Chapter Two
"You're Jack's brother?" Bernard exclaimed, hardly able to believe his ears.
Jonathen nodded, chuckling lightly at the wide-eyed look on Bernard's face.
"I do believe I am making things confusing and complicated for everyone here, Mr. Claus," Jonathen remarked as he turned to Scott (whose mouth was shamelessly agape). "My apologies. I have a tendency to make situations uncomfortable, as my own family can attest to without a second thought."
At this last remark, Jonathen turned to look at Jack, who had turned as pale as a sheet and was still shaking ever so slightly. When Jack sensed his brother's eyes on him, however, his striking blue eyes flickered upwards and offered Jonathen a cold glare. Jonathen promptly shifted his attention back to Scott and Bernard, grimacing in a rueful fashion.
"I only meant to warn you all of the goings-on in Coventry, and since I was coming here...well, I figured I would at least say hello and have a chat with my headstrong twin brother," the other warlock explained.
Bernard's and Scott's eyebrows shot up and disappeared into their hairlines simultaneously. Looking past the beard and the elegant warlock robe - which was light blue patterned with real snowflakes, and with edges that were also stained white by dry ice - looking past all of that, it was suddenly apparent that Jack and Jonathen were indeed twins. For some reason it had not been noticeable before, perhaps due to Jonathen's slightly rougher features and huskier voice, as well as his beard.
"Ah, yes. It's interesting, isn't it?" Jonathen smiled. "Two warlocks who look alike and have the same powers. It's certainly a rare occurrence in the magical world."
Bernard cleared his throat, flashing a look in Scott's direction awkwardly. "So," the head elf said after a uncertain interval of silence. "You mentioned something about, uh, Coventry, Mr. Frost?"
"Please, call me Jon. And yes, I did indeed mention Coventry." Jon, as he now referred to himself, stepped forward, clasping his hands in front of him. "Over the past forty or so years, Coventry - the magical kingdom where all varieties of myths and fairytales were born - has been under siege by a great, all-pervading black cloud. It has been called many things...the shadowy destroyer, or the maw of death, just to name a few. But the common name for it is simply "the darkness." Jack knows perfectly well what I'm talking about, because forty years ago the king and queen of Coventry took us under their care, just as the darkness was preparing a large-scale attack upon the heart of the kingdom. We were only eighteen hundred when we first came to live in the king and queen's castle, and were more vulnerable than we ever thought to the darkness eating away at the world we knew."
"Wait!" Bernard interposed, holding up his hands. "Don't tell me you're referring to the beginning of the War of Darkness? Because what you're talking about sounds awfully familiar, and not in a good way. Not at all."
Jon nodded gravely. "I am indeed talking about the War, head elf Bernard," he confirmed. "It is a war which may soon be repeated if current events are not fixed. But I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Let me continue to paint you a picture of the past, so that you will better understand the present..."
It was common knowledge that Jack and Jonathen Frost were two of the most powerful winter warlocks in Coventry. The kingdom had not seen such mastery of the craft of winter-bending since their great-grandfather Old Man Winter had been born as the first warlock to truly understand and take complete control of such wild forces as snow, ice, and blizzards.
There was one thing that was not common knowledge about the Frost twins, however - their abilities far exceeded that of their great-grandfather, to the point that these abilities had the potential to create great goodness in the world...or terrible evil.
What was also not known until much later was that the darkness was aware of this fact, and that it used it to its advantage.
The darkness' plan was simple and effective. It was going to persuade one of the Frost twins to join its cause.
Queen Miranda and King Aron had heard rumors of Jack and Jon being in some sort of danger, but they were not certain just what this danger was, or if the Frost twins were truly in need of protection. Nevertheless, the king and queen soon decided that the best way to ensure Jack and Jon's safety was to take them under their care and keep a close eye on them. Old Man Winter had done many good deeds for Coventry's royal family and the rest of its people, so the king and queen also considered their actions to be a selfless debt in repayment to Winter for watching over his great-grandsons.
The twins shortly moved into Coventry Castle, and were each assigned one of the king and queen's magical advisors, men and women who exhibited particular types of magic and were extensively knowledgeable in magical history and the craft in general. Advisors also had the interesting ability to not grow older after they reached a certain age.
Jack and Jon quickly developed strong friendships towards their advisors; one was a sun witch named Ileana, and the other was a moon warlock named Karsh. They were Queen Miranda and King Aron's most trusted and experienced advisors, and had often been called upon in many dire situations.
For awhile, Ileana and Karsh were able to protect their young charges. Being only eighteen hundred at the time, Jack and Jon had been of the opinion that they were invincible and could do whatever they pleased. Well, at least Jack had had that opinion. Being the more free-spirited and mischievous of the twins, Jack could sometimes persuade his reserved but at times smooth-talking brother Jon to pull practical jokes or sneak around prohibited areas of the Castle. With their advisors around to keep them - and Jack especially - in line, however, they could learn to adjust to their new life, and learn that they had to keep themselves and the kingdom safe.
And adjust and learn they did. Five years passed as the twins stayed in Coventry Castle, the king, queen, Ileana and Karsh quickly becoming their extended family of sorts.
There were drawbacks to living at the Castle, however. Jon and Jack were not permitted to leave the grounds, not even to stroll around the gardens. It had been redeemed too dangerous to expose one's self to the outside world, in fear of drawing the darkness' attention. The only time anyone left Coventry Castle was when the king and queen occasionally examined the damage done by the darkness to nearby villages. But they were always brief and careful, and traveled with Karsh and Ileana as their protectors at all times.
Jack and Jon knew this, and were alright with staying in the Castle. But eventually, when the twins turned twenty-two hundred, Jack, the mischievous, trouble-making twin, grew restless. He wanted to venture beyond the safe, cozy little world he had been living in for what seemed like ages. He wanted to actually do something to help the king and queen in their efforts to fight the darkness.
Ileana and Karsh tried to persuade Jack that there was nothing he could do to help, that his priority to remain in the Castle with his brother Jon and make certain their powers did not fall into the wrong hands. But this only stoked the fires of Jack's resentment and anger even more, to the point that one evening, when everyone was asleep, he slipped out of the Castle and ventured out to one of the villages that had been destroyed by the darkness.
Little did Jack Frost know that disobeying the ones he cared for the most would come with terrible consequences.
"I thought I was doing the right thing," Jack piped up. "I thought...that if I went out and tried to reason with the darkness myself that I could single-handedly save Coventry, and put an end to everyone's troubles - including my own."
The winter warlock had stayed silent for a long time by this point, and hearing him now came as a surprise to everyone, including his brother Jon. Also surprising was that Jack's voice sounded so different - soft, strained, and tinged with a deep sadness. It was quite unlike the confident, suave timber of his usual voice, one that frequently teased and laughed and trickled with merry mischief.
But all of that was gone now. A weight in the form of regret had fallen upon Jack's shoulders, crushing his carefree spirit, instilling a grave sense of responsibility within him. It was unsettling even to Bernard how Jack was reacting to this unearthing of his past, because he had never seen the warlock in such anguish before.
"You shouldn't have done it, Jack," Jon said. His head was bowed slightly as if in thought, his eyes diverted to the floor. After a moment, however, those eyes finally flickered upwards to gaze in pity at Jack.
"Why couldn't you listen to the king and queen? To Ileana and Karsh? Everything would have been alright if you had just kept your restlessness at bay and thought about your own safety."
"I wanted to help stop the darkness," Jack growled in reply. "I didn't want to be stuck living at that Castle forever, Jon. I wanted to do something, unlike you...the submissive scholar who hid himself in the library and listened to whatever he was told!"
Jon's face darkened visibly. One of his hands also curled into a fist at his side, and as it did a soft but chilling wind stirred the room, rustling the edges of his robe as well as playing menacingly against Jack's, Scott's, and Bernard's clothing.
"At least I didn't wander foolishly into danger," Jon countered, as he took a step forward. "At least I was the smart one who realized what would happen if the darkness got ahold of winter magic!"
Jack looked for a moment like he wanted to start screaming at Jon, for his face turned blue with rage. But something seemed to calm him somewhat, and within a second his face returned to normal, and his tense figure relaxed slightly. The winter warlock still seemed far from angry when he finally retorted, " I don't want to talk about this anymore. I think it would be best if you'd just leave."
But Jon shook his head firmly. "I'm afraid I can't do that," he insisted.
"And why not?" Jack said through gritted teeth.
"Because I made a promise to someone," Jon replied. Now a sad tone entered his voice just as it had Jack's, and dulled the agitated gleam in his ice blue eyes. "I promised to talk to you about our past, and forgive you for what you did to me, our family, and the kingdom of Coventry. And I promised to apologize for everything I've done to hurt you, as well. The gods only know the kind of squabbles we had over the years."
"Who did you make a promise to?" Jack demanded.
"I'm not at liberty to say right now," was Jon's response.
That made Jack completely snap. In a rush of freezing air and snowflakes, the winter warlock was suddenly standing before his brother, hands furiously gripping the fabric of Jon's robe as he glared with murderous intensity at the bearded warlock. Jon's own stare was full of shock and fear as he stood stock still in Jack's shaking grasp.
"Tell...me...who...you...made...a...promise...to," Jack hissed inhumanly, each word drawn out and dripped in venom.
"E-E-Elisa," Jon stammered. "It was Elisa. S-She was the first one I p-promised."
Just as quickly as Jack's fury had boiled over, it calmed back down. Hardened eyes full of hate now softened with shock, and angry shaking turned to the kind of nervous trembling that meant someone was about to cry. The strength seemed to flee from Jack as well, because his hands fell away from Jon's robe and he took a few unsteady steps backwards; he managed to catch himself on Scott's desk, as he had when he had been surprised by Jon's appearance.
"Elisa?" Jack eventually repeated, his voice climbing an octave. "Y-You spoke to Elisa?"
Jon nodded slowly and cautiously. "Yes," he confirmed. "She came to me a few weeks ago feeling upset about...well, many things really. By the darkness, by the hopelessness of the king and queen...and by you."
"Me?" Jack glanced up briefly in confusion. "Why would she be upset about me?"
"We both know why, Jack," Jon said simply.
Jack closed his eyes and nodded. "Because of what I did to her," he sighed. "Because of the monster I became. She tried to help me, but I was too far gone to care or to listen."
Jon nodded as well. "She told me how much she still misses you, Jack. When I spoke to her she said she wanted to hold you in her arms so badly that she would be perfectly willing to embrace a monster, if only it meant some small part of you was able to love her, deep down. So you see, you didn't completely drive her away. There's a part of her that still longs to be with you."
As Jack inhaled the tears came suddenly to the surface; within a moment he was rubbing his hands up and down slowly over his eyes, trying to obliberate any evidence of his pain. Not that it was much use, really...he had bottled these feelings up for too long, and now they were going to come out whether he wanted them to or not. This was a force beyond his control right now.
Jon came forward after awhile, and wrapped his arm consolingly around his brother. It was a heartwrenching scene to watch Jack bury his face in Jon's robe and let himself go, while Jon himself tenderly stroked long circles against his sibling's back. After several minutes had passed in this fashion, Jon caught the eyes of Bernard and Scott, who had been respectfully and worriedly remaining silent in the background until things wound back down.
Jon offered them a sad smile, before asking quietly, "Would you please excuse us for a moment? I believe Jack and I have a lot to discuss soon, and most of it is not for the ears of anyone but us."
"Of course," Bernard replied, clearing his throat as he turned and made to grab Scott's arm. "We'll come back in awhile to see if everything's alright. In the meantime, you deserve your privacy."
Scott let himself be led out by his head elf as Jon nodded appreciatively. Soon the familiar landscape of his office was left behind him, and he and Bernard were walking down one of the workshop's long hallways. The only sounds were of the two men's footsteps tapping against the floor and reverberating off the walls and ceiling.
"Do you think that Fro...that Jack is alright?" Bernard asked Scott quietly, once they were quite out of ear shot of the Legendary's office and anyone else who might be transversing the Christmassy corridors.
Scott shook his head helplessly in response to his head elf's question. He honestly wasn't sure what to think, or how he could help Jack. And he certainly didn't know what to think about this darkness and Jack's possible role in its war against Coventry - if Scott had interpreted what Jon had said right, then Jack had obviously done some less than noble things in his life. The question was what had Jack done, and how had it affected him, his family, Coventry, and this Elisa person whom he seemed to have loved and lost?
"I don't know if Jack's alright, Bernard," Scott sighed finally, with a shake of his head and a tug of his beard. "I just don't know."
I finally got another chapter out! Hoo-rah! I know this isn't the most action-packed story starting out, but I really want to set up some groundwork before I rush into anything. I hope I can still make this interesting for people, though!
One way I hoped to do that was by creating a love interest for Jack...Elisa. I took the name from the Rankin-Bass movie "Jack Frost," because I love referencing little things like that. Besides the name, my Elisa will be not be like the Rankin-Bass Elisa, however - one major difference being that my Elisa is not human, but rather a magical figure.
Another way I'm trying to make this story interesting is by using flashbacks and foreshadowing. I love utilizing those things in my writing because I personally find that it can grip readers and make them want to find out more. I hope I have accomplished that in this chapter, because a good portion of it was flashbacks and foreshadowing.
Well, there's not a lot more I can say about this. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and are still interested to find out more of what's going on and what has happened!
Finally, onto the disclaimers. I've seen some writers do this, so I'm going to make a habit of doing it too. I do not own The Santa Clause movies, nor do I own any characters (such as Jack, Bernard and Scott) from those movies. I also do not own anything associated with Rankin-Bass. Coventry, Queen Miranda, King Aron, Ileana, and Karsh do not belong to me, either - they are all from the movie T*Witches, and therefore are owned by Disney. I do own Jack's brother Jonathen Frost, as well as my version of Elisa.
(Just a little side note: I made some edits to the last chapter in order to make it a bit more clear, so if you want to brush up on what's going on as well as re-read the edited version of chapter one, I encourage you to do so! :D)
~Felicity-Neverhawk