A/N: Hola guys! I'm back! Now someone special is introduced in this chapter but he only has a minor purpose. You'll see what it is. Anyway, thank you all for sticking with this story and still reading. Speaking of thanks:
Foxchick1- Your wish is my command.
DemigodseaMeg16- YASSSSSSSS!
TOO-MANY-FANDOMZ- Thank you sooo much! I'm glad that everyone is somewhat IC.
Brenne- Are you in my mind? Like same questions bruh! But I have answers. Mwahahaha!
Thank you guys so much for reviewing! I really appreciate all of you: readers, followers, favoriters, and reviewers. Please keep reading, REVIEWING, and most importantly, enjoying!
Disclaimer: I don't own ROTG or TGOC (The Guardians of Childhood). Also, J.M. Barrie owns the special character.
Jack
So, being left in alone room when I have been stuck in a bed for the past five days, was probably not their smartest idea. Didn't something like this already happen? Granted, Tooth did leave Baby Tooth in charge of me till they came back. I glanced at her and she was staring at me sternly, as if she knew what I was thinking.
"No." Her light airy voice chirped sternly. I chuckled at its adorableness. Her little eyebrows furrowed in annoyance but there was a blush on her face.
"Well at least you make this room a lot less boring." The blush grew to cover her face in a bright cherry red. I stifled a laugh, which caused some of my ribs to jostle. The wince was automatic, and I was used to it, but my heart still sunk a little. Granted, they were hurting before and I still could feel them healing, but thanks to the Guardians, the pain was manageable. Now, even with the Guardian's help, the pain was still strong. My left hand began to throb. I stared at it, and my gaze traveled down to my wrist. I wonder, if I let myself focus on what happen, if I really looked at it, would the physical injuries be the only things that worsened? A knock stopped that train of thought, thank God. "Come in." Sandy popped his head out from the doorway. "Sandy! Long time, no see buddy. Did you came just to check up on wittle ole me?" Sandy didn't laugh. He wore a smile on his face, but something about it felt, off.
He came into the room as he shook his head. He came and sat on the bed, and took a deep breath. When he looked at me his eyes were pleading. Sand quickly shifted above his head as he gestured everywhere.
"Whoa there, Sandy!" I grabbed his failing hand, attempting to stop the mad gesturing. "I can't understand you." Sandy blew air out and sighed. I couldn't help but chuckle.
"I think he wants to ask if I can come in?' There's this split second, when a person can hear someone's voice and be ready to walk through walls just to avoid the speaker. I was in that split second, except I did the dumb thing and tried to bolt. I just ended up falling out of bed and onto a bed of sand.
"Thanks Sandy." I mumbled. I heard him nod, and I could picture his smile. It made me feel worse.
"I'll take that as a no." Mother Nature's smooth and unnaturally soft voice pricked my heart. I had caught glimpses of her from time to time, but I never approached her, just like North. She was, high class, and I was no class. There was no reason for us to communicate, but I guess now there was. Which means I either did something really bad, or, actually that's probably it.
"No, no, no, no." I pushed myself up, slowly. Sandy came to help me and Baby Tooth tried stopping me but I waved them off. "I'm, okay." I panted as I pushed myself up on my left hand, which was the better of the two with only a couple of scrapes. It was the burn that hurt most. I'm guessing it looked bad too, judging by Mother Nature's gasp." Is there an award for ugliest scar? I must be a shoe-in." I admit it wasn't my best joke, but I thought it would help with the silence. It didn't. Luckily, my horrible puns stopped because I was finally sitting up on the sand bed, facing Mother Nature. She appeared regal as always, but there was a, sadness and tiredness to her. She almost looked worn out. Was whatever I did really that bad? "So, what's up?" Mother Nature continued to freak me out more by fidgeting.
"Um, they, they have been punished." Mother Nature's voice was so sad and quiet, it scared me, but the statement confused me. I looked around. Sandy was looking at Mother Nature sympathetically.
"They deserved it." Baby Tooth chirped. Sandy glared at her and she fluttered into my hood. Mother Nature sighed and put a hand on Sandy's shoulder.
"She's right Sanderson." Sandy looked back at a sad Mother Nature before patting her hand, and I was even more confused.
"Can someone tell me what's going on?" I spoke up. Everyone looked at me. "And no vague stuff."
"They didn't tell you?" Mother Nature asked with the confusion I felt. I wanted to throw my hands up, but even after five days, the stupid burn hurt my back too much. I gave a little, painful, shrug.
"You know the meaning of vague is along the lines of not a full story, which means, no, no one has told me anything besides lecturing me to stop being a reckless wanker." I mocked in a horrible imitation of Bunny. Honestly I could do better, but I barely remember the lecture. Mother Nature sighed and sat down on the bed. She began wringing her hands.
"Jack," She started but she just began gaping. I was tired and restless, not patient.
"Look Mother Earth," The reaction to my intentional mistake was immediate.
"Nature." Mother Nature sneered. I waved it off flippantly.
"Whatever. I'm tired, restless, and really confused, not a good combination. So unless you're here to take me somewhere that's good for fun, which probably isn't the case, I apologize for whatever I did to warrant a visit from you. We can discuss punishments, preferably never, but I can settle for later. Okay?" I looked to Mother Nature waiting for an answer. She just gaped at me. Like a fish. I looked to Sandy for help, but he was just as shocked as I was. "Did I break her?" Sandy just shrugged.
"D-do you remember how you got here?" Mother Nature finally asked. I focused back on her, and somehow she was way closer than before. She was nearing Tooth's line in my personal space, and Tooth's line is pretty close. I had to quickly get use to her hugging and touching me, all the time. I slid back on the sand bed I was on, gaining a bit of distance from her.
"Do I know how I get here? Yeah. Do I want to remember it? No." Flashes of the fight with the other seasons had already appeared in my mind. "I had a little mishap." I tried shrugging again, and it still hurt. In fact, with the memories, it seemed to hurt more. "No biggie." I played off my wince with what I hope was a smile. The sad look in Mother Nature's eyes didn't leave, but she started chuckling. "You were supposed to laugh at the joke about shoes." I smirked.
"And you are supposed to admit you're a victim." What? I blinked at Mother Nature. She had stop chuckling, but there was a deep sadness and something else in her eyes. It was like she knew me, which she didn't.
"What are you talking about? I'm Jack Frost, Guardian of Fun. That definitely doesn't say victim. Pitch is more of victim than me." I joked, but no one laughed again. In fact Sandy was shaking his head at me and glancing at Mother Nature worriedly. Mother Nature's eyes were wide. Something flashed through her eyes, hurt I think, but it was gone and she was back to the eerily calm from before.
"How so?" She asked, finally backing away from me. I relaxed a bit, but her calmness with Sandy's apprehensive glances kept me on guard.
"Well, he's probably being tormented by the same thing he created. For someone who wanted to take over the world, to be brought down by our creation, that's gotta suck." I said nonchalantly and her eyes narrowed.
"So he made himself a victim?" I squirmed. Her question was a valid one, but somehow, I felt like I was being cornered.
"Um, yeah, I guess." I scooted back more, but this time Mother Nature followed.
"What's a victim Jack?" Her eyes bore into mine and I had to look away.
"I'm pretty sure you already know that, but if you don't I'm sure North's got a dictionary somewhere." I offered, as I slowly scooted back. Sandy was glancing between the two of us in confusion. I opened my mouth to ask him for help, but then I felt a hand grip my arm hard. Suddenly, I was back there, in the clearing with the other seasons. Fall had grabbed me.
"Ja-"
"Shut up!" I reacted and swung my staff at him, frost shooting out. Fall ducked but let go of me. I jumped back, pain shooting through my body as I hit a wall. My chest and back burned with each panting breath, but I had to get away. Fall wasn't doing anything now, but he would. He would hurt me, say something, and I was tired. "Leave me alone!"
"Jack." Baby Tooth came it view. It almost scared me how quickly I relaxed when seeing that she was okay. "Jack, it's okay." Tears fell down her cheeks, blurring the little mole under her eye. The mole like Emma's. "Jack, Jack." Emma, or was it Baby Tooth, called me, concern lacing her voice. "Jack, wake up! You're at North's." North's? How did I end up at North's? I looked at Baby Tooth again, and soon the clearing began to blur. I shook my head trying to get rid of the blur, and I saw North's room for me. Sandy was staring at me wide eyed as he floated in front of a teary eyed Mother Nature. Bunny, Tooth, and North stood in the doorway, concern in all of their eyes. There was also a window to my right.
"Jack?" Tooth's worried call irritated me.
"I'm fine. I just spaced out." I waved them off flippantly.
"Like you spaced out that fifth time yesterday." Bunny stepped forward challenging me. "Or was it like, I think it was the third, yeah the third time you spaced out the day before yesterday? Because you seem to be doing that a lot for someone whose fine." Bunny glared at me, asking for a snowball in his face. My grip on my staff tightened.
"I am fine, Kangaroo." I spat with as much venom I could muster. It really worked for once, because Bunny stepped back, sputtering eyes wide with anger and shock.
"N-n-now hold on just a second, you mangy little-" He began walking toward me, his hands fisted. My heart started pounding and the Wind blew around me. I glanced at the window, making sure it was unlock. But when I looked back, Mother Nature had practically appeared in between Bunny and me.
"E. Aster Bunnymund!" Mother Nature yelled. And I couldn't help it, I busted out laughing.
"E. Aster? Seriously?" I chuckled. Every eye was on me, but I didn't care. "Your actual name is E. Aster? You really are full of it." I laughed. "No wonder why your head's so big!" It hurt to laugh, like really hurt. But this was too good to pass up. "How did you all let him do something so-"
"Jack." I froze at Mother Nature's harsh call. "Where do you think you're going?" Her grey-gold eyes bore into mine, as if searching for something. Well, whatever it is, she was definitely not going to find it.
"Where do you think I was going, Miss Earth?" I asked right back, twirling my staff. I learned that if you make people mad, the faster the conversation ends, usually. Although I should've expected that Mother Nature wasn't normal. She busted out laughing. It was so weird. The calm regal woman moments ago was now clutching her stomach as she laughed loudly.
"Oh my," She laughed. She looked at me with a bright smile. "You are just like me." She said that with a smile, but her eyes were watery. Which was a great cue for me to get out but when I looked back the window was covered in moss.
"What?" I looked back and there was a subtle smirk on Mother Nature's face.
"You run from everything in your life, scared to let anything touch you." I felt a pang in my heart at how right her words were. But I held it together.
"I am not afraid of anything." I stated harshly. I leaned back on my staff trying to appear more casual. "Plus, I don't like running. It doesn't look good for a winter spirit to sweat." Mother Nature lips became a stern line and her eyebrows furrowed. For some reason it made me queasy.
"So those were tears during what the people called The Long March." My heart fell as my body became numb. The room seemed to spin and everything started to disappear as bodies, so many frozen, malnourished, and beaten bodies, seemed to pile into the room. I wanted to hurl, to scream, to leave, but I just closed my eyes and gripped my staff tighter.
"Jack?" I hated and loved Tooth's sad call. I breathed deeply, but I still didn't open my eyes.
"What the hell are you getting at?" I gritted out through the lump of my throat. I know I was in North's workshop, and it was decades later. But God, I could practically taste the death and misery that those people, families, kids, had surrounding them.
"The 1940's was such a hard time for everyone." How dare she talk about how hard the 1940's were! " The misery and death caused by the wars was felt by every spirit," And all those people. They were prisoners, they weren't prepared for the stupid weather. "I know that some were out among the people." It was so cold, it had to be. They shook and trembled and I couldn't control it. I couldn't save those kids. They were just left behind. "Among the dying." They died and I watched them die. A cool hand was on my face and I opened my watery eyes to see Mother Nature in front of me.
"Get away!" I tried to pull away from her but she lightly grabbed my arm. I tugged harder "S-stop." She pulled my sleeve up and went over one of the vertical scars. "Stop!" I pushed her away from me. But I was the one that mostly moved. I slammed into the wall, and pain shot through me.
"Jack!" Multiple people cried out my name, but I shook them off.
"NO!" I put my staff out keeping people away from me. "I'm fine! I don't need help, and you." I pointed my staff to Mother Nature. "Stop talking." The Guardians stepped back at my harsh order, good. "You don't know anything about me." Mother Nature stood there, nothing about her changing, irritating me further.
"I brought up the Long March-"
"SHUT UP!" I slammed my staff down, causing wind and frost to blow everything around me back. Everything moved, except for Mother Nature. "You have no right to bring that crap up." I growled at her. "I have no idea what the hell you're trying to prove, but that, that," I put my head down. I felt the tears fall from my eyes before I could stop them. Maybe that's why she brought it up. Maybe the one with no right was me. I had no right to be a Guardian. I have seen and caused so many deaths. I may have saved the kids from fear now, but was that enough to right every death I had seen, every death that I caused. Maybe she was trying to prove that I'm not a Guardian.
"Jack." Mother Nature's voice commanded my attention. I had to look up. I quickly wiped my eyes, taking a deep breath. I looked up to her stoic face. Here it comes. "My life for theirs." What? "Take me instead. Maybe if they see me I could help them more." I couldn't help the gasp that came out. Those were all thoughts I had as I watched my blood run down my arm the first day I had made those stupid vertical cuts in Russia. "I just want to be seen, but I can last another hundred years of being invisible if it means I can stop watching them die." Tears were pouring down Mother Nature's eyes, and mine too.
"I, ah, what?" I couldn't even form a complete sentence. How did she know about that day. I never ever, told anyone about that and I know no one else saw me. I made sure.
"Jack, you run because it's easier to leave everything behind, the guilt, the loneliness, the hurt. If you keep running, it never touches you." I swallowed down, something. Her words kept hitting me and, I wanted to run, but then I prove her right. She's not right. I'm fine. "Then moments happen. Moments like the Long March, 1968, and Jamie happen. Moments you can't run from."
"No," I wanted to yell, but only a whisper came out. I wasn't running. I left to go have fun. There's nothing wrong with that. I just had to take back control. I cleared my throat. "I don't run." My voice still sounded thick. "And you," I poked Mother Nature hard in the chest, frost seeping through me and onto her. "Know nothing about me."
"My name was Emily Jane Pitchiner, daughter of Kozmotis Pitchiner. A fierce general, a man that was once a great hero. But he was tricked, and deceived, until he believed the lie, making it his own. He became possessed by the spirit of fear, the man you know as Pitch." While I still felt the drop from my stomach, and I may have backed away slightly, I wasn't surprised. Something about her did seem familiar. The cold grey gold eyes and the night black hair. Granted her features were softer. Still I was debating whether or not to blast her. The Guardians sadly looked at her, they weren't guarded or anything. Mother Nature, Emily, was crying herself.
"And you're here because, you want revenge for you father?" I supplied hoping for an answer. Emily quickly wiped her eyes as she shook her head.
"No. When he, when he ignored me, pushed me to the side when I didn't join him, I let him go. I have no ties to the Guardians or Pitch." Now I was just angry. Yes I did feel a bit sorry for her that her father was Pitch but if she keeps out of the Guardians business, what is she doing in mine?
"Which I am a Guardian. So that means you have no ties to me, which means you shouldn't be here." I pointed to Mother Nature and she stepped back in shock, eyes wide. I heard the moss drop a bit. Well would you look at that. I just have to hurt her and I'm free. I'll have no problem there.
"I, I, just wanted to help." She said quietly. I glared at her, my eyes narrowing just to her.
"Help? You bring up something you have no right to bring up and you think that's helping?" I heard my voice getting louder but the way Mother Nature slightly trembled sent an old thrill through me. "Let me tell you something, Emily." Mother Nature flinched when I said her name.
"Jack." Someone, Bunny I think, called me, but I was on a roll.
"I don't need you, okay. I'm fine. I'm sorry that your dad was tricked into fear and then become something that haunts kids. Heck, I'm sorry that I had to help defeat him. But that and whatever else you've been through does not make you feel kids walking through you. Did you ever feel the pain of kids, who you live for, stare right through? Did you ever question if you even exist?" She was gaping for an answer eyes wide and I heard the moss slip away. The room fell into silence. I looked around the room to see the Guardians avoid my gaze, especially Bunny. An anger, I don't remember feeling for a long time came up. "Didn't think so." I twisted my staff so it was pointing to her. "I didn't need your, our your guys," I pointed to the Guardians. "Help. Not even during the Long March. I was fine. I found something to help my pain." I turned around, but something came to my mind that I just wanted to dig into them. "And you know what," I turned back to them arms outstretched. "I wasn't alone. I had a friend. His name was Peter." Before they could say anything I let the Wind pull me out through the window and flew off. I wasn't running, I just needed space to think. Flying gave me that. Which also made me realise what I did. I didn't get far landing to the ground a little rougher than usual, granted the blizzard that had picked up probably helped cover my tracks. I told them about Peter. They heard about the Long March, I cried in front of them. I never cried in front of people. Not even the stupid seasonal spirits. I closed my eyes, but then images of the Guardians looking away, those dead kids, and Emily's crying face filled my head. I screamed and squeezed my head. I had to get rid of them. My scream grew louder as I screamed in anger, pain, guilt, frustration. The blizzard and wind growing louder to cover my scream. As my scream died down, so did the storm. Soon everything was quiet. I opened my eyes. The land before me was vast, white, empty, and dead.
"Well, that was intense." I jumped and pointed my staff to the voice behind me. Standing behind me was a boy with tan skin, reddish brown hair, burning amber eyes, imp features, and he wore a green suit with a pointy hat. A smirk was on his face.
"Peter?" I haven't seen Peter in years. I don't remember his smirk being so, wicked.
"Long time no see, Frosty."