New chapter everyone! No one reviewed my last chapter... :-( It gets really discouraging when no one reviews your stories. A lot of times, writers are self conscious about their writing, and it helps to get good reviews from readers. Hogwartsstories is writing a story called Snowflakes are Falling-A Camp Halfblood Jelsa Fanfic (which I totally suggest reading), and I was the only person who reviewed one of her chapters. Sometimes people will stop posting new chapters because they feel the readers aren't really interested, whether they've finished the story or not. So if you like the stories you read, please review! Reviews were part of what convinced Kramer53 to finish Black Snow, without which this story wouldn't exist!
On a lighter note, thank you to everyone who read this fanfic, added it to their alerts, favorited it, etc...snowflakes of fun and love to all of you! And a warm thank you to Kramer53 for coming up with the idea for this story, allowing me creative freedom in writing it, and being my beta! Again, this series and this story would not exist without her, so milk and cookies and snowflakes of love and fun all go to her!
Now, please enjoy Chapter 3 of the third book of Kramer53's wonderful Jelsa series, A Snow King for a Snow Queen!
Chapter 3: What Happened?
Jack and Elsa reached the North Pole a few minutes after leaving the ice palace. Elsa was in awe at the feeling of flying, and Jack noticed she had a childish glint in her eyes while he was carrying her through the clouds. She would reach up and touch them, trying to catch the wisps of water in her hands, and he smiled when she accidentally froze a few of said wisps. She never let go of him, and her grip on his hoodie would tighten when he would decide to show off and dive and free fall through the sky. They laughed the entire way, and landed in the workshop through the opening in the roof the Man in the Moon shines through when there's an emergency, and noticed the workshop was strangely empty. There were no yetis running around building toys for the children, and even the elves were nowhere to be seen. The Northern Lights were still glowing in the night sky, and Jack set Elsa down carefully.
"North?" he called, a nervous edge to his voice. Elsa was in her defensive stance, ready to attack if she had to. He noticed a slight blue glow in the air around her hands, and for a minute worried that her powers were out of control again. The Guardian of Fun relaxed when he realized her magic was contained and only showing in her hands, and that she wasn't in danger of hurting anyone unintentionally. There was a crash behind them, and the pair spun on their heels simultaneously, both of their magic intensifying—his in his staff and hers in her hands—as they tried to assess their enemy. What they found made Elsa tense up more while Jack relaxed instantly and went to put his hand on her shoulder.
"Jack! Elsa! It's great to see you!" the Russian man boomed, and Elsa flinched at how loud he was.
"How do you know who I am?" she asked hesitantly, and saw something flash in the big man's eyes as he looked to Jack. The white-haired spirit shook his head all but unperceptively, but Elsa noticed it.
"Um, Manny told us," he said, flustered. Elsa knit her brows in confusion and looked to Jack for an explanation.
"Manny is the Man in the Moon. The one who told you who you were and made us all Guardians. He talks to us when we need to know something," Jack explained to his memory lacking wife. Her mouth formed a little 'o' as she looked up at the Moon, then back to the giant man in front of her.
"Are you a Guardian of Childhood?" she asked him, and the man boomed with jolly laughter.
"That I am. Nicholas St. North, better known as Santa Claus, at your service," he said with a slight bow to the Snow Queen he once knew so well, causing her to giggle behind her hand quietly. She smiled and curtsied in return.
"Elsa, the Snow Queen. Pleased to meet you," she responded. Jack smiled at their exchange, before remembering the Northern Lights shining above their heads.
"Hey, North. What's with the light show. Was there an emergency?" he asked, and the Guardian of Wonder seemed to be jerked back to reality.
"Ah, yes. We have good news, and we have bad. Which you want first?" he asked them, and the two winter spirits shared a look.
"Good news," they said simultaneously, and the big man smiled.
"Alright then. Manny has chosen a new Guardian, and it's you, Elsa!" he told them happily, and Jack picked up the confused queen and spun her around.
"You're a Guardian!" he exclaimed, and the platinum blonde in his arms rested her hands on his shoulders.
"Like you?" she asked, making sure she understood what they meant, and Santa smiled at them.
"Yes. You are a Guardian of Childhood, Elsa. Congratulations," he told her, and she smiled happily.
"Thank you. But, what's the bad news?" she asked hesitantly, and North sighed.
"Punjam Hy Loo is under attack. Tooth, Bunny and Sandy have all gone to defend it," he told them, and despite Elsa's extremely confused look, Jack swept her up and immediately took off. Elsa argued and tried to ask him where they were going, but the Spirit of Winter only flew faster, and within minutes they reached a large mountain in China's Yellow Mountain Range, known to locals as Huangshan.
Jack slowed as they neared the mountain, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. He landed on the main platform of the palace silently and set Elsa down, watching with a smirk as she looked around the palace in awe. He watched her for a few moments before returning his attention to the palace that was supposed to be under attack, only to find nothing out of the ordinary, except for a distinct lack of a Tooth Fairy, giant rabbit, and little gold man.
"Hello?" he called out, hoping one of their friends would hear him. Moments later, he saw three familiar figures flying towards them, and the Spirit of Winter sighed in relief.
"Jack!" Tooth exclaimed before speeding at him and hugging him tightly, picking him up off the ground and spinning them. In shock he hugged her back, and when she finally put them down and took half a step back, he looked her over.
"Are you ok? What happened? North said your palace was under attack," he said, seeing nothing wrong in the home of the tooth fairy.
"That's what we thought too, but when we got here, there was nothing wrong," the colorful fairy said in confusion, and Bunny and Sandy nodded in agreement.
"It couldn't have been a false alarm though, mate. The entire workshop turned dark and we heard a voice we didn't recognize thank Tooth for the tip when she mentioned memories," Bunny explained, and Jack began to wrack his brain for anything that could give light to the situation, when he realized something.
"Wait, memories?" he asked, and Tooth nodded.
"Yes," she said, and before Jack could ask whose memories they were talking about, Elsa cleared her throat quietly, drawing attention to herself without interrupting, how a queen should.
"Um, hi," she said shyly, and everyone stared at each other in shock for a minute. They all knew Elsa, and they all remembered her, because none of them could forget the day they met the young queen of Arendelle.
The Guardians were outside the cave forming a plan.
"We don't need a plan! Just go down there, defeat Pitch, and rescue Elsa and Anna!" Jack protested, "They could be dead by now!"
"If Pitch does want what you think he wants, then I don't think he would kill her," North reasoned.
Jack sighed, Screw it! I'm going in alone if they won't hurry up. And with that he whipped around towards the cave and sprinted in. It was fairly straightforward with only a few twists and turns, but no doors. He could hear the other Guardians racing to catch up with him. Jack ran as fast as he could and finally reached a door deep underground.
He could hear sobs and groans on the other side of the door. Elsa's sobs and groans, Jack thought angrily. Jack raised his hands and blasted open the door with ice. He ran in to see two other rooms, a jail cell, and another door. From the other door he heard two sobs. The other Guardians were behind him now. He blasted open the other door and ran in.
What he saw nearly made him lose control.
Even the memory of the event made nearly made Jack lose control. Pitch had been trying to get Elsa to work with him, and he was trying to kiss her when they ran in. A red-haired man with horrible sideburns and cold, green eyes had tortured her and Anna, and the knives used to torture Elsa had been laced with a horrible poison that nearly killed her. Actually, it had killed her, because Jack wasn't fast enough to get the root she needed to survive, but the Man in the Moon brought her back to life as a mortal. Because of how she died, her wounds would never properly heal and the poison would always hurt her, but she was alive, and she was his. Now, she had died a second time and was back to life, this time as an immortal and Guardian, like Jack, but she didn't remember him. Her scars were gone, the only reminder of her experience a ghost of the scar that marred her beautiful face crossing the length of her right cheek.
The Snow Queen cleared her throat again quietly, and Tooth flew over without thinking to hug her. Jack winced as he watched the two, knowing Elsa would be shocked and perhaps nervous about the sudden contact. Elsa stiffened as soon as Tooth touched her, and her body temperature dropped a few degrees the longer she was trapped in the embrace. He watched as frost began to form around her feet, and was grateful that she directed her icy magic away from the fairy holding her. Eventually the tooth fairy seemed to understand that Elsa was uncomfortable in the hug, and let her go.
"Um, thanks," the Snow Queen said, with a hint of embarrassment in her voice. Tooth just nodded.
"Of course…" she trailed off, almost unnoticeably, and Jack watched as her purple eyes flashed with understanding. She gave him a look that he knew meant, she doesn't know who we are, and he gave a slight nod. Her mouth formed an 'o' of understanding, and her eyes flashed sympathetically.
"Elsa, this is Toothiana, the Tooth Fairy, E. Aster Bunnymund, the Easter Bunny, and Sanderson "Sandy" Mansnoozie, the Sandman. They are the other three Guardians of Childhood," Jack introduced them, and watched as Elsa smiled shyly.
"Hi," she said with a small wave, and Jack knew she had begun to trust them. They all began to talk—well, Tooth got excited and began to talk and fawn over Elsa's teeth while the other four Guardians watched—and eventually they all made their way back to North's workshop.
When they got there, they noticed ice sculptures representing each of the Guardians—including one that was an exact replica of Elsa's ice palace—scattered throughout the room, and snowflakes hanging from the ceiling at regular intervals. There was a giant, winter wonderland themed cake in the center of the room, and snowflake shaped chocolates on crystal plates. There were chocolate chip cookies with icing snowflakes on matching plates to the chocolate, and Jack smiled when he saw it. North had thrown a party for Elsa's Guardian ceremony, and he did his best to turn it into a winter wonderland for her. It was slightly lacking though, and Jack knew it just needed a little magic snow. He hit his staff on the floor and it began to snow lightly in the room, and Elsa stared around the room in wonder.
North came in then, and a huge smile was plastered to his face. He nodded towards Jack with a knowing glint in his eyes, and subtly held up his right thumb, showing his ring. Jack's eyes widened slightly, and he reached for the chain he wore his wedding ring on. He chose to wear it on a chain a few years after Elsa died, just before Nicole became queen. He wanted to keep as much of his wife as close to his heart as he could, and this was how he felt he accomplished that goal. Whenever he was sad, scared, or stressed, and worried he would make a bad choice, he reached up and held the ring his wife had given him years before, and he relaxed immediately. He had stopped celebrating their wedding anniversary, since the anniversary of her death was the day before, but now he realized that her Guardian ceremony was going to take place on their 35th wedding anniversary. He immediately realized why North had decorated the workshop so intricately, and knew that the jolly man had wanted him to add his magic to the festivities. The Spirit of Winter smiled at the man who was like family to him, and nodded gratefully. With that, North officially began the celebration.
"As you all know," the Guardian of Wonder boomed in his Russian accent, "we have a new Guardian! Elsa, the Snow Queen, is going to be joining us in battles. The Moon chose her because he feels like we need help for whatever is coming, and knows that she has a center that we have been waiting for decades to join us. Now, music!"
At the man's command, the elves came forward with their small instruments, playing the same song they tried to play for Jack when he was first chosen. Jack had ignored them at the time, denying his Guardianship, and he was unsure of how Elsa would react. She had her queen-look on, and he was never able to properly read her while she was wearing it. She walked towards North with all the regal elegance a queen should have, and her snowflake patterned the floor behind her with each step she took. Tooth gasped almost inaudibly, and the Guardian of Fun couldn't be prouder that his wife had remained the Snow Queen she once was. North took the Guardian Book and opened to a page, and watched her as she drew closer, waiting for her to let him know she was ready.
Elsa continued walking until she was only a few feet away from the giant man known throughout the world as Santa Claus, then stopped and gave him a small nod for him to continue. The jolly man smiled at her, then gave Jack a look that told him to come closer as he took a breath. The white-haired spirit went to stand next to his queen, awaiting the words he knew by memory from his own ceremony.
Those words did not come, however. Right before the Guardian of Wonder could recite the words on the page—which was only a formality since he had long ago memorized the oath each new Guardian made—Elsa's posture straightened abruptly, turning into one that was considerably more alert and defensive. Then, the entire workshop turned black.
Ooh cliffie! Sorry, but I like those kinds of endings!
Sorry if I came off kind of upset earlier, but while I write my stories for my own entertainment, I post them so they can entertain others, and without reviews, I don't know if I'm succeeding.
Question: What do you think happened to Tooth's palace? Review and let me know!