Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Rise of the Guardians or Fairy Tail
Just a heads-up, this does contain minor spoilers from the Tenrou Island Arc! I will inform you if other chapters end up with spoilers beyond that arc.
Many variations exist on the tale of the Winter Spirit. He is sometimes believed to roam entire nations, spreading snow and winter where he goes. Others see him as nothing more than a myth, a story made up to entertain the minds of children. In the land of Fiore, his true story begins. The sad tale of a wizard, loved by his family but torn away and forced to forget about his past. His name was Jack Frost, named after the winter he was born in. It was even more fitting when he learned of his magic, his ability to create snowflakes and frost in the air.
Jack had been about five when his story began. His sister, Emma, was just a year younger than him. She showed no signs of being a wizard, but she loved seeing his power. "Jack, can we go skating again? Please, I know you can freeze the lake for me." she begged, ice skates in hand as she tried to drag her brother out of the house. Jack hesitated, still doubting his power. Yes, he could make things cold, but it took a lot of effort to freeze things this late in the season. Spring had started and it was well into the sixties, far warmer than it should be for things to freeze. Jack Frost might have the ability, but his magical strength simply was not great enough to grant her request.
"Sorry, I'd love to go have fun with you, but you know I can't. It'd melt, Em. I know, let's play tag instead!" Jack suggested, tagging her and running off laughing. She chased after him, carefree as ever, trying to catch her nimble older brother.
"You two be careful now!" their mother called out, seeing them laughing and playing in the yard. Jack giggled in response, waving her off as he focused on avoiding Emma. The girl was persistent, but he knew he was faster. Emma could try as hard as she wanted to, he would not let her catch him.
He turned his head back, getting a bit nervous when he saw how close she was. Maybe a bit of ice wouldn't hurt her. After all, it was only meant to slow her down and it was in the name of fun. With a grin, he decided on a slightly safer diversion. A snowball formed in his hand, one he threw directly at her face to try and blind her temporarily. "Jack, stop it! You know I don't like it when you play tricks like that!" Emma complained, wiping the snow out of her eyes.
"Oh yeah, why don't you try throwing one back at me?" Jack suggested, watching her pout at the impossibility of such a thing. Even though they were related, they still had their differences, magic being the greatest one of them.
Appearance wise, they were almost identical. Jack's brown hair and eyes matched her perfectly, making it impossible to doubt that they were related. Even some of their mannerisms were similar, one of which could be seen now. Both of them refused to wear shoes, preferring to feel the solid ground beneath their bare feet. Jack laughed once more, running off further away from his house, until it faded away from sight. Emma was never catching up to him and the girl soon realized this, stopping her chase while Jack continued on, oblivious to the fact that his sister had given up.
"Come on, Emma, you've gotta try harder than this!" Jack taunted, grinning as he turned around. He stopped when he saw no one there, frowning slightly into the forest around him. It was dark out, he hadn't even noticed that the sun had set. His parents would be mad if he didn't make it back home soon. They had supper planned early tonight and Jack was keeping them waiting.
"Emma, we're playing tag, not hide and seek. Come on out, I'll be it this time!" Jack tried, feeling a small amount of fear build within him. He was alone, with no one around him and nothing but darkness in sight. He tried to do something to make it brighter for him, but all he succeeded in doing was creating a layer of frost on the ground beneath his feet.
"Look what we have here. A bright young mage, lost and alone." a voice called out, making Jack whirl around to see a stranger in a white lab coat behind him. Others were standing near this man, one with a vicious glint in his eyes. He had dark black hair and golden yellow eyes that seemed to pierce into Jack's soul.
"Yes, that is what you brought me here for, isn't it? I am the best chance you have at capturing powerful mages for your experiments." the yellow eyed man stated, turning towards the other adults.
"Please…I just wanna go home." Jack begged, crying as he stared up at them.
One of the lab coat men kneeled down in front of him, looking him in the eye. "Of course, but we need you to do something for us first. I am with the Bureau of Magical Development, and we are looking for very special children like you. Can you tell me your name?" he asked, a sweet tone in his voice.
"J-Jack. Will you really help me? Promise me, you'll take me back home." Jack said, staring into the adult's eyes.
"Of course. My name is Senshin, and I have a very special place to show you Jack." he stated, reaching out for Jack's hand.
Hesitantly, Jack took it, following after these men. He didn't know if he should trust them, but he knew that he didn't recognize where he was. Jack was lost and without help from someone, he would be away from his family for the rest of his life. He didn't realize that this was a mistake, that these people would do terrible things to him that even he could hardly remember anymore. The Bureau of Magical Development used children like him, trying to gain inside knowledge into how to strengthen magical power and harness it for weapons. Jack Frost was not the only such child used in these experiments. Another well known child in these experiments went by the name of Ultear, however this is not her tale.
The pain of the experiments was excruciating for the young boy and it did not take him long to begin begging for it all to end. He wanted to go home, to leave this facility and see his sister once more, but his wish was never granted. Jack's family was in the dark, still searching for their lost son with no sign of what happened to him or where he went. As much as they wanted to find each other again, Jack Frost was forever lost to his family, alone in the world and trapped within his world of pain and torture.
Time continued to pass for the young boy, and as the years went on, the experiments began to work on the young boy. The pain made him stronger, increasing his magical capabilities. When tested, the boy was placed into an isolated room to play with his powers. Jack enjoyed these moments the most, feeling free and happy even with no one around. He could have fun here, with his magic, and pretend that nothing had happened. He could pretend that the pain did not linger in his bones, that he was slowly losing his very concept of self and his memories of his family. By the time Jack was fourteen, he gave up hope of ever seeing his family again. His only past was in this facility, his only life these experiments.
"Jack, can you please come with me again." Senshin asked, the scientist leading these experiments on Jack. Jack Frost himself was impressed with how much stronger he was, knowing he was capable of producing blizzards without a second thought now. It didn't matter what season it actually was, Jack could drop the temperature down into the freezing range and bring winter to any place he visited.
"Sure thing, another round of magical boosting?" Jack asked, his own term for the electrical shocks designed to increase his power.
"Yes, this will be the final round. You seem to be reaching your peak levels of power, and we are pleased to see limited side effects with this procedure. With any luck, it will be replicated and all wizards will be able to obtain this great power." Senshin stated, clearly entranced with the idea.
Jack knew exactly what these side effects were that he was speaking of. His hair had long ago lost its brown color, turning a pale white as the treatments continued on. His eyes became icy blue and even his skin lost its color, making him look lifeless and drained even though he felt stronger than ever. Jack knew that there was something wrong, that the appearance was a sign of something about to happen, but he ignored it and tried to look at the bright side of everything. After all, this was now almost over. He would be free from this pain any day now, he just had to get through one last round of experiments with these nut jobs.
He was strapped up to the machinery, still uncertain of what it truly did to his body. It was painful and left him feeling exhausted for days. Jack would sleep for almost the whole week after a treatment in this thing, only to wake up feeling even more connected to his magic. Cold made him feel at home now, anything even somewhat warm was uncomfortable. Too much heat would actually make Jack feel sick and force him to draw out his own magic, freezing the air around him to make himself more comfortable. That was why the researchers had adjusted his room's temperature as well as this room's temperature to be low, around forty degrees. Others were shivering in the room, but Jack felt more at home in the cold, more like he was in his naturally habitat.
No one could have guessed what would have happened during Jack's next treatment. Even the boy himself did not know. This was the day the Winter Spirit was born, on July 7, X777. As Jack was submitted to his final experiment, his magic power increased far beyond it was ever intended. He became one with the season, far more intertwined with it than anyone realized. For the researchers at the Bureau of Magical Development, the child had simply vanished, likely having been destroyed from overuse of the technology intended on providing him with power. Later on, they would make adjustments to the technology as a result, so that Ultear would not face the same fate. However, they were very wrong about what truly happened to the young wizard in that room. He had not died, not in the slightest. Jack Frost became cursed by his very own nature, becoming visible to others only during the harshest of winter storms. Even then, few people actually believed that a young boy like him lived within these blizzards. Still, rumors spread across Fiore, stories of the Winter Spirit that you could catch a glimpse of if you stared hard enough into the center of a winter storm. His tale may change as the years go on, but one thing will always remain. The Winter Spirit will always be alone, isolated by the very nature of his magic. At least, that is what Jack Frost believed at the time. It wasn't until many years had passed than anything changed that thought for him, when he learned that he still could have friends and find a family in this world that had caused him nothing but pain.
So, I've been wanting to write a story about Fairy Tail for a while now. I love the anime and I also love Rise of the Guardians, thus this story was born. I feel as if we need more crossovers in this section, it has so much potential and I'd love to see more.
As far as this idea goes, I really liked the idea of Jack being a mage. After seeing Ultear's backstory, I decided that the Bureau of Magical Development was ignored far too much for most of Fairy Tail and it is now the focus of this story. Let me know what you think of the idea, I always love hearing your thoughts! The more reviews I get, the more inspired I am to keep writing and positing more chapters! (Seriously, this is the fourth story I have in progress right now, the stories with more reviews tend to get more focus from me right now).