Camp NaNo April 2014: Crystal Compass Final Part

The hospital room was almost silent when she came around again. There was a radio playing in the corner. She did not recognise the station, but the weather report, mentioning the secession of the odd snow storm over the woods near Aldhaven, made her let out a heavy sigh. Taking in enough breath to do so caused pain to spike through her chest and caused her to let out a pained whimper.

A soft mumble from one of the other beds in the room made her turn to look, only to be surprised when she found that Miranda was heading her way with a rather large card and a bag of some kind. The moment she noticed Twilight was trying to sit up she alerted the nurse with a slightly wary look.

The nurse shot over to Twilight’s side, assisting her and helping her adjust the bed so she was comfortable, asking questions about how she was feeling turning up the drip when she mumbled something about being in pain. Once the nurse was happy that she was fit to see guests, Twilight watched the woman usher Miranda forward.

“Hi Boss.” The librarian smiled, feeling dizzy as the painkillers in the IV started working.

“H...hi Miss Rodgers.” The head librarian stammered offering the card and the bag, “Th...the Jacksons wanted me to give you this.” She shook the bag slightly, “And the kids all signed this.”

Twilight took the card, opening it to find that is was decorated with silver, purple and blue glitter, along with snowmen and snowflakes and a giant ‘Tank Yoo’ scrawled across the front. Seeing the names inside, including Hikaru’s made her smile, though it was a sad one as she remembered that Hikaru had been the only child she had managed to rescue.

“Snowmen?” She asked as she reached for the gift bag.

“Well considering...” Miranda trailed off and looked at the floor, “We found that creature you froze. And the cave...they’ve dna tested the bones...there’s a lot of people who got closure when they did that.”

Twilight stared at the floor, ashamed even as she realised that the appearance of the Wrath of Winter was being laid on her. “I’m sorry. I tried to find the kids...but only Hikaru was left when I found it.”

“No one blames you.” Miranda lied, her staff member could see it and hear it in her tone and body language, “The police took that thing away. Said they found your blood all over the snow...”

“It wanted Hikaru too.” Twilight mumbled, “I’d failed the other kids, I wasn’t going to fail her too.” When Miranda did not have anything else to say on the matter, she opened the gift from the Jacksons. Inside was a card, a store bought ‘thank you’ card with a message inside thanking her for outing her powers in order to save their daughter along with a new necklace and a pair of earrings.

All of them were silver snowflakes and they looked like they had diamonds and sapphires embedded in them. They were beautiful pieces of work and Twilight did not think that she had seen anything like them before.

“They’re gorgeous.” She told Miranda, “But they didn’t have to...”

“They felt they did, especially after... Aella...do you know how long it’s been?” Miranda asked softly.

Twilight blinked at her, shaking her head. “No, I don’t...” Then her eyes widened as she realised that she had no clue what the date was and she had only been a couple of days away from her final exams, “Miranda? What’s the date?”

“I’m sorry.” Miranda apologised, looking like she wished she was not the one to give her the news, “You went missing a week and a half ago.”

“No...no no no no!” Twilight tried scramble out of bed and find her phone or any phone in order to contact the university, only for the nearest nurse to hold her in place, the pain making her give in before too long, “But I’ve missed my exams!”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Miranda had backed off a couple of yards, wincing at the pain in the young woman’s voice, both emotional and physical. This news on top of everything else the final blow as the young woman started trembling, concerning the nurse watching them, “I really am. Once you get out of here, they might let you resit, right?”

“I...don’t know...” Twilight’s voice trembled as she tried to keep the tears she could feel building from tumbling down her face. It was stupid, to get so worked up over missing her exams when children had died. She knew it was, but she could not help it. She had worked so hard over the last three years to pass her course and unless the university would allow her to take the tests in the resits, it was all over.

All her work, all her effort and time and energy and even if she took the exam in the resits she would never have her honours degree. A degree maybe, but not the results she had worked so hard towards.

“I’m sorry.” Miranda sounded like she felt guilty as she watched the young woman break down. “But you saved Hikaru, that’s better than a degree, right?”

Twilight’s nod was slow and miserable and she put the jewellery on the bedside table before rolling onto her less injured side, “Th...thanks Miranda...d...do I still have a job?”

“Yes.” Miranda could reassure her of that, the tears in the young woman’s voice reminding her that for all of Twilight’s rumoured powers, she was still a human being was dreams and hopes and emotions, a young woman who had risked her life against some creature who had preyed on the children of the village. “The job will be waiting for you, no matter how long it takes you to recover.”

When Twilight did not respond the head librarian left, uncomfortable with being the one who had been there when her staff member had woken up. The student did not care. The moment she was sure her boss was no longer there, she burst into tears, her sobs slowly becoming less painful as the drugs in her system eased the tightness in her chest.

A gentle cold breeze and a icy cold hand on her shoulder made her curl into her thin blanket as her tears subsided, unsure if she could bring herself to talk to anyone else without sobbing at them. Luckily she did not have to as the medicine pumping around her system carried her off into an uneasy sleep and by the time she came around again, everyone was asleep.

She got up, her head spinning a little from the pain in her chest. The drip connected to her hand was empty, allowing her to pull free of it without feeling guilty. She headed for the open window and sat on the sill, watching the city below go by quickly. She had figured that she had no longer been in Aldhaven. There was no real hospital near the village, if anyone needed one they had to go an hour down the road to Plymouth. She was not surprised that for injuries like hers, they had had to rush her here, rather than leave her to the Doctor’s tender care.

“Jack?” She called quietly, kind of hoping that he was still around and that no one else was watching or listening, “Jack? You still out there?”

“I’m here, Twi.” Her friend floated  in the breeze, coming and sitting next to her, concern on his features, “I’m sorry about your course.”

Twilight did not know what to say to that, instead she asked, “Did you lead the police to the scene?”

“No.” Jack shook his head, “That was Clara and Nadia. I had to go south and let off the rest of the storm. If I’d dropped anymore on the forest, they would have had to dig out the cave entrance. Your friend, Ley was there apparently though.”

The librarian nodded her understanding, unsure what to say to that. “The villagers think I caused the snow storm.” She told him instead, “I don’t know what to do about that.”

“Focus on getting better, first.” Jack suggested, “And worry about that later. They’ve thought you’re a witch for years. This isn’t any different.”

Twilight disagreed. There was a difference from suspecting it and practically having proof. Not that they knew what really happened but it was probably for the best.

“What’re the Compass doing about Bones?” Twilight asked. “You froze him solid and the police took him. Are they going to settle for that?”

“I don’t know.” Jack admitted with a rueful smile, “I’ll get called up to give evidence at some point, they have to include me for that because I was the Wrath’s Avatar, but I’m not highly enough ranked to know what they’re planning after that.”

“So there will be a trial?” Being in pain was exhausting and Twilight’s hand clutched the edge of the windowsill as her world spun, “Because of the children?”

“Twilight...” Jack sighed, knowing that what he was about to say would not go down well. “He won’t face any repercussions for harming the kids...”

“But that’s not fair!” Twilight’s protest caused the sleepers in the bed nearest the window to stir and groan in their sleep, making her freeze up and watch them until she was sure that they had fallen back into their slumber. “That’s not fair.” Twilight grouched at her friend quietly once she was certain.

“What he did to the children was wrong.” Jack held his hands up, recognising that his friend was royally ticked off but having to make his point clear, “But it’s part of his legend. We cannot help but follow the paths that you mortals lay down for us. He was born of a myth that stated that he ate naughty children, we can’t punish him for that, any more than we could punish that Yuki Ona for freezing people or Nowell for breaking into people’s houses to leave gifts every Christmas.”

The librarian did not like it. Not one bit. She had known that would be what happened, Bones had been using his legend like a shield, allowing him to get away with things that in any normal society, he would have been dealt with harshly for.

“So they’ll only punish him for what he did to me?” She asked, staring at her wrists which were wrapped in bandages, “Nothing else?”

“I don’t think he’ll be getting away that lightly.” Jack reassured her, “He tried to overthrow Choronzon and take advantage of Handover, they won’t like that one bit.”

“But you don’t know what his punishment will be?”

“Don’t think about it.” Jack recommended, getting up and leaping down into the hospital room, offering his friend a hand down from the window sill. “There’s nothing you can do about it and you have something more important to worry about.”

“What’s that?” Twilight huffed, accepting his help and leaning on Jack as he helped her stumble back to her bed.

“Well, you have your university to fight with.” Jack pointed out as she laid down on the uncomfortable mattress, “And Handover’s over. Your house will be flooded with immortals who will want to hear what happened.”

“I’m not sure I can deal with them...” The librarian mumbled as she felt herself drifting off again.

“Get better first.” Jack offered as he tucked her in and took a perch on her bedside table, watching over his mortal friend, “Everything else can come later.”

Crystal Compass Book 1: Part 13: July 2014 Camp NaNo

She was just rolling through town when she spotted something moving by the home of one of the children she had earmarked as a possible target. She turned her headlights onto the moving shadow to try and get a better look at what it was.

She swiftly wished she had not.

It was just as Clara had described and yet so much worse. The almost skeletal figure was hunched at a grotesque angle, seeming to be almost bent double. The grey, clammy, dead seeming skin was decaying away, revealing dying flesh and rotten organs underneath, blood oozing slowly from each and every hole, dripping onto the pavement and leaving a trail that Twilight knew no mortal who could not see like she could would notice. Bloodstains made their way up its arms, at the end of which were claw like fingers. It turned and glared at her with its burning blood red eyes and Twilight froze up in terror as it smirked at her, its sharp, vicious looking teeth bared.

Twilight fumbled for her crossbow, remembering too late that she had no bolts for it and had left it behind. The creature turned away and leapt with astounding agility up to a child’s bedroom window and slowly opened it, using its long fingers as a lever to prise it open. Twilight cussed and snatched up a rock and threw it at the beast before scrambling for a nearby, rather hefty looking branch she could use as a weapon, wondering what the hell she had been thinking in going after any old bogeyman without a weapon. Especially when this monster was roaming around.

She did not get the chance to snatch it up. The creature was on her in a heartbeat, slashing at her with its claws. The shockingly sharp talons pierced not only her bike leathers, but the clothes and skin underneath. Twilight let out a pained yelp which was swiftly cut off when she was knocked off of her feet and her head slammed into the pavement, knocking her partially senseless.

The creature stalked forward with a low, vindictive chuckle as Twilight moaned and tried to push herself upright, pushing her back down with a foot and pinning her to the floor. Twilight feebly struggled as the creature leered down at her, increasing the pressure on her chest, causing her to scream in pain as her ribs started to creak and crack at the weight.

“Little Havenkeeper, I remember you.” The creature hissed, seeming amused, “Your grandmother kept this town from me, rescued you from my clutches when your mother brought you to town. Shame you won’t live to do the same.”

“K...Kill me,” Twilight stammered out, crying out in pain as he kept increasing the pressure, “And you’ll bring t...the entire Compass d...down on your head!”

“They’re too busy to really pay attention to what I’m up to.” The creature smirked back, “Besides none of them could hope to defeat me.”

The first part was probably true. He had hurt her, had probably hurt Mikey. The Wrath of the Seasons should have activated for the nearest Crystal Compass immortal. That none had shown up told Twilight that she was, terrifyingly, alone.

“Y...You’re just a bogeyman.” Twilight retorted, trying to throw him off balance as she grabbed for something, anything, that she could use to defend herself and finding a sharp stick. “I’m not afraid of you!”

She jammed the sharp stick through paper thin flesh, into the ankle of the foot pinning her. The creature howled in pain and backed off, giving Twilight the chance to get to her feet. She took it, rolling onto her side and pushing herself up as she tried to ignore the way her world was swimming nauseatingly.

She stumbled towards her bike, intending to run the thing over, only for him to grab her hair and pull her back. She tripped, losing her balance, only to crash into the creature. It slammed her into the nearest wall, holding her there by the throat, its long fingers wrapping tightly around her neck and its claws cutting in, leaving trails which oozed blood that, thankfully were not deep enough to kill. Not that Twilight appreciated it as she struggled to breathe past his hand, trying to pull his hand away from her neck.

“You should be, little Havenkeeper.” The creature growled at her, though she had trouble hearing it over the sound of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears, “I’m not A bogeyman, I’m THE Bogeyman, the one all the others answer to, the one who created them in his image. I’m the King of Fear, Bloody Bones. Not that you’ll get to tell anyone.” He squeezed tighter and drove his other hand through Twilight’s stomach, just below her ribcage.

The scream of agony she wanted to let out caught in her throat and Twilight’s world whited out for a moment. When she came back to herself, the creature had let go and was being chased away by an eight foot long, panther like tabby cat.

“K...Kuma.” Twilight called feebly, beginning to slip again as the creature vanished into the shadows, seeming to use it to teleport away.

The feline returned to her side, concern obvious as it nuzzled her. “Use your bracelet.” The cat demon told her, “I’ll get you mortal help.”

“But...busy...” The librarian managed as Kuma transformed into her human form and rummaged through her pockets until she could find Twilight’s phone.

“This is more important than Handover.” The nekomata hissed at her, her voice unchanged from one form to the next, “Use the damn bracelet.”

Twilight stared at the item in question blankly. The silver bracelet had been a present from Jack and Nowell. It was enchanted to allow her to call them when she needed them. She did now. She really did. But it was Handover. They had jobs to do. But whatever Bloody Bones was, she was never going to defeat it alone.

She made up her mind just before her world gave way to total darkness and whispered just one word, the one word that would bring her friend to her.

“Help.”

Crystal Compass Book 1: Part 11: July Camp NaNo 2014

“The King is not seeing anyone.” Clara huffed, sounding exasperated, “Not even the Lords and Ladies who rule over the subcultures of his Kingdom. He has no time, apparently, to deal with ‘such petty concerns,’ despite our best attempts to make him understand the situation.”

“Do you want me to seek the creature out and...”

“No!” Nadia shook her head violently, “Do not, Miss Twilight. This is our affair to deal with and you are mortal, you break far too easily. The Crystal Compass would not be pleased if we let a Havenkeeper get hurt. They like the fae little enough as it is. If you try, I will send even you around in circles!”

Twlight tried not to be insulted, she really did. It was a valid concern. Jack was known for his playful nature, but he was also known as the ‘Harbinger of the Winter Storm’ as he had, on more than one occasion been gifted with the ‘Wrath’ of Winter as he had been the closest Immortal of the Crystal Compass on hand when something non-mortal had been preying on those of mortal persuasion.

However she was honestly getting a little sick and tired of the ‘you’re only mortal’ issue. She fought monsters and magic on a regular basis in order to protect her little Haven. She had been at Jack’s side through several incidents and helped him all the way. She was not as useless as everyone seemed to believe. To hear even Nadia, who had seen and assisted in the take down of some of the recent non-friendly’s come out with it was exasperating.

“Fine.” She shrugged anyway, trying not to show her frustration, “I just came up to ask a favour. People are going to be searching for that missing kid again, can you grant them safe passage through your forest, please?”

“I don’t see why we should.” Clara grumbled, “My home is my home, you would not let people traverse your garden however and whenever they like!”

“I’m a Havenkeeper, remember?” Twilight reminded her with a chuckle. “Non-mortals traverse my lands all the time.”

“You’re a rare, almost extinct breed,” Nadia sighed, “I can tell you now that the child does not take shelter amongst the trees of my forest, Twilight, my people have told me such. At least the ones who can currently reach their trees have. So there is no need for the search to continue within the confines of our lands.”

Twilight grimaced at that. It meant that Mikey had obviously either gone in a completely different direction or was within the dark spot of the forest. However if Nadia kept her word and she would, the librarian knew, there was no way for her to get there to find out.

“I wish I could inform the searchers of that, but they would never believe me.” Twilight tried, “You can keep them away from that dark zone, if you wish, but the sooner they think they’ve traversed the whole area, the sooner they’ll leave you alone.”

“Fine.” Nadia huffed as Clara moved from Twilight’s shoulder to hers, nodding irritably, “But only because you asked and only until they are done with the search. Then the forest will not let them in so easily.”

“Thank you.” The student grinned at the pair of them, “You’re the best.”

“We know.” Twilight could barely hear Clara from just a few feet away, but she caught the tiny fairy Queen’s comment and laughed as she headed back to her bike.

One brief call to Detective Ley later to tell her that the dryads reported that Mikey was not in the forest, she finally got on the road, trying not to feel really weird that she had just reported something a member of the fae had told her to a detective. The trip to Plymouth was relatively quick once she actually left the dirt track. Though it took her an hour to get across to the port city, she welcomed the feel of the wind hitting her and the sounds of the road. The hustle and bustle of the busy university town was a stark and interesting contrast to the quiet and more often than not, peaceful village.

Her friends were waiting for her as she pulled up, demanding answers from her about the missing kid and whether she had seen anything as she tried to chain up her bike and head to the one revision class she had before they were supposed to be settling at the library.

She answered their questions with ease, a bright smile she did not entirely feel on her features as she remembered last night and the fact that right now there would be people combing her home in order to remove the bugs that the police had installed.

Still her friends, who had been the ones to coin the nickname ‘Twilight’ in the first place, were in quite a jovial mood. Once the initial questioning had passed and they had sat through the revision session with the one lecturer Twilight had that was guaranteed to put eighty percent of his students asleep with just a short lecture, they dragged her out to have a little fun. Considering the state of her bank account and the state of the accounts of her friends, who were all shopaholics and had almost completely totalled their student loans for the term, it was almost a relief to get dragged halfway across town for a burger and an hour on the ice skating rink.

Hanging out with her mortal friends was a breath of fresh air. They might have been obsessed with that daft animated pony show that was so popular right now, enough so to have nicknamed her after the book-obsessed librarian pony within it but they were good for her. Though they had no powers and often just humoured her when she said something odd, she did not have to worry about what she said around them or guard her words or actions.

It was okay, they had told her, that she was a little odd and occasionally talked about the fantastical. They had decided years ago that obviously her creative nature took over and ran roughshod over reality. They were used to it and it made life more interesting. She did not have the heart to tell them that it was all real. She was just pleased for their acceptance.