Alaia Skyhawk: Well, I'm back home from my holiday and will be back at work tomorrow, but at least I've had the fun of doing this chapter to distract me from the woes of heading back to the grindstone.
Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.
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Chapter 41: Conference
So far it had been a fairly typical year, with fairly typical weather patterns. And that was a certain relief for Jack as he made his rounds of North America. It had been a tough decade or so, things were at last returning to normal, and Dig was finally getting the chance to signal an 'early spring'.
And he was quite the up-and-coming Legend now, with 'Groundhog Day' being celebrated over a large area. That had it's downside, there were too many 'pet' groundhogs now, kept by towns for the purpose of divining the start of spring, for him to get round all of them in such a short span of time. Yet ironically it didn't seem to matter if or not the proxies got the predictions right.
That is, so long as some of the proxies got it right, belief in Dig didn't waver in the slightest. It was a fact Jack and the others had made sure didn't get spread about, because there were plenty of Legend Immortals out there that would have been put out that the childlike Groundhog didn't have to work all that hard to keep his believers.
But, to get back to the point, it was February 2nd 1901, and Groundhog Day yet again seemed to have gone without a hitch. Darting around, watching Dig shoving his mortal cousins out of their burrows, was certainly more entertaining than the other big event taking place today.
Jack disliked attending funerals, unless they were for core members of the Bennett Family, so Queen Victoria's state funeral held little importance for him. He'd used to watch the funerals of rulers out of some slightly morbid curiosity, but didn't bother these days.
He'd given up a lot of his old habits from his early days, and focused on things that were more important to him. Like visiting his family.
Jack flew to Burgess, to the current house owned by the head of the family, and slipped in through the attic window. The tiny room beyond it, was his, and was predominantly bare apart from numerous small drawings and paintings of him in frames on the walls. There was also a set of shelves, filled with various wooden and pottery figurines of him, a couple of lace agate ones, and there was a stand in the corner with the leather-bound family tree resting on it.
Jack went over and opened it, reading through the most recent entries. He then closed the book with a sigh, and moved to the wooden pallet in the corner. He'd made it clear a long time ago he didn't need blankets or a mattress. They'd only freeze if he slept on them, unless he took the effort to pull in his powers, and end up damp and mildewed when they thawed after he left.
He lay down, his gaze wandering over the collection of pictures and figurines. A small space that celebrated his existence, here in a modest town that was the one place in the entire world where he was believed in. His expression turned solemn, and bleak. He didn't like to admit it, but even with his sister's descendants, his family, he felt lonely at times. The Guardian in him, mourning the fact he couldn't truly protect the children of the world, not while he remained so restricted.
Jack frowned, thinking about it. He wanted so much to go and confide in the rest of the Guardians, to tell them, because he believed they could keep him secret from Pitch... But then he admitted to himself that, if they knew, he'd visit them to talk and that would draw attention and questions that he couldn't risk. He even had to avoid publicly crossing paths with Sandy too often, usually restricting it to twice a year, maybe three, and almost always during the months of the Southern Winter... The time when he was at his loneliest, and therefore most bored. The time when Pitch would expect the Spirit of Winter to go looking for entertainment.
All other visits were done via Ice Mirrors, and entailed staying indoors at either the Winter Sanctuary or the Dreamsand Isle.
Jack curled up on his side, pushing those thoughts aside, and before he realised it he dozed off.
He was then woken by a childish squeal of delight, coming from the small person that flung herself at him.
"Uncle Jack!"
Jack jolted awake to find himself being hugged by a nine-year-old girl, Lucy, the current youngest in the Bennett family. He smiled and let her lead him downstairs, to where the rest of the family was beginning to gather in the kitchen for breakfast. Jack went to his usual perch, a shelf above the back door of the house, and watched them. Never tiring of such a homely scene.
When the pot of porridge was almost empty, the head of the family, Lucy's father, glanced up at him.
"Would you like any?"
Jack shook his head. The offer was always made at every meal he was present for, out of genuine courtesy and a desire for him to dine with them, and with the same courtesy he always declined. The Bennett family weren't the wealthiest, even if he helped out financially from time-to-time by collecting pebbles of gold for them from rivers up in Alaska. He didn't need to eat, even if admittedly he enjoyed doing so every now and then. To accept food from their table, would be taking it from they who needed it far more than him.
He descended from his shelf, and leaned against the wall by the back door.
"Thanks for the offer, but the answer is the same as always. I'm going to be off tending to the weather in Canada and Alaska for the next week or so. Do you need any more gold?"
After shooing his five children out of the kitchen, Lucy's father turned to Jack and nodded solemnly.
"It's always appreciated." He glanced at his wife, then back at Jack. "In fact the plot of land, close to your pond at the border of Jackswood Park, is up for sale. We're hoping to buy it, and build a house there."
Jack's expression brightened. If they lived that close to the pond, it would be easier to play with the Bennett children more without other children noticing the favouritism.
"Really? How much do you need?"
Lucy's father glanced at his wife again, and Jack understood why. Only four years previous, came the end of a ten-year cycle of winters with terrible blizzards in the west, followed by summers of fierce drought. America had suffered financially, and so had the family.
After a moment, Lucy's father speaks.
"Whatever you can bring. What we don't use for the land and building the house, we can save in case of future need."
Jack frowned a little, considering the fact that gold currently sold at twenty-one dollars an ounce, and Lucy's father was only earning around seven-hundred dollars a year, barely above average for the economy. He decided then and there to bring home more than just the handful of gold he normally did.
After working it out in his head, he resolved to bring back around six pounds of gold... worth around two-thousand dollars at the current market price. With that amount, the family would be more than comfortable, and they could always say they had a relative who owned a claim up in Alaska who had decided to help them out.
He sighed, and puts a hand on the latch of the door behind him.
"I'll see to it."
In another moment he was outside and soaring up into the sky, unable to help the burden of feelings in his heart... or the memory of how those ten-years of bad winters had filled him with guilt. He was meant to be a protector of children, and yet in his duties as the Spirit of Winter, he'd caused thousands of them and their families to starve. Keeping his own family afloat with scavenged gold, had been bitter-sweet in comparison to that. In short it made him feel guilty that he'd not helped anyone else.
His arrival in Canada was marked by a mild blizzard sweeping from east to west, only slightly harsher than the usual seasonal norm. Mother Nature hasn't called for it, but Jack was fitting it in anyway. He and the Spirit of Summer had been going far too easy on America, admittedly because of the number of people immigrating to it. The consequence was that ten-year cycle of devastation, and he wanted to avoid a repeat.
And so, while he'd not change the natural level of snow that was falling, he would seed extra blizzards, mild ones, at random. The people below wouldn't really notice all that much difference, and in the meantime he'd hopefully be building up stock in Winter Balance, which could offset the next few "big ones" in terms of storms.
Once he was done with his storm-seeding, which took him two days, Jack headed for the spot in Alaska where he got all his gold. It was in a very inaccessible area, where would-be gold miners weren't ever likely to tread within the next few decades. Once in the area, he follows the stream to where it cut into the rocks of the landscape, marking the likely area where the gold was being unearthed and washed downstream.
Then, with a tentative query for the winds to inspect inside several crevices in the rock face, one of the breezes confirmed the presence of gold.
Jack put his hand to that crack, and forced a surge of ice into it and several around it, creating the effect of several years of freeze-thaw. The rock shattered in response, and after brushing away some of the loose dirt from behind it, Jack found the glint of gold he'd been looking for.
He sat at the rock face for three days, using his ice to break all the rock away from the thumbnail-sized chunks of gold he was unearthing. Once he estimated he had about six pounds of it, he then wrapped his haul in his woollen cloak and tucked it under his arm before taking flight.
It was night-time when he arrived back in Burgess, and he slipped into the house through the attic window. But he didn't stay. Instead he crept downstairs and tipped his gathered gold out as a sizeable pile in the middle of the kitchen table. He then went back upstairs and left via the window, but only after pausing at the door of the room Lucy shared with her older sister
He wanted to stay, but Northern Winter would be ending in a few weeks anyway. And he also wanted to avoid the guilt he knew he'd feel, were he there when the family found the gold in the morning...
Winter progressed and ended, and when mid-Northern Summer neared, he was sat in the Winter Garden when an odd summons impinged on his awareness.
It was the strangest feeling, like a breeze whispering in the back of his head. It took him a moment to realise it was Mother Nature calling him, for usually she sent a message on the winds when she needed to speak to him. This summons was far more subtle, but at the same time seemed to hold a greater importance. This wasn't about the weather, that was for certain.
Jack glided out of the garden and into the central cavern, following the faint call until he reached the plaza. There, in complete contrast to the ice all around it, was an archway of flowers and ivy that surrounded a surface that rippled like water.
He stepped through it, emerging at the edge of what at first seemed a fairly standard garden of formal style. But that impression was quickly shattered by the fairy that waited for him, a female as tall as the length of his forearm and dressed in clothing of leaves and flowers. There was also the fact the garden showed obvious evidence of all four Seasons, and snow had begun dusting down over the frozen parts as soon as he'd come through the portal.
He knew where he was, even if this was the first time he'd ever been here. This was the Sanctuary of Nature, the home of Mother Nature herself, and here was where all seasons coexisted at once.
His guide allowed him a few moments to satisfy his initial curiosity, before waving for him to follow.
"The Lady is waiting for you. I will show you the way."
Jack nodded and proceeded after her, noting a dozen more fairies fluttering around and tending to the garden. He also saw a trio of unicorns, who regarded him almost thoughtfully as he passed by.
There weren't many of those fair creatures left, and those that were had only survived because they'd been brought here. For they, like the fairies and several other Tribes of Myth, had been pushed and/or hunted to the brink of extinction by humans. Rumour had it that even the last few dragons lived here under Mother Nature's protection, although it had never been confirmed. If they were here in the Sanctuary of Nature, chances were she'd created a special area for them away from the more fragile races under her care.
Jack now broke from his musings, his attention now set on the delicate and ornate gazebo ahead of him. Mother Nature was there, seated on a simple white bench and playing a lap-harp.
She finished the melody just as he ascended the steps into the structure, and glanced at him.
"Thank you for coming, Jack. If you would take a seat."
She indicated a white stool close by, and with a small frown, Jack sat down.
"So what's this about? This is your sanctuary, you've never called me here to give me instructions before. So why now?"
Mother Nature handed her harp to the pair of fairies that came over to retrieve it, and then folded her hands neatly in her lap as she responded.
"You know about the rules, that govern interactions between all the Immortals?"
Jack's reply to that was flat.
"Yes, I do... I've had them drummed into me plenty of times during my first few years as the Spirit of Winter."
"But it is also true that, sometimes, new immortals don't learn those rules and so inadvertently break them." She tilted her head, and there was no hint that she'd called him to be reprimanded for anything. "Most times one of the others they meet, explains the gist to them, and if they cause regular trouble one of the more senior immortals will make a point to go and set them straight. But a few slip through now and then. For that reason, a conference is held every two-hundred years, and all the Immortals attend it."
Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise. Marzanna and Cernunnos had mentioned in passing that a conference was occasionally held, but he hadn't realised one was due.
"So I missed the last one by ten years? And by 'all', does that mean Pitch will be there as well?"
Mother Nature, after a long pause, answered.
"All the Immortals who follow the rules. That is, every true immortal on this world except him. Even if he did want to attend, he would not be welcome, and nor would he risk entering my domain. For it is here in my sanctuary that the conference is held. Tsar Lunar, and I are two of the most senior of the Immortals, and all others but Pitch were created by him or myself."
Jack sighed, and nodded in understanding.
"Ok, so you need me and my Lieutenants to show up at the conference. I'm guessing everyone goes, to confirm they will follow the rules? And to teach them to those that don't know them yet?"
Mother Nature nodded as well.
"Correct. The conference will be in two weeks, at the height of Northern Mid-Summer. It's the quietest time of the year for almost all immortals, with only a handful of exceptions, so it causes the least nuisance overall. I will re-open my portal to the Winter Sanctuary three days before the conference starts, but you won't need to go through it until near the end of the third day."
Jack frowned, puzzled.
"Why?"
Mother Nature
"There are many, many immortals, Jack, and it will take up to three days for them to settle necessary tasks and duties, and gather. The most senior and/or powerful immortals always arrive last. That is to say the Spirits of the Seasons and myself. The Guardians will arrive shortly before you and your peers are to take your seats. I will see to it you are given your cue to enter, just before the proceedings begin."
Jack was still frowning, and his tone was scornful.
"The Spirits of the Seasons arrive last? Doesn't that come across as being a bit arrogant? I can understand the Guardians coming second to last, since Toothiana and Sandy work every day all year round, but me, Ariko, Achieng, and Oisin don't. Even with our current work schedule."
Mother Nature sighed, sounding a little resigned.
"It has long been the impression among Immortals, that governing the Seasons is an extremely important job, which it is. They respect that, even if they happen to be among the number who hold disdain for the Spirits of the Seasons on a personal level. On a professional level, there is no immortal out there of lesser prestige than you, who would refuse to obey an order from you so long as it came with a solid and morally sound reason. Even a Guardian would obey an order from a Spirit of the Seasons, if there was good reason for it."
Jack rolled his eyes at that.
"So not only will I look arrogant by arriving last, but everyone else will also already think I'm arrogant." He stood up, still frowning. "I'll be there, and so will my Lieutenants."
He turned to leave, but halted at her next words.
"There's something else, Jack... You will have to usher Northern Winter into place around Lake Superior, for yourself from now on."
Jack looked back at her, confused.
"Why? Peboan has been doing that for me for over a century, and he's done it well. Why take that duty away from him now?"
Mother Nature's expression became one of regret, and sympathy.
"He faded, Jack, just after Northern Spring Threshold."
Jack stared, utterly still in his shock.
"Wait... He's dead?" His eyes were wide, his expression one of denial. "But why? I last spoke to him just two years ago, and he was content and happy then."
Mother Nature rose to her feet and went to him, placing her hand on Jack's shoulder.
"The world has changed, Jack, and Peboan began life in a simpler era for humanity. He still had believers, yes, but he could not adapt to the world as it is now. It's what happens to most Legend Immortals who fade; they find that the world doesn't hold the same pull on them anymore. And so, they lose the feeling of connection to it and pass on. It may be that a new Legend will arise to take his place, but only time will tell if the Man in the Moon finds a suitable candidate."
Jack slumped against one of the gazebo's supports.
"And he didn't think to come to me, to at least say goodbye?"
"It's likely he didn't believe in 'goodbyes'." Mother Nature sighed, wearing a sad smile. "In his culture, it is believed that the spirits of those who came before, protect and guide those who live in the present and future. Why say goodbye to you, when a part of him would always be watching over you, his friend?"
"He still could have told me what he planned to do... I'd have been there for him."
Mother Nature placed her arm around Jack's shoulders, raising him from his slump against the post.
"Peboan was proud, and likely wished to step from this life without burdening those he considered friends." She sighed. "Immortals come and go, Jack, and many new ones have emerged in recent decades. Only the most stubborn Legends, or the most powerful, will persist in a time where they feel they no longer really 'fit'. One need only look at the Egyptian 'gods' to know that. Osiris and Anubis are the last of those, and that is down purely to Osiris being the 'God of the Sun', which still plays a key role in the life of Egyptians to this day, and also 'Resurrection', which given that most Immortals were reborn after dying he feels he should exist to teach those who need guidance after rising from death. Anubis, as the caretaker of the dead, bluntly refuses to fade away until Osiris does, for he too feels a certain need to watch over the other immortals in their 'unusual afterlife'. You'll see both of them at the conference, sat among the Legends in the bottom terraces, but truthfully they have little power in these times and mostly keep to themselves."
Jack remained silent, but after a few more minutes he sighed and shrugged her arm from around his shoulders.
"Thank you, for telling me about Peboan... I'll see you at the conference."
He flew off down the path by which he'd entered the garden, his fairy guide hastily darting ahead of him to make sure he didn't get lost on his way back to the portal. He offered only muted thanks when he reached it, passing through into the chill of the Winter Sanctuary, and immediately he went to his Hall of Memories.
The chamber had been extended twice since he'd first made it, due to the sheer number of frozen memories he'd created in his early years. The rate at which he made them had dramatically slowed now, but there was one moment that right now he wanted to preserve.
The last time he'd seen and talked to Peboan, when the two of them had sat on the shores of Lake Superior and discussed the expansion of American Settlers across the continent, and the increasing marginalisation of the natives to their Reservations.
As Jack created an icy figurine of that moment, part of him wondered if that was when Peboan had decided he wanted to fade. Was that conversation the one that had finally made him choose to take the step of no return?
As Jack altered the ice of the statuette, breathing into it the false colour caused by light refracted through tiny ice-crystals, he knew he'd never know the answer to that. All he could do was add that stalwart and experienced immortal to this place of memories, to remind himself of the lessons in respect and diplomacy he'd learnt from knowing him.
That same diplomacy had him wait until he'd gotten over the shock for himself, before informing his Lieutenants of the news the following day.
It was two weeks of sombre waiting later, that the portal to the Sanctuary of Nature re-opened as promised. And also, as told to by Mother Nature, Jack and the others ignored it for two days before finally going through.
They arrived in a winter glade, quite obviously intended to serve them as a comfortable waiting area, and after a short while a fairy came to informs them that the Lieutenants were to take their places in the conference right away.
But Jack was told to stay in the glade and wait, which he did, getting gradually more annoyed as the hours passed and he was waited upon by several fairies who offered him several beverages and foods all of which he refused. It seemed almost an eternity before, at last, another one showed up to tell him it was time for him to join the conference as well.
Jack followed the little fellow to a set of grand doors, waited there for several minutes, and then they opened and he had to force himself not to freeze in awe.
He walked forward, remaining outwardly composed even as his gaze swept over a vast semi-circle of terraces. But inwardly he felt daunted as all eyes turned to watch him enter the vast arena, for there were thousands of immortals all gathered and waiting.
He'd had no idea there were so many.
~(-)~
Lesser Legends scrambled to respectfully move out of their way as they each came through separate portals, although that did little to ease the overall sense of crowding that even the sheer size of the arena couldn't counter completely. There was just something about having so many immortals gathered in one place, so much magic and power seething in the air, that made the whole place seem stifling even though the air was actually pleasantly fresh. Neither too hot or too cold, so that everyone here would be at least reasonably comfortable.
North surveyed the gathering, as he ascended the steps up the terraces to reach the section where he had to sit along with the rest of the Winter Legends. He, like the rest of the Guardians, saw the bi-centennial conference as a necessary inconvenience. One where squabbles between various immortals could potentially flare up, yet the way in which everyone was arranged meant that such fights were few and rather unlikely.
The lower terraces, where those who worked during more than one season were placed, were also the largest. There was plenty of room for the immortals seated there, to find spots close to their acquaintances and far enough from their rivals to discourage verbal sparring. Tooth and Sandy were down there, sat together, with a conspicuous ring of respectfully empty space left around them.
The next layer of terraces above theatre, were the four sections where Legend and Nature Immortals who worked within a specific season, or were associated with one, were seated. Bunnymund sat in the Spring Partition of that level, while North sat in the Winter Partition. Yes, sure, Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere took place during summer, but at the time of North's first conference the vast majority of the world's population experienced it during cold winter months. Winter was the most strongly associated season with Christmas, so that was where North sat.
The next level up was also split into four partitions, and was where the Lieutenants of the Seasons had their places. Those areas would only have become occupied a few hours ago, with the Spring, Summer, and Autumn sections each filling up with around fifty-to-sixty various immortals. But the Winter section, which had been entirely empty at every conference prior to this one, had five individuals sitting in it this time. Two women, a massive white stag, a massive white tiger... and a groundhog who seemed to be suffering fits of giggles.
North, who like Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy had a ring of empty space around him, kept glancing over his shoulder into that section. It seemed strange, now that the numbers were there in plain sight for comparison, for the Spirit of Winter to only have one tenth of the number of Lieutenants as his peers. There was a veritable horde of Winter Legends filling the section in which North sat, yet none of them seemed remotely interested in those sat in the section above. In fact, the only emotion he saw being displayed in that direction was disdain.
Further thought was interrupted by a fanfare of flutes and drums played by the fairies who lived here in the Sanctuary of Nature, and the doors at the top of the far side of the half-circle, opened to admit the Spirit of Spring.
Ariko, dressed in a far more ornate kimono than her usual garb, flew in at a serene glide with her chin held up haughtily. She took her seat, which was a broad, throne-like couch placed on a dais above the section where her Lieutenants sat, and proceeded to look down at those below with a slightly bored expression.
The fanfare was repeated, and the next set of doors opened to admit the Spirit of Summer. Achieng also flew in, but had only added a colourful tribal shawl to her usual attire. She at least looked focused and serious about the meeting, rather than bored.
The fanfare played a third time, and the Spirit of Autumn flew in at a gentle glide. Oisin had swapped his woodsman's jacket for a more ornate fur cloak, making him seem larger and more imposing as he took his seat in solemn silence.
At this point many of the immortals below began to chatter, for previously those three were the only ones to enter in prelude to the short interval before Mother Nature would appear and start the conference. But the chatter was, in many cases, cut to a startled halt as the fanfare was played a fourth time, and North had to wonder at this obvious sign of how isolated those immortals had been.
There had been a Spirit of Winter for one-hundred and ninety years, and they'd been so absorbed and isolated by their own dealings that they'd never noticed or heard anything about it.
The last set of doors opened, and the Spirit of Winter walked in wearing the same clothing he always wore. Bare feet, ragged leggings bound to his lower legs with leather cords, simple white shirt and grey waistcoat, and grey woollen cloak over the top. His gaze swept over the terraces, which he was seeing for the first time, and then he took his seat and lay his staff across his lap.
Down in the lower terraces, an air of shock and surprise had sprung up among those that had been oblivious to the existence of a Spirit of Winter, and even among the Winter Legends, North could hear a few asking how long ago that had happened?
Up above, Jack was frowning at those below, sparking grumbles that he was 'looking down' on them. But that gave way to started gaping, as Jack gestured to his Lieutenants and they left their section to join him in his. After that point, the Spirit of Winter, with the groundhog sat on his vaunted seat beside him, began to converse with his Lieutenants while waiting for the conference to begin.
~(-)~
That Jack was awed by the sight of so many immortals, was an understatement. That he was impressed by the seating arrangements, however, was another matter. After finding that his close friends were in a section below him, far enough separated that he couldn't talk to any of them, he'd frowned in that general direction before waving for them to move up to where he was.
He ignored the glare he got from the far-distant Ariko, smiled as Dig jumped up to sit beside him, and then glanced at Cernunnos.
"So, it's always like this?"
Cernunnos, Marzanna, Yuki, and Zuě Hu all nodded, all of them having attended several of these conferences before. It was Marzanna who answered.
"Always. It's to prevent squabbles and fighting from starting up. The lower terraces, where the non-seasonal immortals sit, are big enough for rivals to keep away from each other. The terraces where the Seasonal Legends sit, keep rival seasons apart, and put them under the eye of the Lieutenants."
Zuě Hu now snorted softly.
"In the past, if a fight broke out among the Winter Legends, the Autumn Lieutenants would step in and stop it. It will be our task to do that from now on."
Yuki nodded, her arms wrapped around herself with a hint of nervousness at that responsibility.
"But fights don't happen much, just a handful at each conference, during the time when it's over and everyone is crowding towards the portals so they can leave. I avoided them by waiting until everyone else had gone, since everyone avoided me in case I froze them."
Jack shook his head, his voice holding a note of irritation.
"And above them all sit the Spirits of the Seasons, who with a flick of their fingers can signal for their Lieutenants to go sort things out for them. This is turning into the exact pageant of snobbery that I expected it to be."
There was a new, complicated fanfare that rang out, and Marzanna winced.
"We need to go back to our section, so it doesn't look like favouritism. Don't worry, it's not going to be complicated. Mother Nature just explains the rules, and then calls each immortal to swear to follow them, with everyone else here as witness."
Jack expression fell.
"One at a time?" Yuki nodded, and Jack groaned quietly. "This is going to take hours."
They moved back to their section as Mother Nature entered, all eyes turning to look at her as she held out her arms in greeting.
"I welcome you, one and all, to this gathering. Those of you who have attended this conference before, I thank you for coming, and those who are attending it for the first time, I too thank for showing your willingness to learn and uphold the laws by which we, the Immortals, live and coexist with one another."
She lowered her arms and her expression became serious, and as she began to recite the Rules of Coexistence, Jack sighed and idly listened as he looked around the arena trying to name as many of those gathered as he could. He knew the rules, and so didn't really need to pay much attention to her saying them. After all, they were very simple.
One: Don't try to kill each other.
Two: Never deliberately seek to cause another immortal to lose believers, if they have them. But if it happens due to legitimate duties causing conflict, then that's just unfortunate.
Three: Never seek to destroy the home of another immortal. But again, if legitimate duties cause damage, that's just unfortunate.
Four: Try not to get in the way of another immortal's work, but again this only applies to non-legitimate actions. Although minor sparring is permitted, so long as it's not allowed to get out-of-hand.
They were simple, and to be quite frank little more than common-sense and courtesy, but Jack had to admit that this formal setting did hammer home the importance of those rules. For without them, rivalries could turn into wars between immortals, and that could cause widespread devastation for humans.
The last rule was more slack than the others, since it was impossible not to get in the way of another immortal's work at some point or other, and that was especially true for the Spirits of the Seasons. Weather patterns could cause havoc for unfortunate immortals who had bad weather clash with their festivals and celebrations. But it had to be accepted that the Balance of Nature bowed to no one, and had to be maintained regardless of problems caused for those who were unlucky in any given year.
Jack listened as one-by-one, starting in the lower terraces, immortals were called to stand up and promise to do their utmost to follow the rules. In the meantime Dig, who despite now being in his thirties was still childish in his ability to sit still and be quiet, was entertaining himself by digging a small hole and poking his head up out of it in a game of 'peek-a-boo'.
"Now you see me, now you don't. Now you see me, now you don't. Now you see me..."
Jack smiled at his antics, but then noticed Bunny glaring disapprovingly at Dig from the opposite side of the arena. He responded by calling the winds to carry a small thread of chill air to the far side of the arena, along with a whisper from himself.
"Stop glaring at my Lieutenant. He's not hurting anyone with his game."
Across the other side, Bunny visibly jolted in surprise, momentarily shuddering at the chill that went down his back from the wind. He then glared across at Jack, who raised his eyebrows blandly.
Jack spent the next eight hours in a silent glaring contest with Bunny, alternating with playing the 'name the immortals' game, even after the Guardian of Hope has been called to stand up and promise to follow the rules. The two of them even glared at each other through the Lieutenants of the Seasons making their promises, Jack at last spotted Osiris and Anubis during that, up until the point when Ariko was called to stand.
Jack watched as she made the promise, then Achieng, then Oisin. And then Mother Nature addressed him.
"Jack Frost, Spirit of Winter. Do you swear to do your utmost to uphold these rules in the name of avoiding war among the Immortals?"
Jack stood up, nodded to her with a half-bow, and answered without looking at Bunny.
"I do so swear, My Lady."
Mother Nature, having been the first to renew her promise several hours ago, now addressed the conference for the final time for these proceedings.
"All of you have made your promise, and so I declare this conference is now ended. May all of you journey swiftly and safely home."
Everyone but for her, the Spirits and Lieutenants of the Seasons, and the Guardians, began to get up and walk or fly to the dozen or so portals that appeared to usher them out of the Sanctuary of Nature. It was then, as always, that in the crowding scuffles begin to break out.
Two of Achieng's Lieutenants sorted out the first one, two of Oisin's sorted the second, and then an actual fist-fight broke out between three Winter Legends not that far from North.
Zuě Hu tensed to leap into action and sort it, only for Jack to streak by over his head. The Spirit of Winter grabbed the first shocked immortal by the shoulder, spun him round, and delivered a bare-footed kick to the fellow's rear to send him sprawling. The second one got a foot hooked out from under him by Jack's staff, before his limbs were coated with enough ice to freeze them to the floor, and the last one then had the staff held an inch from his nose.
Jack glared at that one, but his words were for all three.
"All of you are hundreds, and in many cases thousands of years old. Whatever way you act outside of here, is your business, but inside this Sanctuary you should give this hallowed place the respect it deserves. Glare at each other all you like, but leave your tavern-lout brawling for somewhere else." He released the one frozen to the floor, still scowling. "Even I have individuals who I dislike, who dislike me, but I'd never get into a fight with them here. Now wait your turn to leave through a portal, and show Mother Nature some respect by behaving yourselves."
Jack turned away from them, staff slung over his shoulder, before he jumped into the air and returned up the terraces. He didn't land by his seat, but rather beside his Lieutenants.
There were no further squabbles among the winter immortals, and scarce few among the rest, although many eyed Jack warily. It was once most of them were gone, including Tooth and Sandy, that Bunny headed over to where Jack was.
"Pretty speech."
Jack turned, indicating with a hand to his Lieutenants that they weren't to protest, and he went up to Bunny to murmur quietly.
"Grow up, Bunnymund, and go home to tinker with your eggs and your inventions. We called a truce decades ago, so don't mess it up now. I have Southern Winter to get back to, and you need to start planning Easter for next year. We both have jobs which are more important than any disagreement between us."
Bunny folded his arms across his furred chest, still scowling.
"Being the high and mighty moralist doesn't suit you, Frost."
Jack, with a slight hiss of anger, pinned him with a glare.
"Believe me, I'd love to freeze you right now, but this is the Sanctuary of Nature and I won't do anything here to disrespect this place." He turned away. "Besides, I promised Sandy I wouldn't pick fights with you anymore, or any of the other Guardians."
Mother Nature's voice interrupted.
"And that's something that makes me proud of you. That you would choose to set your resentment aside at the request of a friend." They turned to where she was standing with North beside her. "I had intended to invite all the Guardians to enjoy a pot of tea with me, but unfortunately Toothiana and Sandman have already left. Perhaps you and your Lieutenants would like to join me as well, Jack?"
Marzanna picked up Dig, who had fallen asleep out of boredom during the conference and had only roused for long enough to make the promise of following the rules.
"I'm afraid I must decline, and take the Groundhog home."
Yuki nodded.
"And I must get back to the Winter Sprites, and make sure they've not been causing mischief in the Winter Sanctuary while we've been here."
Cernunnos inclined his head, as did Zuě Hu beside him.
"And we two are not partial to tea, or capable of holding the cups that such beverages are generally served in."
Mother Nature turned once more to Jack, who understood that this was a chance for him to sit and talk with two of his fellow Guardians, even if they knew not that he was one as well.
He inclined his head respectfully.
"It would be an honour to have tea with you, here in the splendour of your sanctuary."
Mother Nature smiled.
"Then if you three would follow me, I shall show you to my private garden."
She turned and strolled up the terraces to the door Jack had first entered through. He, Bunny, and North followed her through it and into the winter glade beyond. Mother Nature walked through it as if a part of it, and Jack's presence caused a faint snowfall to begin much as it would in the Winter Sanctuary, and he too simply 'fit' with the scene as though he had always been there. By comparison, the two Guardians felt out-of-place.
The group continued on, out of the glade and onto a path that linked up with three others where they each passed through one of the four arches in the modest wall ahead. And beyond that was was the same garden in which Jack had been two weeks previously.
Mother Nature led them to the gazebo at the centre, where the resident fairies had set up a table for four. Snow was already starting to dust down in the 'winter' parts of the garden, and North regarded that phenomena with curiosity.
"Does it always start snowing in garden when you are here?"
Mother Nature seated herself, as Jack settled in the chair to her right.
"It snows in here because Jack is here, just as it snows in the Winter Sanctuary when he is there. Were Ariko, Achieng, and Oisin here also, there would be blossom showering from the apple trees, autumn leaves falling from the Alder trees, and the roses would all burst into full bloom. It is part of the Power of the Seasons, which dwells in the Five Sanctuaries."
North took his seat opposite Jack, intrigued.
"So the Sanctuaries are an extension of the power of the Spirits of the Seasons and yourself?"
Jack, having glanced at the Pooka whom had been forced by circumstance to sit to his right, frowned a little and answered.
"That's not something you need to know. The exact way in which the power of the Seasons functions, is only for us five to know."
There was a harsher edge of warning to his words than he'd intended, causing North to frown, but Mother Nature stepped in to smooth over any fringe insult.
"It is nothing personal against you, Guardian... It is simply a precaution against my father. The fewer who know how I and my Generals connect our power, the lesser the risk of him thinking to try and subvert the Balance of Nature. You need only know that the ties between us are strong, very strong, and that to harm any of us is to risk bringing down the wrath of the others." She looked at Bunny. "And of course, you have experienced that first hand, during your misguided attack on Marzanna."
If the mention of Pitch had caused the two Guardians to flinch in understanding, the mention of the incident with Marzanna caused North to wince and Bunny to scowl.
The Pooka grumbled.
"I still don't agree with the whole 'Natural Fear' malarkey."
Mother Nature, having accepted the cup of tea handed to her by a fairy, took a sip and regarded him over the brim.
"Then that just goes to show what a fool you can be, Guardian of Hope." She set down her cup, then stared at him disapprovingly. "Fear can never be eradicated, and in truth to attempt to do so is utter folly and would lead only to destruction. In your arrogant belief that there is no place for fear in the lives of humans, you would condemn them to suffer the same fate as the peoples of the Golden Age."
Jack's quiet voice now intruded, his expression distant and solemn.
"Sandy told me about it, about how it happened and what led up to it. To deny that fear has a place, is to admit that you are scared of it. That was what made the Fearlings stronger, even once they were imprisoned, and it was that which gave them the power to subvert Kosmotis Pitchiner. To try and banish all fear, to cage it, is what caused the downfall of the Golden Age."
He touched a finger to the side of his cup, cooling the contents before he picked it up and sipped from it. Meanwhile, across the table, North let out a breath and set his hand on Bunny's arm, for the Pooka had visibly tensed in anger.
"If Sandy was one who told him that, then he is right. Sandy has already told us importance of Natural Fear. We would be fools not to listen."
Bunny grumbled under his breath.
"Fine, fine..."
Mother Nature nodded to herself, looking at neither of them.
"And so it is a young Guardian, who teaches wisdom to one his elder. Fresh eyes mean a fresh perspective."
Silence fell among them, and Jack watched Bunny from the corner of his eye as he finished his tea. Once he had, he then began to idly sculpt a piece of ice, and that caught North's attention.
The Russian leaned forward, his elbows on the table and his eyes wide with wonder.
"Ah, your famous sculpting skills. So you work with ice as well as stone?"
Jack eyed him with an eyebrow raised.
"Famous?"
North shrugged, scratching at the back of his head in slight embarrassment.
"Ok, so maybe not famous. But that egg you made Bunny, and that mermaid you did for Sandy, were exquisite. Where did you learn?"
Jack kept working on the ice in his hands.
"Self taught. First thing I ever carved was a memorial slab for Thaddeus Burgess, and after that I just kept making things. I have a whole big display-room full of statuettes back at my sanctuary."
North's eyebrows went up, as he became eager in a way that was almost childlike.
"Really? Might I see it?"
Jack set down a delicate figurine of one of the fairies in the garden, and glanced at Mother Nature.
She smiled and nodded.
"It is your sanctuary he will be entering, so it is your choice."
Jack stood up, smiling, and pointedly ignored the scowl being directed at him by Bunny. He then moved to the edge of the gazebo, and gestured to the portal that Mother Nature helpfully created just beyond there.
"I'd be happy to show a fellow sculptor. I heard from Sandy that you design your toys by making them first from ice. I'd be interested to see what you think of my work."
North set down his cup, laughed heartily, and got up to follow him.
"I look forward to it. Lead the way."
Jack grinned and stepped through the portal, North following a few moments behind him.
~(-)~
Alaia Skyhawk: Someone requested unicorns, so here some are in this chapter. And someone requested Egyptian Gods, so here were two in this chapter hee hee.
And Jack is finally getting a chance for some proper talking time with North, although he definitely won't be mentioning his attempted break-ins to him hehehehehe! :D
(Added: lol, it seems people have been seeing the "young Guardian" line and thinking "OMG she just told them Jack is a Guardian". She's actually playing wordgames, since compared to Bunny, North IS a young Guardian. To those two, it sounds like she's talking about North teaching Bunny a new perspective, rather than it being Jack teaching them both :D