I was drifting in and out of awareness, at some point I heard Jamie talking to my parents by phone. At another I got the smell of food, but I didn't want to eat, despite not having eaten for about a week.
I lost track of time, but at some point I felt someone shake my shoulder.
"Jackie, they're holding the funeral now. Do you want to come?"
It was Jack, he was still here. Despite being a Guardian with responsibilities, he was still here.
"I don't know."
"You need to get up. Penelope would want you there."
A moment of silence, then I said.
"Alright."
I managed to get out of bed on my own, although it turned out walking was still going to be difficult and Jack let me lean on him.
He was being so supportive, even though I was so wrapped up in myself. What must he think of now? I wondered.
Well he doesn't think you're a monster, my mind replied, he'd have left if he did. He's never given up on you, ever.
On the realisation I tried a little harder to walk.
"I'm sorry." I said.
"Sorry for what?"
"You've stood by me this whole time, and so far all I've done is ignore you."
"You're in shock, it's understandable."
"Doesn't make it fair on you though."
"Don't you worry about me; you just concentrate on getting your strength back up."
"I do though. You've been so patient with me and all I've done is mope."
"Well clearly it's been good for you, you're talking again."
When I didn't respond he sighed.
"Jackie, believe me when I say I care about you, maybe not in the way your mother would like. But I do."
That got a smile from me.
"And I know you're beating yourself up about what happened, but you don't have to shut everyone out. Jamie, Mary, your Branch, me, we want to help you. You can't take back what happened, but you can move on from it. From the sounds of it, it was a one off event; it's not likely to happen again."
"Thanks, and I'm sorry, it's second nature for me to hold it in."
"Everyone can learn to open up. Once the funeral's over, we can sit down and you can just let out, because from what I've heard that's not the only thing, okay?"
"Okay."
We made it to a cavern that had various statues dotted around it, each one an effigy to the person buried in front of it and standing several metres tall.
There was a new statue, one of Penelope standing tall in her armour, minus her helmet so her face could be seen. She had her right hand open and black rock had been used to form the black sand above her hand.
According to Jack they'd already been an official funeral in the main cavern, this place wasn't big enough for everyone. So this was a more private affair, comprised of the people she'd made friends with.
My Branch was there, along with some of the Descendants of Sandman, whose names I didn't know.
Finally there was Alfred, Stephen, Chris and Mary, with Mary leading the service.
In front of the statue was a hole, where the grey coffin had already been lowered in.
Jack and I got to our places in the crowd and the service began.
Most of it went by in blur, all too quickly we said our goodbyes and the coffin was buried. People kept glancing my way, seemingly expecting me to do or say something, but I didn't.
When it was over we walked back to the Sleeping Quarters, just me and Jack. He helped me sit down on my bed, then sat down on the bed opposite, his staff across his lap.
I couldn't say anything for a minute, then everything came out with floods of tears. Even things that seemed unconnected had boiled over now.
How I felt Penelope's death was my fault, I should have done something, I'd been practicing psychic ice after all! I could have done something.
I talked about my fear, about people finding out about my power and being afraid of me, rejecting and hating me. And how after my various freak outs, I felt that they had a good reason to do so.
I talked about the pressure I felt from the other Descendants, about being the most powerful, how I wished they'd leave me alone and treat me as though I was any other Descendant.
I talked and talked and Jack listened, not saying anything, not interrupting. When I finally stopped he simply walked over to my bed and sat down next to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.
"There's not much anyone can really do about these, I'm not going to say that they're silly things to feel, because they're not. However, in time, if you let people help you, these things will fade. And anyway, did you see anyone act like you were a monster today?"
"No."
"Has anyone acted like you're something to be feared?"
"No."
"What about your parents? Have they ever treated you differently or acted afraid?"
"No."
"See? No one who matters to you thinks that. Jamie loves your power and everyone here has
been good to you."
"Thanks."
"As for the other Descendants, you'll just have to talk to them about it. I've noticed you've already done it with Stephen and Mary, but I'm guessing it's the others that you worried."
"Yeah."
"When you see them just talk to them. I'm not saying it'll easy, but these things aren't."
I smiled and looked at him. "Thank you."
Grrrrrowl.
I looked at my stomach and went red.
"Well then..."
"Hungry?"
"Just a bit." A bit? I was ravenous.
"Good to see, let's get you to the Mess Hall, okay?"
I nodded, smiling for what felt like the first time in years, "Okay!"
It took another full week for me to regain use of my legs, and I spent that week at home. I went home with the other members of Burgess Branch and Jamie the same night as Jack's talk. That may have been seen as counterintuitive, but I needed to be with those who mattered to me, which consisted of my parents, Jamie, the Burgess Branch and Jack himself. Plus I wasn't ready to talk with the other Descendants of Jack Frost about my position, so some time at home was welcome.
My armour now sat in the corner of the room, it was unlikely that I'd ever need it again, but I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it.
It took a month for me to recover physically, using an ice cane to walk around, but mentally would take longer. I spent some more time with the therapist again, and other than the nightmares, things were going well.
Jack couldn't really hang around much, given his responsibility to bring snow to places that need it. But I still practiced often, it helped clear my mind.
The people of Burgess had forgotten about my ice stunt and I still played it up whenever someone brought it, saying stuff like "I can't reveal my secrets" and they lapped it up.
Things got back to normal when school rolled back around, with normal meetings occurring weekly and Jack started to come back.
For now, things were normal, and would probably stay normal for a long time. Let's hope so anyway.
However, there was still one thing to be done. Introduce my parents to Jack.
I took them down to the lake one evening in autumn, where Jack was waiting. They couldn't see him of course, but I hoped that would change tonight. He had been sceptical, normal adults didn't see Guardians, only kids. But I just wanted to try.
I sat down on the lake side and let Jack do his thing.
Snow animals were drawn in the rapidly freezing lake, quickly coming to life and running around my parents.
"Jackie, is this you?" asked my dad, to which I shook my head and grinned.
Several snowballs hovered in place, then hit my parents, causing them to gasp, then laugh.
The ice animals exploded around them, becoming snow the drifted down around us. The snow landed on their noses, and they seemed to stop and look at each other, then over at where Jack was hovering.
The pair of them blinked and stared, clearly not sure what to think. For a minute I thought that it hadn't worked, but then my mum recovered herself.
"Hello there, I'm guessing you're Jack." Said my mum, not sounding even a bit surprised to see a boy floating in the air. For a second Jack looked stunned, then he laughed and did a loop in the air.
"Wooooo!" I yelled, standing up and throwing my arms in the air. "It worked!"
"I'm surprised it worked that quickly." I said, a grin on my face.
"Well, with all that talk about supposedly mythical figures from your Order friends." Said my dad, a giddy grin on his face. "It's a lot easier than you would think."
Mum leaned in to me and said, not too quietly.
"You know, he's quite handsome..."
"Mum! He's kind of immortal. I'd have more of chance with Nigel!" I protested.
"You can't blame me for trying!" She laughed and a snowball hit her, quickly followed by another hitting me.
We looked over to see Jack and my dad looking away from each other with identical expressions of innocence.
My mum and I looked at each other and said at the same time.
"It is on!"
We began chucking snowballs at each other, laughing madly. Mum and Dad were quickly worn out, while Jack and I still wanted to continue.
"We're going to head back." Gasped my dad, "You two have fun, okay?"
Jack and I looked at each other, and the snowball fight continued and neither of us could stop laughing.
And that's it! The first arc of the Human Order of Guardians is over!
However, this does not mean that the saga is over oh no, I'm just getting started.
There's a bunch of one shots to get through, for which I'll have a separate story for. I'm thinking of calling it the 'HOG Files', those will start either tonight or tomorrow, depending on when I get round to it.
As for the next arc, well, that'll be going up next week, either Monday or Thursday, I haven't made my mind up yet, so keep your eyes peeled!
So, without further ado, this has been TheShapeshifter100, thank you for reading, and I hope you'll join me for the next stage of Jackie's story; Human Order of Guardians Howling Shadows.
See you then.