The Storyteller
Summary: It was a rather boring summer day in Burgess until our group of believers met a woman on the outskirts of the woods. She's mysterious, but intriguing and tells the most wonderful stories. What better way to spend a few boring days of June? -Centered around an OC and the Children of Burgess- R&R!
A/N: Hello everyone! So I finally manage to get a digital copy of Rise of the Guardians and seeing it had boosted my inspiration! I loved the cast of kids, their interactions were interesting and I wanted to use them. So take that- and a chance to refine an OC of mine- and we have this wonderful little work! Now I'm more than happy to accept offers for fairytales to be told but I'm mostly sticking to myths; since I know the most about them. If you have an interesting myth or legend, please PM me and who knows, your idea could be sponsored here! :3
Disclaimer: I do not own Jamie, Claude, Caleb, Cupcake, Monty and Pippa or any of the specified myths in this work. They are taken with respect to their creators; whoever they may be. The only thing I own is my OC, Isabel.
Let's get started, enjoy!
XStorytellerX
This day had to have been the worst summer day in all of Burgess.
The sun beat down without fault; making everything sizzle like a hot frying pan. Time seemed to drag on in a painstaking manner, allowing the sun to slowly bake the group of children that flopped on the grassy plot on the outskirts of the forest.
"I'm bored!" Monty complained, vocalizing the mental groans of the circular group as they just lay in the grass, too bored and exhausted to do anything else.
"So what do you wanna do?" Pippa piped up.
"I dunno." Claude rubbed his eyes as a yawn passed his lips.
Cupcake only made an audible grunt to make her unhappiness known.
Jamie only sighed, "I wish Jack was here." The winter spirit would definitely know how to cure this overwhelming boredom; he could do a snowball fight right now, but snow in June? He doubted even Jack could do that.
"Why the heck do we even have days like this? It's just so HOT!" Caleb cried as wiped the sweat beads dropping on his brow. To kids, that thought hadn't been bothered to be elaborated on the topic. It was all just a matter of life- not every day was perfect, though they all wished it.
Jamie felt his eyes flutter closed as the harsh beams of light washed over us eyelids, making them irrelevant. With his vision limited, his other senses naturally heightened. He could smell the flowers that littered the field, mixtures of tulips and dandelions assaulting his nostrils. His ears sharpened, hearing the tweeting of distant birds and his own heart beating steadily. It was harmonious experience- to just take in everything like this, ignoring whatever worries hovered around the back of his head. The dulled light was soothing enough to make him sleepy and harsh enough to make him feel woozy- an unpleasant ordeal overall.
"Hey, did you guys see that?"
Jamie's brown eyes opened too quickly at Claude's outburst, momentarily blinded by the flash of light his irises took in.
"There- in the tree line!" Caleb confirmed his friends call as a figure darted along the edge of the forest, too vague to discern what it actually was. Everyone got up and approached the forest's edge.
"D-Did anyone else just see that?" Pippa asked, a bit freaked out, gently grasping Jamie's arm.
Cupcake grunted a 'yes', as the kids gathered together.
"What do we do now?" Monty placed his hat back on his head.
Claude rubbed his glass' rims, before returning them to his face, "We should just l-leave it be."
"And do what? Continue being bored outta our minds?" Caleb scoffed, obviously opposed to going back to the sun-basking nothingness. "C'mon let's follow it!"
"W-What if it was a bear?"
"Bears don't walk on two legs Claude!"
"No... But Bigfoots do!" With the thought hitting him Jamie lucky help but perk up and remembered reading the article that the cryptids had been spotted recently in the Michigan area.
Pippa sighed and palmed her forehead, if Jamie was into it- they all would be dragged in sooner or later.
There was a low hum coming from inside the trees that finally sealed the deal.
"Let's go!" The enthusiastic rally of the Bennett child led the group of adventurers into the forest, a small Claude slightly whining, "I shoulda stayed home today..."
The canopy of thick green leaves barely allowed the sun's rays to pass through, making the ground shadier and cooler. The children of Burgess stalked through the clusters of trees, looking around for the blur they saw earlier. Between moving rocks and looking behind trees; their search gave them little success.
"See? There's nothing here." Pippa deemed as she exaggerated her arms all around the tranquil nature around them.
"C-can we go back now?" Claude looked about nervously, not liking the unfamiliar territory.
"But something was here!" Jamie claimed, looking past some brushes, "It couldn't have gone far!"
"Maybe we all got a little heatstroke and imagined it?" Caleb shrugged.
Their conversation continued as Jamie looked through more bushes, he wouldn't give up, not yet. He couldn't get the feeling that he was so close to... Whoa...
"Jamie? Are you ok?" Pippa came up from behind him and peered over his shoulder, soon followed by everyone else.
Near the lake just a few yards away, leaning against a Birchwood tree was a teenage girl that looked about seventeen; with dark brown, near black hair and pretty jade green eyes. She was dressed in a pair of jeans, a purple and white striped V-neck t-shirt and brown gladiator sandals. Her glance was down at the brown leather book in her grasp, nameless cover but had good age to it, completely oblivious to the peeping eyes gaping at her from behind shrubbery.
"It's Isabel." Jamie whispered, fully recognizing the woman he saw at his windowsill some time ago.
"Wait... You mean she's real? You weren't making her up?" Monty asked in a state of disbelief.
"Monty, could I make up something like that-?!" He turned and looked at his friend incredulously, gesturing dramatically to the woman now sitting in a bold flush of sunlight with tweeting birds.
"Well are we gonna stare like stalkers or go say hi?" Pippa sighed, not really happy and slightly curious about meeting this girl Jamie had said so much about before.
So slowly they headed for the lake, trying not to be so obvious but not too obvious... Obviously. They were standing in front of her when she finally noticed then, jumping a little in surprise.
"Oh jeez..." She breathed soothingly, "You guys are trying to kill me now!"
"Hey Isabel." Jamie greeted first his brown eyes happy to see the pretty girl again.
Isabel closed her book, smiling at the boy, "Hey, Jamie, how you've been?"
"Pretty good," The twelve year old rubbed his upper arm, nerves frazzling him, "Uh... These are my friends!"
"Ah, yes the believers of Burgess." She talked in an intellectual manner, curling her knees up to her chest, "I've heard a lot about you."
"Where did you hear about us?" Pippa questioned.
"Oh a little birdie whispered it in my ear." She giggled, "So what are you all doing out here? Shouldn't you be playing?"
"It's too hot for that." Caleb responded coolly as her jade eyes rolled but her head nodded simultaneously, understanding the predicament.
"Whatcha reading?" Claude hasn't moved his eyes from the book even after she put it down.
"Oh, this is an old book of myths and legends, stories and such." She waved her hand absently, "But you guys wouldn't care about that; aren't you enjoying this weather were having? I've always had a knack for warmer temperatures."
"Yeah... Well..." The kids busied themselves in staring at random points around them.
"But you all don't want the heat." Isabel said mystically, "You want to see snow... You want to see Jack Frost."
Jamie's eyes shot back to her in a heartbeat, how did she know that?
"I can just tell." The woman winked, "Also I happened to overhear you guys talking earlier."
"O-oh..." His brown eyes darted away, a bit embarrassed for some reason.
The casual spirit tapped her chin, before smiling and sitting up, crossing her legs Indian-style, "You know a long time ago, people didn't know how seasons came about." Her words seemed to draw their attention like moths to a flickering flame, "Why did the temperature suddenly turn cold and the earth dry up? They didn't know what we know now, so they invented stories for an explanation."
Now all of the children were looking at her, and she smiled warmly, "And they would tell them to their children- in large groups like this one."
Monty slowly mustered the courage to speak, "What kind of stories?"
"Oh well it depends, it could be an epic journey to fight a great evil-" the boys seemed excited at this, "-or a tale of undying love and devotion-" the girl's pupils grew wide as they were interested, "-overall, there was a story for everything."
"Can you tell us one?" The Bennett boy asked kindly, much to the agreement of his companions.
Isabel let out an 'hmmm' and rubbed her neck in mock concentration later smiling warmly, "Of course. In fact I have the perfect myth to tell you, it deals with why seasons came about."
"But seasons are just the times of year with the environment is altered by the position of the earth's axis?"
Everyone just turned and gave Claude the strangest look possible- to which the young boy only replied with a shrug, "What?"
Isabel only laughed and nodded, "You're right; but centuries ago people didn't know that- so they created stories to explain what they didn't know. So they made gods and goddesses that controlled elements they couldn't explain or they strongly believed in."
"You mean like Zeus, Poseidon and all the others?" Jamie asked curiously, butterflies filling his stomach as Isabel nodded, her smile growing.
"Yep! Those are some of the Greek gods- Zeus, the god of lightening; Poseidon and the god of the sea, among others. There were also the Roman gods which are practically the same gods but with different names."
"But if there the same why are they named differently?" Caleb tried to resist raising his hand; this was still summer and all.
The girl's green eyes looked around before leaning closer, "Because the Romans stole their gods!" She laughed, prompting shock and giggles from the group. "Ok, so maybe that's a bit of an overstatement- they borrowed many things from the Greeks; however they were just so powerful the Greeks couldn't do anything about it. Since the Greeks originally invented them, why not tell that story?"
Isabel took her book up again, opening the worn pages to the story of her choosing, "One of the most prominent stories was The Kidnapping- it's the tale of Hades and Persephone, and it went something like this…" The group took places on the natural carpet around her and leaned in to listen.
One fine day, the maiden of spring, Persephone, was picking wildflowers with her mother Demeter, the goddess of grain.
"Why was she the goddess of grain?" Pippa questioned allowed, ignoring cupcake's glare as the girl seemed to want to hear the story.
"There wasn't any supermarkets back in Greece, so people had to farm for their food." Isabel explained, "Demeter was seen as the goddess that allowed the earth to give them grain, fruits and food for their animals."
"Oh… sorry." The girl excused herself, as Isabel merely shook her head as if to say 'Don't worry about it'.
Entering the cool, moist woods, the young woman filled her woven basket with a mixture of lilies, purple violets and daffodils. Normally she stayed close to her mother, but when her field-green eyes spotted the white petals of the rare Narcissus flower, she strayed far from her mother's side.
As she just plucked the white flower, the earth beneath her began to rumble. Suddenly the ground split open, uprooting flowers and trees in its wake and out of the dark depths sprang Hades, the god of the underworld, where souls went after death. Standing up in his black, iron chariot; Hades droves his stallions toward the helpless woman nearby. Persephone screamed for her mother, but she was too far to hear her cries or help her. Hades grabbed Persephone and turned his chariot back into the earth and the ground closed up again, leaving not a seam as if nothing had happened.
When the mountains echoed with the maiden's screams, her mother rushed into the forest but it was too late- her daughter had vanished without a trace. Overcome with grief, Demeter began searching for her daughter through every land. For nine days the goddess did not rest; carrying two torches through the cold nights, seeking Persephone.
"That must have been horrible; not knowing where your child was." Jamie said sadly, Cupcake nodding as she dreaded the thought of ever being separated from her family.
"It's difficult when a parent loses a child," Isabel looked away for a moment so the group wouldn't see the pained look on her face. Shaking it off she continued to read, fighting the burning sensation behind her eyes.
On the tenth day, Hecate, goddess of the dark of the moon, came to Demeter. The shrouded goddess gripped the lantern in her hand, "I heard the screams of your daughter, but did not see her. Let us go to the sun and ask him, for he has constant vigilance over the day."
"The sun and the moon have gods too?" Monty asked as Isabel nodded.
"People saw that the sun and the moon switched places, so they each received gods and goddesses. The moon's goddess is Artemis, she's also the goddess of hunting and forests and hills. The dark of the moon wasn't considered to be a part of the moon- because it looked so different, so it was designated Hecate."
"This is really confusing." Caleb scratched his temple, trying to take everything in.
"It is a lot," The woman smiled, "But once it's clear, it makes sense."
Demeter and Hecate flew to Helios, the sun god, and Demeter, weeping, asked for any information on her daughter's final presence.
"I pity you Demeter," Helios empathized, for he had lost a child as well, "The truth is that Hades wanted Persephone for his own and asked his brother Zeus for permission to take her. Zeus gave his consent, and now your daughter reigns over the land of the dead with Hades."
Demeter screamed in rage and cursed Zeus- for he aided in the kidnapping of his own daughter-
"Wait- Zeus was Persephone's dad?!" Pippa gasped, everyone else stared in disbelief.
"Zeus fathered a lot of kids; he wasn't a single kind of guy."
"That's just… wrong!"
Should I mention he married his sister? Isabel pondered before shooting the idea down, nah; let them have innocence for a bit more.
Enraged, Demeter flew to earth and wandered it for months disguised as an old peasant woman. One day she was resting by a well, she watched four princesses gather water, giggling happily-
"Since when do princesses gather water?" Jamie asked, "Don't they have servants to do that?"
"I thought so too." Isabel furrowed her brows, her jade eyes narrowing at the pages, "Maybe they just needed the exercise."
Jamie laughed, while Pippa tried to ignore the warmth filling her ears.
Remembering her own daughter, Demeter began to weep.
"Who are you, old woman?" One of the princesses asked.
"I was taken by pirates, and I escaped," Demeter replied, "Now I know not where I am."
The princesses felt sympathy for the woman, so they took back to the palace where she was accepted with open arms. She got along well with the baby prince, much to the queens liking, so she asked her to be his nurse, to which she gladly consented.
"Why doesn't the queen take care of her son?" Pippa asked.
"Well, she probably had duties as queen to attend to." Isabel replied, "Most rich back then hired nurses to tend to their babies."
"Doesn't that defeat the purpose of parenting?"
"It's like a time period thing;" A small smirk came upon her pink lips, "That's why not a lot of people do it now- it's dated."
This seemed to appease her, her head nodding as she slipped of hair behind her ear silently. Isabel tilted her head ever so slightly but said nothing.
Demeter grew greatly fond of the young prince and dreaded the thought of him one day growing old and dying; blinded by love, she decided to make him immortal. In the night while everyone slept, the goddess in disguise took the baby, poured a potion over his body and held him in a fire.
"That's' how someone becomes immortal?" Jamie asked skeptically, not really imagining that happening to the immortal guardians.
"No, at least I don't remember it." Isabel twitched nervously; maybe that's why I don't like fires…
This continued for several nights in secret; every day the prince showed godly strength and skill, much to the awe of his family, but disturb from the queen. That night, she hid in the nursery to watch over her son and Demeter. When she saw the old woman place her child in the fireplace- she screamed for help and leapt out, pulling her child from the flames.
"STUPID WOMAN!" Demeter yelled angrily as her plans were ruined, "Your baby was going to be a god, but now he will live and die like the rest of you!" In her rage, her disguise vanished and the queen, along with the recently entered king, became terrified with fear when the recognized the goddess. They pleaded for forgiveness.
"Why are they afraid of her?" Caleb laughed.
Cupcake jokingly growled, "Fear my grains!" making everyone laugh before continuing.
"I will only forgive you," Demeter coldly replied, "If you build a great temple in my honor. Then I will teach your people the secret rites to make the corn grow."
Immediately the king called his builders and they began to work. When it was finally finished, Demeter revealed no secret, but sat in her temple all day and mourned for her lost daughter.
Without Demeter, the land did not give up food. Nothing grew and animals had no food to eat, dying off- soon people began to starve. This greatly worried Zeus- for without people, there would be no sacrifices for his alter. He called his son Hermes, messenger of the gods, and told him to bring Persephone back to her mother.
Claude snickered, and spoke in a mocking tone, "Oh look at me, I'm a big bad god and I can't go get my own kid!"
Hermes wandered through the wailing underworld, ignoring ghostly phantoms until he came upon the throne room of the dead, where Hades and Persephone sat together. He could see the sparks of fear in her eyes every now and then, but mostly they were glazed as she had grown accustomed to her home and nearly forgotten her life on earth.
"Hades, your brother Zeus has ordered you to return Persephone to her mother." Hermes told the god of the underworld, "If not, Ceres will destroy the earth."
Hades knew that he could never disobey his brother's word, but he didn't want his wife and love to leave him forever. "Very well, allow us a finally moment alone." Hermes obeyed his last request and stepped out.
Hades turned and looked at his wife. His cold, onyx eyes shown an honest love as he took her hand and spoke softly, "Persephone, you can choose to stay here and be my queen- the dead would give you great honors."
"Wait- did Hades really love Persephone?" Pippa asked sincerely.
"As far as I know, yes, he was hit by cupid's sharpest arrow and feel deeply in love with her." Isabel explained, "Hence why he wanted to kidnap her."
"True…"
Persephone looked into the eyes of her husband, but faintly remembered the sunshine and the warmth of her mother's love, "… I would rather return." She whispered faintly.
Hades sighed, trying to ignore the pains in his chest, "Very well, but let me give you something before you leave." He had a spirit bring a pomegranate from the garden's that flourished in the underground. He broke the fruit open with his hands, "Here- Eat some of these seeds, they are the fruit of the underworld. They will bring you good luck."
Persephone took four of the seeds and ate them before leaving with Hermes. On Mount Olympus, the woman was reunited with her mother after many months. Demeter hugged her child and cried in joy, Persephone happier than ever. Zeus, suspicious of his brother's willingness, asked Persephone to tell them what happened. After the maiden finished telling her tale, Demeter cried and moaned. When Persephone asked what was wrong, her mother shook her head and replied.
"You have eaten the food of the underworld, therefore you must return to him four months of the year to be with him."
"So that's why he wanted her to eat the seeds!" Jamie fully caught on, before Pippa squealed- "He tricked her!"
"I can't argue with that." Isabel nodded, "But remember- he really loved her."
Pippa scoffed, and folded her arms, "Still not right…"
And that is how the seasons began- fall and winter come when Persephone leaves the earth to be with Hades in the underworld and Demeter mourns; making the earth cold and hard. Spring and summer come when Persephone returns and Demeter allows everything to grow again.
"Thus is the tale of Hades and Persephone." Isabel closed the book with a satisfying 'thud'.
"Some story." Monty whistled, taking it all in.
"That was great," Jamie smiled slightly at the woman, "…thanks Isabel."
"It was no problem, did you all like it?" When she received a unanimous nod, she drummed her fingernails on the hard cover, "Hmmm… maybe we should do this again sometime…"
"Really-?!" Everyone seemed excited about the idea, the girl smiled and laughed, "I said 'maybe', I have duties as well; you all caught me on my free time."
That answer seemed to disappoint the kids, especially the Bennett boy- Isabel put the book down, "But… I still have some time left. And I know I'm no Jack Frost but…" She smiled at touched Jamie's nose fleetingly before sprinting to her feet and backing away quickly, "JAMIE'S 'IT'!"
The group laughed as they ran away into the woods to hide much to Jamie's sudden surprise. He sighed and closed his eyes, "Why am I always it?"
SO that was it! If anyone has any ideas for myths they would like told here, please leave me a comment I'd love to hear about them! Any myths will do, just as long as they aren't too M-rated. Thank you all for reading and show your love by following, favorite-ing and reviewing!
Ciao!