"Astraea, you're going to be late!" Jane, Astraea's mother, screamed from downstairs, halting her dreams. And they had been good ones too, of a time where mortals and immortals lived together in peace. With a groan, the sixteen year old reached to turn her alarm clock… to only gasp and stumble out of bed. She was late—of course she was late!—since her stupid alarm decided not to go off. Astraea was sure her mother heard the curse that escaped her mouth as she ran to the door.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Astraea answered back, throwing open her closet to grab her dance materials. Luckily she had the idea of putting her outfit together the night before. Slipping on the black yoga pants, purple dance top, and her studio's jacket, Astraea ran to the bathroom.
She looked into the mirror, seeing the mass of long blonde curls withering on her head. Groaning, she ran a brush through it, knowing she was just going to put it in a ponytail in a moment anyway. And in all honesty, it wasn't going to get any better with the time she had. Grabbing her toothbrush and adding toothpaste, she popped it in her mouth.
Astraea quickly examined her image. Her long blonde curls were in a messy ponytail, a few strands already claiming mutiny. Her rounded face was still flushed from sleep, a mask of red covering her high cheek bones. Round hazel eyes gazed back at her, purple bags hanging low on them. Her pupils contracted from the exposure of light, the colours seeming to swirl within them. Gold, brown, green… it was a beautiful illusion. Her nose was small and upturned, sitting nicely in the middle of her face. Her lips were full, her cupids bow covered in a toothpaste moustache.
Spitting out the last of the toothpaste and rinsing her mouth, Astraea made her way downstairs were her mum was waiting for her. She smiled apologetically, knowing she had no excuse for being so tardy. Astraea looked like a spitting image of her mother, though she had natural brown hair compared to her blonde. Jane's thin frame was already bundled up for the cold, arms crossed, impatient.
"Morning Mum," Astraea drawled, plopping on her boots. It had snowed the night before, not a large covering, but annoying enough for this time of year. It was only the first of November, yet they had had three small snows since the beginning of October. Everyone claimed global warming, and Astraea didn't concur. "I know, I know. I'm late. Thank you for waiting."
Jane sighed at her youngest, before picking up her keys and heading to warm up the car. The young blonde wasn't far behind, having picked up her workout bag that hung prominently by the door, and slipping on her winter jacket. She quickly made her way up to her mum, knowing if they were any later she would really get an earful at dance.
Usually she would drive herself, having received her novice earlier in the year. Astraea was a good driver, but she wasn't confident enough just yet in the snow. Her mother had agreed, saying she needed a little more experience to be more comfortable. They had been doing lessons, and she had taken her defensive driving course, but still. Black ice was not something to take likely.
Soon they were on their way, with Astraea staring out the window while her mother concentrated on the road, a comfortable silence between them. Luckily Jane had a few errands to run while she was at dance, which should take up the two hours she was there. The brunette was always happy to wait for her daughter to finish her lessons as she had encouraged them for many years. Ten to be exact. She was the one who signed her up for her first class when she was six.
The studio came into view soon, and Astraea smiled slightly. She had spent most of her childhood there. First it started with musical theatre and jazz. Soon it was ballet, lyrical, tap, contemporary, and a brief stint in aerobics. However, in the last year, Astraea found she liked working backstage better and was volunteering as a student director. She helped with anything the teachers needed, from choreography to rounding up the little ones.
Coming to a stop, her mum gave her a warm smile. "Have a good day Raea, I'll let you know if I can't pick you up. Got your bus pass just in case?" Holding up her wallet, the girl nodded. Giving Jane a quick hug, Astraea quickly ran to the entrance of the studio. As she did so, snow began to fall more quickly. Her nose wrinkled. She wasn't the biggest fan of snow.
Rushing inside, the blonde already noticed that class was in session. Shedding off her outside clothes, she replaced her shoes with her jazz ones and made her way to the studio. As she did so, several of the parents smiled at her, most knowing her for several years at this point. Some shook their heads, causing the girl to chuckle. It was almost a tradition at this point for her to be late to class.
Opening the door, the blonde was greeted with several good natured groans. She smiled awkwardly, heading towards the front of the audience where her seat sat. Lillian was telling the older kids a joke, all of them hunched over with laughter. Georgia, the lead choreographer, was setting up some of the props they needed for a run through of one of the biggest dance number. Corey was getting the piano ready to start vocal warmups. If Astraea remembered correctly, we were doing harmonies today as well.
On the outskirts of large group sat the youngest ones. Avery, her favourite of the little ones, was already beaming at her as she made her way towards the front. The young girl was blonde as well, which made some people mistake them as sisters. They had no resemblance other than that, but it made the wee girl smile so Astraea never corrected them.
"Hello everyone!" Sitting down beside them, and not in her chair, she was soon crushed by several little girls. Again, this was tradition, as the little ones loved Astraea just as much as she loved them. She also know it made them feel important that she wanted to spend time with them and not with people her own age.
All too soon, they group dismantled from her, chattering away about their weeks. However, it was Avery's enthusiastic bouncing that caught the older blonde's attention first. Giving her the biggest smile she could, she scooped up the girl and gave her a big hug.
"Hello there darling," Astraea drawled, accentuating her accent. For the first year of her life, Astraea lived in New Zealand, which is where her mother was from. Her father was from Canada, and when he received a job offer there that they couldn't pass up, her family, and her aunt, moved. Somehow her accent had stuck to her, while her sibling lost theirs in the first few years. Jane had always said it was because she was more Kiwi than Canadian. "What has got you all up and go?"
"Raea, I met the best person ever!" Avery squealed, her words spilling out like a waterfall. "His name is Jack Frost. Yes, the Jack Frost! He is your age but he likes to be around kids. And he makes snow days and loves snowball fights and…" Soon Astraea couldn't understand her, she was speaking so fast. Laughing, she place a hand over the youngest blonde's mouth, silencing her.
"Avery, you're talking too fast!" The little girl's blue eyes went wide. Astraea removed her hand, shaking her head in amusement. Jack Frost eh? Well that was a new imaginary friend for her, usually they were more towards dinosaurs, or princesses. Once the little girl seemed to calm down, Astraea continued. "Now, you were saying something about Jack Frost?"
The smile came back full force. "Yes! He's tall, taller than you, and has snow white hair. He wears this hoodie and brown pants and carries a staff! He helped me make a snowman and had snowball fights and…" Avery was back on her tangent, and instead of stopping her, Astraea nodded, smiling at her. Her imagination was absolutely amazing, Astraea could almost picture the boy he was describing.
After a few more minutes, Georgia called attention back to the front. Untangling herself from Avery, she got up and started taking the lyrical papers from Corey. He smiled gratefully to her, eyes going back to the piano below them. Distributing them silently, Astraea half listened to the agenda, mind on Avery's story.
It wasn't the first time one of her little ones had an imaginary friend. Hell, she even had a few tea parties with them between class times. But Jack Frost was a new one. If you were going to cook up a legendary character, why not Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. But then again, who was she to judge? She talked to a hunk of moon rock every night for ten years.
"Raea?" Her name brought her out of her stupor, and she looked up to see Corey smiling at her. The class was chuckling at her, and she realised she had been staring blankly at the lyric sheet in her hand. Giving her best 'oops' smile, Astraea nodded for him to continue. "Can you please demonstrate the harmony we went over last week?"
Jack sat on the roof of Avery's dance studio, staring up at the falling white flakes. They were so peaceful…and boring. Groaning, he flopped onto his back, his staff hitting the roof with a thump. Gazing up at the grey sky, he wondered how he, the Guardian of Fun, ended up waiting for the little girl's dance class to end.
Oh right, he was weak. So weak when it came to kids. Ever since meeting Avery this week, the blonde had become attached to his hip. He didn't mind, she had known whom he was without introduction, and she had been so excited to play with him. But she now demanded his time whenever she was awake, which was tough with winter now on the Northern Hemisphere.
However, when she hit his with those big blue puppy dog eyes, he'd just melt and give in. She was so small and innocent, reminding him of Sophie and his sister. So when she asked him to wait while she was at dance, he couldn't say no. No matter how boring it was for him. And if he left and she came to check on him, Avery would feel so betrayed.
So here he lay, looking between a snowy landscape, a grey sky, and occasionally pranking passer-by's. He couldn't help it, they were just too much fun to mess with. A lazy snowball or friendly gust of wind allowed at least some form of entertainment.
That was, until a voice began yelling his name.
Moving from his laying position, he swung his head down to see who was calling his name. When the sight of the familiar child came into view, Jack sprung up. Even from here he was, he could tell Avery was distressed, tears were covering her face and a steady amount of snot was coming from her nose.
"Jack?!" Avery yelled again, her voice thick with unshed tears. He jumped down from the roof, landing behind the screaming child. The cold wind wiped around them, causing Avery to shiver.
"You rang?" Jack asked, hoping to ease the child with a joke. However, the child didn't react. Jack's stomach dropped.
"Jack?" Her voice had gone very quiet, the tears not stopping at all. To either comfort herself or to keep warm, Avery wrapped her arms around herself, sniffling loudly. Jack could feel his heart break. "If you're hiding, it isn't funny!"
Bending down so that he was at her level, he watched her cautiously. "What are you talking about Ave, I'm right here." He reached out to touch her, to comfort her…only to pass through her. The old gnawing empty feeling came over him, and he quickly retracted his hand. The child broke down into heart wrenching sobs.
Avery didn't believe anymore. Something had happened in the last hour to cause the girl to stop believing in him. Anger began to bubble in Jack's chest. Who would stop a child from believing?! Who would do that?!
"Avery? Avery, are you out here?!" A panicked voice called from behind them. Whipping around, Jack found a teenager standing there. She must have been no more than sixteen, with long curly blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. The girl wore dance attire, a pair of yoga pants and a purple tank top. Jack recognised the logo on the jacket as well from the studio. A flash of silver caught his eyes, but disappeared just as quickly. She was on the short size, with two big hazel eyes that were now trained on the crying child.
"Avery," The teenager exclaimed with relief, rushing to her side. Jack moved out of the way, not wanting to be passed through again. The first time hurt enough, he didn't need to add to it.
Upon hearing her name again, Avery looked up from her hands with a red, tear streaked face. Again, she sniffled, and Jack had to resist the urge to reach out to the child. He had become attached to her as well in the last week. Plus, after everything she had gone through health wise, she needed a little bit of fun in her life.
When the older girl was close enough to Avery, she bent down, arms opening for a hug. The younger girl complied, full force attacking her. She immediately began to soothe her, hand stroking her hair and shushing her. Jack was impressed with how the other girl handled herself, not rushing the girl and waiting for her to calm down enough. And, soon enough, the sobs turned to hiccups. Untangling Avery from herself, the older blonde looked into her eyes softly.
"Darling," The girl drawled, an accent now noticeable to Jack, "Can you tell me what happened?" This almost set the child off again, but before she could melt down, the older of the two stopped her soothingly. Taking off her jacket, she draped it across the child's shoulders, shivering slightly herself now.
"Let's take a few deep breaths together and try again, okay?" Avery nodded, following the breathing patterns of the older girl. Jack was now incredibly impressed. Not only had this teenager calmed her down, she had taken off her jacket to make sure Avery was warm enough. There was no hint of impatience in her demeanour, only warmth. "Alright, shall we try again?"
Having composed herself, Avery began to talking, stumbling on a few words. 'B-brooklyn said that J-Jack wasn't r-real and I-I-I was s-s-stupid to believe in h-h-him." Smoothing down her hair once again, the older blonde smiled softly at her.
"Sweetie," She began, her voice quiet and calm compared to the wailing child. "Is that all?" Avery vigorously shook her head no.
"I c-can't see J-Jack any-y-more." With no warning, Avery jumped back into the older girl's arms. This took her by a bit of surprise, but she composed herself quickly. "He's g-g-g-g-gone!" This completely shattered Jack's heart.
"I'm right here Ave. Right here," Jack said, making one last desperate attempt for her to see him. He was bent down still. The teenager frowned after a moment. Though Jack was impressed, he was worried she would shoot her down like most teenagers would do.
Yet, when she spoke, he was pleasantly surprised.
Taking the young child by the shoulders, the girl looked intently into her red rimmed eyes. Avery looked a bit confused, but did not struggle from her grips. Plus, the teenager looked very serious compared to what she was seconds ago.
"Now you listen here Avery," she started, voice as serious as her face, "Just because Brooklyn can't see Jack doesn't mean you can't. He's as real as long as you believe in him. Brooklyn doesn't understand that. And I feel bad that she has no belief. But you do. So don't let anyone tell you what you believe in because they can't see or hear him." Silence overtook them all, Jack gazing at this girl with surprise, while Avery looked at her with adoration.
"Can you….can you see Jack?" Avery asked, voicing Jack's unspoken question. The girl shook her head sadly, eyes now taking on a softer tone.
"No, but that doesn't mean you can't," Smiling softly, the older girl took Avery's hands. "Now I want you to close your eyes. Go on, close them." Listening to her elder, the child closed her eyes. "I want you to remember how you met Jack, and how much fun you two had. Remember all of the good times you've had over the last week. And when you're ready, open them."
There was a tense few seconds as Avery took in the older girl's words. Jack could feel himself holding his breath, and if he had looked over, he would have noticed the girl doing the same. Soon, Avery opened her eyes, immediately scanning her surroundings. The blue orbs moved right past him, and Jack felt his stomach drop once again. Until, they jumped back to him.
"Jack!" Avery exclaimed, untangling herself from the older girl and throwing herself at him. Jack immediately returned the hug, smiling like a maniac. "I thought you left me!"
"I told you I wouldn't!" Jack hugged her a little tighter, so happy to have his friend back. However, after a few moments, someone clearing their throat caught their attention. Jack stood up from his crouched position, his hand firmly in Avery's.
"Sorry to interrupt this reunion," The older girl said, watching their entwined hands with fascination. Jack had almost forgotten she couldn't see him, with all her talk of belief. "But we have to get back to class, lunch break is almost over." Nodding Avery quickly looked between the two teenagers.
"Can I bring Jack?" She asked, a hopeful look coming to her face. Oh, Jack knew what was coming from that expression. Avery's puppy dog look. The older girl drew in a breath and he could almost hear what she was thinking. But that look was the purest, most innocent expression one could do, and impossible to say no to. She let out her breath, shoulders slumping in defeat.
"Alright," The teen agreed, "But, from what you've told me Jack is a troublemaker. Shrugging his shoulders, swinging his staff onto his shoulder, he smirked at her.
"Guilty," He exclaimed, making Avery giggle. The blonde raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for Avery's signal to continue.
"So if Jack is going to watch, there has to be some ground rules," Jack groaned at that, making Avery laugh again. "One, we have work to do so he has to sit at the back of the classroom and not distract you." Jack and Avery nodded, agreeing. The blonde seemed to take that as a yes on both sides.
"Two, no pranks. On anyone." The spirit sighed at that, but nodded to let Avery know he agreed. She relayed the message to the older one, smiling. "Now, if any of these are broken, I'll make Avery kick you out." The child bounced her head up and down, a big smile on her innocent face.
"Deal!" Avery cried. The older of the two sighed, crossing her arms and shaking her head in amusement.
"Good, now let's get back inside before you catch a cold." She turned around, heading towards the entrance to the studio. They didn't go farther than two steps before Avery gasped and stopped. Jack looked down at her, eyes questioning her. He saw the girl stop as well, a similar expression on her face.
"I forgot to introduce you!" Avery exclaimed, horror overtaking her features. The older blonde laughed at that, and Jack noticed it was light and innocent, like a child's. It was nice, he thought.
"Alright, alright. Go on now." She said, still shaking her head slightly with a smile.
"Jack," Avery pointed to him, then to the older blonde, "this is Astraea, but everyone calls her Raea." Avery whispered the last part, like it was a secret. Her finger went back to the immortal teen, smiling at Astraea. "Raea, this is Jack." Following where Avery's finger lay, Astraea gave a big innocent smile at him. He was a little taken aback by how childlike that seemed as well.
"It's nice to formally meet you Jack," the blonde said, before ushering Avery towards the door. "Now let's get inside before we freeze."
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. The first few will follow similarly to the original.
I do not own RoTG.