The Elemental's Curse

Inverno

Mother Nature was ... an interesting spirit, to say the least. Not many spirits got to see her personally except her four most powerful children, the seasonal elementals. But of her run-ins with other spirits were just not well-timed, which is why she hardly left her palace.

To the outside world of spirits, she appeared to be cold-hearted, strict, and short-tempered. Only a handful of spirits knew her true side: Guardian of Childhood Sanderson Mansnoozie, Guardian of Childhood Toothiana, and her children.

Three of her children - Spring spirit Daisy Thornstone, Fall spirit Alex Redleaf, and Summer spirit Chris Sunbeam - walked into the Library of Ancient Magic that Seraphina was currently nestled in, studying away. After visiting the murder scenes, she sensed a dark, ancient form of magic she hadn't seen used in a long while. Now she was busying herself trying to figure out exactly what magic was being used to kill her children.

"Permission to speak, Mum?" Daisy asked.

"Permission granted, love," Seraphina responded, putting away another book.

"You have visitors, Mum," Daisy explained. "The Guardians of Childhood." Seraphina turned to her daughter in shock. "We asked them to wait for your permission to enter the treehouse."

"Yes, go let them in," she quickly ordered.

Daisy swiftly rushed from the room, but Alex and Chris remained.

"Mum," Alex spoke up, waiting for her nod to continue. "Am I correct in stating that Jack is officially a Guardian of Childhood?"

"Yes, my son," Seraphina answered, turning to the two boys as she clutched a new book. "You should be proud. Your baby brother has become one of the Greats."

"But we were never kind to him, Mum," Chris pointed out. "He probably doesn't want anything to do with us."

"You'd be surprised, Chris," Seraphina assured him as she set her book on a nearby table before opening it and skimming through the table of contents. "Jack is a creature of forgiveness and second chances. Even after the Guardians ignored him and hurt him for so long, he found it in his heart to let them have another chance. And now he has a close group of comrades, a second family, if you will."

"Mum?"

Chris and Alex moved aside to see Daisy gripping Jack's hand as she led him into the room. Seraphina smiled seeing her youngest son still sporting his three-hundred-and-some-year-old trousers with his signature blue hoodie. His staff was gripped tightly in his right hand. And still no shoes. The other Guardians came in quickly after them.

"Seraphina," Tooth acknowledged.

"Toothiana," Seraphina greeted. "Sanderson. Nicholas." She looked at Bunny and smirked. "Aster."

"My name is Bunny," he lowly growled.

Seraphina simply shrugged and turned towards Jack, holding her arms out. "Come, I haven't seen you in ages. I want a hug."

Jack stood in shock for a moment before Daisy nudged him back into reality. He looked at Seraphina for a moment in more thought before handing his staff to Daisy - who held it like a baby - and wrapped his arms around Seraphina. She tightly hugged his middle, her face leaning against his chest. Sometimes she hated being short.

"I made a mistake," Seraphina confessed. "Acting like I didn't care."

"Mum, it's ok," Jack promised, patting her back. She pulled away and frowned.

"No, it isn't," she countered. "You were left out there, practically alone for three-hundred years. No child should go through that. And I thought I was protecting you, which makes it worse. I was afraid that if Pitch realized you were a child of both MiM and me, he would see you as extremely valuable and come after you." She sighed. "But I guess it didn't matter in the end, did it?"

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"I have connections with the animals in Antarctica, Jack," Seraphina narrowed her eyes. "I know what happened that Easter."

Jack looked down at his feet, suddenly nervous. He hadn't exactly told the other Guardians just what had happened during that time he disappeared, just that Baby Tooth had helped him open his teeth and unlock his memories. They hadn't even questioned how she had gotten back to him after he accidentally left her in Pitch's lair.

Seraphina seemed to get the hint and backed off. Daisy held out Jack's staff, which he quickly took back.

"Mother Nature, do I have permission to speak?" North requested, stepping forward and clasping a hand on Jack's shoulder. The boy smiled at the gesture.

"Proceed," Seraphina nodded.

"I'm sure you heard about these ... 'murders' on your elementals."

"I have," she interrupted. "That's why these three haven't been allowed to leave the treehouse. And I knew Jack would be safe with you four."

"But we're still worried for Jack's safety," Tooth explained, flying forward cautiously. "Is there any way this could be Pitch? Looking for revenge against you or Jack in some way?"

"No, my woodland animals in Burgess have kept an eye on his lair," Seraphina replied, shaking her head. "They've been watching all entrances, even the secret ones he thinks nobody knows about. The moment he would've left, I would've been warned."

"Do you have any idea as to who could be doing this?" Bunny asked, now a little more worried than before. Pitch, they could handle. But a new spirit? That put them back at square one, with so much at stake.

Seraphina turned back towards the book she left opened on the table. "I visited all of the places, investigated the best I could. What I've determined so far is this: whoever is doing this has to very dark, very ancient magic that can take up to thousands of years to master. If I can just figure out what that magic is, I can figure out who has the capability to produce it and how to stop them."

"If I may, Mum," Daisy spoke up. "But I didn't think any magic existed that could actually kill immortals. We're immortal for a reason."

"You're an elemental," Seraphina corrected her. "It's a different type of immortal." Then her eyes lit up. "Of course!" She turned to Chris. "Eleventh floor, fifteenth shelf, tenth book. Now."

"Mum?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow as Christ shot up into the air. "What's going on in your mind?"

"Daisy made me realize something," she said, madly flipping through the pages as soon as Chris handed the book to her. "It's should've been so obvious in the first place. The elementals are being killed. There's only one way that's possible." She set the book down on the nearby table and everyone gathered around to look. "The Elemental's Curse."

"The what?" Bunny questioned.

"It's a very ancient form of dark magic," Seraphina summarized as she skimmed the page. "Created before the Man in the Moon himself was even born and dinosaurs still roamed the Earth. There are two things required for this curse: a black heart and knowledge."

"Knowledge of what?" Alex asked.

Seraphina began to pace as North and Bunny continued to study the page; everyone else watched the nature spirit in worry. "All elementals were once mortal human beings. They become elementals because their former lives were ended tragically because of something of nature." She turned back to the group. "Anil died in the Sahara from dehydration and starvation. Topaz ate poisonous berries in the Ozark Mountains. And Naida ..." Seraphina stopped. "Naida didn't die in Asia, though."

"She was burned!" Tooth realized in horror.

"Then she must've died in a natural fire," Seraphina confirmed sadly. "The knowledge is of how an elemental died as a human. That is the only thing, combined with the curse, that will kill them once and for all."

"Who would want to do this?" North thought aloud.

"I have no idea," Seraphina shrugged. "But if we don't find out soon, we going to have more chaos on our hands."