Disclaimer: I don't own anything referenced in this story.

Chapter 5

Conversations with a Chilly Individual

"NO!" Jack yelled, lifting his head up out of the bed. His face felt sweaty, and his hands were gripping the sheets like a vice. It took him a second to breathe. It was only a dream. It wasn't true at all. North was fine. Jack breathed a huge sigh of relief and leaned back in the bed.

Come to think of it, Jack's bed felt softer than before, and the angle of the lights shining into his eyelids was a little off. Jack shrugged, rolling over. Maybe he would ask North or a yeti about his room when he got back from…

It was then that Jack remembered. The flight to the Northern Lights, the ambush, the sandy spear. His fall. Then, nothing.

Jack sat up and opened his eyes fully. He didn't recognize this room at all. The walls' colors were all sapphire or sea-like, depending on who was describing it. The main window was in a triangular shape and opened out to a coastal view, with docks and ships leading from a curved shore out to sea. There was only one door out of the room.

Jack was puzzled. How had he gone from falling to waking up in a room and in an admittedly comfortable bed? He didn't remember any buildings close to the spot he had flown towards. Had the wind carried him away when he fell?

Jack knew he wasn't going to get any answers staying here. He got up out of bed… and immediately fell back on it.

Ok, so he needed to take it slowly. Jack took a deep breath, trying to get his bearings. Now that he thought about it, something else felt different. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Then Jack realized the problem. He didn't feel his powers anymore. Usually, he felt a little chill inside him, a comfortable chill that kept him cool in warm days and warm in cold days. He had never realized how comforting that chill was until it was gone. Now he only felt warmer than he would have liked. Not feverish, but not cool anymore.

Jack looked around. There was his staff, leaning by the fireplace in the room. Wait, why was there a fireplace in a bedroom? Didn't the air conditioning and heating work? Ah well, something to figure out later.

Jack leaned over and grabbed his staff. He didn't feel the familiar chill from the staff like he thought he would. Maybe he should test his powers, just in case. Jack pushed his stick forward, expecting an ice beam to fire out and freeze part of the wall. Nothing came out.

Now Jack was really concerned. Even the staff didn't conduct his power anymore. What had Pitch done to him? When Pitch had broken his staff, Jack had thought he'd lost his powers, but he had still had the power inside him then. This time, Jack didn't even feel the slightest tinge of his powers. Could this day get any worse?

It did get worse, apparently. Jack noticed a mirror nearby and took a quick look to see if Pitch had changed anything else. What he saw surprised him. Instead of his normal, frosty white hair, Jack's hair had now turned chocolatey brown. Just like how he used to look before he was chosen and given his powers. Had Pitch reverted him back to humanity?

Before Jack could wonder anything else, there was a small knock at the door. Jack turned towards it and heard a small voice.

"Hello? Are you alright in there? I heard a shout and decided to come and check."

Jack didn't say anything. Maybe the voice would go away if Jack didn't talk.

"I think by your silence that you're ok. Either that, or you are a completely silent person. One of the two.

"Also, the sun's up and I'm awake. Thus, you must be awake as well. Since that's the case, I'm coming in."

Jack shook his head. Crazy logic. This should be interesting.

The door opened to… a small cloud raining snow. Well, that was unexpected. Jack had expected a person, maybe a servant opening the door. Not a cloud.

A small cough sounded from below the cloud. Jack looked down and nearly sat back down. Looking back up at him was a small snowman. This snowman was somewhat weirdly proportioned, with a small waist, a large lower body, and a larger head. Two sticks stuck out at the top like ears, and two sticks with three fingers pushed out of the waist. Hands, obviously. A large carrot stuck out a little below two large, kind eyes staring at Jack. No doubt about it, Jack was talking to a living snowman.

Jack looked down at the snowman. "Are you real?"

The snowman giggled. "That's a funny question. Of course, I'm real and alive. After all, you're alive, animals are alive, and trees are alive. Unless this is a dream, in which case, you'd be a figment of my imagination. Are you real or a figment?"

Jack looked confused. "Wait, what? I'm sorry, who are you?"

The snowman cracked a large smile. "Oh, I didn't introduce myself. Hi, I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs."

The snowman started moving forward, arms held out wide for a hug. Jack backed away. He did not want a hug right now.

Time to get some answers. "Alright, nice to meet you, Olaf. Maybe we could hug later. Could you tell me where I am, please?"

Olaf stopped moving. "Ok, geography now, hugs later. We're in Arendelle."

"Arendelle? Where's that?"

"Well, it's right next to the large fjord, north of the Southern Isles, and just south of the North Mountain," Olaf answered, still smiling like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Jack was getting more and more confused by the minute. Location and place names clearly weren't a strong subject with the snowman. "Alright, could you tell me how long I've been here?"

"Well, you've been here for three days, which is a year since I've been born."

Jack shook his head. Three days. The other Guardians must be looking for him by now. Jack needed to find somebody who could give some clearer answers. "Hey Olaf. It's very nice to meet you, but I was wondering if anyone else lives here?"

"Oh, well there's Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Sven, and the servants here."

"Ok. Could I meet those people?"

"Oh sure, Jack. I can take you over to Elsa. She's the one who built me, so she'll know what to do. But first, since I told you my name, you should tell me yours."

Jack's confusion grew to an all-time high. "But didn't you just say my name?"

"Yeah, why?"

"But why would you ask for my name if you already know it?"

"Because we haven't finished introductions, so I don't know it," Olaf replied as if it was the most logical thing in the world.

"But if you…" Jack stopped speaking. This was getting him nowhere. The sooner he found somebody else, the sooner answers could become clearer. And that meant humoring the snowman. "Never mind. To answer your question, my name is Jack."

"Pleasure to meet you, Jack. Alright. Let's get going."

With that, Olaf turned around, walked out the door, and turned right. Jack ran after him, making sure to take his staff with him. He didn't quite know what to make of Olaf. The snowman seemed a little childlike. While Jack would normally appreciate that type of personality, it wasn't great for getting information.

As they walked down the hall and the stairs, Jack looked around. Clearly, he was in a large palace. No other place aside from the Pole or a capital building, or a natural wonder would be this large and look this extravagant. Also, the suits of armor were a dead giveaway. Olaf had also mentioned a fjord, so Jack knew he was in the Scandinavian country. Close to the Pole, but still a fair way away. It would be hard to try and get back without flight.

Eventually, Jack and Olaf approached two big doors. They were rather large, with blue, crystal-like paintings spread out throughout the doors. Olaf opened the doors and led Jack inside.

They now appeared to be in a large throne room. The room was a long hallway, with small sides opening up to reveal curtains, large paintings, and windows. Most of the room had a green wallpaper to it, except for a red wall directly behind a chair. Had to be a throne.

There were several people in the room as well. Some people, obviously servants, were standing around beside the curtains. Standing to the right of the throne was a young woman, who looked to be about nineteen. She had brown hair like Jack, but it was a lighter shade. She was wearing a long dress and looked to be stifling a small yawn. Standing to the right of the woman was a young man with blond hair, standing next to a reindeer. Jack frowned a little. A reindeer in a throne room. What else was new?

A large, portly man with balding hair was standing in the center of the room. He seemed to be discussing preparations for a feast. He was addressing another woman, sitting on the throne.

The woman on the throne seemed different than the one standing to her right. She looked to be in her early twenties and had a more serious face. She was wearing a white dress that seemed to match her white hair. The woman seemed to command a presence about her that was polite, but regal. Jack had never met a queen before, but if he ever did, he thought she would probably look like this lady.

Olaf immediately came over to the throne room. "Hi, Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Sven. The strange boy with the dirty hair just woke up. He can talk, and isn't a figment, so we have that going for us. He asked to see you, so I brought him over."

Jack didn't have time to consider if the snowman had insulted him, because he found himself in the middle of several stares. The stares seemed to range from curious to friendly to suspicious. Jack shrank a little under the stares. Clearly, these people didn't know what to make of him.

Well, time to make some introductions. "Hello, everyone, I'm Jack."

The woman on the throne was the first to compose herself. After giving a silent look to the lady on her right, she responded. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Jack. I'm Queen Elsa of Arendelle. I hope Olaf didn't disturb you. He's a very excitable fellow and means well."

"No, no. I was just waking up. It's very nice of you to let me stay here while I was resting."

Elsa regarded him with a warm smile. "Well, when you find someone lying in the snow in the middle of nowhere, what else can you do. Though we are curious how such an event could happen in the first place."

Jack could tell that there was something reserved about this queen. She seemed friendly, but Jack couldn't tell if she was just putting on a show to make Jack feel at ease, or if she was genuine. He certainly didn't miss the request for information in her comment.

Well, two could play at that game. "I am very honored by your gesture, your queenliness. But I'm afraid I'm at a slight disadvantage here. You seem to know my name and where you found me, but I don't really know where I am."

Elsa seemed to ponder the question. "Well, you are in Arendelle. It's a fair kingdom, bordering the lands of Norway and Sweden. It's wintertime at the moment, and the weather is fair. That should answer your question, now perhaps you could tell us a little about yourself and how you got here?"

Jack was suddenly in a pickle. What should he say? He couldn't very well say that he was the Guardian of Fun, protecting children from evils like Pitch. If they didn't think he was crazy, they would certainly kick him out. And Jack needed a little more information here before heading out.

He decided to stay truthful. Tell the truth, but not all of it. "Well, my name is Jack. I'm a free-spirited fellow, always traveling. I'm not entirely sure how I found myself here. I remember falling and snow. Kinda makes sense if you got to know me better. You could say that I'm an icy-weather fan."

The woman on the right of Elsa perked up a little at that and was about to say something, but Elsa silenced her with a look. Jack acknowledged that. So, Elsa was the only one talking during this exchange. That was good to know and a reasonable precaution. He certainly didn't want to give away all his information. Stood to reason Elsa didn't either.

It was then that Jack noticed the light in the room flickering. He looked up and saw a lightbulb start to short out. Elsa grimaced a little. "Ever since that inventor asked to test his new invention over here, the lighting hasn't been doing well." She turned to the servant with the scroll. "Tell him that we need to have a talk about the light. It seems to short out frequently." The servant nodded and left the room.

Jack frowned. This lady seemed to be a bit too regal. Talking formally to servants and playing little mind games. It didn't really seem right, and made one seem a little too puffed up.

Wait, did she say the lightbulbs were a new invention? That was impossible. Lightbulbs had been going on for a very long time. There was no way they should be new here.

Then Jack's face turned pale. The Northern Light disappearances, the fact that he didn't recognize the kingdom of Arendelle, the lightbulbs being new, it was all coming together to a very horrifying conclusion.

Jack's face must have shown his realization. "Are you ok?" Elsa asked, her face showing more concern than before.

Jack nodded. "Totally fine. I just have a quick question so that I can get my bearings. What year is it?"

Elsa looked confused. "Well, that's a rather strange question. You must have hit your head rather hard. It's the year 1844."

And that is the end of the first set. I am planning on posting about 5 chapters a week. I chose the year 1844, because as far as I know, 1843 is when the first Frozen took place, and Frozen 2 took place around 1846. Thus, I wanted to choose a year between the two. So 1844 was the one. I know that light bulbs might not have been fully introduced by this time, but early work was done by inventors before Edison (didn't work out due to it being too expensive and other bugs; you can see some information here: .gov/articles/history-light-bulb). Also, it is a fictional universe with magic, so exceptions can be made. We will have to see how the rest of the meeting goes, as well as how Jack takes the news about his time. As always, please rate and review.