(Jack's POV)
|
|
|
|
|
'It's been over an hour! Why haven't we found her yet!' I yelled out in frustration while Tooth harshly pulled me out of the pile of rubble I was digging through.
I was trying to help North, Bunny and Sandy find Romie, but this search is going nowhere! We have almost dug up and lifted everything in the area, but sill, we haven't found her, or Carl, or Pitch....
Tooth has been gone for over an hour but showed up again about 20 minutes ago. She had washed all the blood off her bright feathers and has been trying to help us as much as possible.
Though she's starting to get frustrated because Bunny keeps forcing her to sit down. She appears to be in perfect health, not a single scratch, bruise or feather out of place on her entire body.
Unlike us boys. Not only were we covered head to toe in dirt, blood, ash and charcoal, but we've sustained quite a few minor injures from attempting to dig Romanna out.
The amount of broken glass, nails, straps of metal and splintered wood that was mixed with the concrete, bricks and the patches of fire that were still present, made it almost impossible to do anything without getting hurt in some way.
'Jack! You need to stop!' Tooth ordered while forcefully pushing me away from a dangerous fallen power line and away from our small search party.
'Stay still!' She exclaimed while attempting to clean up the cuts and grazes on my face, and aiding the burns on my hands and bare feet.
'Tooth, I don't think you understand how freaked out I am. I can't feel her link anymore!' I half shouted while flinching away from the wet towel she was dabbing onto my forehead.
'No, Jack I do understand. You do realise that the whole reason she's where she is now is because of me?! I fell into Pitch's trap and got myself captured! Also not to mention my brother, who was almost killed because of me!' She said while slightly loosing her temper and pressing the towel harder onto my injures, making them hurt more.
'Ow!' I complained while crossing my arms.
'Yeah, well shut up and quit complaing. If you would just hold still, this will be over in a second.' Her voice was laced with impatience and she was more then ready to slap me for being such a pain.
Over the past 20 minutes of Toothiana being here, she's been trying to tend to my injures, but I haven't let her.
She's now taken me by force and will not be pushed aside. She's obviously hating herself for not being able to fight back or to save herself. Tooth is one of the strongest and fearless warriors you will ever meet, but Pitch had made her feel so helpless. Now she's determined to make up for it by helping us now.
There was silence for a moment before I spoke again.
'It's not your falt. Romanna did it on her own. You don't know half of her story, so you wouldn't understand the reasons behind why she exploded like that. Also you wouldn't know why she was so scared of Carl. And also you wouldn't know why he would shoot his own daughter like that.' I said while turning my hand over so Tooth could bandage it.
I refuse to call that man her father. Carl doesn't deserve to have that tital!
'Wait, do you know something we don't?' She asked while staring up at me with a super serous expression on her face.
'If you do, you need to start talking, Now!' She ordered. Her sudden loud tone made me gulp and jerk my hand away from her.
'Yeah, mate. It about time ya finished the story you were tellin me yestaday night.' Bunny said while sitting down next to me.
Tooth immediately abandoned me and my injures, and quickly went about fixing any injures Bunny had managed to receive while tunneling through sharp hazardous materials.
'Ok, but first I need you to explain.... This... Whole... Thing... That's... Umm, going on right here. What's happening between you two. Since when were you two an item?' I spoke cautiously while slowly gesturing my hand back and forth between Tooth and Bunny.
'Are ya seriously askin this now? In the time it would take for me to explain my relationship with Tooth, Romanna would surely have bled to death or suffocated! Please for the love of the moon, this Tooth Fairy and Romanna's life, tell us what you know!' Bunny snapped while growing at me with annoyance. I noticed Tooth chuckled when Bunny mentioned her in his "for the love of" statement.
He did it purposely since he said he wasn't going to explain. He's such a pain sometimes.
'Ok! Ok! Well all I know is when Romie was five years old she randomly developed elemental earth powers. From what she described them to be like, she sounds almost like.... Mother Nature.' I explained while watching their reactions.
'She's a supernatural?! How could we have not seen it? Why didn't she tell us? Why didn't you?!' Tooth squealed angrily at me.
'Because her father beat her half to death because of them!' I yelled back at her while abruptly standing up.
'Carl, he fiscally abused her every day for a whole year every time she spoke about or used her powers. It had gotten so bad that it got to the point where she couldn't even activate them anymore. He scarred her for life! No seriously, she has the mother of all scars on her back caused by him. That's why she's mastered every musical instrument under the moon, she has no other way to cope with the trauma he gave her.' I continued to yell at them.
'What! That's why he beat her? Because she was a bloody supernatural! What the actual fuck! Supernaturals don't even belong with human parents! And this is the exact reason why!
Wait, scar? Actually I did notice somethin on her back, but it was too clean and perfectly shaped to be a scar. If it was then what the hell did he do to her to make it?!' Bunny growled while holding his head in his hands.
Carl is quickly becoming a major problem and I've got the feeling we haven't seen the last of him just yet.
'I don't know what a supernatural is, but we will continue that topic later.
Umm, was what you saw in the shape of a spiral? If so, then yeah, that's the scar. Carl tied her to a table and placed a cooking pan on her back, it was on fire by the way, and then he walked away. She said she was left there alone for an hour, or was it two, until the police arrived and saved her.' I replied unsure. Their immediate gasps of horror was enough to make any normal person pass out.
'I want him dead. How dear he even touch a five year old child like that!' All Bunny wants to do is obviously protect both our girls. Tooth and Romanna have both been fatality hurt by this one man and I know Bunny won't hesitate to snap his neck the next time they meet.
Let's hope the collapsed buildings have saved him the effort and did it for him.
'It's been about twelve years since Romanna used her powers. Before now, she had completely forgotten how to even activate them. You've got no idea what an achievement that was for her. Romanna's biggest fear was to use her powers and stand up to her dad. Now look at what she did! She over came that fear and Tooth, you helped her do it!' My tone of voice had changed from bitter anger to honestly proud.
'Guys! I've found her!' North yelled from the pile of rubble Sandy was helping him lift over his head. We all ran over and I quickly jumped into the small crater she was buried in.
'Romie! Romie! Are you ok?' I franticly yelled while kneeling beside her. I can safely say that everyone saw the scar since she didn't have a shirt on for some reason and she was also lying face down, on her stomach.
The gun was obviously aimed at the spiral as if it was a target. Carl had a poor aim and shot more than one bullet at her. The wounds were placed on her higher back leading to her chest and two near the center of the spiral.
I carefully rolled her over and checked for a heart beat.
There was none. Her body was ice cold, her skin was pale and her blue eyes were hidden behind closed, unmoving eyelids.
'Do something!' I screamed at the guardians who were solemnly standing in front of me and Romanna's blood soaked body. Tears were uncontrollably streaming down my face and I didn't care if they thought I was acting like an idiot.
The girl who I was meant to protect is dead. Killed by the man I do not want to call her father.
She single handedly fought off Pitch, saved my life and Tooth's life, but at the same time ended her own.
'There is nothing we can do. I did not want to tell you this before, but this whole time we all knew that we were searching for a body. She's been gone for a while now. The link was severed the second her heart stopped beating. That was over an hour ago. It is for your safety, as the protector, you need to be able to save her when she's fatality hurt, you can't do that if the link hurts you in the same way too.' Sandy wrote in his golden sand above his head.
'I'm sorry Jack. There is nothing more we can do except take her to the Pole and get her cleaned up. We will figure out what we will do next when we get there.' North explained while taking off his large red coat and covered Romanna's body.
He then removed her from my arms and carried her to a pair of yeti who had opened a portal. They took her off North and carried her through to the Workshop.
'No...' I wispered while staring down at the blood on my shaking hands. I could feel the puddle of her blood that was on the concrete where I was kneeling, soak into the bottom of my pants, changing them into a foul colour.
'Jack! What happened?' A small voice called from behind me.
'Jamie, go home.' I replied harshly. My voice was as cold and dark as Pitch's own sickening voice.
'J-Jack....' Jamie said again while climbing over some burnt wood and walking into the center of the crater with us.
I couldn't move. My whole body was shaking to the point I couldn't breathe. The neverending tears were still falling from my eyes. Kinda like how the sudden appearance of snow was falling from the sky. Their dark clouds were looming above us making the already pitch black street even more darker.
It was like the whole sky was crying with me. The snow kept falling, harder and harder with every second of the deafening silence that passed.
Soon there will be a full out blizzard, and any of the buildings that survived Romanna's blast wouldn't be standing for much longer.
I'm not exactly sure what happened next. It all seemed like a dream. My entire mind and body seemed to shut itself down, forcing me to go into some kind of stress induced shock. I couldn't do anything myself.
I couldn't stand.
I couldn't hear.
I couldn't see.
I couldn't feel anything.
I don't remember how long I was kneeling in the crater, unblinking and staring at my hands. I think Jamie had tears in his eyes. He was crying, screaming out for me to respond to his voice.... But I don't know if I actually heard him.
Was he ever really there? Was this really happening? Was it just a nightmare that I was about to wake up from? Was Romanna actually safely sleeping next to me?
I don't know.
I can't feel anything but that the same time everything hurts. Like burning fire and needles digging under my skin and an unexplainable tightening feeling in my chest. The sinking feeling in my stomach and dizziness from the world that seemed to be spinning around my head.
It hurts... I don't like it... Make it stop...
.....Please.....
I can't stop crying. Why am I crying? Was this all real? Was Romanna really dead?
I think someone carried me back to the North Pole.
I'm not sure.
All I remember was something warm scooping me up off the ground and cradling me through the portal.
I was in a permanent state of shock. My brain doesn't know how to process what I've just seen.
In my entire life, I've never known someone to die. I've never experienced anything like this before. Except for when Sandy was killed in the last battle with Pitch.... but that was different.... I'm not sure how, but his "temporary death" isn't the same as Romanna's.
At the North Pole I remember Bunny holding both of my shoulders and talking softly but directly into my face. Though I couldn't hear anything he saying to me. I remained a blank motionless statue.
He carried me to the bathroom, undressed me, and put me into a warm bath. He made sure that every inch of my skin was 100% clean from our previous battle before he dried and dressed me in fresh clothes. I feel like an emotionless doll. I can't talk, eat or even wash and dress myself without help.
The rest of the night I spent in one of North's spare rooms, but I didn't sleep. I couldn't.... Not even Sandy's Dreamsand could make me rest easy.
I would only dream of Romanna and wake up in a worse frozen state then before.
This was the first time Sandy has ever had one of his Good Dreams affect someone in such a bad way.
At the moment, I hated his dreams. They were too painful, more painful than any nightmare.
Whether I slept or not, I was constantly being watched by one of my friends or by a yeti or elf. They didn't want to leave me alone for one second, just in case I broke out of my trance and needed some there to soothe me or in case I was feeling bad enough to do something really stupid to hurt myself.
The hours I spent curled up in a ball under the thick warm blankets of the bed, slowly dragged on becoming days.
I hadn't moved or spoken a word since I yelled at Jamie after that short battle.
Every so often Tooth would sit next to me and try to get me to eat. I would always refuse, but even if I did manage to eat something, I would vomit it up less than an hour later. I couldn't keep anything down for long.
Eventually I managed to drag myself out of the bed and now found myself curled up in the corner of the large windowsill which was in the room.
Romanna's broken glasses were being tightly held in my fist. I haven't put them down since I rediscovered they were in my pocket.
'Jack?' Tooth's voice barely registered in my mind for me to notice she had entered the dark room. It was somewhere in the early hours of the morning and the stars could easily be seen in the dark night sky, through the window.
But the moon was nowhere to be seen.
'Please. It's been four days, you need to eat something.' Tooth begged while removing the plate of old food from the desk and placing a new one down.
I didn't speak or move from the windowsill I was sitting under. My hood was pulled over my head and my knees were pulled tightly to my chest.
The fight that ended Romanna's life was repeating inside of my head, almost like a broken record.
'If only I could have done something.' I repeated the words over and over again. 'She died before I was able to tell her how much I cared about her.' I whispered while banging my head on the wall behind me.
Bunny refused to let me sleep outside in a tree that was in the town where Romanna died. He said it would make things worse if I was to go back there while I was mourning her. He also told North, Tooth and Sandy that I didn't technically have a place to live or a bed to sleep in.
Though, Sandy already knew that....
Immediately North officially declared that this room was mine to keep. It was now my home. I know I would not be able to return to Burgess without making my condition worse. So I didn't fight them. At the time didn't have the strength to even look them in the eye.
My stomach rumbled at the smell of the fresh food that Toothiana had just brought me.
'You're hungry. Please just eat a little bit of it. You don't need to eat it all if you don't want to. I just don't want you to keep starving yourself.' Tooth begged while flying over to me, a bowl of warm pumpkin soup in her two hands.
She sighed sadly when she noticed the harsh ice and frost that had grown around me and along the wall and window.
I feel empty. Nothing mattered to me anymore.
In the three short days I knew Romanna, she had managed to melt my heart and show me a side of myself that I never knew existed.
Flashes of the memorys I had of her made my eyes water, tears threatening to fall.
Her cute smile, her laugh, her blue shirt, the country cowboy hat and the black boots she's always wearing.
I remember the way she would roll her eyes, raise an eyebrow and cross her arms. The way she would laugh and pretend to punch me in the arm after I made a joke or remark. Though on occasion she did accidentally punch me. She didn't relise how strong she really was. But it was ok because it was her way of joking around.
I miss that.
I loved how her beautiful blue eyes and complementing smile would light up when she was talking or laughing. The cute way she would fiddle with her hair when she was nervous or shy. Her rough but sweet accent and amazing singing voice. I was lucky enough to hear her play one song, but I wish I could have heard her sing more.
The nights we fell asleep in each others arms, the way we felt on the rooftop of her house on the night we first kissed.
All of these memories of her hurt.
People say it's better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all. But losing her hurts more than having my staff broken. More than any kind of fiscal pain I have ever felt.
We are doomed. Not only have we all just lost a good friend of ours and the only person I will ever love, but we have also lost the sixth guardian. She was the only one who could save the world from Pitch's onslaught.
Romanna's death was for nothing. Pitch is still alive and he knows our queen has been taken out. Now he's slowly moving his pawns into position for the final battle.
I've always hated chess. In the end, no one wins. Innocent people are being used as pawns, simple pieces that can be mindlessly knocked out of the equation.
Jessica, Jamie, Sophie.
Who's pawns will they become?
We guardians, are not The Man in the Moon's pawns though. We are his Knights, Rooks and Bishops. Romanna was our Queen, the most important and unpredictable player on the board and the Dark King has knocked her down.
Though, in some games of chess the rules bend and there is a way to bring back a fallen queen..... I know it's a long shot, but I hope our king is in the process of taking that risk and will be returning our queen back to us... Back to me.
I want Romanna back. I want her alive again. I want to hold her in my arms and kiss her on the lips. I want to tell her that I love her and that I want to spend the rest of my immortal life with no one but her.
In the three days she had been with us, she had become all of our best friend. It feels like I've known her for years, not three tiny days. All of that stuff we have done and experienced, that was only three days!
That's how much of an amazing person she was. Romanna was so friendly and warm, it felt like we were old friends who grew up together and then suddenly fell in love.
'If I wait long enough.... She'll wake up.' I say to Tooth as she softly but forcefully placed the bowl of soup in my hands. It immediately froze into a pumpkin flavoured ice cube.
'Goodness Jack! I'm sorry but you need to accept the fact that she's gone. There is no point in-' Tooth was suddenly cut of by Bunny loudly opening the door.
'Guys, ya really need to see this!' He half yelled into my room.
'What is it Bunny?' Tooth asked for me since I was once again facing the window, ignoring the rest of the unimportant world around me.
'Romanna's just started breathin, all on her own! Her heart just randomly started beatin again, on it's own!' Bunny spoke quickly while urging me to get up.
He didn't have to say another word because I was already up and out of the room, sprinting towards the room where North was keeping Romanna's body.
'Please let this be true.' I whispered while opening the door to her room and steeping inside.
A/N
I'm not exactly sure what I should write here. This chapter was super emotional for not only the guardians, but also for me.
I may have cried while writing it....
I hope you guys liked it.
Thanks for reading and voting, I love you guys sooooooo much!
Sorry for any mistakes, I'll fix them when I find them.
Xoxo
I'll update reallllllllly soon!