Sorry, I couldn't update sooner but I was busy with holidays and all. Plus, dealing with all my feels after seeing Rise of the Guardians two days before it came out with my friend. And to answer your questions;
No, Jack Frost will not end up like the Once-ler.
Yes, it is everything we could ever hope and dream for.
Yes, it will make you both laugh and cry.
Yes, Sandman and Pitch will end up being your favorite characters.
Anymore questions?
Yes? No? Maybe?
Just PM me.
Anyway, new chapter.
Not the best.
Enjoy.
*tackle hug*
"Mom!"
Jaenirra shot up in her bed, gasping. Her forehead was dripping in sweat and her hair and clothes stuck to her skin.
A cool wind caressed her fragile mind.
"Calm down, Jaenirra." She whispered to herself. "It was just a dream, only a dream."
Or a nightmare.
The girl was slowly brought back to reality as she began to take in her surroundings, feeling the plushness of her mattress and the thick, warm of her fur blankets. The embers in the fireplace on the wall she faced glowed dully. Varden lay curled up near it, snoring loudly.
Bright sunlight streamed through thin white curtains. It was morning. She was here and the darkness was gone, along with her mother.
Jaenirra sighed and flopped her head back to her pillow. She gazed, eyes halfway open, at the chandelier ceiling which shone with the warm light of the rising sun, bathing the room in liquid gold.
The room was exactly like hers in the palace.
North's guest rooms were magical, transforming into a place most comfortable for the occupant.
Every wall was covered in light shelves carrying hundreds of books and other things she had collected over the years: multiple globes of all the planets in the solar system and worlds beyond, glass terrariums with exotic flora and knickknacks from outside, including beautiful fall leaves, spring bird nest, and a vast collection of gems and stones.
A white bureau squatted close to the mahogany door, crowned by a vase filled with a couple of yellow orchids.
Her bed was in the center of the room, majestic and yet humble and safe.
It was four-poster and made from the papery bark of the trees back home
Near a balcony looking onto the cliffs of the Pole, a set of white leather Roman couches crouched around a low lying glass coffee table.
On the table was a stack of books and a crystal bowl of golden apples, all laying together in a welcome sight. A stool rested in front of a splendorous golden harp that nestled in the corner nearest to the fireplace.
The air smelt of cinnamon and spice, like the throne room back home. Jaenirra took all this in and with every familiar sight, the nightmare slowly seeped away.
"Ah," she exhaled. "That's much better."
The thought of home comforted her, and while she was glad to be free of her duties, she was thankful for the magical properties of the rooms. It made her feel safe from the darkness. While she began to settle, she recollected the previous night.
Jaenirra groaned and covered her face with her pillow.
She had acted like such a bitch.
First, she had yelled at Tooth, then Pan'nuck and lastly, Jack.
Toothiana and Pan'nuck were her best friends and though Jack was not, she still should have never done what she had done. It was uncalled for. Mostly, she blamed it on stress but she knew that it was something else, something that haunted her.
Something that had been buried in her long ago and was now erupting back to the surface.
No, she couldn't dwell on such thoughts. Jaenirra sat up and threw back the covers.
"Come on!" She clapped her hands. "Rise and shine, Varden!"
Her dragon shot his head up and before groaning, settling back into the cushion he lay on.
"Oh, come on!" The redhead grabbed him and tried to pull him off of his bed.
Keyword: tried.
Varden simply rolled to his other side and she barely had time to slip her hands out from being crushed underneath his bulky weight.
She was catapulted back and lay sprawled against the foot of her bed.
"Fine," She huffed, pushing her fiery locks back into their rightful place. "Be that way. But you won't be getting any treats any time soon."
Jaenirra added.
Varden grunted as if to say he could give a fuck less.
The girl shrugged and stood up, limping up to a set of warped glass doors.
Limping as in she was wearing only one boot. The other lay in a tangle of bed sheets.
I must have slept with them on, she concluded.
She just shook it off as nothing and took off the shoe, tossing it on Varden who moaned in protest.
Jaenirra just chuckled lightly and stepped through the doors into a marbled bathroom.
She felt sweaty and conflicted, and a bath with some clean clothes sounded like just the thing.
A gilded tub with golden lion heads as legs squatted in the middle. Perfumes and soaps lined the white walls on top of plush cotton towels. Another door led to an entire wardrobe of clothes that would appear at her command in any assortment.
Jaenirra turned on warm water tap to the bath tub, letting it steam up the room as she strolled along shelves, running her fingers over soaps and shampoos to use.
"Let's see. We have cucumber watermelon, fresh pecans, gingersnap and witch hazel, eggnog, pickle and-"
She squinted, trying to see the label clearer.
"Bacon? Really, North?"
There were so many but she finally decided in a matching set of blackberries and honey scented shampoo and soap. She walked over to the tub and poured the scented soap bottle into the water. Jaenirra took a deep whiff and sighed deeply.
It smelled so good.
Like heaven, only with more berries and awesome shit.
By the time the mirror had fogged up, she had begun to take off her bulky coat. Jaenirra had then realized she was still wearing her gold sword, Agnis. The girl held it
length-wise in both of her hands and stared at it solemnly. She remembered last night's event's like a glass chandelier, distorted in some places but bright and clear in others.
She had almost used this sword on Pan'nuck.
She had let her demons almost take hold.
No!
Now was not the time, not now.
Jaenirra clenched the sword and her knuckles turned white.
She had always known there was something inside her that was different, she could see it in the way the Guardians sometimes looked at her.
Jaenirra loved her powers, she loved her job but sometimes she felt like her abilities were not worth the price they came with.
Jaenirra sighed and set Agnis on the sink marbletop.
Finally, she striped herself from the rest of her sweaty clothes and settled down into the heated water of the bath tub.
"Ooo, ooo," she squealed as she dipped a single toe into the thermal water. While Jaenirra's skin was fire-proof, that did not mean she couldn't feel hot temperatures. "Ah, that's feels soooo much bettered." She sighed as she slipped completely into the bubbly water.
As she soaked, she slipped into a half-consciousness.
Memories of walking down the dark hallway to her guest room erupted to the front of her mind.
After pushing away Pan'nuck, Jaenirra stormed down the hall.
She immediately felt guilty. She wanted to run back to him and tell him she was sorry, sorry for yelling at him, sorry for pushing him away when he had tried to help, sorry for everything. And after much apologizing he would crack one of his smart ass jokes and she would smile softly because she never laughed-not anymore she didn't.
Varden appeared, instead, at her side and fell in step, Pan'nuck not to far behind.
They didn't look at each other, they didn't speak.
And gone was Pan'nuck's smile. It had always been there, wether hidden in his eyes or in plain sight, that smile was there.
But, now it was gone and Jaenirra felt her heart wheeze before falling to her boots.
She couldn't go on like this.
She felt a burning in her chest, one that she knew had been there all day, but now...now it was an inferno, threatening to leap out and attack.
She wanted to hurt somebody, to bash out their brains with a frying pan, burn their bloody guts and then feed the ashes to Varden.
Kill, kill. Die, die, her head chanted. No! she screamed mentally.
Jaenirra had to let it out, this darkness, this hatred.
She raised a fiery fist. Pan'nuck's eyes widened.
"Jaenirra, what're you-"
She let out a banshee's scream and turned, punching the wall and extinguishing the flame.
She was shivering, breathing hard. What had she almost done?
"Jaenirra," North tested. "You is gut?"
She turned suddenly, as if just realizing everybody was watching.
Her shaken glowing eyes met one pair of yellow reptilian, a pair of warm, homely gold, one of deep blue, a green meadow and an emerald.
"Jaenirra?" Pan'nuck reached for her.
She flinched away.
"I'm...I'm fine." Her voice quivered. "I just need to be alone."
"Jaenirra, please." Her friend pleaded. "Let me help you."
"NO! I'm fine!" She screamed. "You can't help me! I can't do this anymore! I just need to...to."
To do what? Her mind hissed. You need to punch another wall, you need to hurt another friend? You need to what, girl? It spat.
They were surrounding her, Bunnymund, Sandy, North, Pan'nuck and Varden, forming a circle and blocking out her light.
It was overbearing and she couldn't take it.
"Jaenirra, do you-"
"Nee' help?"
"Really, can we ge' you thing?"
Their voices all molded into one. Their stares burned into her head.
"Jaenirra, Jaenirra, Jeanirra." They seemed to chant.
Gripping her hair, she shouted. "Go away!"
She tried to shove past Pan'nuck but he grabbed her wrist in a vice-like grip.
"Pan'nuck, please." Jaenirra looked pleadingly into his eyes and he saw something in her quaking amber eyes he had never seen before.
She was desperate, she was trapped.
And he was the one holding her back.
Where he thought he had been trying to help he could only see that he had been hindering her.
Jaenirra did not need him, she needed nobody.
And then he saw something else flash in her eyes like before.
It was a shadow, a darkness hidden inside.
He saw her hand inching towards the leather hilt of her sword and he knew she would not stop from using it on him.
Jaenirra was headstrong and would do anything to get her way and though she would never hurt him normally, Pan'nuck was not sure now.
Not after everything that had happened.
The emerald eyed boy finally released her and she stumbled back, stumbling into Bunnymund.
The girl looked like a wild animal in an unknown and unfamiliar place, and Pan'nuck swore this was a different queen than the one he knew.
She was dangerous, she was willing, she was not Jaenirra Flame.
Pushing past Bunnymund, Jaenirra ran down the dim hallway. She did not need North to guide her with a torch, she knew the way.
Varden followed her but she took no notice as she raced through the dark corridors.
Everything hurt, nothing made sense.
Jaenirra felt conflicted, she felt weak, she didn't know what to do.
It was a shadow inside of her threatening to burst out.
Agnis thumped against her side and seemed to mutter, Hurry, hurry. Go, go. Away, away.
That's right.
She had to get away.
From what, she did not know. The Sun princess just knew she had to hide from her demons.
To get away, to get away.
But how can you run from something that is already apart of you?
She made it to the room. Throwing open the door and closing it just as quick, she flung herself onto her bed, blocking Varden out.
The tears that had been threatening all night finally broke loose and the girl began to sob.
What was happening to her? That she now let herself turn into a monster, screaming, wounding and...and...some how she enjoyed it.
When that fire had burst out of her and hit Jack Frost, she had felt horrified in her actions but she had secretly found a flavor in it.
She liked it, when Tooth had become frightened by her.
Jaenirra liked it, when they looked at her with fear.
When they finally realized she was in control, she was doing it right, she was becoming just what her mother had always wanted, a leader.
She liked it when Pan'nuck heeded her, like a dog to it's master.
She like the sweet, cool taste that stroked her tongue and filled her stomach with a fire that did not come from her inherited powers.
It came from further inside, from within her shadows.
From the monsters inside her.
That's what you are, a monster, her mind whispered. Not even your own mother loved you! It spat.
You know how she looked at you behind your back. Even from a young age you were born to be a demon, a twisted one.
A monster.
"No, no! I'm not a monster!" She scratched at her hair and glared at the moon piercing through the thin curtains.
"I'm not a bad person. I'm a Guardian. I protect the children and the people. But, why," She sobbed, crumbling to the sheets. "Is it so MiM damned hard?"
The moon did not answer.
He never did.
Not once, no matter how many times her mother told her if she listened hard enough and felt it in her heart, did the Man in Moon ever speak.
Jaenirra couldn't hold it in, she screamed.
It was wild and unearthly, it did not belong on earth or hell.
It ripped through the night and everybody in the Pole heard it, though they did not know who it was by-it sounded like a groken animals.
She screamed and screamed for what seemed like hours until she could not utter one more sound, her throat was dead and hoarse.
Only then did she curl into herself and fall into a fitful half-sleep.
While tears streamed down her face, she failed to notice a figure in the shadows.
Varden, even through the door could feel something wrong and growled.
The figure walked up to the quaking girl, robes made of black sand twisting crookedly.
"Ah," He mused. "So this is the legendary Secret Keeper? What a delicious little girl."
The man glanced at the moon shining through the balcony doors. " I must say, old friend, you know how to pick your women." The man pretended to think for a moment. "Though I must say there always seems to be something missing from them.
"Oh, I know! A touch of fear." Leaning down, he swirled a bit of obsidian dust from his cloak and sent it towards her. The girl collapsed into herself, becoming a feeble ball of cold darkness.
A beam of moonlight shone into the man's yellow eyes. Raising a hand to shield them, he began. "Oh, my dear friend!" He strode towards the outside and materialized through the glass balcony doors to adress the ivory glow, hands held out in a gesture of negotiation. "Don't look at me that way, she needed help. After all, it's not like you do anything at all to help your poor Guardians." He spat. "Why look at Jack, and Pan. They look up to you every night and what do you do? You give them the cold shoulder. You shut them out, just like you shut out me!" The dark man shouted.
Jaenirra whimpered in her sleep and turned over.
"Hush now, my sweet," He stepped through the glass once more to the side of the bed. "It's only a nightmare, nothing to be afraid of." He stretched out a finger to stroke a lock of red hair from her closed eyes.
Turning back to the moon, he grinned, sharpened teeth gleaming. "I will learn the secrets that she holds and you will fall to the fear that will course through the world. All of your Guardians will fall."
Varden scratched at the door, threatening to barge in.
"Whoops, that's my cue!" Cackling, he slipped under Jaenirra's bed just as the golden dragon burst through the doorway, growling, hackles raised.
But the dragon found nothing left of Pitch as the Nightmare King slipped away into the night.
Yay! How awesome am I? I introduced Pitch!
Not that cool?
Okay, I admit. It was not my best chapter but nontheless, it is a chapter.
Sorry, if I couldn't met your needs and now you are unfollowing me and now I am crying.
Oh, one more thing.
So I got my first hate review and let me just say, I thought I could handle such a small, insignificant review.
Turns out I can't.
So that is probably one of the reasons why I stared at the computer for three hours, surfing the Tumblr tag and watching TV spots and trying to get motivated.
So when pointing fingers for the reason I took so long to update, lend an entire hand-making factory to that single hate.
Just kidding, I love you all.
And now I will go start on my Deepwater Horizon oil spll science fair project that is due by the end of this week that I haven't even started on.
Fuck you, science project.
Anyway, you know the drill, review.
REVIEW!REVIEW!REVIEW!REVIEW!
Just do it, please.
*BIG hug*