Reminisces of Jack Frost the Third (Chapter 3)

The throne room was filled with an over-enthusiastic crowd - the type he hated. Jack was being coronated, apparently. He was now going to be bound to a stupid chair for the rest of his life because his stupid parents couldn't stay alive. Two years ago, he had death in his pockets. It was free now. He had too much to lose now. And he didn't want to hurt anyone. He didn't want to have to blame himself for anything anywhere.

Not giving a shit about himself was easy. Not giving a shit about people wasn't. He couldn't stop caring about Candace, or Emma, or Jake. He loved Emma more than he loved anyone. Even more than Candace now. Though he'd never admit it.

Jake was his only friend. He was Emma's brother. In fact, the one who got Emma and Jack together. He'd been better at life since then. The thought made him crack up inside his head. "Better at life."

It took him a moment to come back to reality. He was grinning like an idiot in front of the entire crowd. His face turned serious. "Get these people out!" He commanded, expecting whoever was taking orders to carry them out. The crowd looked like they'd seen something horrible. "Oh, stop being so extra, get the hell out already!" He repeated, loud enough for the entire audience. "Bunch of kiss-asses," he muttered under his breath, though it echoed through the hall till it reached the last few "extravaganzas" in the crowd.

He got up and left. He was followed by a man with six arachnoid feet.

"What do you think you're doing?" The arachnoid man asked with a raised eyebrow and a stern look.

"What I want," said Jack, without turning around even a bit.

"That's not an option." Said the arachnoid man.

"Look Mac. I know that you've been looking out for me since dad died, but I can't become the King. I'm not meant for that.

"You cannot defy a prophecy. You're not your predecessor." Said Mac, his brows dropping, instantly turning his face into one of concern.

"I make my own destiny Mac. Dad should've too. He wouldn't be dead if he had." With this, Jack hoped to have ended the issue but it was not so.

Mac followed him to the Frost tower. Jack didn't care. He didn't wish to discuss the matter any further. His sister was waiting for him in his room.

"What is it?" He asked her.

"You have to do it." She replied. Her eyes were red. It appeared as if she was crying. She continued. "If you don't do it, they're going to vote to banish you..."

Jack snapped, "I don't give a shit. I'm better off not being here in this city that harbours plastic rather than people."

"They'll make me queen." She said with no expression.

"Good then." He replied, his voice calming down a little.

"The general will gain military control." She said, and there was silence.

At least ten minutes must've passed before Jack spoke again.

"I'm leaving." He said, a suitcase appearing in his hand, and a dark cloak forming around him. It covered his clothes and his sword which was sheathed at his waist. He turned around to leave. He was followed by Mac and Candace till the tower top exit.

The door opened to a ship, hovering at the end of the narrow platform - its door hanging outwards, forming a staircase into the ship.

"Goodbye, Candace," he said and looked at the arachnoid being, whose face seemed a mix of sadness and anger. His brows tilted downwards and his lips shut tight as if to display seriousness. Mac never liked looking unprofessional, even though he looked like he was finding it difficult at this moment.

"Take care of her, Mac," he said and climbed into the ship. The door shut behind him and the ship took off immediately and headed west, towards the setting suns.

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The small ship reverberated with the sound of loud rock music. Jack was far from the capital. The border was about five thousand kilometers from Autopia. The ship was on autopilot. Jack was just pretending to play the guitar and screaming maniacally, singing almost exactly like Cobain. Who'd think of exploiting cell regenerative powers in a way like that? That was Jack; how he had been, all his life, and probably how he's going to be till the very end - a maniacal demeanor and a reckless genius in the head.

The earth below was carpeted by trees and lakes. He didn't care. He never did. Nature was solitude for all he cared, and nothing else, no stupid "connection" bullshit ever came to his head. The music stopped. He fell down on the floor. It was time for a "little" flashback.

He closed his eyes and his head went dark for the fraction of a second. There was nothing new about that. It was just that it lit up almost immediately.

There was a huge room, the training room. His dad was in front of him. They were duelling. Their swords meeting with sparks constantly blasting off from the clashes. Jack's thirteen year old body was covered in sweat. Rolling down from face and flooding the floor. His dad seemed as exuberant as ever.

Jack balanced his body on the sword and fell to his knees. "I think that's all I can do, dad." He said.

"A king doesn't ever give up." His dad replied with a smile.

There was a sound of shattering glass. He saw his father's smile grow weaker. After almost an entire second, blood flowed down his ears and began to dissolve in the sweat on the floor. Jack looked at the shattered window. A figure in black - wearing a white half-mask - on a rooftop nearby. He gave Jack an evil grin and disappeared.

Jack rushed to his dad, who was on the floor now. It was covered in dark, and red, blood.

His eyes were closed. Jack checked his pulse. It was fading and eventually stopped. He wished that he had the power to heal him, more than anything. Jack's eyes glowed a dark shade of green. His body was covered by a green glow. The entire building was beginning to fall apart. Pieces of debris levitated. A huge beam of green went up into the sky.

The two-story building fell apart.

Jack opened his eyes to a text alert on his ship's control screen. It was Emma. It wasn't anything he hadn't predicted. He opened his phone up and looked through the texts.

18:05: Where the fuck are you?
18:06: Why do you do this? I'm coming. There's a tracker on your ship, Jack
18:06: I'm not that easy to lose :(
18:06: Jake's coming along too. He seems worried
18:06: Hit me back

Jack didn't bother texting back. He didn't want to say anything to make her worry, but at the same time, he wanted to talk to her. It couldn't be helped. He snapped his finger, and a circular hole appeared on the floor. He jumped right in, and landed on a bed. He curled himself up into a ball, and fell asleep.