Chapter 3: Now or Never
Scott sat at his desk, holding his head in his hands and rubbing his temples. He was trying to process everything that had just happened, but it was a lot. His thoughts were all over the place! He sighed.
"Are you holding up okay, Santa?"
"As best as you can be when you learn that the current problem is a lot more complicated than you thought it was."
Across the room, Mother Nature smiled. She sat on a window seat, having chosen to stick around after the meeting. There was much to discuss, and Mother Nature had decided it'd be best to give Jack some time while they waited for his Legate to arrive. Hopefully, this would give everyone time to process what had happened, and what would happen next. After all, it was a big decision; Mother Nature had hoped to take this moment to explain why to Santa. She didn't want him getting too impatient and chasing after Jack without knowing why it was such a hard subject for him to broach.
But it seemed that even before that, Santa had to process a couple of other things first, and really, Mother Nature could hardly blame him. She'd cleared her schedule for the next few hours just to facilitate everything. She had more than enough time to help Santa help Jack.
"Well, let's break it down," Carol suggested. She nudged Scott gently, passing Buddy over to him. Santa brightened, holding Buddy up. The toddler laughed, kicking his little leggies all over the place and blowing raspberries.
"Heh. You know Buddy, you're just like your mother. You always know what to say to cheer me right up."
Carol laughed, leaning her head on Santa's shoulder and squeezing his arm reassuringly.
"Alright, breaking it down," Santa said. "Silver bells. Where do I even start?"
"Whatever's on the top of your mind," Carol said reassuringly, passing Buddy a sippy cup. "Or with the easiest thing first, and then build from there."
"I like that idea," Santa replied, sitting Buddy down on his lap as he grabbed the sippy cup from his Mom. "So for starters, there is a magical continent with magical healing water and a buttload of magical people living on it. Way more magical people than just us."
"Magibeans," Mother Nature said.
"Right. Magibeans. And you have kids! Four of them! And I thought one was a handful, let alone two."
"And all four were very powerful sprites. Are, I should say. That did not change as they grew up."
"Yeah, being a literal season would do that, I imagine. Jack has a parent!"
"Parents, even," Mother Nature replied.
"I really thought that he just, y'know, popped out of an iceberg one day."
Mother Nature had to laugh at that. "Sprites used to be born like that. The earliest of us started out as sentient elements. We've evolved quite a bit since then."
"Parents. And not just parents! An entire family that he's never mentioned, including a sister, who's his deputy, because every single Legendary Figure except Santa has a deputy."
"Depootie!" Buddy said with a grin.
"Very good job, Buddy!" Carol praised. He grinned, kicking his legs and trying to get down from Santa's lap. "Down!"
"Alright, but only because you did so good saying deputy."
"Dep-you-tea!"
"Wait a second," Carol said, stopping Buddy mid descent. The toddler grumbled, scrunching up his face and looking up at his Mom. "What's the magic word."
"Please!"
"There you go," she said, putting Buddy down. He stood up, using the side of the desk for balance, and started taking a few steps. "Thank you Mama!"
"You're very welcome, Buddy."
"Legate is the proper term," Mother Nature said, "But you're doing a very good job with your words, Buddy."
The toddler smiled shyly from beside Carol's leg, drinking from his sippy cup.
"What do you say to Mother Nature?"
"Thank you," Buddy said, shyly.
"You're very welcome."
"Legates step in if anything, god forbid, were to happen to one of you," Santa continued, stroking his beard. "Jack's Legate is his sister. And for some reason, he does not want to see her and maybe she won't even want to see him. Why is that?"
"It's…a very long story," Mother Nature said. "I wouldn't know where to begin, myself."
"Well it's a good thing I've got an expert with me," Bernard said, walking into the office. He stepped to the side, gesturing the young woman that was with him into the office.
She appeared to be in her early twenties. Maybe late teens, by mortal standards. Somewhere around there. Her hair hung down to her mid-back, frozen into loose curls, her ears slightly pointed. Bright blue eyes stared at Santa, one eyebrow already up quizzically, a small smile on her flushed face.
"Jacqueline Frost, I presume?" She couldn't not be. The similarities between the girl and Jack were quite obvious. Not to mention the style of dress—she wore a dark blue dress that just hit the top of her feet, revealing light blue boots. The bodice of the dress was a lighter blue, and styled similarly to icicles. It may have actually been icicles—Santa squinted and—yep, icicles, with a light dusting of frost all over the skirt. The sleeves poofed on her shoulders, ending on her bicep and falling down into what Santa would call wizard sleeves. It kinda reminded him of the middle ages, but looked kinda Victorian as well. It was a fantastical mishmash of several styles that she managed to pull off; she was dressed to the nines. Much like her brother usually was.
"The one and only," she said with a small curtsy. "You owe me five bucks, B-Man."
"Currency?"
"Canadian, please."
"Huh?"
"I just won a bet," Jacqueline answered with a devious little grin.
"You've meet Jacqueline before," Bernard said, rummaging through his satchel. "Twice, in fact."
"We were discussing if you would remember or not," Jacqueline added.
"I was rooting for you, Santa; I thought this time you would. I said third time's the charm—"
"And I said nah, I bet he's not going to remember. And then you didn't!" Jacqueline said, delighted, grabbing the blue bill from Bernard's hand and sliding it into her bodice, noticing Mother Nature by the window as she did so. She waved, the matriarch standing up and gesturing her over.
"Why would I forget that?"
"There's been some tricky things with parallel timelines…it's complicated," Bernard said.
"It's always complicated," Santa said. "So you two bet on it?"
"Jacqueline started it. She usually does, in fact."
"Only if I know I'll win," Jacqueline said, hugging Mother Nature.
"You two are friends, then," Santa inferred, as Jacqueline looked around the room.
"We go way back," Jacqueline said, spinning around to face Santa. Her skirt twirled with her, revealing the very tops of her light blue boots. "I've known Bernard since the day I became a Legate," she added.
"Back then, she was as tall as Buddy."
"I think I was taller than that."
"No you weren't," Bernard shot back.
"At least give me some credit," Jacqueline joked, taking in the study. "Now what was it that I'm an expert in?" she asked, looking up at Mother Nature.
"Your brother, believe it or not."
"Oh." Jacqueline's face fell. She frowned; her hand dropped to her stomach area, fingers spread out.
"Jacqueline?" Bernard asked, quietly.
She balled her hand into a fist, the fabric of her dress wrinkling.
"Jacqueline, you okay?" he asked again, gentle still, but a little bit louder.
"Hmm?" She looked up, blinking. "Oh! Yes, yes. I'm alright. Thanks, B-Man."
"Take a seat, sweetheart," Mother Nature said, giving her a gentle push forward from the small of her back. The sprite nodded, plunking down on the chair in front of Santa's desk. She folded one leg over the other, placed her hands on her knees and looked at everyone very carefully before saying, "So why was I summoned?"
Before Santa could start interrogating the sprite, Carol, sensing the oncoming onslaught, spoke up.
"Maybe before we get to the heavy things," she began, giving Santa a pointed look, "we should tell Jacqueline what the Council decided."
"Bernard mentioned that they were enacting the Legate Law? Why?"
"Jack's powers have all but shorted out," Mother Nature began.
"The Dome is at risk of melting," Bernard continued. "The Deliquesce could very well happen any moment now. It's already looking mighty slushy up there and feeling a little too tropical in Elfsburg."
"So the Council decided our best course of action would be to enact the Legate Law. Partially."
"Oh. That's why."
"We were hoping you'd be able to fix the Dome," Santa said.
"I can't fix the Dome."
"Sure you can!"
"It's not that easy," Jacqueline replied.
"What do you mean it's not that easy? Your Jack's Legate! You are a winter sprite, are you not?"
"Well, yeah. You can't have a Jack Frost who doesn't know how to frost, Santa. But that doesn't mean I can fix the Dome. The Dome was made by Winter, and the responsibility to mind it passed down to Jack. Either he'd need to pass that down to me, or he teaches me how to do it and we hope that that combined with partially enacting the Legate Law does the trick. Until he's back on his feet, that is, because there's no way I'm taking care of the Dome indefinitely. I wouldn't even know where to start with that."
Santa groaned. "Which brings us right back to where we started."
"Nonsense," Mother Nature chided. "Jack will teach her. She'll learn how to mend it and be able to do just that," she finished, confidently.
"Not with Jack's attitude," Santa replied. "The man is so afraid to see her again that he's gone AWOL!"
"I know that," Jacqueline said quietly. "And it's not surprising. I am, too."
"Look, Jacqueline," Santa started carefully, acutely aware of Carol watching him like a hawk. "I don't mean to be rude. But I have had a day. And I don't have much time to waste. I have learnt a lot today about magic, and magical beings, and magical places, and the Council, and that Jack has a family, and It's a lot for a human like me—"
"Magic human," Mother Nature, Bernard, and Jacqueline all corrected at the same time.
"—magic human like me to take in," Santa said. "I'd really appreciate it if you could shine a bit of a light on why he's gone off to brood."
Jacqueline laughed. "That's one way of putting it. Let me see if I can help a bit," she said thoughtfully, hands clasped together. "Okay! So! A Legate and their Legend have a special connection," Jacqueline began. "A sort of mental link. We can speak to each other directly in our minds, a literal tête-à-tête. We can feel what the other feels, and if we feel so inclined we can throw specific thoughts, images, feelings, etcetera, etcetera, to each other. That's how I knew he had thawed. It was so powerful I felt it, too. Good thing I ran into you, eh, B-Man?"
"Wait, Jacqueline was the friend you ran into?"
"Well, yeah! Who else would be able to tell me Jack had thawed? I told you I had it on good authority, Santa, and Jack's Legate is the best authority on Jack Frost related things."
"The title, not the actual person. I'm not quite a Jack expert. I don't think anyone is."
"So that's how you know how he's feeling? The mental link you two have?"
"More or less, yeah. Both of us usually keep it very well guarded. But after he thawed, he stopped. And so did I. So bits and pieces have kinda bled over the past year. He's scared. And honestly? So am I," Jacqueline finished with a sad smile.
"But why? I can't seem to figure it out, and it seems like neither of you want to tell me."
"It's not that I don't want to!" Jacqueline said quickly, speaking with her hands. "I'm not doing this on purpose. I wouldn't! After all, I'm on the nice list," she said with a sheepish smile. "Usually. It's just…It's hard to talk about," she finished, looking down at her feet.
Santa was getting a little frustrated, this much was true. However, based on the atmosphere in the room, and Bernard and Mother Nature's very sympathetic looks (the matriarch was hovering just behind Jacqueline's chair, looking ready to pounce with a comforting gesture at any moment), this was a touchy subject. There was no use rushing; the Dome was important, yeah, but it needed to be done well. And Santa was getting the vibe that getting either sprite to tell him everything right away was not the way to go about getting things done well.
"Look, I get it, Jacqueline. You two haven't seen each other in a very long time. He definitely didn't seem ready. And I think I'm getting that same kind of vibe from you too."
That made Jacqueline laugh. "I can't believe Santa Claus just used the word vibe."
"I'm hip," Santa joked back; Jacqueline snorted. "Hey, watch it, Miss I'm usually on the nice list," he said, falsetto, to a snort from Bernard and a giggle from Carol.
"Alright, I'll behave," she said, sighing the giggles away. "Yeah, I'm definitely. Not quite ready yet, either. But it seems like we're bordering on emergency territory here so, you know." She shrugged. "Legend's gotta do what a Legend's gotta do."
"Right. You know, it's funny. I would've thought that post thaw, the first people Jack would want to see would be his family! Especially with the whole forging new relationships thing he's got going on. Instead, I only learn today that he even has one! I just want to understand why, and I'm hoping you could help me out with it, Jacqueline. I'll feel a lot better about tracking him down and talking to him if I knew a little bit more about your history."
Jacqueline nodded. She bit her lip, trying to think of where to even start. She opened her mouth to speak, then frowned, glancing up at Mother Nature, a little bit helplessly.
"Want me to—?"
A nod.
"Okay." Mother Nature turned to Santa. "We call it the Day of Darkness," Mother Nature began.
"Oh, I remember! You guys mentioned that at the meeting earlier! What is up with that?"
"It's the reason Jack is so afraid," Jacqueline finally said, looking at him. "And me, too. It happened fourteen hundred years ago."
Santa recalled Jack mentioning that same amount of time at the meeting. So this was that thing, huh? He let out a low whistle. "Wow."
"I know, I don't look my age," Jacqueline joked. "No magibean does, really. Anyway, I was really young, when it happened. Maybe four, five hundred and something? That's about equivalent to five, in mortal years," Jacqueline added, leaning forwards a bit and staring directly at Santa.
"Right, of course."
"Jack had always been a bit of a troublemaker, but once he achieved his Legendary Status, he mellowed out a bit. Well, as mellow as Jack could get. That's when I came along! I think he was a little surprised to have a baby sister, since he was already like, you know, adulty. That wore off pretty fast once I could walk. I was practically attached to his hip," Jacqueline admitted. "He taught me almost everything I needed to know. We'd sneak off and practice out in the mortal world," she said with a fond grin.
"It was a nightmare, sometimes," Mother Nature interrupted, with a small smile. "The two of them messing with the weather during practices. And every time I talked to them about it, Jacqueline would be too excited about the cool new thing she had learnt for me to even get a word in!"
"I've been told multiple times that I kinda curbed his bad streak a bit," Jacqueline said.
"It's true," Mother Nature added. "It was a very peaceful few centuries."
"But it wasn't enough," Jacqueline said, downcast. "Even with positive distractions, he was still simmering a bit under the surface. There were still shenanigans, you know, I'm sure."
"All too well," Santa replied, thinking back to the havoc he wreaked last Christmas, just before thawing.
"Yeah. And finally it all came to a head on the Day of Darkness. I've been told that it was a long time coming. I don't remember. I was little. But Jack had done something bigger than usual, and Blaise had just about had it. No matter what he and Winter did, Jack was still, you know. Frozen," she said with a shrug.
"And Blaise is?"
"Our Dad."
"Ah. Winter sprite?"
"No. There's only three of us winter sprites, presently. Me, Jack, and Mom."
"Winter."
"Yep. That's Mom. Dad's a summer sprite, technically, but he usually refers to himself as a heat or fire sprite. He doesn't like stealing Summer's sunshine, and she works with literal sunshine, whereas Blaise tends to deal with everything but sunshine. My younger siblings, Fino and Fiera, take after him. Sorry, our younger siblings," Jacqueline added, as an afterthought.
"Half heat sprite? Well, that explains Jack's penchant for tropics," Carol mused. Santa chuckled.
"Yeah, it comes with the territory. We can be a bit toasty sometimes," Jacqueline said. "Unfortunately, that wasn't in the cards that night. All of Jack's antics had Dad concerned."
"Blaise is nearly as old as I am," Mother Nature began. "We've been around, seen quite a lot of magical eras come and go. One of those eras involved a man that was. Well. Textbook evil," Mother Nature decided. "He did a lot of damage to our world, and the mortal one, too. It took ages to stop his reign, and he made sure to piss off a lot of magibeans on the way—myself included. It took years for us to gain the upper hand, but finally we did, and he was defeated by Blaise, who sealed him away with Winter's assistance. And as Jack's shenanigans grew more and more concerning, Blaise couldn't help but be reminded of the man from long ago."
"That's what they were fighting about," Jacqueline picked up, looking very far away. "It got physical. Jack got the upper hand and turned to leave the house. He was like, done." She took a deep breath in before looking directly at Santa. "I chased him outside."
"Oh no," Santa said, as Carol gasped beside him.
"Yeah," she continued. "I didn't know why he was leaving us, why he was leaving me. I was so little that at the time, that's what it felt like. I—it was bad. There was a storm, and it was dark, and I got hit. With icicles." She hugged her torso, lost in thought.
Santa blinked a bunch, snapping his jaw shut. "He stabbed you?" he finally blurted out.
"Scott!" Carol said, aghast. "Have some tact!"
"I think it's a bit too late for that," Bernard said with a grimace.
"It's okay, Mrs. Claus. I think I prefer the WOAH, YOU GOT STABBED? Over the sad faces and general pleasant sympathetic replies," Jacqueline said thoughtfully. "Anyway, the storm lasted for a week. All of Crystal Springs was pelted with ice, the sun totally blotted out. That's why it's called the Day of Darkness."
"And for you and your family, it's got a whole other meaning," Carol said.
Jacqueline nodded. "Exactly. The storm itself lasted a week, but the fallout lasted centuries, for the three of us. And then the five of us. We only really talked about it and started fixing ourselves up this past year."
"That's so much to take in," Santa said.
"It took me like eight hundred years to come to terms with it on my own, and fourteen hundred for our family to deal with it, so I don't blame you in the slightest, Santa," Jacqueline said with a soft smile. "And it's been kinda hard this year, too. Jack never blocked up his part of the connection again, so I didn't either." She pulled her hair forward over her shoulder, running her fingers through it thoughtfully. "I kept hoping that maybe he'd reach out, you know? But he didn't. But," she said, whooshing her hair back behind her, "that didn't stop little bits and pieces from drifting my way, anyway. And I wouldn't be surprised if some didn't drift his way from my end. I guess it's just…it's kind of wild, you know? Silence all year and now when I finally do come face to face with him again after fourteen hundred years, it's because the Dome is exploding."
"It's not exploding yet!" Santa said. "We've got time."
"You must be feeling all sorts of things right now, Jacqueline," Carol said, making her way over from behind Santa's desk to the chair beside her.
"Oh girl, you don't even know," Jacqueline said, squishing her face.
"Well, thank you for telling Santa and I a little bit about your family."
"Yes, thank you Jacqueline. We really appreciate it. I really appreciate it," Santa added.
"You're welcome. I appreciate the patience," she said, scratching the back of her neck.
"Of course! You don't rush this sort of thing," Carol said. "If you still need to talk while we wait, I'm here to listen. It's alright to be scared."
"Scared. Angry. Frustrated, apprehensive," Jacqueline started listing everything, ticking off each emotion on her fingers. "It's like, I'm scared, yeah. But I'm also scared that I am going to be very, very angry when I see him and I don't do well with anger…and I'm also kind of…relieved? Happy? I missed him, a lot. He was my big brother, my mentor, everything. But then I think of Frostmas and I get all angry again but then I'm all-it's just-I'm just…I think very confused," she finished.
"I can relate," Carol said.
"Being Legendary by marriage would do that to a woman, eh?"
Carol laughed. "Did it ever. Scott, do you think you have enough to go on?" Carol asked, turning to Santa.
"I think so, yeah. I'll go find Jack," he said, getting up from the desk. "Make sure he's had time to process, and bring him back here."
"Don't push it, Santa," Mother Nature said. "Be patient, alright?"
"Yeah, I will. I'm not gonna attack the guy."
"I might," Jacqueline grumbled.
"See? Jacqueline's got that taken care of," Santa said, walking around his desk and almost tripping over Buddy, who had gone on quite the mission to the other side of the room while the adults were talking.
"Careful there, champ," Santa said, watching as Buddy waddled his way over to Jacqueline's chair, nearly falling forward on her leg. He gazed up at her, his little mouth open in a tiny little o.
Jacqueline looked down at him, with a soft smile. "Hey little mans," she said, leaning towards him.
"Sad?" he asked.
"A little bit," she replied.
"Boop," he said, placing something green on Jacqueline's lap.
"Hmm?" she picked it up. It was a stuffed lizard toy. She laughed. "What's this for?"
"For sad!" he said. Grabbing the fabric of Jacqueline's dress, he carefully walked over to his Mom's chair, putting his hands up.
"Alright, up we go, Buddy," Carol replied, picking him up and sitting him on her lap.
"Well thank you Buddy. That's very sweet of you," Jacqueline said. "Hey, wanna see something cool?" she asked.
Buddy clapped excitedly in his Mother's lap. With a laugh, Jacqueline wiggled her fingers; snowflakes appeared, bouncing from finger to finger. Buddy laughed even louder, clapping and kicking his feet in excitement.
"Whoosh," Jacqueline said, and, with the gentlest breeze, tossed the snowflakes into the air where they settled on Buddy's face, disappearing immediately.
Santa smiled softly. "Think you're ready, Jacqueline?"
"Not really, no. But I've got a lizard now," she said, holding up the toy. "So, it's now or never, I guess. Lizard aside."
"Quite literally," Mother Nature said, thoughtfully. "Go on, Santa. Take your time. We'll be right here waiting."
Jack hadn't gone far after the meeting.
He had left before the decision was made official, but he was sure it was an overwhelming yes. He sighed, walking down the hall until he got to a little nook, overlooking the square.
He was in a state of disbelief. The Legate Law had been enacted. He was finally going to come face to face with Jacqueline, with his sister after so much time, and so many failed attempts at doing just that. Frostmas thoughts came to mind; he grimaced, pushing them right back down to the depths.
It wouldn't be like that. That timeline technically didn't exist. He took a deep breath.
The sound of a familiar flip-flopped footfall approached, interrupting Jack's train of thought. He stopped, waiting for his friend to catch up.
"You know I couldn't possibly see all of this destroyed," Jack finally said, gesturing out over the balustrade to the square. Santa stopped beside him, looking out at the elves milling about from building to building. Laughter rang out as they walked by, their rosy cheeks sparkling as they chatted with their friends, merriment on their faces. Sure, the ground below them had a bit of grass sticking out, and what snow there was sat sadly, ringed with mud, but that didn't seem to bother them.
"I didn't think you would," Santa said. "But I gotta say, EB really had me going for a moment there. And seeing this happen throughout the year?"
"Yeah. I know how it looks."
"I'm just glad you cleared it up for us," Santa said with a friendly smile. "You know Jack, you coulda told us sooner."
"I know. And I know that I should've, but it's just-it's-it's embarrassing. I am literally powerless!" he said, rolling his hand into a fist and opening his palm, revealing some kind of small, gross, pile of snow. "Do you see that, Santa? It's barely slush! It's barely even a slush ball!" He tossed it behind them, the slush sticking to the wall with a wet thwack. "It's been rotten, Santa."
Jack sighed, turning his back on the square and leaning on the railing. The slush was slowly sliding down the stonework, droplets of water running down the cracks and hitting the ground with an embarrassing splash.
"Winter sprites don't splash!" Jack said with a sigh, looking up at the dull top of the Dome above them. "I have a reputation, you know. I'm Jack Frost, charmingly gorgeous rogue who freezes anything and everything! But I haven't been able to do any of that. No frost, no icicles, no snow. I can't even make a decent snowball, Santa. Look at it!"
The sad, sad slushball finally hit the ground, now more water than anything. Jack sighed, pushing off of the railing and walking away, shoving his hands in his pockets. Santa followed him, glad when Jack slowed down his pace to match his. It was silent for a bit as they walked, Santa waiting for Jack to start when he was ready to.
"How is she?"
"Hmm?"
"Jacqueline. My sister. I know she's here already. Is she…how is she?"
Santa shrugged. "Perfectly pleasant. About as terrified as you are right now. I think she might beat you up."
"That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest," Jack said with a sigh. "You're a family man, Santa."
"I suppose you could say that."
"No, really. You are! I mean, look at your family! You have a lovely wife and a bouncing baby boy. And Charlie, too, and Lucy and the Millers and you know, you aren't even related to the three of them. She's your Ex! But you still all get along. Lucy calls you Uncle! You have this, this amazing, big old blended family. You even included your in-laws!"
"Not as much as we should, admittedly," Santa said.
"Well, I can hardly blame you to for that. But even still! You all get along and-and everything!"
"It wasn't always like that, you know." Santa began. "I had to do a lot of work before I got to where I am today with my family. But, they're my family," he finished with a shrug.
"I have a family."
"So I've learnt today after knowing you for what, almost fifteen years? You don't talk about them much."
"I don't. But I have one. Not just a sister, you know. A Mom and a Dad. Crazy Aunts."
"A grandmother, even," Santa said, still kind of blown away by that revelation.
"And I think two younger siblings now, too."
Santa nodded. "Why didn't you ever talk about them?"
"It's hard to talk about people that you haven't seen in a little over fourteen hundred years, let alone haven't even met."
Santa let out a low whistle.
"I know," Jack said. "I left them, Santa. I abandoned them. My Mother's probably encased herself in ice at this point. My father's probably unimaginably furious! He always had a fiery temper. Literally. And I'd be surprised if the youngest ones even knew I existed. You know, my Dad was always keeping a close eye on me. More like a warden sometimes than a Dad. The worst part of it though is that he was right about me the whole time."
"In what way?"
"He had a brother who was devilishly evil. In all senses of the word. Textbook evil, I'd say. And the more I purposely messed with things I shouldn't have, the more of my Uncle that my Dad saw in me."
"I never would have guessed," Santa said, sarcastically. Jack was over-boiling with traits that could be seen as villainous. Heck, Santa had seen him being villainous, as it were, in action!
"I mean, I'm quite the guy," Jack said. "Charming, seductive, confident…with enormous power in my own right! Usually," he finished, frowning.
Santa laughed quietly. Typical Jack.
"And then…then there's my sister."
"Who meant the world to you," Santa said.
"Mhmm. Yeah. She did. Does, maybe even. Still. But I haven't seen her in so long, and you know. Top of the list."
"Right, right," Santa said, nodding along.
"And when I did get to see her again, I messed it up, Santa."
"When was that?"
"Frostmas," Jack said. "Or, the escape clause as you keep calling it." Jack sighed. "You only saw the end result; I lived through those twelve years. And since I had taken your place, someone had to take mine."
It didn't take much for Santa to put two and two together. "Which is Jacqueline's job."
"Yeah. And it did not go well, Santa."
"But that timeline's been erased. It never existed. The only people who know it did are you and me. We're the only ones who remember it…right?"
"As a Legate Legend duo, she and I have this next level connection. I'd describe it like twin telepathy. Except, of course, we aren't twins. I'm twice her age and a bit."
Santa chuckled. "Problem child, huh?"
"Yeah, until Jacqueline came around," Jack said with a fond smile. "But ah, because of that link, she knew about the right timeline. And I think, given that I remember it in full, she probably remembers it too. And that all happened a year ago, Santa. So not only is there the Day of Darkness to consider, but I'm sure she's seething about Frostmas, too."
"Maybe. Or maybe she forgot it," Santa said with a shrug, as they stopped at the crosswalk. "She didn't mention it, at least, not that I can recall. Maybe a name drop? But that's it. She mostly explained a few hazy magical concepts, like your little mental link thing you've got going on there, and some family background."
"I guess she beat me to punch, then."
"She gave me some background. An abridged version of things, I'd say. Look, Jack. Let's forget about Frostmas for a bit, alright? And forget about the Day of Darkness. Why don't you tell me about your sister, before all of that?"
Jack smiled fondly. "She was my little sister. Is, I suppose, though I'm sure she's not little anymore. Younger sister. Younger by a lot. If I'm doing my math correctly, she's around nineteen-hundred and twelve now, but I wasn't around to see her grow up. So it's hard to think of her as older than five hundred. That's the last time I saw her." A pause. "That's about five, in mortal years."
"Right, of course," Santa said. The similarities were jumping out at him.
"It was a bit of a surprise when my parents told me I'd have a little sister, but weirdly enough it was not unwelcome. And when she was little, oh boy what a time! Adorable little imp." Jack smiled as the polar bear let them cross, lost in memories from long, long ago. "And so much energy! She was a rambunctious little sprite, and our mother, Winter, when she saw how excited I was to have a little sister, she asked if I wanted to be the one to teach her. I think she and Dad thought it might help curb my, uh, villainous enthusiasm," he said with a sheepish grin.
"I can see that," Santa said. "But I bet it was more than that. I bet they thought you'd be good at it."
"I doubt that. But I was very good at it," Jack said. "I taught her everything I could, you know. It was so much fun having the attention of this tiny little sprite, playing with her, throwing her into the snow over and over again because she never got tired of that. Here was someone who looked up to me, for being me! She relied on me. And we'd have a lot of fun together. We used to chase each other all around the house with little snowmen. Sometimes, if someone really bothered me, I'd throw her at them. She loved that! I loved that. She…made me happy."
"Sounds like you two were close."
"Emphasis on the were."
"Well I bet with a little bit of time and work, the two of you will be as close as can be once again."
"I don't know, Santa. I don't think we ever will be, not with what happened next."
"Day of Darkness?"
"Ah, so she told you already."
"Eh, abridged," Santa repeated with a shrug.
"Oh?"
"She said that it happened fourteen centuries ago. It was the day you left your family, and badly hurt them when you left. The continent had a huge ice storm for a week and was frozen solid, hence the name. You got into a fight with your parents, left the home. She followed you out and you…" Santa trailed off, unsure how to say what had been so easy to blurt out a half hour or so before. "She got caught up in the crossfire."
"And even after learning what I did, you still came here to talk to me?"
"Of course! The past is the past, Jack. And if it's bugging her that much, I betchya it's bothering you, too. Wanna talk about?"
"I don't think I've ever shared it with anyone. I mean, not in it's entirety. And not as PG as that."
"Well, I'm here for you, Jack. And I'm listening. And I'm fine with movies rated R."
"I think I'd rate the Day of Darkness as a solid 18A, actually."
"Look, we're already off to a great start! It's not as bad as I thought."
"But it is bad. Very bad. Santa, barring Frostmas, I haven't seen my family since that day."
The din of sound coming from Elfsburg had left them as they reached the outskirts of the city. It was quiet now, the uncharacteristically warm breeze brushing past as they made their way through the elfburbs and towards the thin forest that bordered the outskirts of the town, Santa mulling the new information over in his head.
"You haven't seen your family since the Day of Darkness?"
"Exactly. To think that my family would forgive me after that, my sister especially? Nutty, really."
"She came, though. That's gotta count for something, right?"
"She was summoned by the Council. You can't ignore a summons."
"But you've ignored countless ones. So who's to say she wouldn't?"
"I feel like you're not really getting it," Jack said, frowning.
"No, you're not really getting it, Jack! She came here. To help you. And that's gotta count for something, right?"
"I mean, I guess. It's just. It was bad, Santa. I was pretty bad, by regular standards."
"Jack, I saw you turn the North Pole into a theme park. I think I've seen you at your worst."
"We'll agree to disagree, then." Jack said with a sigh. "Look, I'll tell you what happened. I just don't want you to think any less of me. I mean, the bar's already really low," Jack joked.
Santa laughed. "I've seen you change, Jack. However bad it was, I won't think any less of you. I think I'll just understand you a bit more."
"I appreciate that, Santa. Really, I do."
Scott shrugged. "What are friends for, right? So. Where does our tale begin?"
"It was the latest in a string of messing around with natural events, and balance, and y'know, trying to upstage Santa."
"The usual?"
"More or less, yeah. There were a couple of ah, casualties this time around. Nobody died! But it was a little slippery and a couple of elves went sliding a little too fast and Santa may have slipped and nearly fallen down—"
"Well hey, I've slipped countless times without you around, that was probably unrelated to whatever it was you did."
"—the stairs. He nearly fell down the stairs. That were slippery. Because of ice. Sprite made."
"Ou. Ouch."
"Yeah. I had mellowed out a bit, what with Jacqueline and the title and seat on the Council, but it was around then that Christmas really started taking off. Instead of, you know, leave a kiss on the window for Jack Frost! It was all, oh, Father Christmas will be coming along! Good old Saint Nick! I had spent centuries cultivating my name to the point where I made it into the council. Centuries! And in a few years, all that hard work was gone. And that year in particular was the worst yet! Anyway. Blaise found out about my little stunt pretty fast, and when I got home later that day, we got into a shouting match," Jack said, a little embarrassed.
Santa listened, trying to put himself in Jack's shoes. Hard to do, considering he was Santa. But all that hard work Jack had put in, only to see it undone so fast? From a professional standpoint, Scott had been there, done that.
"Putting in all that hard work to see it nearly destroyed that fast would upset anyone," Santa voiced. "Especially when you're just starting out professionally. Not that you were just starting out," Santa defended.
"No, I know what you mean. I was no spring chicken but I certainly wasn't a baby. I was probably near or about twenty-five hundred. Which is equivalent to your mid to late twenties, in human years."
"Right. So, you know. Young professional."
"That's an incredibly modern term but you know what? Close enough. Anyway! We got into a shouting match, and I'll admit that being so young I didn't have a lot of control. Most sprites don't. I mean, sprites are pretty powerful magibeans. Imagine being able to control it all before your thirty hundreds?" Jack chuckled. "I'd be impressed. Anyway, I tried to push my Dad away but ended up throwing snow. I probably could've apologized and said I had lost a bit of control, but I was angry, and frozen, so I just went with it," Jack said with a shrug.
"Ohh, ouch! I bet good old Dad didn't like that!"
"Not really, no. He played defence as best as he could. He didn't want to hurt me, and Winter didn't want him to either. But, like I said, I was out of control and of course got singed here and there," Jack shrugged again. "Play with fire, more often than not, you get burned. I don't know when the shift happened, but the snow turned to ice turned to icicles real fast. He got some cuts to match my singes, and Mother tried her very best to keep us from hurting each other. Finally she had had enough; she had to separate us. A big wall of snow came out from nowhere and shoved the two of us apart…"
"That is enough!" Winter had shouted, looking absolutely terrifying as the ice blew around her, winds blowing her hair back. A large wall of snow had appeared between her husband and their son, and with the slightest twitch of her fingers split itself in half and pushed the two men away from each other. Blaise nearly hit the cupboards in the kitchen; Jack found himself on the floor in the hall, the wind knocked right out of him…
"Jack, if you don't want to keep talking about it we can stop—"
"No. I started and I can't stop now, Santa. I've never shared this fully with anyone and…I think I need to tell someone."
"Okay," Santa said, putting his hands up in surrender. "I'm here for you, pal. Whenever you're ready."
Jack nodded, looking lost in thought as he continued. "Well the wall of snow had done it. It was like the final straw for me, you know?"
He had sat up, disoriented. Had Winter really done that? Had she really just thrown them apart like that? Had he and Blaise really, actually, came to literal blows? Jack looked down at his hands. Had he really started all of that?
He glanced back up, only to see Winter rushing over to Blaise's side, gently helping him up.
Enraged, Jack stood up, glaring at his parents. Mother was right; enough was enough, he thought, as he balled his hands into fists and…
"Seeing the two of them helping each other up and all that while I was still down it just…I don't know, Santa, something snapped, and I sent out this barrage of icicles. Winter was fast, but not fast enough. She saw them coming and very quickly diverted them. But I was just as fast. I had learnt from the best, after all. I couldn't stay there any longer; I needed to go, to leave, whatever. I just need to get away from them. But I knew they'd try and pursue me. So, fast as I could while being a little bit dizzy, I shifted the winds and the icicles ended up pinning my parents down."
He had watched, satisfied, as more icicles than he could count pinned Blaise to the cupboards and the floors, and Winter to the counter. She was already trying her best to free her hand. That's all she'd need, Jack thought, to whip out all of the icicles that had them trapped.
He was loosing time. With one last icy glare, Jack turned on his heel and crossed the hall, passing the door to the parlour, the morning room…he rounded the staircase, heading to the door, glancing down the hall on the other side of the stairs. The door to Blaise's office was still open. Where this whole thing had started when Jack walked in. He felt the rage well up inside him again, and with a wave of his arm, the north winds billowed; the door slammed shut, and a sheet of ice followed, hitting the office door with a loud crack!
"Take that, old man," Jack said, as everything around him froze.
"Can we stop for a minute?" Jack asked, looking around. They were on the outskirts now; there was nothing much around them, save for some ancient trees and bits of ground poking through the snow.
"Whatever you need, Jack," Santa said, looking around. There was one patch of ground that was still covered in snow and didn't look too wet. Santa tapped Jack's arm and pointed at it, with a questioning shrug. Jack nodded, taking a seat and waiting for Santa to join him before he continued.
"This next part is…it's the hardest part," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Santa's eyes widened. "Your sister."
Jack nodded. "She had been upstairs the entire time. I'm not sure if she was afraid, or distracted, but something caught her attention and she came bounding down the stairs, and…" Jack grimaced letting himself get lost in the memories again.
Jack didn't look back. He stomped towards the door, ice cracking behind him as the floors, walls, and entrances froze solid. The coat rack sparkled; the shoes at the front door were soon encased in blocks of ice. How dare Blaise tell him to stop what he was doing, to stop trying to take back his season, how dare he! How dare Winter interfere, how come she didn't even care that their domain was being completely erased by stupid, stupid Santa Claus? It was infuriating! He worked so hard and for what?
Nobody seemed to care but Jack, and he was as done as could be.
But he was wrong about one thing: there was someone who still cared, and it was at that moment that she came bounding down the stairs calling his name with each step.
"Jack! Jack! Jack! Jack! It's so loud down here, what's going on?" She held the banister and hopped off the second last step, slipping and sliding all the way across the front entrance until she crashed into his leg. She steadied herself, slowly sliding a bit to the right, grinning when she finally stopped.
"I did it," she said, looking up at her brother and immediately recoiling. "Jack? What's wrong?"
"Everything! Nothing! Gah! You wouldn't understand, Jacqueline. UGH! I don't have time for this," he said, his hand slicing angrily through the air in front of him.
A wind blew, Jacqueline sliding away from Jack. She spun on the ice for a bit, dark plaits swinging, only steadying herself when her back was turned to Jack. She looked up, her line of sight direct to the kitchen, and gasped.
"Mommy? Daddy?" she spun around again, rushing over to Jack as best as she could when the entire hallway was a thick, sheet of ice and she was wearing her slidey sockies. He barely had his hand on the doorknob when she once again crashed into his leg. He exhaled, trying to stay calm, and turned back, looking down at the tiny child clinging to his leg. She looked up; eyes fearful. "Where are you going? Mom and Dad are hurt!"
"I know that," Jack said, trying to pry Jacqueline off of his leg. "Why are you so strong?"
"Where are you going?!" She asked, her grip tightening.
"I'm leaving!" Jack finally said—no, yelled; it shocked Jacqueline enough that she let go, stepping back.
"But what about our ice castle?"
"It'll have to be another time," Jack lied through clenched teeth.
"When?"
"I don't know, okay!" he yelled again, his arms flying behind him. Two icy blasts hit either side of the door. "I don't. know. So stop asking!"
"Why don't you know? You're coming back, right?"
"Over my dead body," Jack shot back, angrily.
"You're leaving forever?"
"Jacqueline, come here please!" Winter called out.
"Don't follow him, Jacqueline!" Blaise shouted.
"But I don't—" the sprite's brow pulled in confusion. She glanced around, down the hall into the kitchen; she looked at the ice all over the floor and down the other hall, the door to Blaise's office sparkling. She gasped. "You did another bad, didn't you?"
Jack ignored her, pulling the door open. Ice chipped and came off of the frame as he opened the door, the outside just as stormy as it was inside the house.
"Jack wait! Don't go! Please," Jacqueline said, running to the door. "I'm scared," she said, tiny hands white on the doorframe, lip trembling.
"Well that's just too bad," Jack said with a sniff, finally stepping outside.
He felt the wind speed up with his command, the snow falling and fast picking up, a blizzard forming. Dark clouds covered the skies. Why wouldn't she leave him alone? Jack screamed in frustration, the storm intensifying in reply.
Jacqueline ran out shortly after him, the storm buffeting her around and the icy snow stinging her face. She tried her best to deflect some of it with her own little snow shields, but they only fell apart in the wind, hitting her face just as much as the ice.
"Please don't go Jack, please stay! Please, help me fix Mommy and Daddy! They're hurt!"
"They'll be fine!" Jack said, annoyed. He was hurt too! Gods, why were kids so, UGH?! He set out down the path. "Now leave. Me. ALONE!" he shouted, a blast of ice flying out of his palms and just missing Jacqueline as she hopped down the front steps, following him down the path.
"No! Not until you tell me why you're leaving!" she said, running to catch up with him.
"I told you to leave me alone, Jacqueline! I'm just. I'm just leaving, okay? I need to go. I need to take back winter. You wouldn't understand!"
"Take it from who?!"
Jack exhaled, turning around and glaring down at his sister. She stepped back, but still stood her ground as best as a terrified five-hundred-year-old could. "I have spent my entire life working for my reputation, Jacqueline. The only reason either of us have this title, that either of us are Legendary Figures, is because of all of the hard work I have spent my entire life doing! And do you know what's happening, Jacqueline, hmm?"
He had stepped forward a bit; she matched each of his steps with one back. Her hands hovered in front of her chest, ready to defend her face if need be. She gazed up at him, shaking her head no.
"Of course you wouldn't. So here's one last lesson for you. All of the work I've spent thousands of years doing to earn my place on the Council, is being completely undone by Santa Claus," Jack said, mockingly.
"What? That doesn't make sense," she replied.
"Of course it doesn't. You wouldn't understand. Nobody understands!" he shouted again, turning around and heading back to the gate. "I'm going to finish this, even if it takes hundreds of years! I am not going to be thrown to the side like some kind of opening act."
"That sounds very really bad!" Jacqueline said, panicking. Why on this goddess given Earth was she still chasing him down? "You're gonna end up on the naughty list, Jack!"
A bad choice of words for his sister to use. Jack felt the rage boil up again as he turned on his sister, glaring. "I don't care about a stupid list! I care about what that guy and his stupid list and stupid gifts are doing to my season!"
The winds somehow managed to grow even more intense. They battered the rose bushes, the thorny stems flying. They hit her face, her tears stinging the cuts she got from the ice and thorns. They were at the iron gates now.
"Please, Jack," she tried, one last time, though neither of them knew it. How could they, after all? How could either of them guess what was going to happen next?
"Please don't leave us," his sister said with a hiccup. "Please don't leave me. Who's gonna play with me? Who'll teach me the rest of the stuff I need to know? Please don't go, Jack!"
It almost made Jack think for a second. Almost. Until off in the distance, there was a faint shout from the porch.
Winter had managed to free herself and then Blaise; the parents stood in the obscured door frame, calling not for Jack, but for Jacqueline. They had come outside to whiteout conditions—both their kids were two dark outlines in the middle of a quickly growing blizzard. They couldn't make out any details, and neither could the kids.
Angrily, Jack turned to Jacqueline.
"I am going, and Mom and Dad can't stop me, and you can't stop me either. I've had enough of this place," he said icily. "Now I'm not going to say it again, Jacqueline. Leave. Me. Alone!"
And he waved her away, but his hand was glowing, and three very sharp icicles appeared in the air, their tips glistening as they headed right for the little girl.
Her eyes widened; she backed away and looked away, throwing her hands up, covering her face, but it was too late.
The frozen projectiles had hit their mark with a sickening sound, one, two, three, and she screamed as she fell to the floor, the white snow below her rapidly turning red.
"And do you know what I did, Santa?"
Santa shook his head, speechless.
"I left. I saw her on the floor, all the, y'know, blood," he almost whispered with a little wave, "And I left. I went as far as I possibly could while she bled out in the snow—I was out of control and Jacqueline got the brunt of it and there was so much blood, Santa, I—"
Jack couldn't anymore. He stopped, sitting in the snow, trying to scrub away the tears that had slipped out while he was telling his story. He looked away, not letting Santa see how broken up he was sure he looked.
Santa was loading. There was no other way to describe it; you could almost see the little spinny wheel as he processed the story that Jack had finally told him, despite already having a general idea of what happened before he confronted his friend with it. He stared at Jack, almost pitiful in his powerlessness, both literally and emotionally right now. His head was turned away, but Santa noticed the small pellets of not-quite-ice Jack kept flinging off of his face.
It wasn't an act, Santa realized. Not that he thought it was; but seeing his friend at his lowest point right now, after finally hearing about the day things went so wrong for him, Santa understood. He understood completely how hard this was going to be for his friend.
"Hey," Santa said, placing a reassuring hand on the sprite's shoulder. "It's okay, Jack."
"None of this is fine, Santa!" Jack snapped, his voice heavy.
"I'm trying to reassure you here!"
"Well you're doing an awful job," Jack replied, turning towards Santa and giving him a very sassy look.
"Would you can it, Jack? At least let me try! Give me a moment to think, here…"
Jack sat in the snow, head between his legs, wishing he hadn't just cried in front of Santa. Santa sat beside him, legs out, a hand stroking his beard in thought. How best to console his friend?
"It didn't end there, you know," Jack continued, sniffing. "That storm lasted about a week. It spread all over the continent, completely destroying the local weather patterns. When it finally let up, all four provinces were frozen solid. Not just the North. The South thawed first, and once it did Summer went right to the North to help there, or so I heard. Took months for the climate to bounce back from that. I almost destroyed the entire continent. And you know what the worst part was?"
Santa shook his head.
"I had no idea if my sister had made it through."
"You didn't check?"
"Not for a while, no. I was too afraid. It was like, hello actions! Have you met consequences yet?"
Santa chuckled. "You found out soon enough, yeah?"
"Yeah, of course. News trickled out of the country as slow as could be, so one day I checked to see if her connection was still there, and it was. Nice and bright and strong. She was okay. I immediately blocked it and tried not to touch it. Until last year, that is."
"Well you know, Jack, gingerbread burns."
"Yeah, and?"
"People make mistakes."
Jack gave Santa the most unamused look. "People don't usually go out and stab their sister nearly to death while also disrupting the local ecosystem so badly that the entire place is nearly destroyed."
"You're making this very hard, just so you know," Santa said.
"I know, I know," Jack replied with a sigh, stretching his legs out now too and looking up. "I just…I wish I could go back, you know? Do something different. Stay to make sure she's okay, maybe. Or maybe take her with me. Maybe I'd have more victories under my belt. Or maybe I'd have thawed sooner, who knows? Or maybe I'd just make the entire day never happen. I'd do anything to make up for what I did."
"Anything?"
"Anything," Jack replied, earnestly.
"We'll you can't time travel. I think you've messed with that enough."
Jack snorted.
"But I think I know what you can do," Santa said with a grin. "You can do what you did here, all year. You can start making up for it now, Jack. You've come so far from there, you know? You've changed a lot this past year. I've seen it first hand!"
Santa got up, wiping the snow off of his legs and realizing that despite the melting conditions, the snow was still freezing. "You're older, wiser—well, sort of wiser. You're a master of your craft, even if you are currently craft-less," Santa added before Jack could cut him off. "You're Jack Freaking Frost!"
"I am! That much certainly hasn't changed."
"There's the Jack I know! So, here's what's gonna happen," Santa said, holding out his hand. Jack grabbed it, pulling himself up and dusting the wet snow off of himself. "We're gonna clean ourselves up. We're gonna head back to the Workshop, all the way to my office, because in that office is a young woman who is feeling the exact same way you are! And that's where we're gonna start. You ready for this, Jack?"
Jack wiped one last tear off of his face, not bothering to freeze it. Not like it had been working before, Jack thought. He took a deep breath in, and nodded.
"You're a changed man, Jack," Santa said, glad that what he had said wasn't just a load of tinsel. "You've shown it to me, to all of us here. I see you as family now, too. And if I can see that you've changed, then the rest of your family sure can too. And it all starts with Jacqueline. She's waiting for you, Jack. Are you ready?"
"Not in the slightest!" Jack said cheerily, pulling himself together. "But it really is now or never, isn't it?"
"I'll say," Santa said, with one last glance up at the dim dome above them. "C'mon, Jack," he said, clapping the sprite's back. "Let's head home."
And with that, the two men began their trek back to the workshop.
A/N-Edited as of July 18th, 2022, because I am OUT of control and chapter 16 has led me down a whole new rabbit hole with these earlier chapters (had to do a bit of retconning after tidying up the last chapter because of one line that was bothering me). Here's the original AN now for y'all while I go back to chapter 16, for real, I promise, I swear!
I have a LOT OF FIXIN TO DO FOR THESE NEXT FEW CHAPPIES OH LORD. The (original) original AN was basically haha, I angsted you, it only gets worse next chapter, etc etc. I do hope you continue to enjoy this story as I edit it! Please do leave reviews they honestly make me want to write more; I LOVE hearing everyone's reactions!
Here's as good a time as any for this, since we have an Elle sighting coming up shortly! I just wanted to let you know that while you can read Crystal Springs w/out reading RoE to understand who Elle is, I would strongly recommend you do read Rules of Engagement by shittyelfwriter anyway! Ana's writing is amazing, Elle is fun, and who doesn't love a painful slow burn with miscommunications and meddling winter sprites? If THAT'S not incentive enough, ONE of the meddling winter sprites is in fact Jacqueline 👀👀👀. Really though, it's an amazing fic, and if it wasn't for Ana asking to use Jacqueline in the original TEC, Crystal Springs may not have ever seen the light of day!
Anywho, plug is done! Please RnR and I will see you next chapter!