CHAPTER SEVEN

"North's History Lesson"

Nicholas St. North was not a happy man when he discovered that half the areas Jack Frost promised to cover in snow remained unfinished. He was fully prepared to give a very loud lecture to the youngest Guardian about responsibility and keeping promises when Jack came through the door that morning, utterly exhausted and smelling of seawater.

"What has happened?" Jack slumped into a chair between two yetis as North called for a blanket and cookies.

"Let me just ask this: has there been any sign of Pitch Black?"

North nearly dropped the tray of cookies he'd plucked from an elf. "The Boogeyman? Why you mention him?"

"Just tell me already," Jack scowled at North. "I had a really long night and I need to know."

North raised a bushy eyebrow. "No, Boogeyman has not troubled us since we defeated him," he pushed the plate toward Jack, who weakly waved the tray away. "I would feel it if he did. In my-"

"-Belly. Yeah, yeah," Jack said. Groaning, he leaned forward and wiped his hands over his face. "Then we have another problem."

North sat the cookies aside and pulled up a chair, sitting on it backwards so he could cross his arms over the top. Jack explained the events of that early morning, and he could see the Guardian of Wonder's eyes growing more concerned. By the end of his tale, Jack felt more worn than he had during the actual battle.

"You say this happen at sea?"

Jack snorted. "Well, it certainly didn't happen in a bathtub."

"No need for being smarty-pants." North stood up.

"What? You know something about this?"

North crossed his hands behind his back and looked away. "I admit...it does sound familiar." He glanced toward Jack and waved him to follow. "We go to office. Finish talk there."

North pulled an old book from his desk. He tossed it in Jack's lap, and then settled himself into his own chair.

"What's this?"

"Have you ever heard tale of Davy Jones?"

Jack looked at North, puzzled. "As in 'Davy Jones' locker'? Yeah, who hasn't?"

"It might surprise you," North linked his fingers together, "that tale is not tall tale."

"I don't follow."

North gestured for him to open the book. Jack flipped it open and turned through the pages. He quickly realized it was less of a textbook than a photo album. There were pictures of the Man in the Moon and the Guardians, Pitch Black, and a few spirits he vaguely recognized-the Groundhog and the Leprechaun, among others. Then there were sketches and photos of demons he recognized only from stories North told him (including a very hideous picture of an old witch named Baba Yaga, which was so realistic that Jack had to turn the page to stop the shivers running down his spine).

Finally, he turned to a page with a single sketch and a simple caption:

"'Davy Jones, Keeper of the Deep'," he looked up at North. "Davy Jones is real?"

North nodded. "A spirit like you and I, made by Man in Moon many years ago. You ever heard of Jonah and big fish?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with Davy Jones?"

"Years ago, many demons walked earth. Horrible demons. They slay men, women, children," North emphasized with disgust, "for no reason other than to feed endless craving for evil. They were here before Manny, and he was not able to destroy them. Instead, he create spirits to control them. To protect-"

"-Children. Yeah, yeah, I-"

North, one eyebrow raised, looked at Jack warningly. Jack cleared his throat nervously.

"Sorry. Continue?"

"As I was saying," North said, raising a hand to gesture towards the sky, "Man in Moon choose spirits to protect children." He propped his elbows on the desk and leaned into his linked hands. "But sometimes," North said sadly, "in ways that not even Man in Moon wish he must."

"Like with fear and allowing Pitch to survive?"

"Yes," North nodded, "and worse."

Jack crossed his arms over himself, awaiting the explanation. He had seen North sad before, but the sorrow in those eyes, usually full of wonder, that put Jack on edge.

"There was once great demon who roamed ocean."

So I guess Jamie's question has an answer: sea monsters exist. "Yeah?"

"He called by many names, but name we know him by is Leviathan."

Jack waved his hands in front of himself. "Wait a minute...the Leviathan? That thing's real?" Vaguely, he recalled hearing sailors speak of an enormous sea monster, but he figured it was just superstition. After all, Jack hadn't seen anything of the sort in his three hundred-plus years.

"Yes, Jack Frost. Leviathan is real. Real demon. For centuries, he roam waters unchecked, attack any ship he please. He swallow man whole, feed on their terror and despair. He take so many ships that people fear sea monster attack at any time. Many time, he did so, leaving only single survivor to tell tale."

"So what happened to him?"

"One day, Manny make new spirit: Davy Jones. Davy Jones fight Leviathan. In end, Leviathan try to flee back to Hell, but Hell would not open for him. Instead, he was forced to bargain with Davy Jones. Souls marked for sea still die. But now they can die peacefully, not live forever in torment as part of Leviathan."

"In Davy Jones' locker," Jack felt the bile rising in his throat. "That's terrible."

North nodded. "Is terrible, but," he said, and then held up a finger, "is necessary evil. When Jones fight, many ships escape. Less people believe in sea monster. Leviathan unable to do evil unchecked."

Jack hopped out of his chair. "But people still die, North! They die on the seas even today."

"And Davy Jones keeps those who would live alive and the innocent untouched by Leviathan-"

Jack slammed his hands down on North's desk, glowering, his face so close to the older Guardian's that he could have bitten off an eyebrow, had he been any angrier.

"There were children," Jack said lowly, "on that ship. I spent half a night busting icebergs spinning around in a whirlpool that came from out of nowhere and trying not to wind up a Guardian porcupine from all the harpoons thrown at me from Manny-Knows-What was down there. Not to mention nearly losing Jamie Bennet to an accidental swan dive into the Pacific Ocean."

North's eyes narrowed at him.

"I don't care if the Man in the Moon thought it would be better to make this Davy Jones character to start some grotesque balance in deaths at sea. But believers or not, if I hadn't been there, that ship would have been chopped up in an iceberg blender!"

Jack shoved himself away from the desk and took up his staff.

"You told me that the Guardians protect children," he said darkly. "It's hard to protect children when you're letting a demon and a corrupt spirit drown them. See you later, North."

Before North could say another word, Jack marched smartly out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

Out again in the open air, Jack took to the skies as fast as the wind could carry him. He wanted to see Jamie, the first kid to believe in him. He wanted to look into his face and tell himself that he would never let the Leviathan touch him or another child ever again.

Davy Jones, I don't know who you are, but you're no longer needed. So long as Jack Frost exists, the Leviathan will never make a meal of another child. I swear it!