Revelation

The Frozen Sea

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The ship rocked gently in the waves, a fluid rolling motion Jack was quite unused to. He had never been out on sea, much less on a vessel; Pitch had had a field day when Jack had asked one time as a child if he could go outside the citadel and go with the sailors on their huge ships, giving him a severe punishment through whippings and lashings and no dinner that night. On top of that, he had forbade his siblings to see him at all that week.

Guess it should have been one of the early signs that I should have started becoming suspicious, Jack frowned to himself, looking out to the sea. What kind of father does that anyway? Beating their child until all of their bones are shattered?

Shaking anymore thoughts of his "father" out of his head, Jack returned his attention to the vast blue in front of him. It was a fairly calm day on the sea, or so Jack had been told. That didn't make sitting in the hold trying to ignore the ship's constant motions any easier. He didn't get violently seasick like some of the others had, but he certainly wasn't comfortable. And even after this, they'd still be at sea for nearly a week before making landfall based on the scouts' estimates. Jack managed to restrain a moan. A week of this? Well, at least he knew what he wasn't meant to be in life: a sailor.

The hold was packed, with each member of their group claiming their own tiny section of the wooden hull to lean against. With the hatches closed to the midday sun, a small number of lit candles provided their only illumination. The faces of the men and women around him were uniformly grim. Everyone dealt with the time before a battle differently – that was something Eugene had told him many years ago. Preparing yourself to take lives and perhaps lose your own was never easy.

"It's a good thing that we made it on board this ship before it left."

Jack turned to the sound of Rapunzel's voice, grinning when she approached him. "Yeah, thank the gods."

"But, Jack, aren't you tired?" Rapunzel asked worriedly. "Since that last battle, you haven't had a chance to recuperate yourself. At least on this ship, please get some rest."

"All right, I will," Jack nodded. "Thanks."

..~..

After taking a long, calming nap, Jack felt more alert and energized, ready to get this trip over with and reunite with his brother at Luan.

"Um, um, Lord Jack, the voyage seems to be going well," Snow White said when he came out of his cabin. She started walking in stride with him. "It looks like we'll be arriving at the harbor by tomorrow."

"I see. Thanks, Snow White," Jack smiled gratefully. Upon arriving outside, he couldn't help but let a frown cross his face. "Hm. The sky's starting to get dark. And the waves are getting higher too," he said, looking over the ship, the water lapping dangerously near his face.

"Yes, I was just about to tell you that there might be a storm coming," Snow White said. "So before it comes, we should all get inside our cabins-"

A huge jolt shook the ground, almost causing Jack and Snow White to fall off the side of the ship.

"What the-?!"

"Wh-wha-what?!" Snow White gasped. "The boat suddenly stopped!"

"What's going on?" Jack looked around. "Did the boat break down?" Looking at the side of the ship once again, Jack took a sharp inhale of breath. "No way... The ocean... It's frozen!"

"What?! But how could that be?" Snow White said, checking with her own eyes the strange events transpiring. "The ocean doesn't just suddenly freeze! And it's not even winter- What? There's someone facing us over there..." she stopped quietly, pointing a shaky finger to another boat in the distance. "Um...is that...Lady Astrid?!"