A/N: So, because I'm weird, I wrote this before I actually finished the last of the chapters. I guess it was a way to keep myself on track or something. I ended up editing a part of this so that it fit with what I did end up writing and publishing so that it didn't sound awkward. I will warn you that this is exceedingly short, and I'm sorry about that, but I'm trying not to give away too much. Plus, I wanted it to seem more detached, thus no dialogue.

The summary for A Change of Fates is at the end. I've also changed the cover of this story to another drawing I've done. :) It wasn't complete in time, so it isn't colored, but the lineart's there. I'll have a full version done soon (hopefully).

Please read, review, and enjoy! :)

Interlude

It had been six months since Jack and Cinder disappeared. The Guardians had presumed both to be dead by the third month, around April. Easter had passed without much commotion, but kids around the world were disappointed that the eggs weren't as good as last year's. North should have reprimanded Bunny, but everyone knew what was troubling each and every one of them. Sandy's dreams were less vivid, Tooth didn't go out in the field anymore and children received less money for their teeth, North hadn't had the motivation to make toys, and Bunny could barely keep the hope alive. After the ordeal, he struggled to keep his promise to Cinder. He refused to believe that she had died. But after Easter had come and gone, he went back to the Bennett house. The first thing that was noticed was that Jamie appeared lifeless and hallow, even in his sleep. The reality had dawned on him after Pitch had disappeared and the forces controlling him had faded away. Even Sophie had become a little different despite not understanding anything that had happened. She heard Bunny appear in the room and she ran to him, hugging him with tears in her eyes. When asked what was wrong, she said that Cinder hadn't come back and she was worried that Cinder had forgotten about her. Bunny forced himself not to feel that emotion again and told the girl that he would be there for her. The little girl's face seemed to brighten a little, but clearly something was missing. Nonetheless, Bunny visited when he could and kept his promise as often as he could bear.

At some point after the incident, Bunny told the others about all that Cinder had told him in the hospital. Jack had been taken under Pitch's control and he wasn't the Guardian they knew him to be any longer. He'd also admitted that he had sensed Cinder in the Warren before she stole the snow globes. He had a feeling that she was going after Pitch. A few hours later and the presence of fear in the world strangely diminished. And yet, there was no sign of the winter spirit. The winters around the world still arrived, but the fun, the snowball fights and beautiful ice sculptures, were all missing. There were fewer snow days filled with adventures. What little belief Jack Frost had gathered was already slipping away again. The life in kids' eyes was dimming. Even if they hadn't believed in Jack Frost, the young winter spirit had an effect on all the kids of the world. With significance that potent, the effects of his absence were rippling through the world at alarming speeds. And although the world was losing its fear, it had also lost its fun.

A candlelight vigil between the four Guardians and the fairies and yetis─ who had all healed well and no casualties resulted─ was held on a high balcony in the Workshop, across from Sandy's floor plaques. Jack's light blue frost designs circled around a hexagonal snowflake on the floor. Candles were settled at each corner─ but one was placed in the middle. Bunny said that it was Cinder's candle as he lay Jack's broken staff and a small ring beside it. He'd seen Jack show Cinder the ring before they encountered the memories and how Jack had said it was hers. Bunny found it and the snapped staff in the middle of the ruins of the Globe Room when they were restoring the place. It seemed only fair that it was placed for both of them. The others didn't want the vigil to be for both, that it should be separate, but they said nothing. The solemn occasion wore everyone down to the ground, where they knelt and held hands with their heads bowed. Jack's silhouette painted onto the floor's hexagonal plaque had been Bunny's work. Jack was flying─ something he had practically always done─ with his staff in his hands and his hair going in every direction. It was a dark blue outline, but Bunny could imagine Jack's snarky grin and daring blue eyes. Everyone could. His face was still fresh in their minds. They doubted it would ever fade away. No amount of finality to the supposed end of his life could take that away from them.

Not that they knew, but Jack was alive. Jack Frost, on the other hand?

He was a completely different story.

As for Cinder, her well-being was unknown to everyone for months. Alive or dead, she was the reincarnation of Schrödinger's cat, metaphorically speaking. She very well could be either, but no one wanted to look for her. If the Guardians did find her, they had a good idea what she'd look like. Both cases were tragic and they'd had enough sorrow. They never knew the connection between Jack and her, except for Bunny's vague descriptions of "they grew up together." He couldn't say whether they were siblings, friends, or otherwise. Cinder never went in depth. Tooth found the shattered tooth case in the room Bunny and she had left the pair in on that fateful day. The teeth, being so old, had already disintegrated into dust and fallen into the cracks of the floorboards. Whoever Cinder had been would be lost to time forever. Only Jack knew the secret.

But Cinder was alive as well. Verity on the other hand?

She was a completely different story.

Lykos─ the Shepherd's Boy─ the Boy Who Cried Wolf─ which ever name you attributed the twenty-something immortal─ worked day and night for months trying to fix her condition: blind, deaf, and practically dead. Few people understood the nature of his powers, and fewer wanted to find out. Even he didn't want to find out most days. Bits and pieces could be explained, but apart from telling really good lies he knew little else. The wolf at his side couldn't explain even if he tried─ Fenrir spoke in an ancient tongue only Lykos could communicate through. But the giant wolf─ indeed from the Norse legends─ helped his familiar in attempting to restore the girl. The history between them had been rocky at best, but Lykos was determined for some reason or another to keep her alive. The Moon told him there was a plan. Buy Lykos had waited six hundred years with no answer until Jack and Cinder showed up. Who was he and why did they matter?

But that was a completely different story.

Pitch found his way back into his position he had before, thanks to a string of unsolved murders that resulted in such intense fear that he had become necessary and relevant. Being the king of fear and all things nightmarish, it was only a matter of time before he'd have escaped again. And although his fearlings were scattered wide, they were slowly sucking the life force out of the thousands of kids he'd scared into becoming his army. The second of the Dark Ages was about to begin. But this time around, he would have help. All he would have to do was implement his new plan at the right time and the belief of the world would be his. He would rule over the immortal world and plunge the human world into chaotic fear.

But that was a completely different story.

All of these stories─ and the connections between them─ are about to get a whole lot deeper.

Summary: A Change of Fates

Jack finds out that Cinder is alive. The Guardians find out that Jack is alive. Pitch finds out that there's someone else as dark as he is─ maybe darker. And Lykos finds out that he's been thrown into a race against the end of peace for all immortals. In the struggle against time, everyone learns that nothing is black and white nor set in stone. Each little choice will change something and making the wrong one will spell disaster.

A/N: I hope all of you guys are excited! There is so, so, so much I'm not telling you in this chapter and it hurts that I can't just spill it all right now! Also, Jamie and Sophie will be as much a part of this story as everyone else is, so don't worry! Cinder would never forget about Sophie...

Oh, and I might make this JackxCinder... but I'm still on the fence about it. What do you guys think?

Song for Inspiration:

The Resistance by Muse (I think this might accelerate some hype. :D)

Have a wonderful day/night! :)