After a long time I finally have another chapter for this. It's a little breather, but it comes with some insight to the other characters. Enjoy.
Jack had gone back to the pole after what had happened with Ema and Pitch. He had refused to talk to anyone. He needed some alone time to try to figure things out. There he sat, on the roof of the pole, with his staff by his side, trying to figure out what the heck just happened.
Was he irrational? Ema had been pretty upset about what was happening. Of course, it seemed to make sense, the truth does hurt. Ema hated the truth being revealed, and it didn't seem like she was lying when she said it was true. Why would she lie during all that, and in that state even, unless, of course, Ema was a really good actor? Why would she choose at that point to act?
Yup, it seemed like everything was pointing towards Ema being evil all this time. Yet, it was still hard to believe. Jack had known Ema since he was 75. Pitch had said she had a friend before him, and she didn't seem evil when he met her. She always had a soft spot for kids, in fact she was one. Of course, she never really liked the guardians, or adults. She was a trickster, but Jack didn't see anything wrong with that. Most importantly, everyone knew she was a liar. That didn't get her many friends. Maybe she got desperate for one. Of course, she had always had his back. She had supported him, helped him out, cheered him up; Ema wouldn't betray him like that.
Maybe she was friends with Pitch, and he had offered for her to join in his conquest, knowing that if the moon chose her, then she would have the power needed to help him take down the guardians. Of course, Ema said no, because he Jack was her friend too, and she couldn't betray, but she still thought about his offer because Pitch was friends longer than Jack was. It was a war between friends, and it didn't help they were on opposite sides. Yet, she still said no, so Pitch wanted her destroyed, and at the same time he didn't because they were friends, yet she was a threat. Over the past few days, they were having rough patches because of that, and she still doesn't call off her friendship. Man, that girl is loyal to her friends. Was Ema that desperate for friends? Most recently, Pitch wanted to drive a point home in who her closer friend was by revealing her past to Jack.
It had been a huge shock for him. Maybe, he thought, he had over-reacted in learning Ema's past. Maybe he was so overcome with hate for him that he didn't stop to think that a friend of Pitch might be a different person than Pitch himself. Was it a good idea to leave Ema with her old friend? What if they had another spat where Ema tells him no and to get lost. What if Ema got overwhelmed and Pitch destroyed her. Pitch didn't hold close ties with those he calls friends. Yet, there was still so much he didn't know about Ema. He didn't spend all his time with her. What if she had done bad things in the past? He didn't know what Pitch and his friends called a good time. Jack was just so confused.
Jack heard something in the snow behind him. He turned; North had made it onto the roof.
"Hey North," said Jack.
"Jack," said North. "Why are you so down in dumps?"
"I'm not sure I want to talk about? Thinking about it makes my head hurt."
"Okay, maybe you should talk about this."
"I'm not sure where to start. I'm not…sure what happened, I'm very confused, North."
"Did Ema and you have fight?"
"I guess so, yeah."
"Where is she now?"
"I don't know," said Jack. "I left her in Transylvania with a friend of hers." He couldn't bring himself to say he left her with Pitch. He didn't want North to freak out, at least not yet. "Who knows if she's still there?"
"What was fight about?" Jack sighed.
"I don't think I know who Ema is. I'm thinking maybe I never did."
"She lied?" Jack nodded. "There is no surprise. Why are you?"
"Surprised? I don't know. Maybe I left too soon, maybe I should have heard her side of things, why she lied to me about it. Of course…I don't know what to do now."
"Hmm," North stroked his chin. "You could start, by hearing what our guest has to say."
"What?"
"Someone is here to discuss about Ema."
Jack couldn't believe his eyes. The one at the pole was the one person who never involved themselves, who Ema probably resented above all else. It was Mother Nature. What was she doing there? Was she there to harp about all the rules Ema had broken and yell at them to get off their lazy butts and go and punish her for them. Yet, she didn't seem like that. She seemed… more motherly.
"Hello Jack," she said, as they entered.
"Why are you here Emily?" said North.
"It's like I said, Nicolas, to discuss the matter of Ema Fay."
"Why are you getting yourself involved Emily Jane," said Bunny. "You usually like to stay out of it."
"I'm getting involved," said Mother Nature sternly, "because Ema Fay is involved. I feel like she is my responsibility. I'm always the one reining her in. Now I learn it's your turn to deal with her. She's a wild one alright." Sandy made a card with his sand.
"Yeah," said Jack. "One heck of a wild card, we never know what's going on with her." Everyone in the room turned to look at him. "What?"
"Jack," said Mother Nature. "I know you and Ema are having a rough patch, but could you drop it for now. I've known her longer than you have. Our relationship was never the best though." Everyone listened intently.
"I've known Ema most of her entire life. She was always causing me trouble. She never had reason to; she just liked to do what she did. To be honest, I've never always cared for her. I've had dreams where she lost all of her powers and was out of my hair for good. Of course, over time I had to come to realize she is young; both temporally and physically, with no memory of her life before, no family, all alone. She's a lot like you Jack." Jack didn't know what to think about that.
"She is a rascal and a troublemaker and a forest raga muffin and one heck of a liar, and sometimes I don't know what to do with her, but she is very special. She has a good heart, and when it comes to it, she does the right thing." Jack could see truth behind those words, remembering times when Ema thought of the greater good.
"She's also very powerful; her center must not be like anyone else's. I guess that's why the moon chose her, but it's also why my father is so interested in her. She may be a good one, but she hasn't had a good past. She hasn't received a lot of kindness, even in her past life. I'm partially to blame for that. Ema may have a lot of resentment stored up for everyone; she may be hungry for even a small bit of kindness. My father is capable of that, even if it's fake or not. I don't know if Ema has a thing about gratitude, but if she does, it could be enough to turn against us on my father's side and that would not be good for anyone."
"Us," questioned Tooth.
"Do you think she'd leave me alone when she's on my father's side, with all those dark thoughts in her head? I don't think my father would be able to completely control her. It's a hassle even for me."
Tooth noticed Jack was quiet.
"Jack, what are you thinking about?"
"Pitch has already been trying to turn her to his side. I'm not sure if Ema fully buys what he's selling."
"Then we have a chance," said Bunny. Sandy made some symbols of Ema not with Pitch or them.
"Sandy's right," said North. "She's not on our side either. We don't know where she'll end up."
"If she stays neutral I guess I'll take responsibility for her again," said Mother Nature.
"But Manny says we need her help in order to beat Pitch."
"Then this is a problem. If my father can't have what he wants, he goes a little dark. He might torture her for a bit before he actually destroys her."
That said something for Jack. What if he was torturing her back in Transylvania before he eventually destroyed her? What if they were never friends and it was all a big lie? Why did he believe Pitch in the first place?!
"We might have a problem," he said with eyes wide. "When I left Ema, she was with Pitch."
"WHAT!?" said everyone in the room.
"Jack, you said she was with friend," said North.
"Pitch made it seem like that."
"AND YOU BELIEVED HIM?!" said Bunny.
"Ema wasn't denying anything he was saying."
"What exactly did he say?" said Tooth.
"He said…she had a friend before me that she's ashamed to admit." Sandy made a sign that showed Pitch with an X through him.
"I didn't think about that at the time, everything was just so overwhelming, I didn't know what to think. I don't even know what's true or not."
"This is bad," said Mother Nature. "It's either my father's gotten better than he was before or he's had Ema under his thumb for a long time." A gust of wind blew through the pole, which caused mother nature to sharply turn to whence it came.
"And now, she is in great danger."
DADA! How was that? Hope it was okay. Anyway, big things are about to happen, so Stay tuned for the next chapter!
