Because its Valentines Day, and mainly because I'm just too darn excited to get this story moving, I've decided to bring you chapter two a few days early. Don't worry though, that just means that Chapter Three will be coming Saturday.
Alright! On to Chapter Two.
ENJOY
If Jack had to describe his trip through time in one word…it would have to be dizzy.
Inside the vortex everything was spinning. If he looked to the side he would see moments in history flash before his eyes. It quickly became too much for him and Jack was forced to stare straight ahead. A variety of clocks flew past him, all with their hands spinning at different speeds, telling different times. And the chiming….oh Jack would have that ringing in his ears for weeks. Plus there was the landing…or maybe a better word would be crashing.
Out of nowhere the vortex stopped and Jack fell straight to the ground, luckily there was snow to cushion his fall.
Jack laughed as he brushed the snow off his sweatshirt. "I'm not sure what's worse; Mill's clock, North's globes, or Bunny's holes." Jack then took a moment to look at his surroundings, but all he saw was snow. "Maybe if I get some altitude." He then shot straight up into the air. As he hovered there he got a better idea for the layout of the place, but still he only saw snow. Suddenly, Jack had to cover his eyes from a large glare coming off one of the mountains. "Where did that come from?" He asked out loud. With no better plan, Jack went to investigate. But he only flew a few feet before he suddenly stopped. "Right,the outfit." Jack really didn't want to give up the comfort of his sweatshirt. "No one will see so why bother?" He shrugged but just in case, and with a bit of his magic, Jack changed from his favorite blue sweatshirt in a simple shirt and cloak, just like he were in his last moments with his sister, except he made the cloak dark blue this time. "Right, now that's done, off to explore." And he took off.
What Jack didn't know was that a short distance away another vortex had opened…
Black sand piled onto the snow covered ground until it took on the shape of a man.
"Finally…" Pitch took a long whiff of the air. "It's not obvious, but there is definitely an underline of fear in this place, especially one particular case." He let out a menacing laugh before changing back into sand and heading down the mountain.
Jack let out a long low whistle of admiration. He couldn't believe his eyes.
He was currently looking down at a palace made completely of ice. Slowly, he came down and landed on the balcony. It was even more impressive closer up. Even within the ice there were patterns of snowflakes. "Whoever did this knows how to work a pickaxe." Everything was so delicate until Jack came into the center room. Like the rest of the castle, everything was made of ice, but instead of elegance and refinement this place looked like a battlefield. There were ice spikes jutting out from the floor and the walls.
On closer inspection, he noticed that most of the spikes seemed to be coming from one location, as if protecting someone. Jack continued to walk around to see the amount of damage when he nearly tripped over something.
"A sword. Something definitely went down." He picked the weapon up and threw it out the window. "There." Jack wiped his hands. "Much better. Now to fix this place up." With a wave of his staff the spikes retreated back into the ground, the cracks repaired, and the chandelier was replaced.
"As easy as building a snowman." He grinned.
Jack gave the place one more admired glance before heading back out to search for the girl.
As he descended down the mountain he noticed the temperature change. "Man its getting hot." He pulled on the collar of his cloak. "Where is this Arendelle anyways?" But just as Jack said it, a large kingdom came into view across the fjord. "Oh..never mind." With an extra gust of wind he went shooting across the water.
As he was flying by, Jack noticed large chunks of ice floating in the lake. "That's odd." He noted. "With this current temperature there shouldn't be any ice or snow." But Jack didn't think about it much as he got closer to the kingdom and began to see people.
"Now to find Elsa."
Jack flew through the town. He was doing his best to find the Elsa girl, but was having more trouble than he anticipated. Jack decided to change his viewpoint and landed gently on the cobblestone path, but not a moment later someone walked straight through him. Jack threw his head back and let out an exasperated sigh. "Come on. Has no one ever heard of Jack Frost?"
"Did someone say Jack Frost?"
Jack turned around in shock. "Um…I did." He looked around trying to find a kid but instead saw a tall man with a reindeer walking his way.
Jack wasn't sure exactly what to do. He had just gotten use to the idea of little kids being able to see him, but he didn't know how to react to an adult.
As the man got closer Jack saw that he was rather tall and muscular with shaggy blonde hair. Following close behind him was a reindeer with its tongue hanging out of its mouth like a dog.
"Are you the one that mentioned Jack Frost?" He asked.
"Yeah that was me."
The man took Jack's hand and shook it vigorously. "Hi, mine name is Kristoff." The blonde introduced himself. "OOF!" The reindeer nudged Kristoff with his nose making him laugh. "And this is Sven."
"Uh…hey." Jack was still getting over the fact that someone could see him, especially an adult.
"So I heard you say Jack Frost." Kristoff went on. "I'm impressed that you heard the name. Most people haven't."
"How did you learn about him?" Jack was a bit curious.
Kristoff laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "It's a bit embarrassing. You see I sell ice for a living. Ever since I was a kid I was surrounded by ice and snow in the mountains. As we cut the ice the men would tell stories. My favorite was the story of Jack Frost the Great Winter Spirit who brings snow, ice, and a lot of fun to the lands."
Jack couldn't help by smile. It was nice to get some recognition. "The Great Winter Spirit huh?"
Kristoff nodded. "Absolutely! He is the one that brings us the cold. Without him I would be out of a job."
Jack was really starting to like this guy.
"Oh, sorry, I got so caught up in Jack Frost that I forgot to ask what your name was."
"Jack…Jack Frost."
"Pardon?"
"I'm Jack Frost. You know… the great winter spirit of snow and ice."
Suddenly Kristoff's smile turned into a frown. "You know, its not cool to make fun of a person like that." He turned to leave. "Come on Sven."
Jack panicked. He didn't want to lose the only person that was able to see him. He quickly stepped in front of Kristoff to block him from leaving. "Please let me explain." Jack pleaded. Once he was sure Kristoff wasn't leaving he continued. "I'm not making fun of you. Honestly, I'm really Jack Frost."
Kristoff crossed his arms. "Then prove it."
"Fine. I will." Jack looked around the town square until he spotted a fountain in the middle. With a smile he walked over and with his staff he gently tapped the water's surface. The water froze and turned into a fantastical ice sculpture. When he turned around to look at Kristoff, the blonde had a bored expression on his face.
"I've seen that trick a thousand times. That does not prove you are Jack."
Jack stood there with his mouth hung open. How did that not amaze him? And what did he mean he saw this a thousand times?
"Well then…how about this?" Jack formed a snowball in his hand and then threw it at Kristoff.
Kristoff side stepped the snowball and still had a bored look on his face. "Seen it."
Now Jack was really curious, but he also wasn't going to stop until he proved that he was, in fact, Jack Frost. As he was thinking of what to do next and small breeze blew by. Jack snapped his fingers. "I've got it! Could anyone but Jack Frost, controller of the north winds, do this?" He then jumped into the air and flew high into the sky and then slowly landed in front of Kristoff.
Finally Kristoff had a look of amazement on his face. Jack couldn't' help but smirk in satisfaction.
"Wow, you really are Jack Frost." He finally admitted. "I can't believe I'm actually talking to the Great Jack Frost!"
"Jack is just fine." He laughed. "Oh and let me tell you that its really a relief to know that at least someone can see me."
"See you? What do you mean?"
"The only people who see me are people who truly believe in me," Jack explained. "Usually its just kids who see me."
"So what do people see?"
"They would just see you talking to air. So you might get a reputation, sorry."
Kristoff waved it off. "It's no big deal. People will just think I'm talking to Sven here like usual." He pointed to his reindeer.
Jack raised an eyebrow. How often did this guy talk to his reindeer?
"So Jack, what brings you to Arendelle in the middle of summer? I hope its not to give us some snow cause we are still trying to get over the blizzard from a week ago."
"How, in the world, did you have snow only a week ago?"
"Ah well you see…that's an interesting story. What happened was the Queen…" But before Kristoff could finish his story the two heard a person calling his name.
"KRISTOFF!" A woman called out. "KRISTOFF!"
Jack turned to see a girl come running their way. She had strawberry blonde hair braided in pigtails, large blue eyes, and freckles that ran across the bridge of her nose. She was wearing a long sleeved blue dress with a black bodice and flowers embroidered on it.
"There you are." She exclaimed. "I was running all over the place looking for you." As she got closer she walked straight through Jack. "Burrr." The girl rubbed her arms. "I just got a sudden chill." She then went and gave Kristoff a kiss on the cheek.
Jack concluded that the two had to be a couple simply by the way they were looking at each other. There was a lot of love there.
That got Jack to thinking about his love life, or lack of love to be more precise. Its not like its easy to find love in the first place. Add the fact that he was immortal, a guardian, and could only be seen by believers and no wonder Jack never had a girlfriend, let alone a simple kiss. But even if he could be seen by everyone, no one would be interested in him. After all, what girl would want to be with a guy so cold?
"What are you babbling about?"
Jack broke out of his trance and saw that Kristoff was talking to the girl still.
"I'm telling you Anna, Jack Frost is standing right there! You even walked through him." He pointed towards Jack.
The girl, who Jack concluded was Anna, looked his way but he could tell she was unable to see him.
"Kristoff, I don't see anyone. Maybe you've been in the cold for to long." She placed her hand on his forehead. "You might be catching something."
"I'm fine, really." He took her hand in his. "Why won't you believe me?"
"You're talking about Jack Frost? The old tale that you told me once about a person who could control ice and snow who also goes by the name Old Man Winter?"
Jack let out a sigh. "I hate that name. I'm not that old."
"You really want me to believe that there is a spirit out there who can fly and controls winter?"
"Seriously Anna?" Kristoff gave her a look. "Just in the last couple of days you have seen rock trolls, talking snowmen, and survived being turned into an ice statue."
"Arendelle sounds like an interesting place." Jack noted from the sidelines. He was especially curious about the ice statue part.
"And don't get me started on your sister." Kristoff finished.
Anna laughed. "Alright, alright. I get it. But now is not the time for games. We have stuff we need to do." Anna turned to leave but stumbled when Kristoff, still holding her hand, didn't move. "Kristoff…" She whined. "Come on."
"Anna," He used a stern voice which seemed to get Anna's attention. "I'm telling the truth."
Anna gave him a skeptical look, but the more she gazed into his eyes the look began to falter. "You are telling the truth."
"He sure is." Jack commented.
Anna jumped and let out a small yelp. "Who said that?" She quickly turned around, then let out another squeak and fell back. Luckily Kristoff caught her. "W-who are you?" She pointed at Jack.
Jack's eyes widened in shock.
"I told you, Jack Frost." Kristoff said with a satisfied smile.
"Hey there." Jack waved awkwardly.
"When did he show up?" Anna asked.
"Actually I've been here this entire time."
Anna seemed to regain her composer a bit and walked towards Jack. She circled around him, staring at him closely. Then she pinched him.
"OW!" Jack jumped. "That hurt." He rubbed his arm.
But Anna didn't seem to hear him. She was to busy smiling. "Oh my god! Can you do any tricks?"
"Um…yeah." Jack still held onto his arm. The girl had a mean pinch. "How's this?" Jack held out his hand and a snowflake floated in the middle of his palm.
"OH MY GOD!" Anna shrieked. "You're just like my sister!" She was practically jumping for joy.
"Your sister?" Jack remembered Kristoff mentioning her earlier.
Anna nodded. "Yep, her name is Elsa."
"Elsa!" Jack said a little shocked, but then he smiled. He might actually be able to find the girl.
"Yeah, she's my older sister as well as the queen of Arendelle."
"Wait… did you say OLDER sister?"
Anna nodded.
"Well that can't be right." Jack mumbled. He was pretty sure that he was sent back in time to help a kid, not a young woman. "Is there any other Elsas in the kingdom? Someone younger?"
Anna gave him a look for the odd question. "Not that I can think of. The people usually don't give their children the same name as the royal family, sort of like a sign of respect.
"Something isn't right."
"What do you mean Jack?" Kristoff asked.
Jack was about to explain his mission when something clicked in his head. "Wait…what do you mean I'm just like your sister?"
Anna laughed. "Oh you'll see. Come to the castle and you'll meet her."
Anna turned to leave forcing the others to follow.
"She should be in the courtyard. We were preparing for ice skating."
"Ice skating?" Jack asked. "In the middle of summer?"
Anna gave him a devilish grin. "You'll see. I can't wait to see the look on Elsa's face when she meets you. She'll be so shocked, but in a good way."
"Alright, I'm confused." Jack stated.
"Just go with it." Kristoff advised. "It's much easier that way, trust me."
Soon the group came to the entrance to the courtyard.
"So what's the plan?" Kristoff asked.
"Plan?" Anna gave him a look of confusion.
"Yeah, for Jack. Elsa won't be able to see him if she doesn't believe in him."
"Oh." Anna's shoulders fell. "I didn't think about that."
But before the group could talk an elderly woman came walking towards them. She walked right through Jack and straight to Kristoff and Anna.
"There you two are!" She wagged her finger at them. "This is no time to go running off. You need to be here to help her majesty." Before either of them could get a word in, they were being dragged away.
Jack made a move to follow but then he heard people laughing and clapping along to some music in the distance. "I'm sure they're be fine." He said before he flew up and landed on top of the entrance way. He sat down and was able to see the entire courtyard.
The first thing he noticed was the sheer amount of people. They ranged from young to old, but what they had in common was they were all wearing winter clothing. "Isn't it a bit warm for those heavy clothes?" He started to believe that Arendelle just had really strange weather if they planned on ice skating in the summer and had a blizzard a week ago. "Well if they are all dressed for winter might as well give it to them." He stated. Jack got his staff ready and was about to use his powers when the doors to the palace opened.
That's when he saw her.
Happy Valentines Day, or what I like to call it, Happy Single Awareness Day!
xoxo Wendbria
