Dark (Big Six)

Chapter 10

We walk on for a while, conversing about random things that vary from birds, to the sun, to our previous lives.
"What did you do before you came to Aora?" I ask him and he looks over at me momentarily before focusing his attention back on the tricky rocks.

"I'm Jack Frost, guardian of winter. I just flew around and brought the children of the world snow days and fun times." Jack smiles a little.

"Before that?" I question and he pauses.

"I'm not sure about all of it, but I'll tell you what I know." he stutters quietly, his light mood shifting downward.

"Okay," I nod and he starts cautiously.

"Well, in order to become a guardian you must've had to die for someone or something. An honorable sacrifice," he begins. I had no idea that's how it worked and I tell him that. I suddenly realize why he's so melancholy at the moment.

He's going to tell me how he died. I don't know how I'll get through this without feeling pain.. and falling even more in love with this selfless hero.

"Well I was with my sister one day," he rubbed the back of his neck, glancing at me from the corner of his eyes. I'm so focused on him that I don't notice the scenery change from level forest to rocky mountains. "and we were going ice skating on a lake by our house. Keep in mind, this was about 300ish years ago. Anyway, we were out in the middle when I realized that the ice was too thin and it would break. I grabbed my staff," he gestures to the one in his hand. "and told her we were playing a game. I hooked the edge around her torso and yanked her safely back on the thicker portion, leaving me in the center. The-the ice broke and," his voice breaks.

"Jack," I softly say, wrapping my arms around his. One of his hands rests on mine as he continues.

"I fell into the freezing water. The last thing I heard was her call my name. Then I woke up in the dark water years and years later. I rose out and the moon told me my name is Jack Frost, nothing more. After searching for decades for my little sister, leaving trails of blizzards in my wake, I gave up and became a guardian."

"That's amazing that you would do that for your sister," I say. "I only hurt mine."

"How so?" he seems to be happy and the topic change but I can't get the image of a young Jack on an icy lake playing with his little sister out of my head. His hair being light brown instead of snowy white, and his eyes the same. I can imagine the moment he noticed that his sister might die and how afraid it made him. He looked around, trying not to seem nervous, but also trying to protect his sister's life before it was too late. The only way for him to save hers was to lose his. And he did it without a second thought.

"When we were kids, she and I would play all the time with my power. She'd wake me up and practically drag me out of bed in the middle of the night and we'd secretly play for hours." I begin with a slight smile but it quickly changes. "But one night I accidentally struck her and it almost killed her. After that I stayed in my room by myself, not risking to even talk to her. She, of course, was healed but also lost memory of my magic. So I spent my whole life hiding away like an idiot, when all she wanted was a friend. Even when my parents died I didn't come out."

"Your parents died?" he looks at me carefully and I nod sadly.

"Shipwreck." I say before continuing. "A short while ago she became knowledgable of my gift and got really excited about it. I'd gotten better at controlling it but not good enough to run the kingdom, so she sent me here to 'make friends and learn something'." I chuckle. "So, unlike you, I only hurt her, not saved her."

"Are you serious?" he says.

"Serious about what?"

"That you didn't save her?"