The Boy in the Tower

by Sirenfox

Chapter 12: In Which Jack Meets North,

(and Gets a Pair of Shoes)

The midafternoon sun danced across the dunes of snow, which glittered and gleamed like fairydust. A young frost spirit could be seen flitting about like a little fox, sending puffs of white powder into the air and leaving all sorts of strange tracks and indents in the soft surface.

Trailing behind the flighty boy was Bunny, his dark grey fur a stark contrast against the sea of blinding white. There was a gentle smile on his lips as he watched the boy play. He'd never seen Jack so happy and carefree before, and it set his own heart alight.

Seeing him like this, the buoyancy of youth and that dazzling smile he kept shooting back at Bunny, well, he just couldn't bring himself to hurry the boy up. No matter how cold and uncomfortable Aster himself was getting. The boy deserved to have this moment to revel in the world outside that gloomy little prison.

But the longer they were out, the colder Aster got, his coat had never really been enough to keep out the chill of the Pole. He wasn't built for this type of climate, and if he were with anybody else he would be throwing a fit by now. But he wasn't with anyone else, he was with Jack. And he couldn't quite bring himself to ruin the boy's fun.

So Aster trudged along behind the energetic boy and tried not to bring attention to his violent shivering, even as he hunched into himself and his ears bowed down along his skull to keep warm. His paws had long since gone numb and his fur was puffed up like a spooked cat.

It didn't take long at all for Jack to outpace him, but the boy was going in the right direction so Aster wasn't too concerned, he'd catch up to him eventually and Aster was just too cold to walk any faster than a snail's pace.

Contrary to what Aster thought, it didn't actually take Jack very long to realize Bunny was no longer with him. He had been laughing gaily and turned to say something to his friend, wanting to include him in this overwhelming swell of happiness he was experiencing, only to realize that Bunny wasn't anywhere to be seen.

The happiness that had been carrying him high for the last hour or two vanished in the blink of an eye and panic swept in to take its place, carried on raven's wings that threatened to smother him.

Where was Bunny? Why couldn't he see him? Had the human brought him here just to leave him? Was it a trick? Was he trapped in this wasteland of nothing but snow and sunlight with no way to get home?

He was never going to see his father again!

He wrestled the panic down and tried to be rational about this. "Bunny?" He called out, weakly; eyes sliding all over the snow and ice directly around him, Hoping he was wrong, but knowing he wasn't. When no one answered him Jack grew frantic, darting back the way he had come.

"Bunny! Bunny, where are you!" He screamed, his heart in his throat and tears frozen on his lashes, unable to fall down his cheeks.

His screaming must have caught Bunny's attention because not a second later the human was there, grabbing him out of the sky and turning him this way and that. "Jack? What's wrong? Are ya hurt?"

Jack collapsed against him, burying his face in the soft tuft of fur under Bunny's chin. Relief flooded through him, he felt like a leaf tumbling through the wind and it left him with trembling hands. "I'm ok." He breathed out after a moment, pulling out of the human's embrace and ducking his head against his rising embarrassment. "Where did you go?"

"Ah, well, I just fell behind a bit. Me paws don' like walking through all this snow." Bunny explained, and Jack couldn't keep his eyes from darting down to Bunny's feet. It took a moment for the human's words to register with his post-panic-brain. Bunny was cold. Of course he was, he only had his fur to keep him warm. The human wasn't like Jack, who never felt the cold bite of the snow on his own bare feet. He felt like the most inconsiderate person in the whole world.

But Bunny didn't seem to be thinking along the same lines and just smiled tiredly down at him before he began walking again. Jack noted how he was not walking on the snow, like Jack, but through it. His paws sinking into the soft layers sitting on top and dragging lines through the snow behind him. Jack hadn't even noticed, but it was really no wonder he was so cold.

Now that they were moving again Jack stuck close, hovering over Bunny's shoulder and refusing to stray. He was half afraid Bunny would disappear again. He felt horrible that he thought Bunny would ever just leave him out here. That was something Aster would do, but Bunny was nothing like him. And Jack knew that, he did. And yet he had somehow allowed his paranoia to paint Bunny in a different light, and he hated himself for it.

"How long till we get there." He asked with a frown. Now that he was aware of Bunny's discomfort he just wanted this trip to be over. Any enjoyment he'd found in the snow had been sucked out of him with the panic and subsequent concern.

Bunny shot him a sidelong look, his lips quirking up on one side slowly, "We're here." He answered, and the words were so unexpected that Jack stalled and almost fell out of the sky. Bunny snorted softly in amusement, but elaborated when it was apparent that Jack didn't believe him, "Go wait fer me up on that ledge just up ahead. You'll see."

Jack hesitated, not wanting to leave his suffering friend behind. But in the end, his curiosity got the better of him and he couldn't stop himself from darting forward to witness for himself just what was waiting for them.

He wasn't disappointed. As he crested the top of the hill, the ground, and snow, seemed to drop out from underneath him leaving him with a perfect view of the colorful city built into the side of the sharp mountain of ice and snow in front of him.

Jack's jaw hit the snow along with his feet as Wind set him on the ground; all he could do was gape like a fish out of water at the wonder in front of him. He had never seen anything like it before, not in any picture his father had brought back, not described in one of the many books shoved into random corners in the tower. He could never have come up with something so fantastic, not even in his wildest dreams.

It was bright and colorful, surrounded by such pristine white, the snow only emphasizing it's exotic beauty. The city sprawled outward, almost seeming to crawl across the landscape as if trying to touch as much of the world as it could. The air around it almost seemed to thrum with energy that Jack could feel even from the other side of the sweeping valley. It was such a strong sensation that Jack was almost vibrating with it.

It was a little disconcerting.

"What is that place?" Jack asked as Bunny stepped up beside him, overlooking the Valley.

"That," Bunny told him, "Is Santoff Claussen." He was puffed up proudly, as if he himself had built the place and there was a smug look in his green eyes that Jack was curious about.

Human's were weird. To be so proud of his friend's home.

Unless this was where Bunny lived too, that would explain the pride Jack could see shining through the human's smile. It was the type of pride that stemmed from being a part of something great.

He must really love it here.

"It's so big!" Jack said, still not over that particular detail. He hadn't known cities could be so large.

The human chuckled, reaching out to ruffle Jack's hair, Jack pretended to huff in annoyance but secretly reveled in the contact. "E's got a lot 'a company. E's got his yetis an his elves, plus he's a pretty busy person most a the year, needs someplace to store all the toys he makes." Bunny explained as he started picking his way down the snowy dune.

Yetis? Elves? Toys? "Wait." Jack interrupted as he followed him down, floating horizontally beside the man for a bit just so he could see Bunny's face, "You don't live here?" He'd been so sure Bunny lived with North. They were obviously close friends, and weren't humans supposed to be very social creatures? If he didn't live here, then where did he live?

Bunny paused, obviously caught by surprise at the question, and glanced sideways at the boy flying beside him. "Ah...no. Ah don' live at the Pole. Like ah said before, too cold. Ah'd freeze me tail off."

It was probably meant as a joke. But Jack didn't think it was all that funny, his brain getting stuck on what a big loss that would be...Bunny's tail was cute.

He forcefully shook that thought away and focused on their conversation, which was more than enough to keep him interested, "Okay, so if you don't live here, then where do you live?" He asked, unable to contain his curiosity. The questions always seemed to just bubble forth unbidden. Jack might have been mortified, but Bunny didn't seem to mind the interrogation and he appeared more than willing to give the boy a few answers.

"Somewhere around Australia. Although ah've been known ta move around quite a bit." That got Jack's attention.

"You travel a lot? Really?" He shouldn't be so surprised, the human wouldn't have been able to find him if he hadn't been out exploring, but it was such a strange thought. Especially to the boy who had never left the only place he'd ever known in three hundred years. Traveling freely seemed like a fantasy, a dream that was nice to think about but wasn't really attainable. "Tell me about it, please?" He was practically begging, but he was so eager to hear more he didn't feel the need to hold back. Not like he did with his father.

Bunny shot him another look, one Jack couldn't read but he didn't seem upset, especially when he asked, "What did ya wanna know?"

"Everything!"

Listening to Bunny talk about the different places on earth he had visited seemed to make the walk to the city strangely short. Before he knew it, Jack was walking through the city streets towards the large palace-like structure at its center. Jack was in awe as he followed Bunny into the expansive building, his head whipping this way and that in order to witness every wonderous new thing he came across. Bunny had called this place the Workshop, at one point, and Jack had been skeptical at first. But now that he was inside it made far more sense.

There was a heavy layer of magic permeating the building, a thick presence that clung to everything. It was a familiar pressure, one Jack was used to feeling back at the Tower. Yet at the same time it was fundamentally different. This magic was giddy and light and made Jack feel like he could simply float away.

It was a far cry from his home, which was always cold and dark, the magic thick and heavy, a cloak meant to keep him hidden from the world. Keep him safe, yet it had weighed him down and kept him tethered to the tower.

Jack had never felt so free before. And that scared him. He almost didn't want to go back. Which was ridiculous, of course. The Tower was his home; he was just being dramatic.

He would go back, he had to go back. But in the meantime there was so much to see, so much to explore.

Like the large furry creatures, much larger and Hairier than Bunny, but Jack preferred the long human ears and cute fluffy tail. The creatures bustled about the different floors, all of them with their arms full of one strange contraption or another. And all of them busily working around the two newcomers, in a very literal sense: lifting boxes above their heads and twisting their large bodies away from any possible collisions, keeping their precious projects out of harm's way as they walked through the teeming mass of bodies.

Jack quickly found himself overwhelmed by the press of people. There were just so many of them and every single one of them towered over Jack by at least two heads.

Frankly, it was intimidating.

Understandably, Jack stuck to Bunny's side like a pale white shadow. Not that Bunny seemed to mind at all, smiling down at him fondly, "It's alright Jack. The yetis arn' gonna 'urt ya. Promise."

So those were the yetis, he didn't know how he felt about them, they were so large and he couldn't understand anything they were saying. But Jack would admit, if only to himself, that the human's words calmed him down and helped him to relax.

Or, at least it helped until he tripped over some pointy green, red, and gold pest that darted between his feet with a light musical jingle.

Jack yelped, bare feet dancing around the small creature and it's equally pointy/musical entourage. Before anyone had a chance to calm the boy down he'd climbed Bunny like a tree and was perched on the taller man's shoulders, his bare toes buried in the man's soft fur and his staff shoved in front of Bunny's face, pointing at the little monsters that had attacked him. "What the bloody hell are those?" He hissed, slipping into his father's accent completely by accident.

"Ah, those are elves." A loud voice boomed from behind him, causing the flighty Jack to spin around sharp as the crack of a whip, his staff waving wildly through the air (a yelp escaped Bunny as he got clobbered in the side of the head by the scrambling frost sprite.) Before pointing at the newcomer, little sparks of ice exploded from the staff in response to his alarm and showered his human perch in a thin layer of snow.

He didn't realize he was now hugging Bunny's head, the man's face pressed into his shirt as he peered at the new threat from between the long pointed ears at the stranger, "They are harmless." The man said, "Dingle!" The man shouted, causing Bunny's ears to flatten to his head. "Bring Jack welcome present!" The man's voice was loud, echoing through the large spacious room and up passed the open floors above them.

At the command one of the so called elves saluted sharply, the little bell on his...hat? ...head?...tinkling merrily with his every move. He and his followers jogged off to a cacophony of jingling bells.

Bunny carefully peeled Jack off his face and turned to address the stranger, carefully setting the boy on his feet beside him.

Jack carefully positioned himself behind Bunny's bulk as he observed the goings on. "Who's that?" He asked Bunny in a loud whisper.

Bunny just reached back and pulled Jack to stand in front of him, much to Jack's obvious displeasure (what if this was one of Them? Sure the man didn't look dangerous, but looks could be deceiving!) Bunny did keep his paws on Jack's shoulders, as if sensing Jack's nerves, for a bit of moral support, as he made introductions.

"Jack, this is North. North, meet Jack Frost." Jack stared at the big man in confusion. This was Bunny's friend? He glanced over his shoulder at the human before looking back at North.

No fur, despite the thick white mass of hair on the man's face. No long ears or jutting muzzle. And he was almost positive there was no tail. The man looked nothing like Bunny.

The man, North, was saying something, but Jack had no idea what, and at this point didn't really care. "Wait!" He interrupted, causing North's voice to trail off, his mouth hanging open. It was as if he was surprised anyone would ever interrupt his speech. "I thought you were human too." There was an accusation in his voice as he eyed the new person with suspicion.

There was a moment of shocked silence before the big man barked with laughter, his whole body shaking with the force of it. Jack frowned, not liking being laughed at. "Is very funny." The man huffed out past the peels of mirth.

But for once, Jack was serious. There was no teasing smirk, no laughing eyes, just a blank, confused expression with just a hint of ire at being laughed at.

"What do ya mean, mate? Course e's a human." Bunny asked delicately, sensing Jack was at the end of his rope.

Jack focused his attention on his friend, trusting him completely to answer his questions and ease his confusion without feeling the need to laugh at him.

"I- but...he doesn't look anything like you. He doesn't have any fur and his ears are all wrong." He explained, casting another confused look back at North.

Bunny stared at him blankly for a long moment as he puzzled out the boy's words. "Jack...did ya think ahm human?" Caught off guard by the question, Jack nodded slowly, he had an uncomfortable feeling he knew where this was heading. He wasn't stupid...he was just stupid. "Ah'm not human Jack. You an North are, but ahm not."

"But, if you're not human…" Jack asked slowly, as his whole world was turned shifting around him, "Then what are you?" It wasn't meant maliciously, or rudely and Bunny didn't take it that way, but he also didn't know how to answer that question. He didn't know exactly what Pitch had told the boy in regards to the Guardians. If he had told Jack Aster was a pooka and Aster admitted it, that would spell disaster. But he also didn't want to lie to him.

"That's a complicated question, snowflake. Ah guess ya could say ahm a bunny."

The Easter Bunny.

But again, Aster didn't say that, unsure how much would be too much.

Jack closed his eyes, rubbing his fingers against his temples as he tried to process everything. He was overwhelmed, and he felt as if his brain was shutting down, and refusing to intake any more information.

He wasn't sure what he thought about this new turn of events, but he was sure of one thing, Bunny was hiding something from him. And he didn't know how he felt about that either.

He still trusted Bunny, but he also felt a bit of betrayal. A seed had been planted, and he was struggling not to water it and let it grow.

Bunny was his friend. It was as simple as that.

So he gathered up all his confusion and suspicions and shoved them in that box in the back of his mind and locked them all away. He'd think about this all later.

A heavy hand clamped down on his shoulder, causing him to jump. He hadn't been paying any attention to what was happening around him, too focused on his chaotic emotions. But now he was being forced to pay attention, North's face inches from his own."Perhaps you would like to see your room? Settle in before lunch." North suggested, his voice gentle and his eyes kind. He was still standing far too close and Jack was beyond uncomfortable with the man's large hand on his shoulder. He inched closer to Bunny as subtly as he could, "Sounds good, thanks."

His room.

The situation came slamming back to the forefront of his mind, banishing all of his other worries as his anxiety came rushing in. He was staying here, away from the tower.

For days.

It was both exhilarating and terrifying. But at least Bunny would be there with him. That made up for everything else.

The trio marched up a staircase, winding through countless halls. North pointed out random rooms to his guests like a good host and Jack was sure it was all very fascinating. But he wasn't paying any attention to what the man was saying, he spent most of the walk wondering how the building seemed to be carved out of ice in some places and wood and stone in others.

It was all very strange. The artistry was remarkable and the ice was kept perfectly frozen...probably with magic.

Then North came to a stop in front of a large wooden door, an expression of pure anticipatory glee on his ruddy face, "Well, go on." He urged when Jack made no move to open the door.

Jack moved into place cautiously, the door looming large in front of him. Everything inside of him was screaming out "IT'S A TRAP!" But Bunny didn't say anything nor did he become defensive, so Jack figured that it was safe enough and he was just being paranoid.

That was something he had firmly decided he wasn't going to let control him again, so he ignored it completely and pushed the door open edging his way inside, blue eyes narrowed suspiciously while they scanned the room. It was a large spacious area with two bay windows taking up the majority of one wall, a large green pine tree was sitting in front of it decorated with small colorful glass baubles and real tea-light candles that flickered magically amongst the branches.

Jack tore his gaze from that eyesore, only to be accosted by another disguised as a bed. The bright green blanket was decorated with a picture of a reindeer with a bright red nose surrounded by brightly colored packages. There were far too many pillows, each a different contrasting color as well as an assortment of stuffed animals. Wrapped around the jutting bed posts were red fairy lights that cast a eerie glow on the elf standing in the center of the monstrosity of a bed.

Jack stared in horror at the little person, who was smiling doofily as he waved his hands at a pair of bright blue, alarmingly pointy, shoes perched next to it on the bed.

Were those bells dangling from the pointy toes?

When Jack just continued to stare in mute disbelief, the elf's fingers started to jiggle and shake as he struck a pose, and made a face at Jack. He was obviously waiting for a reaction.

Jack was not willing to indulge him and turned his attention to North, who had squeezed through the door and was taking up a sizable portion of the room, looking immensely proud of himself. "Dis is your room." He declared, "Is nice , yes?"

Jack ignored the question to ask one of his own, "And that?" He demanded in disgust, pointing at the offending article of clothing and it's little cheerleader.

"Welcome present." North announced sending a fond smile at the elf.

Jack's bright eyes narrowed, "No." He hissed, sweeping the offending item off the side of the bed with a brush of his staff. He was immensely satisfied with the quiet thump and tinkle of the bell as they hit the floor.

Jack watched in bemusement as the elf, Dingle?, leapt off the bed, diving for the shoes, and hugged one of the horrid things to his chest.. The little elf glared up at Jack as if he'd committed a crime. The elf began to pat the item comfortingly, murmuring to it in a high pitched voice in another language that Jack didn't recognize and thought might actually be complete gibberish.

Once the elf had deemed the footwear comforted he huffed, glaring up at Jack accusingly before marching over to stand at Jack's feet. He began to immediately scold Jack in that high squeaky voice of his, arms waving about like they were made of jello and tiny finger stabbing into Jack's calf repeatedly. Jack may not have recognized any of the words issuing from the small creatures' mouth, but he could take a guess. The elf kept gesturing wildly at the shoes then leveling a pointed glare at Jack, his feet, then back at the shoes. Jack thought the Dingle wanted him to put them on.

Not happening.

To get the pest to stop harassing him and leave, Jack frosted him over with a quick tap on the head with his staff. Once again losing sight of the danger his magic posed he allowed it free watching as ice spread over the small creature like thin sparkly vines locking him in place and allowing Jack to step over him, completely unconcerned, into his new room.

Behind him North poked at his frozen worker with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Is useful trick." He told Bunny, who snorted in amusement.

Well, he wasn't wrong, Aster wished he could so easily take care of the pesky elves.

They watched as Jack went around the room and started rearranging things. He opened the window and chucked the shoes outside, sending them flying with a little help from Wind. Then he set his staff against the wall and headed for the bed. He stripped the blanket off, dropping it on the floor at the foot of the bed, then started shoving pillows and toys onto the floor.

With Jack settling in, Bunny and North retreated to the Globe room to talk and give the boy, who was obviously overwhelmed, a bit of space.

The following days were a bit of a blur, Jack spent the majority of his time locked up in the library with North, or outside where losing control wouldn't do any real damage.

As the days passed it became more and more clear that he was quickly growing frustrated with his slow progression. North's whole philosophy seemed to be rooted in the idea that all you have to do to perform magic is Believe.

He'd gone into multiple tangents where he'd just rant about the importance of belief and how it's the core of magic and... Jack usually just tuned him out. He didn't need to believe magic was a thing, he already knew that. Belief wasn't going to do him any good if he couldn't stop it from going out of control.

"I believe. I believe. I believe." North chanted, beckoning Jack to join him. Jack's frustration grew every time he heard those words leave North's face. Bubbling up inside him until he exploded.

"This isn't working!" He snapped at North, it had been three days since he showed up. Three days of "I believe!" As if that would magically fix everything. "Can't you teach me anything useful?" Jack didn't stick around to hear North's response, he turned and stormed out of the library, the door slamming shut behind him with an explosion of glitter left hanging in the air.

Aster, who had been sitting in a back corner of the room reading, sighed as he climbed to his feet, setting aside the book he'd been reading and said, "Ah'll go talk ta him." As he left the room, following after the temperamental winter spirit.

North stood where they had left him, a heartbroken expression on his usually cheerful face. He wanted desperately to help, but everything he was doing only seemed to be making things worse. He didn't know what to do, glancing towards the large window he could usually see Mim from.

Luckily Aster knew exactly where the boy was going. Even if he hadn't known the boy was heading back to his room, Jack had left a fairly clear path in his wake. He followed the trail of frosted walls and elven ice sculptures up to the boy's room where he found Jack sitting by the window, staring out into the storm currently raging through the Pole.

"Wanna talk about it?" He offered leaning against the wall by the window, opposite Jack's seat, drawing the boy's attention away from the snow.

"It's just not working, that's all." The boy said forlornly, "Father was right, I really can't be taught."

"That's not true." Aster pushed off the wall and settled next to the boy instead, He wouldn't allow Pitch's words to drag Jack into a depressed hole he couldn't climb out of. "Learning takes time, you can't expect things to just click into place and everything will magically be fixed."

Jack snorted, bitterness dripping from his voice as he mumbled, "North thinks so: I believe, I believe, I believe! Well, I believe the whole thing is stupid." Jack stared up at him for a long moment, before slumping in defeat, "I don't really know how to explain it." He began. "I don't really have a problem with the magic itself. Everything he says makes sense and it works...sort of...You saw it Bunny. Half the time the magic bursts out in flashy overabundance even for the smallest of spells and the rest of the time it doesn't work at all. And all North thinks I need to do is chant 'I believe', like that will fix it. But it won't!" He ended his tirade on a pout, slouching back against the window with his arms crossed sullenly over his skinny chest, "My magic's broken."

Aster sighed again, "Alright, so maybe North ain't the best teacher. That doesn't mean you can't be taught. Maybe ah cen give some 'a his lessons a bit 'a context." He suggested thoughtfully. "Think that'll 'elp?"

Jack scoffed at him, "Thought you 'couldn't teach me.' We're: 'Too different'." He reminded the pooka with a bitter bite in his voice. Aster winced at having his words thrown back at him, he certainly hadn't meant it like that.

Reaching out he pulled the boy around to look at him, "Jack, just cus ah can't teach ya ta use yer magic, doesn't mean ah can't help at all. There are tricks ah cen teach ya ta help ya along." And Aster did have some ideas that could really help Jack progress, but they were things Jack wasn't ready to face quite yet, things that would turn his world upside down instead of just sideways.

Best to start at the basics, maybe if he explained why exactly he couldn't help with everything Jack would settle and be more open to his lessons. But Aster doubted it, the boy had too wild of a spirit to stay still for as long as North wanted him to.

Aster sat back to consider the boy's concerns more fully, turning his words over in his head as he tried to make sense of his struggles. "Yer magic isn't broken Jack. It sounds like yer not connectin' with it properly." He offered at last.

Jack's face twisted up into an expression clearly stating he thought that was just as stupid as the 'I believe' chant. "What?" He half laughed the words, "I'm plenty connected." He smirked while pointing at the frosted window with a casual tilt of his head.

"Ah'm not so sure." Bunny told him solemnly, not wanting Jack to think he wasn't taking his concerns seriously, "Ye obviously have access, but ah think it's a thin connection. Like a straw that's bent at an odd angle. Sometimes all ya pull up is empty air which frustrates ya, so ya pull harder until it all explodes out." He observed the winter fae thoughtfully for a moment. "Jack, can ya tell me where ya get yer magic?"

That question caught the younger man off guard and he shifted uncomfortably, refusing to look in Bunny's direction. "Does that really matter?" He asked, defensively crossing his arms.

Aster's ears drooped with that answer, "Yeah Jack, it does." He informed him softly, watching the youth's shoulders grow tense. "It's probably why ya have such a hard time with control. But it is something ah cen help ya with. If ya like." He said. He had been planning to offer to teach him meditation later; but he hadn't thought it was something the energetic frost spirit would enjoy, which was why he hadn't brought it up yet. It looked like it might be something the boy needed to know. That said, he wasn't going to force it on him, this had to be Jack's choice or it wouldn't do him any good.

Surprisingly, at the suggestion the boy perked up and glanced back at him out of the corner of his eye, coyly. "Really? Just you and me?" That question made something warm curl around the pooka's heart and brought a bright smile to his lips.

"Yeah, just you an me, mate. But ya might not like it. Might be boring, at first." He warned.

Jack nodded his understanding, even as he leapt to his feet. "Can we start now?" He said eagerly.

At that exact moment there was a loud crash from outside the room, followed by the tell-tale jingle-jangle of elf bells. Jack winced in sympathy and Aster sighed. He too got to his feet and glanced over at the closed doors. "Yeah, but not here." They'd never get anything done if they tried to meditate in North's busy and bustling workshop.

"Oh. Are we going back to the tower?" Jack asked with barely suppressed disappointment.

Not that Aster could blame him, there were still a few days until Pitch would be visiting and Jack would need to return to the tower. It was very clear that Jack wished to stay for as long as possible.

Aster was want to indulge him. "Naw mate, got somewhere better in mind."

For anyone interested I have a new Tictok that you can come hang out with me on. If you're interested you can find me: frostysirenfox

On to other news, I decided to look at all the reviews for this story before posting this chapter and was just blown away. I've read them all before, of course, but to see them all at once was something else. The outpouring of love from everyone is overwhelming; for my story and for me as a person.

So Thank You, to everyone who leaves reviews, and to everyone who's just reading. That you love this story so much is just, it's everything.

As I've said before, this story is finished, completely. The thing that's taking so long about posting it is that all my rough drafts are physical. I like to actually write my stories before I ever put them on the computer. But it is done, so I will eventually get all the chapters posted, don't give up on me.

Let me know how you liked the chapter and what you think will happen next, I love hearing all the theories. Until next time.

Sirenfox