Well uh, I'm...a little bit later than usual, but...my only promise is to update this thing on Saturdays, which it still is, so we're good! :D
...in all seriousness, sorry though. School just seems to love getting in the way of my writing...*coughcoughPSATthrowingoffmyschedulecoughcough*
Regardless though, I'm here now, so let's get started with the reviews! All the thanks that ever existed goes out to Brenne, Serami Nefera (You'll see!), StarG4zer, Aekidna (Aw, thank you so much! As for your idea, my lips are sealed! You'll see in due time. ;), BooksAreMedicine, crashingthroughtime (And I am 100% okay with you being 100% okay with it if those were to happen at some point ;), jackandelsaforever101, Nekohime1 (Haha, don't die! You'll get your answers all in due time!), lazig33, SoaringEagle01, and Randomly Talented (If those other reasons that it's definitely not for include that you like to see Jack get hurt, it's nothing to be ashamed of at all. XD I mean, I love Jack, but it can be kind of fun to torture the guy ;)!
Without further ado, have yet another short (sorry!) yet important chapter!
Chapter 17: Year Four
Neither Laura and Elizabeth Thener nor Jamie and Sophie Bennett knew of Olivia's origins, species included. Once the Guardians had finished questioning the Frost siblings, they were left alone, not required to explain anything to the human family. Jack figured that all the Guardians would tell them was that the boy and girl were related, and had been separated long ago. He only hoped they had enough common sense-and courtesy-to do so.
This changes everything, Jack thought, he and his sister locked in another tearful embrace. I can't go with the Guardians. I can't leave Livi alone again. I...I can't be alone again...but what am I going to do? Stay? No, I can't...I don't have any brown hair dye with me, nor whatever it was that Aster concocted to hide my ears. I'd be dead the moment my disguise crumbled, and if people knew I was Olivia's brother, they'd make the connection that she is-or was-a snow sprite too, and… He shuddered, refusing to allow himself to finish his dark thought.
"Jack?"
The boy blinked, torn from his musings by his sister's voice. He looked down into her watery brown eyes, his blue ones filled, not with literal tears, but with emotion.
"Are you...okay?"
Despite the tremble in her tone, Jack couldn't help but smile at her. "Yes," he promised. "I've just found out that my baby sister is alive; how could I not be okay?"
Olivia giggled at his teasing grin, giving his shoulder a playful push. "I'm not a baby!" she insisted, laughing. "You're more childish than I ever was!"
To his surprise, Jack found himself genuinely laughing for the first time in what felt like-and could very well have been-years. In that moment, as brother and sister smiled and laughed together, just as in the past, everything seemed as though it were perfect.
Of course, the fact had not changed that a moment was just that; a moment, stranded somewhere in a veritable sea of time itself.
When the fleeting seconds of joy ended, Jack sat back on his heels, thoughts once again returning to the subject of the future events.
Laura will most likely let us stay here for the night, he silently acknowledged, grateful that Olivia recognized his need to think. She chose to quietly sit by him rather than attempt to uphold a conversation. Never mind my relation to Olivia; who could refuse the Guardians of Childhood themselves? But after that...what do I do? Where am I supposed to go from there? I can't leave, I can't stay...can I do anything? I can't leave her behind again...but I've still got so many questions regarding the Nightmare King.
Jack gave a slight frown.
Come to think of it, if I do go to the Nightmare King's lair with the Guardians, I may be able to find out more in regards to his plans and motives. 'Tis...a dangerous way to get ahold of information, but what else can I do? I need to know. I need to know what exactly he has against snow sprites, and why he bothered turning the youngest ones human. And where do the missing children from Kilatai come in? Argh, none of this is adding up…
The youth struggled with his thoughts for a few minutes longer, absently tapping his slender fingers against his knee. No matter which way he looked at the matter, he could not figure out even a basic idea of the Nightmare King's intentions, nor could he make a decision of what he should do next. So deep was he in his own mind that he barely registered his sister falling asleep with her head resting gently on his arm. Before long, he too had drifted off, head tipped back and a protective hand on the shoulder of the last remaining member of his family.
()()()()
When Jack awoke, he was alone.
He was used to this, of course. After all, he had been forced to spend most of his time alone in order to stay alive. What wasn't quite so familiar, however, was the blanket that had been carefully arranged to cover him, as well as the pillow that had been positioned behind his head.
Blinking drowsily, he pushed himself up out of his slumped position against the wall, sitting up straight. Briefly, he held the blanket to his chest, relishing its softness for a long moment before realizing how foolish he must look. Then, despite the fact that no other being was present in the room, the boy quickly cast the blanket aside in embarrassment.
I'm not a child, Jack told himself as he stood. I don't need some kind of security blanket.
He paused.
Still...it did feel nice to have something other than my cloak...or the Guardians' suffocating travel blankets, for that matter.
"Damn it, shut up, Jack," the young sprite muttered aloud to himself. He bent down to pick up the blanket, then folded it and placed it and the pillow neatly on Olivia's bed.
Olivia.
The realization slammed into him once more, its impact no weaker than it had been the day before. His sister was alive, and somehow, fate, which was usually so cruel to him, had allowed the two to reunite. Jack could scarcely even believe it.
After rubbing the drowsiness out of his eyes, Jack glanced into a mirror hanging on the wall of his sister's room. He knew that his disguise was meant to conceal his identity, but he was considerably surprised to once again see just how different he really looked now.
Color scheme aside, Jack realized with a start that he looked...younger, somehow. Perhaps it was only because no one was watching, but his posture seemed less tense, his facial muscles relaxed. Even the dark circles that had stubbornly attached themselves to the skin beneath his eyes had lost their edge to the peaceful, dreamless sleep Jack had enjoyed the night before.
Strange… Jack found himself thinking. If I didn't know better, I'd say I was looking at a stranger rather than a mirror.
Unsure of whether to be troubled or relieved by this thought, he drew his cloak around him and exited the room with the intent of finding out where his sister had gone.
()()()()
Before long, Jack came across, not Olivia, but young Elizabeth Thener in the hallway, staring up at a painting that hung on the wall. Upon coming closer, the boy could see that it was something of a family portrait, featuring Laura, what looked like a six-year-old Elizabeth, and an unknown tall, blonde man standing together. They were all smiling.
Noticing Elizabeth's wistful expression and sensing that he shouldn't intrude, Jack made to silently pass her. He was almost positioned exactly behind the girl when suddenly, she lifted her head and spoke.
"Did you sleep well?"
He stopped, turning his head to glance at her. "Yes," he told her after a brief moment's hesitation. "I did. Thank you."
Elizabeth nodded in polite acknowledgement of his response. "I'm glad to hear it," she said.
For a moment, Jack thought she would say no more, but instead, she lowered her head with a sigh, blonde bangs coming close to falling into her eyes. "I'm sorry," she apologized as Jack blinked in conclusion. "For my...ah...strange behavior at the moment. I was just…" He swore he saw tears in her eyes as she stared back up at the man in the painting. "...remembering."
Her father, Jack realized, noting the resemblance between the man and the girl. The sprite allowed a frown to form on his face. He...must be dead. His frown deepened further as he squinted at the painting. Why does he look so familiar…?
It was then that Jack figured he should say something to break the solemn silence that had fallen between the two of them. "I'm...sorry," he said, an air of uncertainty lacing his tone.
"He died when I was seven," Elizabeth murmured softly. "Three years...and it still doesn't hurt any less." She paused, then sighed. "Sorry...I don't really know why I'm telling you this."
"No," Jack said automatically. "Don't apologize. 'Tis alright, really." He ran his fingers through his chocolate brown hair with a slight exhale. "I...know what it's like to lose someone too. I don't blame you for um, for wanting to talk about it." Fairly certain I sound like an uneducated moron at the moment, but I'm admittedly rusty when it comes to comforting children…
To his surprise, though, Elizabeth did not seem upset at his awkward attempt at comfort. Instead, she rubbed her eyes, then turned to face him with a slight smile. "Still, I shouldn't make you feel like you have to stay here and listen to me cry," she said. "You want to see Olivia, right?"
Jack nodded. "Yes, do you...know where she went?"
"Yes," the girl replied. "I'll take you to her, follow me."
While Elizabeth began to walk, Jack couldn't help but pause and glance back at the painting, dark eyebrows furrowed in a combination of frustration and confusion. Something about that man seems too familiar… he thought. I'm almost certain I've seen him before...but where?
"Er, Elizabeth?" he began, having to jog a little to catch up to her. "May I...ask you something? About...your father. Only if you don't mind, though, of course."
Elizabeth visibly hesitated, but only for a moment. She gave the older boy a slight nod and said, "I don't mind. What is it?"
The winter boy suddenly found himself very uncomfortable. "Ah…" He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, starting to wish he hadn't said anything. Jack didn't want to meet the girl's eyes, but he forced himself to, forbidding himself from looking away while he asked his question.
"How...how did your father die?"
The child was silent for a long moment. Finally, though, she managed to work up the courage to lift her head and answer. "They...they found him frozen solid in the woods. His best spear was lying a few feet away. It had blood on it, and there was a red trail in the snow...people tried following it, but they couldn't find what it had been thrown at…"
Jack felt a strange sense of foreboding at the familiar scene being described to him.
"Papa, he...he had gone out saying he was going to kill the demon that had attacked the town the day before…" Elizabeth had to fight back the sob that came with her next sentence. "But he never came back! I-It was the demon that killed him...nothing else can do ice magic like that…" She raised her blue, teary-eyed gaze to stare sadly at Jack. "It's just like in all the stories...a snow sprite killed my papa!"
Jack's heart stopped.
()()()()
The hunter tensed-
-sharp point of the weapon hurtled towards-
-jumped to the side-
-too late.
-spear grazed his side-
-emotionless eyes-
-brought out a blade-
-void of any compassion-
-murder-
His anger-
-blue flash-
-staggering away from the hunter's body, unable to look back.
()()()()
The boy stumbled backwards, instinctively positioning himself in a way that prevented his falling, but he felt as though he had plummeted all the same. He thought he heard Elizabeth yelp and call out to him, but, drowning as he was within his own memories, he could not respond.
Jack's thoughts were disjointed. Shock had rendered him unable to mentally form full sentences to consider what he had just learned. Instead, he was left with broken fragments that did little to offer any sort of clarity.
He was-
They-
She-
I'm a-
Four-
She doesn't-
None of-
What do I-
It was-
Y-
Ye-
Year-
Year o-
O-
Of-
Of D-
De-
…
Year four.
The year I call Death.
Hm...looks like that's the end of the chapter, huh? Nothing left to do but say that I'll see you guys next week for more. ;)
Until then, Sapphire316, out.