2 The Temple of Time

My skin tingles as we walk through the portal, Ake's magic lingering as we enter a large conference room. Warm light fills the room and I turn in time to watch as the portal fades away. The sense of magic remains for a few seconds. Ake reaches over and dusts off my shoulders.

"I take it you liked the portal?"

I smile, clasping my hands together as I beam up at him.

"Yes! That was awesome! Thank you."

Ake chuckles, smoothing down his hair even though there isn't a single strand out of place.

"Well, then I'm glad. Not everyone seems to appreciate my portals. They don't like how it feels afterward. But hey, it's not my fault that the moon dust falls on them. It's dust! Small particles. I can't keep each small speck in check. At least it's not glitter."

I chuckle. He's right. I glance around the meeting room. The long single table is surrounded by matching brown wooden chairs.

"Where is everyone?"

Ake stretches his arms, folding them behind the back of his head.

"Oh, don't worry, they'll be here. I also need to go get Somnium, Somnum, and Exterreri, but Ela should be here with Suvi, Kaia, and Haru."

Oh.

I rub my palm with my thumb.

If Mother Nature was getting the other seasonal spirits, why didn't she come to get me? The Northern Hemisphere isn't all that cold yet, either. I shake my head. Better not dwell on it. Maybe Ake was heading my way and offered to get me? My eyes roll up to the ceiling and shove those thoughts away. Let's just let it go, Frost. Shaking my head, I walk past the table to the large window that covers the entire wall. My eyes widen as I take in all of the fish and krill swimming by. I almost forgot that Father Time has his hideout under the ocean. It's been a very long time since I was last here.

A small bubble of sadness starts forming my chest and I hurriedly stuff that feeling away. That was thousands of years ago, there's no reason to dwell on it. Shoving my hands into my sweatshirt pouch, I turn toward the only other being in the room, shifting self-consciously under the moon entity's silver eyes.

"Is this where the meeting is taking place?"

Ake opens his mouth to speak only to shut his mouth and turn to look off to his left. Following his gaze, I watch as a large clock suddenly appears in the corner and the hands spin wildly before finally landing on the 12. The clock chimes loudly causing me to flinch as the room shakes with the sound. I watch in fascination as the face of the clock dissolves and from within steps out two tall beings. Shoulders hunching, I step back until my back hits the glass behind me and watch as the ancient beings walk further into the room and the massive clock vanishes.

On the left stands a tall figure, Father Time, the sole occupant of the Temple of Time. His face is both young, yet ancient, his bright gold eyes appearing more reptilian than human. His hair is constantly in a state of shifting between thick curly black hair to slightly thinner white hair then back again. Around his neck rests a large silver pocket watch, the metal gleaming with each step. From here, I can see the moon and stars etched into the metal which stands out against the dark navy blue button-up shirt. Another smaller clock sits as a belt buckle for his dark wash jeans and the hands are constantly in motion.

Father Time points at a small device in his hand and shows it to his companion. This figure only comes up to Father Time's shoulder and their face is quite young but their bright green eyes hold ancient stories older than even humans' history. Curly white hair frames their youthful plump face and their cream and tan suit sits quite perfectly upon their larger, more hefty form. If any normal human would lay eyes upon them, they would most certainly assume that this being worked as a librarian or historian. And they wouldn't be wrong. But they don't work in any old library. They are the Keeper of Memories, the sole guardian of the Hall of Memories. A platinum chain hangs around their throat but is mostly hidden by their overcoat. It holds the Hall of Memories skeleton key. The only way to enter the hall or any of its many rooms while not with the Keeper of Memories.

The Keeper of Memories unfolds some silver-framed glasses and perch them on their nose as they look at what Father Time is showing them.

The keeper tuts.

"You would think that they would know better by now, my dear."

Father Time snorts, shoving the device back into his pocket.

"Yes, well, these are humans we're talking about, Cato. They never know when to quit."

The keeper hums, returning their glasses back to their front pocket before bright green eyes sweep the room. Their face lights up the instant the keeper notices that the two of them are no longer alone in the room.

"Oh! Ake. Frost, darling. What a pleasant surprise," Cato says, a pleased smile on their face. "Zaman and I thought we were going to be the first ones here." The keeper turns their entire gaze upon me and I smile weakly under the intense gaze. "Frost, how are you, dear? It has certainly been a while, hasn't it."

I shrug, toeing the plush wine-red carpet.

"Oh, uh, ya know. I'm doin' fine."

Cato's face softens as their smile widens.

"It is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, correct? You must be quite busy."

I shrug again, relaxing a little as I try hard to return the keeper's smile. The older being beams as if sensing the tension leaving me. Cato has only ever been nice to me so I'm rather happy that they are one of the first to arrive.

Father Time's eyes narrow as he glances at Ake.

"I thought you were grabbing the triples?"

Ake jumps as he's addressed before waving a dismissive hand at his sibling.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting to it, Zaman. I just didn't want to leave Snowflake all by himself. It's been a while since he's been here, ya know?"

I frown at the moon entity, unsure whether to be touched or annoyed that he didn't want to leave me alone.

Father Time rolls his eyes.

"Well, Cato and I are here now, so off you go," Father Time states, making a 'shoo' motion with his hands toward the Man in the Moon. "I want to start this meeting as soon as possible and we all know how the triples act when summoned."

Cato frowns disapprovingly at their taller companion. Father Time meets their gaze evenly.

"What? You know that I'm right. Somnum is a real grouch if woken and Somnium will be pissed if we interrupt during a really good dream. Exterreri is the only one with any sense and, funny enough, the most responsible."

Cato's eyes lift to the ceiling as if this entire conversation is causing them distress and my lips quirk. Ake sighs and starts digging around in his pocket.

"All right, all right. I'm leavin', don't get your clocks too tightly wound." Ake turns toward me and winks. "See ya in a little bit, Snowflake. Make sure these two don't get into too much trouble, 'Kay?"

Cato giggles, their pale face turning a slight shade of pink as Father Time splutters. Ake laughs at his sibling's reaction before quickly blowing sand to create another portal. He gives a lazy salute before striding through the portal, his laughter lingering behind him. My head cocks to the left as I laugh uneasily.

I feel like I was just part of an inside joke that I don't understand. Brushing off the feeling, I look back over to the two remaining entities. Cato has a hand on their cheek and is watching Father Time quietly fume and make rude gestures in the direction of the moon entity's portal before it finally vanishes.

"Why do I even bother with him?" Father Time asks, growling as he runs a hand through stark white hair before it quickly switches back to black. Cato places a hand on his forearm, causing him to look at the keeper.

"Because he's family, dear, and that's what family does," Cato states sweetly. When Father Time huffs, Cato removes their hand with a chuckle and walks over to me. "Now, my dear, it really has been quite some time since Frost was here, why don't we give him a tour while we wait for the others to arrive."

"Oh! No, that's-that's not necessary," I say quickly, clenching and unclenching my hidden hands. "Ake made this meeting sound very important, s-so if you need to prepare I understand. I can just wait here until—"

My words falter as Father Time strides over, his much longer legs easily crossing the distance within a couple of strides. He peers down his nose at me, his expression unreadable before turning toward the keeper. With both entities so close, the height difference is really quite something.

By human standards, Ake, Cato, and Father Time are all giants with Ake and Father Time being over 8 feet tall. Cato, who is quite a bit shorter than Father Time is still quite tall, over 7 feet tall. And Mother Nature is almost 8 foot herself. The triplets, Somnium, Somnum, and Exterreri are only slightly taller than Cato. I never did quite understand why they are so tall and I know that many have tried answering my question but it just doesn't make sense to me. Beings so large would surely frighten the humans, and did, back when humans could still see us regularly. But then, maybe that is why almost all humans no longer hold the ability to see us because we frightened them so much.

While I, myself, am only 5'5 (I decided to measure myself after seeing a child excitedly asking her mom just how tall she has grown) I have had my fair share of frightened humans and have seen how they react to something that frightens them. And it usually isn't good. Most just ran away. Others tended to get a little more violent with their swords, spears, and arrows. Anything they would be holding would suddenly become a weapon. I wonder how some of the older entities handled such harsh reactions. I personally would try laying low for a few weeks before venturing back out again, weary of startling any other humans.

Fingers snap in front of my face causing me to jump, smacking my head on the glass I am currently pressing my back against. A hiss passes my lips as I go to clutch my head.

"Zaman! That was entirely uncalled for!" Cato snaps as they quickly catch my wrists, tilting my head down a little.

"I didn't mean for him to react like that!" The keeper of time defends, holding his hands up as Cato glares up at him. "He wasn't responding! It's not my fault that he jumped so much."

"Let me see, darling," Cato orders, softly, completely ignoring the frantic taller being next to them.

I wince as gentle fingers brush the back of my head as embarrassment blooms from my chest up to my cheeks. Well, isn't this a great way to start an emergency meeting? With brain damage. Cato clucks their tongue.

"You have quite the lump forming, Frost, dear. Maybe that will teach someone to think before acting." Green eyes stare pointedly up at guilty gold eyes.

"If I would have known he was gonna jump like that I wouldn't have done it," Father Time says, grumbling under his breath as he finally drops Cato's gaze, crossing his arms over his chest. I bite the inside of my cheek at the childish act, something that I truly never expected from one of the oldest beings to ever exist.

Cato tuts.

"Yes, well, hindsight is 20/20, my dear, nothing we can do now. If Ela was here, I would ask her to help heal this, but since she isn't, Frost, darling, could you do me a favor?"

Blinking, I nod slowly, mindful of the dull ache now spreading across the backside of my head.

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"Would you mind creating a block of ice about the size of your fist? That's a dear," Cato says, pulling a handkerchief from their glasses pocket.

Confused but not wanting to upset the keeper anymore than they already are, I nod once more before holding out my hand. Frost spreads across my palm before it slowly starts to rise up into a snow-cube. Taking my other hand, I cup the cube and apply pressure for the count of five before dropping my hand. Where the snow-cube once sat now sits a mango-size ice cube.

"Oh, that was marvelous, Frost, darling!" Cato praises, a proud smile lighting up their face. Ducking my head, I tuck my chin against my shoulder as frost spreads across my face.

"I-It's nothing, really," I mutter, holding the cube out for the keeper to take. "What's it for anyway?"

Instead of answering, Cato drapes the handkerchief over the cube and picks it up before tying all four ends together. I watch, confused, as the keeper then lifts the cube. A surprised yelp escapes my lips when Cato suddenly presses the cube gently against the lump on the back of my head and holds it there.

They grin at me.

"How does that feel, dear?"

Blinking, I take a moment to actually assess the area now that the cube is resting against it. My mouth forms an 'o'.

"It...It actually feels kinda nice. And doesn't hurt as bad, actually." A smile tugs on my lips. "Thanks, Cato, that was a really good idea."

Cato hums at the praise, face glowing as their smile widens.

"I do have some of those every now and then. But I'm glad it's helping, darling. Maybe after the meeting, we can see if Ela will heal it all up for you so that the beginning of your work in the Northern Hemisphere isn't with a headache, hmm?"

I merely shrug as Cato takes one of my hands and uses it to hold the cube in place. Taking the hint, I take over holding the cube. I'm sure Cato's hands are certainly ice cold by now. The Keeper of Memories, however, shows no signs of being chilled by my ice cube or skin and merely produces another handkerchief to wipe away any water that formed. Once that is done, they place it where the other handkerchief once sat before sharply elbowing Father Time in the side.

"Ow! What was that for?" Father Time snaps, glaring daggers at the shorter entity.

Cato cocks an eyebrow and gestures toward me.

"Apologize."

Father Time grumbles something that has Cato scowling at him before he turns his golden gaze on me. I quickly drop my gaze, not used to all of this attention.

"It was just an—"

"I'm sorry, Frostbite," Father Time states, interrupting me. "I shouldn't have done that. Even if you made quite the design on my window."

Startled, I turn and an audible groan rushes past my lips. Starting from where I smacked my head, halfway up the glass is frost swirling along the smooth surface.

Dang. I didn't think I hit my head THAT hard. Father Time must have startled me more than I thought. Some of the frost is already starting to melt, the room just a touch too warm to let it keep its form for too long. My nose scrunches as I worry my bottom lip and wring my hands in front of me.

"I'm really sorry," I say hurriedly. "I didn't mean to do that. Let me just—"

I reach out to touch the frost when a large hand catches my wrist. Tensing, I look up at the golden eye being. I can count on one finger all the time Father Time has touched me. I swallow thickly as the warmer appendage lowers my hand back to my side.

"Nah, leave it till it fades naturally," Father Time says, humming. "It's been a long time since I've had frost on my windows. And, it's just water, nothing that will hurt the glass. Unlike someone's head."

A startled laugh bursts from me when Father Time smirks down at me.

"Hey! Are you saying I have a hard head?"

The golden-eyed entity merely shrugs as he walks over to the table.

"Take it how you will, Frostbite, but those are your words, not mine."

Cato sighs and pinches the bridge of their nose, trying and failing to hide an amused smile as they walk after their companion. Still chuckling to myself, I follow the two larger entities to the table. Cato gestures for me to take the seat next to them as Father Time takes the chair at the head of the table and Cato takes the seat to his right. A small part of me wants to ask if I can sit across from the keeper, just so I can continue watching the ocean creatures swim around outside, but I know that I won't be able to pay attention during the meeting if I do. Sighing softly, I sit in the chair, residing myself in having to wait for the others without any way of amusing myself.

"Frost?"

I instantly focus on Father Time as he also sits, his hands steeples in front of him.

"Yeah?"

"What exactly did Ake tell you of this meeting?"

Huh. Weird question but I guess with it being an emergency and all, he might want to know what I know. Which isn't a lot, actually.

I shrug, leaning back in my seat, holding my ice cube back to my head when Cato gestures for me to resume doing so.

"Not much, really. He said you were calling an emergency meeting and that he and Mother Nature were gathering everyone for it." I change hands as water starts rolling down into my sleeve. "But, besides that, nothing much really. Is everything all right?"

Father Time purses his lips and drums his fingers on the hard oak table. I wonder how he got this table down here without any water damage. Did he use one of his many portals to bring it in? I lightly trace the smooth, polished surface with my fingertips. A dusting of frost is left behind and I quickly scrub it away as I wait for Father Time to speak.

"Have any humans approached you recently?"

Startled, my fingers pause in their scrubbing and I refocus on the large entity. I blink at him, unsure if I heard him right.

"What?"

Father Time's eyes narrow and hide his mouth behind his steepled hands.

"I asked if any humans have approached or reacted to you lately."

That's what I thought he said.

Frowning, I wrack my brain before slowly shaking my head.

"Um, no, not that I'm aware of. I don't think a human has reacted to my presence since the early 1600s. Why?" My eyes widen. "Has someone been noticed recently?"

Cato places a hand on my arm.

"That's what we're trying to figure out, dear."

"We'll explain more when the others arrive, but as long as you're sure that no human has noticed you or approached you recently I shall take your word for it."

Nodding, a frown tugs on my lips as I resume drawing on the table. Are humans starting to see us again? But how? I wince as I remember the last time someone claimed to have seen me. A sick pit gnaws at my gut before I force it away. That was more than 400 years ago and it didn't end well for that person.

The room falls silent once more, but only for a beat when a large proteas flower blooms up from the floor. It continues to grow larger and larger until the tip brushes the ceiling. The proteas blooms, its petals falling open to reveal a golden portal. Seconds later, Mother Nature comes rushing out with Suvi, Kaia, and Haru right on her heels.

"Zaman! Cato! I went to go get Frost like you wanted and Northern wind said that he was already taken somewhere! By Ake!" Mother Nature rushes out, her long curly black hair swaying as if in water and the colors adorning her clothes a bright red as smaller orange flowers burst out around her as she speaks. There is a distressed squirrel and chipmunk on each shoulder as Mother Nature's eyes flash from red to grey back to red as she wrings her hands.

I tilt my head.

Wasn't the Man in the Moon supposed to get me?

Father Time frowns at his sibling and holds up a hand. "Ela, I don't see—"

"He knew I was collecting the seasons, why on earth would he go get Frost?"

"Ela," Father Time sighs. "I didn't assign the two of you people to get. All I cared about was that they come to the meeting, which Ake—"

Mother Nature groans at the name of the moon entity, her features pinching, even more, cutting her sibling off in the process.

Surprise sparks in me.

Oh. So Mother Nature was going to get me. Huh.

Guilt swirls in my chest as I realize how unfair it was to jump to conclusions. I drop my hand from my head as I glance over to where my fellow seasons, the three standing behind Mother Nature. Kaia brushes her burnt red-orange hair from her pumpkin orange eyes, a deep scowl on her face as she steps up next to the frantic Mother Nature, her faux Sherpa around her neck is puffer than usual. Probably due to Mother Nature's franticness.

Behind the embodiment of Fall, Suvi and Haru follow at a much more subdued pace. Suvi is nibbling on her bottom lip as her pale yellow sundress sways with each step and her large straw hat that she usually wears upon her short peach-colored hair is currently between her fingers. Her usually joyful pale green eyes track the distressed nature entity.

The embodiment of Spring is just as quiet and subdued next to the embodiment of Summer, his lavender eyes remaining on the floor as he walks. A frown tugs on his lips as his pale pink short sleeve button-up shifts with each step, his khaki shorts bunching with each step. His powder pink hair is sticking up near the forehead, telling me that Mother Nature woke him from his nap.

A small smile tugs on my lips as I see Haru subconsciously reach up and try to smooth down the cowlick. Suddenly, as if he can sense my stare, Haru's lavender eyes snap over to me. His eyes widen and a grin forms on his face as I smile weakly at him.

"Frost! Mother Nature! Frost is here already!"

Mother Nature pauses in her bickering with Father Time and turns toward the embodiment of Spring. Haru gestures toward the table and she follows his hand. The two of us make eye-contact and I awkwardly wave. Relief spreads across her features instantly and she sags as her once red and grey eyes fading to a darker blue-green.

"Oh, thank nova. There you are, Frost, sweetheart," Mother Nature says, dropping into the seat to Father Time's left. "You gave me quite the fright. And Northern Wind certainly did not help."

I smile sheepishly at her.

"I'm sorry. Ake didn't tell me that you were planning on bringing me here, so I didn't think to leave a note."

"Or maybe explain more to Wind on why Ake is bringing you somewhere," Kaia states dryly. "You should have heard them. They were very frantic and spouting nonsense about dirt and dust."

I wince.

"Yeah, we were kinda in the middle of cleaning when Ake appeared. And I wasn't sure why Ake brought me here really, so there really wouldn't be much of a message to leave." I spin the ice cube on the table, watching as water builds up underneath it.

"Well, all that matters is that we found you," Haru says his deep bass voice cheerful. I smile, ducking my head down as Haru takes the seat directly across from me.

Suvi, now in a far more chipper mood, skips around the table as Kaia sits next to Haru, and plops into the seat next to me.

"You have a really beautiful home, Frost," Suvi says as she puts her straw hat back onto her head, beaming at me.

"Oh, thanks, Su—" I pause as the meaning of her words hits me.

Oh, sweet snowstorm. They went inside my house! Wind and I weren't done cleaning! My nose twitches and I clear my throat, staring down at the table as conversations resume around the table.

It's not like I don't want them to come over. I do! I would love to have people visit, provide them with a safe place to rest after a long journey. But I was planning for when I finally have enough furniture and when I've fixed things up a bit more. I can only do so much while also providing winter in multiple different regions of the world. Embarrassment courses through me as I try not to slump down in my seat. Cato wouldn't like that.

So much for that now, huh?

My inner pity-party is cut short as familiar silvery sand spins in the spot where Mother Nature's proteas portal had appeared. A portal of blue light forms and stretches until it is nearly half-way to the ceiling. Once fully formed, four tall beings step out through the portal, two at a time. Ake grins as he gestures toward the three other beings with him.

"Lookie at who I managed to drag here!"

Somnum reaches over, swatting at the moon entity, their annoyed look piercing as they glare at Ake, who ducks under the oncoming attack.

"None of us were asleep yet, you dolt, so of course we were gonna be here." The sleep bringer huffs, reaching up and pulling back their dark silver hair back into a low ponytail. "So don't act like it was such a feat on bringing us here." Their silver eyes stand out against their nebula-like skin as they take everyone in. A plain light grey t-shirt covers their chest and white heathered joggers bunch around their waist as Somnum stretches. "Good to see that everyone else is here." And they sink into the seat next to Kaia, their siblings following after.

"Welcome, Somnium, Somnum, and Exterreri. I'm glad the three of you could make it," Father Time says, sitting up straighter in his seat now that he is no longer getting yelled at by Mother Nature.

"Just find a seat anywhere and we shall begin."

Somnium and Exterreri sit next to their sibling. It always marvels me just how similar yet different the three sleep siblings are. Much like Somnum, Somnium and Exterreri's skin look as though someone took a piece of the sky and wrapped their bodies in it, always shift and speckled with tiny spots that look like stars. Unlike Somnum, Somnium has warm shoulder-length golden hair and matching eyes and Exterreri has short pitch-black hair and matching eyes. Unlike the rest of us, the triplets' eyes are a solid color, which is probably where some of the humans came up with their concept for their early art. Although, it is quite funny seeing the three sitting next to Haru, dwarfing the spring sprite.

Out of the four seasons, Suvi is the tallest, standing at about 6'7, with her being the eldest out of the four of us. Next is Haru, who is only a hair shorter than Suvi at about 6'5 and the next eldest. Then there is Kaia, who is exactly 6 feet tall, and then lastly me. I don't understand why I'm so much smaller than my peers. I thought maybe it was because I'm so much younger than them, but at this point, I thought that I would have grown a little more, but I haven't.

"So, sibling of mine," Ake says as he sits next to Suvi. "What's this 'emergency meeting' all about?"

Father Time clears his throat and stands from his seat.