Hey there! If you don't know, I'm wolfe13. I don't have much to say before I start the story other than this:
I loved this movie. I went with my little sister and loved it. It was really good and left a lot of room for FanFiction. So this story idea came to me not long after I saw Rise of the Guardians a second time.
Next, this story is a Jack/OC but as always, I'm going to try to not make that the main theme of the story. Bare that in mind, please!
Obvisouly, I don't own Rise of the Guardians blah blah blah. You all know the drill. I'm not going to waste time on long legal stuff.
Fourth (maybe thrid) I'll try to throw some humor in the story, but some of it may be a little adult, so read with caution. Pay attention to the story rating. All that stuff.
If anything more comes up, I'll let you all know in future chapters. Adios!
September 2nd, 1666. 1:03 am. Sancherster Apartments, London
To Chris, the oppressive heat was the worst of it. Worse than the choking smoke, worse than the rough bits of the crumbling building she was breathing in every second. The heat… she'd never forget it. It sucked away Chris' energy and burned her body.
The fear was awful too. Not just the fear Chris felt towards her own death, but the fear for the life of her eight-year-old sister who was clinging to her arm. Little Arianna, whose bright orange curls were the exact opposite of Chris' straight chocolate brown hair, was crying silently as she followed her 15-year-old sister. The two girls were trapped in the burning apartment they'd called home all their lives. Chris was trying desperately to lead them out by memory, but she was exhausted, confused, and oxygen deprived.
"We're almost there Arianna. Almost there. I promise," Chris chanted as the pair stumbled through the maze of halls. "We're almost to the stairs, I just know it. Then all we'll have to do is go down the stairs. We're going to get out of here."
"No we aren't!" Arianna wailed suddenly. The little red-head yanked her hands out of Chris' and hugged herself. "We're going to die in here," Arianna cried. Chris stood, stunned, for a moment before kneeling in front of Arianna.
"I swear to you, Arianna," Chris said seriously, taking Arianna's hands, "I will get you out of here. You will not die in this apartment. But you have to be determined. Remember what I told you about determination?" Arianna nodded slowly.
"If… If you're determined to fight a battle…" Arianna whispered.
"… You'll never fight alone," Chris finished. "And it's true. As long as you fight for something, others will fight along with you. Right now, we're a team, right? So as long as I'm with you, we can't lose."
"… O-ok. Let's go!" Arianna agreed with a grin. Chris smiled at her sister. Retaking Arianna's hand, the sisters continued their search through the corridors.
Turning a corner, Chris recognized the large ornate doorway marking the stairs. The large oak door that usually stood was gone, nowhere to be seen. But Chris knew it was the stairs.
"There, Arianna! We made it!" Chris cheered as she took off with Arianna in toe.
Crack!
A good sized hunk of wood came crashing to the ground. Chris, reacting instantly, yanked Arianna and herself to the side. The beam crashed downwards, whacking Chris on the shoulder. She staggered as her vision blurred and memories she had been blocking overtook her consciousness.
September 1st, 1666. 4:21 pm. Sancherster Apartments, London
"I win again!" Chris cheered as she placed her final card on the table. Amelia Palo leaned back and sighed.
"Yes, I suppose you did, Christina," Amelia agreed. Chris rolled her eyes.
"Mother, please stop calling me Christina. You know I prefer Chris," Chris complained.
"Your father and I named you Christina, and that's what I'll call you. End of discussion," Amelia said in a tone that left no room for argument. Chris scowled as she recollected all the cards that had been scattered across the table. Chris shuffled them quickly with expertise before dealing them between her and her mother.
"Momma, when are we going to eat dinner?" called a quiet voice from the small couch next to the table. Amelia looked over and gave Arianna a gentle smile.
"Soon, Ari. Daddy promised to bring home more food. We just have to wait."
"You call Arianna 'Ari'," grumbled Chris quietly. Amelia looked sharply at her eldest child.
"Ari is a little girl. You'll be of age soon. You always complain that we treat you like a child, but it's because you act like one! Always whining about your chores. You are a young lady, Christina. Get used to it," Amelia reprimanded. Chris glared down at the cards in her hand. Silence followed as Amelia and Chris began their fifth game of cribbage. Little Arianna watched her family for a bit, then decided to go back to playing with her teddy bear.
"I convinced the Thrandals to let you watch their sons again tomorrow," Amelia said after a long silence. Chris stiffened at the name and her hand froze midair.
"You… You what?" Chris gaped at her mother in disbelief. "Why… Why would you do such a thing, Mother?!" Chris cried in horror. Amelia fixed her daughter with an icy stare.
"We need the money Christina, whether you like it or not. Ever since your father broke his leg at work and needed to go to the clinic our family has been very poor. You know that. Your babysitting and my fabric stand are the only income right now," Amelia said quietly. "Besides, Ms. Thrandal says Michael and Horace love when you babysit."
"Yes, because they get to terrorize me," griped Chris. Amelia smiled ever so slightly.
"And because you're good with kids," Amelia told her daughter. "You'll be a great mother to your children."
"Children? I'm not thinking of having children anytime soon!" protested Chris. Amelia's smile disappeared and the icy stare returned.
"You'll be married soon, Christina. And your husband will expect you to willingly produce children and then raise them."
"I don't want to marry! I don't want to be some 70-year-old man's toy he can throw on his bed and have his fun with every night!" Chris snapped. Amelia's eyes widened.
"Ladies don't talk that way, Christina! You'll be married soon and that's that. Besides, it won't be 'some seventy-year-old man. He'll most likely only be 1o years older than you. Like the age difference between your father and I." Chris remained silent and the room was quiet again. Arianna had watched the exchange with curios eyes. Now, once again, she returned to her teddy bear.
"I'm home!" called a loud cheerful voice from the front door. The three girls turned to see Hank Palo enter the room with a huge grin on his face. "And I bring joyful news!"
"Daddy!" squealed Arianna. The little girl jumped up and ran at her father. The man caught her in a hug and laughed.
"Hey there Matches!" Hank said as he ruffled the fire red hair that had inspired the nickname.
"What kind of 'joyful news'?" inquired Amelia as she rose to greet her husband. Hank smiled at her brightly.
"I won the lawsuit!" Hank told her. Amelia and Chris' eyes widened.
"You did? The court sided with you and not the business?" Amelia gasped. Hank nodded and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a simple sheet of paper with writing on it.
"You bet they did! Apparently this wasn't the first time someone had gotten hurt because of the cheap safety precautions. The court must have finally had enough of it. Now all I have to do is give this paper to the bank tomorrow and we'll never have money problems again." Amelia shook her head in disbelief, smiling.
"Well we better put that somewhere safe than," Amelia told her husband. She took the paper and placed it in a metal box on the dresser. While she did this, Hank turned to his elder daughter.
"Hey there Chrissy! How was your day?" he asked.
"Ok, I guess. I have to babysit for the Thrandals tomorrow," the older daughter sighed. Hank made a face.
"Those crazy kids again?" Hank asked.
"Hank! Don't call people crazy just because you don't like them," chided Amelia from the other side of the room. Hank shrugged sheepishly.
"Yes dear," he called before looking back at Chris and mouthing 'They're totally crazy'. Chris stifled a giggle. Hank winked before turning once more to his wife. "So now that we're all good and rich, I bought us tickets for the show tonight."
"Tarmineus and Makala?" gasped Amelia. "That show goes until 2 am at least!"
"So? The kids will be alright. We have to leave in two hours if we're going to go though."
"… Alright. But just this once."
September 2nd, 1666. 1:06 am, Sancherster Apartments.
"Chris!" The desperate wail shocked Chris from her memories. Chris gasped and coughed widely, her shoulder aching.
"The box!" Chris chocked out. Arianna stared at her in confusion.
"The what?"
"The box Arianna! The box with the money dad got from the lawsuit! It's still in the apartment!" Chris told Arianna, her body filled with horror.
"So?!" Arianna demanded.
"Without that money, our family will die of starvation! I need to go back!" Chris told Arianna. The little red head stared at her older sister in disbelief. Chris put her hands on Arianna's shoulders. "Arianna I need to go back. Take the stairs and get out of here," Chris instructed.
"No! You can't leave me! You promised we'd do this together!" cried Arianna, tears leaking from her eyes.
"I know," Chris whispered. "But this is really important. I can't let you come with me though. You need to keep moving. Whatever happens, keep moving." Arianna stood there, crying. Then, slowly, she nodded.
"Promise me you'll catch up with me."
"Arianna I-"
"Promise!" Arianna wailed. Chris sighed, but nodded.
"Ok. I promise I'll try and catch up with you. Now go!" Chris said as she shoved Arianna towards the stairs. The little girl ran towards them, glancing back at her sister when she reached the doorway. But all Arianna saw was the back of Chris as she ran back to their family apartment.
Chris retraced her path back to the apartment as fast as she could. It was a little easier without having to drag Arianna behind her, but it also made the solo run through the burning building lonely and terrifying. But that didn't stop her. Fear never stopped Chris. It wasn't so much that Chris didn't feel fear, it was she refused to let it stop her.
Finally, Chris found herself staring at the door to Apartment R35. She stared at the door as she tried to catch her breath in an area with little to none oxygen and lots of smoke. After a couple of seconds, Chris reached for the door handle without thinking. Hot, searing pain shot from her hand. With a pain-filled yelp, Chris wrenched her hand from the metal door knob. The brass was scorching. Chris could already feel the flesh of her burned hand blistering. Pressing her wounded hand to her shirt, Chris shouldered the door open. The weakened wood gave way and Chris was in.
The living room of the apartment looked almost the same as when Chris and Arianna had left it, other than the fact the furniture was almost black with soot and the ground was covered in ash and dust. Chris staggered towards the metal box that sat on the dresser where Amelia Palo had left it hours ago. Chris gingerly unclasped the hook of the box, wincing again as her other hand came in contact with the scorching metal. The lid popped open and Chris grabbed the surprisingly well kept paper. She looked it over quickly to check the state of it before stuffing it in her pocket. Chris whirled around to exit the room when her eyes landed on a depressing sight.
The simple teddy bear Arianna had loved all her life sat, abandoned, on the couch. The seemingly worthless toy had always given Arianna comfort and strength. Chris stared at the slightly charred bear before grabbing it with her good hand and running out of the room.
Chris knew the pathway back to the stairs pretty well be them seeing as she had done three times now. Her feet led her through the ever increasingly hot maze of hallways without mistake or stagger. For the first time since Chris had woken up in a smoke filled room half an hour before, Chris felt hopeful. She had the money, Arianna's teddy bear, she knew how to get to the stairs, and Arianna herself was no doubt almost out of the apartment building by now. But Chris should have known to expect disaster to strike. And it struck with a vengeance.
Chris sprinted the final turn that she knew led to the stairs. She was exhausted and hadn't taken a real breath of oxygen in god knows how long, but she'd made it. The stairs would lead her straight to the bottom of the building. Straight to freedom and fresh cold air to soothe her blistered hands. She turned the corner and took two steps before smashing head on into something.
"Oof!" Chris grunted as she reeled backwards. Chris blinked at the object she'd hit and her heart fell into her stomach.
"Ow…" Arianna whimpered as she rubbed her head.
"Arianna?" Chris whispered, stunned. Then, with more force and anger, "Arianna what the hell are you doing here?!" The red head winced at her sister's voice.
"I-I got scared! I didn't want to go alone! So… I came back to find you…"
"Arianna, are you insane? I told you to save yourself!" Chris snarled. Arianna didn't respond, just stared at her feet. Chris shook her head and groaned. "Whatever, we need to get moving." Grabbing Arianna's hand with her good one, Chris ran full speed to the stairs.
The decent was fast enough, even though most of the stairs were loose. Chris dragged her sister down floor after floor, thinking of nothing but 'Keep moving, have to keep moving'. Arianna stumbled and gasped behind Chris, but Chris pulled her along without stop. There wasn't time to be gentle anymore.
The sisters reached the third floor of the building when the stairs stopped. Chris cursed. How could she have forgotten? The main staircase only led down this far, and they had to get to a different stairway to the actual exit. Hesitating for only a second, Chris dragged Arianna out of the stairway and into the halls of the third floor. Through room after room the sisters ran.
Finally, they came upon the final stair case. They were spiral stairs made of oak wood. While the bottom floors seemed to be even more damaged and unstable, these stairs seemed in better shape than the last ones. The sisters took one step towards them…
CRACK!
Without thinking, Chris shoved herself and Arianna forwards out of the way of the crashing building. Arianna stumbled to safety, but Chris' foot caught on a beam lying on the floor. Exhausted and weak, the brunette had no strength to catch herself. Chris hit the ground on her back, winded. Seconds later, half the entire floor above them crashed on top of her legs.
Chris expected pain, and somewhere in the back of her head, she felt it. Felt the agony has her legs were smashed under the weight of the rubble. But the majority of her mind was too far gone to register the pain.
"CHRIS!" screamed Arianna as the little girl limped to her sister's broken form. Chris' eyes were open, alive but unseeing.
"A… Ari… T…take the paper… get… get out." Chris' voice was distant. Her burned hand rose, shaking violently, and gripped the paper. With the last of her strength, she placed the paper in Arianna's plam.
"No no no… I won't leave you! You said we'd get out together!"
"Go…" whispered Chris. Arianna stared down at the paper, then nodded.
"Goodbye… Chris," Arianna whispered. The red head stood and forced herself to sprint to the exit, tears pouring from her eyes. Chris distantly listened to her sister leave when a thought managed to form in her head, 'the bear… I didn't give it to Arianna'. Chris could feel the soft bear pressing against her. 'Sorry Arianna…' Chris thought as laid there, staring upwards. The crash that had trapped her had opened a hole in the ceiling. Chris could see almost nothing but one thing: the moon. The moon shined down on her, giving her something beautiful to look at. The moon… Chris had never noticed how amazing it was. Suddenly, a voice penetrated into her mind.
'You have done well, my dear. You deserve your reward.' Sudden warmth shot through Chris. Not burning like the heat around her, but comforting and homely. Strength coursed through her as her mortal body transformed. The broken bones fixed themselves, the cuts healed. Chris felt heat flow through her hair, changing the simple brown to fire red.
'You will represent me, Chris. I give you immortality in exchange for your heroism. I give to you powers unlike any other, use them in my name,' the moon whispered to Chris. Chris felt herself fading from the world, her human body disappearing from the vision of most mortals. The last thing she heard was, 'You are now and forever Chris Sparks, bringer of determination.' Then Chris knew nothing.
Comment, follow, whatever you like. More to come!
~wolfe13