Chapter 15

My Beloved

"Ooh, watch yourself!" The older woman exclaimed; she smiled when the young man stopped to help her pick up the things she had dropped from her basket. "Oh thank you young man, very kind."

"Least I can do, so sorry about that. Head in the clouds today!" The young man grinned; he was handsome, with an angular face and dark hair that hung past his shoulders in a messy ponytail. The two said their goodbyes and parted ways. He smiled to himself, rolling a small pile of coin in the palm of his hand. That was how he spent his time, building his fortune a small amount at a time, he was almost there. His goal, as it had been for some time, was to gather up the coin to purchase a gift for his beloved. The ultimate gift; a ring so fine any woman of royalty would be jealous.

Today had gone incredibly well, and he now had enough for the ring, as well as some flowers for his lady. He had dressed up exceptionally well today, to ensure he'd get the best service possible in the jewellery store. He was no the same class as his lady, though she loved him as if he was a king; her beloved. He pushed the door open and made his way into the store, and spent the next hour or so perusing and finally, purchasing the ring, and a bouqet of beautiful flowers on his way to his lady's house. He heard the rumble of thunder, and grumbled as he felt the drops of rain begin to splash his neck and arms. The young man pulled his coat tighter around his body and quickened his pace. He was aiming for sunset; it had to be the perfect moment. He heard a cry from a walk way nearby, a little alley tucked between two shops. He slowed as he passed by and saw two of the towns guards and a young woman, who didn't seem very happy with them. One of the guards had grabbed her satchel, and was trying to take it from her, with her trying to fight him off. He stopped just past the alley, and groaned to himself, as he pocketed the ring and ducked into the alley.

"Come on gentlemen, surely she's not done anything wrong." He said, flashing his grin.

"Naw, pesky things got her fingers all over the place." One of them replied, while the other managed to snatch the satchel finally.

"This little thing?" He asked, looking at the woman. "Surely not!"

He wandered a little closer and he was not expecting her to move, and so suddenly. She grabbed him, and he felt a pain in his back before she shoved him towards the guards. The guard who was holding onto the satchel quickly dropped it to catch the man, and help lower him to the floor. The young man coughed, and felt something warm in his mouth; his back ached, it felt incredibly hot. He was panicking, but didn't have the energy in him to show it. He felt weak already and knew it was coming so incredibly quickly. He looked at the guard as he helped the man lay on the ground, tucking his guards coat under the mans head. The guard was a young man, not much younger than his self, with thick blonde hair and soft blue eyes. He heard the footsteps fade as the woman, and the other guard, ran from the alley.

"Have-have you-" He tried to speak, but coughed again. The warmth was metallic now.

"Pardon? Come on fella, you can do it. We'll get ya some help."

"Have you got someone special? A beloved?" He managed to push the words out.

"I, yes, yes I have. We are due to wed in spring, it's not far off now." The guard watched the young man, his blue eyes shaking.

"You bought her a ring? A brilliant ring, to match how beautiful you think she is?"

"I, I had hoped to but, money did not work out as planned. She says she does not mind, but I would love to show her truly, what beauty she is to me."

The young man pawed at his pocket until he felt the ring box, and pushed it into the guards hands, which he felt were shaking. He saw the colour from the corner of his eyes; the bouqet had fallen to the ground, and would becom dirty from the rain hitting the dirt on the ground.

"Show her. Give it to her, say you saved for an age and a half, tell her how you feel." He said, breathing in with pain filling his chest. "I was trying to help, what a foolish thing. I haven't done it before."

"Next time I shall remind you not to." The guard said, trying to push the ring box away, but could not. The young man laughed, a heart chuckle that hurt his chest and throat, until he realied it no longer hurt, and he was no longer cold, or wet, or in pain. He opened his eyes, which he hadn't realised he had been holding shut, and got to his feet. He was dry, in clothes that were somehow free of any blood and dirt. He walked out of the alley, and was confused to see that the streets were empty, apart from someone on a bench near the town square. He walked over to the bench; confused that despite walking in the pouring rain, he stayed dry. It was dark, he had missed the sunset. She would be worrying about him, and may go out to try and find him. He hoped she wouldn't see him how he was before he woke up, he wanted her to remember him differently.

"You took longer than I thought, come now, there are others waiting." The old man said, slowly rising from his seat.

"Then go to them, what do you need me for?" The young man asked, suddenly very angry. He had wanted to help someone, he didn't know why, and it had gotten him killed. Surely he was dead? He had felt the knife, and he had felt his body give up.

"You can not be left here, come now."

"Why not?"

"It is not how things work here."

"So, I can not see her again?" He asked, it's all he wanted.

"She will not be able to see you." The old man warned.

"But I will see her, and that is what I want."

The old man nodded, and snapped his fingers. The young man blinked, and found himself inside the police station. He could hear her, wailing, in another room. He followed the sounds, and slowly, walked into the room that was nearby. She was curled up in an armchair, with the young blonde officer sitting in a chair next to her. He was holding the ring box, and had held it out to her, for her to take. He was explaining what had happened, and that he simply couldn't take it. She held her hands out, and the young man wanted to scream at her not to, he had given it to him, he had!

"It seemed important to him for my beloved to have it, but I did not earn it, it is not mine."The blonde officer said, and her hands stopped.

"He said what?" She asked in a whimper. "Your beloved?"

"Y-yes, that's the word he used."

She stared at the box, and slowly used her hands to close his around it and pushed it back towards him.

"I can not say I have ever known that man to be truly selfless, and I dread to think what he did to get the money together. If that is what he said, in those words, then I truly believe he wanted you to have this ring, and for you to give it to someone that you love." The blonde guard nodded his head, and left the room, he had the start of tears forming under his own eyes. The young man sat where the other man just had been, and rested his elbows on his knees, while he looked at his love. Gorgeous; blonde, with pale skin, and the bluest eyes he had ever seen on another human being.

"Oh my beloved, you do know me after all; I had been so worried. Isn't he a lovely young man? I-I'm sorry, I truly just was trying to help. Don't forget me, but don't keep yourself from others. I want you to be happy. I shall miss you my dear, forever."

With that, he was back in the street, with the old man. The old man looked impatient, which the young man was glad for.

"There is no forever, you do not need to worry about that."

"I want to."

"You do no-"

"I want to see her, whenever I want, for however long I can." The man was determined for this; he wanted this.

"You want to become Death then? As that is the only role that will allow you that ability." The old man asked; confirming what the young man had suspected.

"I want to know she lives happy, and dies having lived the life she wanted."

The old man sighed, and looked at the sky; it was dark, and all they could see were the stars and moon. He shooked his head, and held out a clear orb; it was made of glass, which seemed to be filled with golden sand. The sand was bright as it rolled about inside the glass ball.

"You have one out; when you no longer desire this role, and wish to move on to the other side, you break the orb. Keep in mind, this will force someone else to take your place, someone who may not be ready."

"So it might force someone to die?"

"Yes, in this case, it has already happened." With that, the old man dropped the orb, and within seconds it smashed open against the cobblestone street. The old man disappeared into a cloud of golden sand, and drifted off into the wind, as the sand from the orb floated over to the young man. It spun around his feet, and slowly rose upwards, spinning faster and faster as it climbed higher and higher up the mans body.

It is said that the process one takes to become Death is one that nobody would ever relive willingly; it said to be one of the most painful, and horrendously emotionally and mentally scarring processes. It is also said, that for some, the process is one that is full of pleasure, a process that they would relive as much as they could, if given the ability to do so. This was the case for the young man; the process that granted him the powers of death, was one he would remember for as long as he was able to have memories. He awoke once again, in the street, with people milling about him, walking through him. He spun on his heel, and raced through the street, hoping to see her before he would have to go to work.

"Did you see her?" Jack asked, he was sitting on the ground, legs crossed like a child being read a story in class.

"I did, every morning and night until she remarried, and on nights her and her beloved were together, I gave them privacy." Death said.

"S-she had another-" Jack was confused, and a little upset; but why?

Death simply smiled at Jack. "I had hoped she would, she should not live her life wanting someone she can not have. She had her husband, some children, and they had children. The family continued on and are out there somewhere in the world, doing what they enjoy, which is what I wanted."

"Have you ever wanted to break it?"

"Truly, no. Some people are born for a role, or a job, or title. I was born for this, I truly believe this about myself."

"What about me?"

"What about yourself, child?"

"Is that why I died? If I did die. Is it because the old winter spirt gave up? I don't remember anything from before, why is that? She can remember it." The look that Death gave in response to the question, was a mixture of pity and anger.

"Listen to me my cold child; the ability to surrender your powers is given only to Death. Other spirits are not given this ability, the method in which you surrender, is much more difficult, and worlds more painful. You do not simply stop being; there is a process. As for why you are here, I can not say; it really depends on the manner in which you pass, some are chosen upon a spirit's death, and some die in a manner where the world believes it to be unfair, so they try to return you some sense of living, though many dislike it. Some more so than others."

Death stood from his chair, and raised a hand.

" I believe you are needed my child, something is not right." With that, Death snapped his fingers, and Jack was outside in the snow. He realised he was outside of the North Pole, and could hear shouting from inside. It was almost dark again, he must have been talking to Death for some time. Jack hurried inside and followed the noises to the main area of the workshop, where the globe sat, and found the Guardians in a panic. Tooth was on the floor, a mess of crumbled feathers and what Jack thought was blood. He stood close, watching the group in a rush to care for Tooth, when North turned and saw him.

"Jack! Where been?" North demanded, worried and angry.

"I-I, was talking to-" Jack tried, but someone cut him off.

"The kid's fine, don't worry bout him." The voice was rushed, and Jack saw the blonde hair behind the group.

"He was gone for bloomin' ages!" Bunny started, but stopped after what must have been a nasty stare.

"He was busy!" She snapped back, and stepped over Tooth gently, looking at Jack.

"What happened?" Jack asked, usually the wind would get him if there was trouble.

"A group of nightmares decided to attack the tooth palace, of their own accord apparently. Poorly planned but they were desperate, and desperation is powerful. They wanted the memory boxes, they weren't fussed by the fairies. Who's coming then?" She asked, looking at the group.

"Where?" Jack asked.

"The Palace." She answered, not looking away from the others, and rolled her eyes. No one had moved to stand with her.

"Kid it is." She said.

"What?" Jack asked, and felt her grab his arm, and he blinked.

He opened his eyes to see the Tooth Palace, and her.

"Good chat?" She asked, making her way down a flight of stairs, followed closely by Jack.

"Uhh.."

"I know where he was, I was looking for him, and was rudely told to come back later."

"By who, his secretary?" Again, Jack hadn't meant to be rude. She laughed at Jack's question.

"Oddly enough, everyone seems to think that's my job."

"But…you have a job, don't you?"

"Mmm, sure do, and apparently you've been very persistent in asking about it. Did you get your answer?"

"Kind of. He explained bits, avoided other bits, and refused to answer the rest."

"Ah, sounds like him. Good to hear he hasn't gone soft. You were gone awhile apparently."

"Yeah, it didn't feel like that long. I guess I got lost in the story."

"What story? He's not much of a story teller."

"His story? I guess, how he became Death."

She didn't look back at Jack as they continued to climb down the steps, heading to the bottom of the Tooth Palace, towards the grounds.

"Huh, surprised he told it to you so quickly."

"Did he take a while to tell you?"

"Oh, he didn't have to."

"He-what, why?"

"I work with memories, which he likely told you; the person doesn't have to be dead and gone for me to see them." Jack stopped following, and stared after her as she carried on down the steps, hen stopped roughly ten steps below him. She looked back up at him.

"Coming kid?"

"You can see them?"

"Yes."

"That's not fair, they're personal!" Jack was upset, and he wasn't doing a good job of hiding it.

"Kid, I-"

"You can't just look! Not everyone can remember their old life, not everyone can remember their family; it isn't fair! We aren't all so lucky!"

"Stop yelling, and let me speak! You are not a child Jack Frost, do not act like one." She moved to step back up towards him, but before either of them could react, something flew in between them; the large black shape of a nightmare. There was a violent whinny from the creature, which kicked outwards in either direction, missing Jack, but striking the girl. Jack heard her shout as she flew backwards, off of the steps, and headed towards the ground. Jack followed; he threw himself off the edge for the wind to catch him, and flew towards the ground.

She had fallen too quickly and was lying in the green grass below, near a small pond. Jack landed beside her and fell to his knees; she wasn't moving, not even a rise and fall in her chest. The movement behind him was loud, and stopped a short disatnce away. Jack turned to see a group of nightmares circled around them, with Pitch standing amongst them. Pitch's form felt even larger than normal, and possibly even blacker. The darkness he was made of seemed denser than the last time Jack saw him. Jack rose to his feet, staff in hand, and kept his eyes on Pitch.

"You've already got your box Jack; whatever are you doing here?" Pitch asked, arms behind his back.

"Honestly, no idea; didn't have much choice this time."

"Ah, is she dragging a child about with her now? Didn't strike me as a babysitter, nor did she strike me as so weak."

Jack's back straightened, and his grip tightened around his staff but he didn't move. He wouldn't be baited.

"A simple fall? She should have stood up and brushed it off; though perhaps that's a Guardian skill only. No matter, it'll be easy enough to get rid of both of you while I'm here. Two birds, one stone, all that nonsense." Pitch said, and began stepping towards Jack. Jack and Pitch felt it at the same time, an odd heaviness, and Jack thought it felt familiar.

It was stronger than last time, much stronger, but the feeling was familiar. The wave of energy flew outwards as a bubble, pushing against Jack, Pitch and the nightmares; which were pushed backwards and broken into a flurry of sand grains, which feel to the ground. Pitch groaned; a combination of pain, annoyance and a distasteful feeling he had whenver a nightmare was destroyed. He poured himself into creating each one, and when one was destroyed, it pained him. She stood, slowly, until she was standing straight. Her hair was still blonde, her eyes hadn't changed, and it was worrying Jack.

"Ah, I was wrong then, partly. You've certainly become a hot topic amongst the Guardians recently; speaking to Death are we , Jack?" Pitch asked, and Jack could feel the mocking in his voice.

"Maybe, what's it to you?" Jack asked.

"Why do you think people are so frightened of Death? I know much of his activities, he has never really been one to hide what he is doing."Pitch pulled a hand from behind his back; in it was a memory box. Jack had his, so it wasn't his; he looked to her, and realised. She didn't look worried, or angry, she looked quite emotionless.

"Mine? That's a little dull, isn't it?" She asked.

"Maybe, but it is fair. You know his after all, or you will; why shouldn'the know yours?"

"Why would he want to?" She asked.

"You do know; I can't believe it!" Jack snapped, looking at her. She rolled her eyes, and sighed.

"Jack-" She tried.

"Jack, she knows the memories of each and every person, through someone's memories of them. She knows them; they are in her head at all times, but she can not always see them. Yours have not surfaced yet, due to quite a fight on her side, but she will slip. Whether out of curiousity or not." With that, Pitch threw the box, and Jack caught it without thinking so that it wouldn't hit the ground.

"I don't want to, they're not mine." Jack said, but he felt the sand around his fingers push, and felt the button click as they pressed against it. Jack gasped, as his surroundings turned a bright white.