A Court of Broken Realms ~Jelsa fanfiction~

Chapter 12 - A Natural

Anna and I spent the rest of our morning in the art gallery, observing and trying to spot paintings or painters we could recognize. We had been unsuccessful for the past 2 hours, however. I had to admit, most of my time was spent staring at Elizabeth's painting. She was so regal, so poise, so... perfect. A sort of softness and power that I had never seen captured in a portrait before. The resemblance was mesmerizing. I often opened my phone camera to look at my own face, as if to check and reconfirm what I looked like. Down to the small mole on my hand near my thumb, it was a perfect copy. It was fascinating, yes but absolutely terrifying. "Ow!" moaned my sister as I heard a loud thud. I quickly turned around to see she had slipped on ice. I looked down at my feet and noticed the trail led to me, "Sorry Anna! Are you okay?" I rushed to her side as she rubbed her lower back, "Y-Yes I'm fine. Since when is there ice here?" I gave my sister an awkward smile, "I think that one is my fault.." She grabbed my hand and stood up, "No worries, I'm fine. You're training with Jack this evening, aren't you?" I nodded and she handed me a round frame.

The painting was only a little bigger than my head. I couldn't help but sneer a bit when I realized it was a portrait of Jack, "Oh god-" Anna began to giggle, "He looks so serious!" She jokingly mimicked his pose, making me laugh. He stood with his staff, wearing a thick blue cape with a fur collar. Underneath he wore a blue waistcoat and a white shirt. The crown on the top of his head was a bold reminder of who he once was. A prince, in charge of a kingdom alongside North and the other Guardians. I had to admit, the longer I thought about it the weirder it felt to imagine him in such a position. Such an awkward and strange yet kind man atop a throne. With so much history within one person, I could only wonder what he's seen, what he's felt, who he's been. A village boy, prince, Guardian and now titleless loner, hidden in the deepest parts of an abandoned palace. Did he have a wife? Kids? Parents? Siblings? "Alright you can quit staring." I jumped a little as Anna knocked me out of my thoughts once again. She smirked, "What iiisss it nooooow?" I raised an eyebrow, handing the portrait back, "Nothing? Anyways... We should explore the rest of the palace. I'm starting to get hungry." My sister only nodded, a smirk still plastered on her face.

I closed the door behind us and led Anna to the kitchen through the dining hall. To my shock, it was now clean! The plates were all gone, the floor clean and the vases had been replaced with ice ones with fresh flowers. Anna turned to me, confused, "I thought you said it was a mess?" I shrugged, "Jack must've cleaned it up." The windows suddenly opened, making us stagger back. Jack was flying outside, "Girls? Oh shit- Sorry! I hadn't noticed." He floated down into the dining hall, Sandy right behind him. We both greeted him warmly and he waved back, his usual smile on his face. "Did you guys clean it up? It looks great! Especially in such a short amount of time. You know, if we're gonna live here for free, we should help-"

Jack cut me off, taking a step forward, "No need, truly. Trust me... it was overdue and we're not done. Sandy and I were about to tackle the windows. Did you guys need anything?" He leaned against his staff very casually. The contrast was so strange. It was undeniably him earlier in those portraits and yet... to see him in a hoodie and shoeless once more, it was difficult to believe. I gulped, "We're hungry so I figured I could whip something up in the kitchen quickly. Also... In the art gallery, ice came out of my feet without me realizing, making Anna fall. Is that... normal?" His cheeks turned pink at the mention of the gallery and he looked away, "O-Oh... Well, were you anxious? Or something? I-I mean--" I looked at Sandy who rolled his eyes and slapped Jack's leg before turning to Anna and made a picture of a bandage and a question mark. She shook her head, "I'm not injured, if that's what you're asking." He nodded, looking very happy she understood. Their small discussion allowed Jack to regain his composure as he cleared his throat, "We can start training earlier today- especially if very visible displays of magic are happening." I nodded and we all headed into the kitchen. To my surprise, Jack had gotten us plenty of food and with his powers was able to create a sort of fridge. Anna ran upstairs and came back with a lighter, allowing us to start warming up the stove oven. When I noticed the pesto in the fridge, I tried my best to make Anna and I pasta in the small cauldron, "Not the worst thing I've made..." Anna chuckled at my remark, "True. Will never beat the meatloaf, that was absolutely hideous." I rolled my eyes and flicked a pasta at her, "Shut up, I was like 12! And the bird that stole it seemed to love it, thank you very much."

I soon joined Jack in the courtyard, the same one we walked through yesterday, "Elsa! There you are. Feeling ready?" I looked down at my hands, unsure, "I-I guess so." His gaze softened and he approached me calmly, "Don't worry, it's scarier than it seems. I'm not training you to fight or anything like that. I just want you at ease with it, enough to not display it in public." I looked up at him and gave a small nod. I could do that, just be at ease with something. "What were you doing when the ice appeared?" He asked.

I shrugged, "I-I'm not sure. I was staring at a painting and the whole room felt a bit overwhelming, it was odd." He nodded, "Anxious?". I shook my head, "More confused, rather." He nodded once again, "Alright well, nothing wrong with being anxious or confused, we're just gonna have to be a bit more aware of our surroundings alright?" He smiled as he made a snowflake appear and began to control it, making it swirl in between his fingers, "In my experience, magic is heavily influenced by emotions. Bigger emotions, bigger output of magic... well, rather a potential for a bigger output." I nodded, focusing on the snowflake, "H-How did you do that?" He put his hand down, the snowflake falling to the ground, "Centuries of practice, first off. But also, I'm calm. I do it on command now and my magic used to be very, very messy in the beginning. I'd fly into every single tree. So, for now, just think of a small snowflake and move your hand. The rest will come."

I bit my lip, feeling very awkward and stupid, "You say that but... so far, the only intentional thing I've done is freeze a hair tie." He chuckled, "Come on, give it a shot."

I closed my eyes and opened my palm, trying my best to think of a snowflake. What did they even look like? I opened one eye, but nothing was happening. I closed and opened my hand a few times, but nothing still. Groaning a bit, I made the spiderman hand pose in hopes before letting my hand fall to my side, groaning still, "Dammit."

Jack chuckled at my piss poor attempts to conjure magic, "Come on, actually focus. Give it an actual shot. Can't give up before you've tried." I rolled my eyes but followed his instructions anyway and opened my palm once more. Closing my eyes again, I took a deep breath.

Snow... Cold... Ice... Snowflakes.. 4 branches, 6 branches, 8 branches.

I slowly closed my hand before opening it once more and opened my eyes when I felt a tingle in my fingertips.  I gasped at the sight, a few snowflakes swirling around right above my palm. I jumped in excitement and they fell onto the ground, "DID YOU SEE THAT?!"

Jack chuckled, taking a step forward, "I did, well done. See? You're a natural."