Author's Note: Hello everyone and welcome back to "The Winter Child!" =D So, an arc after an arc, huh? Well, this arc is actually somewhat of a continuation of the previous one. The next couple of chapters will be wrapping up the overarching plot of this story. =D I honestly can't believe this fanfic is almost finished (actually, it is finished; I just haven't finished posting all the chapters yet! XD), so thank you guys for sticking with me on this whirlwind of a tale. ^u^
Anyway, that's all I've got for now. So, I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter! =3
~ LXXVIII ~
To the Capitol and Back, Part One
It was time for them to answer the call
So they could find a way to stop Pitch
Once and for all
...
Two months had passed since Jack had been captured by Pitch, and the snow sprite had never felt more relieved to be home. He tried not to remember the time he spent trapped in Pitch's cave, but the nightmares still snuck their way into his mind. Thankfully, Sandy's dreamland had chased them off long enough until the terror had ebbed away.
Jack focused on his studies, and he spent his days following his usual routine. He and North had apologized for their earlier fight, but Jack still felt guilty for what he had said. So, to make it up to him a second time, he'd been doing a lot more around the house. Cleaning the living room and kitchen, reorganizing his study…anything that could take an extra load off of North's shoulders.
He knew that the ex-Cossack was probably aware of the reasoning behind his sudden extra help, but he didn't voice it out loud. Instead, he helped Jack whenever he found him tidying up or tending the reindeer. And soon enough, the invisible barrier between them had melted, and things began to slowly return back to normal.
Sascha, Fog, and Tall William did take their trip to the Capitol. Jack stayed behind, recovering from the kidnapping, but the three kindly filled him in on what they found there. The city was flourished and golden. The people there were polite and welcoming. There were so many jobs, so many opportunities. They even saw Katherine working at a local bookstore, reading to young children.
Katherine had left for the Capitol a week before Sascha, Fog, and Tall William came to visit. But she sent letters to the children of Santoff Claussen every week after they had left. They'd all gather and await her letters at Tooth's post office, each of them taking turns to bring them to the classroom to read during their lunch period. Today, it was Jamie's turn to retrieve the letter. The children huddled around his desk, excited and eager to hear what tales Katherine had to tell from Lunslruna Capitol next.
"Alright, alright, give me some space! I can't read when I'm feeling squished!" Jamie cried.
"Hurry up and read it, Jamie!" Sascha cried. "Katherine promised us a special story this time."
Dramatically, Jamie cleared his throat and began to read.
"Dear Sascha, Petter, Fog, the Williams, Jamie, and Jack…"
"I can't believe she takes the time to write all our names like that," Tall William remarked.
"That's Katherine for you," Jack quipped. "She's very thorough."
"Excuse me? I'm trying to read here!" Jamie said.
"Oh, sorry, kiddo. You can continue."
Jamie huffed, and he proceeded to read the letter. "I finally finished my very first novel, and it's currently in the publication process. Soon, it should be released to the public, and I hope that you all will receive copies once it's distributed outside of the Capitol…"
"Yes, she did it! Kathierne wrote a book!" Sascha cheered along with the others.
"Hold on! It's not finished yet!" Jamie said. "I'm sorry to say, but my publisher informed me that Norsurberian will be the last to receive copies…"
"Aw, come on!" Fog whined.
"But, I have taken matters into my own hands, and I managed to sneak a book for each one of you in the box that came with this letter."
"Wait, what?" Sascha said, surprised.
Jamie smiled, and he pulled out a box that he had been seen carrying with him from under his desk. "They're all here!"
"No way!"
The children popped open the box, finding eight copies—each of them with their names on it— of Katheirne's new book for each of them.
"It's a children's book, so it may be a bit childish to some of you…but I based it off of some of our imaginary adventures from when we were young, so I hope you find some nostalgia in it."
"Hey, she wrote a story about a boy who pranked an entire village!" Sascha laughed, reading the first few pages. She smirked at Jack. "This sounds familiar!"
Jack scoffed. "Sascha, you know I wouldn't perform such unspeakable acts…without good reason."
"Way to make yourself sound innocent, Jack!" Petter said, elbowing the snow sprite on the shoulder.
Jack laughed, and he ran his fingers over Katherine's debut book. The cover had been drawn by her, he could recognize her style anywhere. He always knew that she'd become an author one day, and here he was, holding her very first book. Jack smiled, he couldn't have felt any prouder of his longtime friend. He flipped to the first page, but instead of being met with words, he found another letter inside.
Puzzled, Jack picked out the envelope and opened it up. As the other kids around him fawned and revealed in their book copies, Jack read the mysterious letter that had seemed to come in only his book.
Dear Jack,
Hopefully, you receive this letter safely, and it doesn't get lost in the mail…We had one of Tsar Lunar's officials stop by the bookstore some time ago, asking me to deliver this message to you in a letter.
Tsar Lunar's inviting you and the Guardians to the palace at a gala later this month, and later discuss something with you all. The official didn't give any specifics on what's going to be discussed, but with all that's happened in the past couple of months, I think you may have a hunch.
Make sure this information gets to the Guardians safely, and I hope to see you when you stop by.
Love,
Katherine
Jack's blue eyes scanned over the letter one, twice, thrice before folding it up and placing it back into his book. He hoped that being kidnapped by Pitch would be the last he'd have to think or even speak of him.
But it seemed like fate had other plans.
…
"Tsar Lunar's summoning us?"
It wasn't only Jack who was surprised by the sudden summoning, but the Guardians as well. Apparently, Tsar Lunar hadn't contacted them directly, and Jack had been the first to be informed of the gathering. The snow sprite wondered why Tsar Lunar had sent him a message first (through Katherine, of course). He wasn't a Guardian, and yet he was being summoned to the palace as well.
"Katherine think that he might want to talk about Pitch," said Jack, turning the letter over and over in his fingers. The Guardians watched him closely. "And she's probably right."
"I mean, with everything that's happened in the past few months, we can see why," said Tooth, her wings fluttering. "When did he say he wanted us to come?"
"The day of the annual gala."
The Guardian's eyes widened. The annual Lunslrunian gala was a large ball held at Tsar Lunar's palace every year. It was the day that Lunslruna had first formed and become an official tsardom, so it was a rather large and patriotic event that everyone looked forward to.
Jack was aware of the gala, but he never imagined himself actually going. He was a snow sprite after all, so he may have drawn some unwanted attention if he went. And besides, he wasn't all too interested in the whole gala and ball thing. But Santoff Claussen still honored the day that they became a part of a proud, large, thriving tsardom.
"That's in two weeks," said Aster. He turned to the others. "Any of ya have plans?"
"Not that I can think of," said North.
"Then it looks like we're headed ta the capitol," the Pooka said. He turned to Jack. "And yer comin' with us."
"M-Me?" Jack stuttered. His ears twitched. "B-But what about—"
"He knows," said North, stepping forward. Jack turned to him, and the ex-Cossack's expression softened. "I told him about you a long time ago. And he's kept his word."
Jack blinked slowly. So even the Tsar knew about him? Moon above! But it wasn't like anyone else didn't know about him either. Word had spread about a snow sprite living in Norsurberian. Jack never paid any attention to the rumors, since most of them were horrendous anyway, but he was still quite unknown in most parts, but he should've known that North would've told the Tsar that he was caring a snow sprite (who, at the time he did, was only a baby).
Jack pursed his lips. Well, he supposed, if the Tsar already knew about him, it wouldn't hurt if he went. But still, he felt quite nervous about a trip outside of SAntoff Clausen. A trip outside of what he knew. Jack and the other village children learned and studied about Lunslruna's geography and history, but Jack had never truly experienced it. This would be his first time leaving the village—ever. And where he thought he would've felt excited, he felt a pit-burrowing anxiousness that he hoped wasn't visible to the Guardians.
"A trip to the Capitol," Tooth murmured. Her eyes brightened. "I haven't been there in years, actually. I wonder what's changed."
"Probably not much," said Aster with a shrug. "Though I did hear they've been doing a bit of reconstruction."
"We better prepare for what lays ahead," said North. "This may be a short trip, but we do not know what will happen."
"And here I thought Aster was the cautious one," Jack said with a small smirk.
"It's a small trip to the Capitol," said Tooth. "I'm sure we'll all be fine."
"Of course, we will," said Jack. He smiled. "Your the Guardians of Childhood. Pitch would have to be a fool to think to mess with you guys again. And if he does, well…you'll just send him right back where he came from."
North smiled. "Well then, I guess we have a trip to look forward to."
"You guess?" Jack laughed. "We do have a trip to look forward to."
But deep down, Jack didn't know if he was anticipating the trip.
