Alaia Skyhawk: Quiet chapters! GAH! WHY ARE YOU SO HARD TO WRITE! I think I sat down to this one about twenty times before I got it done *grumbles* Anyways, time for another cameo arc. Several people have requested it, and truthfully it lets me cover a couple of topics and add a couple of gags I REALLY want to use.
Again, a warning though. There will be NO pairings with Jack, no matter how much some people may ask for them :P
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.
~(-)~
Chapter 126: Golden Celebration
The City of Solaris was awash with the signs of celebration, be they decorations, people gathered joyously in the streets, or the magical fireworks that were being constantly launched up into the sky above it. Indeed every major city on Earth was similarly in the throws of massed excitement and anticipation, as the people who had travelled on the interstellar cruise ships docked at the Moon Clipper travelled through the mirrors to Solaris and then others to those far-flung destinations. Tourists from other worlds and homecoming-Earthlings alike, all were here for this momentous occasion.
Because nine years after Jamie and Tsar Lunar's visit to Lumeris, and two years after revealing to the Earth the existence of the Allegiance... The Earth was finally joining it.
The prospect of going on vacations/visiting those other worlds had been the first thing mentioned to the people of Earth back when the revelation had occurred, and had resulted in a huge clamour for the chance to do so. Within a month of that the cruise ships started arriving, offering return trips to and from various 'nearby' worlds at reduced prices. Luckily by now, Jamie and the World Council had finished transitioning all of the Earth over into using the same standard currency as the Allegiance, not that the Council had been aware of it being that when the Constellation had proposed the currency to them seven years previous. It became fairly obvious at this point that he'd been keeping secrets about the Allegiance, but only minor grumbles about that were raised given the rush of everything else to do. And besides, the united currency meant that doors were wide open for easy interstellar trade.
They didn't know the half of it, at least in the terms of comparing their work-load to that of Constellations Gallus, Vespa, Apis, Anser, and Noctua. Those five in the nine years, had finished creating the Mother and Father Natures for all the worlds in the Allegiance. Most of the worlds also had their first Spirit of the Seasons as well, and their basic set of Guardians of Childhood. All thanks to the Allegiance's policy of keeping candidates on hand for all of those, just in case. Of course it was still a long ways to go before there was s a Guardian of Fun and Steward of Natural Fear for each, but Jack and Kosmotis were averaging about fourteen to sixteen of each trained per year, in two 'classes' of seven or eight. They wouldn't take on larger groups of them than that, for obvious reasons. It would be a few decades before every world had their own of those.
But back to the matter of joining the Allegiance, Tsarina Anser was the Allegiance's representative for this momentous occasion, and admittedly this was her first visit to the Earth because of her recent workload. Were it not for the immediate duties of the event, in her excitement at being here she would likely have gone off sight-seeing. Certainly her wide-eyed enthusiasm was an indication that a tour would be in order once the formalities were over.
And if there was one person who really wished they were over, it was Jack.
The Guardian of Fun let out a carefully hidden sigh of boredom, sat as he was in the outer ring of seats in the World Council Chamber. He was 'stuck' with his fellow Spirits of the Seasons, Mother Nature, and Kosmotis for this, while on the opposite side of the room sat the Guardians, Sophie, and Nightlight... Who were having a lively but quiet discussion about the ceremony as the various Council Representatives blathered on through their various speeches. Jack's present company were silent except for the occasional brief remark, and any attempt at a conversation got him 'shushed'.
He rolled his eyes and sighed again, wishing he could have been waiting somewhere else instead. It wasn't like the Immortals needed to have representatives here for this. They had nothing to do with the World Council, the ruling authority for Planet Earth, and it was the Council who were signing everything to make the Earth's membership official. There was no need for any immortal witnesses.
Jack now muttered under his breath.
"Tell me again why we're sat here? And don't say it's for posterity. If it were for that, we'd have come just for the last part, and not all these boring speeches."
Both Ariko and Achieng shushed at him, but Mother Nature did answer.
"We're here for Tsarina Anser. Until now the only immortals from this world that she's seen, are you and my father. That's why we have all of the Earth's top-tier immortals here. Between all the meeting and greeting and celebration events, it could be days before she gets the time to meet any of us properly. This way at least, she gets to see us."
Jack cringed a little at the rebuke, suitably chastised, and resettled himself in his seat. Put that way, he couldn't really complain on a boredom level. Not when he respected the Tsarina. However, there were other reasons for his fidgeting.
"Still, we could have at least kept it to a couple of hours attendance instead of all day. Easter is a week from now, and it's the Northern Winter/Spring and Southern Summer/Autumn transition time. Bunny's probably doing his head in over there, thinking about all the things he has to get done. And all four of us Spirits of the Seasons should be out working right now too, not sat here."
This time Ariko and Achieng didn't shush him, in fact they grimaced at the valid point he'd made. It had been a bad Northern Winter, and a cold Southern Summer, what with certain Balance aspects coming due this year. This wasn't a transition that could ideally be left to the Lieutenants, even for a single day.
The reminder of the issue caused Mother Nature to pause, glance around the chamber at the august personages attending, then sigh. She conjured a vine gate on the walkway behind her seat, large enough to be noticed by those below, so that it was clear she was sending the Spirits of the Seasons off to see to their duties.
"Go. Jack's right, the transition is more important and the Tsarina will understand that. Let's not risk any weather disasters, like that one Jack prevented on Lumeris."
Oisin glanced at her, as the four of them rose from their seats to leave.
"I highly doubt that would happen, not with the experience of our Lieutenants. Yet if we want pleasant weather for the Tsarina's visit, we really are the ones who need to tend to it. Please bid her our respects when the ceremony is over, and our regrets that would could not stay until its conclusion."
Mother Nature nodded.
"I will."
The four of them left and she closed the gate, Kosmotis choosing the moment after to make a remark of his own.
"Tsarina Anser will not mind their not being here. She is by far the most easy-going of her group of contemporaries. It's just unfortunate that duties mean that Jack and the others will miss most of her visit to Earth. But there will be other visits, and other chances for her to meet them."
His daughter sighed.
"I just wish we could all have more time to ourselves, to truly experience this momentous part of our history. Must it always be that fate conspires to weigh down those who worked hardest to see this day come? Even Jamie cannot truly enjoy this day, not when his every move right now must be considered with every political angle in mind. He may have united the Earth, created the World Council, and brought this world into the Allegiance, but he must still put on a strong front. It will still be decades before he can finally relax and stop worrying."
Her father nodded solemnly.
"Indeed. Only once the last of those human mortals born before before immortals were revealed are gone, will the last of the old suspicious and negative Earth Society be consigned to history. Only then will all the people of Earth look forward and dream, instead of looking back and looking for trouble. As the Earth's Steward of Natural Fear, I know this all too well, as does our Guardian of Harmony."
The two of them glanced over to Sophie, who seemed to be light-heartedly teasing a fidgeting Bunnymund. But even so, she kept glancing around the chamber as though listening to more than just the words said out loud. Now and then her hands would make a subtle gesture towards one of those she was watching. Specifically those guests from across the world who were not representatives on the World Council. Those who still harboured those old ways of suspicion and division. She was ensuring those old ways didn't stop them from keeping an open mind, with her subtle prompts so that they would question the doubts instead of blindly following them.
Not even Sophie, the youngest of Earth's immortals, could relax and truly enjoy this day.
The ceremony proceeded onwards, the tension and anticipation gradually rising as it neared its conclusion. That moment when Tsarina Anser was at last invited to stand at the podium, holding in her hands the document that would officially bring Earth into the Allegiance.
She took a deep breath as she stood there gazing out across the chamber. Her smile in that moment, expected, but not the tears of joy that also welled up in her eyes. Startling many of those present.
"I cannot begin to say how overjoyed I am to be here, to be the one welcoming you all into the Allegiance. By now I know you've all been told the history of the Fall of the Old Golden Allegiance, and the shadowed state in which we have lived for so long."
She held out her arms, as if to reach out and encompass them all.
"But you, your world, and those on it who fought and protected you for so long... You gave the light back to us. It is because of you that here, today, the Silver Allegiance will cease to exist." There were startled gasps, before she smiled again and unrolled the document she held. "As declared by the Five Constellations of the Silver Allegiance, Planet Earth is to be named the Capital of Constellation Solus... and also Secondary Capital of the New Golden Allegiance. Lumeris, the former Capital of the Old Golden Allegiance, Silver Allegiance, and home of Constellation Lunanoff will remain the Primary Capital."
Tsarina Anser glanced to the side as Jamie now ascended the podium, continuing her speech.
"Your Constellation will be the second most important, alongside Constellation Lunanoff which is the oldest of the seven that currently exist. For without the two of them, this ceremony would not be happening this day and I would not have the honour of being here."
Jamie arrived beside her, and far from expecting everything she'd said, he was as startled as everyone else.
"You intend to name my Constellation as Second in Command of the whole Allegiance?"
Tsarina Anser nodded.
"We do, because you and Tsar Lunar are the only ones who can lead the rest of us forward, when we five have lived with the shadows of fear for so long. We still have so much to learn, that you two already know. Tsar Solus, you are a credit to your world and your people." She turned, addressing the gathering and also all those watching the ceremony via live-streams. "Your world is the beacon that will shine a light on a wonderful future for us all. All you people of Earth are an inspiration."
She now set the document on the podium and picked up the pen also there and ready.
"And so, without further ado, let me welcome you all to the Golden Allegiance!"
She signed the document and passed the pen to Jamie. He who took a deep breath to steady himself, glanced out across the chamber at the people and the cameras, then smiled as he too signed the document as Chairman of the World Council.
Once he was done, he then held the signed document up for all to see.
"Let this day forever be remembered in our history! People of Planet Earth, Secondary Capital of the New Golden Allegiance!"
The entire chamber erupted into cheering, and indeed it was echoed all across the world. Tsarina Anser may or may not have known it, but her choice of words about Jamie and giving the Earth such a huge influential role in the Allegiance, were exactly what was needed to have even the few remaining negative humans clapping each other on the back in planetary pride. There wasn't much to fear of the Earth being 'taken over' by the Allegiance, when the Earth was one of the worlds that would be leading it.
~(-)~
Our on the winds of the world, Jack and the others didn't need to see the end of the ceremony to be aware of its conclusion. They didn't even need the winds to tell them it was over, not when the very Ether itself reverberated as though with triumph from the emotions of the world's people.
A plus-side to being a Constel, to be able to sense that.
He grinned to himself, with a glint of mischief in his presently brown eyes. It had taken some work, but Ariko and the others had similarly learnt to and gotten the hang of tapping into the seasons either side of their own. So where once Jack had struggled with rain, he had now become proficient at it. Where once Ariko had been unable to shepherd snow and usher in frosts, now she revelled in the simple beauty of spring flowers pushing up through melting snow; something she had once hated.
Similarly Oisin had taken over any wildfire duties in heavily forested areas, with the benefit of his knowledge on where the thickest falls of autumn leaves had been the previous year. Meanwhile Achieng had taken more of a hand in things like the end-of-summer crops, keeping an eye on things to help with distributed warnings to farmers on if or not their fields would need to be harvested early.
All four Spirits of the Seasons had diversified into nature matters outside the boundaries of their original roles, and contrary to increasing their workload, it had actually made quite a few things much easier. Like the aforementioned rain and such. But it had also led to some rather amusing accidents as well.
Jack chuckled to himself in memory of some of those mishaps, by himself and the others. They'd be looking back in amusement at those for decades to come.
A wisp of wind brushed by him now, turning him aside from this thoughts and back into work... One of his recent snowfalls was due to turn into sleet and rain, and it needed a touch of warm air to get that going.
The days passed for the four of them without seeming to be days, as was the case when you were on the winds all the time and flying from one time-zone to another constantly. Only Jack had a real idea of the exact number of days, due to his frostdust distribution, but even then he wasn't really counting them. Thus almost two weeks went by before a message from Mother Nature informed them that Tsarina Anser would be departing the day after next.
Jack's arrival at the Moon Clipper via Solaris wasn't exactly dignified, even if he was the first of his peers to get there. Windswept and still tapped into the power of Earth's Spring, he certainly didn't fit the image of the Spirit of Winter. Then again, a Spirit of Spring with frosted-over kimono, a Spirit of Summer with autumn leaves stuck in her hair, and a Spirit of Autumn whose skin looked as tan as if he'd spent the last two weeks on a beach sunbathing didn't exactly fit the stereotypical images either.
But that didn't phase Tsarina Anser in the slightest, nor did it slow her down when she rushed to each of them in turn to hug them in greeting. Instead they found themselves ushered into a comfortable room, the main living area of the guest suite the Tsarina had been given to use during her stay.
Katherine waved at them from her seat on one of the couches, smiling cheerfully.
"I wondered when you would show up. You've missed all the stories I've been telling Tsarina Anser."
The Tsarina headed over and sat down beside her, similarly smiling.
"And truly wonderful stories they are too. Be they those forged entirely of imagination, and those that are tales of events gone by. The one about a certain Permitted Paradox was particularly interesting."
Jack leaned on his staff, eyebrows raised above his still brown eyes. He tugged at a part of his brown-streaked hair, and pasted on a mirthful grin.
"It was the bit about part of my hair being blue, wasn't it?"
Both Katherine and Tsarina Anser burst out laughing, what with his hair being one of the least significant parts of that tale. The storyteller of the two just shook her head.
"You are the utter limit, Jack. Only you could think a story about being sent back in time over four-hundred years, and the battle that concluded it, would have your hair as the greatest factor."
Jack held a hand up in a scholarly manner, making his point.
"Ah, but if Sophie hadn't dyed my hair blue, Father Time wouldn't have known when to send me back from."
Ariko brushed by him, directing a mock stern glance in his direction.
"Tsarina Anser, did she tell you about how he fawned all over myself, Achieng, and Oisin when he was in the past? He was the epitome of a boot-licker. He looked as though he could have kissed the very ground we had walked on."
Jack's jaw dropped open at that remark, as he knew full well Katherine's story of those events did not contain that part. to have them mentioned in front of the Constellation...
Katherine burst out laughing again, much to Tsarina Anser's amusement. Jack actually looked embarrassed.
She gestured to the two other nearby couches.
"You should sit. Nightlight will be by in a little bit, with hot chocolate and cookies from Santoff Claussen, but it was for more than just a social visit that we asked Mother Nature to pass on that message. Tsarina Anser has a request for you."
All four Spirits of the Seasons turned their attention to the Constellation, who nodded in confirmation of Katherine's statement.
"As you know, my fellow Constellations and myself have been hard at work these past nine years with the creation of certain key immortals for the various worlds in the Allegiance. And while we learnt of a serious error in our teaching of candidates, thanks to Jack, it remains a fact that even with the winds of their worlds to consult, many of our new Mother and Father Natures, and the Spirits of Spring we have created, are lacking in confidence."
Oisin frowned a little at that, puzzled.
"I would gather to mean you are asking us for assistance. While it is possible for us to visit other worlds, the scale of the undertaking would make it impossible. We cannot be absent from the Earth for that long."
Tsarina Anser nodded.
"I'm aware of that. But again Jack, and also Kosmotis, have given us a solution by example with their teaching of candidates for their special roles. I am asking if you are willing, once per year, to spend a week to hold a seminar for groups of our selected upcoming Spirits of the Seasons. Your Mother Nature has already agreed to do the same, for individuals due to take on her role for other worlds. It's merely about imparting knowledge related to what you've gained from your many years experience. While those we've already created cannot benefit from this, those that follow them can. From you, they can gain the confidence they are presently lacking, without the need to spend years of fumbling to learn the same things."
All four Spirits of the Seasons glanced at each other, Achieng the one to speak.
She shrugged.
"A single week, I see no problem with it. The only one here who might object is Jack, but only due to the fact he already teaches two 'classes' for Guardians of Fun each year."
The Spirit of Winter in question, let out a long-suffering sigh.
"I can live with it. I'll just have to delegate a few more things to my Lieutenants." He glanced at Tsarina Anser. "I'll have to work out the best time in the year to fit it in, but I'll get back to you on that. It's for the New Golden Allegiance, after all."
The Constellation beamed at them and clapped her hands in delight.
"Wonderful! Thank you so very much." She paused, still smiling, but there was also a flicker of thoughtfulness in her eyes. "And Jack, would you perhaps be able to spare another off-planet visit? Naturally I've already confirmed with your Mother Nature, that she can handle the upcoming Southern Autumn/Winter Transition in your stead."
Her expression remained one of innocent query, but Jack wasn't fooled as he returned her gaze with a flat stare.
"You're actually a sly, conniving sneak aren't you?"
Tsarina Anser didn't so much as twitch.
"I'm almost as old as you are, so I would think it would be expected." She tilted her head. "So, are you going to ask why I'd like you to go off-planet again?"
Jack heaved another sigh.
"Fine... Why?"
Katherine was actually the one to answer, and by her manner she was on the Constellation's side with this. They'd clearly discussed it at length.
"I was the one to suggest it, when she told me about one of the new soon-to-be Spirits of the Seasons. Turning them into an immortal is the Tsarina's next task after she leaves here."
Jack gestured towards Achieng.
"Then why aren't you asking her? A Spirit of Spring is always the first one a world gets, and Winter the last. Everywhere has a one for Spring now, so Summer is next."
"Not always." Tsarina Anser's interruption brought his attention back to her, and she continued. "The world I'm going to next is called Yensidia, and joined the Allegiance fifteen years ago. At that time there was already an individual there with tremendous magical ability for ice, snow, and winter weather. With that in mind, it was agreed that world would get its Spirit of Winter second, after the candidate confirmed their agreement to accept the role."
Tsarina Anser sighed.
"But as skilled as she already is, she holds a hesitation from her past that makes her reluctant to use her power on the large scale her role will require of her. She will surely overcome it eventually. But for her sake, with an experienced mentor, perhaps that can be sooner rather than later."
She now pinned Jack with a pleading expression, one that Katherine mirrored. The storyteller adding one more point to the matter.
"I'll be going too, to get inspiration for new stories. If you go, I'll make sure you get the first copy of them so you can tell them to the kids in Burgess."
Jack looked utterly torn between annoyance and temptation. Holding out for a few seconds before he caved in and threw up his hands in defeat.
"I give up, you win."
Katherine squealed with delight and swamped Jack with a hug a moment later. In the meantime his fellow Spirits of the Seasons looked on in bemusement. Oisin the one to say what they were all thinking.
"You really have a weakness when it comes to children. One of these days you're going to have to deal with that, before you're manipulated into doing something you'll regret."
Jack glanced across at him, over the top of Katherine's head.
"It might be a bit late for that. I'll let you know when I get back."
Indeed he'd have to wait on that, until he met the candidate at Planet Yensidia. Only then would he truly know what he was getting himself into.
~(-)~
Alaia Skyhawk: I'll let you guys guess the cameo :P