Blue
Phantom didn’t really have a sense of time. Clockwork’s turning hands on the gleaming clocks didn’t loom over him. The only catch was that time followed all too closely to everyone else. Ghosts and mortals alike would all to quickly turn to thin dust that eroded into the wind. And Phantom would stand alone.
Life, was never so temporary. And death never seemed so delicate.
Phantom learned that it was better to not care for names. Already too many clouded his mind. Friends and family of long, long ago. And he supposed it was only fair that he would forget his own in return.
The word Phantom was easier to remember. After all, it was his nature. He may of forgotten the words, the static that was once his name. But he can not forget his nature.
Even if a phantom was only half of who or what he is.
Jack Frost, however, seemed to be the exception.
At first, he only remembered the boy’s strange nature. How he drifted with a grace beyond his years in the wind like second nature. That despite carrying the north wind on his shoulders and ice in his hands, the boy’s eyes were so warm. Even though they were a chilling blue.
But then the years waxed and the ice and leaves on the trees waned. And the boy was constant. The boy came with a crooked smile and eyes aglow, forever unchanged and just as unable to pass the veil too much like Phantom.
And so, Phantom mastered the static that was the boy’s name. That the boy was Jack Frost. Bringer of blizzards and expert of mischief.
Phantom learned so much more than a name. That Jack Frost couldn’t bring himself to forget a name. That Jack’s left hand was the one he used the most to command ice. And of Jack’s impish nature. That despite the fact that the wind bended to Jack’s word, Jack Frost still said, ‘please’.
And for once, Phantom cared for names. For colors as well. And a color he was beginning to favor the most was a blue.
But one thing always unnerved Phantom was the lake. Something was off, not right. And Phantom learned later that it was death that misted the lake. That a body was swallowed somewhere in it’s depths.
Jack Frost’s face pinched in confusion, “What?”
Phantom jerked his head towards the lake.
And suddenly, Jack’s eyes didn’t seem to glow so bright and his expression crumbled. He slowly looked towards the lake and tighten his grip on his staff almost as if it was search for comfort, “Oh,”
Phantom’s insides felt rigid, and he wished that he didn’t need to ask. But Phantom silently stood his ground, and patiently waited for a answer.
Jack Frost swallowed and clinged to his chest and gave Phantom a sad glance.
Phantom’s eyes widen when the puzzle piece clicked. “It’s yours, isn’t?”
Jack’s lips tightened as he nodded and looked at his hardened feet, calluses thick and stiff from years of running wild. “I- yeah… yeah. It is.”
There was a long moment of silence.
“Do you want it to stay there?”
Jack Frost jerked his head up. “What?”
Phantom looked back to the lake, “You must’ve drowned. And in your time, mortals wished to be buried. I can…” Phantom hesitated, “… I can bury it. I can give you a proper burial.” It was the least Phantom could do, for asking such questions.
Jack was as still as stone, “I- but- there might be nothing left. And I can’t- I can’t ask you this. You shouldn’t be looking for rotten corpses-”
Phantom gave a dry and jarring laugh, “Jack, I’m a ghost. And an old one at that. Yours won’t be the first body I see and it won’t be the last.” Phantom became somber, “And even if it’s a old shell, I’m not leaving you in there. I’m not leaving a piece of you trapped in a place you don’t want it to be.”
Phantom looked back at the lake, “And I know you can’t do it. The water would freeze at your touch,” Phantom took a deep breath that only his human form would desire, “plus, I bet that the last thing you want to do is go under the water again.”
Jack Frost stared, and took a step closer. “You… you’ll do this for me?”
Phantom slowly nodded, only to be tackled in a tight embrace.
“Thank you.” Jack whispered. Then Jack Frost suddenly pulled away before Phantom could return the embrace, “It’s deep in there. And there’s no light at the bottom.”
Jack Frost didn’t even blink as Phantom’s black hair turned into a dulled white and his sky blue eyes turned into toxic pools of green.
In gentle movements, Phantom held out his hand and set it ablaze with a light was too fluid and thick to be fire. “I know.” He looked up to Jack, “Do you want to stay?”
Their was a long silence before Jack nodded, “Yeah- I… I need to stay,” Jack Frost turned to the lake. “I need this.”
Phantom nodded and drifted towards the lake.
The lake was everything Jack Frost said it would be, no surprise. It was dark and had unimaginable depth. Phantom didn’t know how long it took him to reach the bottom and he doesn’t know how long it’ll take him to reach the surface.
Everything was a dark, dark, blue. And the lack of wildlife was eerie. But still deeper Phantom went. Legs blurred like smoke in the water.
If Phantom was mortal, the pressure alone would’ve caved in his skull.
And finally, he reached the bottom.
He scanned the surface of he moon-white sand. Looking for traces of what was once a boy named Jack.
Hours must’ve passed before Phantom saw it, a hand.
Phantom frowned. It had flesh and skin on it, it showed no signs of decay or rot. Weary and full of caution, Phantom began to push away the sand. It curled threw the water, and sometimes Phantom had to wait for the sand to settle to unearth a little more.
Phantom pushed and pushed the sand until a hand became an arm, and an arm became a body.
He suddenly became very still. If Phantom wasn’t already holding his breath, he would’ve stopped breathing.
Every article of clothes, every hair on the corps head was perfectly preserved. Arms were spread wide, And the body that was once Jack gazed up where the surface should be.
Phantom was close to believing that the body in front of him was just resting. That Jack was just not breathing, that was all.
It would’ve looked like the boy was sleeping if it wasn’t for the fact that his eyes were wide open, dull, and unresponsive. That Jack Frost’s skin on the body looked a touch too clammy.
With shaking hands, Phantom cradled the body, and carried it to the surface. Bits of sand swirling in the dark, deep water.
Phantom felt something tightened in him when Jack Frost paled.
Phantom could only image how it must’ve looked. Phantom drenched in lake water carrying a too preserved replica in his arms, delicately as if there was anything left in the corps to feel.
Phantom transformed to a more human appearance and swallowed. Jack, the one that was living but not quite had streams of water starting to trail down to the curve of his cheeks. And the Jack Frost in front of him was far to quiet.
Jack Frost with stumbled steps turned around and motion Phantom to follow, and he did.
If Phantom wanted to, he could carry tons on his very shoulders. But the body still became heavier with each step.
As if demanding to be lowered into the ground.
The place that Jack Frost choose was the one beside his sister. He looked around. “Ya’ know, I’m not surprise that this was the place she choose,” Jack’s voice was so calm despite the fact that the tears on Jack face seemed to rain hardened.
Jack Frost rubbed the palm of his left hand over his eyes, “We would come here when we were younger, after all the chores were done.” Jack’s breathing shuttered, “And we would look at the stars.” Jack gave a dry laugh. “The stars aren’t so bright any-” Jack’s voice wavered, “anymore.”
Phantom shifted the body in his arms, holding it closer. “We should start digging.”
Jack Frost paused, and then slowly nodded.
