Frost

VI. THE DIPLOMATIC APPROACH

"Today on our international news segment, we're back to covering the enduring summer across the globe. In point of fact, said heat appears to finally have been broken. With snow beginning to fall all over Asia, and even parts of Europe, it would appear there's hope for a white Christmas yet.

"However, strangely enough, weather reports indicate that all of the cold fronts seem to have -- by some strange happenstance -- avoided Poland. Though the largest of the fronts is moving due west, when it comes to Poland, there seems to be a hiccup in the cloud coverage.

"Don't let that deter you though, folks; things are still looking up as far as winter is concerned. After all, Christmas still has two days to get here -- maybe this year, we'll see a real miracle. It would appear one is in the works . . . we'll just have to wait and see how everything unfolds."

--

When Jack and the fairies had left their land, she separated them into three groups. One followed the northern paths of the hemisphere, another the south, and her group was covering the center.

So of course, as luck would have it, it was Jack's group that encountered complications. Though initially she was frustrated by this delay, once she had put two and two together, she figured it was best she was facing it, instead of an ill-equipped group of fairies.

The complication as it were was a Phoenix. Giant bird creatures that were known for their burning capacity, amongst other magical qualities. At first, the Phoenix's presence in Poland had confused Jack, for a number of reasons. First of all, she'd gone through Poland, and it hadn't disintegrated all her work while she was there. (She quickly realized this was because even a Phoenix must rest.) Secondly, there was the curiosity of what a Phoenix was even doing in Poland, given the species in general preferred New Zealand and Australia.

That question was answered when one of the fairies realized, aloud, 'so this is what the summer fairies meant by reinforcements . . .'

It took Jack one hundred and twenty seconds to reign her temper back in after that.

"Will it adhere to reason?" One of the male fairies, Spruce, asked curiously once Jack's fists were no longer clenched.

She wasn't paying much attention to the fairies, though. Her icy eyes were trained on the Phoenix in the distance, seemingly studying it. It strutted about in the field it occupied, wings flapping every once in a while and sending out a heat wave. It glowed vibrantly, impossible to miss; the brilliant yellow and orange hues licking up at the blue skies.

Jack really wanted to punch it right in it's shiny bronze beak, but she knew that was hardly appropriate behavior for a legend, and refrained. Instead she turned her intense gaze to the fairies. "You're asking me to negotiate with a firebird," Jack said slowly, singling Spruce out in a way that made him squirm.

He shrugged, doing his best to seem unaffected by Jack's undivided attention. "If it listened to you, surely that would take less time than fighting it."

"Or," a small, lithe young fairie named Blanche volunteered, "you could contact Mother Nature?"

Jack turned away from all of them, doing her best not to roll her eyes. Instead she looked up at the sky, her eyes narrowing for a moment as something occurred to her. "You knew this would happen, didn't you, Old Man?" she asked aloud, knowing full well she might've looked like a looney. She knew she wouldn't receive an answer, and thus shook her head, a slightly demented smile lifting her lips. She knew the answer anyway, after all. "All right," she said, clapping her hands together and turning back to the fairies, "here's how this is going to go down. I'm going to go speak with the Phoenix, and the rest of you are going to keep doing your jobs. Capiche?"

She received wide-eyed, uncertain stares in response for almost half a minute, before they all began to nod and agree over-enthusiastically.

"Brilliant," Jack chirped in false joy. "Then let's get to work."

That was all the urging the fairies needed. Each flew off into different directions in clusters, leaving Jack to approach the Phoenix on her own.

Though she could have -- and maybe should have -- asked Mother Nature for assistance, Jack Frost had always been a stubborn individual. Persistent as the cold that nipped at people's noses and seeped deep into their very bones, she didn't know when to surrender.

As she approached the Phoenix, she could feel the tangible power clash in the air. Heat opposing cold, colliding in such a way that nearly electrified the space between them. The physical presence of power invading the air was what made the Phoenix turn as Jack approached, it's feathers puffing up as it observed her with smoldering charcoal eyes.

"Jack Frost," it greeted in a low voice, regarding her with a canted head and narrowed eyes. "You are here, I presume, to ensure winter."

"That's the plan," Jack agreed, looking up at the huge bird without deterrence. Though it towered over her and dwarfed her in size, Jack was not intimidated.

She couldn't remember a time when she ever had been. "What's your name?" she asked then, tipping her chin toward it.

"Pyralis," he answered, pulling his wings into his body and continuing to observe Jack as she did he. "I have no quarrel with you, Frost. I am doing what the summer fairies asked of me."

Jack barked a laugh. "You may not have a personal fight to pick with me, Pyralis, but this is the time of year when winter claims the world." She shifted her stance, brows arching as she made eye contact with the bird. "The summer fairies listened to reason when I presented them with it."

Pyralis fluttered his wings somewhat, contemplating this for a moment. "They have surrendered?"

"To me?" Jack smiled with closed lips. "Of course."

Pyralis made a low noise in his chest. "I see. I do not wish to fight you, Frost, for I know of your power. I will return to my homeland immediately. However, I feel it fair to warn you, there are two others of my kind stationed on the planet. One of which will not acquiesce so kindly as my brother and I."

Jack nodded at that, filing the information away for later. "I can deal with it. Though as far as your brother goes, it would be greatly appreciated if you'd take him along with you on your way home."

Pyralis ducked his head in a respectful nod. "Of course."

When he moved as though to take off, Jack stopped him with a raised hand; "This third Phoenix . . . Where is he?"

Though Pyralis could not smile -- for he was a bird, after all -- the look in his eyes was one of good nature. "A wise question, Frost. He is in the state of New York. His name is Maka." He spread his wings then, flapping them a few times and rising into the air. "I wish you good fortune, Jack Frost," he crowed before rising further into the sky, leaving Jack to spread winter in Poland.