Author's Notes:
(Thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows. I know I always say it, but I'm really grateful.)
This chapter is going to be short. FJhwufhwuef... I'm so sorry. Chronos will be um, very fun. I'm excited to see what y'all make out of him. But I'll spend the rest of this answering your guys' questions and comments. Also, I was going to try and get this out last night but I became disastrously ill. My apologies, hopefully I get better soon. I planned on making this really long, but now that I'm sick, I just can't. Better something than nothing, right?
Frozen Fate: You have no idea how hard I laughed at your comment about Bunny...! Poor Sandy, being used as the outcome of a race. ;)
Nefarious Seraph 13: I haven't read the Guardians of Childhood series, but I've investigated it. I kinda want to read it, is it good? And no, I didn't know Jack's eyes had snowflakes in them...! MIND BLOWN. Maybe that'll be referenced in a future chapter. ;D
x Cheetah x and Ichigo-chan: I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU WHO IT IS! That'll spoil everything!
someleagueplayer: The update is right here. ;) I try to update on a daily basis but sometimes it takes me a little longer. I write pretty quick; gotta a lotta Slytherin ambition. I finished Summer Shudder in a month exactly; let's see how long it takes me to finish this one.
The New Patron Saints And Angels
Chapter 7
"Wait, really?"
Jack was the one to pipe in first, turning around to grin encouragingly at the other guardians when North had finally mentioned that the Guardian of Time would be joining them. But none of them looked particularly pleased about the new recommendation - especially not Bunny, who cast a wide-eyed glance at North, as if he couldn't believe what he was being told.
"Uh, no. No, no, no. This was not in the job description...!" Bunny mumbled, shaking his head stubbornly multiple times. The response was answered by a sigh of North's, who offered the Easter Bunny a scolding stare.
"Bunnymund..." The burly Russian guardian placed his hands on his waist, like there was nothing else that could be done. "Manny has decided."
But that did not at all soothe Bunny's conscience, before he was reaching up to press both of his ears down over the top of his head in frustration.
"Why?!" He growled, looking back and forth between Tooth and Jack - looking for either of them to oppose to the idea as much as he did. "After what he's done and still continues to do?! This wouldn't even be happening if he hadn't given Pitch the time loop that he wanted!"
"I didn't say we were letting him go." North clarified in a stern voice, narrowing his eyes some. "He will be taken as a prisoner. But we need him to get you and Jack to Arendelle. There is no other way."
Bunny shook his head firmly several times, clearly not about to give in to the instructions any time soon.
"I'm not carrying him around like a prisoner. No way. He can give us a portal just like he gave Pitch."
But then it was Jack's turn to pipe in, feeling genuinely humored at where the situation had gone; even if he didn't know how dangerous it was about to become. The Guardian of Fun shredded the distance between himself and Bunny in a single glide from his staff, landing potently on his feet.
"What's wrong, Honey Bunny?" He grinned, reaching out to pat Bunny on his ears. "Scared of a big bad guardian?"
The action warranted Bunny to smack his hand away, turning to shoot Jack a very grave frown. He held one finger out, like an adult reprimanding a child when he faced Jack again.
"Oi, don't taunt me, you haven't met him." Bunny murmured in a cool voice, green eyes looking searchingly back at Tooth to find her defense. "Tooth can tell you - he ate her fairies whole!"
The thought caused Jack to take a step back, blinking at the thought that anyone would willingly harm any of the Tooth Fairy's faithful minions - let alone eat them. But one mention of such an abhorrent example had Tooth pressing her hands into her face, as if it was the last memory that she wanted to be reminded of.
"Please don't bring that up again... I don't even want to see him." Tooth pleaded softly. Bunny backtracked immediately, as if he might have regretted mentioning it whatsoever. North was the one who cleared his throat after the awkward silence thereafter, luckily.
"You won't, Tooth... Don't worry." He promised in a soothing voice, reaching out to clap Tooth over the shoulder with his big hand. Tooth managed to crack a small smile at being reassured, but Jack's own impulsive voice was quick to bring the topic back into perspective due to his own curiosity...
"He ate your fairies?"
"Jack!" North and Bunny spoke coolly in synchronization together, offering Jack a reprehended expression of their own.
"Sorry, just wondering..." Jack held his hands up innocently, before swiftly rolling his staff over in his hands and throwing it sharply over his shoulder. He shot each of the guardians a nod of determination, grin growing cheeky when as anticipation washed through him. "Anyway, let's get going. I want to give Pitch another piece of my mind."
Just when he had been about to trek out of the Nerve Center however, Bunny cut his destination off with a scoff.
"Don't get cocky, manprincess." He warned reproachfully, folding his arms over his torso.
"Why not? I've learned from the best, haven't I?" Jack jested, looking back at the Guardian of Hope with a crooked smile. Bunny opened his mouth to retort, but North waved his arm in front of them. He looked much grimmer than Jack had ever seen him before, making the white-haired young man take a step back in recognition - just what had Pitch done so far to cause the jolliest character in the world to lose his composure?
"Enough, we're wasting time. Every minute we lose, Pitch is getting stronger." His eyes wandered briefly over Jack and Bunny, before they landed on Tooth with severe genuinity. "Tooth, feel free to go now, if you feel that you must."
It was perhaps the first time that Jack had truly seen Tooth look so uneasy, even when her fairies had been kidnapped the year prior. And for the slimmest second, he held the desire to reach out for her, to reassure the Guardian of Memories that it was going to okay, but just when he thought about doing so - the motion slipped from him. Slow realization slipped into his senses, making him recognize that even he didn't know the danger up ahead. And when Tooth came at him with another embrace to wish him good luck, there were tremors in her arms that Jack felt - wishing that he knew why a shock of terror began to fester down the back of his spine when he touched her.
Thereafter, North led a begrudged Bunny and Jack into the elevator. Minutes passed in silence as the floors fell beneath them. Jack observed the others behind a weathered gaze, wishing that he knew what they were thinking. But he made no additional effort to make commentary, before the doors opening and North was leading them into a dungeon. Blinking, Jack felt a cool open air from the North Pole ripple against his hair. Bunny began shivering beside him, looking back and forth anxiously. Until finally, they were met with the cellar designed to detain a guardian. Jack kept his distance, staring at the bars ahead with curiosity - feeling like if he gave them one touch of his own, he might not live to tell about it. Subsequently, he wasn't given a very long time to examine them, before a figure began emerging from the shadows of the cellar.
Chronos was tall, bearing the appearance of a young man; Jack thought that he looked like he had wolvish features even before he had been made a guardian. His eyes were a ghostly silver, approaching the bars and his visitors with a worn down smile. His hair was long and garnet colored, consumed with the apparent grime that he had lived in for several hundred years - a fact that he bore in testimony to the rags he adorned over his flesh. Jack stared at him curiously, having been expecting someone who looked much older. But he didn't say anything at all - none of them did, they didn't have the chance to so before the Guardian of Time outstretched his arms towards them, as if he might have hugged them if it weren't for the cellar blocking his intentions.
"Oh, my dear brothers, I thought you would be coming for me at last." His voice was deep, yet polite, resonating in a French accent. His pale-eyed stare wandered back between the three accusingly; placing one hand over his heart, as if he was emotionally hurt. "But where ever is Toothiana...? I was hoping to see her again..."
Jack shot an uneasy, sideways glance at North and Bunny; pleased when it was the Guardian of Wonder who answered, especially since he thought that Bunny might snap if Chronos said anything else.
"Tooth has returned to Punjam Hy Loo. You will not be seeing her." North answered sternly. His hands began wandering down to the pockets of his red and black coat, rummaging around for something inside. Jack suspected it must have been the pair of keys keeping the Guardian of Time a prisoner, but his indigo eyes latched back onto Chronos' face again when the guardian began to speak.
"Ah... Such a shame, I've missed her." He pouted, before he looked back at Bunny; wearing a mischievous, darkened smile that stretched widely over his bony face. A vein at the corner of his skull grew tight and prominent underneath his skin when the smile came to his mouth. "What's the scowl for, chinchilla? Aren't you happy to see me?"
"Nothing, ginger. Long time, no see." Bunny twitched at the word "chinchilla", but otherwise, kept himself calm as he tilted his head in recognition. "Tell me, does the carpet still match the drapes?"
"Now is not the time for arguing." North grumbled, sounding as if his patience was growing very thin. Jack laughed, spinning his staff over his shoulder.
"Aw come on, I was enjoying myself." He grinned lightly, turning to wink at Bunny. But he wished that he wouldn't have - because the wolf-faced guardian suddenly had his eyes on him, getting as close to the bars that he could without being burned, to give him a look over for the first time. It was as if he hadn't noticed Jack had been there whatsoever until he had spoken up... A thought that made Jack on alert intuitively, feeling his hand jerk over the handle of his staff while staring down at the silver eyes that gleamed within the darkened cell.
"Ah, Jack Frost. Finally, we meet at last." Chronos greeted him civilly, pacing in front of the dungeon, wearing a smile over his thin lips. At first, Jack vowed not to say anything at all to him, until his next words caused him to nearly double take.
"I've been watching you from my cellar periodically for the last three hundred years... You sure are something else, aren't you?"
"Wait, hold up, you watched me?" Jack asked in disbelief. His eyebrows flied up the span of his forehead at the thought, wondering what the guardian could possibly know about him. Chronos chuckled, nodding once as he placed he folded his arms over his skeletal torso.
"As the Guardian of Time, I can see anyone that I would like during any period of generation." He tilted his head, causing the dirty red layers of hair to sop over part of his face. It startled Jack, to think that someone could bear so much knowledge, but he held his ground; straightening out his shoulders as his eyes intensified on the prisoner. But Chronos' gaze continued to glint back at Jack like a hungry flame, gesturing at Bunny and North with his shoulders. "Didn't these blokes tell you that? Or were they too busy telling you how awful I am?"
Jack was about to answer, but anything that he'd had to say vanished when he heard the sound of the cellar door opening. It creaked and rattled from abandonment as North turned the key of the lock, entering the dungeon and shutting it behind him in a single, swift motion. Chronos' eyebrows lifted, but he didn't look surprised otherwise when North entered the vault with him.
"Oh, you're letting me out? What's the occasion?" He asked tauntingly. Jack continued watching carefully behind the dungeon bars, half-expecting that Chronos would find a way to escape before North managed to get the chains on him. But when North had summoned the long train of handcuffs out of midair, Chronos was surprisingly diligent - Jack supposed it was because he hadn't left the prison underneath the North Pole in hundreds of years. The imprisoned guardian even held his arms out to North, who looked as equally confused as Jack felt, before clasping the bounds over Chronos' hands. The chain attached to the silver cuffs were more like a leash, but even so, Jack could tell that contained massive power to keep Chronos detained.
"Chronos, you've been asked by Manny to help restore Arendelle and defeat Pitch." North looked up, taking the end of the bounds between his hands; luring the guardian out of the cellar. Chronos didn't at all look surprised by the news, especially when North finished them. "Starting with taking these two there."
"Really? Well, I can't say that I'm disappointed... It has been a long time of being your prisoner." Chronos lifted one red eyebrow, casting Bunny a dark smirk. Consequently, Jack did not fail to notice the fact that the Guardian of Time was peering around the outside of the dungeon - as if looking for any chance that he might have to escape, even if his powers were confined.
"Funny joke, dingo. We're not letting you go." Bunny insisted, appearing to have regained his sense of humor now that Chronos was being led around on a leash.
"Bunnymund is right." North answered professionally, gesturing down at the long rows of linked iron with fondness. "You'll be chained in these, which will limit your powers with the exception of time traveling. Jack and Bunny will be keeping you under their belt to make sure you don't escape."
"I'm being babysat?!" Chronos exclaimed, anger rippling over his features - making him look far more like an a vicious carnivore animal than Jack had thought before. But eventually, he sighed and rolled his eyes; allowing to be dragged further down the hallway of the dungeon and back in front of Bunny and Jack. "Fine. But the least you three could have done was invite Toothiana..."
"Bunny, will you do the honors?" North seemed to be ignoring any commentary that Chronos made about Tooth in general, as he held the shambles out to Bunny. Subsequently, the Guardian of Hope pushed them away, shaking his head indignantly at them.
"No way, mate. Jack can take that, I don't want to be anywhere this guy." Bunny growled, shooting Chronos a dark scowl. North gave another gruff exhale, handing the chains out to Jack.
"Jack?"
"Yeah, whatever, I'll do it..." Jack murmured, taking the cool iron between his hands when the burden had been given to him. Chronos looked delighted at the sight, shooting him a smile that showed all of his teeth.
"Oh good, I was hoping that we would be able to get to know each other." He clanked the chains until they hit the ground, sending a dull sound emitting through the dungeon when they impacted with the cement.
"Now remember, when you three get there - try to find Sandy first." North shot a meaningful look at Bunny and Jack both, keeping his stare trained on them both. Regardless, Jack drank the words in, tying the length of the shackles over his hands. "Don't provoke Pitch. It'll be better if he doesn't know that you're there."
Chronos laughed again, higher than ever as he threw his head back.
"Pitch will know we're there as soon as we arrive. Don't kid yourselves, he's been waiting for you."
"Probably because you told him, Garfield." Bunny grunted accusingly. Chronos simply shrugged his shoulders.
"I didn't tell him anything, I've been incarcerated, remember?" His silver eyes flickered from Bunny, to North, and then back to Jack again. "I surmise that you all underestimate the Nightmare King, just like you always have."
By now, Bunny looked intolerant, as though he was ready to thrust a fist into Chronos' head if he heard another word come out of his mouth.
"And it doesn't look like you're going to be released any time soon if you keep talking like that." His eyes narrowed, gesturing towards the elevator. "Come on, North, Jack... Let's get this over with..."
But just when Jack had begun following North's lead, Chronos had gripped him around the shoulder. He tried to pry away, only looking back in time to see that Bunny had been grasped by the guardian as well. Attempting to shrug his staff from his shoulder desperately, Jack felt panicked when a rush of whirlwind began to collect from around the three of them; a portal. And one sound could be uttered, before Jack felt his body being sucked into the air, whether he liked it or not.
"Don't worry. I have this all under control, my sweet brothers. I hope you didn't need to say goodbye to anyone..."
Jack thought that he heard Bunny utter an enraged stream of swear words at the sound of Chronos' promise, but even when he tried to look back to find North, the dungeon, or Bunny, only the feeling of being thrust into the past could overtake his actions. His stomach churned in all directions as his feet were pulled from underneath him, heart pounding ruthlessly against his ribs as thrashing air whirled against him... Only a stream of white, tossing him back and forth could be seen when he pledged to keep his mind open through the seconds of passing through time. But eventually, even Jack couldn't take the feeling of being enclosed and shoved through a tiny opening; tugging his eyes shut as his breath left him.
Until finally, there was a feeling of cool air and green grass beneath him; staff landing next to his side. Jack struggled to compose himself as he pulled himself back up onto his feet, barely able to make out what was in front of him as he clutched the iron chains in his grasp. His head spun and his vision blurred, taking in the familiar scent of summer air that blew at the back of his neck. The way that his ears popped made him realize that they were now somewhere of high altitude, but he couldn't straighten out his sight to see much in front of him as his head pounded.
"Dammit, you... I think I'm going to be sick."
It was Bunny's voice again that brought Jack's senses back into his foresight. He blinked rapidly, looking down to find where Bunny had fallen, looking particularly ill on his position in the grass. Jack attempted to take a step forward, but nearly tripped when he did so; noting now that the three of them had been teleported on a hillside.
"Where are we?" Jack asked, squinting as he peered out to see in front of him. The warmth of the sun from above made it difficult to focus, but he tried his best; attempting to ignore Chronos' sarcastic response when he spun around to find the guardian, sitting upright on the ground with his legs crossed expectantly.
"The North Mountain, I thought it might be familiar to you, of all people... Clearly I was wrong."
And that was when Jack finally retained his sense of direction again. He stared hard, forcing his blurred sight to fade until he was finally able to make out certain landmarks that he had forgotten long ago... Only when he saw the majestic, sculptor of the castle and large body of ocean did he know for certain... And the words that then left him were purely astonished, as he clambered forward uncoordinatedly to get a better look at the country that he had left behind...
"We're in Arendelle."
#OhMyOverland
#QueenofCliffhangers?
#YourEyesAreTooSadForSomeoneSoBeautiful
Sorry sorry sorry. Like I said, I wanted to make this longer but I am so, so, so sick. Like I can't even sit up. I forced myself to get this out... There will be a Jack and Elsa reunion next update though? If that makes you not want to kill me yet.
Love you guys. Jelsa reunion next chapter. More Chronosisms to come.
