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Chapter Text

Darkness and pain... That is what I remember... So much pain, so many tears, so much FEAR against me...

I remember the fire and the people screaming with such hatred and disgust. They watched and celebrated as the flesh was melted from my body. What did I do to deserve this fate?

I remember the oblong box... My village thought me dead... but I was not so. Barely breathing, unable to find the strength to scream... So much pain and hurt... Trapped forever in a silent hellfire... My coffin, my prison, my killer. I was trapped... Unable to scream or cry or pray. My hope was lost. I was lost...

Through a crack in my coffin I was able to see the beauty of he full moon and felt relief wash over me. I remember the soothing voice of the moon... My new name. Hallow S. Eve...

Just as I began falling into the darkness of eternal sleep, I remember the velvet smooth yet chilling voice of a forgotten childhood... A voice so familiar yet so foreign. It was sad, broken, pained... And alone...

"With silent tears I cry this night,
With silent whispers I mourne,
The loss of such radiant light.
No longer to be comforted or warmed.

No more shall you feel the hardships of mortality.
No more shall you suffer the fears of life.
You can no longer feel the Pain and it's awful sting.
You can no longer feel the sharpness of Betrayal's knife.

Nevermore to see the day...
Nevermore to see the night...
Nevermore to bask in the sun's shinning rays...
Nevermore to lay in the moon's calming light...

With silent tears I cry this night,
With silent whispers I mourne,
The loss of such radiant light.
No longer to be comforted or warmed..."

I felt such peace falling over me then... I now knew that someone mourned for me... That someone actually cared about my existence!

In the final moments, I smiled as best I could no matter how much it hurt, and closed my eyes... Holding the knowledge that someone cared about me close to my heart as I drifted off into an eternal slumber...

Chapter Text

...518 Years Later...

Nicholas St. North smiled brightly as he watched the elves prepare to celebrate Halloween. In many ways, he was actually relieved to see them NOT attempting to make toys. That was the yetis' jobs, not those goof-offs.

Ah, Halloween... The one day of the year where children were free to be devious without getting in trouble and getting put on the Naughty List. The time when nights become longer and colder... Where Jack would then start work his magic to help bring in the winter season.

The Cossack walked proudly into the globe room, making sure that all children were safe and believing, until he noticed something a bit odd...

Almost a fifth of e lights were flickering rapidly, as if ready go out completely. Panic began to rise in the old warrior as he turned to the Yetis. "What is happening? Are there any malfunctions in the machinery at all? He asked Phil.

The yetis all looked at each other as Phil spoke up in his native toungue of growls and grunts, saying that nothing was malfunctioning... That everything was working just fine...

North looked over immediately at the signal beacon and activated it, calling the Guardians, just to be safe. He didn't know what it was, but he could feel something was wrong... He could feel it in his belly...

*****

2 Hours Later...

"Well who else could it be? Only pitch could manage to do somethin' like this. The bloody bastard's been nothin' but trouble since we first faced him!" Bunnymund argued as all of the Guardians observed North's globe.

"But how is that possible? We kicked Pitch's butt almost six years ago. How would he have gained that much power in at little of time? When we last saw him he was so weak that he was overcome by his own Nightmares..." Jack spoke softly, remembering the terrified and horrific screams as the Boogeyman was dragged deep beneath the earth.

Tooth flittered over and placed a hand on Jack's shoulder as he leaned on his staff. "Jack, you haven't fought Pitch for as long as we have. You don't know what he's capable of at his full powers..."

Jack arched an eyebrow, "So are you saying that five years ago, he was considered as being in a weakened state? Just how is that possible considering he almost succeeded?"

"We were caught off guard, Mate. The bloke went so under the radar that not even Manny knew until it was almost too late and you were chosen as a Guardian... Believe me when I say that you were lucky that your ass never saw Pitch at the height of his power..." For once, Aster looked somewhat troubled as he seemed to be reliving the memories of those years. "Those were the times when the whole world - men, women, and children ALL believed in him..."

North stroked his beard as he looked down at Sanderson. "What of dreams? Has Boogeyman been corrupting the slumbering minds of children?"

The Sandman looked up at North with a worried expression, shaking his head to simply state "no".

The Guardian of Wonder gave an aggravated sigh as he rubbed his temples, trying to block out all the noise so he could concentrate... And, of course, Tooth wasn't helping with that, but he could still understand how busy she was after all.

Suddenly, Toothiana's voice went silent as Baby Tooth pointed her to the skylight where the moon shone. The silence from her making everyone turn to look at her.

"You guys... I think Manny's trying to tell us something..." The hummingbird-like fairy spoke softly as she fluttered over, watching as several moonbeams shined into the Globe Room.

North sighed in relief, thanking the Constellations that Manny was speaking. "So very happy to talk again, Manny! Please tell us that you know for sure what is happening in the world right now."

The moon seemed to grow brighter as a single, large moonbeam entered the room. An image appeared in the beam of a carved pumpkin- a Jack-o-latern, before swiftly switching the images to show the world's children no longer preparing for the holiday... Hardly anyone was buying candy, or costumes or prankster items... As if the holiday was no longer believed in...

The Cossack's eyes widened more so than one would think possible as he gazed at the holographic children. "The children... Have lost belief in Halloween? Manny, what has happened to cause this?"

Immediately, the images began to shift again, but this time, it was a playing of events from the past... Pitch being dragged down by his Nightmares into the cold and endless abyss of darkness...writhing in pain and screaming...

Everyone but Bunny looked at each other in silent guilt... Jack turned his head to the ground, actually feeling a tad of remorse for what was done... No one deserved such a fate...

"So... What you're saying, Manny, is that the reason this is happening is because we put the Pitch in his place?" The Pooka spoke slightly annoyed as he folded his arms. "Pitch deserves everything that has happened to him. He's destroyed too much in his existence to be pitied... If you're asking us to save that tyrant, then count me out!"

The other Guardians looked at the Pooka, shocked by the boiling hatred he seemed to have right now... Nick frowned, walking over to the overgrown rabbit and lightly, yet, not-so-lightly, smacked him upside the head. "Pitch Black may be enemy, but do you really believe that he wanted all of this? That he deserves suffering for eternity? I would have thought that Pooka warrior like yourself would remember Kozmotis- Hero of Golden Age."

"And yet he doesn't remember himself..." Bunnymund said coldly, for once leaving the Cossack silent.

The young winter sprite arched an eyebrow. So... Who the hell was this Kozmotis? What did he have to do with Pitch?

North, sensing the Frost Sprite's curiosity and confusion, simply raised his palm to keep Jack from asking. "Different story for different time..." He trailed off as he stared the Pooka down before turning back to MiM. "Manny, what do we do to fix situation? To... save Halloween... To save the Boogeyman?"

The Man in the Moon was silent for seemingly endless moments before the moonbeam grew even brighter as the Guardian crystal slowly rose out do the floor.

"Another new Guardian?" Toothiana asked, curious and hesitant as to who she thought it might be.

Bunnymund, having picked up on Toothiana's hesitation, shook his head in frustration, thinking the exact same thing. "I swear if Manny chooses Pitch as a Guardian, I will knock someone's teeth out!" He spoke but then realized the cold glare he got from Tooth. He shouldn't have mentioned teeth...

The light in the crystal shifted many times. First, to a Jack-o-Latern then, to a pentacle (a symbol of witchcraft and sorcery), and then finally the form of a fiery and lovely witch with long and wild hair. She held a staff decorated with symbolisms of Wicca and Halloween. Her face was mischievous and held the eyes of a trickster, but at the same time, there was something dark and sad about her...

The Guardians were all silent as they gazed at the unfamiliar being, save for a sigh of relief coming from Bunny, at least, until they heard whistle come from Jack.

"So who's cutie?" The Frost Sprite asked with a smile on his cheeky face.

North just rolled his eyes. Curse teenagers and their uncontrollable hormones... Curse the immortal ones even more so because they couldn't grow out of that stage...
"It is quite strange. Never, have I seen immortal such as her." The Cossack turned to the moon once more, "Manny, who is she?"

..."She goes by the name Hallow Samhain Eve." Came a soft and otherworldly youngish malevoice, causing the Guardians to turned to an open window high above them, a black-cloaked and shadowy figure perched on the railings.

Immediately, the Guardians armed themselves against the strange, yet familiar, presence. "Who are you! How did you get into Workshop!" North shouted as the presence jumped down to the ground, holding a tattered staff with a black diamond at its tip.

The presence ignored the Cossack's demands, simply taking in his surroundings of the Workshop he once knew so well in the times of great battles. "It's so strange," said the presence, " to see Santoff Claussen so old yet so new... It really has been a long time..." He trailed off as he watched all but Jack lower their weapons slightly. There was something familiar about the eternal youth... He was young, determined, and full of such... Fun... Almost reminding the presence of a time when-NO! The presence refused to remember right now! It was not the time to wish for a life that was forever gone...

The presence felt their eyes all asking the same question, which the presence kindly gave his own answer for. " I am just a mere traveller in the Dark. Once so pure and full of Light, but over time sickness took over, snuffing out my light and turning it black..." The presence lowered his staff, softly caressing the blackened diamond with his shadowy fingers. "Little MiM found me after all of this time... After so long hiding in the blackness of this world, to keep them from seeing me, to keep them from fearing me..."

The Guardians all seemed a little somewhat confused, except for North whose eyes were opened so much more wider at realization. The Cossack didn't want to ask, didn't want to know if it was true, but he still felt he needed to. "Who are you?" His tone was kind and sadenned as he looked into the black hood, the only light being that of the being's star-like bright eyes.

The presence remained silent before flying up to the high window he had come from. "As I said, a simple traveller in the dark... And as MiM has said, your guide through the shadows. We leave tomorrow to seek out Hallow S. Eve, because you will need aid in finding her unmarked grave..." He spoke calmly yet ghostly as he fell out the window and disappeared...

After moments of unnerving silence, it was Jack who decided to break it. "So... Who the hell was that guy?"

Chapter Text

It's so dark... So cold... So silent... Even the Shadows have seemed to abandon me... They have left me to die... To rot! How could I have been so weakened as to have my very servants and creations turn against me! It is those "Guardians"! It is their fault! Do they not realize that I had protected this world long before them!? Did they not realize that it was FEAR that kept these pathetic mortals alive!?

...'You will never be strong enough... You will never be good enough.'...

"Who's there?"

I remember those voices... Like pins and needles scratching and against the inside my skull trying to break free... Where do I remember them?

...'Daddy'...

My eyes shot wide, my heart nearly ceasing at that ghostly voice... "Seraphina..." As soon as that name passed my lips I screamed as my very being felt as if it was being destroyed...

...I was born and raised a soldier of the Golden Age! In the face of Darkness I always stood tall... Even under its heavy gaze, I never swayed... I had always stayed... Up until they had used my child's call... And then that was the day that I had lost it all...

"W-who... Am I..? What am I?"

Explosions and battles and storms and stars... The Golden Age... A soldier... A knight loyal to the Tsar and Tsarina Lunanoffs... I remember betrayal... Anger and rage and hatred coursing through my veins... There was a name...

..."We were all somebody before we were chosen"...

Kozmotis Pitchiner... The Golden General who had fallen to insanity and despair and felt he had nothing more to live for... Yes. I can remember now why I refused to dream... To sleep... It makes me remember... It makes me afraid...

"The Darkness surrounding in a swarm,
Consuming the corpses whence they were born...
Through blackened souls and eyes burning red,
They grin amongst all who are dead..."

I was betrayed! Tricked! Lied to! Abandoned! Left to rot in my own madness! But the shadows embraced me... Comforted me... Made me forget... And I submitted...

The Tsars... The Constellations had left me and feared me... And I learned that Fear is what held true power!

Pitch Black, Kozmotis Pitchiner... Those titles do not matter to me... I am neither the Nightmare King nor the Golden General... They had died a long time ago when the Guardians and that star-child defeated me and banished me to the center of this wretched planet!

... But I can never forget Her... Now that I fall and vanish...

What do immortals become even after children stop believing? Did they have an afterlife? Or... Did they simply keep existing without us even realizing it? To exist without existing... A fate far worse than death... Is this what I have come to? Would even the Guardians cease to realize my presence?

For once the dark abyss seems cold as if I was back in space... I feel myself fading... And I am alone without a home... Without family...