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chapter five – hunting
Summary: "Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first one who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior." [Jack Frost and Elsa. Jelsa. AU.]
Prompt: The quote above, as in the one in the summary is from The Catcher in the Rye. The initial prompt is the fact that we live in a society that's clearly damaged but, I wanted something more. See, there's this manga based on the Pokemon games called Pokemon Special/Adventures. The arc for BW2 is really interesting and if you have any knowledge of it whatsoever, then you'll understand what I mean.
A/N: Sorry, school kind of caught up to me. BUT LIKE I'M BACK? Anyway, this was a fun chapter to write! One or two people's pasts are revealed and oh, what's this? A new character? DUN DUN DUN. Honestly though, I'm sorry for the long wait. I hope this long ass chapter will make it up to you. Have fun and thank you, if you're still continuously reading. You'll get the title chapter later. And if you don't well, I'll explain it down below.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything at all :)
Long ebony hair, and eyes that shine gold—she was always the elegant one. Headmistress of the school, she holds within her pretty façade the unimaginable authority that only someone so dedicated to Corona could ever have. And all the secrets that lay beneath her piercing gaze, the experience one might never have in a lifetime.
So she passes through the Corona hallways, a steady mask properly in place with her stiff frown and a glare that no other could match. The school is almost empty, with the exception of the remaining staff actively working in preparation for the arrival of the students who have left to attend the ever so infamous Festival of Games. One teacher stands out, a man with a stare just as tantalizing as hers, eyes burning like the sun, and hair the color of the shadows of midnight. He is second in command when it comes to matters in Corona, and evidently—has more power over her than anyone.
"Professor Black."
She sneers, lips turned to a polite conceit, whilst she eyes him with sharp orbs.
"Headmistress Maleficent, what a pleasant surprise."
"It's been awhile since I've seen you out of your office. Last I heard, you were providing a new set of rules for the Science department. I hope those are working well in your favour."
"It's just a few changes in regards to the department's agenda, as well as a new timetable for the rooms. It's—ah, necessary—for the sake of our new arrival."
The headmistress nods, understanding quite clearly what he is alluding to.
"She's been working well, that girl. As expected of his daughter." Walking past Professor Black, Maleficent calmly closes her eyes, heart slightly thumping, and fist curled tightly. "I hope for her sake, she adapts to the world as soon as possible, and does not fall to catch the eye of that man."
The professor smirks, hands knotted casually behind him.
"Frost seems to have taken quite a liking to her – which, is to be expected. I doubt he would let his kindred take her away into that world."
"But brilliant students of Corona only have one place to ever go, and you know that."
"Wasn't it your duty to prevent such an event?"
"And wasn't it your duty to ensure that he did not die?"
"There's no evidence that he's dead."
"Nor any that he's alive."
"If it was him of all people, he'd live to tell the tale of Hades' death – that, I know very well."
"Tch."
No longer feeling the need to continue the conversation, the headmistress' slow pacing turns into brisk walking, eager to escape the suffocating air that always seemed to be present when it's just the two of them. But he is not going to let her get away so easily, and before she knows it, he's right in front of her, a calm exterior and a small frown.
"Michaelis Pitchner Black, if you do not let me pass, I will be forced to use any means necessary to ensure my escape."
"Go ahead, I'd like to see you try, darling."
"What a repulsive nickname."
"We must talk about it."
"And why should we?"
"I understand why you have such a liking towards Elsa. Besides the fact that she is his daughter, you understand what she feels—right?"
"I don't—"
"You who has longed for normality all her life, surely you understand once you're in this rut, you can never really escape. And rather than feel sympathy for such a girl who reflects so much of who you are, you want her to see how cruel the world can really be—isn't that right, Evangeline?"
"And who do you think you are, dictating what I feel and think should be done?"
"Take it from someone who knows you and this side all too well; no matter what you do, and how much you try to block it out, you will be pulled back into this tangled mess that only those whose lives are pledged in the name of the underworld can ever truly see. You might refuse to look back, or ignore the conspiracy that you know is happening within these very walls of Corona, but sooner or later you will be forced to take part in it. And I will drag you back, kicking and screaming, if I have to."
"And why would you go through so much trouble?"
"For the sake of what we promised that day."
Her eyes go wide, golden amber shining with a distant memory. She hears the voices, those words sworn in the name of their blood, and sees the vivid dream of cigarettes that burned scars on their wrists. Thirty years ago, the night that catalysed the continuous flow of disastrous events that followed the red thread of their fated lives.
"Free world? Don't make me laugh. There's no such thing as freedom in this world we live in."
"Vincent Aleister Frost, always the cynic. And if you ever have a son, I pray to God he doesn't get that trait from you."
"Evangeline Maleficent, always the nosey one. It's not like you went far this summer, still going to that same school, still working this same job—when are you ever going to leave?"
"I see myself becoming the headmistress of Corona, thank you very much."
"There's so much more in this world you can do yet you settle for less – I will never understand you. You should take example from Amelia, or Lassie. They're both strong and independent women – much like yourself – and they exercise their capabilities with big dreams of going out into the vast world and taking it head on."
"If I don't take over Corona, who would? I don't see anyone else going out of their way for that school, that's why I think, it'd be better if I looked after it myself. "
54321
"Hello, special players of Corona, I am your guide, and you may call me Miss Ursula."
There stands a woman, tall and corpulent, rambunctious in her smile, and movements so full of vital enthusiasm. Her hair, white and short, styled up, and her violet eyes matched her boisterous behaviour. The special team all sit, astounded by her loud and exuberant personality as she dazzles them with her animated explanation of the coming special game.
"The rules, you may already know, are simple. The objective of the game is to touch the opponent's base whilst keeping yours safe from them. There are many ways to achieve this win, and many tricks you can use to confuse the opponent. If you are caught, you stand at the opponent's base as the prisoner, legs and arms spread apart. If more people from your team are caught, you must stand holding each other's hands. The game can be won if there's no one left in the team, or if the base is touched."
"Which team are we up against?"
Always the brave one, Jackson Overland brings a hand up to ask the question. All eyes on him, and the lady stares at him with sly smile and slated eyes.
"That is an excellent question. My, what an impatient young man you are."
"Just really want to get my hands dirty, as soon as possible." He shrugs, and Elsa glances peculiarly at him as all the other players nod in agreement. "Southern Isles better be our last opponent."
"As it is, only four out of the ten schools have volunteered for the special event, so the first set of matches will decide who will be facing who in the final." She waves a hand to draw everyone's attention to the board behind her. "As you can see, we have lined up the schools according to the regions; the two schools from the north will be facing against each other and same with the southern schools. This would mean that Corona against Duloc Castle of northern California, and Maldonia will be against Southern Isles."
"That means, there's a good chance the finals will be us against Southern Isles?"
Red haired Peter Pan with the clever smirk comments, and all those around him start to whisper amongst themselves. Ursula gives a small nod which causes an eruption of excited phrases from the players. Elsa turns to Jack and he smirks at her.
"And the world is once again in balance."
A clap is heard over the cheering and Ursula whose sinister smile never falters, all looks at them, arms crossed.
"One tip, for all of you; electricity(1) will be your best offense."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
She smiles again, licking her lips causing the students around her to shudder in disgust.
"That, my fellow playmates, you'll know in due time." She snickers, before stepping off her stand and heading for the door. She stops for a moment, before taking the knob and turning around to face the confused stares of the Corona students. "Oh, by the way, in the preliminaries, only five players are allowed. So, choose wisely!"
She leaves with a slam and heavy groans break through the small silence she left upon the wake of her exit. Jack lets out a small sigh before turning to Elsa with a that ever-present smirk.
"Do you know something, Jackson?"
"I guess you could say that." He hums to her, and stands up, taking Ursula's place. "I'm going to appoint myself as the leader of you miscreants."
"And why should we agree?" Fierce as ever, Merida snarls at the boy. "Yer no boss o'us Overland!"
"Merida, settle down. You're not even supposed to be here; you're only taking Simba's place because we need a hunter to match up to Southern Isle's Little Creek, so you need to shut up and let me talk because Maleficent already told me to lead you guys."
"Well, 'at's no surprise since she favours yer ass an'way."
Ignoring the snide comment, Jack erases what's written on the board, and starts laying out a strategy. Everyone else sits down to watch him work, as he draws squares and circles with dusty white chalk on the dark green board.
"Okay, for the preliminaries, we'll have Merida, Elsa, Mulan, James and Hiro."
"Wh—what, why me?"
A black haired boy of the age fourteen jumps up in protests, stammering in the process. Jack gives him a small shrug and an indifferent stare that causes him to sit himself back down.
"Don't worry, I have a plan. We'll need your genius mind for it to work, and plus, Sherman's too young to start us off with three girls on his tail, Jimmy boy won't be able to handle—"
"Call me Jim, jackass."
A lone boy at the corner spits out, brunette hair tied back in a small rattail, blue eyes, leather jacket and a single piece of earring latched onto his left ear.
"Man, what's got you in a prissy mood today?"
"Peter, I don't think you should—"
"Jane, it's okay."
Jack intervenes, feeling a fight about to break out. Elsa sits awkwardly at the side with a pouting Merida who seems more concerned about Jack previously scolding her than the quarrel about to arise.
"Is it okay to leave it like this?"
"At's why 'e called us miscreants, 'at self-appointed eejit leader."
"Are you still mad about him scolding you?"
"More like bitter."
Loud bangs and crashes are heard and Elsa snaps her gaze back to the scene of Peter perched on top of one of the shelves of the room and James throwing chairs at him. Horrified, Elsa stands up to try and put things back in order, but Jack extends an arm to stop her, his gaze at the sight nonchalant. He turns to her, smiling mischievously and winking, before timing his jump up with James throwing the next chair. He flips mid-air and catches the chair and Peter jumps off the shelf to make a break for the door. Black haired Fa Mulan runs to the door, and grabs Peter by the neck, locking him in a tight hold on the floor.
"Jimmy—"
"Jim."
"—you need to control your temper for a while here."
"We know you're still prissy from what happened with, you know—"
"I'm not prissy!"
"Sure you're not."
"Merida, I don't think—"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP."
For the first time in all Elsa has known Jack—which isn't really so long as she would like to think—she has never seen him shout and get so worked up. But here he is, standing and glaring at every single one of them.
"I'm not up for killing any of you which is what I'm going to do if you all don't get your shit together."
"Right then."
Jack heaves a long and tired sigh as he relaxes himself once again, before gesturing everyone to turn and look at the board.
"What's the plan, boss?"
Shy little Sherman asks, eyes darting between the scowling Peter and the brooding James. Hiro at the corner busies himself with devising an alternative plan as everyone else settles themselves down to stare up at their glaring leader.
"Look, I know we're not the best mix of people to ever work together." Jack starts, standing above all them, and everyone snorts out audible agreements. "Merida and I can't stand each other. Elsa's the new girl, Jane's too uptight to deal with any of us, Mulan's the odd one out and both Hiro and Sherman are too young to understand the crisis we're facing right now."
"Hey, I know exactly what's going on!"
Hiro interjects, standing up from his seat. But Jack motions for him to sit back down and he does, eyes wide in slight admiration and knowing alarm as he meets the glare of Jack's blue eyes.
"Point is—we're miscreants. We can all agree on that, right?"
"Sure."
Merida puffs out a sigh and all the others follow after her with their own rolling eyes and disgruntled agreements.
"We're going to have to get past all that because we need to win this. You all know we do. The only thing on the line is not the prize—that's the least of our worries. We're all gifted and talented people, specially made for this event. If we screw up—we're dead."
"E's right, ya'know. No matter how much I hate the boy's guts—e's right."
"So here's the plan."
Jack writes on the board, arrows drawn all over the place – a draft of their gameplay. Photographic memory on, Hiro memorizes all that is in front of him. Elsa notes down, on her pale hands, the position she plays and those surrounding her, while Peter Pan, lax as ever, leans against the wall with tired eyes and eyebrow raised.
"Like every other game, there is a rule that's never mentioned, never spoken, but overtly present. In cards, Rich Man, Poor Man follows a diverging tactic with a set of rules that's not exactly written in stone but can be played and is allowed to be played. Revolution is triggered through four of a kind, and opens the reversal of the cards' worth. Counter-revolution then neutralizes this rule(2)."
Jack begins to explain, pacing up and down in front of them. Peter, with the love for agitating people, including Jack – who he considers as kin, with their similar personalities and taste for adventure and wreckless behaviour – raises a hand up, a sweetly mocking smile plastered on his elvish face.
"Sorry, sir, but what does cards have to do with this game."
"I'm just getting to that." Jack takes in a deep sigh, not letting Peter's obvious attempt to annoy him get to him. "This game is the same. The rule was, if caught, spread your arms and legs apart in the opponent's base and hold hands, right?"
"Yes."
"Well, what does electricity do?"
"What?"
Everyone looked at him, confused and wide eyed. Hiro continues to jot down notes, not minding all that was around him as if he already knew the answer. Jane and Mulan exchange small glances and James does not bother to conduct an answer of his own.
"I don't know, it flows?"
"Exactly." Jack snaps a finger before turning back to the board. He draws stickmen all lined up together. "Electricity will continue to flow as long as something that conducts it is present. It only breaks, like a switch, if the current is disturbed by a missing piece."
"And…?"
"And we're going to use this fact to win this game."
"How exactly are we going to do that?"
"The game rules state that the prisoners are still free players, and they can be saved. It never said anything about how they can be saved. We're assuming they're saved when we hit the base. Most of the games we've played, save for the try outs, both sides aimed to hit the base rather than the catch the other team's members. Well, what if this time we all purposely get caught."
"What're you saying, Jackson?"
Elsa is the one to speak up this time. Standing up on the behalf of everyone else who finds themselves confused with Jack's explanation.
"In chess, the pawns go first, right Els?"
"I—"
"And oh, has that saying never been so useful—until now."
"What—"
"We'll create a current, starting from the first prisoner caught, down to the seventh prisoner caught. The rules state you are caught as soon as you pass no man's land and so much as touch an enemy within their territory. The tactics so far we've all used is dodging whenever we're being chased or literally throwing ourselves to the base before we're caught. By purposely getting caught, we'll be pushing back their defences to no man's land as the line of prisoners expand the base and decrease the territory."
"And the prisoners become the base!"
"Yes!"
"That means, like electricity, when we reach and attempt to save the prisoners, we'll be touching their base—theoretically speaking as the base is the prison."
"Yes, well done Elsa."
Jack claps, giving her a small wink. Peter laughs, quite amazed at the newfound fact.
"Is that even legal?" Jane asks, arms folded and eyebrows raised. "How would we know we can win that way if the rules never stated that saving a member will automatically carry the save to the base?"
"The official rules in the fest handbook states, and I quote, The base will act as a prison, and the prisoners are part of the prison. So long as there are prisoners, the base will remain a prison. If the rules state that the base is the prison, how else are we going to win? We touch the prison. And the prisoners are part of the prison—so they are part of the base as well."
"Are you sure that—"
"I believe him." Elsa speaks up, and all eyes turn to stare at her, questions written all over their faces. "I mean, no man's land is the only place we cannot get caught, save for our own base. If the boundaries are pushed back, no man's land won't allow them to catch us anymore. That would leave at least one or two people in play that will never ever be caught. It suffocates their team into staying within no man's land. And if their territory is occupied, what is it occupied with? Remember, they can't catch us once their prison reaches no man's land. There is no point defending an obviously free base. That rule, is clearly there for the obvious reason, we're allowed to use the prisoners as the base."
"But I—"
Peter interrupts Jane with a hand raised. He gives her a sly smile before giving Peter a lazy sigh.
"It's hard to wrap my head around it but I get it, and I think it could actually work. Why waste time trying to touch base within their territory when the base is up for grabs in no man's land anyway."
"Fine, we'll go with this idea. But if it fails and it's against the rules, I will not be happy. And neither will Malaeficent be."
"Relax Jane, it's legal. It will work. Trust me."
Jack lets loose a vibrant grin that seemed to assure the brunette. She heaves in a sigh before nodding, excusing herself as she leaves for the door. The rest follow after her, giving Jack nods and shrugs of approval. Hiro leaves head still down on his notepad and James bumps shoulders with Jack.
"It'll work." The brunette boy mutters, staring right through Jack's cloudy eyes. "I know it will."
"Good."
Everyone leaves, except for Jack and Elsa. In the silence, Jack busies himself with cleaning up the board and dusting away the chalk from his sleeves. Elsa sits down on one of the tables, legs playing with the chair previously used by James to attack Peter. She watches Jack's back, feeling a little bit of admiration for the boy who leads them bunch of miscreants, and leads them well.
"That Hiro boy, he looks familiar." She breaks the silence, averting her gaze to her feet and the chair. "I've seen him before, I think."
"He's on scholarship in the tech department of Corona. He lives with his aunt and they own a café besides one of the tram turns into the city center. You might've visited it and he might've served you."
"Don't think I have." Elsa bites her bottom lip, looking back up at Jack, willing him to turn and meet her gaze. And he does. "Is he, perhaps involved in the works?"
"You mean the underworld?" He gives her sceptical look, dropping the board eraser beside the sticks of chalk as he leans against the board. "As far as I'm aware of, no he's not."
"He claimed he knew exactly what was going on."
"He knows about the underworld. That doesn't necessarily mean he's part of it. It's typical of anyone within the tech department to know of it—he might've been asked to do a project with them because he has the brains and his inventions are always sought after. He made my ice gun, actually."
"Corona's a lot of things. I just didn't expect to land myself in a school aimed to turn everyone into slaves of the underworld."
"Not everyone from Corona are scouted to be spies, you know."
"Just the brilliant ones."
"I'm working on that."
"How?"
"Let's just say, the sooner we get Hades out of the way, the better."
"That sounds promising. Do you even have a plan?"
"No, but I'm working on it."
"Of course you are."
"I don't see you doing anything?"
"Jack, you literally dragged me into this an hour ago. Up until today, I was fine letting my suspicions go by and just living life normally."
"You call pretending you never killed and worked for a fucked up organization for two years before going back into that same old routine normal?"
"I didn't know this school was recruiting. For all my suspicions were worth, the furthest I came to associating that place with the underworld was your strange behaviour and somewhat questionable acting. But I never pegged you for a spy."
"Really? I didn't think you were either, until of course, I got more inside on you." There's a taunting smirk and mischief in Jack's clouded eyes. "How did you hide your records so well?"
"I used the truth."
"The school photos?"
"They're all real. Our organization allowed us to live normal lives, under guises of course."
"So you used your nickname and shortened your last name. Clever. What about your dad's black market expeditions? How did you solidify that?"
"Dad worked Hades' weapon management. He sent the arms through the black market sector and passed it out as if it were illegal sales when in fact, they were just deliveries to Hades' henchmen."
"So you used crime to mask legal activities? I'm sure even you on your own can't pull that off."
"You're right. I didn't pull it all off on my own."
"Who helped?"
"Can't say."
"And your sister—she's not really your half-sister, right?"
"I'm uncomfortable talking about her."
"Why?"
"Because she's innocent."
"Oh really?"
"You would know, right? Since you fell in love with an innocent girl."
"Yeah."
The conversation kind of stops. They know not what else to say, the previous comment lie heavy on their heart. Jack can't tell whether he should be surprised she knows about Rapunzel, or be mad about it. It's a different heartbeat with Elsa. It's never slow or relaxed, and her touch is neither warm nor her smiles sunny. Her skin feel like ice that burned frost into his very being, and never once has he been bothered by the cold before – even more so, delighted.
"So, why did you and Rapunzel break up?"
"It's a long story. Best be saved for another day."
She nods and heads for the door, but he clears his throat in time to stop her from leaving. He walks up to her, hands in his pocket, lazy blue eyes and slumped shoulders. There's so many different sides to Jackson that she can no longer tell which sides are real, and which sides are fake. But somehow in his touch, she feels the truth he's desperately trying to hide.
"About the card game—"
"I will still be your partner; don't worry."
"Yeah, I know. But, it's not that."
"Then, what is it?"
"I have a plan."
"Really? Do tell."
"It goes like this—"
54321
Like all finals for the games played in-doors, the card room is white washed. Two chairs are sat opposite to each other on one small table, facing side from the door and the mirror. Two cards lay on the table, and one bag. Elsa swallows a little, her opponent slightly taller than her with exotic blue eyes and waves of black tied in a very loose ponytail.
"Hello." She speaks softly, a small smile on her lips and he gives a gentle nod in response. "Shall we begin?"
"Sure. Just, one question."
"Yes?"
"Why you?"
"I, beg your pardon?"
Her eyes are wide with quite disbelief, and Peabody at the side yawns whilst glancing at the white clock in front of him.
"Why would Jackson pick you of all people? Are you like, his girlfriend?"
"I—no. I am not his girlfriend."
"Then why you?"
"I'm just, his good luck charm."
She smiles at him, a smile so sweet and fake, the innocence is fabricated in the lacey curve of her lips. It's a smile she never thought she'd ever use again. And he falls for it, all glitter-eyed and watered mouth, he stares into her crystal blue orbs like the prey of a vixen—and he is very much so.
"We must begin, now."
Peabody interrupts, and the two competitors sit down. Tulio takes the bag and drops the two cards in. The bell rings and the game begins. Jack's instructions play on repeat, in the back of her mind, and she makes her mark as she puts a hand in the bag.
Flipping a coin has a fifty-fifty chance of being either heads or tails, but the thing about coins is that, your chances reset every time you start a new flip. Through a lens, this could be very similar to this card game as each time you draw, you have a fifty-fifty chance of getting a joker card, or a misprint.
"Misprint."
"It's a good head start for me, I guess—what's your name?"
"Elsa."
"Pretty name, for a pretty girl."
"Thank you."
These chances are false, Elsa. It is not which card you pick but the print of the card. There are four prints on the card and three of them are backs. We're aiming for the red joker—there is only one in a fourth chance of us ever getting that print. The enemy will have two times more chances of earning a point, with his double back, as our back doesn't count. You have one fourth a chance of gaining a point while he has half a chance of getting a point.
"Another misprint? You aren't so lucky—that's third in a row."
"I wouldn't celebrate just yet."
"And why is that?"
"You still have seven more points left to earn."
"That can't change the fact I am three scores ahead of you—good luck playing catch-up."
Your chances of getting the red joker resets every time so, expecting to get three out of six goes is inaccurate. We're going to manipulate these chances to our advantage – because your chance resets every time, it is the perfect bluff to hide the cheating.
"Finally, you got your joker."
"It begins to be interesting."
"Four to one, that's not very good now is it?"
"It's a start."
The most your opponent will expect from you is a ten to six ratio of your scores. But as soon as you surpass this, he will begin to question the "fair" chances you both started off with.
"Ah, another joker? You're catching up."
"It's fair chances, right?"
"Uh-huh."
"Then what's—"
"I just find it weird you're now on three and I'm still on five. That was a very quick catch-up."
"I am, after all, Jackson's lucky charm."
"Not lucky enough."
Here's what you'll do. You'll mark the misprint card. As the game starts off, you'll continue to play off the game with a ten to six ratio in scores. This means the most you will have when he hits seven is four. When the next three rounds are played he will begin to expect only two more scores from you. You will allow this to happen—before he hits ten.
"Hey, another joker. But are you still hoping? I'm only one more away from a ten."
"I'm no lucky charm for no reason."
At the nine mark, you will gradually catch up to him. And when he begins to suspect the knock off in the balance, he'll inspect your card.
"You can't just get three more jokers in the instance I get a nine—it's literally—"
"Impossible? Why—because the chances aren't fair?"
"Yes. Because you're cheating."
Tulio interrupts the game. He takes both cards out of the bag and drops the misprint back in. He carefully takes the joker card, inspecting it, sharp eyes keen for any sort of misplaced detail.
You mark the card on the edge, it won't be visible but it doesn't have to be, as long as you feel the folded flick on it's edge you'll know what card you're touching. And you know what? The mark is invisible, but your opponent's biggest flaw will not be because he can't see the mark, but the fact that the cheating card is the card inside the bag (3).
"Satisfied?"
Peabody asks, irate and very bored. Tulio nods, finding nothing out of place, and he couldn't be more right.
"I'm done."
"Then let's continue."
Elsa draws again, the second to the last card before they are set in a tie. She takes it out, back on display, and when she flips it open, the red joker shines glory to her score. Tulio bites his lip, clearly unsatisfied. He grabs the card back and throws them back into the bag. He shuffles hard before letting her take one more card – the last card. It sits on it's back print. And Elsa flips it open to win.
"Winner, Corona."
"You're fucking cheating."
"And what evidence do you hold to prove that I am."
"There is no way in hell you can catch up when I'm on my ninth score. Maybe Jackson picked you as his partner because he thinks he can fool me with a pretty face."
"Have you ever heard of cumulative frequency?"
"No—yes. It has something to do with the weather."
"Cumulative frequency also affects chance."
Peabody takes the cards off Elsa's hands, and leaves. Tulio is looking up on her with genuine interest. But there's still a hint of distrust in his dark blue eyes.
"Chance is never based on the grand scheme of the game, but rather the moment chance is reset."
"Explain."
"Resetting chances is not uncommon. I can flip a coin fifty times and expect it to have twenty-five heads and twenty-five tails. Does this mean I'll get it?"
"No?"
"Possibly; but more often than not, I won't. There's a chance I can end up with ten heads and forty tails. You know where the forty continuous tails come from?"
"Where?"
"This is a nod to the cumulative effect. This is the theory in which a series of repeated actions and consequences has an effect greater than the sum of their individual effects. I won because cumulative frequency was on my side(4)."
Tulio gives it some thought. It made sense. There was no way this girl could make it all up. Elsa Arendelle—he heard she won chess against Kida. Intelligence like that cannot lie. Or so he believes.
"Good game."
He holds out his hand for her to shake. And she takes it. Polite smile and a small bow. Their match is done but the game is far from over. Jack is still playing across the other side of the mirror and until his match is done, there is no guarantee.
"You played well, but is one up against me enough to carry your team? I don't know about you but, my partner is plenty capable of taking down that white haired show-off."
"I think Jackson's doing fine. And he will do fine."
"You have way too much fate in that boy."
"And for some reason, it's okay that I do."
And she's proven right because the door burst opens with a smiling Overland, victorious over his opponent who trudges behind him, brown haired and brown eyes not looking too amused.
"Hey." She comes up to him, almost shy, with the grace she's been known for. "How was it?"
"If you can't already tell, I won."
"I can see that."
The way they touched and spoke, it spelled something sweet, something innocent. Through the lens of those around them, it almost seemed like shy lovers daring to move forward. But their eyes tell something completely different. He asks if his plan worked, she nods and wonders, how he won his fill. They both knew, cheating was never not part of the game—getting caught was their only downfall.
"Dimitri, Tulio, we'll be seeing you both in the special event."
Jackson tips his head towards the two boys of Southern Isles, taking Elsa's hand with him. He drags her out of the white room, and they stroll far enough for no one to pry on their much needed business.
"We got phase one done."
"What does winning the games have to do with anything—honestly Jackson?"
"It's Jack, I told you. And it's important just because."
Elsa rolls her eyes. They stand in the middle of the street, crowded with people minding their own business. They can tell these people don't care – they don't need to be careful at all. The eyes that dared to see pass their disguise and ears that dared to hear the secrets of their plan are all out of the picture. In Megara's words—large parties are so intimate.
"Besides the necklace, you said your dad left you a bunch of other things. Care to tell me what they are?"
"All there is really is the crystal and books he told me to read."
"The classics?"
"Yes, Catcher in the Rye, Perks of Being a Wallflower and Mother Goose in Prose."
"I understand Catcher and Perks but why Mother Goose?"
"My father seemed to believe that I lacked a sense of childhood. He probably thinks I'll get it back just by flicking through the rhymes."
"Do you think he put something in the books?"
"No, I don't believe so. If he did, I would've have found it by now. I've read all of them."
"Which one did you read the most?"
"Holden."
"Why?"
"I wanted to understand you."
He looks at her, head tilted to the side, as if trying to read her lie. But she's not lying. It's the truth. She wanted to know more about him, and if she can't touch Jackson Overland Frost, then she'll look for him in the character of Holden Caulfield.
"So, nothing in the Catcher?"
"No."
"I'd like to borrow Mother Goose. I don't believe it's only purpose is to help you with your childhood crisis."
"When will I get it back?"
"Tomorrow dawn. Meet me at the roof casino. I'm going to decode whatever's in this thing."
"What about right now? Do you not need my help?"
"Don't worry about it."
He pats her head, extending a hand for the book. She reluctantly reaches a hand down to her blue bag, and takes the three books. Handing him the old prose, he nods before flicking a wave to her direction. He disappears among the crowd of people, leaving Elsa to herself once again.
That boy.
54321
Henry Horrendous Haddock had been in the Guardians since he was eight years old. Now halfway to being seventeen, he's kind of gotten how the whole spy thing worked. And even more so, how Jackson Overland Frost, worked.
He remembers coming in to the business eight years ago, unknowingly signing himself up to a world he would never be able to escape. He was eager, and amazed by everything that surrounded him. Gadgets of all kinds, chemicals he never even knew existed, and extraordinary people with extraordinary powers – metaphorically speaking.
Jack was his first roommate. The boy had been the same age as him at the time, and he was cheerful and determined. He heard that people praised the eight year old Frost. He was, after all, the son of then leader, Vincent Aleister Frost.
They worked missions, and little Henry slowly climbed up the ranks of the spy world. From just being an amateur rookie who fumbled with gadgets and evidently still could not tell the difference between freeze and heat ray, to a respected S Rank scientist. While he busied himself making a name within the Guardians, he drifted apart from Jack. He came into the science and forensics department, in charge of substance creation and investigation, while Jack famed himself in the name of his fieldwork. Last he heard of the boy was when his parents died. That was five years ago.
He came back freshmen year and they reconnected then. But the boy was different; a little stiff, a little less fun-loving, and heavily guarded. They did not speak of what they had missed, nor did the mention of his parents ever come to picture. The only other personal thing Jackson told him was the tragedy that was Rapunzel, and his strained relationship with the boss, Man in Moon. He knew they were blood related – Tsar Lunar had been Jack's step-uncle. The mysterious man was not the heir of The Guardians. It was dead Aleister Frost who Jack never mentions again the night after the fire that killed both his parents.
But more often than not, little Henry became Jack's go to in terms of missions. When the going gets tough, Jack would always turn to him – even if he himself was not officially involved in the mission. That's why, he was used to getting random phone calls involving solved cases or exciting chases. Because Jack trusted him, more than anyone in the world, to help protect the surface.
"Tamer, where are you at?"
The brown haired boy lazily holds his phone close to his ear. It's one in the dark, black clouds over Vegas and their hotel room is silent despite the soft snores that escaped Merida's mouth next door.
"Frost?" He yawns and sits up, making his way for the exit. "It's one at night. What's up?"
"I need your help."
"Okay, what do you need help with?"
"I've got lead on our current mission but I might need some help decoding the message. Meet me at Meg's bar in under fifteen minutes. Bring your gear."
"Right, okay." Before the Dragon Tamer can put down the phone, Jack calls back to him. "Yeah?"
"Thank you."
Despite knowing the fact that Jack won't see him, he still nods in approval. He smiles before he ends the call, and then slaps himself awake.
"Okay, Jack needs me, so I've got to get ready."
He opens the door, as silent as possible, and it creaks. He curses to himself before fully running in to make a grab for his hoodie and bag. Lacing up his shoes, he stands with his hoodie on, bag in one hand. He makes small and silent steps towards the door and just as he was about to leave, the light is turned on.
"Hey."
Wide eyed, he looks to the blonde girl standing between him and his getaway. And of all people to be catching him on the act, it just had to be her.
"Hey Elsa." He speaks, sheepish grin on with one hand tightly holding the bag. "How goes it?"
"Where are you going, Hiccup?"
"I got a call from my friend Meg." He lies smoothly, trying to casually throw the bag over his shoulder, as he shrugs. "She said to meet up with her as soon as possible. I don't know why."
"Oh, that's okay."
"Yeah."
"Do you know where Jackson is?"
"No, sorry."
"Okay." She takes a step away from the door and Hiccup anticipates it, but then she takes the same step back. "Why one at night?"
"Megara's a party girl. She's probably looking for me to go with her to some bar."
Technically, that was not a lie.
"And you're going to go?"
"Well, I guess so – she's my good friend."
"Okay."
Elsa finally nods, satisfied as she leaves the door. Hiccup rushes out as casually as he possibly could. He doesn't know how he did it, but he managed to leave without Elsa's suspicion. Or so he hopes.
Once he's gone, Elsa turns back to the door with narrowed eyes. She takes her own bag with her before making her own leave from the room. Everyone else in the room is still sleeping, Merida sounding peaceful across the connected door, and Flynn on the floor, head buried against a pillow. She turns the lights off before hastily making her way down the elevator. Her phone rings and she picks up breathless but still on the rush.
"Yes?"
"Your research on the Hamada boy is correct. He seems to have some connection to one of your ex colleagues. However, we cannot be too sure just yet."
The voice on the other line is slimy, and husky, like that of a familiar devil. Elsa breathes in the polluted Vegas air, still running towards the cemented pavements, bumping amongst strangers.
"Is the DNA scan done yet? I'm sure that'll finalize whether he is related to Ta—"
"Patience Snow Queen. Was it not you who wanted to so desperately escape this kind of lifestyle?"
"I'm sorry it's just, someone opened my eyes up to the reality of, who can really escape this life anyway? Should I continue to live in the pretend unknowing of what is going on around me when I am perfectly aware of it myself? I do not want to do that. That's why I have decided, that while I still can, I'm going to protect the surface."
"A speech very familiar I must say. You sound just like your father—protecting the surface was always his goal in life."
"He's still out there, I know he is. And when we escaped, there was only one other person with us. And the answer to this DNA test could be our next lead to my father's whereabouts."
"How are you sure that both your father and the boy are still alive."
"I'm sure they are. He promised me he'd live—they'd live. And if there's one thing I know about that boy is, he'll never break a promise."
"Very well. I'll speed up the DNA testing. I'll hopefully have results by dawn. Even with advanced technology, DNA scanning and testing is still a timely process(5)."
"That'll do. Until then, I'll try and get more information on the boss from possible information brokers across Vegas. Hopefully by sunbreak, all the missing pieces will fall in place."
"Be careful Miss Arendellia."
"Thank you so much for the help, Prof—"
"It's nothing. Your father, was a good friend of mine. I'd like to think he's still alive."
"Me too."
The phone call ends and Elsa takes one last glance at the time. She has about three hours and thirty minutes left before dawn. That's plenty of time to dig up dirt on Hades. She nods and pockets her phone, running towards one of the crowded corners of Las Vegas, hoping to get this all done and over with.
Across the other side of the city, Hiccup enters the notorious Des Morts bar in which Megara Lightwood works. The bar is busy with drunkards drooling over the tables and bottles and glasses of champagne and liquor rolling all over the floor. He spots Jack and Megara right at the bar, having what seemed to be a deep conversation.
"I always liked Tom the Piper's Son. I prefer it over—"
"Nope. I completely disagree. Little Boy Blue is the best off—"
"What's going on?"
"Hiccup, my man!" Jack exclaims, patting a seat beside him for Hiccup to sit on, which the latter does so reluctantly. "We're just talking about which story in Mother Goose we liked most."
"You called me up at one in the night for that?"
"No, we were just passing time."
"It seems like Jackson thinks the next lead to the mission is in that little book of his."
"Where'd you get that from?"
"Doesn't matter."
"Jack, if you don't tell me, I can't help."
"You will be able to. Come on."
Jack stands up from his seat and Megara discretely slides a key towards him. He covers it with his palm, skillfully stuffing it beneath his blue sleeves. He kicks his chair aside and motions for Hiccup to follow after him.
"Third door right to the girls' toilets."
"Got it."
Both he and Hiccup briskly walk towards the toilet doors. Jack goes in first, making a quick sidestep to the door of the girls' toilets, before a blackout occurred.
"Really Frost? Is all this necessary?!"
"Yes it is, Tamer." They both sneak off into the staff area, eyes trained to see past the dark. "We have fifteen seconds before Meg turns the lights back on."
They run through a narrow hallway, entering a small door to the side, and then another door leading to a set of stairs. When the lights are back on they find themselves in Megara's office. It had plain black walls, a table and a locker at the side. The light was dim red, and there are papers stacked all over the place.
"For just a bartender, she sure has a fancy office."
"She's Meg. She's probably half the reason why this bar is a success. It's too run down and honestly, do you see many females about the place?"
"I guess not."
Jack nods and makes a move to tidy up the desk. He moves the papers to the side while Hiccup follows behind him, bag ready to set out the instruments they may need. Taking out gloves and goggles, Hiccup passes them to Jack. He then takes a bottle sterile water, along with other tubes of different chemicals.
"Okay, which page is it?"
"That's the thing. I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"I don't know as in I don't know."
"Jack quit—"
"I'm not kidding. I have a hunch this could be the next lead I just don't know where or what page the clues are written in."
"For fuck sake."
"Hey, if you brought Toothless here maybe—"
"Dude, what does no pets to the games mean to you? Seriously."
"Right. We can't fight over this. But what we can do is try and solve where it could be at."
"Okay, fine." Hiccup takes of hiss gloves and grabs the book, flicking through the pages. "If someone's going to hide information in a book like this the wise thing to do is hide it within a certain passage."
"According to where I got that from, the idea of the book was to relive loss childhood. Does that mean anything to you?"
"No. It's a book of children's rhymes Jack, it's all about childhood!"
Jack's eyes go wide for a moment before he jerks the book away from Hiccup to inspect it himself.
"Not every child will have this book but every child should know the rhymes used in this book."
"Your point?"
"The code must be hidden in the rhymes, not the story!"
"Okay, but which passage?"
Looking through the table of contents, Jack narrows his eyes at the one line he knows for sure is the key to everything.
"Man in the Moon."
"What? How are you—"
"Topsy-turvy world he did not belong to. Man in the Moon is the key(6)."
"Look Jack, just because our organization leader is Man in the Moon, doesn't mean that the passage of that nursery rhyme is going to—"
"Hiccup, trust me on this. It's not based on that man at all. I know for sure, it's Man in the Moon."
Giving Jack one last sceptical glance, Hiccup sighs and gives in. He takes the book from the wide-haired boy's hands and sets it down the table, along with all their other much needed instruments.
"Which ink do you think they used?"
"Heat and UV light are the most common used invisible ink. If the guy who coded the book had any wit in him, he'd avoid those. We'll try and use chemical reaction."
"Okay, but which one?"
"Cross out phenolphthalein, ammonia and vinegar. Those are also commonly used."
"Right, so we still have an array to choose from."
"Well, I guess we'll be here for a while, Hic."
"Yeah, seems like it."
They get to work, the hours counting down to five am—sunrise(7). Like Elsa racing against the coming day, they're fast and efficient. New information developed each passing second. When the clock ticks four, everything will soon come clear to both Jack and Elsa.
A/N:
This chapter, believe it or not, took me three months to actually finish, in between doing my exams. I had a surge of inspiration from watching Liar Game back in November but that kind of faded when life with all it's bull caught up to me but here I am, almost a year coming back to write more. Don't worry, I'll try to write more often this summer before school hits again. Or idk, I'm going to try and get a job so. And also, I'll try and better the quality of my works. Please, I welcome criticism, any suggestions, just not flames. I know this chapter is very fast paced but please, I was on the verge of 8k words minus this A/N and the notes up above. I'm also thinking of a new summary. Any suggestions? And if you squint, up above I have decided whether they'll have powers or not. Thank you! The title is, reference to the fact that they are "hunting" for information, ya know.
(1) – The game this "special game" is based on has this thing called "electricity" in which when you try and save one player you end up saving all the other players, so long as you pull them away and they're all holding hands. I think if one person lets go they have to stay in prison. I changed it up a bit, making it so that they not only save their players but they save base as well.
(2) – Heavily inspired by the manga Fruits Basket. If you've read it, you'll know what game it is; it's Dai-Hin-Min. There's a chapter Hanajima was like, "secret technique, revolution" so I searched up the rules and according to wiki (hehehe), those rules don't have to be played but can come in effect. Which is the same as the "electricity" in said game above as it is not technically enforced but no one's going to stop you if you give it a try (unless of course it's been agreed right from the start that those rules are off limits)
(3) – This is all Liar Game. Literally, this is the first thing that I had planned out for this chapter, and well I was so excited to write about it. Until you know, I abandoned you guys and then I just, I'm sorry. But basically, I hope the explanation I made was good enough, and if it's not well, watch Liar Game. I highly recommend it, if you're into the whole psychological mind games mystery scene. If not, read the manga for Liar Game.
(4) – I remember learning about cumulative frequency in Junior school. What a fun time that was. I applied whatever knowledge I had left in it, and some extra googling so I could wrap up Elsa's bluff. Cumulative frequency doesn't actually affect chance, specially not coin tosses or card games but it'd be nice to know if such a thing did exist. Tell me, did you find her explanation convincing? I changed the bluff from Liar Game to cumulative frequency just so I can add my own flare to it.
(5) – According to google, standard sibling DNA tests take approximately one week so. Y'all know where I'm heading with this plot just by this slight hint.
(6) – Ah, here's my favorite part. Okay, if you don't understand what Jack is on about and you think Man in the Moon was just an impulsive guess on Jack, well no. If you flick back to chapter three, or two, idk the enamel chapter, you'll remember Elsa met North and they discussed Man in the Moon from that same book, right. And then on my notes I was like take whatever hint you can from it. Well here it is. Man in the Moon was the nursery rhyme Jack chose because her father gave her the book "for loss childhood" but really what he's saying is this book can relate to your story Elsa. Man in the Moon is about a guy who literally went down to earth and hated everything about it because it was not what he expected and it was all wrong. He thought it'd be good but it wasn't really. What does that have to do with Elsa? Think about it. Also, it fits our very own Man in Moon, Jack's uncle who's not the actual heir. You all know who the real leader of The Guardians was so now here's another thing for you to solve, why does the story fit Tsar Lunar so well?
(7) – Google said sunrise at Vegas is at 4:55am but 5am sounded cooler.