Huh, early chapter. One review for each I suppose ^^ I'm still determined to finish this. Been going on for nearly a year XD
Please, for the love of everything Holiday-ish, please review!
Chapter 19: The Memory Forest
Jack stared at the looming, ominous figure before him with a tight chest and fearfully eyes. This was a creature that was darker than Pitch; indestructible. Death himself- or itself- was standing right there.
The frosty youth spoke in a shaky, low voice. "Am I dead...?"
Those green eyes seemed to narrow, and the deep voice spoke.
In a way. Though the reason you still remain practically in this realm is because of The Man in the Moon, not I.
Jack's brow furrowed questioningly. "What...what do you mean?"
Those vivid eyes flickered in the darkness; the woods around them, blurred as they where, began to sway and warp like long grass in the wind. Jack stared around uneasily.
I think you've been kept in the dark long enough, Jack Frost, and I find myself meddling in affairs that I believe should not have come to pass. But they have; and they will.
A clicking; eerie sound of moving joints split the silent air. Jack cringed as the free hand of the Grim Reaper reached out, and the golden box of the boy's teeth glistened.
The world around them reacted violently. The black forest quivered like angered wasps as the colourful, bright box glinted in its own light. Then, that light reached towards Jack. The trees began to stiffen; a pale white freezing the like the frost he controlled.
What was happening?!
This forest is made up of memories; intertwined and connected. Lost but never truly destroyed. As you can see, the balance of this place has also been meddled with, but the memories remain no matter the damage...
Jack, alarmed, stepped away from the light. Behind it from the looming darkness, Death watched with unblinking and unyielding eyes. He yelped as the light came over him like water; and then the warmth and cold his mind at all at once.
Like glass panels glistening over his eyes, memories began to appear.
The grass was green; the sun out as he ran through the forest. He could feel it...warmth. And them- his mother and sister behind him.
He swung from a tree; his sister called to him. Again and again, the voices called.
"Jack!"
"Ja-ack!"
"You're funny, Jack!"
And then he saw the snow, the lake. But what was he doing? His mind was in a haze.
And then it was as clear as day. The day he died.
He was standing on the cold, cracking ice. His sister stood a few feet away; trembling.
"It's okay, It's okay..." Jack Overland reached out to her, his voice smooth. He had to keep her calm, he couldn't panic. It wasn't an option.
"Don't look down, just look at me..."
The ice cruelly cracked a little more. "Jack..." His sister breathed, "I'm scared!"
"I know, I know..." He stood now, arms out, gentle fingers reaching. "But you're gunna be alright. You're not gunna fall in..."
He thought quickly, and spoke as fast. "We're- We're gonna have a little fun instead!"
She may have detected the slightest hint of a quiver in his voice. "No we're not!"
The sound of the cracks echoed around them. "Would I trick you?"
"Yes, You always play tricks!"
His heart was pounding; his laughter nervous. But that warmth remained in him, that laughter and friendliness in his voice. "Not this time. I promise, I promise..."
Her eyes, so wide and fearful, where locked on him. His heart pulled. "You're gonna be alright."
He lightened his tone. He had to, had to get her to be calm or she would surely fall. He straightened up and spread his arms. "Wanna play a game? We're gonna play hopscotch! Like we play everyday..."
The sting of the cold came baack to his feet, but he made himself to ignore it. It was easy as one...
He took a step and wobbled, and panic filled him. Yet still he smiled at her and yelped playfully.
Two...
She laughed; and confidence came back to him. She had no idea of the fear that filled him so.
"Three!" He trotted on light feet to solid ice. He reached out towards the Sheppard-like stick he'd used as balance to get them onto the ice in the first place. Jack's eyes locked with his sister's as he held it towards her, steady. It was all he could do to keep his own hands from shaking as much as hers.
"Now it's your turn."
But he hadn't know, but now he did- hadn't felt the presence behind him.
"One."
His sister moved forward. The ice began to split.
The silent scythe readied above him.
"Two."
She gasped and reached out, he spoke quick. That was it, nearly there-
"Three!"
They spun around; she flew to safety and he slid forwards. She struggled onto her hands and smiled at her in relief. Jack stood, brown hair flopping over his eyes.
CRACK.
The ice gave away behind him, and the last thing he heard as himself was the cry of his own name. The cold engulfed him, dragging him down. His body froze; he couldn't move.
And Death readied his scythe from beside him, and it sliced through him like a chill in his body.
Then, the Moon came. It seemed to come closer to him; that moonlight shining from outside the hole in the ice. His hair began to pale.
And Jack Frost opened his eyes as Death watched from the banks, frowning.
Jack dropped to his knees, breathing hard and heavy. The forest was clearer around them; the black trees where still. He stared into space for a few moments.
That had been him. He had been him. His mother, his sisters, his name...!
"That was me!" He stared up at Death, laughter making his voice breathless, "I had a live, I had a family, I had a sister!"
He leaped onto his feet, staring up at him with all the happiness and warmth he could feel, "I SAVED her!"
He laughed and spun around, his voice echoing through the woods. Then, he slowed down.
He saved her...
You gave your life for a child. That is why he chose you, Jack Frost.
Jack turned around, his brow creasing once again. "That was why...?"
Those green eyes flickered brighter for a moment. Yes. Similar cases happened with the other 'Guardians' though not all of them died as you did.
Jack raised a hand to his forehead, then rubbed the skin between his eyes. "But how? How could he bring me back to live."
Death's voice remained hard. He didn't. He gave you another one. And you will never return to the last one. The rules, I have told him, cannot be broken. He insists on bending them, however.
Jack titled his head, frowning back. "But...you're Death, I mean...what gives him the right...?"
I know all that has been, would have been, will been. And if the greater good is to be achieved, though that is not my true concern, these measures had to be taken. I do not meddled with the emotion and moral affairs of the mortals, but the balance of life itself has been tipped to the darker side too much.
"Balance?" Jack questioned.
The Nightmare King, as he calls himself, has grown too powerful. The balance between light and darkness, fear and tranquillity have been disrupted.
Those fearsome eyes glistened dangerously, the voice dangerous. That I shall not tolerate.
Jack, despite his slight fear of Death for now, smiled a little in a cocky manner. "I thought you didn't concern yourself with that kinda stuff."
Those unblinking eyes narrowed beneath the hood. Balance is connected to everything. Dark, light, happiness, agony..and life and death. If any are upset, the others are affected.
"So you allowed it. The loopholes." Jack grinned widely. Death glared at him indifferently.
Allowed, caused, it does not matter. I have plans of my own in the making, and the Man in the Moon cannot change them. This story does not start and end with you, Jack Frost.
The forest began to move again; closing around them. Jack yelled out loud as the ground gave way beneath him. He slipped downwards and landed in a dark, blurred place; the grey, white and black spinning around him like a whirlwind. Death stood unblinking in front of him; appearing as suddenly as a yell in the night.
Jack drew away, his eyes wide.
And the images came in the blurs; both in his mind and in front of him.
Two boys stood by the riverbank. The Man in the Moon's light glistened on one.
Jack watched in horror as a blade whipped passed him and towards them, and cried out when the other boy, lean and sharp-faced, threw himself into its way as Death's blade and the one that had been thrown sliced downwards onto him.
"Flee, Alec!"
He fell backwards into the embrace of a lake; and was pulled down into darkness. Jack called out to him, but his voice went unheard. Death, the present one it seemed, stared darkly from the shadows. Not malicious, but he didn't relent.
A masked figure with the spiked hair of the dead boy stood beside the grave; a grave where the other boy who he saved was knelt. Curly, black hair fell in front of tear filled eyes.
Then that boy grew to a man- a man that faced Pitch. His eyes glistened; blue and powerful- the same eyes that Jack had seen on Jo. He stared, through the spinning fog and blurs, as Pitch rose from the darkness and threw a bolt of black sand to the man.
Those eyes were hit; and his yell of pain followed as the image of the scene faded.
Then, that man was old, standing in the snow beside that blond-haired Jo Jack had seen. They looked at each other and Jo smiled without that sincerity he had now.
Jo's shadow moved behind him. Death pointed a bone finger to it, and Jack almost yelped when he saw it. He was breathing hard and uneasy now as he watched what was happening over these years.
Then, a girl appeared. At first she appeared as a small, Tooth-like girl with a smile, then she morphed into a much darker version of herself that raised her arms. The bland sand squirmed and trembled around her, the terrifying shriek of the nightmares echoing around her.
Around this image that he was shown, the forest seemed to go even more mad. And it began to crumbled around him. Jack cried out as the ground began to shake, and one last image presented itself in his mind and the black shadows began to cover his body.
The girl stood in front of Jo, glaring.
Jack reached out, as if hoping to reach him.
The black mass came close to his eyes as Jo struggled in the sand that held him. The girl's frightening eyes did not stop glaring through the dim.
And now, it seemed, they were looking at him as the darkness spread over his eyes. His breath labored, Jack gasped for breath. He couldn't move.
The forest was gone as his vision faded.
Alecvander had lived many years; not fully human. Always travelling, he spent many lifetimes wondered what his purpose was.
You could say it was to simply live, and wait for his descendant, Jo.
Pale and cold, the boy knew nothing of who or what he was. What fate and Death had in store for him since before his birth. He was vital. In the balance, as many where
Anguish would never reach out to his brother, and spent many years alone. Making a deal with Death itself was never one made to achieve happiness for yourself. So, named after the agony he felt during, after and before his Death, the masked spirit wandered.
Preparing for the day the balance and the world itself would be tested. And if the greatest outcome was to be achieved, his brother's descendant had to be there.
He watched the world change. He saw the adventures of the Guardians years before Jack Frost came to being. How that auburn haired girl with eyes like that of Jo's sister handed her book of stories to Alecvander.
Katherine. Mother Goose herself.
Those wondrous stories where part of the balance; everything was. But darkness would always be there. But the fearlings didn't want to simply exist. They wanted to own existence.
And that is something Death would not allow. So he let the Man in the Moon continue with his plan. Anguish carried out the bidding of the one he was indebted to. Always in the dark, cold and mostly alone.
And for a moment, Jack Frost had felt that feeling.
They weren't so different, you know.
Jack awakened, his eyes blinded by the frozen light of the blizzard above. His staff lay beside him. His body felt numb and cold, but whatever pain he had felt before had gone.
One thing was clear, though the headache didn't agree.
That girl had Jo. And he had to save him.
YEAH.
Hope that wasn't too confusing. Poor Anguish and Jack.