Author's Note: Well, it looks like I got a lot of you guys in the last chapter. ='D That's good; it means I'm doing my job as a fanfic author right. XDDD
Hello everyone and welcome back to "The Winter Child!" =D So today, I'll actually be finishing this story (in the Google Doc). Hoestly, I can't believe this one-shot collection is almost done (on my Google Doc). I always knew it was going to be pretty special, considering that it's my first AU. And I had a lot of fun working on it. =) Though a part of me is VERY relieved to finally have it done (it's over 90 chapters, and broke 200,000 words!). With this out of the way, I can start working on my Camp NaNoWriMo project, which I've been itching to get back to for weeks now. XD
Anyway, right down below is the next part for "Drowning in Darkness!" =D Ya'll might want to hang tight for this one. QwQ
~ LXIV ~
Drowning in Darkness, Part Five
Something was wrong
Something wasn't right
The look in Jack's eyes
He wanted to smite
He didn't recognize the Guardians
Or his two friends
The boy they knew had disappeared
But where he had gone
No one knew
...
The Guardians had been discussing Jack's condition downstairs when they first heard Jamie's scream.
The sudden bout of commotion jerked them out of their conversation. The Guardians filed out of the study and ran toward the stairwell, where Jamie and Katherine were speeding down. Frost speckled their hair, and both were pale from fright.
"What happened?" exclaimed Tooth.
"It's Jack!" Katherine cried. The moment she spoke the snow sprite's name, another blast of ice came from behind them. Jamie and Katherine jumped out of the way, and the Guardians ducked. A shard of ice embedded itself in the front door. It was a surprise that it didn't fall off its hinges.
"What was that?!" exclaimed Aster.
"Jack woke up and he's attacking us," Katherine explained quickly. "But he doesn't look like himself, I mean, when would he ever assault us?!"
Jack came down the stairs and looked at everyone in the room. Katherine's statement had been correct. There was something off about Jack. His eyes were glazed and dull, and he looked paler than he had been before. His movements were stiff as if he was still in pain, but that didn't stop him from exerting such large amounts of energy.
Jack swung his staff and shot another bolt of ice in the group's direction.
"Get in the study!" Aster shouted. Katherine and Jamie did so quickly, and the Guardians drew out their weapons. None of them were prepared to fight against the boy who was family to them.
Jack didn't back down, and he created six daggers of ice and threw them at the Guardians. They quickly blocked the blows, but the assault had only been a distraction. Jack swept across the room, kicking Aster square in the chest and thwacking North's sword out of his hand with his staff. The snow sprite shot another bolt of ice in Tooth's direction, but the Tooth Fairy sped out of the way and fluttered over to Aster to pull him up.
"What's wrong with him?!" exclaimed Tooth.
"Maybe he's just disoriented," North suggested, blocking Jack's forceful blows with one sword. When he tried to reach the other, which had skidded across the room, Jack would send it further away with a blast of ice, forcing North to confront him again. Sandy tried to restrain Jack with his dreamland, but the snow sprite was too quick on his feet for him to get a proper shot.
"Disoriented, or completely insane," Aster griped.
"Either or, we need to get him to calm down," Sandy said, dreamsand flashing over his head. He rolled out of the way of another one of Jack's ice blasts. "Or else he'll destroy the whole house!"
Jack had already done some considerable damage to the living room, and the walls were embedded with icicles. THe air around him was cold and frigid. Snow even began to fall from within the building. Frost scattered out from beneath his feet, making the group slick with ice. The Guardians slipped and slid as they tried parrying Jack's attacks. Jack made a run for the front door, but Aster threw a boomerang at his hand as he reached for the doorknob.
Jack whirled around, fury flashing in his eyes. Aster gulped.
"Well, I got his attention," he said. The Guardians cried out as Jack sent an array of icicles blasting in their direction. Tooth and Sandy ducked behind the couch while North and Aster flipped a near by table to use for cover. The icicles bore and buried into the wood. It began to crack and splinter by the force of the solid ice.
"We need a better plan!" cried Tooth, gripping her sabers.
"I don't think we had one ta begin with!" Aster hollered.
"Sandy said we need to subdue him," said North. "We need to get him some dreamsand."
"But the kit won't let us an inch near 'im!" Aster said.
"Then we need a distraction!" said Tooth. "We'll cover Sandy while he tries to get some dreamsand to Jack."
"Easier said than done," said Aster. He grunted as an icicle stabbed through the table, nearly nicking his whiskers. "Hopefully we don't get impaled in the process."
"If we act quick enough, we can do it," said Tooth. Her feathers twitched. "You guys ready?"
None of them really had a choice. So, after a silent count three, the Guardians put themselves in harm's way once again.
None of them ever thought that harm would come in the form of Jack Frost himself.
…
In the study, Katherine and Jamie listened to the heated battle that took place beyond the doors. Though Aster had told them both to take cover, they were sitting directly next to the door, listening to the shouts and ice blasts that came from the other side.
Things didn't sound like they were going well.
Jamie balled his fists and stood up. "I'm going to go help them," she said.
Katherine stared, surprised. "What?! Jamie, you can't! You'll get hurt!"
"They need all the help they can get," Jamie said. He smiled wryly. "Besides, Jack would never hurt any of us."
"But that's not Jack out there," Katherine said. "It's…it's something else." She sighed. "Jamie, I know you want to help them, but running in without a plan won't make things any better."
"But it's my fault that Jack's acting like this!" Jamie cried. "I should be the one responsible to fix it!"
Katherine stood up. Though she was petite in height, she towered over young Jamie Bennett. "Jamie, you're not going out there." She pulled out her dagger and looked at the door. "But I will."
As surprised as Jamie was that Katherine had a dagger, he was still insistent on joining her. "Let me come and help!"
"Jamie, you have to stay here, okay?" Katheirne said. Jamie frowned, crossing his arms. Katherine softened and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We can't let you get hurt."
"But—!"
But then Katherine as gone, faster than one could finish a sentence. Jamie knew he could follow, but eh also knew that he'd make everyone worried if he stepped out.
The boy sighed, and seated himself next to the door again, hoping that everyone would be alright.
…
Tooth, Aster, and North were tasked with the job of keeping Jack distracted, which proved to be much harder than they originally thought.
Jack was a snow sprite, and his heightened hearing allowed him to trace the attacks that North, Tooth, and Aster tried to land on him. He deflected their blows and dodged their assaults. Sandy still couldn't get a clear target since Jack detected him before he could throw a ball of dreamsand.
A table was smashed. The kitchen was cluttered. Photos that hung on the walls or on tables had smashed against the ground. North cringed at everyone on of the appliances that got ruined, but the current situation was far more important than household objects. Most of them could be replaced anyway.
Jack was unyielding and he continued to attack. The Guardians knew at this point that Jack definitely wasn't doing this willingly. His body jerked and his eyes were filled with pain. He was still recovering from his drowning experience, but whatever (or whoever) was controlling him disregarded his current condition.
Though feeble, Jack was still a threat with his blasts of ice and surprise blows. Aster, Tooth, and North found themselves growing weaker and weaker as Jack advanced on them. ASter tried knocking Jack's staff out of his grip. The snow sprite knocked him out of the way. Tooth came from above, only to be stopped by an icicle that would've impaled her if she hadn't rolled out of the way. The ice grazed her arm, eliciting a gasp from the Tooth Fairy. The sudden pain put her off balance, and Tooth crashed into the living room. A trail of feathers and blood lined the floor.
North was the only one left, fighting with only one sword against Jack had his long staff. The two dueled for some time, this being because North was holding back. He didn't want to hurt Jack, but he knew he needed to stop him. Jack's attacks were growing more dangerous by the minute, and his house was being destroyed in the process.
North parried with another one of Jack's blows and tried to knock Jack's staff out of his grip. Jack spun around and hooked North's feet, pulling hard enough to send the man tumbling to the ground. North's head hit against the solid ice that lined the floor, sending a course of pain from the back of his head down the rest of his body. He groaned, and Jack hovered over him. The look in his eyes was deadly.
In Jack's hand crystalized an intricate dagger of ice. North tried to roll out of the way but he was frozen in place…literally. Jack's ice had crawled over his body like a rope and held him against the ground so he couldn't escape. From behind the snow sprite, Sandy threw his dreamsand, but Jack dodged, and shot of blast of ice that sent Sandy crashing to the ground.
Jack brought the dagger down, but then someone parried him. Indignation flashed across Jack's face when he saw Katherine pushing against the dagger he intended to use to harm North. Jack squeezed Katherine's arm and froze it over. Katherine cried out, and Jack tossed her aside.
Jack turned to North and held up the dagger. North's eyes widened and Tooth and Aster yelled at him to stop. At that moment, Jamie ran into the room. His eyes widened in horror at the sight in front of him.
"Jack!"
Suddenly, Jack froze. His eyes flickered back to normal. He dropped the dagger he held and stumbled backward, taking in the damage he had caused.
Jack trembled. "What have I done…?" he whispered.
Then unconsciousness seized him once more.
…
When Jack woke up, his head pounded with a headache, and the snow sprite yearned to fall back asleep. But he could hear the Guardians discussing, and he heard his name several times in the conversation. He wanted to know what they were talking about, as well as what was responsible for his migraine.
Jack groaned and he opened his eyes. He winced at the light coming from his window and draped an arm over his face. His chest rattled with shaky breaths, and against his cool hand, Jack could feel his head burning with a fever.
"Looks like he's awake," Jack heard Aster say. The snow sprite pulled away his arm and blinked away the lingering drowsiness. He spotted Aster sitting in the chair at his desk, while Tooth and Sandy were perched on the edge of his bed. North sat at his right, his expression relieved but worried at the same time.
Jack's brow furrowed, confused. North and Aster were flecked with flakes of frost. Gauze was wrapped around Tooth's arm and Sandy's glow flickered weakly.
"What happened to you guys?" Jack asked. The moment he asked, the memories flooded his mind. Jamie and Katherine. The Guardians. He attacked them. North, he pinned down North. A dagger formed in his hand. He froze Katherine's arm, injured Tooth's, and knocked out Aster and Sandy—
Jack's breathing hitched, and the Guardians softened.
"Jack…" Tooth began.
"Where are Katherine and Jamie?" Jack asked.
"They're fine," said Tooth. "They went home some time ago."
Though he knew they were safe, Jack still felt extremely guilty. "I'm sorry. I…I don't know what happened, I'm so, so sorry—"
North hushed Jack. "It wasn't you," he said. "That was not Jack who we faced down there."
Jack chewed his lip, but he nodded. "Th-Then…what was it?"
"Sandy looked ya over with his dreamsand," Aster explained. He scratched some frost out of his fur. "He found a Fearling restin' inside of ya."
Jack's eyes widened. "A-a Fearling?"
"A small one," Tooth reassured before Jack could panic. She rubbed her injured arm gently. "We did find out some time ago that Fearlings have the ability to manipulate their victims. The Fearling residing in you was controlling you earlier, but it seems to have lost control at the moment. But don't worry! Sandy can remove it, but the process takes some time."
The Sandman nodded, confirming Tooth's explanation. Jack eased…a little.
"Do you have any idea how this could've happened, moy mal'chik?" asked North.
"Um…" Jack recalled how he almost drowned in the lake, trying to ignore the climbing fear that suddenly sprung in his chest at the thought of it. The snow sprite licked his lips and said, "Well, there were Fearlings in the lake that I…fell in. I might have breathed one in…"
The thought of consuming a Fearling made Jack shiver. The Guardians noticed this, and Tooth turned to Sandy.
"How soon do you think you can begin the extraction process?" asked Toothiana.
Sandy chewed his lip and created a series of images over his head. A magnifying glass, a book, and Big Root. "I need to find the correct spell in one of Ombric's books in the library. I can remove it by this evening."
"This evening?" Jack said. The Guardians looked at him. "But what if…It takes over again?"
"Sandy placed a seal on you to keep the Fearling at bay," said North, pointing to Jack's chest. The snow sprite looked down, surprised that he hadn't noticed the glowing pendant sooner. It was a simple, circle-shaped necklace that glowed a protective gold. Intricate swirls and stars were on the front. "It will not take control of you as long as you keep that on."
"For now, get some rest," said Aster. Jack looked at him. "After exertin' that much energy, yer fever came back full force, and yer breathing's strained. A good rest should have ya feelin' a bit better."
"Okay," said Jack. He felt like he should say more, but the snow sprite was still processing everything that had just happened.
Aster and Tooth accompanied Sandy to Big Root, leaving Jack and North at home. After the three had left, North asked Jack, "Do you need anything? Are you hungry?"
Jack shook his head. "Uh…no, not really." The images from attacking the Guardians were still flashing through his mind. He had felt the fear emitting from each of the Guardians and his friends. And he had craved it. He enjoyed watching their pain. He enjoyed watching them suffer. Jack trembled.
If he had been in that room, he would've been afraid of himself.
North noticed Jack trembling, and he wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders. "It's okay, moy mal'chik. You would never hurt anyone."
"I know…" said Jack. He looked up at North. "Thank you."
He wasn't completely convinced, he knew, but North squeezed Jack's shoulder and studio up. "I'm going to make you something to eat, moy mal'chik. You're looking a little thin, and I want something resting in that stomach of yours."
Jack smiled. "Beef stew?"
North winked. "Coming right up."
North left the room, and Jack lay back down, staring at the ceiling. He hoped that when Sandy came back later to extract the Fearling within him, all would be fine. It was a Fearling that controlled him, but Jack still felt incredibly guilty. He should've done something, he should've fought harder against its hold.
Or maybe, he shouldn't have left without telling North where he was going.
Perhaps he was more at fault than he thought.
Jack clutched the seal in his hand, hoping that the evil spirit within him could feel it. Even though he had Sandy's seal protecting him, the fear of falling under the Fearling's control once again sat at the back of his mind.
Author's Note: Soooo...possessed by a Fearling, eh?
Yep, just another normal day in Santoff Claussen.
I actually accidentally outlined this arc the exact same way I was planning for it to go in an upcoming fanfic I had. So I ended up scrapping it, and moved it over to this fanfiction entirely. =) I honestly like how it fits, haha.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter (and I promise things will get better...eventually!) And I hope you all will join me in the next one! =D
Until the next chapter!
~BeyondTheMoon1203
