He scrutinized.

I decided to keep going with my lie since I had absolutely nothing else going for me. "Uh yeah... Kate wanted me to try this new mud hair treatment thing, and I uh wanted to see how it compared to my normal hair."

Against all logic, North bought it. "Okay... that still doesn't explain why you are being restrained by the elves."

"Well, it's actually a funny story you see," I chuckled nervously. "I came in here to see about maybe 'borrowing' a globe, so I could... take Jamie sight seeing. But you were asleep and I figured you wouldn't mind if I just took one. The elves on the otherhand, minded very, very much." I added with a dumb smile on my face.

To my surprise, North bellowed with laughter that made my ears ring. "Let him up you silly pointy heads," North said as he wiped tears of laughter from his jolly cheeks.

"So... you're not mad?" I asked.

"Of course not! Here, take two," he said as he slapped two globes into my arms. "You'll need one for the ride home."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks North. I'll see if I can bring back some cookies for you."

As soon as I left his office and rounded the corner that leads back to Pitch's room, I realized that I may not even come back alive. I shouldn't have made Santa Clause, of all people, hope for cookies.

"I got them," I announced as I entered Pitch's room.

"Great, let's go. We haven't a second to waste," said Pitch.

I gabbed a shoulder bag from Pitch's desk and walked over to Greg. I kneeled so I was about his height and put it around his neck. "I need you to keep these safe for me, okay?" I said as I took one of the globes and my memories out of my hoodie pocket.

Greg nodded vigorously. "I will, I promise."

As I slipped them into the bag, I willed myself to trust Greg with my most precious possesion and our ticket home. I put my hand on his shoulder and then rose to my full height again. I spun around to face my friends; my comrades. "Thank you, all of you. You are my light."

Kate put her small hand in mine and squeezed. "This isn't goodbye, Jack."

I turned my face to look in her eyes. "I know," I stated as I squeezed her hand back, and then released it to pick up my staff. I brought the globe up close to my face and whispered, "Shadow Lake," and threw it at the ground. It exploded in a swirl of light at our feet. I looked at everyone's face individually, seeing everything I was feeling staring back at me. Determination to be rid of this demon once and for all, and to win no matter what. Not just for me, but for the millions of children all over the world who's lives depended on it. With a nod of assurance from everyone, we took one last step toward the portal. There was no turning back now.

* * * *

North's P.O.V

North paced about his toy cluttered office. He had kicked out the elves and told them to busy themselves with 'making' toys. This situation called for more serious company. "There's no way Jack was telling me the truth," he thought out loud to the yeti's, who nodded in agreement. "But is this so dire that I need to call in the others?"

A grey yeti to North's left let out a deep 'um' noise.

"You're right, I should just call them. I can always count on you Kevin," North praised the grey yeti as he turned and pressed down the handle to call the guardians. The specific handle he chose was not the Northern Lights signal, as that would alert Jack as well. This one would only go to the other guardians homes.

The other guardians arrived within minutes. North told them everything from Jack's suspicious behavior, to his half brown hair.

"Oh my gosh, Jack was losing his center right under our noses and we had no idea," said Tooth in horror as her hands covered her mouth.

"Crikey, how are we going to catch up to him in time, when you just gave him one of your globes like it was no big deal?" Bunny asked in a sarcastic manner.

"I already thought of that," North stated matter of fact, as he pulled out a screen with a blinking red light that hovered over Shadow Lake. "I gave him globes with trackers on them so we could easily follow him and see what he's up to."

"Wait, that's the lake where Jack died, isn't it?" Asked Tooth.

"It is," North confirmed grimly. "I've been worried about Jack's mental state ever since he got his memories back. He's been... off."

"I agree. About a week ago he stopped by to ask for his memories. I gave him a few moments alone with them, but when I came back, he was gone and he took his memories with him," Tooth looked worried as she shared this troubling information.

"Hmm, this might be worse than we thought. We need to go after him, but I don't know if even we will be enough to save him now." North's brow drew together with worry as he stroked his snow white beard.

Suddenly an image of Jamie made of sand materialized in front of them. Sandy jumped and pointed at it, trying to get the others' attention.

"What's Jamie got to do with this, mate?" Bunny asked, confused.

"I see what he means," said Tooth. "If anyone can talk some sense into Jack, it's Jamie."

Sandy nodded vigorously to confirm that that is what he meant.

"You're right, the boy does have a strong connection to Jack," said North.

"Then let's go get him," Bunny said mischievously. He thumped his foot twice on the ground and a tunnel appeared under their feet.

"Raskatov," North exclaimed before the ground swallowed them whole.

A/N Since the world is going to shit, I thought I'd work on updating this. How is everyone doing? I'm here to listen, just comment and I'll respond :) I know this time is stressful so I'm here for everyone. Anyways thanks for reading lovelies I hope this helped distract you from life for a little while.

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