A Better Life
Summary: Jack is beaten and abused by the Guardians every day. His only friend is Pitch Black. When Pitch pushes him through a white portal, suddenly everything has change. The Guardians are suddenly caring. Pitch is suddenly evil. What's going on?
I think I'm gonna start a pattern with the odd numbers chapters being long and the even numbers being short. Again I really couldn't think of what else to add for this chapter.
First thing first, I, er, have a slight confession. Some of you may have noticed in the last chapter that the other Jack is wearing a cloak.
I actually didn't mean for that to show up until this chapter.
I wrote the part for the last and this chapter before I started the story and while I was editing the last chapter so all the information about the cloak would be in this chapter, I forgot about that sentence until it was pointed out in the reviews. Seeing as people have already noticed and it doesn't really reveal too much I've decided to not take it out. But yeah you weren't meant to know what Jack was wearing until the chapter. Sorry :3
Hope you enjoy this chapter :)
Four
Jack stared at the other Jack in complete and utter shock. He opened his mouth, and then shut it again, completely flabbergasted. This had to be dream.
He closed his eyes. Then he reopened them.
Nope. Still staring at a replica of himself.
"What?" He finally asked, "What do you mean….you're me from this universe?"
The Jack hovering above his bed scratched his bed, a perplexed expression on his face as he tried to think of how to explain everything. As Jack continued to stare at him, he began to notice that this Jack wasn't a complete replica of himself.
This Jack was a little older for starters and slightly taller too. His skin was clear, with no cuts and bruises marking the pale colour, completely different from Jack's own skin, which was literally covered in them, both old and new. His eyes seemed bright and sparkly, unlike Jack's own eyes, which he assumed had darkened just slightly over the years. He also wasn't wearing the blue hoodie and worn brown trousers Jack was usually accustomed to wearing. Instead he wore a dark blue, almost like the midnight sky, robes, which were trimmed with silver hems. Underneath the robes he wore dark blue trousers too.
"Do you remember when Pitch pushed you into that portal?" The Other Jack asked in response to Jack's question.
Jack's eyes widened as he remembered what happened.
"Go" Pitch said, "You deserve a chance for a better life than this one." Suddenly they heard shouts. The Guardians had returned. "GO!" Pitch shouted and he pushed Jack into the white portal.
"You're from an alternative universe." Other Jack explained, "Which is why everything seems so strange to you. In your world the Guardians are cruel and abusive and Pitch is kind. In this world however, the Guardians are nice and Pitch is...well, not."
"But...how...?" Jack stammered.
"Your Pitch had been searching for a spell sometime after you and he became friends and he found it. It's a spell which sends a person to another universe – he couldn't know exactly which one, but I suppose he thought anywhere was better than the universe you were in."
Jack frowned, he wasn't sure if he could believe this lookalike.
"If that's all true, then how come you're older than me? If I'm you wouldn't we be the same age?" He asked.
"I don't know to be honest." Older Jack shrugged. "I'm not good with this science and alternative worlds stuff. All I know is that when you were human you fell in that lake at the age of fourteen, instead of seventeen; the age I died. No idea why this was different, but yeah."
Jack couldn't help but flinch when he was reminded of how he died. Older Jack noticed and sent him an apologetic smile.
"Then...if you're me from this world...why haven't you storm in already, and told the Guardians I'm an imposter?"
"Hey, you're not an imposter! Not exactly. Besides, even if I was still alive, I wouldn't just kick you to the curb, unless you were evil or something, which you're not-"
There was a sudden silence as the older Jack realised what he said and covered his mouth. Both Baby Tooth and the younger Jack stared at him in shock.
"You're...you're dead?" Jack whispered.
The Older Jack nodded and uncovered his mouth.
"Yeah...I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Manny is so going to kill me later." Jack rolled his eyes, "He only let me down here because it was obvious you were getting more and more confused by the second and if we didn't explain to you what's going on, things might end up getting out of hand. I also told him he owed me this after he left me alone for three hundred years, with no idea who or what I was, only telling me my name….I've gotten over that ages ago but it's fun to hang it over his head."
"Why would he not want me to know you're dead?" Jack asked.
Older Jack sighed, scratching the back of his head, "I...well...it's because..." He let out another sigh, "Thing is, kid, in this world, Pitch is not as nice as he was in your world."
Jack eyes widened, "You mean...?"
The older Jack slowly nodded.
"Yeah. I was killed by Pitch a couple of years ago. That's the event North, Bunny and Tooth keep bringing up."
Jack stayed quiet as he took it all in. Pitch killed someone? How was that possible? Even with the way the Guardians treated him, Pitch would never swoop so low as to actually kill anyone one of them. That time he killed Sandy had been out of self-defence, not out of vengeance or cold blood.
"Remember, kiddo, the Pitch from this world is not the same as the Pitch in your world. In your world, Pitch has come to understand his role of being the Guardian of Fear. In this world, Pitch thinks fear just means giving children nightmares and making everyone afraid of him. They are two completely different Pitches. Like here, the Guardians are completely different from the Guardians in your world."
Jack looked down at the duvet cover, fiddling with the hem. He felt the fairy, Baby Tooth, land on his shoulder and the older winter spirit sit down on the bed.
"Give them a chance, Jack. They're not the same Guardians from your universe. Here, they'll care for you and treat you as family; if you'll let them."
"No they won't!" Jack cried, his head snapping up so quickly, it made Baby Tooth jump. "Going by your logic, I'm not you! Why would they want me, a piece of worthless trash, when they could have you?"
To his surprise, the older Jack reached out and gave him a slight whack on the side of the head. Only a very small one, though.
"Hey, don't call yourself that!" He chided, "You're not worthless and you're not trash. I won't let anyone call you that, even if it's yourself."
Jack reached out to rub the side of his head where Jack had tapped him, surprised at his words. Everyone always called him worthless and told him he was just trash and a waste of space. And yet here was someone, even if it was technically himself, telling him something different.
"They won't want me..." Jack repeated, though his words didn't have as much strength as it had before.
"Not if you don't let them. Please, kiddo, just give them a try. They won't let you down."
"How am I supposed to believe that?" Jack shouted, "Whenever I look at them I see all the times they told me I was nothing and beat me up. Whenever I see North I remember when he would when he used that belt on me or lock me in that room, when I see Tooth I can remember when she burnt me with her cigarettes and those vicious words she would snarl at me, when I see Bunny I remember when he would pound me into the ground and yell that I just mess everything up and when I see Sandy I remember when he..." Unable to finish the sentence, he broke down into sobs, burying his face into his arms. He felt something on his cheek and glanced up to see Baby Tooth trying to hug him, in an attempt to comfort him.
"They're not the Guardians you know," Older Jack whispered, "Try to look for the differences. You'll see."
"But...But..." Jack wept.
"I know it's hard. But, please, try to believe in me. If not me, then believe in the Pitch from your world."
"Pitch?" Jack whispered, glancing up at the Older Jack.
"He sent you to this world, didn't he? Even though he didn't know where he would send you, he risked it anyway, because he believed he would be able to send you to a world where you wouldn't be hurt anymore."
"A chance for a better life," The younger winter spirit whispered, recalling Pitch's words.
"Exactly," Older Jack said, smiling softly. "And has he ever let you down before?"
"No..." Jack murmured.
"So believe in him. Pitch wanted you to be happy, have a better life. And if you let the Guardians in, I assure you, they will give you that better life."
"What happened to Pitch?" Jack asked slowly.
The older winter spirit sighed and looked away, "I don't know. I could only view your life, when Manny and I were trying to figure out where you came from and why you were here. As soon as you went through that portal, we couldn't see any of your world anymore."
Jack bit his lip, glancing up at his hands. For all he knew the Guardians may have killed Pitch after he had left. If that was the case then...Pitch had sacrificed his own life to give Jack a chance for a better one. After everything he had done...Jack owed him, at least.
"Okay, I'll try," Jack whispered.
Older Jack grinned but before he could say anything they heard Tooth outside, "Jack, are you alright?"
"And that's my cue to leave," Older Jack said quickly. He hopped of the bed and flew to the window, "See you around, little brother."
"Um...see you..." Jack replied, waving his hand. Little brother?
Baby Tooth zoomed over to Older Jack, squawking. Older Jack smiled, reaching out so she could perch on his finger.
"Sorry Baby Tooth, but I have to go. I'll see you again, don't worry. Promise me one thing, take care of Jack alright?"
Baby Tooth nodded and Older Jack grinned. Then, with one last wave at Jack, he disappeared, leaving only the moon's ray shining down on the spot where he stood.
The door burst opened and in flew Tooth, her face stricken with worry.
"Who were you talking to?" She asked, hurriedly.
"Um," Jack wondered about telling her about the ghost Jack but decided not to. He didn't want her to think him as crazy, "I was...talking to Baby Tooth."
Baby Tooth flew back over to the bed. Jack held out his finger and she perched on it, giving her mother a confirming chirp.
"Oh!" Tooth said, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment, though she placed a hand on her chest and breathed in relief. For a moment, when she heard Jack talking, she had been struck with the sudden fear that Pitch had snuck in and was going to kidnap Jack again.
Shaking away that thought, Tooth flew into the room, smiling when she saw that her fears that Jack would react badly to Baby Tooth were unfounded.
"She missed you a lot, you know, when you were gone," Tooth said to Jack, gesturing to Baby Tooth, "You two are like the best of friends."
"Yeah..." Jack said, remembering the happy shriek the fairy had let out when she saw the Older Jack...the real Jack. Jack was beginning to have doubts again.
Tooth watched the boy thoughtfully. She was positive she heard two sets of voices and not much chirping. However, deciding it was probably her imagination, she shook that out of her thoughts.
"Anyway, I thought maybe you would like something to eat?" She asked. "You didn't get anything to eat last night."
Jack looked up. Eat? The Guardians never offered him food, just simply called him fat and then they would go and scoff their faces. Jack was pretty certain he never had a meal before; usually it was just scraps and food he found in the bin. He didn't really like the thought of stealing, even in the 21st century when people seemed to have more food then they could eat. Even in his human life he didn't eat much, food was scarce and he often gave most of his food to his little sister.
This world is different, Jack, Jack reminded himself. It was hard to believe though.
"Jack?"
Look for the differences he told himself, "Um...sure, food sounds good."
Tooth smiled sweetly at him. Difference number one: Tooth never smiled, not at him anyway, unless you counted those cruel cold smirks she had.
"Sure, sweet tooth," She said, "What would you like?"
Difference number two: Tooth never asked him what he would like or gave him a choice in, well, anything. None of the Guardians did. Plus, when did Tooth ever call him sweet tooth? Difference number three.
"Um...how about...pancakes?" Jack asked, sounding unsure. Pancakes was a breakfast food right? Jack was certain he heard parents call their kids down to breakfast with a 'I made some pancakes' when he sometimes spied through the windows. But then again he didn't stay long enough to really listen, looking at families always left a sad feeling inside of him and so he would quickly fly off to the next country that needed snow.
"Sure thing. Although they're not good for your shiny white teeth."
Okay there was no difference there. Tooth was always obsessed with shiny white teeth. Though the Tooth from his world usually claimed that he shouldn't have such nice teeth seeing as he was such a filthy piece of trash...or words to that effect anyway.
The human size fairy flew back out, returning a couple minutes later. Jack raised his eyebrow when he saw her hands empty. He should have known she wouldn't really get food.
"The yetis will bring it up once they're done," Tooth said cheerily, not noticing Jack's frown.
Jack blinked and Baby Tooth chirp besides him, giving him a tiny nudge (or in her case a giant push) for doubting her mother so quickly. Yet he refused to believe she was telling the truth, at least not until he could see the actual food.
"How are you feeling?" The tooth fairy asked as she fluttered over to the bed, "You're not in any pain are you?"
"N-No I'm alright," Jack spluttered nervously, as Tooth looked over at him with concern, something he wasn't really used to.
"Tell me or Baby Tooth if that changes, okay?" Tooth said softly. She looked over at the freshly wrapped bandages and sighed, her face falling. Baby Tooth tweeted in concern at the sadness on her mother's face.
Jack wasn't sure if he wanted to ask, still struggling to believe this Tooth was really different, but he did anyway, "Tooth? Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry Jack, but it was just horrible! You've been gone for so long! We weren't even sure you were alive...I even stopped believing you were." Tooth looked down at the floor, her voice quieting as she remembered the sorrow she felt when she gave up hope, "North and Sandy did too, after a while. I think Bunny's the only one who didn't stop hoping, but even he was starting to lose faith, more and more each day. We just hoped we could find whatever happened to you. And then you suddenly just appeared in the living room, covered from head to toe in cuts and bruises! I just can't get that image out of my head. I thought you wouldn't make it, not with so many injuries. The yetis said that you even did die, for a few seconds, just after we had rushed you to the infirmary."
She started to cry. Jack shifted uncomfortably, unsure what to do.
He jumped slightly when she suddenly pulled him close; hugging him quite tightly, though not too tightly to aggregate his wounds.
"I'm so glad you're alright." She sobbed.
Jack stayed frozen still, not sure how to react. A part of him, a big part, wanted to push Tooth off him, still terrified of being touched. A small part though, didn't want Tooth to let go. He...hardly remembered the last time he had been hugged.
Quickly remembering how Jack reacted to being touched, Tooth pulled back, "Sorry!"
Jack's mind was reeling as he tried to comprehend the conflicting emotions he was feeling. Somehow, during that hug, as quick as it had been, he hadn't felt frightened. He had felt almost….safe?
Jack wasn't sure. He still didn't know if he could trust this Tooth. Maybe she was different from the Tooth he knew. But did that really mean she wouldn't hurt him?
Jack recalled the words of the older version of him.
"Give them a chance, Jack. They're not the same Guardians from your universe. Here, they'll care for you and treat you as family; if you'll let them."
"It's….fine…" He said slowly.
Tooth smiled gently. In an almost motherly she brushed back a lock of white hair that had fallen over his eyes.
And Jack allowed himself to give her a small smile in return.
Those who guessed correctly as to what happen with Older Jack (I think one reviewer did) gets a free cookie :D
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