Chapter 4 - Shadows rise with the sun
Crossroads - Jack Frost x autumn spirit!reader
Chapter summary: As a new chapter begins, the old darkness of the mind seeps through the carefully patched-up cracks.
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It almost felt like slightly wet clothes clinging to my skin. Not wet enough to feel suffocated by the weight but damp enough to feel it spread across the fabric and skin.
And as much as it would've been pleasant to think that it was just melted snow or mist, I knew better. For water isn't usually as black as night.
"Well?" my voice rang in the air. I could feel my body trembling. From fear, the cold, or the other thing, I had yet to decide. "I believe if I am going to be forced to go somewhere, I would prefer to walk on my own two legs."
The large and burly man slowly stepped through the shadows, and as more of his figure started to show in the light, the more I could see how much he had changed.
As the dark moistness crawled further up my back, I could feel the skin beneath my eyes straining as I looked at the man in front of me.
His joints are more exposed. Strike!
The sharp intake of cold air burned my nostrils, and my eyes stopped darting from one weak point to another and finally rest on the old man's face.
"What? You don't like my idea?" North's voice was still as deep as I remember. The type of deepness, that brought warmth, but, if you listen closely enough, you can hear the thunder in his voice that is waiting to strike at a moment's notice.
No one must know. Not now, not ever. It will only make things worse.
"Not particularly, no," It felt like vomiting out a rock from my throat, that was blocking my airways. But after a few words, at least it became easier to breathe, "As an autumn spirit and by extension a wind spirit, I like having some freedom of my own."
If only that freedom can be applied to the darkness spreading within me. If only I could rid myself of this disease.
"Fair enough," The burly man's brows rised in a gesture of complience, his posture becoming less tense, "But I'm sure you know why you must come, don't you?"
"I can think of a few reasons," I replied calmly.
H̷e̴'̸l̸l̷ ̷u̸s̷e̸ ̸y̸o̵u̵ ̸f̷o̷r̸ ̷h̶i̵s̷ ̷o̶w̴n̵ ̷g̶a̵i̵n̶,̵ ̵j̶u̵s̷t̴ ̴l̶i̶k̷e̶ ̴P̸i̶t̶c̸h̸.̶ḯ̸̝͘t̷̳́c̴̊ͅĥ̵̫̙.̷̖̥̋
S̵̡͔̫͈̲̙̭̗̈́̔̄͆́̈͒͋̅̍̂̀̔͝͝Ṫ̷̢̧͓̼͕̞̙̰̯̣̜͂́̈́̍͑̎̌̈́̕Ȑ̷̡̢̧̬̬̣̣͙̈́̂̂I̶̡̡̮̜͈͎̺͉͕̖̘̼̞̽ͅK̷̥̠͓̈̌̏È̷̞̦̠̲̤͔̮̮̳̼̲̯͗̾̑͜͜͠ͅ ̸̪̩͓̪͒̈́͆͐̓H̴̨̫̬̗͓̜͙͛̍Į̸̼̜̯͈̹̮̆̑̓́̽̄̔̕͘͝M̷̛͇̏̃̄̂̑̈́̓͌̓͝!̴̧͓͕̥͇̥̻̥̼͖͇͉͆̈́̈́͝ ̸̡̛̫̖̰̦̰̥̙͎͍͖̗̖̭̉̈́̋̈́̓̚͜͝B̸̨̧̢̟̙̯͙̪̣̗͕̼̪͋͋̀͆̆E̴̲͗F̵̧͇͎̠͇͆̌̍̂̑̑Ò̷̫̱̞͕̮̭̿̂̾ͅͅR̴̨̨̝͎̭͙̥̺̍͊̎̈́̅̓́͆̄̇͆͗̒͐́È̴̬̭͇͇̙̮̈́̅̎̋̈̽͒̄͂̎̐͒̚̚ ̷̠̳͙̲͕̪̃̔̐͂̉͠͝I̸̧̛̺̠̘͙̺̮̪͖̳̠̋͛͌̓̇̽̄̂̊̂̓͜͜͜͠͝T̷̨̛͎̎'̷̖͔͚̤͕̰̏͑͗͗̅̕S̷̨̛̽͌̅̋̓̈́̃͗̊̄̈́ ̸̢̡͇̩̗͈̙̦̤͈͚͚̜̦͒T̷̨͔̘̩́̎̀̾̓̏͛́̈́͊̉͑̌͑͝Ọ̸̡̯̜̤̟͖̼͉͙̮̲̼̏̌̊̓̆̋̋̄̿͆̾̿̿́̚O̷̧͇͇͚͖̝̦̝̣͎̠͈͋͒̍͌̓̈ͅ ̵̪͈͙̫͚̩̣̜̅̉́͑̇͂́͘̕L̶̨̛͖̺͕̣͇͍͔̰͖͖̖̇̾͆̉͌̀͝Ą̷̫̞̬̻͍̯̲̘͓̻͓̩͕͂́͂͠T̴̫͉̈͑̈́̔̈̉́́͂͒̔E̶̖̺̻̣̳͓͕̲͚̿́͊̕!̶̥̏̆͆̏̓̚͝!̶̢̮̲̪̘͓̩̝̟̱̯̦̆́́̽͗͜!̴̟͓͔͕̂͆̇̎̌̽̑͗͋͘͝
The corners of my mouth tugged up and I felt a bittersweet lightness rise from my chest to my head. It felt like taking just enough alcohol to feel tipsy but being far from drunk.
"Perhaps I'll finally have to pay for my sins. Perhaps you'll... keep me under lock and key in a dungeon, so I would never escape or, OR, even more blasphemous!" I jested, desperately hoping that he wouldn't see the distress within me, the weakness, "You like my company!"
"You... are much more amusing than when we last met," I could see his brows furrowing in confusion before once again relaxing. I quietly let out a small sigh. He doesn't know. Thank the Spirits. "But you know as much as I do that none of those things you've said are true. At least most of them"
"I know," I sighed in defeat. And strangely, it almost felt... nice. Being trusted again. "And I suppose I don't have the option to refuse your summons, do I?"
"Nope!" North chuckled and I felt a broad smile overcome my features.
How long has it been since I last felt such happiness? Since I let my guard down around others?
"Fiiiiiiine," I groaned out before my face once again turned calm with a hint of a smirk on my lips as I teased, "As long as I will be spared from any welcoming celebrations."
"Oh come on!" The man asked in disappointment, a hint of amusement present in his deep soothing voice. "The least you could do is grant me the pleasure of hosting your welcoming party"
While uttering his last words, North reached into one of the pockets of his jacket and procured his signature snowball. A tiny image of a frozen landscape in a blizzard appeared in the globe before it was thrown in front of us.
A large swirling portal appeared before us and I could already see snow-covered mountains and buildings at the North Pole. And as we stepped through it, I felt the heavy darkness recede to somewhere unknown to me.
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A/n: Welp.... Many months have passed since I last posted a chapter for this story. Or posted anything really.
I truly didn't mean to disappear from all of you. You've all been patiently waiting for new updates for this story. But now it is here.
I have a few things that I have to talk to you all about:
I'm not sure when I'll be able to post. Currently, I am in my final year at school so I must focus on many things - my major scientific project, exams, studies overall, and what I'm planning to do in the future. Thus, I have little free time to write.
I don't have much inspiration at the moment. It's both from the stress, the lack of free time, and just the good-old writer's block. That is also a huge contributing factor for my recent and from what I can tell, possibly my future disappearances.
Going forward, I truly hope that all of you can be as patient as you have been thus far. I'm truly trying my best, and I hope you can understand that.
I thank you all for your support during this journey! May you all have blessed days and happy holidays!
P.s. I've also created a taglist as per the request of some of my wonderful readers. If you also want to join the taglist, then you can either comment on one of my posts at any time or simply go to my inbox and ask there.
Taglist: @lacunaanonymoused @darkenwolfie
