I'm seriously blown away by you guys. Over 100 followers and over 100 reviews. I'm speechless. I can't thank you guys enough. Views have skyrocketed (though they have been lowering as of late... need to figure out a way to fix that) and I spend so much of my day just going around grinning now.
I want to give a HUGE thank you to sushi4427; I've been working with her for about a week now (I think?), and I couldn't have done any of this without her. She has a story for Lady Luck that's absolutely BRILLIANT! While I'm not a huge fan of straight couples, I love this story - well written and great concept. Called Luck's Always To Blame - go check it out!
And an EXTRA EXTRA SPECIAL THANK YOU TO sakus, who created a new fanart of Callen, which you can see on the cover! It's absolutely amazing and I cried when I saw it, no joke. Thank you, sakus! You're amazing! If anybody else wants to draw Callen, you're more than welcome to as long as you link the story wherever you're posting :)
On a side note, I've started a little jar of little origami stars. Blue for reviews, pink for followers and yellow for favorites. If you do any of those things, your name will be written on a star and put in the jar. If you review five times, then your name will go in five times. I'll post pics of the jar as my account picture and when it's full, I'll do something special - whatever you guys want; you name it, it's yours, as a thank you :)
Edit: Uploaded the wrong document before! If you've read this before, please read it again because it has some changes and a new scene. Thank you!
Hope you guys enjoy this chapter - and don't forget to review! :)
The library is silent. There would be the sound of flipping pages, if he hadn't been staring at the same page of text for the past several minutes. The text has become a blur of lines and symbols, creating a mesmerizing pattern of swirls and angles that makes his head spin.
He lets out a shaky breath and lays his head on the ancient pages.
"Thought you were supposed to be researching, not sleeping," a voice says from the doorway.
Callen groans as he lifts his head and rests his chin on the book.
Jack's leaning against the doorway, staff propped on his shoulder. "Go away, Frostbite. I'm busy."
"Doesn't look like it."
He glares at Jack. "Why do ya insist on interruptin' all my work?"
Jack shrugs. "Because it's fun." Of course – he was the Guardian of Fun, after all.
"It's also really fuckin' annoyin'." Callen snaps back. He doesn't mean to be snappish, really. But his head is killing him, plus the grin Jack's giving him makes his cheeks flush and blood boil.
"Frostbite, just leave." He resists the urge to say 'please' in favor of his pride. "I have to-"
The intrusion hits him like a boulder, and he grabs at his head. There's a feeling of something creeping into his mind, and suddenly he feels as if he's lost control of his thoughts, his words, his mind. It's a terrifying feeling.
A voice, not his own, echoes in his head. Guardian.
"Gabriel." It comes out as a snarl. Jack seems to jump at bit, and looks at him like he's gone insane.
I forgot you could do this. Callen thinks. Little warnin' next time.
I gave you warning enough. Gabriel says dryly. The being you spoke of has just had an audience with Her Highness.
And? He demands.
Our queen was eager to join his cause. Gabriel replies. We are at one with the dark.
Callen lets out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Anythin' else?
He is with others.
The Irish boy's back straightens, and he can see Jack move out of the corner of his eye. Others? What others?
I do not know. But he had power that was not his own.
Callen nods, even though the fae cannot see him. I thank you, Gabriel.
Do not thank me, Guardian. He plots against you.
Don' I know it. Callen thinks back right before the connection between their minds cuts.
Immediately he feels relief, and freedom as the fae leaves his mind. Somehow he registers that he's breathing ridiculously heavily, and that there are nail marks in the desk from where he's clenched onto it.
Jack's standing with his staff at his side; he'd taken it off of his shoulder, and his fingers are now clenching the wood tightly. "What just happened?"
Callen stands up abruptly, almost knocking over the desk chair as he does so. "Gabriel said Pitch met the Queen." He closes the book and rushes past Jack. "Time t' go, Frost."
Jack flies behind him as he sprints through the halls of the Pole, trying to remember where exactly the others were. Callen, being on the ground, narrowly misses being beheaded by a yeti carrying a tray, and almost trips over an elf.
He spots a blur of turquoise, pink and blue fly by. "Tooth!" He manages to catch her by her wrist and pull her back.
"Hey!" She protests before looking down at who'd caught her. "Oh, Callen! Hi!"
He lets go of her wrist. "We need t' go. Now. Pitch talked t' her."
The smile on her face falls flat, and she looks at him with wide, pink eyes. "You mean-"
"Now, Tooth." He says firmly, rushing past her into the main area of the workshop.
One of the yetis seems to sense his urgency and points somewhere near the control panel of the globe. "Thanks, Paul." Callen mutters as he jogs past.
He spots rabbit ears above the crowd of yetis and elves, and then North's white hair a second later. "North! Bunnymund!"
The two Guardians turn from the control panel to look at him curiously. "Crikey, mate, you look like ya just ran a marathon." Bunnymund exclaims.
"Pitch talked with the Queen." Callen manages to get out. He hears the flutter of wings behind him as Tooth and Jack arrive. "We need t' get t' the Causeway before 'e can use the power."
Immediately, everyone speaks at once. Or rather, North and Bunnymund do.
"Sleigh!"
"Tunnels!"
They turn to look at each other.
Callen waves his hand dismissively. "Sleigh can't land, tunnels can't get close enough. North – slow globe? Won' get us directly to it, but it'll be better than the others."
"Why didn't you think of that before? Would've liked a portal better than a bloody dragon." Bunnymund mutters as North extends a snow globe to Callen.
The glass feels fragile beneath his fingertips, and as he says "Giant's Causeway", the rocks and waves appear in the small globe.
"Because this isn' nearly as fun." He replies with a wry grin as the globe tumbles from his fingers and opens the magic portal.
The feeling of travelling through a portal is one much like a rollercoaster – if a rollercoaster got you places within a few seconds and dumped you out wherever you wanted to go. The swooping sensation in his stomach is both thrilling and terrifying, and he tumbles out head first onto the grass.
The sky is already darker than it was a few hours earlier – cloudy and storming.
He's about to right himself just as something heavy falls onto his back, and the wind is knocked out of him.
There's an apologetic chime as Sandy gets off of him. "Yeah, fine, no harm done." Callen announces, his voice strained a bit as he picks himself off of the ground and brushes himself off, his white t-shirt already stained from the grass and dirt.
"Where is this Causeway?" North asks.
Callen points out a gathering of rocks in the distance, close enough that he can see the entrance. "There."
X_X_X_X_X_X
It doesn't take too long to get there – North's fitter than he seems, and with a half of them flying, one of them hopping and the other two running they reach the causeway just as the skies open up.
"Aw, come on, really?" Bunny asks as he opens his palms to the sky and catches a few raindrops.
Callen carefully climbs to the location of the entrance, trying not to slip on the now slick rocks. "We won't be outside for long."
He can feel the others at his back as he stomps on the rock for the second time that day. The engraving's light seems to have dulled from the use.
The revealing of the entrance isn't nearly as dramatic as before, given that it had been disturbed at least once since he'd come with Jack and Bunny, but he takes a bit of pleasure in the sharp inhales from Tooth and North.
This time, instead of waiting for an escort to come, he ducks inside the alcove.
"Come on. Watch yer step." He waves a hand forward. North has to bend almost completely over in order to get in the entrance.
"Guardians."
Callen glances about the alcove as the rest of the Guardians squeeze in. "Gabriel."
"You should not have come." The fae declares as he walks forward – this time he has a spear, made out of metal and wood with engraved silver vines. He glares at them. "We are preparing for war, against your kind. It is not safe."
"But you've been expectin' us." Callen observes. "You knew we were comin', and prepared t' meet us. I'm not an idiot, Gabriel."
Gabriel's glare focuses on him. "You are not known in the Court for your brilliance, Lochlainn."
Callen stiffens, but returns the glare. "I thought I told ya never t' call me that again. And you're not the brightest fairy either, Gabriel."
"Hold your tongue before I remove it." The fae snarls, his grip on the spear tightening.
Callen tilts his chin up. "Take us t' the Queen, 'n order o' the Guardians."
"Your beloved moon has no power over our Court."
"No, but I do."
"Not any more. Your queen is dead and gone, Guardian. Narissa might have favored you, but our new queen is as forgiving."
"And yet her influence remains. Iridia likes me just as well as Narissa did. Take. Us. Through." Callen says through gritted teeth.
The fae seems to crack, the slightest little fracture in his façade. "Very well. But she will not be pleased."
"When is she ever?" Callen asks, following the fae through the carved tunnel.
"Your tongue will be your downfall."
"Tell me somethin' I don' know."
He waves for the other Guardians to follow him. Tooth stays almost directly behind him, while Jack remains at his side. Sandy's light illuminates the darkened tunnels.
"What is this place?" Tooth breathes, gazing at the rock and crystal walls that shine in the golden light Sandy gives off.
"The entranceway." Callen replies, ducking to avoid a particularly low crystal. "Don' touch anything, don' take anything, and above all don' taste anything."
There's a murmuring of agreement behind him, and he pitches forward as he steps down into an underground cave.
"This is it?" Jack asks as he gazes about the small cavern.
"We have t' go through there." Callen points to a pool of water off to the side of the room.
Jack looks at it warily. "Through there?"
Gabriel is already at the bank of the pool, and steps into the water. He walks forward, slowly, gracefully, and goes beneath the surface without so much of a bubble left behind.
"Through there." Callen confirms.
He takes the lead, this time followed by Bunny and North. "Ya sure this is safe, mate?" Bunny asks.
"Not really, no." He admits.
"Thanks for the honesty."
"No problem."
He walks to the bank of the pool, and steps into the water. The bottom of his jeans is soaked in seconds, and when he's waist-deep he looks back at the Guardians. "Just take a deep breath, walk under, and when the pressure's gone, open your eyes an' breathe." He explains.
Without waiting for a response, he takes a deep breath and goes under.
The water's freezing, and he continues walking along the bottom, eyes clenched shut and lungs burning. Then there's a breeze, the water is gone, and he's standing in another cavern's pool, shivering slightly in his soaking wet clothes.
Gabriel's waiting at the edge, completely dry and watching him in amusement.
Callen hugs himself as he walks to the edge of the bank and turns.
There's a small splash as Jack's head emerges, and he coughs up a significant amount of water. He flails slightly, and Callen moves back into the water to grab a hold of his arm.
Jack's sputtering, and flails as Callen pulls him back to the bank. He collapses on the edge and coughs up more water. He's paler than normal, and shaking like a leaf in the wind.
Callen watches, wanting to do something but not sure what so he settles with asking, "You okay there, Frostbite?"
There's no snarky response, instead a shuddery breath and a small, "Yeah, fine."
They both look as there's another splash from the pool and Bunny comes out of the water. His ears are plastered to his head, and his fur is sopping. He shakes himself like a dog, but yelps as he falls back into the water as North comes up beneath him.
"Whimsy corsiko!" North exclaims as he chuckles, standing and striding out of the water. He spots Bunny who's spitting out water. "Are you all right, old friend?"
Bunnymund glares at him before shaking again, spraying water all over the bearded man.
Tooth and Sandy emerge last. Tooth's shivering, her arms wrapped around herself and her wings drooping slightly. Sandy pats her on the back as he comes up, and she lets out a small sneeze.
"Are you quite finished?" Gabriel asks from his position near an archway leading into another room.
Callen glares at him, but pulls Jack to his feet. The ice spirit stopped coughing a while ago, and is now just shivering, clutching onto his staff.
"Come along." Gabriel says, his tone softening once he looks at Jack. Callen's glare intensifies.
The room the archway led them to looks like a dried out, dead forest, the tree tops extending far beyond what they can see. There's music coming from amidst the trees, and soft whispers and thuds.
Gabriel weaves through the trees, Callen close behind. The music grows steadily louder and the sound of feet against dry grass becomes more apparent as they go deeper.
He stops suddenly as Tooth latches onto his shoulder with a sharp gasp. "Look!"
The Guardians stop at her words, and her whimpers as she points to the source of the swishing sound and the thud of feet.
A dancing circle. There's the creak of bones as almost corpses, some old and dressed in medieval finery while others are dressed in more modern attire dance amidst fairies, who look young and youthful. The fae laugh and play, their unwrinkled hands locking with skeletal fingers, the skin rotting away. There are more than a few sets of armour, the helmet put aside to reveal the sunken skin of what was once a noble knight.
Callen feels Tooth's face pressed into his shoulder. "Mortals deceived by the fae. Don't look." He says sternly. "They're alive by magic, nothin' more."
He hurries them past to where Gabriel is waiting by a clearing.
Gabriel holds up a hand to halt them before peering into the clearing. "My lady, I have brought guests."
"Gabriel, I told you-" A feminine voice says, then pauses. "The Guardians."
"Yes, my lady."
"What business do they have with us?" Her tone is sharp now, sharp as the crystals in the first cavern.
"I know not, but Lochlainn has joined them."
There's a rustling of skirts and silk, before a silky voice speaks.
"Welcome, Guardians."
That's all for now! Hope you liked it! :)
