Betrothed to Jack Frost: Fire's Fury **SOON TO BE PUBLISHED**

4) The Immortal

"My immortal" by Evanescence
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As Lucy arrived home later that evening, they settled for a quiet dinner of frozen pizza, their attention diverted by the mindless distraction of bad reality TV. In the warmth of familiarity, the weight of their earlier disagreement seemed to fade into the background.

After dinner, Lucy retreated to her homework, diligently working late into the night before exhaustion finally claimed her. Elle, however, remained awake, her curiosity driving her to delve deeper into her family heritage. Despite her efforts, the internet yielded little information about Macaria.

According to legend, Macaria was merely a daughter of Hades and an unknown mother, her existence shrouded in mystery. No matter how diligently Elle scoured mythology books and online resources, she couldn't find anything about her.

Her search for Kane, too, yielded few results. While he was identified as one of the four major Hawaiian deities, his parentage remained a mystery, his true nature obscured by the veil of time and myth.

It was nearly three in the morning after her searching. Elle's eyes were heavy and weary; blurring the longer she stared at the computer screen trying to read the same sentence for the third time. Elle finally closed her laptop and set it down on the floor by her bed. Lucy was snoring loudly in the next room, her TV stayed on, blaring a sitcom that occasionally had a laughing audience. Elle's eyes were drooping closed as she laid in bed. As much as she craved sleep, she was terrified of whatever nightmares would haunt her dreams. Sometimes she was alone and frightened while running in a dark forest. Sometimes she had her throat ripped out by Macaria. Sometimes she was burning to death in a fiery inferno. Elle slowly got out of bed and crept over to her closet. Elle's fingers danced over the surface of her dresser, searching for the familiar shape of the object she sought. After a few moments of rummaging, her hand closed around it: the exquisite snow globe, its glass surface catching the soft glow of lamplight as she lifted it from its resting place.

Inside the globe, a miniature city sparkled in silver and diamond. It was a gift bestowed upon Jack Frost by the fates themselves, a token imbued with magic and purpose: to guide him to Elle's side, no matter the distance that separated them.

With trembling hands, Elle turned the key of the music box nestled within the snow globe, the melodious notes filling the room with their haunting beauty. Supposedly, whenever the music played, Jack could hear it, no matter how far apart they were, drawn inexorably towards its haunting melody like a moth to flame.

As the music swirled around her, Elle couldn't help but wonder if, somewhere out there in the vast expanse of the world, Jack was listening too. She doubted it. After the fiasco that was their wedding day, Elle tried a couple hundred times a day to call Jack with it. She continued to use it day after day, continuously playing it in hopes that Jack would hear it. But he never came.

Elle eventually gave up. She tried to break the enchanted globe that was the only way to reach him, but it self-repaired every time she smashed it. She also tried to leave it in different places, hoping to get rid of it, but it always ended up back on her bed. It didn't matter if she left the globe in a dumpster or in the restroom of a Kentucky Fried Chicken. Somehow, the globe always found its way back to sitting atop of her bed every morning when she awoke. After realizing that she couldn't call Jack with it and she also couldn't get rid of it, Elle finally hid the globe in her closet. The dazzling diamond city of the North Pole was a bitter reminder for her of the life she couldn't have.

That night, Elle carried the globe to bed. She snuggled herself under the thick comforter and held the still-playing globe against her. This was the only thing she had to remember of Jack and their time together. She didn't keep the engagement ring. They didn't have pictures together.
Elle fought the desire to sleep for another full hour as she just laid wrapped up in her comforter and played the soft song of the globe repeatedly. But as the globe slowly stopped playing its hauntingly beautiful melody for the last time, she was nearly asleep. Right before sleep pulled her under, Elle feared that right behind her was Macaria; waiting in the shadows to rip her throat out for perhaps the twentieth time, just like in her nightmares. But exhaustion eventually settled in and she drifted off to sleep anyway. She then had a dreamless sleep that night. No horrible monsters or immortal nightmares haunted her mind.

Elle had fallen asleep without realizing that her earlier assumption was correct. There was an immortal present in her bedroom, though hidden in the dark corner's concealing shadows was not Macaria. As Elle drifted into a deep slumber, the enchanted snow globe nestled in her grasp began to emit a soft, ethereal glow, casting a gentle radiance across the darkness of her room. Within its glass confines, tiny pellets of snow began to descend, swirling and twirling in a mesmerizing dance that mirrored the gentle flurries of snow falling outside in the cold winter air.

The snowfall within the enchanted globe was no ordinary phenomenon; it was a manifestation of magic, an otherworldly display that only occurred when a certain immortal was nearby.

Jack Frost approached Elle's bedside with silent footsteps, his presence a whisper in the stillness of the night. His gaze lingered tenderly upon the sleeping form of Elle, her features softened in the embrace of peaceful slumber. With a gentle touch, he traced a pale finger across her delicate cheek, savoring the warmth that radiated beneath his touch.

Elle slept soundly, her breathing steady and even, a testament to the tranquility that had eluded her on many sleepless nights. Jack knew he could not stay with her, not if he wanted to keep her safe. Yet, the longing in his heart compelled him to remain by her side.

Throughout the night, the King of winter stood watch over Elle, his silent vigil a testament to his unwavering devotion. He guarded her dreams, warding off the specters of fear and doubt that threatened to invade her subconscious. In the quiet hours before dawn, he remained her silent protector, ensuring that she had a happy and dreamless sleep.

***