Sel's reply had burned into my mind - well, the important parts anyway. Stonehenge, don't pry, calm. I'd made myself a mental checklist of what to remember most. The last part she's put in there about ten times. I know I'm annoying, obnoxious, hyper, loud and frankly tiring to be around. Usually, my thoughts on that are some version of "oh, fucking, well!" But this time I understood why she was all but ordering me to tone it down. It would not be good to make this particular immortal angry. In fact, the fate of the world sort of depended on it.
A few hours of flying later, I got to Scotland. It took me another half hour or so if flying around to find the unmistakable stones. I dropped down into the circle and waited for a signal or something. A slight breeze ruffled my hair and I thought I heard a voice. I turned around. looking for whoever was talking. No body. "Okay..." I was starting to think that Sel's info hadn't been the best... or that I was either too early or late. Another breeze swept my hair around and this time I did hear a voice. It was the wind talking.
"Are you Story Tale?"
The wind's voice was incredibly subtle and faint. It definitely sounded like wind though. "Yes, I am. Are you here to show me the way?" I'll admit, it was weird talking to the air. I mean, I'd done it enough times before to not feel like a complete idiot, but I'd never spoken to the air directly before. I'd always had someone in mind that I'd been talking to.
The breeze drifted past again and I barely had time to register it's words before the wind kicked up. "Hold on."
The wind was rushing around me so fast I had to squint to try and keep them from watering. "To what?" I almost yelled it as the wind physically lifted me off of the ground. Part of me was screaming 'oh, shit' and the rest wanted to whoop like an idiot. The latter part won out as the first sound that escaped my was a cry of delight. By now, I was no stranger to flying. The sky was as much my home as the ground. I always had enjoyed feeling weightless. However, I'd always had something supporting me. Either my wings, or that first time, Jack's hand holding mine as he towed me to the place that had become home. There was nothing holding me up but strong air currents.
My mind was running off in a thousand different directions, the most prominent of which were as follows. This must be how Jack feels when he flies. No wonder he finds it so fun. If I fell, I could catch myself with my wings. Just like the crevasse up at the Pole. The wind wouldn't let me fall... would it? Eventually, all my thoughts quieted for the first time in a long time and I gave myself over to being tumbled by the air.
It was fun. The adrenaline junkie in me was ecstatic. Hell, all of me was. Flying had become too common place for me, I realized. What happened to the girl who dreamed of flight every hour of every day? What happened to the girl who took delight in every second of it? I was going to have to fix that. No way was I about to allow myself to become comfortable with the most amazing gift I've ever gotten. No, that shit was always going to be amazing to me if I had anything to say about it.
The ground wooshed by beneath me at a rate faster than I'd ever gone. If I was right, I'd guess that after only a minute we were flying over Germany. I glanced around me at the air buoying me, not sure where to look while addressing it. "You're really fast." Despite the intensity at which the wind sped around me, inside the whirlwind was a pocket of calm that I rested on. More or less. So I didn't have to yell to hear myself, but it was still incredibly windy.
"We are." It was said as a statement. No pride or any other emotions were present in the winds' voice.
I watched as we sped east, gradually moving to the north as well. "So... where are we going?"
"Our destination is approaching." A massive forest stretched out as far as I could see, we'd already been travelling over it for a minute or so.
"Where are we anyway?"
"Mortals call it the Boreal forest."
A moment later we started to descend into the trees. We dropped so fast I expected to feel like my stomach had thrown itself into my throat, but surprisingly, travelling by whirlwind is resistant to g-force. The wind buffeted the tree limbs back and so I didn't get hit. When we landed it was beneath the forest canopy and surrounded by a thin fog. The wind receded so fast that I had a moment where everything felt like a horror movie, being so quiet and all.
The fog clung to the ground and only came up to about my knees. I could see about a hundred feet in each direction, I'd probably be able to see a little farther, but the trees were in my way. However, I could not see my feet. Knowing my luck, I'd trip and fall every other step. I glanced around, left waiting again for some signal of where to go. I heard a few twigs snap off to my right and I turned to see who it was.
Sel came out from behind a few trees, smiling at me. "I trust that the winds treated you well?"
I smiled at my roommate, walking into her offered hug. "It's surprisingly friendly. Or is it 'they'? I don't care."
She raised her eyebrows at me. "You. You are not curious? Did Hell freeze over without my knowing?"
I chuckled at her joke. "You know, there's a Hell, Michigan that freezes every winter." She rolled her eyes but smiled. She was used to my random bursts of knowledge by now. "I'm actually more interested in what I'm actually here for."
"Ah. Well, I suppose I will show you the way then." She lead me back the way she'd come from, my anticipation growing the farther we got from my landing spot.
"So, what's with all the chauffeuring? I mean, you couldn't have just said 'here's where you go, see you soon'?"
"It is a bit of a secret, you know. And only a handful of people know how to actually get in. That is why I have come to get you."
"Seems legit." The fog was thinning out and I could vaguely make out my shoes as we walked onward. It was brighter too. Before it'd been a bit gloomy and, frankly, depressing. Now it was far more cheerful looking. It now looked like the middle of the day, as opposed to twilight bordering on creepytown. Soon the fog had all but vanished, but when I glanced over my shoulder it was clearly visible. "You know, I will never get used to magic."
"Yes, but knowing you, that is a good thing."
"Couldn't have said it better myself." I glanced around at the forest again. "Why do I feel like we're walking into the heart of Berzee?"
Sell shot me a look. "How do you know the name of her place?"
My eyebrows might have been hitting my hairline with how high they went. "Are you serious? That's actually what this place is called?" She nodded, her brows almost as high as mine. "I was referencing a movie. 'The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause'. It was one of my favorite depictions of North, before I saw the real one. The version from the movie had him as a foundling at the edge of the mystical forest of Berzee. He was raised by a wood nymph and grew up surrounded by magical creatures of every type. When he was in adulthood he started making toys for kids because it made them happy when they needed it. It was a simple way to make them smile. When he was an old guy it started getting hard for him - being old, and them the 'ruler' of the forest gave him the mantle of immortality so he could keep doing it for all of time. I liked it because it showed him young, and most people don't think of him like that. But, yes, Berzee was always what I associated with magical forests because of that movie."
"Hmm." Sel grasped her chin. She did that a lot when she was thinking about something. "The creator must have somehow known about the real one. Or at least must have heard the name from someone who had."
I shrugged. "I'm just tickled that I guessed right." I smiled smugly at her, making her laugh as I did. The air suddenly got warmer, which caused me to look around again. Around us flowers covered almost everything. It was still November, especially considering that we were in Russia. A smile dawned on my face as I realized the significance of the flowers.
"We are almost there." Sel's comment was unnecessary, I figured that out for myself. In the distance I could see a flash of red and orange, autumn trees. Thick green grass was all around us, the kind that screams summer. Where as the trees farthest away held little to no leaves from winter coming early this far north. Aside from the pines, of course. I my heart, I knew exactly where we were.
"I never thought chaos could be quite this beautiful." Late spring flowers bloomed in full next to piles of autumn leaves and patches of frost and snow dotted the landscape here and there. The trees were farther apart here, almost creating pathways. We walked through a tunnel of trees sporting thick green leaves. Up ahead I saw a woman crouching down, inspecting a group of flowers. Sel sped up just a bit, a smile growing on her face. I slowed down a little. I was star struck, I'll admit. The woman turned to smile at Sel. She had long black hair that went past her waist. It fluttered a little in the wind.
Sel got to her well before me and greeted her in a hug. She turned and gestured towards me as I walked up. "This is Story Tale, the originator of that note we got."
The woman turned her gold-green eyes on me. Smiling cordially at me in a way that was neither friendly, nor forced, she greeted me. "Hello."
"Hi." I didn't think Sel's warning of being calm was needed, I was too star struck to manage much. Sel giggled from next to the woman.
"Story, I told you to be calm, not comatose."
I laughed a little. "Sorry, I'm just a little..."
"I imagine that you are star struck?"
"Those exact words, actually."
She smiled, her eyes glancing from Sel to me, noting our slight laughter. "It seems living with Jack has made you two resort to jokes to break the ice." She chuckled a little herself, then.
"Oh, I did that even before I met him. I don't like to be... sad or down or anything like that. I like being happy, so anytime I realize I'm not I tend to... make a joke. Even if I'm the only one who gets it."
Sel looked at the woman. "Would you like me to leave the two of you alone? I could go for a stroll through your gardens."
"If you wish." Sel smiled and started gliding away.
Don't leave me alone! I looked at the woman standing before me. Standing regally in her green dress and looking like a part of the landscape. "Uhh..."
She chuckled. "You don't have to be intimidated, Story."
"Sorry, I just... I've heard a lot about you. From many different sources. I don't want to give the wrong impression by saying the wrong thing. I mean, I don't want to seem like an idiot or anything. I'm... Can we start over?" She nodded, smiling. "Thanks. Alright... Hi, I'm Story." I stuck out my hand.
She reached out to shake mine. "Hello Story, it is nice to meet you. I am sure you know who I am."
I nodded. "Oh, yeah."
She chuckled again. "You can call me Seraphina, if you wish."
"Okay..." Damn-it! Pull yourself together, Story!
"What was it you wanted to speak to me about?" She gestured gracefully towards another path.
I nodded and followed her, walking at her side. "Well, I'm a fairly new immortal, I'm sure Sel's told you that."
"She did not need to, I already knew."
"Duh, of course you would. Anyway, I've been staying with Jack this whole time. Don't get me wrong, I love it. I love my roommates, I love my room and the stars down there are gorgeous. It's just... I feel enough like a loner already. I've been mooching most of my life... I want to spread my wings so to speak."
"What's your point?"
"Sorry, I tend to ramble." I smiled apologetically. "I've never lived alone. Ever. I was living at home back when I was mortal, and, like I said, I've been living with roommates since... I've been thinking of getting my own place. The whole time I've been travelling, I've been looking for a place, subconsciously, mind you. I think I've found one." I looked up at her, she was a good five or six inches taller than me.
"And why did you have to speak to me about this?" She was being remarkably patient with me - for someone who'd just met me. I mean, she hadn't had time to build a buffer for my... well, my hyperness.
"I want to live in the Sequoia forest, in the redwoods. I want to have a sort of tree house and I was kind of hoping that you'd help me?" I waited anxiously for her response.
She didn't break stride, though she did slow down a little as she pondered. "What exactly, do you want me to do?" She looked at me, her face stoic.
"I don't want to physically build the place. I was hoping you could... grow the trees into the shape?" I bit my lip. "That's why I wanted to come and ask you about it. What I want is in your area of expertise - and protection. I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask the biggest authority on this particular subject."
She didn't answer right away. In fact, she didn't answer at all. I waited for so long that I started thinking that her silence was a 'no'. "What do you know about me?"
"Um... Well. I know that your dad is Kozmotis. I know that you're Mother Nature. I know that your name is Emily Jane Pitchiner. You know, I was wondering about that."
"About what?"
"Your name is Emily Jane... where does Seraphina come in?"
She looked out at her home while she spoke. "After I came to Earth, back when Sandy and I first crashed in our star, I was still Emily Jane. The mortals on this world began to call me Mother Nature, and the title stuck. So I have gone by that ever since. However... as time passed, I stopped feeling like Emily Jane. I decided to give myself a new name. And so I chose to become Seraphina." She reached her hand towards a low hanging branch. As her fingers brushed it, flowers blossomed all over the tree, spreading from the spot she'd touched it.
"So, it's like when we become immortals, we're gifted with a new name. You chose to do that for yourself?"
She nodded gracefully. Everything she did was graceful. "Yes. You called my father by his name."
It wasn't a question, but true to my form, I answered like it was one. "Yeah. When I found out about his past, I stopped thinking about him as Pitch." I shrugged. "When I talk about him to most people I'll call him Pitch, just because it's more common place. And less of a mouthful. But... I want him to go back to how he was. I mean, I feel bad for him. I can't imagine anyone going through what he did. I know he's still in there somewhere, and that's why I call him Kozmotis. I'm still hoping one day that the fearlings will loose their hold on him. Like I said, he's in there."
She looked at me with a weird expression on her face. I didn't blame her. Here I was, talking about her dad in a way only a bleeding heart can. "How..." She paused to compose her voice a little more. "How are you so sure?"
I shrugged. "Part of me wants to be a mushy smart ass and say it's because I believe it." I winked. "But, the truth is, I've always seen likable qualities in people. Especially villains. There's something admirable about them. Not bad guys, villains. There's a difference. They plan everything out and take failure in stride, shifting to the back up plan. Even better they figure out everything before hand and play things in their favor. Villains are smart. Usually." I shrugged again. "I've always walked the edge of darkness. I like scary and creepy things. I've never been scared by them, that's probably why I like them so much. I appreciate what goes into it. I mean, everybody's got a dark side, right? For villains it's just the side we see more often." I looked up at her, seeing the telltale signs on her face that my rambling was loosing her. "Sorry, I know I talk a lot."
"It's alright." We kept walking for a few minutes longer. "I'll help you. I admire the fact that you had the insight to come and ask me first... and Selie adores you."
"Well, Lillends do love stories."
She giggled at that little fact. "Selie a little more so than others. Thank you, Story."
My eyebrows scrunched together. "For what?" I honestly didn't know why she was thanking me. Was it for the asking permission thing? She'd already mentioned that.
"For sharing with me how you feel about my father."
"Oh... Well... Um, you're welcome." This was going down in the books as one of the weirdest conversations of my life. I was getting thanked for an opinion of mine. Usually people end up telling me to shut up for sharing too many of them. Yep, this was an interesting day, to say the least.
I ended up spending the next few days at Berzee mapping out a diagram of my future house. While I was there I met a good few mythical creatures who, in fact, lived there. I was starting to think that whoever had made that movie had to have come by at some point. There were wood nymphs and pixies, even elves (though not the kind North had running around the workshop, the real ones that look more like dwarves). Of course there were normal animals too, the kind you'd expect to find in a forest.
Right after my initial meeting with Seraphina, Sel came and found me to ask how it had gone. I'd gotten to the part about asking about her name when she interrupted me. "Oh, Story... You did not?"
"Sel, this is me we're talking about. Of course I did."
"I told you not to pry!"
"Hey, it was one question! You should be happy I left it at that!"
She face-palmed, sighing as she did. "Okay, so then what happened?"
"Well, she explained about how she named herself, then she mentioned how I called her dad by his name. It wasn't a question but-"
"You rambled!"
"I apologized afterwards!" Sel now had both of her hands to her face. Poor girl, all her preparations had been in vain. I'd still been the same as always. "Sel, you know I treat everyone the same. I don't care if I'm talking to Manny or a random person with no authority at all whatsoever, they're getting treated the same."
She sighed again. "What astounds me is how you managed to get her to agree while you were acting like that." She dropped her hands from her face to reveal a flustered, yet resigned expression.
"She said the fact that I asked helped." And that I believe her dad's still there.
"Well, I guess that is something." She sighed, again. "So what did you ask her anyway?"
I hadn't told Sel in my note that I was planning on moving out. I hadn't told any of my roommates yet. I hesitated a minute before answering. "I need her help building my house."
"Why would you need her help building - Wait. Did you say your house?" I nodded. "You are moving out?"
"Yeah. I've been trying to find somewhere for years, and I decided on the redwoods. I want it to be a tree house, but I don't want to hurt the trees, so that's why I wanted to ask her." Sel stared at me looking a little concerned. "Sel... You guys knew I wasn't going to be living there forever."
"Yes, I did. But time is such a relative concept to immortals that I expected you to stay a few decades at the least." She smiled ruefully at me. "I finally had another girl in the house. And one that can cook to boot!" I laughed along with her before she sighed resignedly. "I cannot say that I am quite surprised as it were. You never did completely take to the cold, did you?"
"I was made for warmer weather." Sel looked dejectedly at the ground - not a difficult feat considering she already had to look down to see me. "Hey, it's not like I'll never see you again! Jack's still my best friend, so I'll be around. And I'm not gonna be moving out right away anyway. My place isn't even built yet!"
"Thank you for trying to make me feel better about this, but it is not necessary. I understand completely." She dropped down to hug me. "And I expect you to bring me some real food when you drop in!"
I smiled up at her. "Don't worry, I will."
"I know you will. Does Del'Ket know yet? Does Jack?"
"No and no. You're the first one I told. To be completely honest, I don't wanna tell Jack until right before I leave." She looked at me confused. I continued before she could say anything though. "If I do he'll just mope around or try and talk me out of it or something. Or he'd avoid me until I'm gone." I shrugged.
"Then that means we cannot tell Del'Ket either."
Del would be crushed to find out I was leaving. He'd attached to me like a puppy. A lazy puppy who never did anything, but a puppy. "Why? Do you know how bad he'll feel when he finds out we kept it from him?"
"Del'Ket cannot keep a secret to save his life and we all know it. He will understand why you kept the secret, and I do not care what he thinks about me."
"Unless he's calling you a harpy." She scowled.
"Yes there is that. However, I can always call him a lizard and we are even." She took a deep breath and let it out, shaking her wings out as she did. "Alright, that is enough of that. On to happier subjects now, shall we?"
"Yep. Oh, hey! Wanna see my sketches of the place?" I turned to grab the pages from the mushroom table where they'd been laying. That was another thing - I swear that Wonderland was based off Berzee. There we're too many similarities for it to be a coincidence.
"Oh, yes!" She eagerly leaned over my shoulder to see them.
"Alright, so I plan on stretching it between three or four trees." I pointed out how I wanted it to be multiple floors, how the staircases and bridges between the trees were gonna work out. "I plan on having a big platform somewhere so if Del ever wants to visit he has somewhere to stay."
"That is a good idea. You may have to have that on a separate tree, to support his weight."
"Good point." I made a revision to the sketch, as well as a note to myself. "This is starting to feel more like a mini city than a house."
"I am not surprised. You are not the type to have a normal abode."
I snorted. "That's for sure!" I went back to showing off my designs. With Sel's help I managed to figure out nearly every unforeseen detail. There were still a few things that would have to change slightly depending on the trees themselves, and there were a few other things I'd need help with, but as a whole it was beginning to come together.
When I finally left Berzee I went looking for Jack. I had an inkling that he was up at the pole, if not he'd most likely be in Burgess. As I was flying west out of the Boreal Forest with the wind rushing past my face I had an idea. "Uh, if you're listening, winds, could you tell me where Jack Frost is?" Just like earlier in the week, speaking to the wind was beyond weird.
After a minute or so the air currents mildly switched directions for a minute, carrying words to me. "We will see where he is for you."
"Oh, uh, thank you!" I kept flying west, not going farther north or south if I could help it.
The winds came back with their response about ten minutes later. "He is in Burgess, Pennsylvania with children."
"Thanks!" I adjusted my course a little, heading towards Burgess. I'll admit, I was curious about the city. I'd never actually been there. Not a lot of immortals had, actually. As a rule, we tend to respect each others spaces. Musie had Athens, Tooth had Punjam Hy Loo, North had the Pole of course, Sel was the one who'd really claimed Antarctica and Jack had Burgess. We don't tend to cross into others 'areas' without an invite of some sort. Mainly because so many Immortals were incredibly territorial, but also because we're content to stay out of other people's business... for the most part anyway. So I'd never been there. Now, however, I had a reason.
The winds rushed alongside me. "He does not know you are coming."
"No, but we're friends, so he won't mind." I glanced towards where the wind was the fastest, and therefore the loudest. "You're awfully chatty."
"We are bored... And you are willing to talk."
"Oh, believe me, I'm willing. Are you who Jack's always listening to for weather updates?"
"Yes, we are."
Interesting. "Hey, why do you speak in plural? I'm curious."
"There are four of us. We are many but we are one."
Cryptic... The winds were actually pretty interesting. The way they spoke threw me a little, not just the plural thing either. When their voice got to me it was like it was breathed, and it drifted on the air currents. Like the wind had carried someone else's voice to me. It was eerily familiar. "Wait... About seven years ago, Jack found two new believers in a town called Niles, Michigan. One was a girl on the tail end of her teen years. Did you by any chance... You didn't relay what he said when she still couldn't see him, did you?"
The winds paused a minute before they answered - like literally paused, the breeze stopped. "We remember..."
"So... was it you guys who carried his voice?" I had to know, now that the notion had entered my mind.
"We did. We decided to help." If they were telling the truth, then the winds were responsible fore my believing in Jack, and as a result, our friendship. "You were the girl, yes?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I was the girl..." I looked ahead of me, to make sure I hadn't veered off course. I was now over France, if my calculations were correct. "Thanks. It's because of you guys that Jack and I are friends." I smiled.
"We are not used to gratitude. Why do you give it?"
"Well, because my friendship with Jack means so much to me, and without you guys doing what you did in the first place, I might not have that." The winds were silent for a while and I thought they might have wandered off. They weren't gone, I mean there's always wind, but I thought that maybe their conscious had moved on. Suddenly the wind kicked up behind me and shoved me forward far faster than I'd been going. "Whoa! What's going on!"
"We are giving you a push." They sped me onwards towards Burgess. It was no easy feat either, I wasn't nearly as light as Jack, that boy hardly weighed anything. It really was fun, flying with the winds. I kept my wings together, though, they helped me steer. To be honest, the winds weren't the most steady pilots. Maybe that was why Jack always spun in circles when he flew? I thought he did that to make it more fun, but now that I'd experienced it the same way, I think that's just the easiest way to fly with these guys. To let them tumble you through the air the way they tumble over themselves. I'd have to ask him about it later.
I chatted idly with the winds as they shoved me to Burgess, and in no time the city was sprawled below us. They toned down their onslaught to a mild breeze once the town had come into sight. "Goodbye. We had... a good time."
"I did too." I waved in the general area where the wind was blowing from. "I'll talk to you soon."
"Please do, we... enjoy it."
I watched as the winds raced off to who knows where. You know, I'd never realized just how much... personality the wind could have. "Hm." I shook my head a little and started to loop around the town, gradually moving farther and farther inwards as I did. I couldn't find Jack at first, which wasn't that surprising. Burgess was a somewhat small town, but it had a good population, and a lot of people were out today. I believe it was a Thursday and Jack didn't plan on giving them any snow-days for another week and a half at the earliest. Eventually I spotted the statue of the city founder's family and dropped down to inspect it. The movie had never really shown the whole thing. On impulse I climbed up next to the founder's knee and leaned against it where Jack had. I looked down the street where Jamie had his wild ride which I'd have killed for. This is Jack's home.
I heard a group of kids a ways away giggling and I turned to look. It was then that I saw my roommate engaged in a snowball fight with about ten little kids and two or three teenagers. I jumped down off of my perch and sprinted over to join in on the fun. I stayed out of Jack's line of sight as I made a small pile of ammo for myself before starting to pelt the elusive immortal that the others were having a hard time hitting. He whipped his head around looking for who threw the snowballs at him. "Hey -" He broke off laughing. "Who - who threw that?" His eyes settled on me and he blinked a minute. "Story? What're you doing here? In Burgess?"
"I was bored and I was looking for you. You are the most obvious relief of boredom that I know." The small kids had moved their fun over a little, so we were out of the way enough that I wouldn't be walked through. "Can they all see you?"
He glanced at them before nodding. "Oh yeah. Even without the movie's help, most of the kids in Burgess can see me. Only exceptions are those that have just moved here." The teens had now noticed that Jack had stopped and one of them tromped over to us.
"Jack, why'd you stop?" I raised my eyebrows approvingly at the teen. He looked about Caeden's age, so he was probably a Sophomore in high school, by the looks of it. His brown hair was tucked into a beanie cap - they were still in style - and he had on a puffy vest over a long sleeved shirt. "What's the matter, you getting old?" He joked at the immortal. When he smiled I realized exactly who he was, and my jaw dropped. Jamie was hot!
Jack smiled at Jamie's joke. "No, one of my friends stopped by. Her name's Story Tale, the personification of stories. And believe me she talks enough to earn her title." I shoved at Jack enough so that he had to take a step to keep his balance.
"Gee, thanks, give the boy a horrible impression of me!" I stopped abruptly as I felt the little rush that came with gaining a believer.
Apparently my shoving Jack as well as his introduction was enough for Jamie to believe in me. I'm not gonna lie, I fangirled a little. I mean, come on, I was meeting Jamie... and he was cute now! He blinked a bit as he took in my... me-ness. "Oh, hi." He stuck out his hand, which I shook in greeting. I was doing a lot of that this year. "I think Jack's told me about you before. She's the one who's like you?"
"Alright, so you're a little forgiven." I glared at Jack, still irked by his earlier comment. I looked back to Jamie and gave him a smile. "Calling me Story is fine. And, don't believe anything he's told you until I've proven it, okay?" He chuckled at that, but I was serious. I had no way of knowing how much Jack had exaggerated me or what he'd even said.
"I'm Jamie."
"Oh, I know exactly who you are. You do know you're basically famous because of the movie, right? Most people might not be able to see it, since the movie was CGI and, you're obviously not, but I'm not most people."
Jack snorted and mumbled under his breath. "That's for sure."
I crossed my arms and stuck my tongue out at him, he was too far away now to shove. "He was right, you are like him."
"I'm gonna assume you mean that as a compliment." I raised one eyebrow at the boy.
"Yeah." He said it a little too quickly. He leaned in closer to Jack to whisper something that I heard anyway. "She's intimidating."
"I heard that. And yes, I am." I smiled at the two of them. Jack started laughing while Jamie was doing so nervously. He'd get used to me eventually.
"Alright, killer, calm down. Let's introduce you to the other kids so you can join in." He started walking towards them.
As I followed Jamie fell in stride next to me. "Hey, so what's it like living with him?"
"Cold." I smiled to show it was a joke. "No, it's actually pretty cool - no pun intended that time. It gat's kind of crazy from time to time, but crazy's fine by me."
He watched as Jack entered the group with snowballs flying. "So... are you his girlfriend, or something?"
I burst out laughing at that. Twice in a few months? "No, no. Jack and I are just friends. Actually, you could say he's my best friend." I nodded. "Yeah, that's probably the best way to say it." As we got close, one of the teens I recognized by his square rimmed glasses and blonde hair as Jamie's friend, though I couldn't remember his name for the life of me. The other I couldn't figure, but she was wearing a lot of pink. Of the little kids I had no clue about any of them except for one blondie who instantly stuck out.
Jack was crouched down in front of the group of kids who'd calmed enough to hear what he was trying to say. "One of my friends stopped by. She's an immortal, so you guys are gonna have to believe in her before you can see her. Her name's Story and she's really loud and bossy."
"Hey! Enough with the bad first impressions!"
He looked over his shoulder at me. "Exhibit A." The kids followed his gaze and I felt a bigger jolt than ever when more than one started believing all at once.
I staggered before throwing my arms out for balance. "Whoa..." Frankly, I was a little dizzy.
Jamie reached out to steady me. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Yeah, just..." I blinked and shook my head to try and clear up the dizziness. "A little dizzy."
Jack winced at me. "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. Sorry."
"No, no... It's okay." I blinked again. "I feel pretty good actually." I did, I felt... I don't know, stronger? Lighter? Whatever, I just felt good.
The kids were staring at me openmouthed while the three who hadn't been able to believe in me quite that easily were shooting each other confused looks. The blondie was smiling at me like I was a living Barbie or something. I bent down, bracing my hands on my legs as I looked at her. "You're Sophie, right?" She nodded so fast I was surprised her head didn't roll off. "Do you still like colors?"
"Yeah! I'm one of the best in my class! Just like Jamie!"
At his mention, Jamie walked up behind her. "She means her drawings."
"Does that mean you're an artist?"
He blushed a little. "Yeah, sort of. I mean, I'm no professional, but... I guess I'm okay."
His friend with the glasses - Monty, that was his name - elbowed him. "Stop being modest, Mrs. Pecking posts your pictures all over her walls."
The girl in the pink walked up next to Monty. "She'd put them up in the hallways too if the principal would allow it."
Jamie smiled at the praise. "Thanks guys."
Sophie was bouncing up and down. "C'mon! Let's play!"
Jack smiled wickedly at her. "Are you sure?" She nodded. I still wasn't sure how her head stayed on. "Alright, then..." Without warning snowballs started flying every which way, and the fight was back on again. It was really fun, playing with all of the mortal kids. I felt almost normal. But, I'd never been normal, so it didn't last long. I was having too much fun being the only person who could hit Jack, but that's because I cheated. Oh, well. All's fair in love and war, and this was war!