Jack holds me tighter as his words echo in my head, followed by my own timid and scared voice. Looking into his bright eyes I see courage and kindness, recklessness and carefulness, love and hate. I can tell that he's scared of doing something reckless because he doesn't want anything to happen to me. I can see the fear that is steadily beginning to cover his eyes.
"Jack, calm down. I know you'll do the right thing, but if you din't do something quick, I doubt I'll be brave enough to let you do whatever you are going to do.
"I wouldn't be so sure about things, foolish mortal girl, foolish princess. The guardians will be no match for my newest ally and I. And dear Jack Frost, I believe we haven't met yet, although, in your memory I recall you seeing me flee the scene of your helpless little mortal friend, the helpless little princess you hold now. She made quite a fun play toy, and as soon as we have you both in our grasp, she will be a play toy to both of us, while you, dear Jack, get to watch and be helpless as we slowly steal her life away from her. You will suffer for what you have done, and she will be the first price you have to pay."
"Never in all of my life will you lay another hand on Cyndra so long as I can stop it."
"Foolish boy, you cannot stop us. We will have you both, and you will pay for your actions, but for now, the little princess you have, must heal. We shall give you that long, but do not expect more time, for when the process is through, princess, you shall be ours. Do not even dare to think you can stop us, it is impossible."
As her wicked voice faded away, the shadows that surrounded us disappeared, leaving me and Jack in the hallway net to Norths' large kitchen.
I look up at Jack, fear clearly displayed in my eyes. He looks down at me, taking in the fear in my eyes, the trembling of my small form, and the plead in which to immediately return to the other Guardians, regardless of whether I trusted them fully or not.
"Cyndra, I know you're scared, you just have to believe that we know what we are doing, you have to believe in us. I will take you to them, I will, but you have to eat. You won't ever get better if you don't eat."
And there it is, the reminder that when I get better, she'll come. She'll take me, and hurt me in order to hurt Jack. Her and that ally of her's, both of which we don't even know. The suddenness of our predicament hits me like a rock, and I'm sobbing. I'm scared, more scared even than when I met her. More scared than I have ever been, and yet I am mostly scared for what will happen to Jack, if they do end up hurting me again. I'm scared of what can happen to me. I'm scared, and there is no way around it.
I feel Jack rocking me back and forth, in a small attempt to console, me while I listen to his softly spoken words. "Cyndra, you have to listen to me, alright? I know you are afraid of getting better, but you need to. You need to get better for me, because if you don't get better, they will already hurt me more than you know. They will have already taken something from me that means the world to me, and I wouldn't even have the chance to fight for it. You can't do that. You have to listen to me, please, Cyndra. Please."
He's begging me? BEGGING me? The Jack Frost is Begging me to get better? If this were any other situation, I would have burst out laughing, but this is no laughing matter. He's being serious, he's trusting me, and I can't waste that trust.
"Jack." A single word. Just one word, that's all it took. He knew it was my conformation, and so he tried to listen to it. Holding me tighter to his chest, he finished the walk into the kitchen, setting me in a chair, he reaches to his left and grabs a blue tinted bowl, the color of the sky, and walks to the far end of the kitchen. Taking a large bowl of soup out of North's unsurprisingly large, and yet surprisingly normal-looking refrigerator, takes a ladle and ladles some of the cold soup into the bowl, yet as soon as the soup touches the bowl you can steam come off of it. The bowl must be enchanted with magic, and seeing as North is the guardian of wonder, it doesn't really surprise me.
Jack slowly walks back over to me, and Sierra, knowing that I have to carry the bowl if I want to eat with the others, jumps from my arms, and instead opts to follow Jack and I through the workshop. Handing the bowl of hot soup to me, Jack, once again carries me to the others, a very happy german shepherd puppy, following in his footsteps.
Not a single word was said until we reached the other guardians.
Setting me down in a chair in front of an empty table, Jack steps back and faces the other guardians as I begin to eat my soup.
"Cyndra, why are you eating in here with us? You know that the kitchen is always open to use, yes?" North's apparent concern doesn't help my already absent appetite.
"North, let her eat, she will talk to you soon, but both she and I know that if she doesn't eat right now, she's not going to." Jack's voice is a comfort to me, especially since he knows what I'm thinking.
"But, mate, why wouldn't she? Didn't she just ask us if she could go eat because she was hungry?" The tone in Bunny's voice tells me he knows something is up, and he wants to know what it is without asking right out.
"Kangaroo, if you want to know what it is so bad, why don't you just wait till I finish eating, and then MAYBE I'll tell you, but for now, Jack has something he needs to tell you, before I tell you the extent of what he says. May as well tell you the whole story while I'm at it, right Jack?"
I look into his deep blue eyes, asking for forgiveness of putting the first task on him. He looks back as if he already knew I was going to ask him to start, and nods his head and motions for me to continue eating.
"Earlier, we forgot to mention a small fact to you, and it is why one, I need to watch her at all times, two neither of us can ever be alone, and three, that when I watch her someone else has to be with us." His casual and cool voice make the fact that he's about to announce seem less important than it is.
"Well, what is Jack? Is there something wrong?" Tooth's motherly voice asks the first question, voicing the question that everyone but Jack and I want to know the answer to.
"Well, we forgot to mention that the witch isn't only after Cyndra. She's after both of us. In fact she told Cyndra so in the times that she has spoken to her."
The guardians looked like they ha been slapped in the face,while I continued to finish up my small bowl of soup.
"How could you forget that bit of information, Jack? And why is she after both of you?" Tooth asked for herself and the others.
Setting my empty bowl aside, I slowly stood up and looked each of the Guardians in the eye.
"Jack where should I start?"
"Where you thin it's best to start, and although I know you'd rather not, leave no information out this time. None." His voice was almost cold, but I know that it's not towards me. It's directed towards me still unknown attacker. Deciding my course of action, I begin to feel a slight bit nervous at what all I'm about to tell them. I still don't know what they'll think.
"Cyndra, you need to tell them, you know best." Remind me to thank Jack later for his encouragement, it's what is now allowing me to speak. I don't know if I could have even started speaking if not for his words.
"I first realized that she can speak to me via telepathy not so long after I had woken up the first time. I was telling Jack that I was ready to tell you guys what happened to me, and was beginning the relax at the fact that I was safe." I look over to Jack and he nods his support to me. " He had just finished telling me that he would tell you guys, when she spoke to me. She told me this: 'You are never Safe. Not even in your own mind. I see what you mean to Jack and he to you. Watch what happens the next time you see me, it may be your last.' Followed by her evil laughter. Jack consoled me after I cried out. You then cam in, heard my story and conversed over plans of action, whilst I slept. When I awoke again, I was taken, albeit willingly, to you. That was when Bunny dared me to walk across the room. Jack was afraid to let me go on my own, but I'm a stubborn girl. I wouldn't let him come with me. A sudden thought crossed my mind when I realized that he always seems so worried about me." I glance down at my feet, wondering what Jack would say to this. "I wondered about a few possibilities when she entered my head again. At that time, the possibility of him ... caring for me was my predominant thought. She answered that that rather inaccurately, and with a harsh meaning behind her words that scared me and made me afraid that they were true. She said: 'Don't worry, Princess. We know that he doesn't. He'll never want a mortal girl like you. He would rather see you dead than be with you, but don't worry, Princess, he won't get the chance to before we have you both.' Followed again by her evil laughter. I continued on with Bunny's dare, and that ended with him carrying me. While he carried me, I mentioned this to both of them, and yet hadn't revealed all of the information to either of them then, or the time right after that and before this. I gave them most of the facts though, and Jack received only a small portion more than Bunny, and yet none of you knew all of the information I just disclosed to you. Then I repeated most of the information again when we met up in North's office. I was still tired and hungry at h time and I requested to leave, and left with Jack to receive my food." I pause, knowing that they thought that that was all I was going to tell them. " That was when felt an odd sense of foreboding in the back of my mind that made me sick to my stomach, and yet as quick as it cam it was gone. Not but a few second later I noticed the first shadows behind Jack, and then we were surrounded by them. I was scared, and I could see the fear echoed in Jack's eyes. I spoke to him and mentioned that if we didn't get out of there then, I would have been too scared to leave. I had just finished my statement when she spoke aloud to both of us through the shadows. 'I wouldn't be so sure about things, foolish mortal girl, foolish princess. The guardians will be no match for my newest ally and I. And dear Jack Frost, I believe we haven't met yet, although, in your memory I recall you seeing me flee the scene of your helpless little mortal friend, the helpless little princess you hold now. She made quite a fun play toy, and as soon as we have you both in our grasp, she will be a play toy to both of us, while you, dear Jack, get to watch and be helpless as we slowly steal her life away from her. You will suffer for what you have done, and she will be the first price you have to pay.' And then Jack spoke in my defense. She spoke once more to the pair of us. 'Foolish boy, you cannot stop us. We will have you both, and you will pay for your actions, but for now, the little princess you have, must heal. We shall give you that long, but do not expect more time, for when the process is through, princess, you shall be ours. Do not even dare to think you can stop us, it is impossible.' Then her voice faded and the shadows left. I got breakfast and came here." I look over to Jack. His eyes are wide in realization that I hadn't even told him everything before and that now he knew what I was thinking, and how much it scared me of what SHE had said to me. The other Guardians just looked at me as if I had signed my own death sentence.
"Sheila, are you telling me that this witch's ally is after Jack, and because they are after Jack, they want to harm you? Tell me that's not right, because the only person with any reason to harm Jack was last seen getting sealed into his own lair." Bunny looked like he wanted to not believe his own words. As if telling us say we're lying will make his words any less true.
"Bunny, you can't just assume that Pitch is her ally, not until you know for sure." That's Tooth for you, always cautious and wanting to be sure before she flies into a situation she doesn't want to be in.
"Tooth, was the flying wall of shadows that spoke to them not enough proof to say it was someone we thought was utterly defeated, for you? Is the fact that the only person who truly has anything against Jack is the person Jack helped get sealed in his own lair with his powers almost completely defeated? Is there not enough information for you to see that this evil, shape shifting, witch, has teamed up with the person who delivers fear on a gold platter and yet serves it to you cold?" Bunny was panicking, you could hear it in his voice.
"Bunny, sir, although the information does lead us to believe it's this 'Pitch' guy you speak of, it does not necessarily mean that it is him. And what could possibly be wrong if she is teamed up with Pitch? Who is he?"
All of the other Guardians glared at Jack. I guess he was supposed to tell me something he didn't, that or he didn't know he needed to.
"Oh, so now you're mad at me because I forgot to tell her about Pitch. In case you haven't noticed, she's been conscious two days since she's been here, and there wasn't a need before that."
"So tell her now, and then let me explain why him possibly being teamed up with her is such a bad thing." Bunny's accent almost slurs his quick words.
"Well, then, Cyndra, have you heard of the Boogeyman?"
"Yes, he hides under beds and scares people."
"Well, he has a name, and it's Pitch Black."
"Why should this worry me?"
"Because recently he tried to take over the world using the fears of children, and almost succeeded. He gave the children nightmares by turning Sandy's good dreams into black nightmare sand. If I hadn't have gotten to the last believer and made a scary situation fun, he would have succeeded and ruled the world by fear. The children were the deciding factor in our victory, though. They changed fear into dreams and began having fun, watching the amazing shapes of Sandy's dream sand. We followed Pitch as he fled the scene and watched as his own nightmares sealed him in his own lair." Jack had barely finished his sentence when Bunny began speaking.
"Now, sheila, if he were to hold a grudge to any of the Guardians it would be Jack, and Pitch would be willing to do almost anything to get at him, even harming an innocent child like yourself. He knows that he can get to Jack by using us, but he may have wanted a simpler plan of action than having to capture a Guardian, so he bid his time until you met Jack. By that time he had probably already formed an alliance with this girl, and had shadows on watch of Jack. You and Jack got along well, and spent a large amount of time together. Figuring he could get to Jack by using you his alliance to the girl came in handy in the fact that she could harm you, and then retrieve you both from whatever location you were in."
Oh great, so Bunny's theory means I really can't leave the North Pole. At least I'll be safe, and Jack too, for that matter. I look up at the Guardians, all of them, and find sadness in their eyes.
"What's wrong, guys?"
"Cyndra, you can't leave the Pole until this is over, and that could be a very long time. It would take away from your life, and makes me almost wish that you hadn't have met me. It's my fault you're in this predicament, and-"
"If you continue that sentence I WILL walk out of the Pole and just wait to see what happens next, and probably freeze to death in the snow. It was never your fault and I'm extremely glad I met you. If you ever say it's your fault again that something happens to me, it will be your fault what happens to me next, do you understand?" Suddenly I felt the wind pick up around me and raise me above all of the Guardians' heads. I look down and speak specifically to Jack. "It was fated for this to happen and I was predestined for the role I play, " My voice was amplified at least ten times as I spoke, ending with my voice and myself calmly floating back down to the ground. " It was meant to be, Jack. It will never be your fault."
The Guardians stared at me as if I was the witch we are after, as if I just showed up in front of their eyes and demanded they follow my orders. Jack's eyes were the widest of them all, showing a fear that I had sparked within him. I look up into their eyes, and everything goes black.