Hey, guys! Here's the first chapter to arc two! It's not as drama-filled as arc one, hence the hurt/comfort genre in addition to the drama, but hopefully you guys will like it as well. :) It's still covering things that my early betas had really wanted covered. This would have been a single arc story if not for them telling me what else needed to happen in the story for them to feel it was complete.
Also, sorry for skipping yesterday. I just couldn't deal with editing and then posting yesterday, so I apologize. I have this chapter taken care of now at least. I don't yet know how many chapters arc two will be broken into, but it's a little bit shorter than arc one, so it probably won't be as many chapters. Arc three might be even shorter, but we'll see. It depends on where I find natural breaks in the storytelling.
Anyway, thanks for your patience and your loyalty to this story. I love you all! Enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians or the Guardians of Childhood.
He was losing his place. That much was clear, and Jack was not happy about it. Not one little bit. Why had the Man in the Moon thought it a good idea to turn him into a Guardian when Earth's temperature was rising? He had to have known said wintery Guardian wouldn't be able to last in that position for long. Jack grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest. The guy probably had indeed planned on this. Manny had wanted Jack to take over his job on the moon, even though Jack hadn't been so keen on the idea.
Jack sat against a window at North's workshop and wistfully looked out at the ice spreading out as far as he could see. He could still pretend for the time being that he was in the middle of a large continent filled with ice. Where the children came out to play with him in the snow every day.
The winters on both sides of the planet had been getting warmer, forcing him to retreat earlier each year. The north pole hadn't melted yet. But North still made preparations to move his workshop once there wasn't enough ice. There was no way Jack wanted to give up all this, but at the rate things were going, did he have a choice?
A bright light penetrated the stillness, and Jack looked up in time to see a moonbeam rushing toward him. He rolled his eyes and huffed. "Oh, it's you. What do you want this time?"
The moonbeam reached him in less than a moment. It spun around him as it relayed its message before departing back to where it had come from. Another eye roll from Jack, and he stood up. "Alright, fine. It's not like I have anything else to do today anyway." Jack stepped over to the area of the floor covered with the symbol of the Guardians. He raised his hands in an exaggerated gesture and said, "Beam me up!"
Within the space of about two seconds, Jack Frost vanished from Earth and reappeared on the moon. The trip didn't faze him as it had the first few times Manny had called him up to the moon. He had since made so many trips up to the moon that he was now getting quite used to it. The man had insisted he teach Jack to take over regardless of whether Jack accepted the position. Jack wasn't sure how to argue with that. Over the past few decades, Jack had gotten familiar with the operations of MIM Industries. He could take over if he actually wanted to. But who would want to give up being a Guardian?
Well, there was that one annoying little problem of him becoming unable to handle the heat. But couldn't Manny make him a more heat-resistant body so he could do his job better on Earth? The trick was convincing the guy to do it.
"Ah, hello, Jack!" Jack then found his back accosted by a couple eager slaps from the little man. "Just in time. We're trying to sketch up some designs for Fiona, but you have a much better eye for that than I do." Jack nodded and fell into step behind the Man in the Moon as they went to the meeting room. Fiona was a girl who was about to be turned immortal. MIM Industries had asked her permission at Jack's insistence. It would have messed her up in the head if they hadn't asked first. Manny had not argued with him and went along with Jack's demand.
"So what are we working on today?" said Jack as they stepped into the meeting room. "Did you figure out the sequins on her dress yet?"
"Yep," said Manny, who then gestured to one of the other staff members in the room. "Minerva handled that. But we thought you could give some insight into her hair since you actually know what it's like to be a nature immortal."
"Ah," said Jack, and he took his seat as he thought through this problem. Fiona was going to be in charge of developing a form of nature he didn't know too well. The plants and animals were adapting to a hotter climate on Earth. She would make sure Earth transitioned safely into a different climate cycle.
"Well," said Jack, "the weather is getting restless on Earth, which means that she's going to have to face windy days. We want hair that doesn't get too tangled. I would recommend that it have no more than a slight wave if it's to be longer hair than mine. And I don't recommend designing it to go past her shoulders, unless she has expressed a desire to tie her hair back."
The staff took down his words on their transcription boards. Jack still thought they resembled high tech clipboards more than anything. One person printed out a digital sheet of paper with his device and handed it to Jack. He loved this technology. It let him hold paper like old times. If he decided that he didn't need it anymore, he could delete it and the paper would vanish. Without creating waste.
"What about the color?" someone said.
Jack raised an eyebrow and regarded a strand of his own hair as he pondered the question. "Well, definitely not white if she's going to be dealing with heat." That earned a chuckle or two as he flashed his characteristic smirk and rocked back in his seat. "People who live in hotter climates usually have darker hair for a reason. It protects their scalp from sunburn."
The staff jotted this down and the new point appeared on his paper. It was another advantage of using this digital variety. Jack proceeded to brainstorm with the staff about different hair types. Then he demanded they call up Fiona herself and get her take on a couple options he was considering. He believed the person in question should have much more say on the body they were going to inhabit. Within a couple hours, they had agreed upon an acceptable design for the hair. They then sent it off to the hair designer.
Jack stretched and stood up. "Well, not like this isn't fun or anything, but I need to go and find some sort of trouble to get into before I lose my mind." All the other staff members laughed, used to Jack's behavior by now. He left the room and soon noticed that Manny himself had followed him, who then proceeded to clap Jack on the back.
"Well done, Jack. I knew you'd be able to help us iron out that problem. We often get stuck on the hair."
Jack looked up at his own hair in response to this. He had always wondered why the Man in the Moon had chosen to make his hair white, of all things. "Gee, you think?" He then chuckled and began to wander down the hall, knowing Manny would follow him. He didn't mind. It was better than pining to go out causing trouble somewhere other than the north pole. The moon was considerably larger.
"Hey, Manny," said Jack, taking an awkward breath and then deciding he might as well blurt out what was on his mind. The Man in the Moon's attention was on him anyway. "You spend all this time designing bodies for all these other people to help them do their jobs better... but what about me? I'm restricted to a very small part of Earth nowadays."
Manny chuckled and patted Jack on the back. "We know, Jack, we know. We've been recreating your back up bodies in our spare time. We haven't been as rushed with you since you actually do have back ups, even if they're not ideal for you anymore."
Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Wait, you actually have been working on it?" At the nod from Manny, Jack decided to press his luck a little further. He asked the next question that had been eating at him. "What is going to happen with my powers? I mean, I won't be able to go around throwing snow everywhere if I have a more suitable body, will I?"
This only prompted a laugh from Manny, who shook his head and then assured Jack that he'd find out soon enough. "Your first back up should be ready within a few days."
"Really?" Jack bounced on his heels in excitement. While he didn't relish the idea of switching bodies again, he looked forward to going wherever he wanted. "Will I still be able to fly?"
Another laugh from the Man in the Moon. "Why don't you wait and see?"
"Aww, but that'll take forever!" The Man in the Moon patted Jack on the back and chuckled again. "What's so funny?"
"I enjoy hearing you talk," said Manny. "You didn't used to talk all that much."
A snort from Jack was the answer to that. "When have I ever been quiet? I mean, have you met me?"
Another laugh was the only answer Jack got to that.
Can anyone figure out what I'm hinting at yet? This arc has only just started and barely has its conflict in place, but I'm still quite curious about where people think it's going. XD
Anyway, thanks for reading. I'll post up the next chapter soon! Take care, and see you next time!