"My name is Jack Frost; the moon told me that. And that was all he ever told me."
It's been eighty years since Jack awoke from the lake. It's been eighty years since he first discovered his powers. And it's been eighty years since he realized that he was meant to spend eternity in isolation. He asked the guardian who put him there, the Moon, everyday concerning why he was stuck in this limbo where no one could see or hear him, but he never got an answer. The hope that he had held so much when he was first revived slowly began to fade, but it never faded completely. He was still a fun spirit, making the best out of the worst.
He flew around Burgess, Virginia, riding on the winds and causing little flurries of snow to fall. The very first time he visited this town, there were people mingling around outside with kids running around having fun. Now, the town had more buildings and more people, but the air was the same. The kids laughed, playing in the snow much to the horror of their parents. He flew next to a group of kids chucking snow at each other, laughing. Jack scooped up a pile of snow into his hands, blowing on it to turn it into a snowball. "I always loved snowball fights," he said to them. "They're kinda like my thing," he said with a grin before chucking one at them.
He began laughing as it hit one of the kids in the back of the head. They started chasing one another, picking up more snowballs. He ran around them, dragging his staff behind him to create more snowballs for their convenience. This went on, with Jack playing with the kids, until they were summoned back inside. He watched from outside as the kids talked with their families and he frowned as he found himself envious of them. Sure, he was the immortal spirit of winter, but immortality was nothing if he had to spend it alone. The only people who even knew he was there were the Guardians, but they never paid any attention to him. He wanted to be known, heard, and seen. He wanted a family...a home.
This was Jack Frost's life. He'd fly around the world, summoning winter and bringing joy to children. Sometimes, he'd get bored and summon a freak snowstorm in the middle of summer just to laugh at the adults' confusion and the kids' happiness. For 80 years, he had been doing the same thing. He enjoyed it, but he also wanted something more.
Jack looked up at the moon, performing his nightly routine of trying to get him to talk to him. "Are you going to actually say something today?" he asked, looking up at the shining moon. The only time the Man in the Moon ever actually said anything to him was when he first awoke from the lake. Your name is Jack Frost. That was it. There was never anything after that.
He scoffed and nodded at the moon. "Of course. Every single time…" he pulled his hood up and turned away, dragging his staff behind him.
"Arendelle." Jack turned around, trying to locate the source of the voice. He looked up at the moon. Could it be?
"What?" he asked.
The moon didn't respond. Instead, the wind around Jack began to pick up speed. It lifted him off the ground and into the air. "Hey!" Jack said, trying to stop the wind and land, but for the first time since he first got his powers, he didn't have control of the wind. The wind carried him and he couldn't stop it. Eventually, he flew along with the wind, deciding to go with whatever the Man in the Moon had planned for him. Maybe it was answer to the question he had constantly been asking.
When he landed, he looked around. It was the middle of July, but the night sky was cloudy and there were flurries of snow falling slowly to the ground. Had he caused this? He didn't remember coming here recently, much less setting off a snowstorm here. There was something weird going on here.
This was Arendelle. That was why the moon brought him here. There was a freak winter in Arendelle. He walked around, watching as crowds of people gathered around the castle in the middle of the town.
"The queen has cursed this town!" someone yelled. Jack approached them. They continued to ramble about the doings of a wicked sorceress who, on her coronation day, set off an eternal winter above Arendelle.
"These people here really need to learn how to have some fun…" Jack mumbled, frowning. He flew off, flying around the castle. From what he gathered, the queen ran off into the mountains and her younger sister, the Princess, went out to search for her. Some even said that the princess was conspiring with the queen. Having heard enough, Jack flew off into the mountains in search for this "Snow Queen".
As he flew into the mountains, the familiar landscape jogged his memory. He had come here nearly nine years ago. As he looked at the disaster the kingdom was in, the guilt that he had kept hidden rose up once more. "No…" he said, flying around trying to locate the girl as quickly as he could.
How he first detected Elsa was when he noticed unnatural ice in Arendelle, but now that ice surrounded the entire area. He couldn't pinpoint where she was until he saw the castle. He watched as the castle slowly rose out of the side of the North Mountain. As he flew closer, he heard her voice. It was so different from when she was a child, yet it sounded so familiar.
"Let it go, let it go when I'll rise like the break of dawn. Let it go, let it go, that perfect girl is gone! Here I stand in the light of day. Let the storm rage on! The cold never bothered me anyway."
Jack watched the blonde sing to her heart's delight as she flung ice into the air. He had come to find the reason for Arendelle's freak winter and he now knew that he had found it. It was just like how he remembered it...She was like him. He observed her abilities; the flurries rolled off her fingertips in a beautiful manner. Even from just watching her, he could see that this was a bundle of power that she had held back for years and he could see the weight lift off her chest as she tested her powers. Everything she did seemed to flow so smoothly with her character. A lot of what Jack did was either brute force or for the purpose of helping children have fun. She built things to help herself. It was an extension of her body.
He flew around her as she strutted around the castle. When he first flew past her, she was filled anxiety and now it seemed like she was content with everything around her. It was apparent in the usage of her powers, too. At first, she started small, only letting out small snowflake bursts. And now she was standing in the middle of a giant ice castle that she had built herself.
"This is really impressive," he said to her, knowing that she wouldn't be able to hear him. "Would much rather travel around, though. Much more fun that way."
Elsa turned around, her body tense. She raised her arms in a defensive position. "Who's there?"
Jack floated in front of her, surprised at her sudden reaction. "Wait, can you see me?" he asked, a hint of excitement present in his eyes.
Elsa looked around the castle, which was now lit up by the rays of sunshine coming in through the cracks in the ice. She looked right in front of her, sensing a presence.
Jack smiled at her, his excitement growing. For the first time in 80 years, someone could see him and it was her out of all people. Maybe now the Man in the Moon would reveal why he was here. He floated a little closer to her, smiling. "Hi, I'm Jack-"
Elsa walked forward, straight through him. "Who's there?" she asked again.
Jack gasped in shock, his hand hovering above his chest. She had walked through him. She couldn't see him. But she had sensed that he was there. He floated back in front of her. "Can you see me? Can you hear me?" he asked her with no response from the young blonde. Despair crept onto his features as the hope faded from his eyes and he was left in isolation once more.
He didn't know why he got his hopes up. She was never able to see him before and that was when she was still a child, someone who still believed. But she had heard him. He had somehow communicated with her even if it was temporary. He flew out of the castle and into the night sky. He felt nature trying to fight back against the wintry air, but ultimately failing. It wasn't natural for it to be this cold this early in the year. It was Elsa. She was a lot more powerful than he had anticipated. She had trouble controlling it, she always had. Jack smiled to himself as he flew around Arendelle. Maybe he could help her. After all, he was the spirit of winter himself, if anyone was able to help her, it was him.
Jack watched over Elsa for the next few days. She had learned to control her powers to a certain extent, but there was still fear present in her heart, and it was during those fearful times that she lost control. She had set a blizzard over Arendelle that almost destroyed the entire castle. She would constantly remind herself of the danger she could potentially be. Now that she knew how to kind of control it, she allowed herself to be available to others, unlike before. But the fear was still there, and as long as there was fear, there was a chance that she would lose control or shut everyone out again.
He followed her as she walked into her bedroom chambers. The room was different than than the first time he had visited her. Now, it was decorated with ice purposefully. Before, there was frost creeping up the walls in an antagonistic way. He enjoyed it. Although he was just visiting, he felt comfortable and at home here. He watched her strut around the room, picking things up from the floor and smoothing out her bed. He sat in the corner, watching her. He liked the way that she moved around. Everything she did was so smooth and so full of confidence. She seemed to radiate beauty and that only drew him in more. If he had to spend the rest of his life full of loneliness, he wanted to be able to seen by at least her. She walked over to her nightstand and picked up a book, settling down in a chair by the window. Jack tilted his head as he stared at her, his eyes running down, examining her dress. He whistled, "Got a pretty high slit there."
She opened the book, staring at a picture inside with a nostalgic look in her eyes. Jack jumped up besides her, perched on the windowsill. "What are you reading-" he stopped talking once he saw the picture that she was staring at.
"Jack Frost…" she whispered to herself. It was his own myth. She was reading his myth.
"That's me…" he said to himself in disbelief.
Elsa suddenly jumped out of her chair, dropping the book down to the ground. She held her hands up, gazing around the room, the temperature dropping.
"You heard me again.." he said, jumping off the windowsill and approaching her.
Elsa turned towards him, her hands ready to strike. "Who are you?!" she asked. She gasped as a blast of ice shot out and struck Jack in the chest.
Jack shut his eyes, feeling the ice course through his body. He felt a surge of power and a grin showed up on his face. He looked at her, his icy blue eyes meeting hers. "My name is Jack Frost."
Preview of Chapter Three:
"Jack Frost, you're real?"
"It's okay, I can teach you to control your powers."
"You're afraid...Afraid you'll hurt someone. Afraid you'll hurt Jack."
"Who am I? Well isn't that obvious? I'm Pitch Black."
