Disclaimer: I don't own anything mentioned or seen in this story.

Chapter 20

Five Minutes to Midnight

Jack opened his eyes and looked at the clock. Five minutes to midnight. That was unexpected. Whenever Jack fell asleep these days, he always woke up at the time he wanted to. Perk of his new life. This was the first time in a while that Jack had woken up in the middle of the night instead of early in the morning.

Why had Jack woken up, anyway? Now he remembered. A small rattling sound near the fireplace. Jack looked over to see his staff shaking. It was leaning to the side of the fireplace, and was shaking harder and louder now.

As Jack watched, the shaking spread. The logs in the fireplace bumped about. The clock shook, and the bedframe vibrated. Even the walls were rumbling. Jack sat up. What was going on?

The logs started to light up due to the embers getting agitated. But surprisingly, the fire didn't start gradually, but grew huge, with flames shooting straight up the chimney. No flames hit the room itself, but just went straight up, emitting a lound sound that resembled a train whistle.

Bright lights then flashed past Jack's window. Jack tried looking out, but he couldn't see anything. A loud chugging noise came from outside, starting fast and getting slower and slower. Whatever was making the lights, it was starting to slow down.

Jack turned for the door, grabbing his stick on the way. Something big was going on, and Jack was going to investigate.

When Jack went outside his room, he noticed someone come out of another room. This person seemed a little younger. It was a little hard to see, with the bright lights streaming into the windows now and again.

As Jack got closer, he noticed that the person was a child. A girl about nine years old and wearing gloves. Jack was confused. He didn't remember seeing any children in the palace.

The girl turned towards him and put her hands up in a defensive pose. "Stay back. Who are you?"

Jack paused. The voice sounded familiar. Younger, but familiar.

Then a light flashed, revealing both of their faces. It was indeed a younger girl, with white hair. She looked nervous, then her face changed to recognition when she saw Jack's face. "Jack?"

Jack looked closely. "Yes. Who are you?"

"Don't you recognize me Jack?" the girl asked. "It's me, Elsa."

Jack was shocked. There was no mistaking the white hair and the icy touch-ups to the blue pajamas. In one night, Elsa had gone from a regal, formal queen to a young child. How on earth had that happened?

"What's going on?" asked another young voice. "I heard the rattling and saw the lights and decided to check it out. Did you hear it too, Jack?"

Jack turned around, dreading what he already suspected. The voice belonged to an even younger girl than Elsa. This girl was about six years old and had brown hair. Her face was curious, yet happy. But there was no mistake who this girl was.

"Anna?" Jack asked.

The new girl turned to him. "Yes, Jack, it's me. Why are you so tall?"

Jack took a breath. How to explain this to them? "Ok. I don't know how to tell you both this, so maybe showing you both is better. Anna, meet Elsa. Elsa, meet Anna." Jack stepped to the side, allowing the girls to see each other.

Anna and Elsa took one look at each other and their eyes widened. "Anna, you look younger," Elsa said.

"So do you, Elsa. You look as young as you did when we used to play together as kids," Anna replied.

"Same to you, Anna. What's going on here?"

"Christmas craziness?" Jack asked.

Elsa looked over, an exasperated look on her face. "This is no time to joke, Jack."

Anna turned to her sister. "Actually, I think he's right. How else do you explain this unexpected surprise? Besides, you and Jack have ice powers. Maybe this is something similar."

Elsa turned back. "That's entirely different. How are ice abilities the same thing as age-?"

Jack moved between the sisters. "Really don't want to interrupt the debate, but shouldn't we investigate the bright lights? Maybe we'll get some answers there."

Elsa and Anna turned to Jack. "Agreed," they both said at the same time.

Jack led the way down the stairs and outside to the courtyard. There they found Olaf running towards the side door.

Olaf turned to them. "Jack, so glad to see you're up as well." His eyes then passed to the girls. "Oh, hi Elsa and Anna."

Anna waved, but Elsa looked confused. "You're not surprised that we appear to be younger?"

"No, not really. I assume that's what happens when you sleep. You become as young as you are in your dreams. Then you grow up in the morning."

Elsa shook her head. "That's not how sleep-"

Anna took her sister's hand. "We can explain later, Elsa." She turned to Olaf. "What are you doing up, Olaf?"

"Well, I was sleeping in the stables with Kristoff. I actually think I fell asleep this time. I then heard a large rattling sound. Thought it was a dream, so I ignored it. It was only when my whole body shook that I realized it wasn't a dream. I then thought I saw someone leaving the stables and heading out the side door. That's also where the sounds and lights are coming from, so I thought I'd go check. Tried waking Kristoff and some of the staff, but they're out like a light. Must be having deep, grown-up dreams"

Jack nodded. "Ok. Glad that we got that taken care of." He turned to the girls. "Stay behind me. We don't know what's beyond those doors. If there's any sign of trouble, then head back inside and lock the doors."

Anna nodded her head. Elsa shrugged. "If there's danger, then I'll stay with you, Jack. I can still take care of myself."

Elsa then pushed her hands out, and a small snowball flew out, hitting the ground. Jack's eyebrows lifted. So, Elsa still had her powers. That was good for whatever lay ahead.

Everyone then went to the side door in the courtyard and opened it. It took a second for the mist to clear up, but what they saw surprised them.

Waiting on the frozen fjord, just steps away from the group, was a large, steam-powered train. There was a huge, round engine at the front, with a big light shining on the tracks ahead. Behind the engine was the coal car and four passenger cars. Each passenger car had snow covering the roof and a blue color scheme with red trim around the windows. Lights shone from inside the train, shining into the windows at the palace.

Jack turned to Elsa and Anna. "Do either of you have a large train that travels around in the middle of the night?"

Elsa and Anna's jaws were dropping. Anna composed herself. "No, I don't think we do."

Elsa then looked towards the engine. "Do you think we should ask the engineers what's going on?"

Olaf turned to them. "I think that's perfectly logical. When you're stuck, ask for help. Unless they're strangers, of course."

Jack shrugged. "I think we'll be fine. There's four of us, and two of us can use powers. We can probably handle them if they mean trouble."

Everyone made their way down the small hill to the engine. As Jack got closer, he noticed a number on the front of the engine. 1225. Kinda like the number in his…

"All aboard," shouted a rather loud voice.

Jack and the others turned around. Facing them near the second car from the front was a man holding up a lantern. The man was barely visible, due to the steam and mist coming from the train.

Elsa called over. "Do you mean us?"

The man nodded. "All aboard," he shouted again.

Olaf started moving towards the man. "This loud man seems like he'll have the answers."

Jack, Elsa, and Anna looked at each other. Anna shrugged. "Well, let's see what this is all about, I guess."

Jack nodded and started moving forward. "Stay behind me," Jack said.

"Not likely," he heard both the girls mutter, as they moved up beside him.

As Jack, Elsa and Anna moved closer to the man, the man's facial features became clearer and clearer. He was a tall man, a little taller than Jack. He was wearing a blue jacket and suit. A trim mustache and half-moon glasses decorated the man's face. The face was not stern, but not entirely friendly either. If anything, the man's face seemed to indicate timeliness and being practical. On top of the man's head was a blue hat with the word Conductor written in golden letters.

Jack, Elsa, Anna, and Olaf stopped a foot or two in front of the man.

"Well, you coming?" the man, apparently the Conductor, asked.

Elsa looked warily at the Conductor. "Where?"

The Conductor smiled, his face beaming. "Why to the North Pole, of course. This is the Polar Express."

And what a way to end this next section of chapters. When I was thinking this story up, I just knew I had to include the Polar Express into the proceedings. It's quite the event, after all. I also felt it would make sense for Anna and Elsa to de-age at this point, since it would be kinda weird for a grown-up to be on the Polar Express. Jack is exempted because he's a Guardian and given his character. Olaf is also exempted due to being a snowman. Hope you all are as excited as I am for what's coming. Please rate and review. Until next time.