14When Winter comes, and singing ends; when darkness falls at last;
When broken is the barren bough, and light and labour past;
I'll look for thee and wait for thee, until we meet again:
Together we will take the road beneath the bitter rain!
-An Entish Song, Treebeard
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien
xXx
I am Katherine, dubbed the Guardian of Stories, known by many names, more commonly the nickname, 'Mother Goose'. As promised, I now testify of the most unlikely occurrence of Guardian History.
It began with a sudden burst of light: of cold and winter air and mountain rain combining. From the North, going to the South, and spreading to the East and to the West… a thin sheet of icy cloud covered every inch where life dwells. And it almost killed life itself with a stabbing, piercing Kiss of Death.
A year after what the folk of that time called the Great Thaw… a second Winter threatened to destroy the glorious beauty that was the Summer Solstice. The source of this phenomenon was a lady clad in blue and white. Young, and fair, and enchanting was she. The knowledge of her grace and beauty spread far and wide over the mountains and over the seas. But most interesting of all, was that this woman was more than meets the eye.
She was a queen… with the powers over Ice and Snow.
But nay, she was no antagonist to this event. In fact, the lady was dubbed heroine to this great moment, for she had defended her kingdom from an evil that threatened to consume the life from her kingdom. For darkness, a shadow, a nightmare began to loom over the hearts of all who dwelled therein.
Fear. It was not Pitch Black, mind you. But Fear.
The source was yet unknown. But regardless, the queen took it upon herself to suck the fear out from everyone with the wonders of her magic and light.
Fear was not very pleased…
xXx
The First Universe
18th Century, Arendelle
A year after The Great Thaw
"Come on! You can do it!"
"But I can't!"
"Just keep your feet up! I will catch you if you fall."
Elsa gazed lovingly at the pair before her: Anna and her lover Kristoff, skating through the empty ballroom in the midsummer afternoon. Squeals of laughter and love echoed through the air, the pair vaguely aware of the blonde woman gazing affectionately at the both of them. It had been six months since the mountain man proposed to her little sister, and she was fond of how the man had first asked for her blessing without Anna's knowledge. Elsa had approved for Kristoff since the beginning, for every word that came out of his lips was pure and blunt honesty. It was rare for a man to point-blankly speak his mind affront a woman. Elsa knew Anna needed a man who does.
"Now, now, just balance your weight on both feet." Kristoff instructed.
"But I am!" Anna complained. "I swear Kristoff, Elsa is a better teacher than you are."
"You want my help, or not?" the man chuckled.
Anna grunted. But she could not fight the besotted smile that graced her face.
The princess has become determined to learn how to skate ever since the exposure of Elsa's powers. It became her second favorite snow-related past-time, aside from building snowmen. At that the queen chuckled.
"Elsa! Elsa!"
The queen slowly turned her attention to the door where a snowman happily skipped towards her with a scroll in hand. She took the piece of parchment from his hand and smiled in greeting.
"Hello Olaf." Elsa said. "How was your trip back from the Ice Castle?"
"Aw, it was fun." Olaf grinned. "Well, a lot of villagers kicked my head when they saw me." he shrugged. "They kind of freaked out seeing a talking snowman and all."
The queen laughed. "I told you not to let anyone see you. You know how it is. Not everyone is keen with the idea of a talking snowman hugging them all of a sudden."
"But I like warm hugs!" The snowman complained.
BANG!
The company whipped their heads towards the door where a guard in green uniform struggled to catch his breath. Elsa rose immediately and walked towards the officer, her face a mix of alarm and concern for the man whose face appeared to be struck with horror and fear.
"What's the matter?" Elsa asked him calmly but firmly. "What happened?"
"Your m-majesty…" the guard panted, his voice high and shaking. "The… the kingdom… the kingdom is…"
"Deep breaths Hugh." Elsa ordered. "Tell me."
"The kingdom is in danger!" the guard answered in a frantic voice.
The queen wasted no time. With quick strides, she bolted out the room, letting her control over the wind glide her towards the big doors out of the castle. As soon as she reached the open gates, that was when she saw them.
A swarm of dark shadows… with thin limbs, and hollow eyes. They swarmed over the kingdom like an angry storm, coating the air with gray and dread.
"Take cover!"
"Mama, Papa!
"Eeeeeeeek!"
"Hurry to down to lower ground! Find anything to be used as an—AHCK!"
All around the people were running, panicking, screaming for their lives as the shadows made their descent. They wrecked everything in their path, and sent all men, women, and children crumbling to their deaths with wide eyes and mouths forever carved into their pale faces. Neither blade nor arrow could destroy the horrifying creatures, and even the bravest of the castle's soldiers could not tear a flesh-or in their case-a shadow from their ghostly bodies.
Everywhere was in panic, and horror, and weeping, and distress. Elsa felt the chill run all over her bones at the sight of the dark forces slowly draining the life of everything it touches. Her fists clenched at her sides as she watched every body that fell cold against the cobblestone grounds. She grit her teeth and fought the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes and watched the swirling cloud of darkness with an icy vengeance she never thought she would feel.
She was glad Anna and Kristoff were inside the castle.
"EEEEEEEEEK!"
Or so she thought.
"Anna!" she yelled. With a wave of her arm, a giant wall of ice shielded her sister and the ice man from a legion of shadows that tried to attack them. The shadows hissed at the cold wall that blocked their attack and turned their heads at the enemy responsible.
There they saw the Snow Queen with wintry light ablaze her dainty hands. A blizzard began to form at her sides as she raised her hands in the air. By her sides stood two giant snowmen with icy spikes protruding from their arms and legs, and their eyes were hollow and glowing red with bloodlust. Behind them rose an army of soldiers made of ice, carrying weapons of warfare. They all charged at the shadows that attacked every human soldier and villager, protecting them with their icy lives. Their weapons proved effective against the murky enemies from above, earning victorious cheers from the people of Arendelle as they saw that the tables have finally turned.
"No one," Elsa muttered. "No one hurts my family! Or my people!"
She waved her arms in a graceful arc, shooting streams of power at the cloud that hovered above them. Horrible shrieks of pain reverberated all over as ice and snow quickly destroyed the shadows one by one.
"Flee! Flee to the castle! All of you!" she ordered her men. "Take the civilians! GO!"
Fifty legions of shadows swooped in and destroyed some nearby stalls as they charged towards Queen Elsa. One giant snowman whacked the face with an ice mace and retaliated with several whacks. Elsa ran forward, meeting her icy soldiers in the front lines as she hiked up her skits above her knees. The winds followed her beck and call as she called forth power that sliced through the lesser shadows and broke through the bigger ones.
The shadows dwindled in number at an increasing rate as they felt the fury of the Snow Queen, who wept vengeful tears over the small number of people who fell in her service and care.
Small or large, these people were her people. And these shadows tried to hurt the only family she had left.
All she felt was an urge to destroy.
"Elsa!" Anna called out, trying to break free from Kristoff's protective embrace.
A blizzard had begun to ensue.
"Elsa!" she called out again.
Black and white fought, each pushing each other, trying to dominate the other with their raw power. Elsa pushed and pushed with all her might, gritting her teeth and exerting all of her will and power against the shadows that pressed against her own. She was aware of the snowstorm that began to rage around them… and she didn't care.
She was going to avenge the people who fell, and protect the ones who were alive.
"Kristoff!" Elsa yelled above the storm. "Take Anna somewhere safe!"
Kristoff took no time and grabbed Anna by her waist. He carried her over her shoulders, ignoring her protests even as she tried to kick herself away when he placed her on Sven. Soon they rode, and rode far away to the north…
"No! Elsa! Elsa!" Anna shrieked. But the ice man paid no heed. He knew what Elsa wanted. It was what he wanted as well.
To keep Anna safe.
"Thank you…" Elsa whispered, increasing the flow of power that gushed out of her hands.
"Sheeeee…. Isssss…. The keeeyyyyy….." the shadows hissed.
The shadows above head began to swirl and compress, taking the queen by surprise. Soon they turned into this one giant shape of a shadow, looming over the heart of Arendelle like a dark angel of death. It stared the Snow Queen down menacingly with its hollow gray eyes as it pointed a lone clawed finger at its enemy.
"What do you want?!" Elsa screamed as she zapped another stream of power against her adversary. Her attack missed.
The shadow opened its mouth, like smoke that receded into vapor.
"Fear…."
"Fear?" Elsa murmured.
"I feeed… on human'ssss… fear…" the shadow hissed.
Elsa paused a moment, gazing at the faces of the people around her who looked at the dark monster hovering above them. She saw it. Fear. It was sketched across every face of the people she tried to protect.
The snow storm receded, leaving the kingdom in a peculiar sheet of ice and darkness. The queen breathed deeply, calming herself down as she slowly chanted a mantra she had recited for thirteen years of her isolated life.
"Conceal it… Don't feel it… Don't let it show…"
Slowly she raised her arms up, releasing a slow and steady exhale as the snow thawed all around her, compressing into a giant snowflake above the shadow. When it exploded into a burst of white and blue light, the shadow shivered and jerked, like the snow that fell on its misty-self stung. The people rejoiced as they saw the shadow shrink slowly into a size of a child, falling gracefully upon the moist ground. The queen smiled smugly, satisfied that her theory was correct:
Love casts out fear. Love was the better revenge.
Applause, cheers… they were everywhere. Like a rushing tide, it drowned out all the fear and misery that swept the land before.
Elsa had saved them.
But unbeknownst to the queen, the shadow smirked. As her defenses were low while she basked in the tearful and cheerful relief of her people… the shadow attacked.
"QUEEN ELSA!"
And in a split-second… the world was enveloped in an Eternal Winter.
xXx
The Second Universe
21st century, The North Pole
A Year after the Rise of the Guardians
Jack Frost opened his eyes as one did after waking from a nightmare.
"Jack?"
The Winter Spirit looked to his side. It was the Tooth fairy, gazing worriedly over him as she pressed a warm hand over his forehead.
"Are you okay?" the fairy asked him worriedly.
Jack found himself having dozed off by the windowsill of Santa's office… which was peculiar because he hadn't dozed off in a long while.
He tried to remember why he was there, or what he and Tooth were doing in North's workshop. He tried to remember how or why he slept, and he felt so confused and perplexed that it was like he had suddenly experienced a gap in time. It might have been a second, a minute, or an hour… he tried and tried, but he just couldn't remember why he was there.
Something was off.
"I… I…" he panted, his eyes darting from side to side, as if he were in panic. "I don't know I… I think I just had… had a nightmare."
The fairy scrunched her brows worriedly. "What? Wha-What happened?"
The fairy queen sat beside him, patting him at the back as one would a child. She gazed warily at the guardian of fun whose breathing seemed ragged and off as he steadied to calm himself. He pulled off his hood and massaged his temples, closing his eyes tight as he tried to remember the dream he had.
A woman. A woman who was attacked by shadows.
Help me…
"Someone…" Jack murmured. "Someone was asking for my help…"
Tooth's feathers moved in surprise. "Was it a child?"
Jack shook his head. "No… I… I don't know. I can't remember…" He took a deep breath. "But I'm sure she was female."
The tooth fairy patted him again slowly as she stared at the boy's troubled eyes. Tooth felt her motherly instincts kick in as she brushed Jack's hair across his cold sweaty forehead with her free hand.
"It was just a bad dream Jack." She murmured. "But if It makes you feel better, we could tell North about it. Perhaps something might be up.'
Jack nodded as he swallowed. His mouth felt dry and he felt his frozen heart race a bit. He didn't understand why he felt so… so off. Like something was troubling him, except he didn't know what it was.
But for all he knew, it was a matter of great importance.
"What are we doing here Tooth?' Jack said. His voice sounded a bit raspy, and all he could do was clear his throat to avoid sounding like he had slept a long time.
"Uhm…" Tooth murmured. "North kind of called for an annual meeting Jack. Don't you remember?"
Jack nodded, finally registering why he was there. "Uh, yeah… I do… I just…"
Tooth sighed as she gave the winter spirit some space to breath. "You've been acting strange Jack. It's like you're with us and then not with us the next."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
The Tooth Fairy shrugged. "The whole night we've been talking to you it was like your mind was in some far off place. You certainly got on Bunny's nerves at the end of the meeting. Then suddenly you just dozed off."
Jack blinked in confusion. "What? You mean… the meeting was over?"
Tooth nodded, "Yeah. And we couldn't find the heart to wake you up. You look kind of exhausted."
Jack looked away, scrunching his brows in confusion. He remembered nothing of what Tooth said. Nothing at all.
What the heck was going on?
Bang!
Both guardians whipped their heads at the door. It was North, panting for breath, looking like he had suddenly seen a ghost.
"What's wrong?" Tooth asked as she fluttered towards the huge man's side.
"The Globe." The man muttered.
It was all they needed to hear to bolt out the doors of North's office towards where the Globe was.
"What happened?" Jack asked. It didn't surprise him that Sandy and Bunnymund were already gathered at the Guardian's Head Quarters.
The room was crowded. The yetis and elves were all gathered in a circle, watching as the Globe's lights gradually dimmed and disappeared. Others flickered, but they all died soon eventually.
"The lights…" Bunny said as he gestured towards the slowly rotating globe.
The lights were all going out.
"Is it Pitch?" Tooth asked them. They all shook their heads.
"Pitch wouldn't rise back to power that quickly." North murmured. "He takes years to plan comeback!"
"I don't think he'd be dumb enough to retaliate that quickly after what we did last year." Bunny snorted smugly.
"Then who caused it?" Jack asked.
Sandy pointed to the northern hemisphere of the Globe, watching as a sheet of frost began to coat each continent gradually like a looming shadow. The guardians all turned to Jack, their gazes a silent question, a mild accusation, one that demanded answers.
Jack held his hands up in defense. "Hey, that wasn't me… I'm here see?"
"Then what could have caused that, mate?" Bunnymund asked, not meaning to yell. "You're the only winter spirit 'round 'ere!"
"Bunny! Bunny!" North scolded as he patted his back. "Let's not jump to conclusions. Maybe it is new enemy!"
"Another winter spirit like Jack?" Tooth wondered.
The Sandman nodded uncertainly.
Before anyone could answer, The Moon suddenly peeked through the high window, flooding the room with its enigmatic glow. North raised his head and felt cheer and relief wash through his system at the familiar sight of their old friend.
"Ah! Man in Moon!" he greeted. "What message do you bring us this evening?"
They watched as a beam of light streamed down the center of the room where the mark of the Guardians was, expecting a shadow or a figure explaining the danger that suddenly befell the children of the world. But instead it just stayed there as a beam of light, and it confused the guardians why no message was given in the seconds that passed.
Well… except for Jack Frost that is…
Step into the light Jack…
"What?" Jack murmured. He gazed up at The Moon, surprised that he has finally spoken to him directly after more than three hundred years of silence.
Step into the light…
As if in a trance, Jack Frost followed what the silent voice told him, basking within the ethereal glow of the blue moon. The guardians raised their brows at this, watching as Jack slowly turned around, feeling the light that danced off his skin…
Jack felt energy course through his veins, filling him with a strength he couldn't muster. He could have sworn his lips broke into his familiar boyish grin as blue and white light cascaded through his body like rain. He closed his eyes and saw vague images… a swirling of colors of gold, pink, brown, purple, red, yellow, blue and white, melting into a peculiar kaleidoscope in his mental vision.
"Jack?" North called out to him.
"What are you doing, mate?" Bunnymund asked.
To them it almost appeared like Jack was twirling like a… like a child. But it was all a different story to Jack Frost.
He saw the colors mold into figures. They were people. He could not distinguish their faces, or their build, or their voices… but he knew they were people.
A blonde. A brunette. A red-head. He wasn't sure.
"Jack?" It was Tooth's voice. Worried.
Jack paid no attention, for his focus was now on one lone figure dressed in white… a woman whose pale gold hair cascaded in waves down her back, her ivory skin wrapped in enchanting billows of white cloth and snow…
He could hear her singing… her voice deep and rich and beckoning to him…
Find me here, lone in the darkness
I shall wait for thee my love…
I shall wait…
"Whoa are you?" Jack whispered.
And in one unexpected moment, Jack Frost fell unceremoniously to the floor… like a rag doll.
"JACK!"
xXx
None knew what danger befell them in that moment. But Manny knew what he did, and he knew the stakes of what he did to our fellow guardian.
A power force darker than most enemies we fought had invaded the First Universe. We know not yet what it was, or how it had come to be. But one thing was for sure…
The Eternal Winter has spread. The darkness was only the beginning.
This is the first entry to the Story Book Chronicles.
Writ this 2nd day of June, the year of Sauntoff Claussen's glory, with my witness, His Nocturnal Magnificence, Sanderson Mansnoozie, Sandman the First, Lord High Protector of Sleep and Dreams.
Katherine
Guardian of Stories
… … …
A/N: Hello fellow weirdoes! Missed me?
Yeah, Yeah, I know. I know I said I'd updated after I finish my two other fics. But I got bored, and Mr. Inspiration just struck me all of a sudden. *sigh*
So, how do you like the new chapter? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Review!
And also, do you like the format I used in typing up this story? The next chapters are gonna be like this you know, I think, sort of… meh…
Oh! Oh! And I kind of need some help. I would love it if someone would like to co-author this with me You see, some characters in this fic are… hmmm… how do I put this, a bit complicated for me to write. In a way that I am struggling to relate to them. For example I relate a lot to Elsa's temperament, so I think I know how to write a story from her point of view. As for Jack, hmmm…. I'm trying to wing it. If you're interested, please PM me or something so I can discuss the plot with you (I already planned out how the story is gonna flow in my brain. Just not in super duper fine detail, but it's an outline anyway.) And I'm open to suggestions as well. :D
Buut… if no one would want to co-author with me…. *shrugs* okay, I'll just write this on my own and do *ugh* character studies. *gloom*
And I'd like to warn you that this is gonna be a slow update because I will prioritize my other two fics, because they're sort of entering the transition period in the plot. Go ahead and check out Child of Winter Solstice or Red Moon and Black Ice if you want.
So, this fic is Jelsa… but not really super Jelsa-ish. It's gonna be a high fantasy epic or something. Romance is gonna be like a third genre or something, but meh, whatever. This'll focus on friendship. What inspired me to write this is the anime Fairy Tail, and the Vocaloid music video series called Synchronicity. (Yeah… I'm a fantasy geek)
And I'm gonna try to make this a fast-paced story. I normally write dragged-on fics, so this is gonna be quite challenging I think… I mean, how do you write a fast-paced story without making it seem rushed?
Haha, sorry…. I'm rambling..
So… REVIEW AWAY! :D