Bunny was appalled. "Has Manny lost his mind?" He shouted once he and the other guardians were told what he'd had Elsa do. "I think he's playing a trick on us! April Fool's day on Christmas Eve!"
"He has his reasons!" Tooth tried to reassure. North was busy ensuring all of his presents were being delivered to listen to the arguing—it had been over two-hundred years since he missed a night on the field, but never was there a night of equal importance to his own job as this.
"Oi! North!"
"What?"
"I'm not about to sit around and let all of our efforts go to waste!" He tapped his foot and opened a portal. "I'm following the girl!"
Tooth tried to stop him, "Wait, Bunny!" But he was already gone. "Stubborn house-pet!" She grumbled.
Sandman frantically pointed to the skylight and even North's attention was stolen by it. The full moon was upon them. "I don't believe my ears." North said. Tooth and Sandy leaned close to try and hear what the Moon was whispering to him, but it wasn't possible. "We've got to go out there!" He said, grabbing his sword again.
"What is it?"
"Now Jack's lost his bloody mind!" Did the full moon have that effect on everyone? The guardians raced into action.
...
Elsa stood back as the sand slowly became a shadow and transformed into a living, breathing creature. She put her hand over her mouth when she saw who it was. He looked down at her from his lofty stance with his eclipse-like eyes.
"Princess." He said in a mild-mannered voice and tipped his head. She began to snarl in anger and disgust—the last she'd seen of him, he was going to kill her father! Her hands began to light up for an attack, but he placed his own on the tube she held. This wasn't Pitch Black before her... it was Kozmotis. The teeth had restored his memories of human life; all of his mistakes and what he sought to fix... and most of all, what he must do now. "I imagine I don't have very long."
She felt a peculiar trust and lowered her guard. "I wouldn't think so. There's not much time now anyway! We need to be—" A rumble and shake cut her off as Bunny launched himself out of his rabbit hole and he tossed both boomerangs the man's way. Kozmotis became intangible by taking shadow form to avoid both. Bunny waited for him to fight back.
"I guess my other self made quite a few enemies, didn't he?"
"Bunny, wait! It's not Pitch." Elsa presented him the teeth, to which he instantly knew what it meant.
"Crikey...!" He caught both his weapons as they circled back to him. Just what was Manny thinking? "What's he saying to do now?"
...
Jack fled through the thickets of trees and deep snowfall. His panicked breathing made it hard to keep the baby calm, but in all honesty, keeping her alive was what mattered more. This wasn't the outskirts of Arendelle anymore, Jack had no clue where the portal had dropped him off! He circled in every direction to try and pick the best possible route of escape. He continued to shush the baby so it wouldn't be easy for Amelia to track him down.
"A cold, dark, painful place," he repeated North's words aloud, "well this is cold, dark, and painful!" He kept his voice at a minimum although he felt like shouting. Something glowed over his chest and he looked down to see the dagger shining a small beam of light again; it had been returned to its rightful owner, and so its true abilities were finally unleashed. The dagger showed him the way as he paced himself to follow while also trying not to stumble and fall with a baby in his arms.
Every time she started to feel heavy, he propped her up with his knee. Jack had never held an infant this long in his life, not even Sophie. But he was starting to understand a parents' will to never put their child down so long as their arms were their safe haven. The girl put a piece of his mantle in her mouth; he bundled her up as much as he could to keep her from freezing, but she kept managing to free one arm to try and reach for his tunic, or the pretty, glittering toy around his neck.
This was the last task. Once I finish this, it's over. He was praying hopefully in his head. I can go back to Sophie, give her bear back. Mom will be pissed, but she'll be okay. He wanted to smile at the thought, but he was hyper-focused on his goal. Jack knew he was being followed, but he couldn't see her through all the misty snow in the air. Both the dagger's light and the infant girl in his arms made him feel safe despite it all. She can't see my light. He felt he heard the knife whisper to him. I will hide you from her.
But Amelia was close behind, close enough to know he'd gone deep into the woods. Jack was fast and young, but he was carrying a baby, and one could never outrun a shadow. Even though the snow silenced his footsteps, Amelia was like a wolf hunting a deer by following the scent. Jack was no regular animal being hunted for the slaughter, though, he wasn't slowed down by the snow and sleet... if anything, it gave him an advantage because he created barriers of ice behind him every time he felt she was getting close.
He knew his own body temperature couldn't suffice, but he still pressed the baby to his chest to keep her warm. He felt her shivering and he practically buried her in his cloak. He was so light, so fast... but his breathing was heavy now from carrying the extra weight with him. The blade's light showed him the way to a clearing before going out. Jack ran out of the grove—and his stomach turned.
No. No, no, no!
...
Bunny, Elsa, and Kozmotis all raced to where the Moon had told them to go. Kozmotis could hear the Moon's instructions this once, for it was his flesh and blood they were dealing with. Elsa could keep up with neither a shadow nor a rabbit, so Bunny let her ride on his back as she clung tight to not be thrown off. He was moving so haphazardly that her hair fell from its knot and hung loose.
"Okay, so if the Moon thinks it's either you or your boyfriend—"
"Fiancé!"
"Whatever! How come he just tells you outright what your center is while he leaves Jack guessing? Knowing your center's the most important step to becoming one of us!" He hopped over a large root and snow flung in Elsa's face. She shook her head wildly to get it off. "I warned ya!" He felt himself smirking. Elsa hadn't thought it was anything important when the Moon told North her center, but if it was one of the 'gifts' the Moon gave them, then she'd think they'd know Jack's by now as well!
But even if she wasn't a guardian, Elsa knew she'd been born brave. Never in her life did she cower in adversity. Her truest strength had always lied within herself... as did Bunny's or North's or Tooth's... even Jack's. Was Jack's center snow? That made no sense.
"You might wanna duck!" Bunny warned and Elsa crouched low on his back as he swooped under a low branch. This was the consequence of trying to shorten a day's worth of a trip down to just a few minutes!
Strangely, it was when she perked her head back up that she had an epiphany. She knew Jack's center. She'd known it all along, perhaps from the moment she met him. Indeed, he'd been gifted it the moment he breathed his first. Bunnymund suddenly braked and made snow fly in all directions. Elsa was nearly bucked off from the sudden cessation of movement.
Even Kozmotis returned from his shadow form—they were where they needed to be.
...
Horrible memories flashed behind his eyes as he looked upon the pond Sophie had fallen into all those years ago. Not here. He couldn't get any closer. No, no, no, not here! He remembered her deafening cry, the mortified faces of the townspeople and his parents, the misery he made them all endure started in this very spot.
He couldn't breathe, his heart was galloping. "No, no, no..."
Jack began to make the ground beneath him freeze and the baby whimpered when his grasp became so much colder. He wouldn't get near it, not while he had a baby in his arms. He looked down at his feet to see ice spiderwebbing its way towards the already-frozen waters.
...He had to stop this. It was so long ago. He was stronger; he had better control now. And the guardians had waited for this for a very long time. Jack pressed the infant girl more tightly to his chest and darted towards the center of the pond, freezing every step he took. He was nearly to the other side when he heard North's voice.
"Jack Frost!" He called.
Jack spun around. Thank God. Peace at last! He felt the baby's tiny heartbeat through the fabric of his shirt and he approached North. "I have the dagger!" He removed it from around his neck and presented it with aplomb, but North didn't want or need it. All he seemed to care about was the infant he held. Jack was still gulping the air as he explained, "She was alone, Amelia stole her... but this is what you do! You protect children." He was so sure that North would know what to do and perhaps bring some Christmas miracle to the family that had lost her, but he scanned her and then looked at Jack... his eyes were apologetic. "What's wrong...?"
"You weren't supposed to take anything else from the witch's home. Not even living things."
Those words felt like a punch in the gut. He made it sound so insignificant! Jack shook his head, "I don't believe you." So this was all a lie? The guardians were just slaves to some luminary that probably didn't really speak?
"Jack, the Moon won't wait. Let me have her." He held out his arms which were the size of tree trunks to him, but Jack stepped back and pressed the infant closer to his shoulder. "Jack, give me the child."
"What are you going to do with her?"
"That's not important. Hand her over."
"No!" His face contorted into that of betrayal. He'd trusted him! Were all those folktales for children inspired by lies?
North's eyes narrowed with malice, "You said you would obey."
"You stay away from her!" Jack cried, making more space between them to keep the baby as far from his reach as possible. She was shivering and whining. "I won't let you touch her!" Just the look in his eyes was enough to keep North at bay.
For the first time, Jack heard the man shout, and it even made him recoil in fright. "Everything you've done will be for nothing! You're willing to ruin everything for just one little brat?"
"Yes!" Jack's voice broke. Was this anger at North, for this poor babe, or for his father? He didn't know.
Amelia had finally found the pond; she had followed the sound of Jack's voice this time.
"You'd give up a chance of an immortal soul?" North challenged once more.
For a brief moment, Amelia had to stop and watch. It took much to disconcert a centuries-old necromancer, but even she was bewildered by the sight of the young man standing alone on the pond shouting at nothing!
"Yes, I would!" He said. Jack had forgotten this entire time that he was still clutching the dagger. His knuckles were white from how tightly he gripped the handle.
"Very well, Jack Frost." North surrendered and, for one final time, began to back away. Jack's entire being was trembling with disappointment and turbulence. Yes, all his efforts, all the hardships he even made Elsa go through were wasted now. But he didn't care! North was still dissolving into the shadows when Jack felt a hand grabbing his shoulder. Amelia stood behind him and Jack leapt away, holding the blade of the knife out towards her. He would do it! One way or another, she wasn't taking the girl from him!
But balancing a two-month-old in one arm while trying to think of ways he could possibly use his powers to keep her away proved harder than imagined. He snarled at her with the ferocity of a mother lion protecting her cubs. Amelia didn't make any indication that she was intimidated or tickled by his offense. He didn't make the first move and provoke her, because then he might drop the baby! Jack kept a vicious glare while he waited for her to do something that called for an attack.
"The dagger." Was all she requested. She held out her slim hand. "Give it to me, and I'll let you walk away with her. I can always find another." That made his anger flare up all over again; she just wanted to mock him! The blade started to glow with Jack's icy powers, but as his body grew colder, the baby began to shiver and whine. He couldn't do this to her. He needed to get her somewhere warm! She'd already been through so much. Jack gazed down at the baby's quivering face and lost all his will to resist. Heart still convulsing in his ribs, he lowered his hand and loosened his grasp on the blade. She politely took it and Jack, by some inner-impulse kicking in, hurried to wrap the baby more snug in his cloak.
As she watched him, a crushing hatred overcame her. The way he tenderly cradled the girl in his arms the way a father would. He'd taken away her chance at a future with her own, as she'd done for him.
But that wasn't enough anymore.
Amelia didn't make the effort to take aim.
She took the dagger and stabbed Jack in the stomach all the way to the hilt, and then ripped the baby from his arms before he even knew what happened. Finally, Amelia turned and walked away with the child, satisfied he would die while groveling in his failure.
Jack wasn't angry or sad or scared... he was more confused than any of those things. He turned away from her, dazed and disoriented. His blood spread like an opening flower. Jack lifted his hand and watched the blood drip off his fingers... and that's when he knew it was real.
His knees gave way and he fell backward onto the ice, which began to crackle underneath his weight. He had one hand trying to press down on the wound, but there was too much blood to hold it back. Blood ran down his arm, painting red patterns onto the ice. It was so red... so red against the white of winter.
Perhaps the most frightening and alien thing of all was that Jack could feel his skin going numb against the ice beneath him... he could see his breath coming from his nose and mouth as his body shuddered. And, like tiny specks of snow floating upward from his body back to the sky, his hair and eyes began to change...
Silence filled the air... until the raspy sound of Jack struggling to breathe took over. He was left there to die, just as he always feared he would be, alone.
I am the way into the city of woe...
I am the way into eternal pain...
I am the way to go among the lost...
Abandon all hope...
You who enter here...