Tale
Chapter 9 : Home
/!\ I do not own Rise of the Guardians, only my OC.
Jack Frost
They all walked together to the Globe's room, Lía and Jack following Bunny and Tooth. Jack could feel that the shape-shifter, who had been relaxed and had laughed right before, had become tensed after Bunny's arrival. Her smile had disappeared. Feather, who was out with Ow for a mid-day flight and had came back a few minutes ago, was perched on Lía's shoulder. The one-eyed crow made the tale-teller look even fiercer and more dangerous. Lía looked focused and, honestly, not really happy. She was limping because of her wound on the leg and the more she tried to hide it, the more obvious it was.
Jack couldn't help but feel a bit tense too. What was going to happen? What was North going to say during this reunion?
Just as he was thinking that, the group arrived to the Globe's room. North was waiting for them, standing next to the Globe's pedestal. Sandy was nowhere to be seen.
"You are all here? Good. Let's begin." North declared.
It wasn't the usual North in front of them. He wasn't trying to be funny, wasn't energetic like he always was... it was like his incredible-magical-Santa batteries were out. His eyes were a bit red and it seemed like he had cried before the reunion.
"Where's Sandy?" Jack asked.
"Sandy... is still unconscious." Tooth explained for North.
The Guardian of Wonder looked like he couldn't speak.
"He... he lost an arm during the fight at the Sandcastle.", Tooth continued. "Oh, don't worry, he's okay. I mean... as okay as he can be. Since he's made of sand, his limbs can grow back. But it takes time and energy. A lot of time and a lot of energy. When we arrived here, he wrapped himself up in some kind of magic sand cocoon to regenerate himself. We don't know when he will emerge..."
"... or if he will ever get out." Tooth hadn't say that last bit, but it floated in the tense silence in the room. Lía stroked Feather's head, lost in her thoughts. Jack's hand tighten around his staff. He was somehow hoping to find strength in the crooked piece of wood.
"So", he said, breaking the silence, "what now?"
North slowly walked to the sofa near the Globe and sat, looking extremely tired.
"I don't know, Jack." he admitted. "I really don't know."
"Maybe we could try to talk to Pandore", Tooth said. "Show her that this is not how things should be done."
"I don't know if it's such a good idea", Jack countered. "I mean, nothing tells us that she won't try to expand her collection of Guardians' arms..."
Bunny coughed, showing Jack that his pitiable joke try wasn't funny.
"We could do what Tooth proposed", Bunny then said. "We never tried talking to her, so..."
"There is no talking to Pandore." Lía declared. Her voice was strong and confident.
"You are either with Pandore or against her", she continued. "And we made it very clear that we are not with her. She is threatening the balance of the world. She is trying to destroy every bits of hope that exist. We cannot let her do that. We have to stop her."
Lía's back was straightening with every word that she said. She held her head high, ready to defend her point of view.
"We?" repeated Bunny. "We?"
His furious tone scared Feather away and made the crow fly outside North's workshop.
"Guys, I don't think that we should talk about anything serious right now", Tooth interrupted, sensing the chaos coming. "We're all tired and..."
"No, no, no, I wanna get things straight first." Bunny said. "This... shape-shifter, this stranger, this... weaver was somehow chosen to be a Guardian. I respect the Man in the Moon, so I didn't question his choice. We searched for the shape-shifter everywhere. She almost killed Jack. We saved her from the despairs back at the pond. Did she thank us? No, she didn't! Instead, she refused the role that was supposed to be hers. She refused to become a Guardian, insulted us, threatened us, insulted us again, fought alongside us once or twice, and then she pretends she's one of us! All of a sudden it's "we that", "us this"... I've had enough!"
Lía looked at him, fists clenched tightly, tension in her jaws. Her eyes were starting to resemble those of a wolf. But she didn't say anything. She tilted her head to the right as if to incite Bunny to continue.
"I've had enough of her!" the Guardian of Hope continued. "Now she tells us what to do, and we're going to listen? She doesn't belong here! She's not one of us!"
"Bunny", Jack interrupted, "she had a point. Pandore's dangerous. And don't insult her, okay?"
"Oh, so you bump your head once, she protects you and now she's your goddess, isn't she?" replied Bunny.
"Oooh, between the two of us, I'm not the one who bumped my head the hardest! You clearly aren't thinking straight, Kangaroo!"
They continued arguing. Jack was furious. He couldn't let Bunny insult Lía like that. He couldn't allow it. Meanwhile, Tooth was trying to calm them down and North was staring at nothing in front of him, apparently depressed because of Sandy's health. And Lía...
Lía Tale
They were all arguing, no one thinking about what really mattered. Lía couldn't take it anymore. She took one step forward. Bunny, who was standing near North, facing her, saw her move and frowned. She was standing next to Jack Frost. He tried to grab her arm and keep her from unleashing her fury on the Guardian of Hope. He couldn't know that it wasn't what she was about to do.
She reassured him with a simple look, an almost imperceptible smile, and gently freed her arm.
"We both said things, did things that built a wall between us, Bunny." she said with no anger nor sympathy in her voice. "But there are bigger things than our fight. We have to put our anger to the side to become allies and fight Pandore and the threat she poses. The Man in the Moon wants us to do so."
She was holding her hand out to Bunny, proposing peace, at least for an instant. But the Guardian of Hope was blinded by rage.
"I won't." Bunny answered sharply. "I won't ally myself with you, Lía Tale. You are useless as an ally. Just... useless. The Man in the Moon was mistaken. You cannot help us. You should just go away... shape-shifter."
With every word that the Guardian of Hope had said, Lía had become paler and paler. Voices were swirling around in her head, the voices of Pandore, Bunny, and countless other people. Voices screaming under her skull. Whispers louder than a storm. "Useless..." "Pathetic..." "you make everything worse" "You were a mistake" "you shouldn't exist" "go away..." "useless thing" "die... monster".
She tried to move. Do anything. Free herself from the voices. But her left leg hit a sofa. It wasn't a big hit, just a small one, but the pain was too much for her. She fell on her knees, trying to hold her tears inside her eyes.
"See?" Bunny mocked, "she can't even stand right!"
She heard Jack reply sharply with venom in his voice, but she just couldn't understand his words. The room felt too little... she couldn't breathe... she tried to transform, but she couldn't. Her sense of hearing had stopped working. She slowly got up, using the arm of the sofa to make standing up easier, and slowly walked away, barely able to stand on her wounded leg. She was slow, but no Guardian tried to stop her. And that hurt her more than any cut.
She walked down a corridor and tried to remember how to reach the main door. She heard loud screams, recognised Jack Frost's voice : "... idiot! ... could... say... her?! ...such a..." and then she heard steps coming toward her. And then his voice...
"Lía! Please, stop!"
She continued walking, or rather limping toward the exit.
"Lía, please don't go! We need you!"
She could see the doors, she was almost there...
"Lía, would you stop?!"
She pushed the door open, took a step outside...
"Please, don't go! I... I need you."
She fell on her knees. Tears ran down her cheeks.
"No, you don't."
Jack Frost
"No, you don't." she replied.
Her voice was cold, sharp.
"You don't and you never did."
Jack kneeled behind her. She wouldn't turn around, wouldn't look at him.
"Of course I do", he answered softly.
He honestly didn't know what he was doing. He was just letting his instinct tell him what to do, letting his heart speak for him.
"You know I'm right."
"You're not." the shape-shifter replied.
He could hear tears in her voice and it hurt him. Her tears were like knives in his flesh. Why did it hurt so much to see just one of her tears? The Guardian of Fun pushed his pain aside and answered with a soft, comforting voice.
"You saved my life countless times. I would've died without you."
"It was three times. You would've survived."
"Can't you just agree with me sometimes?" he said jokingly.
Lía let out a soft giggle but, a second later, the tears were back. The pain, sadness and loneliness were hovering around her like a black cloud. Jack could almost see it.
"You did more than just save my life. You made it better." he continued. "You showed me that I wasn't the only one that had suffered from loneliness."
He slowly rested his staff on the ground, in the soft, thin layer of snow beneath them.
"You showed me that magic was even more incredible than I thought. The way you shape-shift, the way you move... you are so many things at the same time and it made me realise that I could be more too. That I could become more than what I am right now."
He hadn't even realised this before trying to comfort her. It was one of those moments when the heart explains what is really happening to the rest of someone's self.
"You showed me that I could find my place in this world. Even with the Guardians, I don't feel entirely at home. I feel excluded. But with you... it's like I'm exactly where I'm meant to be. You helped me see where I belong."
Each word that he said was inhabited with more confidence and strength. He was believing in everything he said, and it made each word more powerful.
"You can't go now, you said that you would help me pull epic pranks!"
His joke made Lía laugh slightly, but once again the laughter was quickly forgotten. Jack ran one hand through his hair, breathed deeply and held out a hand. Hesitantly, he put it on Lía's shoulder. The shape-shifter didn't move.
"You showed me what real freedom looked like. It's not going wherever you want whenever you want to, but it's doing what you think is right. You helped us fight Pandore even if it meant working with people that hurt you. You are selfless and resilient, Lía, and it taught me a lot of things."
He got closer to her, kneeling right behind her, his torso against her back.
"Lía, you defeated more despairs than any of us did, because you defeated your own. You showed us light in a fight that I thought was lost. You gave us hope. You gave me hope."
Jack put his other hand on her stomach, ready to let her go if she wanted him to do so. She did nothing.
"You gave us hope but you lost it. You lost hope. You're giving into despair. Right now, you feel like you're lost. Like the world would be better off without you, because you only bring darkness with you. But you're wrong."
He was now whispering in her ear, holding her tight against him like she was about to fade away.
"The world needs you, Lía, and I do too."
"No... no one does." she answered softly, her voice barely louder than a whisper.
"Yes, because I do! I need you, Lía!" Jack replied fiercely. "You can't give up. You never do! You didn't give up on me when the despairs attacked. Even when you're wounded, even when you bleed, when you fall down, you still get up every time! Please, don't give up now!"
He held her even tighter, tears in his eyes, her own tears dripping on his arms that were wrapped around her waist.
"Stay. For me."
Lía Tale
"Stay. For me."
Jack's whisper gave her strength. For a moment, she thought that she could get up again and be there for him. But then the voices came back. The voices of all the people, the animals and the immortals that she had let down in her past. She wasn't enough and she couldn't let him make her think otherwise. She was a mistake. She couldn't believe him. Couldn't trust his words. But...
But his voice... the rhythm of his breath, of his torso slowly rising as he inhaled... it was life. It was warmth. Even if his skin was cold, his heart was warmer than anything else. And she needed warmth more than anything else. She felt so cold... so cold inside her. She tried to breathe, but she couldn't. It was like each heartbeat hurt. She could either let the despair and the sadness inside her out, or she could let those emotions slowly devour her and make her an empty shell.
She inhaled. Once. Let the air in her lungs give her strength to do what had to be done.
"Speak." she thought, but nothing got out.
"Let it out." she thought, and her throat burned, but she couldn't let one word out.
"LET IT OUT!" she told herself with all her strength, all her willpower.
And finally, after decades of darkness, she opened herself.
First, a sob. So full of sadness than it broke Jack's heart. Then, words. They all came at once, and she had to take a second to organise them and express herself.
"It's so dark, Jack... and I can't find the light. I try every time, but this time I can't. I really can't. I feel so... lost, lost and alone..."
She let tears run down her cheeks, she let her strength run out and rested her upper body again Jack's torso.
"You're not alone", he answered. "I'm here. Don't worry. We're in this together, okay? We can do this. It's going to be okay."
His words were calming and comforting. His voice was reassuring. She let the pressure out, crying all the tears she hadn't cried before. She wasn't alone anymore. He was with her.
She didn't know how much time they spent like this, her crying and him whispering comforting things in her ear. But, after a while, she felt better. Relieved. The voices were gone. She wasn't healed, she knew it, but Lía could hope again. Her tears had cleansed her sadness and loneliness away, and she could finally begin to trust, love and speak freely.
"Better now?" Jack asked her softly after noticing that she had stopped crying.
"Yes... thank you. And... I'm sorry."
"Don't be", he answered. "You don't have to apologise for getting things off your chest."
He smiled. Lía had turned her head around, and he brushed her tears away with his hand.
"We all fall down", he said. "What really matters is whether you try get up or stay on the ground."
She nodded and smiled.
"Wow, that's deep for a winter spirit."
"Hey, stop mocking me!" he answered, acting as if he was hurt.
They continued teasing each other jokingly, enjoying each other's presence. But then, they heard noises coming from North's workshop. The other Guardians were coming. And Lía hadn't forgotten what Bunny had told her. She felt better, yes, but she wasn't ready to forgive yet.
Jack had heard the noises and voices of the Guardians too. He got up, brushed the snow on his trousers and took his staff. He held out a hand toward the tale-teller with a smile.
"Come." he said.
And she took his hand.
Jack Frost
He felt her warm skin against his. Her hand in his. He didn't know what could make her feel better, but he had some ideas to bring back a smile on her face. To make her forget what had happened and, maybe, forgive Bunny.
"Ready?" he asked.
She nodded. Jack inhaled once, calling the wind, and the next second they were up in the air, flying above the frozen sceneries of the North Pole. He heard her laugh. He turned his head and saw her spreading her arms as if they were wings. And, even though she was still in her human form, he could almost see the bird in her.
She saw that he was looking at her and smiled at him, a pure, joyful smile that filled his stomach with butterflies. She then closed her eyes, enjoying the caress of the wind on her face, and he couldn't help but look at her, stare at her to engrave each little detail of her face in his mind.
"What now?" she asked after a while. "Where are we going?"
"That's a surprise", he answered. "But we should arrive soon."
Jack saw Lía hesitate, as if she was about to insist to know their destination, but she didn't. Instead, she looked at him, and her eyes said "I trust you". He blushed slightly and hope that she would blame it on the cold wind.
Finally, after hours of flying, they arrived. They slowly lost altitude and flew over a frozen sea. They continued for a bit and reached some solid land before landing near a tall rock at the base of an even taller mountain.
"The South Pole", Jack announced proudly.
"You want us to... go sledging with penguins?" Lía asked, unsure.
"That is actually a great idea", Jack replied with a smile, "but that's not it."
He took her hand again, this time not asking for permission, and said with a smile : "Follow me!"
She giggled, amused by his excitement, and followed him with good will.
They went around the rock and stopped in front of a crack into the icy ground. With one wave of his staff, Jack made multiple steps appear. Lía immediately froze and stared at the stairs plunging into the dark.
"I... I'm claustrophobic", she stammered. "I can't go in there."
Jack immediately lost his smile. Why hadn't he thought of that?! She was used to being outdoors, always flying or running or diving... of course she didn't like being trapped underground!
"It's just a small walk", he assured, trying to comfort her. "Oh, but it doesn't reassure you, does it?! I'm so stupid!"
"No, no, it's okay, Jack, don't worry!" Lía said. "Now that I think of it, I'm not always claustrophobic."
"What do you mean?" Jack questioned, bewildered.
"Well human me is afraid of underground places, small places and places with no exit. But I've heard that cats love those!" she explained.
She winked, proving that she had experienced being in small or underground places in her cat form before. She breathed deeply and, the next second, where she was standing, there was a black cat staring at Jack.
Cat Lía tilted her head to the right, as if to say "well? What are you waiting for?" but Jack was too lost in his contemplation of her feline form to notice. Lía walked to him and brushed her head against his legs, purring.
"You are sooo cute!" Jack exclaimed, in awe.
Lía hissed, visibly insulted by the comment.
"I didn't mean to insult you, it's just... you look so fluffy!"
The cat let out what seemed to be a sigh.
"Sorry, sorry..."
She pointed to the stairs with her paw, an interrogative look in her mismatched eyes.
"Right. The stairs. Okay."
Jack started going down the stairs, the black cat next to him. He waved his staff again and the two ice walls surrounding the stairs began glowing softly. It took two minutes to go down the stairs. They arrived in a small, circular dark room with one door that seemed like it was made out of ice, like the walls of the room. Apart from the door, the room was completely empty.
Jack got to the door and put his hand on the handle. He turned around to face cat Lía and asked:
"Ready?"
The cat looked curious. With a smile, Jack opened the door wide, revealing what was behind.
Lía Tale
She couldn't believe what she was seeing at first. Her shock and awe were so intense that she turned back into a human without even realising it.
The door opened on a huge cavern made out of ice, big and high enough to fit a castle easily. They were on a terrace thirty meters above the ground and could contemplate the whole place from their spot. From where she was, Lía could see a frozen lake, gardens and orchards with plants made out of ice and a really tall tower standing in the middle of the cave. The "ceiling" was made out of thin blue ice and there was a large hole at the top, letting the sunlight and the wind penetrate the cave, making it seem like they weren't in a cave. The pointy roof of the ice tower was almost touching the ceiling.
Jack was contemplating the landscape before them proudly, leaning on the door frame, a smile on his lips.
"So? What do you think?" he asked.
"This is..." Lía began before realising something. "I don't even have the words!"
"This is my home", Jack declared proudly. "I built it."
"Incredible..." Lía whispered, admiring the Guardian of Fun's work.
She walked to the edge of the terrace, put her hand on the ice railing that bordered it. Jack pointed to a spot with his thumb.
"There's a stair there. We go down that way."
He led her to the stairs and they went down, Lía still admiring the place. She could only admire Jack. He had built this on his own... it was so magnificent! They reached a little path covered in snow and bordered with ice roses that almost looked real.
"Did you also make this?" she asked Jack, bowing to admire a flower.
"Yeah, I actually sculpted some of those, and used magic to make some others." he admitted.
He picked an ice rose and gave it to Lía. She thanked him with a shy whisper, blushing, and examined her rose. She stroked the life-like petals, expecting them to disintegrate as soon as she would touch them, but they were sturdier than she thought.
Jack led her along the path, telling her to be careful where the path wasn't covered in snow. He explained that the icy ground was particularly slippery there. They were walking slowly, Jack giving her some informations about the different things they would encounter during their walk. Finally, they reached the tower, the most important thing in the whole cave.
"So", Lía said as Jack opened the door that led inside, "how do you call this place?"
"Well... I don't really have a name for it? I guess I could come up with one. What do you think of 'the Frost Hall?'" Jack asked.
"Yeah... no." replied Lía while entering the tower.
"The 'Fun Cave?' the 'Frozen Tower'?"
"I don't know, it just doesn't sound right."
"Yeah, I'll try to find something better." Jack admitted.
They crossed a small hall with no furniture and just a blue carpet on the floor. They then reached some stairs. They got up and Jack showed Lía around.
In the tower, there were fourteen floors. Jack's room was all the was to the top and he had built a slide to go down easily while having fun. Underneath his room and private bathroom, there was a library, then on the floor underneath the guest's room with its bathroom, then a cozy living room with a chimney in which burnt blue, cold fire... underneath the living room, on the ninth floor there was a kitchen and a dining room. A room filled with music instruments, drawing equipment and all sorts of strange and unusual items occupied the eighth floor. And, on the seventh and sixth floor, there was the Globe room.
The other Guardians, except North, didn't have a Globe that allowed them to see all their believers. But when Jack had found the cave in which he had built his home, a few years ago, the Man in the Moon had granted him to honour of possessing a Globe. Jack hadn't hesitated and had built his home in the cave, even if he had had to work a lot to make it as comfy and beautiful as it was now.
In the Globe room, there was no furniture apart from the Globe, blue and big, floating above the ground, glowing thanks to all of those who believed in the Guardians. Some ice stairs and balconies allowed the Guardians coming to see the Globe to look at it from above, but the room was otherwise simple and didn't feel as grandiose and spectacular as the Globe room in North's workshop.
The whole place was simple and cozy. It was made out of ice, but somehow Jack had managed to make it warm and pleasant. Everything was beautiful in a simple, discreet way. It felt relaxing. Lía smiled as she leaned on the railing that bordered the balcony on which she was standing, Jack by her side. Her thoughts were filled with his presence, not just next to her, but also all around them. He had put his heart and soul in this place. It was him. Where he belonged.
"I know how you should call this place." she said with a small smile, observing the Globe.
Jack looked at her, curious.
"Home."
