Flame and Frost [Rise of the Guardians Fanfiction]

Chapter 16 Restoring the Beliefs

Jack’s POV

I immediately went straight to Pitch’s lair again and only stopped to open one of the cages that held Tooth’s fairies. “Come on, let’s go!”

The fairies looked at me almost grimly. “What’s wrong?” I questioned, looking at them all. I looked over at the other cages. “None of you can fly?”

Their sad looks confirmed it. Baby Tooth chirped next to my ear, pointing at the globes which used to be glittering with the lights of the children’s beliefs. “The lights…” I muttered to myself.

I dropped to the ground in front of the globe and straightened up. “They’re all going out!” I exclaimed. There were only six left. I started panicking as the last one in England went out, leaving only five. Another light went out, then another.

Only three left. Two. I winced, half-expecting the last light to go out any moment now, but it didn’t. I hopped onto the globe to get a closer look. There’s only one child in that area that I know would keep believing in the Guardians.

“Jamie!” I said, a hint of pride in my voice. “Better hurry.” I added as his light started flickering.

Flame’s POV

“So that’s the plan. Any questions? Good. Let’s move out.”

I left without waiting for any response from Leo. Where should I go first? Ah, who cares? I went to the nearest house I could find, which happened to be a huge old Japanese-styled one.

I landed on the backyard, looking around carefully, taking everything in. This better be not some training dojo for Japanese assassins. Well, being careful won’t hurt.

I slowly studied the place for signs of children. I can tell, there might be children here, but there’s a dangerous air about this place…

A twig scrunched under my feet. I jumped back, cursing loudly. Then I froze. There were footsteps heading my way. If my hearing and instincts weren’t wrong, there were lots of them. But they don’t seem to belong to adults, I can tell that much.

Soon, a herd of children appeared. Yes, herd. There were too many to count quickly. There were at least 40 of them, maybe 50 or more.

They all looked around, confused. That’s right, they can’t see me… So how do I make them believe in me? I tapped my chin as I thought. Use a fireball to tell them? How?

I flew up into the sky. I’ll be the Shooting Star for now, then. I shot around quickly, successfully getting the children’s attention. They pointed at me and cheered. I smirked and lessened the fire around me. Can they see me now?

They all gasped. So they can. Great. I landed in front of them, smirking triumphantly. “Who are you?” said one of the children, a bald little boy. They all looked curious of who I am.

“I’m the Flame Empress, or the Shooting Star, as you guys know me better with that name.” I said. They all ‘ooh’-ed and ‘aah’-ed as I told them more about myself and the other Guardians.

“I told you guys they’re real!” said the bald boy from before. I chuckled. “Yeah, the guys are real. Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, they’re all real.”

“So the Sandman’s real too?”

I stayed silent. Is he real? He’s dead, so what am I supposed to tell these children? If I tell them Sandy’s real, they’ll believe it and he might really be revived that way. There’s no guaranteeing that it’s gonna work, but I’ll take the chance.

“Yeah, he’s real too.” I said.

“But why doesn’t he give us nice dreams? Why do we keep getting nightmares lately?” said another child, this time a girl.