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Chapter 10

Dinner and a Letter

Jack soon found himself back in the throne room. He was sitting on the left side of a small table next to Kristoff and the reindeer. Opposite to him were Anna and Olaf. Elsa sat between the two groups.

Anna grabbed a napkin. "Hope you're hungry, Jack. Chef's been cooking up a storm. First course now and several courses afterwards. And all of it some of the tastiest food you've probably had.

Jack nodded. "Excellent. I can't wait."

Chef soon came out with several pieces of cooked fish. As everyone grabbed a piece, a platter of salad came out. On and on the food came until everyone's plate was filled to the brim.

With that, the eating began. Jack made sure to keep his table manners, as he knew that it was important to be polite to your hosts, especially if your hosts are royalty. That didn't make it easy to resist diving in. As Jack took a bite of some grilled fish with butter, his taste buds soared. The butter had melted in his mouth and complemented the spicy fish, leaving a warm, zingy taste in his mouth. The other food was even better. The mashed potatos were excellent, the chicken tasted exquisite, even the salad was very good. Jack couldn't tell if it was because he hadn't eaten in a few days, or if it was because the food tasted that good, but he knew that his mouth and stomach were thanking him.

As they wrapped up, Jack saw Elsa looking over at him, opening her mouth to say something. Probably another question. But before she could do so, the doors opened, revealing the fellow from the other day with the scroll. He was carrying a small item on a platter. It didn't look like food, leaving Jack slightly disappointed.

Elsa nodded to the servant. "What is it, Kai?"

Kai nodded. "Apologies for interrupting, your majesty, but I have two pieces of news. First, I regret to inform you that the recent blizzard in the north has taken its toll on the snow. The pass at the North Mountain is blocked by an avalanche."

Jack noticed everyone looked concerned. "Is everyone ok? Are the ice harvesters fine?" Kristoff asked.

"They are fine, Kristoff. Everyone was off the mountain before the snow fell. Some of the ice harvesters have gone up to clear the passage. They say they'll be careful and that they should be done the day before Christmas Eve."

Kristoff nodded. "Good. So long as they're careful up there."

Elsa looked over at Kai. "You said there were two things, Kai?"

Kai nodded. "I found this letter in the mailbox. The date seems to indicate that it was sent right before the blizzard. It's addressed to you, Elsa, and to our guest Jack as well."

Jack nodded. "Great. Who's it from?"

Kai looked over at Jack. "It is unclear at this time." He then passed the letter to Elsa. Jack frowned a little at that. I guess royalty gets seniority, he thought.

Elsa took the letter. "Thank you, Kai. Do you want any food? I think I'm a little full."

Kai shook his head. "Thank you, your highness, but I'm afraid I can't take it. I already have some food waiting for me elsewhere. But I thank you again, your highnesss, and take your leave." Elsa nodded, and Kai left.

Elsa turned back to the letter, opening it. Anna and the others looked over. "What does it say, Elsa?" Anna asked.

Elsa took a moment to read, then turned to Jack. "Well, I guess this answers all our questions about you, Jack. Here's what it says:"

Dear Jack (and Jack's Caretakers):

If you're reading this, it means my letter got through. I am so glad that you are safe and sound. I cried many tears when I thought I'd lost you. When we took sleigh ride through snow to gather materials for ice sculpting, I was nervous about weather. When you slipped as we crossed icy pass, my heart was worried. I would have come to pick you up, but blizzard and avalanche have prevented me from reaching you. When I heard that you were ok, I had to let you know that I was fine. So I sent messenger bunny (you know one) to deliver letter to you. I will come pick you up on Christmas Day. Until then, sit tight. I will be there before you can say Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious one million times.

Signed,

Uncle Nicholas

P.S. Very important you read letter, Jack. Just so you know is from me.

Jack nodded, grinning on the inside. So the other Guardians had figured out where he was. That was excellent. The Man in the Moon had worked fast. And now he had a cover story to use. A very loose cover story, but a cover story nonetheless.

Still, Jack knew he needed to read the letter himself. Maybe it would give some extra information, like why he couldn't return home now. "Hey, Elsa. May I please see the letter? It sounds like my uh, uncle wanted me to take a look."

Elsa nodded. "Of course, Jack."

Elsa passed Jack the letter and Jack began to read. And that was when Jack noticed something strange happen. A slight tingle was felt in Jack's fingers that spread throughout his body. A second or two later, a big bright flash ocurred.

When Jack's eyes had readjusted, he saw a large mirror floating in front of him. It was a hand mirror with a swirling blue stream flowing clockwise around it. As Jack looked, the mirror rippled, and North appeared on the other side.

North grinned. "Jack, great to see you again."

Jack grinned as well. "Hey North. You always were one for dramatic entrances. But aren't you concerned the other people here will see?"

North shook his head. "No need to fret, Jack. Ink made of special dreamsand mixture. Makes time distorted for five minutes. To everyone else, you are simply looking over letter."

Jack nodded. "Ok. Kinda weird, but what else is new?"

"Glad you're catching on. But tell me, Jack, what happened to you?"

Jack took a deep breath. It took him two minutes to explain what had happened to him and what he suspected. North only interrupted with an occasional question. Jack noticed that North didn't seem as concerned about Jack being stranded as Jack would have liked. When Jack finished, North took a deep breath. "Well, Jack. You have been through the ringer, as they say."

"Indeed, North."

"Well, I can address some of your questions. For one thing, you are correct. Northern Lights are portal to another time. Not another world, but another time. Think of Lights like elevator. As they change color, elevator passes to different floor, which is different time and place on earth. When you touched light while you were unconscious, you fell into this time. You would be able to leave same way."

Jack nodded. "Makes sense. But I can't ride the wind. Why can't you come and pick me up?"

"Several reasons. For one thing, Lights are unpredictable. Even if I go to Light that is similar color, I could end up in frozen iceberg right as Noah's flood is happening. Very rare for lights to fully match up. It was sheer luck that Bunny got letter in mailbox, and we had to wait a week for him to return. Only time elevator and floor match up, so to speak, is on specific holidays like Easter and Christmas Day, which is when I pick you up.

"Also, you have mentioned your powers aren't present, Jack. I think Arendelle is good place to relearn. You just need to be open and figure it out. If all else fails, we can try tricks back at Pole."

Jack nodded, a slight frown on his face. "Ok," he mumbled. Then another thought struck him. "What about Pitch."

Now it was North's turn to frown. "Yes. Pitch. We need to deal with scoundrel. Other Guardians will go and find him, Jack. You don't need to worry about it. Pitch won't be in past, and we will find him in present. Thank you for bringing to our attention."

Now the mirror was blinking. Jack looked at the edges. "What's happening?"

"Time in mirror is ending, Jack. You have plan. I will come on Christmas Day. You are nephew and apprentice to master ice carver. You've got this. Have fun on Christmas Eve. Make sure you are in bed by ten pm. Very important that you are."

As North finished saying the sentence, another bright flash happened. When Jack's eyes adjusted, the mirror was gone. He was left sitting in his chair, the letter in front of him.

Anna smiled. "So, does that letter help, Jack?"

Jack blinked for a second, then nodded. "Yep, I guess it does. The letter seems to clear everything up."

Anna nodded. "Glad that everything seems to be taken care of." She made a rather pointed look at Elsa.

Elsa nodded, smiling a small smile. "So I guess you'll be staying with us til Christmas."

Jack nodded. "I guess so."

Elsa nodded with her soft smile. So, the boy was staying for the next week or two. Anna and Olaf shared large smiles, talking about showing Jack around Arendelle. Elsa noticed that Kristoff had a slightly concerned look on his face. Guess someone else was unsure about their new guest.

That revelation gave Elsa an idea. "Anna, why don't you take Jack to Kai to have him measured. If he's staying, he probably needs some new attire for Christmas. That shirt and pants must be getting rather worn down."

Anna nodded. "Sounds good. Come on, Jack. You'll like Arendelle apparel."

As Anna led Jack out of the room, with Olaf trailing behind, Elsa turned to Kristoff. "Could I have a quick word, Kristoff?"

Kristoff nodded. After the door closed, Kristoff turned to Elsa. "So, you don't know about Jack, huh?"

Elsa blushed a little. "Is it that obvious?"

"Yeah. You're a little more reserved, and your smiles towards him are more polite than genuine. Can't say I blame you though. Jack does seem a little suspicious."

Elsa nodded. "He seems friendly and nice, and the letter gives a good explanation, but I'm unsure. I wasn't aware of any mountain passes near the spot where you found him."

"Well, some passes might be hidden away where we can't see them. Still, you're right. We both agree that Jack's a little suspicious. So, what do we do about it?"

Elsa nodded. "I've been thinking about that. The letter said that Jack was an ice sculptor. Maybe we could test that. Are you still going out to the mountains tomorrow?"

Kristoff nodded. "Yeah. I've got to finish that errand to get ice for Arendelle."

"Good. Perhaps you could take Jack with you. See how good he is with ice. If he passes, great. If he doesn't, then we'll need to consider how much of what Jack told us is genuine."

Kristoff nodded, slightly concerned. "I'm not sure about the trickery, but I can do that. I'll let Jack know tonight and tell Kai to lay out some warm clothes for our trip tomorrow. We should be back tomorrow afternoon. I'll be sure to have an answer about Jack by then."

Elsa nodded as Kristoff left. Finally, a clear plan to determine Jack's character. Hopefully, Jack would be be cleared, but if he wasn't, well then they would know. Either way, her powers were still getting smaller and smaller. Elsa needed to know if Jack was connected to the issue or not. Whether he knew it or not, Jack's character would be determined by a trip to the mountains tomorrow.

So now Jack has a clear plan. As does Elsa. We will have to see how each of their plans do. Hope you enjoyed this set of chapters. As always, see you next week.