Chapter 14

Finding Answers

It was two days after being brought to the North Pole when Jack woke. He stirred for a moment, before opening his eys slowly, adjusting to the light that flooded the room through the window above the bed. The covers were around his neck, practically covering his ears. Jack pulled his arms free of the blankets, and pulled them down to his stomach, so he could sit up. He felt sore, like a dull ache in his limbs and chest, but he was otherwise uninjured. Slowly, he pulled his body out of the bed and stood up. It didn't hurt as much as he expected, and he was able to open the door and leave the room without his legs wobbling. He was making a habit of turning up to the workshop in a poor state, he was thankful North was so willing to help. He could tell by the colour of the wood, and the smell of the warm air, and his bedroom that he was in the North Pole; somewhere safe. The North Pole's warmth was a different kind of warmth to pure heat; it was a warmth that always smelt welcoming, and seemed to wrap itself around you like a fireplace on christmas eve.

"Is not good joke!" He heard North shout from the next room, and Jack crept into the room slowly, so he wouldn't be seen.

He held back a laugh when he saw the room; red and pink paper hearts had been hung from the ceiling, and balloons in dozens of shades of pink covered the wooden floor of the main room of the building. Fairy lights had been wrapped around the globe, blinking bewteen white and red; they tied the whole thing together.

"No good rabbit!" North shouted, and looked around the room with his hands above his head. There was a chuckle behind Jack, and the winter spirit jumped where he stood, turning around to see Eros leaning in the doorway behind him.

"Not Bunny then?" Jack asked in a whisper.

"Not completely." Eros said, grinning. North heard.

The large man spun around, his eyes wide when he saw Eros.

"Eros, what is joke! Where Bunny!?" North asked, then his eyes seemed to find Jack, as if the boy had just appeared in front of him.

"Jack!" North shouted, beaming. It was a smile that always felt so safe to Jack; he couldn't explain why.

"I thought it was a very good joke, North." Eros said, grinning, as he walked aound the room and took in the decorations.

"More balloons then I expected though."

"The red makes sense, but the pink?" Jack asked. Red was christmas, pink was not.

"Valentines Day!" Eros shouted, spreading his arms above him as he grinned even wider.

"North!" Came Bunny's voice, as a tunnel opened up in the floor, and Bunny climbed out. Jack didn't even think to queston why a warren tunnel could open up in the wooden floor, it just seemed like one of those spirit things he didn't quite understand yet.

"Bunny!" North shouted back. Bunny had a bauble looped over one of his ears, and a string of tinsel wrapped around one foot.

"Watcha playin' at?!" Bunny shouted at North, and two fell into a heated argument. Jack looked over at Eros, who shook his head.

"Someone's tryna get me in trouble, I think." He said, still smiling. Jack looked back at Bunny and North, who were now staring at Eros. North looked more amused now after seeing Bunny, and Bunny looked irritated, though Jack could tell he was holding back a smile.

"You're a nuisance!" Bunny said, shaking the tinsel off his foot.

"Naw Bunny, wasn't me, I just did the red and pink, christmas wasn't me."

"Then who?!" North and Bunny both shouted.

"Oooh Valentines!" Tooth shrieked as she came into the room, followed closely by Sandy, and then Dawn. "Jack you look so well!" Tooth said, rushing over and hugging Jack, before settling herself on a couch nearby.

"You're in a good mood. Jack said, with a chuckle.

"Valentines has lots of candy and chocolate as gifts, we'll be busy in the next few days." Tooth said, and Jack noticed Babytooth sitting on her shoulder. Jack beamed at seeing the little fairy, who flew over and nestled herself inside the pocket on Jack's hoodie.

"Mm, you've recovered quickly, quite a surprise considering…" North and Bunny shot Dawn a nasty look, but Jack simply looked confused. Dawn ignored the looks the others had given her.

"Well, you it's not like you were fighting one of the Guardians, you were fighting someone who-"

"Enough." Tooth said, her voice firm. Motherly, again.

"Who did I-" Jack remembered. He had somehow forgotten why he was in the North Pole. "Oh."

"Jack, who did you fight anyway, you didn't have a single scratch on you, which is an odd fight." Bunny asked. Jack could feel Eros standing nearby, staring at Jack. Did Eros know?

"Er, well the fight wasn't with who I was originally going after." Jack said, wanting to hide. "I went after someone else and she jumped in; she didn't hit me, she never touched me." Jack looked at the floor.

"Feels weird, doesn't it?" Eros said, sitting on a couch near Jack. He didn't sound mad. "Can't blame her though."

"Who-" North had begun.

" I went after Death, but…I still don't know her name; the blonde girl jumped in. She just, wasn't very blonde during it." He could hear the group gasp, minus Dawn and Eros; and Sandy, who was just as shocked as everyone, though he was too quiet for gasping to be useful. Jack felt the hand grip his shoulder; Eros had reached over from his seat, and he gently pulled Jack down. Jack sat beside Eros, staring at the floor.

"She wasn't sure, not completely, if the wind would find someone." Eros said, looking at Bunny and giving a gentle nod. "She was ready to summon someone."

"Hmph, well an apology would be appropriate, wouldn't it?" Dawn asked, and Jack couldn't help himself.

"To me or you?" He snapped at her; he hated how nasty she was.

"Either way, you won't be getting it today; she's busy." Eros said. Jack took a sharp breath; busy on Valentines Day?

"Quick chat?" Eros asked, and Jack nodded. The two of them made their way to where they had talked last time; out in the cold.

"It was the rabbit." Eros said as he leant against the wall.

"Rabbit?"

"Hoppers, that's why they were there."

Jack swallowed, hard. Oh no.

"I-I, oh no." Jack dropped, and sat on the ground, wrapping his arms around his legs. Something in him had been strung to tight, and he had just felt it snap; it had given up. He felt the tears forming under his eyes, and pressed the sleeves of his hoodie against them to stop the flow.

"I'm not gonna say it was a good idea, but I will say I understand why you did it." Eros said, then looked down at Jack.

"Hey kid, come on." He said, sitting down next to Jack.

"I-I, just, I don't have anyone else. I don't even really have them. I thought they were…I thought they were taking them." Jack spoke, his voice breaking up as he did.

"They're a team." Eros said, rubbing Jack's back. "He takes, she… she's got an odd job. I'll guess she hasn't really explained it."

"She said she hasn't been here for long."

"Not very long, no. She collects memories."

"Like Tooth?" Jack was very confused by that.

"Er, kind of? Not really. She collects memories of people, not from them. She keeps them, so they can be used when people are missing someone, or when they feel a little upset or lost; she can give them the good memories of someone. It isn't often she has to fight; barely ever really."

"Not really fighting if you don't touch them." Jack said, a little too bitterly.

"She didn't to fight you, so much as stop you. She knew it wouldn't end well for you if you actually attacked Death, so she stepped in."

"But-"

"Did you properly fight back? Did you, honestly, throw every bit of guardian magic at her that you could?"

Jack didn't answer, he didn't need to.

"I know you didn't, because she is still standing." Jack found that hard to believe; he felt how strong she was. He didn't belive his snow, his ice, anything he had could break through that strange bubble. It wasn't even the power, it was the anger behind it; her hair, her eyes, how quickly she moved. He hadn't really tried he supposed, he hadn't thrown it all into his first blow, he had tried to but had been caught off guard by her attack. No, it wasn't an attack, it was a defense. Jack didn't know why she had defended Death so strongly; everyone said it was for Jack's benefit, but was it? Jack was fairly sure he was dead, he hadn't been told a definite yes or no, but it was the only thing he could decide on that made sense. She wasn't dead though; not like he was. She remembered it, everything from before she was who she was now. Jack looked up at the sky and sighed, his head was buzzing with so much but none of it was important, or helpful.

"Only one." Jack whispered to himself, not quietly enough.

"One what?" Eros asked.

"That's what she said, only one person has ever beaten Death."

Eros chuckled and stood up, and stretched his arms above his head.

"She's a chatterbox around you, isn't she? Makes sense I suppose." Eros mused for a moment. "it wasn't so much beaten in a fighting sense, more of a…game? Match of wits? Not sure what you'd call it. Maybe ask him yourself."

"Ask him?!" Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Jack, despite what people believe, he isn't a bad guy. He has a job much like the rest of us, his just happens to a harsh reality for many. Just try, he'll understand why it happened."

"How do I even find him? She's hard enough to find."

"That's on purpose though. Idunno, find a dead person I guess." Eros laughed, then looked at Jack seriously. "Maybe don't do that, that's kinda… yeah don't, and don't tell the others I suggested it."

The two of them wondered back inside, and Eros said his goodbyes before departing with a final grin at the balloons, though many had been cleaned up now. Jack said his farewells as well, telling the others the day had wiped him out more than planned, and he wanted to sleep for a bit. The others were pleased, if a bit suspicious, by this and said their goodnights. Jack didn't want to rest here, not yet, so off he wondered, leaving through the window in his bedroom to avoid the others and their questions, and off he went to the one place he thought might help; Burgess Hospital.

Jack hadn never really been in a hsopital before; he didn't like it much after all. It was cold in a way that made Jack shudder, and smelt odd; a mixture of chemicals, and bodily fluids. Jack wandered around for a bit, and in his wandering, made a mistake. The room Jack found himself in was a mess of blood, where someone had been moved to urgent care by the staff, leaving the room empty.

'Auh!" Jack was startled by the sight, he felt his skin prickle as he stood in the doorway, unable to look away from the stain.

"Not a fan of blood?" Came the voice behind him, and Jack turned to see the man he was looking for; but was not excited to have found him.

"O-oh, er, no not really." Jack admitted.

"Not many are, takes a strong person to stomach working around it. What else bothers you?" The man asked, stepping into the room and lowering himself into a seat in the back corner.

"Oh um, not much; water I guess?" Jack stood still in the doorway; he hadn't brought his staff, he could ride the winds without it. He thought perhaps approaching without a weapon would be a good idea; though he regretted it.

"What is it ice is made from again?" The man asked, his voice amused.

"Water." Jack was embarassed.

"I don't mean to be nasty my child, nor do I mean to pry, but water?"

"I don't know why, always have, especially deep water." Jack said, his mind drifting back to the young girl falling over the ledge. Jack thought to himself that now was not the time, he had come here to do something, and the hardest part seemed to be here.

"I wan-" Jack began, but the man held up a hand.

"My child, there is no need for an apology or for forgiveness on anyone's part. I admit I was a little startled by your actions, but never angry or upset. There has been some…explanation given to me, so I understand there is a certain attachment to the family." The man placed his hand on the lap, and smiled at Jack, almost; Jack thought it was a smile.

"I didn't know she could fight." Jack blurted out.

"Either did I, truthfully. There is only so much I do know about her."

"Which is?" Jack asked, and Death laughed.

"I know she does not like me, and she does not like being what she is."

"I-I think I saw someone she knows." Jack said, leaning against the doorframe. He felt tired.

"Oh? She has not mentioned anyone; though I believe she does remember her human life."

"Is she dead?" The words tumbled out, and Jack couldn't stop them.

Death was silent, but it wasn't a tense silence; he was thinking.

"That is perhaps, not my answer to give. Is there anything else you'd like to know, my child?"

Lots.

"She said you were the only one to beat, well, you? To beat Death."

"Ah, did she? Unlike her to be so talkative. I suppose it was more of a warning at the time?" He asked, and Jack nodded. Death shook his head and looked out of the window of the hospital room. The staff had come back, Jack had tried hard not to wince when they passed through him but Death had noticed. He did not comment on it however.

"Would you like to hear the story?" Death asked, facing away from Jack. He knew when Jack nodded, and turned back to face the boy.

"Well then, we will start, when I died."

"The story starts with you dying?" Jack didn't mean to sound rude; it was just a habit for him.

Death chuckled, and leant back in the chair.

"It begins with what happened afterwards; when I woke up."