Rise of The Guardians 2: Just Like Fire

Chapter 15: Jack

North took his snow globe from one of his many pockets, turning away from me slightly as he whispered to the glass ball.

He threw it and the portal opened, a swirling mass of blue with a centre of reds and greens. "Are you ready?" he asked, turning towards me slightly, knowing that I wasn't going to reply.

Tooth, who had been silently brooding after I yelled at her, spoke out. "I still don't understand why you want to find this bitch. It seems like a lot of trouble to go through for something that might not even be true. I mean, none of us have even heard of this Kronos before. For all we know, Aria's lying to us."

Tooth kept talking in her annoying, whiny voice, but I managed to tune her out. She should know how stubborn I am. We've worked together for ten years.

Completely ignoring her as she started waving her arms around, still talking, I flipped her the bird over my shoulder and stepped through the portal.

҉

On the other side, the first thing I felt was a slap in the face. A metaphorical one, not a literal one. The heat bombarded me with instant pain and nausea.

"Shit." I stumbled, resting a hand on a conveniently placed tree for stability.

North emerged from the portal, grinning like a maniac.

"Something wrong Jack?" He asked, seeing me leaning against the tree.

"No." I replied, ignoring the prickling over my skin. "Just hot." I pushed off the tree and joined him in the centre of the small clearing.

From where I stood something grey peeked over the tree tops. The foliage was a vibrant green like an English wood in spring, but less cluttered.

North noticed my gaze.

"Do you reckon that's a roof?" I asked him.

He nodded and we began moving in that direction.

Five minutes later we stood in front of the building.

Where the jagged rock walls all around the realm curved sharply, a large, British-style manor was set into the landscape, looking sunken into the stone behind it. The forest ran right up to the stone brick walls, where green ivy with tiny purple tinged blue flowers encircled the columns framing the front doors.

One of the large double doors was propped ajar, swaying in time with the curtains to the breeze's silent melody. Surprisingly cool, the wind tousled my hair, forcing it into my eyes.

Walking up the wisteria covered path, North reached out and pushed the door. It opened silently, and for some reason the hairs on the back of my neck stood up in the hot air.

In the foyer, a massive golden chandelier had pride of place in the centre of the ceiling. The candles on it were all out, but were still slightly smoking as though they had just been extinguished. The rest of the foyer was decorated in vivid reds, oranges, yellows, and splashes of blues and purples, with a golden wood varnished floor, and simple grey stone walls, mostly hidden by landscape paintings in gold frames. A fireplace took up half a wall, while a grand staircase sweeping up the opposite wall made the décor complete.

Greeted with utter silence, by mutual decision, North and I split up; him searching the ground floor and me going upstairs.

Flying up to the landing, my feet sank into plush carpet that led off to either side of me.

I went left.

҉

How many rooms are there in Aria's goddamn house? So far, I've seen 3 sitting rooms, 17 bedrooms, a massive study, an epic library and an upstairs greenhouse. And this is just on one wing!

Coming to the end of the hallway, I realised there was only one door left in this wing of the manor. Fighting down another wave of inexplicable nausea, I reached out to open the door. As if it was a horror movie, (Jamie's favourite genre), I half expected the door to be locked. It wasn't.

Pushing the door open, I entered into a massive, lavish bedroom. Off to the side was a dark, wooden four poster bed with gold accents. Opposite me were French doors leading to a private balcony, and opposite the bed was a dresser sitting comfortably between two doors, presumably the ensuite bathroom and closet.

Looking at the bed again, I realised how badly tangled the purple sheets were, and how the haphazard piles of pillows on the floor looked as though they were knocked away.

Then I noticed an empty vase on the dresser, something like ash littering the wooden top around it. A slip of white peeked out from under the vase. It was on top of the ash.

My hand spasmed as I reached out to grab the paper. I jerked my head in surprise at the unexpected movement, and a trickle of sweat rolled down my face.

Breathing heavily, I pulled the rough square out from under the vase. Unfolding it slowly, I blinked more sweat out of my eyes.

                My dearest Guardian,

                If it is a game of chess that your informant believes us to be playing, then her      disappearing act will be my first move.

                Check.

My hands were shaking after I read Kronos' letter, but this time I wasn't sure whether it was from the heat, or the note. On second thought, watching the paper flutter like butterfly wings, maybe both.

North chose that moment to waltz in the room, proclaiming that downstairs was empty. He froze, looking at the paper. "What is that?"

I handed over the note wordlessly.

"Informant?" He asked.

"Really?" I snapped. "Is that all you got out of that? Kronos kidnapped Aria!" My hand spasmed again as I went to run it through my hair, and my lungs constricted. "Look, I'm sorry North." I said in a quieter voice. "I'm just hot and stressed. I'll see you at the Pole, OK?"

(A/N) Sorry this has been a long time coming, it was really hard to write. I hope it was worth it though? Please don't forget to vote, and please comment! I would love to hear what you think!