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Chapter Text

Inhuman screeches and shouts filled the battlefield as a war between darkness and light reached it's peak. One boy stood in the middle of it all. He was not human, yet he was not ethereal anymore. He was called Nightlight, a name befitting a boy from a star itself. He was born to protect an important child and grew to ensure the protection of children everywhere. However he no longer had the glow of an illuminating warrior that he started out with, his body was completely flesh like his beloved Katherine. Ever since he had given up his powers for her, his body had undergone confusing and overwhelming changes. He was lucky to even survive the process, but he felt his luck had ran out when viewing the battle that raged on. Katherine's hand was entwined intimately with his own in response to his anxiety peeking. She could not see it, but she had her own sort of glow after everything. Nightlight wanted to hold it close and never let anything happen to it for as long as he breathed. All she had to do was look into his eyes, and she could read him like a book. He was scared. Nightlight was scared of his friends dying out there to keep him away from The Nightmare King, Pitch Black. Sure he was fighting too, but not knowing made his throat hurt. He didn't want to admit he was scared, but he didn't need him to say a word.

"They'll be okay." She whispered, cupping his face with her free hand.

Nightlight leaned into it, "I don't know that for sure... All of this is because of me.." He was startled to feel a tear fall from his face and onto her hand.

Had he ever been able to cry? He couldn't remember at that point.. Nightlight scooped the tear from Katherine's hand and froze it into an impressive dagger. Katherine's eyes widened but then she sort of looked at him funny.

"Another dagger..? Nightlight you already have one." Katherine said, puzzled.

Nightlight shook his head and pointed the hilt at her, "For you. You need a weapon out here... I feel safer knowing you have something that can hurt the Nightmare Men and fearlings.. B-Besides.." Nightlight felt his face grow hot and he evaded her eyesight. "It's. Sort of intimate I guess...? For you to have a dagger directly from me..? That sounds silly.. Is this not how it works for humans..? Oh dear-" Nightlight muttered nervously.

Katherine's face too began to flush and she laughed. "I'd be honored." She accepted the newly made dagger and held Nightlight closely. "As for your other tears, let them flow Nightlight. It's okay to be scared right now.. Pitch thought he could sneak attack the North Pole while you were resting but if it wasn't for Ombric looking through time for possibilities of this.. Well. Who knows what would have happened."

Nightlight made a displeased noise, "I don't want to think about that! I. I just." Nightlight backed away from her embrace and looked out towards the mountains. "I want to fight. I want to protect the people I love in any way possible.. is that foolish?" He asked turning back to her.

Katherine shook her head no, "Then is this dagger your way of always protecting me?"

Nightlight swore he felt like all the blood in his body rush to his face, "I-Well-Yes," Nightlight walked back over and held her hand closely, "My powers have not been the same since I woke you from your nightmare coma years ago.. I worry that they'll fade completely and I will be useless. With that, there will at least be part of me always being with you."

"You won't fade away.. I'll make sure of that.." Katherine said, brushing his tears with her finger.

They felt their faces getting closer and closer. Nearly about to kiss until they heard a familiar voice drew near.

"O-Oh dear. Is this really the time and place for that?!" Tooth said as she landed right by them rather clumsily.

"Ah!" Katherine moved away from Nightlight and ran towards Tooth, "Tooth!! Your wing!! Are you okay?!"

One of Tooth's wings was badly bleeding, she seemed to try to hide the pain but it was written all over her face. Just like Nightlight's fear, she too was scared. She tried to put on a brave face, but Nightlight's shrank with the realization of the situation. He couldn't just hide as his friends put their lives in danger for him.

"I got away..it's fine.. They're dwindling in numbers but I don't know how long we can keep going. We managed to defeat that large serpent of his but Sandy said he lost track of it so who knows. Pitch is almost feral at this point.. Everyone is holding up alright but..." her voice trailed off, realizing she was making them more scared.

Nightlight stood up and looked towards the sky. The sun was halfway done with it's journey above them, which worried him.

"If this continues until nightfall... Pitch will be more powerful than ever." Tooth staggered onto her feet with the help of Katherine, "Nightlight.. I don't know if we can defeat him before then."

There was that sudden sensation in his chest again. The tightness of his lungs and the numbness of his hands. If he didn't act soon, all his friends would die. He looked towards Tooth's bloodied wing and then at Katherine. She started back at him with much concern in her eyes, for she knew what he was thinking. Katherine always did. Their eyes had a conversation all on their own, begging each other to understand their thoughts. Why they might do what they were about to do. Katherine's eyes watered and it stung Nightlight's heart. They all heard the loud roars of the yeti war cries but some voices were silenced. Nightlight bit his lip, fighting every muscle in his body to not go. Tooth raised her head, sensing the emotional war Nightlight was fighting. She had no wise advice to give him. Everyone wanted Nightlight to stay safe, so why would she invite the idea of him going out there? Because Tooth knew what he would do. Katherine didn't think of it at the time however. Katherine smiled at Nightlight, her eyes watering, and walked towards him.

She took his hands and looked deep into his brilliant green eyes. "I'll help Tooth. Nightlight please don't- Just-" She took a deep shaking breath before trying to find her words, "Come back to me. Okay?"

Nightlight leaned in to give her a kiss that felt just as emotional as the Good Night's Kiss. The one that had him give up everything that made him a Nightlight, just to save her. Even if he did not glow anymore, in that moment he felt like him and Katherine lit up the snow. Tooth looked away to give them some semblance of privacy. He broke the kiss and held his own dagger tightly.

He exchanged a look with Tooth before speaking. "I love you. I love all of you.. That's why I have to do this. I have to fight him." Nightlight let go of Katherine and pointed his staff towards the sky, "I'll redirect his attention towards me. That way his forces won't have him as an advantage."

Katherine's expression changed drastically, "But-Nightlight! Your powers-"

Nightlight smiled sadly at her, "I know."

Tooth put her hand on Katherine's shoulder and smiled sadly at Nightlight, "You get out of there if it comes down to it..You hear me..?"

Nightlight didn't give her an answer. He mouthed 'I love you' one more time before begging the wind to carry him onward.

The wind obliged and lifted Nightlight instantly off the snowy ground. Katherine whimpered and reached out for Nightlight as he ascended. All Tooth could do was hold her back and pray to the moon that Nightlight would have heeded her words. Katherine gripped the dagger he gave her and lowered her head. North, who was trying to heal some of his comrade yetis, saw Nightlight flying overhead and nearly dropped his sword.

"WHAT IS HE DOING?! NIGHTLIGHT FRIEND!! GO BACK!!!"

Nightlight looked down with a somber smile at North and flew further. North's chest tightened as he realized Nightlight showed no signs of going back. Despite wanting to stop his young friend, he knew there was no way to change his mind. Bunnymund sliced and dove through multiple nightmare men and let out a victorious laugh. His warrior eggs ran through Pitch's forces like tanks, despite all the cracks in their stones. Bunnymund was licking his wounds when he too saw Nightlight flying over him. His adrenaline turned into horror seeing his friend fly directly to the front lines.

"MATE WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! DON'T-" Bunnymund stopped himself. His fists shook and he prepared his weapons once more. "Don't let those fearlings take flight!!! Nightlight has to go forth unharmed!!" Bunnymund commanded his warrior eggs with a roaring war call of the Pookah, he was going to everything in his power to make sure Nightlight flew on unharmed.

Sandman was the last one to see Nightlight. He was directly fighting Pitch himself, both were evenly matched throwing each other around with dream sand and nightmare essence. Sandy's dream sand could only hold off Pitch for so long, as Pitch kept slicing through it with his scythe. His pure unbridled energy was downright terrifying and Sandy wondered if there was any lucidity left underneath his cold body.

"Is that the best you got old friend?! It look like you've ran out of ideas..and I've ran out of patience." Pitch readied and arrow towards the weary Sandman, "Perhaps turning you into my very own fearling will draw that bastard out.."

Sandy braced himself, conjuring up whips of dream sand to counter his attack. He'd rather die than be a pawn of Pitch and he was going to make sure Pitch knew that too. Just as Pitch was about to fire the arrow, a snowball hit the back of his head so hard it stung and nearly knocked him over. The arrow fell out of his hands and fell apart in the snow. Sandy was about to laugh, until he saw it was no winter nymph, it was the guardian Pitch was hunting after. He tried to signal Nightlight to get out of there but Nightlight didn't budge. Pitch slowly rose to his feet and turned towards the direction the snowball came from. The smile that stretched upon his face could have given the Cheshire cat a run for his money.

"THERE you are..." Pitch grabbed a whip from Sandy that was heading right for him, and flung Sandy into a snowbank. "YOU AREN'T GETTING AWAY FROM ME!! NONE OF YOU TOUCH THE BOY!! HE IS MINE!!"

Nightlight instantly started running once he heard Pitch roar with the intensity of an enraged animal. The wind aided him once again to briefly lift him out of the mountains. Pitch pursued with intense determination, ready to kill the one being who forever ruined things for him. Nightlight dropped harshly onto the snow in the nearby woods and kept running as fast he could. He almost shrieked as he dodged an arrow coming from Pitch, he was hot on Nightlight's trail and didn't seem like he was going to let up. It was exactly what Nightlight wanted. Nightlight stumbled upon a frozen pond and tried to catch his breath but Pitch struck Nightlight in the dead center of his back with his foot and he dropped to the ground. Nightlight gasped desperately for the air that briefly left his lungs. Pitch laughed watching his long time rival wheeze at his feet then kicked Nightlight across the iced pond with a smirk of satisfaction.

"Snowballs and fancy air tricks won't save you little man... Have you lost your touch? mmhahahaahahaha!!!! Oh how weak you've gotten!" Pitch lunged his sword's blade towards Nightlight.

Nightlight had enough time to grab his staff and block the attack and strike Pitch in the shoulder. The maneuver had it's own setback however. Pitch had enough room to slice Nightlight's arm before stumbling onto one of his legs. Nightlight gazed at his arm and saw his own blood for the first time in his life, almost like he forgot his body was no longer made of mist and light. It was flesh and by the gods did it hurt. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates and Pitch laughed at the pitiful sight before him.

"Aw...a warrior's first sight of blood.. You have a real body now, that hurts, that bleeds..That can be killed," Pitch admired the blood that rested on the tip of his sword, "Don't worry. I'll only get as much as I can all over the place. It will be a sight for your friends to see!!"

Nightlight was knocked back by another blow by Pitch and staggered onto his feet. He quickly glanced at the sky and realized that perhaps fighting at night would give himself an edge as well. The full moon was going to occur that night, and Man In The Moon could give Nightlight some kind of form of assistance if he could see him. It was a risky gamble given that Nightlight was much weaker than Pitch but Pitch hadn't killed him yet for some reason. Was Pitch toying with him? Was he savoring every moment until the perfect moment? Nightlight felt fear tug at his heart again but tried to swallow it so Pitch couldn't find something to feed off of.

"I'll keep on fighting..til every ounce of breath is out of my body!!" Nightlight roared, stomping his staff on the ice. The gleam of Nightlight's dagger caught Pitch's eye and he took one small step back. The blade was...reacting to him..?

"Recognize it Pitch? I can make blades of out people's tears.. including your own."

Pitch's face twisted into a snarl, "You never have seen ME cry how is that possible??!!"

"When I was trapped inside your heart ages ago." Nightlight smirked.

His fury peaked and Pitch charged at Nightlight once more. Nightlight decided to take the risky gamble of fighting Pitch off long enough, until the moon could rise. Both him and Pitch would be at full power. Well. Whatever power Nightlight had left that was. He prayed to the moon that his friends could hold off for just a bit longer.

Tooth managed to get herself back onto the battlefield, North tended to her wounds and Katherine was on standby with a few yetis to keep watch for any gusty fearling or nightmare man. The image of Nightlight's somber smile before vanishing was fresh in North's mind and it nearly made him choke.

"Why didn't you stop him Tooth?! He could die fighting Pitch!! He's not nearly strong enough to fight him for too long!"

Tooth sighed, "North. If I could have gone with I would have. Besides. He flew off promising he wouldn't be reckless...though I have a feeling that was a lie."

North finished wrapping up her wing and glanced at the sky grimly, "The sun is almost set..."

His hand rested on his golden sword, a relic from The Man In The Moon himself. It glistened in anticipation to be used in battle, North obliged. He unsheathed it and looked back at Tooth, handing her a sword. If anything, the most he could do was knock down any outside power Pitch could get.

"Ladies first." He chuckled.

She smirked and leaped over the Yetis and Katherine. Slicing multiple nightmare men into pieces.

"THAT'S FOR MY WING!!" She exclaimed.

North loosened his collar a little, "I better not let her show me up eh Katherine?" He laughed and leaped into battle alongside Tooth.

Katherine hopped onto a Yeti's back and clung the dagger Nightlight gave her, "L-Let's go!!!"

Tooth fended off against multiple fearlings that were going to tear Sandy apart. North finished them off with a lethal blow of his legendary sword. Tooth rushed over to an unconscious Sandy and pulled him out of the snowbank. His eyes fluttered open and he breathed a sigh of relief to see it was Tooth that grabbed him and not a Nightmare Man. She slowly steadied him onto his feet as North rushed over.

"Did you see Nightlight???"

Sandy nodded, 'They aren't here anymore. I didn't see which way they went...' he signed.

"Its okay Mate. I think they went out of this pass.. I don't know what Nightlight has planned.. but here's hoping he knows what he's doing." Bunnymund sighed.

"INCOMING!!" North shouted as he used his sword's magic to block a Nightmare General's black arrows from hitting Tooth, Sandy and Bunnymund.

A General was about to charge at the group until Katherine leaped off the yeti and stabbed him through the back. The dagger's properties caused a light to burst through his body, leaving him as nothing but soot. Katherine was slightly shaken up from what she just did. That was...sort of her first kill of anything.. She didn't know what to feel. North however looked so proud of her and rushed over.

"LOOK AT YOU!!! HE NEVER SAW YOU COMING!!" He yelled with pride.

Katherine hesitantly smiled and brushed the soot off her dagger, "Come on! The moon is about to rise!"

Once the moon peeked out in the sky, the Guardians felt invigorated only slightly. Their willpower was doubled though, and their determination was stronger than ever.

Sandy whipped up his dream cloud and the guardians charged back into battle with the yetis and warrior eggs to back them up.

"Come to see your guardian fall big man?" Pitch said mockingly towards the moon.

Shadows from the trees moved as Pitch absorbed the energy from them. His sword repaired itself after absorbing enough shadows, looking more menacing than ever. The gems on Nightlight's armor glowed brightly in sync with Nightlight's dagger. Nightlight stabbed it in the ice deeply a few times, before pulling it out and fixing his stance. Pitch looked confused at the gesture, but thought Nightlight was just sharpening the blade.

"Hmph. As if my own tears didn't make a good blade. No matter. I'll have a use for it once you're dead.."

'My ward... guide my blade so I may seal him away...Let me have one last fight in me...' Nightlight thought, hoping it would reach The Man In The Moon.

"No more waiting.. This ends now you pest!"

Nightlight raised his staff, "Lets finish this how we started it all-"

They charged at one another with furious speed. Their blades screaming and scraping against one another.

"-Together."

It made their first ever fight on the moon clipper look like child's play. They were out for each other's blood. Shadows around their feet bent away from them and the wind itself grew harsher and harsher. Yet the wind was circling them and never once touched them, it was if the wind and shadows were keeping anything else from interfering with the fight. The Moon reached the center of the sky, making the dagger glow as bright as it could. Nightlight chose a new stance to ready himself for the final dance.

"If you think that puny thing will kill ME, you've gone delusional you sprite! DIE!!!!!"

Nightlight pushed himself off the ice and right at Pitch. Both letting out a yell unison reaching for that final blow on each other.

Blood dripped onto the frozen lake below them from both bodies standing inches away from each other. Dull red blood and deep black blood dripped into one puddle around their feet.

Nightlight had never felt such a pain in his life, he wanted to cry but the pain was so great that it could barely escape his lungs. Pitch's sword was lodged right in his abdomen and his blood would not stop flowing. If he had to wager, Pitch's sword went right through his body, which would explain the tremendous pain that surged through his body. His vision blurred but he managed to see that he too, impaled Pitch. The diamond dagger was lodged right into Pitch's shoulder glowing so bright Pitch couldn't look at it. The staff itself began to bend as Nightlight's gemstones were getting just as bright.

"N..o..NOO!!!" Pitch tried to let out a yell but the pain was too immense.

The ice underneath them was cracking wildly from the pressure of the magic being used by Nightlight.

"You were right....I.. can't kill you Pitch... But I can use the last of my p...ower to seal you away.." Nightlight grunted.

Pitch looked at the hand that rested on his staff and recoiled in horror. His body was being sucked into the dagger itself!!! Nightlight coughed out blood as he felt Pitch twisting his sword as hard as he could.

"No matter what you do to me..you'll still die..you're foo..lish.." Pitch's body completely turned into a shadow and was sucked into the diamond dagger.

The dagger's blade turned completely black and the sheer power of it all shattered the ice below Nightlight completely. Nightlight lost so much blood that he had no strength left to move. He looked up towards the moon and weakly reached out for it before his body plummeted into the water. The diamond dagger itself fell into the watery depths with him. Nightlight saw his staff sink past him and smiled to himself.

'It...worked..'

The Moon's light shined down on him even through the dark water. His little prince was doing his best to comfort him, but he was beyond saving. Nightlight watched more and more blood leave his body and stain the water around him.

'Little Prince.. if you can hear me...please...grant just one more wish for me..for I don't have much time left.. I wish for my friends to know what happened..for Katherine to know.. I'm sorry. I'm sorry to you too Little Prince.. I love you so much. I'm sorry..'

The full moon was the last thing Nightlight saw before closing his eyes for the final time. The ice of the pond froze over again but the blood stains remained.

So did Nightlight's body.

"THERE'S NO READINGS FROM THE KING!! RETREAT!!!" A Nightmare general screeched to the fearlings.

Whatever remained of Pitch's army scattered like bugs in the night. The guardians stood battered and beaten but victorious. Yetis grumbled up a victory screech and North joined in. His was rather poor sounding compared to theirs but it still had heart. Sandy rested on his cloud sighing with a smile.

"Hot damn...he did it!!! Without their King they're runnin' away like roaches HAHA!!!" Bunny laughed.

"Where's Nightlight though..?" Tooth glanced around nervously.

"I-I'm sure he'll be here soon..." Katherine clutched her dagger.

Almost on cue, a beam of light shot straight towards them, but it wasn't Nightlight. It was a moonbeam straight from The Man In The Moon himself!! It did not dance like moonbeams usually did upon greeting them. It was ominously still.. Katherine's heart dropped to her stomach and the guardians all gathered around.

"Guardians, Tsar Lunaroff says congratulations on your victory. This battle was not without losses. The yetis and magical creatures were valiant and their sacrifices will not be forgotten. However...I'm afraid to say there was one other loss tonight-"

All of the guardians felt their blood run cold and their throats grow tight.

"Nightlight was killed in his battle with Pitch. He was victorious however, Pitch is no more."

Katherine dropped to her knees while her whole body shook. Tears welled up in her eyes and she let out a blood curdling wail. Every single guardian felt her wail hit them in their very core. She held herself low to the ground as she screamed and wept. Sandy held his face in his hands and silently cried. Only ever letting out a tiny hiccup. Bunnymund held Sandy close as he tried to hold it all in to look like the strong one, but he just couldn't. North buckled and reached out to Katherine, she reached out and clung onto him desperately.

"He...He was supposed to come bACK!!! HE.." Katherine screamed in North's chest as he held her tightly.

He too tried to be strong for her, but his emotions just poured out of him quietly. Tooth held onto Bunny's other arm and held onto Sandy's. The Moonbeam did not interrupt their grieving. It memorized Nightlight's entire message to them and decided it would deliver it at Nightlight's memorial. Until then, it silently watched it's heroes grieve over a beloved friend.

The memorial was a few nights after they got the news. The Guardians were still healing from their battle wounds and emotional wounds..but they doubted those wounds would heal as fast. The guardians all gathered in the North Pole and were standing by the guardian's sigil. Nightlight's section was surrounded by candles. The guardians silently held hands with each other in a circle, paying their respects in a moment of silence.

Ombric separated from the circle and faced all everyone.

"I was in between the tick and the tock during the whole battle... I saw many possibilities of what would happen. Not once did I ever think this was where it would head.." Ombric cleared his throat and continued, "He was the first guardian. The first friend of Tsar Lunaroff and our family. We tried to protect him but in reality all he wanted to do was protect us. He was truly a selfless individual and I think everyone would agree... His sacrifice will not be in vain."

"Thank you Ombric." North said, "Ah. If I remember correctly... the moonbeam had something else to tell us.."

The moonbeam flickered into view and floated over Nightlight's visage.

"The last bit of energy Nightlight used, was to wish for his final thoughts to be shared with all of you. He loved all of you so dearly and fought Pitch directly for your safety. Watching you all possibly die for him was too much for him to bare. He wanted you all to know how sorry he was for doing what he did." The Moonbeam turned towards Katherine, "He also wanted you to know how much he loved you Katherine. He loved you with every fiber of his being."

Katherine smiled and tears flowed out of her eyes all over again. She leaned onto North and held the dagger Nightlight made her close to her heart.

"May his sacrifice be celebrated in this new era of peace..." Katherine said.

"If any of Pitch's minions dare to try to disrupt it..we'll be ready." North said with his arm around Katherine, smiling warmly with tears lining his eyes.

"Yeah..." Katherine said as she rubbed her finger along the hilt of her dagger.

Tsar Lunaroff was indeed watching the memorial and clapped a little for the touching words from everyone. When it appeared to be over, he changed his gaze to the pond he heard Nightlight's wish from...an idea swirled in his mind that was indeed a risky one.

Chapter Text

The passing day was not easy for any of The Guardians. They were trying to find a new sense of routine in the void of war, but moving on was rather hard. The Man In The Moon spent many hours looking at the pond that his fallen guardian fell in. Nightlight was no longer a Nightlight by the time he perished.. So resurrecting him would be challenging. However, MIM knew that Nightlight couldn’t just stay dead… a lot of people needed him.. The Guardians needed him.. He needed him.. Was it selfish to do such a thing? Possibly.

“Let him rest!” he could hear part of himself scream.

Yet it was unfair to Nightlight as well. He was starting to grow up and just barely touched adulthood before he sacrificed himself. An eternal child robbed of his right to at least mature. What a tragedy. Though he supposed it was true to all who die young, yet he could do something about it. Not all spirits could be killed permanently after all.

“Sire,” A moonbot whispered to him, “We can’t calculate your magic will save him completely...something might come out wrong or he will be wrong..”

MIM sighed and leaned back in his chair.
“Yes you’re right… I’m aware of the circumstances but if I don’t act soon there might not be anything left of Nightlight to revive! He deserved so much better than this..”

The moonbot got quiet for a moment, “But what if he doesn’t become a guardian like we hope?”

Silence filled the air as MIM felt a twinge of fear tighten his throat.
“Nightlight loved the Guardians more than anything.. Like family. If anything went wrong, I’m sure he’d feel drawn to them regardless. That was his purpose after all-”

MIM froze at how that sounded and put his head in his hands.
“That sounded a lot better in my head… I’m sure all of you know what I mean. I-I’m sure Nightlight will come back good as new anyway. I believe in him.”

The moonbot backed away a little, almost knowing he couldn’t talk his king down from the idea. It had to admit, it felt wrong. From what it saw, Nightlight had accepted his death..would he have wanted this..? Sure some Guardians beat death before but...Nightlight just seemed to accept it.. MIM only seemed to glance over the fact hastily. Perhaps he was riddled with grief and wanted to just FIX IT. The moonbots and moon mice would never know. They watched their king focus entirely on the pond with worried expressions on their faces.

The ice began to crack and Mim smiled with hope.

Darkness was all around him. The water was still and almost nothing in the water moved, filling it with an eerie silence. Then finally..he saw something.
Light.
Something was pulling him upwards but he could not open his eyes. The armor that once covered his body had rusted away and fallen completely off of him. All that remained on the young man was his black underclothes with a few holes that the Nightmare King ever so graciously made in the battle. The wounds themselves had closed up completely and left rather dark scars on his abdomen and arm. Slowly, the ice above broke completely as if it let him pass through it. The boy coughed and was able to open his eyes to see what saved him from the watery depths.

His once brilliant green eyes were now an icy blue color..and there were snowflake patterns around his pupils. Tsar Lunaroff noticed almost instantly but remained silent. The boy looked up and felt the moon’s comforting glow hold him in the air. He did not look upon it with the warm smile he used to, rather it was painted with confused joy. The light slowly let him down onto the frozen surface and he looked around as an infant would in a new environment. Looking for something familiar to fixate on or just to take it all in. Just as he was about to walk around, he felt something wooden beneath his bare foot. It was a long wooden staff, devoid of all the glorious color it once had. The boy looked at the crooked staff and noticed the tip almost looked like it held something… a fixture..? Maybe it was a weapon..?

He wouldn’t have known that it once held the prison of the Nightmare King, for he didn’t even seem to know who that was.

“Why am I not surprised…” Mim mumbled to himself, “Of course his minions would have ravaged this sacred place..”

“Should we alert the guardians?? Couldn’t they break him out of the dagger?!” a Moonbot said with great worry.

“I’ll let them know of this development. Thankfully diamonds are hard to break on their own, so that gives us a window of opportunity.”

He then returned his gaze to that boy. It wasn’t Nightlight at all. He didn’t recognize the moon, nor his own staff. It was just as he feared, not every bit of Nightlight could come back. So who was standing before him now? Who did he bring back?

Not even the boy himself knew. He picked up the staff and frost instantly covered the wooden surface. The sight brought a smile to his face and he had the crooked tip of the staff touch a nearby tree. It caused frost to coil around the tree everywhere he touched. He then could hear the wind howling louder and louder until it finally reached him. The wind swirled around him as if welcoming him to the world like a parent. He began to laugh as he tried to dance with it, feeling an indescribable amount of joy.

‘Hes... A nature spirit now..’ Mim thought, unsure what to think or feel.

Frost had been painted all over the nearby trees and their leaves before he took off into the sky. The wind raised him high and brushed his white hair out of his face.

“Jack Frost.” Mim said aloud.

The boy turned towards the moon in surprise, was..was it talking to him..?

“Is...that my name..?” he asked. Even his voice sounded different from Nightlights.

“Yes,” Mim said, “Go forth Jack Frost.”

“Wait!!! What am I supposed to do?! Moon spirit!! Can you tell me?!” Jack cried out as the Moon’s bright light dimed away from him.

Jack’s spirit deflated and he nearly sunk out of the sky. The wind gently brushed against Jack’s face and lifted his chin to the heavens above him. He knew he was Jack Frost, the moon told him so. The moon raised him out of the lake for something, he was sure of that.

“Wind!!” Jack called out, “I uh...I don’t know where to go.. Can you take me somewhere..? Anywhere?”

The wind obliged, guiding him through the dark sky. The breeze felt like it coursed through his whole body, exiting through him in an excited laugh. Jack just couldn’t help it. He felt wild.. He felt free. He waved to migrating birds and cloud spirits.They hooted at the newly born winter spirit, causing him to hoot back. He didn’t quite understand it yet, but it was a language all on its own. He had energy and by the gods he was gonna burn it off. The clouds around him followed his directions and gathered by a nearby settlement. Just as quickly as they gathered, he burst through them causing any water they had inside them to freeze over.

“Snow!!!!” Jack called out excitedly.

He managed to catch a few snowflakes on his hands and smiled at the fact they didn’t melt in his hands. Oh how beautiful they were, surely the townspeople would appreciate his handiwork. Jack flew sharply down to the ground, but then realized he didn’t exactly know how to stop..

“WOAH WOAH HEY!!!” Jack called out before crashing face first into some snow covered grass.

He promptly spat out the dirt in his mouth and his disappointment was quickly erased hearing laughter nearby. Jack leapt onto his feet and dashed into the town with excited anticipation. What he saw certainly didn’t let him down. A hand full of village children ran around trying to catch snow on their tongues.

“Old Man Winter visited us Papa look!!!” A young girl squealed as she tugged on his arm to let her play in it

“Haha..Yeah he did. But I’m sorry sweetie.. It’s about to get dark out. Maybe another time.”

Jack looked a little confused, maybe they mistaken him for another spirit..?

“No my name is Jack Frost actually… maybe you could-” right as Jack approached them, the little girl and her father phased right through him.

It was the first time Jack had actually felt cold since he left the pond. People just kept passing through him like he was a ghost. It terrified him enough to run out of there and hide behind one of their homes. Tears stung his eyes while he frantically rubbed his chest, trying to forget the sensation of having people go through his body. No matter what he did, he just kept shaking. The grass around him completely froze over as he huddled his knees close to his face. He waited until all the villagers went inside, to finally get up and leave. The moon still watched over him but Jack wished he didn’t have to look at it

“Why didn’t they see me Moon spirit? What was that...w-what did i do wrong..” He asked but it was in vain. The moon did not have an answer for him.

The moon floated there indifferent to the unfamiliar spirit in its presence. This wasn’t who he wanted. This wasn’t who he remembered….

Jack sighed and looked towards the sky, “Wind..? Please take me home..”

No response.

"The lake. The lake I came from…"

It lifted him up swiftly and carried him gently all the way back. Jack still couldn't land gracefully and landed on his side into a snowbank.

"I hope I get the hang of that soon…" he muttered.

Jack sat up slowly, reached for his staff and used it to limp over to an impressive looking tree. The inside was hollowed out and looked just big enough for him to lay down in. He quickly glanced around to see if it belonged to a tree nymph or maybe magic squirrels, but he saw nobody. He slowly slipped into the tree’s center and tried to sleep in the eerie silence. His dreams filled with the hope that one day the Moon would talk to him again and help him find his purpose.

But that was a long time ago..

Chapter Text

Countless nights, never ending centuries.. Jack still had no response from the man who had resurrected him. He who helped him find his new name and had power that Jack could not imagine the full scope of at the time. Jack Frost remained alone. He walked along the illuminating street lights with no rhyme or reason. Another person walked past him without a second glance and proceeded to slip on a frozen puddle. Jack was unaware a puddle nearby reacted to him but he got a little chuckle out of seeing the look on the human’s face. The puddle would unfreeze by daylight so it wasn’t a big deal. 

The light around him suddenly seemed brighter than anything a mere streetlight could produce. He looked up to see the Moon’s light on him as if it was judging him for laughing at such a thing. Jack’s expression hardened and he floated up to a rooftop to see the moon.

“Oh sure. You notice me laughing at that, but not when I beg you to just speak to me. You put me here for a reason.. The LEAST you could do is tell me why..” Jack spat out in anger. 

Silence.

No moonbeams to relay a message.

Nothing. 

The harsh moonlight started to fade away as if it decided to look at something else.

Jack glared up at the moon and floated down off the mortal’s rooftop. 

‘Days poured into making children laugh and marvel at my handiwork isn’t enough for him. Saving kids from accidents is not enough. Even keeping them from getting lost in snow storms is not enough.’ He thought. 

Jack could feel his cold heart grow resentful towards the Man In The Moon.  If he just said something to him at the start maybe he’d finally feel like he knew what he was meant to do.  Now he was directionless, scattering himself thin through the wind trying to find something worthwhile. A nearby telephone pole was made into Jack’s makeshift seat for the time being. The emotional hangover from the newest failed interaction caused his limbs to feel heavier than usual. The only thing he could do to alleviate the sensation was to close his eyes to shut everything out just for a little while.
Almost on cue, he could hear the sounds of moving sand traveling through the air. He quickly opened his eyes and a weak smile emerged through his woes. Golden sand danced through the air on a mission to find sleeping children to bless their dreams. Jack reached up, touched the sand stream and dolphins made of sand danced around him. It was a sight for sore eyes as they happily chirped and clicked at him before going back into the sand stream. 

'Dolphins huh? I oughta ask Sandy what those mean.. I’ve been seeing Dolphins for a while now.’  Jack thought to himself. 

The sand went on it’s merry way and faded out of his view. Jack looked up at the nearby Mount Esja, standing stall and ethereal even in the nighttime. Something about the Nordic countries just made him feel comfortable. He leaped down from the telephone pole and traveled to one of the nearby rivers to rest. Jack wasn’t on a schedule like most of the famous spirits, so he had all the time in the world to soak in Iceland’s atmosphere. He closed his eyes for just a moment, smiling to himself hearing the dolphins click as he drifted off. 

Far north, a recognizable large man was humming away making a nesting doll out of ice. It was no small feat but Nicholas St.North liked a challenge. Right as he was finishing the final shell, a yeti burst through the door, causing North to fumble and drop the ice shell. He groaned in agony and the yeti gasped in remorse.

“How many times do i have to tell you to KNOCK???” North sighed in frustration.

He rubbed the space between his eyebrows for a moment, then turned back to the yeti.
“Okay. What is it?”

The yeti, still in panic, gestured North to follow it. It led North to the main part of the workshop, where an alarming sight appeared right in front of the globe. North felt chills run down his body, as dark sand formed around it. It made the unforgettable silhouette of none other; than Pitch Black. Their sworn enemy. The black mass swirled around the globe, laughing maniacally until fading completely.

“Can it be…?” North whispered.

North looked up towards the moon briefly, no response. It was his turn to call upon his comrades for the high level emergency.

“Ombric!!! Ready the Borealis!” North called out to his former teacher.

Ombric pushed his glasses to his face and nodded. “After all this time...could he really be back?”

North sighed. “I thought Nightlight’s dagger was enough to seal him away...” He looked towards Nightlight’s sigil near the rest of the guardians in front of his fireplace. 

Ombric had no time for a moment of silence for the fallen guardian, he charged up his light magic and unleashed the northern lights“Travel to all the known guardians. Let them know we need them once more!” Ombric commanded. 

The lights obeyed the wizard and began to spread out rapidly through the heavens. It reached the far corners of the earth where all the guardians hid, busy with their jobs and preparations.
North watched it in anticipation, deep down he had hoped The Boogeyman was vanquished all those years ago by his lost friend. MIM had told them that what had sealed Pitch was stolen, but he'd never imagine it would be broken. He let out a heavy sigh and Ombric put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. Both looked out towards the lights, bracing themselves for the unknown. 

“You better have a good reason for this North! I was almost done chronicling celtic folktales!!” a familiar voice called out to them.

A young woman landed her giant goose near the reindeer pen and waved the yetis to take care of her goose. Without missing a beat, she ran through the workshop right up to North and Ombric. She had her long hair tied up in a low ponytail that looked a little loose from the arctic wind hitting her in the face. 

“Ah, Mother Goose. The first as usual.. Did you lace your boots up properly?” Ombric inquired with a smile.

She did a double check on her boots, then puffed her cheeks at her adoptive father, who got a good chuckle at making her look.
“Haha. Very funny.” 

North quickly greeted her with a hug. “Sorry for the sudden call Katherine. Things are about to get scary around here.”

Katherine raised her brow, “Scary how…?”

Just then brilliant gold sand flew through the window and a tiny golden man materialized from the sand cloud. He quickly wiped his hands of any dream sand then stomped his way over to North. Sand puffed out of his ears like angry steam.

“I know you were on your night run Sandy but I can assure you this is very important!” North, already dreading facing the fury of the rest of his team, took a quick swig of eggnog from a stein. 

“Why don't you send out the rest of your dream sand while we wait for everyone?” Katherine offered. 

Sandy nodded in agreement and perched himself onto the windowsill to send out the remainder of the sand streams.

“So I’m assuming you’ll tell us what's going on when the rest get here?” Katherine asked.

North sighed. “Yes. Just a moment. I have to go collect something.”

North walked off to the globe, and told an elf to inspect the floors for any of that dark substance he saw earlier. Sure enough, the elves sweep up just enough dark sand to fill a tiny vial. “Sandy! When you get a chance you need to see this..” North called out. 

Katherine rolled her eyes and was just about to put her tome away when Ombric noticed it.

“Oh. Is that a new book in your collection..?” Ombric inquired.

“Oh! Yeah it is actually. The Brothers Grimm entrusted it to me. It’s got all kinds of spells I’ve been practicing.” Katherine smiled, handing it over to Ombric to take a peek at, “I brought it just in case we had an *actual* emergency.”

North felt her staring at him so he turned to Sandy, who was running his fingers through the dark sand. It started to purify after being exposed to Sandy’s fingers and returned to being dream sand. He looked at North with much concern on his face, and North was equally as stumped. Sandy took the, now purified sand, and let it flow out the window. Just then, Bunny leapt through the window Sandy had used, barely giving Sandy any time to duck. Sandy took a second to catch his breath, then huff at Bunny. He could have at least given the little man a heads up. Tooth then zoomed right through the same window, knocking poor Sandy over.

“Oh Dear!! Sorry Sandy… I was multitasking with my fairies while flying. a-and I didn’t see you.” Tooth sputtered while helping him up.

“Sorry Sandy.” Bunny mumbled scratching his ear. “Say North what's the big idea calling us here anyway. I was in the middle of perfecting a chocolate recipe-”

“Yes Yes I'm sure that was very important. It’s not even your season yet though, so there isn’t much to fret about.” North muttered with a half smirk.

Bunny’s ears perked up and he scowled.
“OHHHH sure your season isn't for another 2 months North. I’m shocked YOU took time out of your day to call us instead of focusing on Christmas.. Or whatever it is that other day you have.” 

“December 6th Aster.” North retorted. 

Katherine and Sandy watched both of them go back and forth with no desire to intervene whatsoever. Sandy calmly levitated himself off the ground and sipped a stein of eggnog he got from an elf. Tooth zipped past commanding her fairies to continue collecting children’s teeth and seemed to spout a lot of coordinates in rapid succession. 

Ombric simply sighed and rubbed the sides of his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw moonlight shine through the skylight in North’s workshop. Ombric instantly stood up straight in alarm, no one else had noticed yet. 

“Sandy.” Ombric said tapping Sandy’s shoulders, “If you wouldn’t mind.”

Sandy smirked and used his sand whips to yank North and Bunny’s hair. He simply tapped Tooth’s shoulder to get her attention which caused North and Bunny to glare daggers at him.

“Sandy what the hell was that fo-”

“Bunny shush!!! Look!” North pointed towards the full moon illuminating the room. 

The guardians all fell silent as a ray of moonlight was shining directly at the Guardian’s sigil on the floor. A crystal pillar emerged from the center of the sigil, standing tall and proud, reflecting the Moon’s light brilliantly. An image was slowly trying to form as they spoke. The Image was a shade that formed the likeness of Pitch Black

“What…?” Katherine felt the hairs on her neck stand up, “He’s...He’s free..?! I thought..”

North put his hands on her shoulder to comfort her, then took a big sigh before he spoke. “Ombric and I saw him. I could feel something was wrong...I could feel it.. in my belly!”

Bunny looked at North like he was crazy, then at the crystal. “Tsar, what do you want us to do, besides kick his butt again of course.”

The Moonlight grew brighter and Pitch’s image faded. It shined light on the entire Guardian sigil. All The Guardian’s mouths nearly hung agape. The Man In The Moon had not chosen a guardian in several centuries. Possibly more than that. 

“He must think we need help..” North muttered 

Ombric stroked his beard, “it makes sense…given we have been down one member for so long..”

Katherine focused on the crystal. “Who do you think it's gonna be…?”

Sandy formed a sand image of a mermaid as his guess. Tooth giggled and North smirked at it. Bunny just rolled his eyes, crossing his fingers that it wasn’t the Groundhog.

“Oi, it's forming something!”

The crystal’s light came all together and formed a light image of a young adult. He had a hood on, no shoes, a staff and a mischievous smirk on his face. 

“JACK FROST?!” Bunny called out. 

North put his hands on his hips and made a quiet “huh.” sound. 

“North there’s gotta be some mistake!” Bunny demanded. 

“Jack as a guardian...???” Katherine whispered.

“Manny thinks we need Jack’s help. It is destiny.” North looked up at the crystal, then at the moon. “Plus… Pitch might be using a new trick..

Sandy nodded and signed to the others, ‘Dark sand. It purified after I held it. It has dark corrupting energy in it. It was like my dreamsand..but..not quite so’ 

“He’s corrupted your dream sand…?” 

Sandy could only shrug at Katherine. He looked very unsure and somewhat unnerved. 

“Don’t worry Sandy. We’ll find out soon once we fight him again..” Tooth tried to reassure him.   

North turned to the moon above them, “How can we find Jack Frost? Nature spirits are very hard to track down Manny..”

The moonlight moved from the crystal and onto the golden globe. It got smaller and began to dance around Iceland. Then, it slowly made it’s way to Russia. 

“He’s currently in Iceland, but will be heading to Russia.” Tooth said as she watched the lights. “We don’t know for how long though so we’ll have to be quick on getting him.”

North looked at Bunny with a shit eating grin on his face, “Hey Bunny, I have an idea.”

Jack sat up, but he wasn’t in Iceland anymore…. Below him was a frozen lake surrounded by an ice tundra. There didn’t seem anything to be around for miles, until he heard the sounds of a baby crying. He tried to fly over to the baby but the wind wasn’t obeying him for some reason.

“O...kay… Hang on Baby!” Jack tried to walk but heard a loud crack underneath his feet.

He looked up again and saw a man and a woman holding each other tightly. They were dressed in clothes that seemed oddly familiar to him. Were they royalty? 

“Save him…. Please save him…” Their hollow voices echoed harmoniously. 

Jack’s whole body trembled, “Do...Do I know you?! Hey!!” He tried stepping forwards to them but the cracks got louder.

The large cracks started to divide the women and man from their baby and the longer he waited the worse they became. 

“Ah… H-Hang on!! Wind come on!!! HELP ME!!!” Jack waved his staff around and it propelled him towards the baby.

Almost in slow motion, he watched the wind he summoned go towards the couple. His eyes widened in horror as he tried to reach out for them but it was too late. The wind completely obliterated them into nothing but stardust. Jack looked towards the baby and the wind shot him up high into the air. He leaped out to catch him, but the baby kept on floating upwards until the child was no longer visible

“Aaahh!!...ah..” Jack couldn’t even get out a scream. 

The ice below him opened up to a black void that looked like it swallowed up any light that went inside. Jack tried to summon the wind again, but there was no response. All he could do was fall into it. Tears welled up in his eyes while looking towards the hole’s entrance. The only thing he could see was an outline of a short and stout man just watching him fall.

“HELP ME!!” Jack finally cried out in vain.

The man gave no reaction.

The darkness swallowed him til he could see nothing. 

Jack’s body jolted himself awake gasping for air. The Icelandic snow was thankfully all around him like a comfort blanket. He looked up towards the sky and was greeted with the impressive sight of the aurora borealis. It’s presence itself almost entirely removed the post-nightmare jitters that plagued Jack’s arms. The lights felt as if it was an old friend coming to check up on him. 

‘You’re early.’   Jack thought, with a tired smile.

He staggered onto his feet and leaped into the air to get closer to the magnificent colors above him. He practically barreled into the lights face first laughing his head off. The lights seemed to react to him, and they danced around him. Then just as quick as it took notice of him, the lights seemed to pull away and make haste with its exit. 

“Oh no ya don’t!” Jack laughed.

With a quick motion of his staff, the wind quickly obliged and whipped him right on the light’s trail. It felt like an amazing game of cat and mouse. Jack flew through clouds multiple times and cackled as the condensation practically froze onto him. He just barely dodged some storm spirit and she threw a piece of cloud at him in anger. He just laughed and shook off the frozen condensation. That was when Jack was at his most free. Nothing but the wind in his hair, staff in his hand and the occasional dodging of birds. Can’t forget the air spirits either. It was just him dancing and chasing the Northern lights. The lights took a dip towards what Jack thought had to be Russia and vanished. Puzzled,he decided to land in an empty public park to get a look around. Not a single sign of the northern lights. What a tease. 

‘And we were having so much fun too….But why did it come to Russia? It's not supposed to make its rounds here til April or August..” Jack pondered. 

“Been a while hasn’t it Frost?” A familiar voice called out.

He squinted a little trying to locate who was talking to him, then Bunnymund finally stepped out of the shadows. “Easter Sunday wasn’t it?” Bunny said with a slight growl.

Jack smiled and hopped on top of a bench. “Aww you're not still mad about the blizzard, are you?”

“Yes.” Bunny grunted. “But that’s not why I’m here.” 

Bunnymund signaled someone before Jack could even react. His staff got snatched out of his hands, then his entire body was grabbed by big furry hands. As much as Jack resisted, he was no match for the strength of the yetis. Not long after, Jack felt the yeti toss the sack onto a hard floor. All around him he could hear hushed whispers. 

“Is he dead..?”

“No the bag is moving..I think he’s about to come out..”

He carefully opened the top of the sack and peeked out. Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Sandman, Father Time and….some girl? 

North helped Jack up out of the sack, “Hey!! There he is, Jack Frost!” North said with a big smile on his face. 

“Wow...You gotta be kidding me..” Jack muttered.

“Hope the Yetis treated you well.”

Jack sneered a little, “Oh yeah I just love being shoved in a sack and thrown into a magic portal.” 

“Oh! Good that was my Idea.” North chuckled. “Obviously you know Bunny-”

“Mm.” Bunny grumbled on the sidelines. 

“Ombric-” Ombric waved while nose deep in a tome, “Tooth Fairy-”

“Hello!” Tooth said before going right back to commanding more fairies to set out. She flew over to him once all of the fairies were gone. “So sorry. We all can’t work only once a year haha.”

“Yikes. She's...busy.” Jack mumbled with a nervous smile. 

North rolled his eyes and gestured towards the other members. “-we have Sandy-”

Jack nodded at Sandy with a smile. Sandy nodded back and floated contently with his eggnog in hand. 

“-And Katherine, or Mother Goose.” North chuckled slightly 

Jack raised his brows a little and snickered. 

“What? Is something about my other name funny to you?” Katherine folded her arms squinting at Jack. 

“A little. I was expecting an actual goose. You’re just as good Goose Feathers.” 

“Goose..Feathers?” Katherine furred her brows in confusion but North jumped in before they could continue. 

“Yes yes many laughs we have here as you can see.”

“Riiiight.” Jack used his staff to freeze a cookie sheet, “I must have done something *really* bad to get you all together. Oh! Am i on the naughty list?”

North laughed deeply, “HAH on naughty list?” His face and voice turned a little stern, “You hold record.”

Jack paused for a moment but North continued.

“That’s all in the past now Jack, we are wiping clean the slate.” North said wiping the NAUGHTY tattoo on his arm. 

Jack backed up a little bit, looking very unsure as all the guardians were suddenly looking at him and North.
“Uh. How come…?”
Bunny snickered , “It’s not gonna be pretty.” he muttered. 

North didn’t let Bunny’s pessimism get to him though. He continued to smile and raised his arms. “Because you have been chosen to be a Guardian!” 

That. 

That made Jack’s fists tremble.The Guardians were clearly excited and yammering away. Yetis were coming in and giving North some ceremonial book. Some of the guardians like Ombric, Tooth and Sandy looked quite merry. Though Bunnymund looked less than amused. Katherine tried to look supportive but she seemed like she could tell Jack wasn't happy. She was right of course. Jack slammed his staff down to summon enough wind to get everyone to just STOP. Everyone froze and stared at Jack in confusion.

“What makes you think I want to be a guardian???” Jack asked.

North just started laughing, “Of course you do-”

“-Ahaha. No. No I don't.”

North closed the book and glanced at his fellow guardians awkwardly. “Jack. It’s not really much of a choice. We were all chosen like you. By man in moon.”

“He. He talks to you..?” Just as Jack spoke, the temperature in the room dropped rapidly around Jack. His breath was visible and his staff’s frost patterns were covering the wood by the minute. “Of course he does. Of COURSE he does!  So this is his answer then. To something he couldn’t tell me himself. Centuries of silence for THIS?!” 

Sandy floated over in front of Jack fearlessly and started to speak telepathically, “Jack please calm down or else you’ll freeze this whole room!” 

Sandy's somewhat loud ethereal voice got Jack to snap out of it and become aware what his powers were doing. He managed to make the room temperature drop by doing some breathing exercises. Sandy assisted by sprinkling a little bit of dream sand on him.

“Shouldn’t that put him to sleep mate..?” Bunnymund watched cautiously.

Sandy shook his head no. ‘Its hard for him to fall asleep. So it takes more dream sand to lull him to sleep.’ he signed. 

He took one more deep breath and the room warmed back up. Sandy floated up to Jack and put a hand on his shoulder sympathetically. 

‘I understand somewhat what you’re feeling. Before The Man In The Moon chose me, I was asleep for so many years..Centuries even. I had missed so much and had no idea where my only friend was. It was scary, but the moon comforted me from a distance.’

Jack ran his hands through his hair.

‘That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt any less...but looks like he has a pattern for picking and choosing when he WANTS to.’ He thought.

He glared at the moon through the corner of his eye then focused back on the guardians.
“Besides. You guys don’t want me. I'm not like you. I don’t have a schedule...or a designated Holiday that bribes kids into believing in me. I’m not a guardian. No offense.”

Bunnymund finally stepped towards him, “How is that not offensive?? Tsh, maybe we dodged a bullet here. I mean what does this guy know about bringing joy to kids anyway?” 

Jack laughed, “Have you ever heard of a snow day? Kids like what I do.”

“But they don’t believe in you do they?” Bunnymund sneered as he stepped closer to Jack.

Tooth tried to put her hand in front of Bunnymund, “Aster! Enough!”

Jack’s teeth slightly grinded against each other, “No no. The Kangaroo is right.”

“I’m sorry what did you just call me??” Bunnymund moved past Tooth and got right into Jack’s face. “I am not a kangaroo mate.”

“OHHH I’m sorry, then what are you?” Jack almost spat.

“I’m a bunny. The Easter Bunny. People actually believe in me.” 

Jack felt his eyes sting while he tried his best to hold back tears. His hand gripped his staff as hard as he could to restrain himself. He wanted to get back at Bunny so badly, but it wouldn’t do him any good. 

‘Don’t. Don’t. Just swallow it.’ Jack repeated in his head over and over, until the tears stopped forming.

Ombric glanced around and exchanged looks with North. Both sighed a little, knowing they had to do something. Ombric walked over and tapped Bunnymund with his staff. 

“He-” Bunnymund almost tried to justify himself, but the look of utter disappointment from Ombric made Bunnymund’s words fall flat.

“Why don’t we give you two some space…” Ombric gestured him to follow him,

Bunnymund glared at Jack, and followed him. Katherine, Sandy and Tooth all followed Bunnymund. He wiped his eyes and was practically shaking after the whole ordeal.

“Jack. It’s okay..”

“Don’t try to sugarcoat what just happened North. I get the gist.” Jack sat against the wall, staring at the Guardian’s sigil in front of his feet

He could see all of the guardians he just met, in their own little section with intricate details. However one in particular caught his eye. There was a section of the sigil that had what looked like a boy with longish white hair and a staff. Something about it just unsettled him from being close to it. 

“Okay what about this guy? Where is he? If you called everyone did he just decide to skip the meeting?” Jack inquired while tapping on Nightlight’s sigil.

North tensed up and tried to find his words. The sight of his fallen friend’s guardian sigil made him remember the memorial all too well. Jack noticed North’s silence and moved his staff away from it. Jack picked up on North's mannerisms and bit his lip a little. He pulled his staff away from it and felt like an ass.

North nodded. “He was killed centuries ago fighting Pitch by himself. Nightlight was the first guardian.”

“Sorry- I didn’t know North-”

North shook his head and smiled, “It’s okay Jack. Perhaps Manny knew of the hole that was left by his loss. He meant a lot to Manny naturally. That's a long story however. Maybe Katherine can tell it to you..if she’s able.”

‘Guessing he meant something to her too. Hmph...So what. Is he giving them another white haired guy to replace the one they lost????? Kind of insensitive oh wisely Moon man. Am i just his replacement???’ Jack thought to himself. 

“Everyone is...a little mixed up about having a new guardian. It has been so long you know. It doesn't excuse what Aster said to you though.”

Jack didn't have much to say about that. He just awkwardly sat there in silence. North scratched his neck a little trying to come up with something else.

"What do you put out in the world Jack?"

"I'm sorry what?"

"Your center Jack. Everyone here has one. They all have something they put out into the world and protect at the same time."

He then got an idea, and snapped his fingers excitedly. North’s fingers began to glow and he seemed to summon a reasonably sized nesting doll. Jack’s mouth hung open a little as he slowly got back onto his feet.

“You know magic..?”

North smirked ear to ear, “Of course I do! What did you think I just made toys? Though some of the things I do, do not require magic but you know. They make some things easier. It isn't my center though.. ”

Just as North was about to go into the nesting doll’s significance , Ombric cleared his throat to get their attention. “North, we’ve got trouble. It’s Tooth.” He said urgently. 

“This can wait. Come on Jack.” North sat the nesting doll down and swiftly followed Ombric.

Jack took one last look at Nightlight’s sigil, an odd sense of dread washed over him. He felt like covering it up or removing it because it was taunting him in some way. The intrusive thought of destroying a precious thing like that scared Jack quite a bit. Where did that even come from..? Intrusive thoughts like that weren’t normally so loud for him. He shook his head and flew into the globe room where everyone else was. 

Tooth looked like a complete wreck, buzzing back and forth rapidly. She was watching the lights on the globe flicker in and out.

“Please we have to hurry!! He has my fairies!!  I can sense them.. Oh they’re so terrified..” Tooth went on and on. Her speech got faster the more scared she became. 

“Who does?” Jack inquired.

“Pitch.” Katherine budged in, “He’s making himself known in style apparently.”

“The Boogeyman?” 

“Yes mate. He’s been our enemy for ages.” Bunny snided. 

Jack remembered what North said about Nightlight’s demise and how Pitch was the reason for it. He didn’t quite have the whole picture of the history just yet, so he tried to keep up as best as he could. The Guardians would probably benefit from a conversation NOT talking about their dead comrade for once. 

“Traveling there by tunnel is rather difficult since there aren’t any known ones that go to Tooth’s Palace in Punjam Hy Loo.” said North. 

This made Bunny grumble. “Okay so any other ideas on getting there?”

Sandy looked at North and raised his brows a little. North instantly knew what Sandy was hinting at and laughed. “Everybody to the sleigh!!!”

Bunny’s ears folded, “Uh. Is it actually necessary???”

Tooth started to laugh a little.
“Unless you want one of us flying you there, dangling you with only our arms or sand..” She teased.

“UGH. Fine.. I’ll take the sleigh..” Bunny gave in, trudging his feet behind North.

Ombric laughed watching the others begin to file out and Jack stopped as he realized Ombric wasn’t going. 

“Aren’t you coming? I thought all guardians go together on this kind of thing.” Jack asked.

Ombric simply shook his head. “I’d like to but in my state I stay here and make sure things are working. Protected. I’m not as combative as I used to be.”

“Oh...um. See you later then..?” was all Jack could say. He then flew off to catch up with the other guardians. 

Ombric looked back at Jack with a worried look on his face. “Good luck..”

Chapter Text

Once the Guardians landed, Tooth gunned it out of the sleigh and zipped around desperately for her fairies. To her dismay there wasn't a single one left at the palace.

“No.. No he took them all!!”

“Looking for something?” A voice echoed out.

All the guardians tensed up at once and immediately put themselves on guard. Jack did the same since it had to have been a threat… oddly enough the more the voice spoke, the more familiar it felt to Jack.

“Come out and face us Pitch!!!!” roared Katherine.

“Oh my my. Looks like someone’s grown up.” Pitch sneered, finally pulling himself out of the shadows.

Tooth’s feathers flared while she unsheathed her swords, “You better return all my fairies Pitch!!! NOW!!!” She shouted at Pitch.

“Or what? You won’t put a dollar under my pillow?”

“No! We’ll banish you again! We did it before sootman!” Bunny said, trying to keep track of Pitch.

Pitch reappeared under the tower Bunny was on and rolled his eyes, “Oh go suck an egg rabbit.”

He had to submerge himself back into the shadows once he heard Tooth charging at him. An ashy black horse burst out of the shadows and let out a hellish screech loud enough to startle Tooth. It knocked her into one of her own towers and leaped onto one of the railings. Pitch slithered back out and stroked it’s mane.

“Like it Sandman? Nightmares.. It took me a while to find a way to create them.. Lots of help from your precious dream sand.” Pitch sneered.

Sandy balled his fists up in rage, looking at his own dreamsand particles in his hand.

“Guess you had to make new minions since Nightlight did a number on your army of nightmare men.” Katherine spat out venomously.

Pitch curled his nose at the mention of the astral boy.

"You can see where that got him."

Katherine's normally good heart filled to the brim with fury in that exact moment. North managed to grab onto her shoulders and hold her back before she did anything too rash. Her eyes stung with an amalgam of emotions but she managed to swallow it once she felt North ground her. She clutched a pendant that dangled from a glittering gold chain tightly.

“Speaking of which… Is that.. Is that Jack Frost?? Since when were all of you so chummy? A new replacement for the boy?”

Pitch's phrasing of "replacement" struck Jack hard in the chest. He tried very hard to not let it outwardly show as he held his staff up, constantly looking around him at every shadow he saw. “We’re not.”

“Oh. You’re neutral then. I’m just going to ignore you then..but you must be used to that by now.”

“What do you want this time Pitch?” North growled, swords up at the ready.

Pitch’s expression turned sour and he looked down at the Guardians below him, “What you all have. To be believed in! That and well…revenge but I’m not stupid enough to go into specifics about THAT part.” Pitch laughed condescendingly.

The paint on the nearby towers started to slowly lose its color and chip away. Tooth gasped and looked all around.

“No…”

“Whats happening…?” Jack said with confused concern.

“Oh didn’t they tell you Jack? Its GREAT being a guardian, but there’s a catch. If enough kids stop believing in you, you get weaker...and weaker until there’s nothing left. No Easter, or Christmas, dreams or little fairies who come in the night.” Pitch snickered. “Just. Me.”

Bunnymund’s boomerang nearly hit Pitch square in the face but he managed to dodge it just in time. He was then met with Sandy’s whips, hurling him to the ground below. Katherine jumped onto Sandy’s dreamcloud and the guardians all descended after Pitch. Hellish screeches of the nightmares could be heard, along with yelling and clanking of swords. Jack tried to view the action, but the surrounding clouds were too thick for him to see through. Reluctantly, he decided to leap off the tower he was on. Hoping to at least do something useful. Once he made it to the ground, he felt something like pebbles underneath his feet. He lifted his foot up to see what it was...much to his horror..

"Teeth..?" Jack muttered.

With a quick glance, he saw dozens..countless baby teeth scattered all over the ground. Empty golden tooth boxes just carelessly laid about. He picked up the ones he stepped on and sighed in relief that they weren't broken.

"Like my handiwork Frost?" Jack heard Pitch behind him.

Jack turned around as fast as he could and used the wind to put some distance between him and Pitch.

“COME BACK HERE YOU COWARD!!” Katherine shouted.

Katherine landed on her feet hard but it didn't even seem to phase her. Her usual brown eyes were illuminating in sync with the sigil on her tome. The book flung itself open in reaction to Katherine's magic. She was grinning ear to ear staring down Pitch.

“What? Are three blind mice going to pee on me Goose?” Pitch laughed.

“Something like that.” Katherine smirked.

From her book emerged 3 large boars who utterly swept the floor with Pitch’s nightmare. Jack stood in surprise just staring at her. She packed more of a punch than one would think. One of the boars hunted after Pitch, who was ducking and leaping out of shadows. He summoned his nightmares to combat her boars, then slipped back into the shadows.

"Nice try ." Pitch said, sending her flying with a blow from his scythe made of dark sand.

"Katherine!!" Jack flew over to her to give her a hand, but she pushed his hands away and staggered onto her feet by herself.

Pitch cackled at the sight of her struggling before him.

"Try all you want little girl. You'll always be the weakest link of the guardians."

"Don't be so sure of that." Katherine smirked.

Pitch looked over his shoulder and saw North on top of Katherine's three boars. He slashed almost all of his nightmares into nothing but grains of sand. The remaining boars charged at Pitch.

"Oh please."

Pitch slipped into a nearby shadow of a rock right as the boars were inches away from him. The boars ran into the rock wall and took enough damage to turn into dust. Pitch was just about to taunt her yet again until two giant hands made out of dreamsand closed in on him. They held him far from the ground and tightly in their grainy palms.

“Nice job Sandy! Figured my three little pigs would be a good distraction~.” Katherine smiled.

“Little..?” Jack arched a brow.

Katherine thanked the remaining boar for their service and they returned to the tome. Tooth buzzed over to them with Bunnymund and North right behind them. North laughed loudly and patted Katherine on the back.

“Your new magic is impressive!! You should have seen me! He was mighty steed.”

“Y-Yeah..” Jack tried to speak up but then fixed his gaze onto Pitch

Tooth buzzed over everyone and stared down at the now captured boogeyman.

"So. Where. Are. My. Fairies." Tooth demanded.

Pitch started to snicker and stared back at her condescendingly.

"Where humans die clueless and others are never seen again. Even nature spirits are dominated by it's sheer power."

“Quit with the nonsense talk!!” North pointed his sword at Pitch, but Pitch didn’t flinch in the slightest

Tooth gasped sharply and slowly fluttered back to the ground. The tips of her tail feathers started to lose their luster, much to her horror.

"PITCH YOU BETTER START TALKING!!" Bunny roared, steadying Tooth back onto her feet.

"I've entertained you lot long enough. I've already got what I came here for. Enjoy the hunt~" Pitch smirked before his body disintegrated into nothing but a shadow.

Sandy tried to use his sand to catch Pitch, but Pitch was far too quick. He looked at Tooth apologetically and she patted his shoulder.

"You did your best..

Bunnymund tapped his foot in thought, trying to think of what Pitch's riddle meant.
"Where humans die clueless..Nature spirits..? GAH!! That could be anywhere!"

North too was lost in thought.

"Siberia?"

Tooth shook her head, "I don't think so. I would have sensed if they were close when we were traveling here... They feel much farther away."

Katherine glanced over and saw Jack staring off into space. He too was trying to figure the mystery out. Where was a place that, he as a nature spirit, would never trespass? A few places came into mind, but he also had to take into consideration that the area also had a human body count. Nothing new for natural mysteries but...

Then it hit him.

"Oh!" Jack turned to the guardians, "I think I have an idea where they are."

Tooth practically lit up hearing Jack say so, "Where?!"

"The Bermuda Triangle." Jack said simply.

Bunnymund looked puzzled for a second. "He's right.. It fits the bill to what he was describing... yer saying not even spirits like you can be there?"

"Not really? We can but the area just feels..off to us? The storms there have killed unlucky air spirits and mermaids from what I remember hearing. If I was in Pitch's shoes, that's where I'd hide them."

Katherine nodded slowly, "Yeah.. That makes sense! Good thinking Jack."

Jack felt a little proud of himself, seeing the guardians talk among themselves. Tooth broke away from the group to stare at the piles and piles of discarded teeth littered about. She lowered her wings and sighed.

"All my hard work..." She muttered.

Jack walked over to her, "What would he want with these anyway? He just tossed them around for no reason."

Tooth shook her head, "No. He was looking for something from the looks of it."

"When we get your fairies back, you'll have plenty of help putting these back where they belong." Katherine said trying to comfort her.

North stroked his beard and walked over to Tooth, "Tooth. Bunny and I will stay behind and gather all the teeth we can find somewhere safer than the grass and dirt. You focus on finding your fairies for now."

Tooth smiled slightly, "Thank you North. You're right.." She stood back up and looked over at Jack. "We...need your help actually. It'd be safer if we had someone who controls the wind traveling with us through that hectic place."

Katherine wedged in, "I-I'm coming too!" Don't look at me like that.. I have a spell or two that can help me temporarily fly there with them."

Sandy gave Katherine two thumbs up and nodded towards North and Bunny.

"You're right. They might need some supervision so that way they don't fight the entire time." Katherine snickered.

"We aren't children Sandy!-"

"You two sure fight like it." Katherine retorted.

Jack could hear them all banter, but he felt in no position to interject. Despite everything, he still felt so out of place among them. He looked at the others, then at the sky for just a moment. The moon was slowly rising up into the sky as the Sun was vanishing over the horizon. The beautiful painted sky slowly turning into darkness was almost a disappointment to Jack. Now that THING had to stare at him. He floated up to the cliff side so he could get just a private moment away from the group. With a heavy sigh, Jack looked directly at the moon.

“It's me again. Look. I still don't know if what I'm doing is right. This is where you think I'm meant to be but something just isn't sitting right with me. Am I doing this correctly???"

Jack held his breath, waiting. For something. Anything. A sign. He balled his fists up and stuffed them into his pockets.

"You spoke to them...Can you just say something..? Anything???"

“Jack! Come on slowpoke we got fairies to save!!” Katherine barked out to him.

He took one last look at the moon before jumping, “I don’t know how much longer I can keep waiting on you.”Jack said, his voice numb.

Jack sighed and floated off the spire to catch up with the others. Despite them directly including him, he still felt like a puzzle piece that didn’t exactly match the others. He had to shake that off. Stuff it into his pocket and forget about it for a bit, he was needed. At least there was that.

Katherine stretched and flipped through her book rapidly as Jack floated back down to them.

"Aha! Found it!" she exclaimed excitedly.

She sped through the verses and began to recite the incantation. Jack watched in confusion with the others. Not long after, Katherine's body glowed brightly, morphing into a somewhat familiar shape. The book fell out of her hands as she yelped in surprise. When the light faded, instead of Katherine, all they saw before them was a giant raven.

"AAAGH!!" Katherine cawed out in horror, "I THOUGHT IT WOULD SUMMON A RAVEN!! NOT TURN ME INTO ONE!!"

North picked up the tome and looked at the spell she tried to use. He couldn't help but laugh when he found the error.

"Katherine. This is The Seven Ravens spell.. you know. The story of children being cursed with the form of ravens."

Katherine sighed, feathers all ruffled. "That's what I get for speed reading..."

"Aw it's not all bad Kat.. Its a good look on you!" Tooth giggled.

Jack couldn't help but chuckle too. Katherine just huffed and looked towards Tooth and Jack.

"Tooth.. would you mind holding onto my tome..? I don't exactly have any fingers.."

"Sure." Tooth smiled, picking the book off the ground.

"You sure you wanna travel like that Kat..?" Bunnymund watched her try to stretch her wings. He suddenly felt a little uneasy with his friend being a raven of all birds.

Katherine sighed, "I'll be fine Aster. This will wear off probably by the time we get to Bermuda."

"Let's be off then!" Tooth called out as she zipped off into the sky.

Jack watched Katherine start to flap her new wings and nearly snorted. She proceeded to whap him in the head with her large wing and then try to catch up with Tooth.

"What??? Can I call you Raven Feathers now??" Jack asked trailing after them.

North, Bunny and Sandy waved the trio off as they made a beeline to Bermuda. Little did they know, a shadow was watching them very keenly. It slowly solidified from the spot Jack was trying to speak to MIM and smirked knowingly.

“You’re about to break the toy you just got, old friend.” Pitch said, his eyes fixated on the moon, “Your silence is a betrayal all on it’s own. I wonder. How much longer will it take, before you and your soldiers completely break him? ”

The further they got away from Punjam Hy Loo, the more at ease Jack felt knowing they'd be in a different time zone. Tooth was understandably quiet, she was trying to remain alert and sense her fairies in any way possible. Katherine was trying to focus on flying. She had to admit, it felt nice after a while. Thoughts of her using the Seven Raven's spell to fly with her beloved snow goose amused her quite a lot. Jack glanced at her and noticed something peculiar poking out from under the feathers around her neck. Katherine noticed without even having to turn her head. She could see out of the sides after all.

"What?"

Jack jumped a little and cleared his throat. "Sorry. Its. Nothing."

The awkward silence got so thick it felt suffocating.

"Okay. I have a small question.."

"Lay it on me."

"Whats that around your neck?" Jack asked.

Katherine's eye widened a little bit, sighing in relief that her necklace was still in tact with her new avian form. She took a minute to think of how to respond and she sort of chuckled softly.

"A Moonstone. It.. It used to be part of a friend's armor. He had a whole set but this was all I could find of it."

Jack caught the tone of her voice and had a feeling he knew who the 'friend' was.

"Were you close?"

"Very."

He tried to think of something to say to fill the void of their conversation. Just when he thought nothing would, words just sort of slipped out of his mouth without a second thought.

"He'd be very proud to see you become so strong I think."

Katherine's eye fixed on him and her mouth was slightly open in surprise. She wanted to brush it off as a generic comforting statement but something about the way Jack said it just felt so genuine to her. She of course knew he probably meant every word but it gave her a feeling she couldn't really put in words.

"North told you didn't he."

"Just a little bit.." Jack scratched his neck. "Sorry if that was insensitive-"

"-No no Jack its fine. You just caught me off guard is all......." She looked away then back at him, "Thanks.."

Just as Jack was about to say something, Katherine continued on.

"I promised myself ever since he fell, that I'd get strong enough to protect myself. I've done okay in the past sure... but that one period I was held captive by Pitch haunts me. I never want to be like that ever again."

"He held you captive?"

"Mhm." Katherine stared off into the distance, "Nightlight gave up his powers to save me. It was just a handful of years before...you know."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was before your time. That's probably for the better.. Everything feels more stable in this time period. Well. It did before Pitch came back."

Katherine cleared her throat and turned her eye towards him.

"I'm glad you're with us though."

Jack wanted to accept that compliment. He wanted to accept maybe one of the guardians was trying to bond with him. Try to get to know him even. It was a good thing wasn't it...? So why did the idea alone scare him? He was nowhere ready to just open up to her the way she was with him right then. It felt unfair, here she was opening up yet he couldn't. Nothing about the interaction felt entirely fake to him, but the fear of him being Nightlight's replacement just rooted in his chest deeper than ever. She couldn't see him like that... could she?
It felt horrible.

Katherine wanted to smack herself in the head after seeing Jack quiet down so suddenly after she said that. She thought she was being welcoming.. what did she do wrong? Was it too sudden? All she could do was guess and assume. She was far too embarrassed to say anything else.

"How are you holding up, Tooth?" Jack said flying a little closer to her.

"Hmm? Oh I'm alright! Sorry I got tunnel vision pretty bad right now haha.."

Jack waved his hand dismissively, "You're valid. We're making good time from the looks of it. Are we close?"

Tooth's feathers ruffled as she tried get a reading again, "Almost. We're over the outskirts of Europe at this point. The air is gonna get cold soon Katherine! Brace yourself!"

"Roger!" Katherine replied.

Jack snickered a little, being immune to the cold gave him a big advantage. Anything to keep his mind off the chills of his fears was welcomed. Soon he'd have a sign that he was in the right direction...

He hoped.

Chapter Text

Tooth’s feathers flared greatly once she finally got a direct signal from her fairies. She almost dipped in the air faster than a jet.

“WOah!!! Slow down Tooth!!” Jack called out trying to keep up with her.

Katherine had little issue but the clouds above her made her uneasy. Jack nearly forgot what he was brought along for, but when he realized it he stayed in the air. Tooth and Katherine landed on a small island in the middle of nowhere.

“There!!!” Tooth called out.

Katherine and Tooth soared over to a handful of ebony cages with beeping and squeaking fairies crammed inside like sardines. Tooth pulled her swords out and began slicing at the bars to try and free her fairies. Meanwhile Jack was watching the clouds. It looks like an overcast if he had to guess. Every spirit knew not to trust the weather fully, some weather or nature spirits could change it with the snap of their fingers. Jack obviously was one of them. The Triangle felt different however. Katherine and Tooth didn’t seem to feel it but the energy there felt portent.

The last cage’s bars finally broke and all of Tooth’s fairies swarmed around her, happily chirping and rejoicing at their reunion.

“Oh thank goodness all of you are alright!” She sighed in relief, wiping her eye a little.

Katherine hopped around, moving her head around in suspicion.
“This felt way too easy… Something doesn't feel right here…”

Almost on cue, Jack heard something faint within the clouds. He inched closer to hear it better, then got knocked out of the way by stampeding nightmares. All of them were headed right for Katherine and Tooth. Tooth cut her celebration short and turned her swords to the nightmares.

“YOU ARE NOT STEALING THEM FROM ME AGAIN!!!” She roared.

Tooth sliced through a nightmare like it was butter. Just as that one was decapitated, she wiped out another with her second sword. It was almost scary to see Tooth’s unbridled rage.She was merciless as nightmare sand practically stained her feathers like it was blood.

Katherine tried her best to fend off the nightmares, but her new form proved hard to fight with. Just as a Nightmare charged at Katherine, the impact of the attack caused an explosion of black feathers to cover both her and the nightmare. Jack froze in place, watching carefully with hope she was okay. The Nightmare got practically tossed out of the feather cluster with great ease. The feathers scattered as Katherine launched herself out of it, her hair now tainted with the same shade of black as the feathers.

“TOOTH HER TOME!!!” Jack called out.

Katherine spat out a feather, much to her disgust and pulled out what looked like a decently sized dagger.

Tooth threw her tome at Jack and he just barely caught it before it could hit the rough waters below. When he looked over he was met with a surprise. Katherine’s dagger glowed brightly and had fresh stains of dark sand along the blade. The more Jack stared at her dagger, the more the background noise became nothing more than white noise.

He quickly snapped himself out of it and yelled out to her.
"CATCH!!"

Katherine quickly sheathed her dagger and caught her tome. One of her muscles pulled a little on impact of her catching the fairly heavy book. She let out a strained grunt then steadied her stance. While she was trying to recover, a Nightmare suddenly rose up and lunged at her.

"Duck!" Jack shouted as he shot a blast of ice at the lunging Nightmare.

Katherine ducked and watched the Nightmare get frozen over into nothing but black ice.

"Hoo....Thanks Jack for covering my back."

"No problem."

"INCOMING!!!" Tooth yelled.

Two Nightmares managed to blindside Jack and knocked him into a rocky bluff right where the pile of black ice was. His back was going to be sore tomorrow, Jack could feel that without any doubt. He spat some of the sand out of his mouth and felt an odd tingling sensation on the palms of his hands. Turned out, his hands were resting on the pile of black ice. Jack quickly snatched his hands away from the mysterious substance and stared up at the sky. A loud boom of thunder could be heard not that far away and it certainly wasn't any spell that Katherine had cast.

The Nightmares seemed to acknowledge it too and they all neighed at each other to retreat. Tooth sheathed her swords and quickly gathered her fairies safely.

"We need to get out of here and fast. AGH I wish I asked North for a teleporting snow globe.."

"Wouldn't do you much good Goose Feathers, magical objects like that don't exactly...work perfectly with all this nature magic around." Jack said stretching painfully.

Katherine sighed and flipped through her tome quickly to find a different summoning spell. With great haste she summoned a giant raven, this time without turning into one, and hopped up on its back.
"Are you okay to fly Jack?" She asked.

Jack nodded.
"Besides, I have to keep the winds from knocking you guys over. Nothing to it."

And with that, the three set off into the sky with great urgency. Tooth's fairies flew close to her, they were brave fairies but all the stress they had been through made them skiddish. The thunder and lightning did them no favors.

"I think that's all of 'em North. Just got done combing through all the grass and not a single one is left out there."

North sighed and stretched his shoulders.
"If we missed any I'm sure the fairies will find them..hopefully before any of us accidentally step on them." He chuckled with unease.

Sandy lit up waving at Tooth, Jack and Katherine slowly descending to land near them. Katherine was the first to land. Her raven vanished and went back inside her tome after she thanked it for aiding her. Tooth nearly collapsed from exhaustion once she got to the ground.

"Tooth!" Bunnymund called out.

He rushed over to her and helped her back on her feet.
"Were ya too stubborn to ask to sit on Katherine's raven???? You musta overworked yourself."

"I just really wanted to get my fairies back home..I couldn't really think about anything else. I didn't even realize how tired I was!" Tooth chuckled in embarrassment.

"Katherine..your hair its uh..." North said raising a brow.

Katherine turned bright red and sighed.

"Its just from the raven spell. It'll...change back. Eventually..."

"There's nothing wrong with it..its just... Different!" He chuckled and made his way over to Tooth.

Jack landed and was nearly knocked over by her swarm of fairies. The fairies sped over to some fresh water coming from one of the fountains, went right in to drink from it and wash off the salty air from their feathers. The happy noises they made felt like a sigh of relief for them and Tooth. She could finally relax just a little.

"Did either of you find the case...?" She said while resting on a nearby rock.

North's smile faded and Tooth's feathers flared in surprise. Sandy floated over and solemnly handed her a ruby box. Tooth’s wings droop to the ground as she stared the empty ruby box in her hands. It looked drastically different than the other boxes the kid’s teeth were in.

"...That's what he was really after....I should have known..."

Jack looked towards them in confusion,
“What did he take?”

“A relic from Tsar Lunar. It was one of his baby teeth…”

The formal title for The Man In The Moon struck a slight nerve with Jack. He almost wanted to say ‘So what?’, but he knew that wouldn’t look empathetic.

“Why is it so important?”

“Teeth hold very important memories of childhood Jack.. when the children need them the most, my fairies give them back so they can remember.”

She gestured to large murals nearby and Jack walked across the waters to look at it.

“His were just as important...Everyone's memories are here.”

Jack perked up a little with a sudden thought.
“Wait. Like. Even you guys?”

“Of course! They hold memories of who we were before we were chosen. We were all someone before this.”

North restrained a snicker.
“You should have seen Bunny!-”

Aster glared at him and angrily whispered, “I thought I told you to never mention that!”

“Wait.. So maybe mine are here too..? I could’ve had a life..? A family???” His eyes were lit with excitement.

Tooth’s expression changed to be pitiful towards Jack.
“You really don’t remember..?”

Jack bit his lip and stepped back a little. The mural they were looking at began to lose its color just like the towers above them. Tooth folded her wings back, feeling little strength to fly at all. North stepped forward in concern but she looks at him with a weak smile.

“I’ll be okay. Once my fairies are done sorting the teeth.. We can get back to getting the children’s teeth. Some of them still believe in me..I can feel it. I’ll just write little letters apologizing for being late is all..”

“Tooth, please don’t work yourself too much.” said Katherine.

“I’ll be okay. If anything we should be worried about the rest of the relics.” Tooth said as she sat back up straight.

“There’s more?” Jack inquired, “Are they from The Man In The Moon too?”

“Somewhat. They’re also from his parents.” North said, running his fingers through his beard in thought.

“They’re some of the only things that can weaken Pitch.. ” Bunnymund commented.

He lowered himself to some fresh dirt and gestured to Jack to come over. He began to draw in the dirt with one of his fingers. First was a tooth. Then an...egg? He drew a sword and stopped for a second.

“Did you forget one?”

“No Mate. Its just. A little difficult.” Bunnymund sighed and began to draw what looked like a stick person.

"First was the baby tooth of Tsar Lunar. It held some of the only childhood memories he had with his parents. The Golden Age. Then..The sword of his father, Tsar Lunanoff. Its made of some kind of metal that isn't like anything on the planet-"

"So a magic sword?" Jack said raising a brow.

"Yes a magic sword." Bunny grumbled then continued, "That is a metallic egg entrusted to me. It holds life creating light, the purest of all light. Another relic was Sandy's dreamsand but...I didn't really know hot to depict that with dirt."

"Could have used his actual sand." Katherine commented.

Sandy just wiggled his feet a little, helping some of the exhausted fairies reach perches to sleep on. He wasn't even aware a conversation about him was happening.

"Okay... then what about that one?" Jack pointed to the rough looking figure of a person with a...stick?

Bunnymund's nose twitched and he leaned away from the dirt. He looked a lot more distant in his eyes and in tone.
"The last one was Nightlight."

Ah.

"He-"

Jack held his hand up for him to stop.
"It's okay. I've heard enough about him to have a general idea why he was important."

Bunnymund wrinkled his nose and felt the urge to say something at him but bit his tongue. He had already blown up at the guy before, he didn't need to do it again.

"Long story made very short." North barged in, "Pitch took out one relic and stole another. He said something earlier about revenge. So we have a few ideas on what his goal is."

Katherine looked at North, "Do you know where yours is? Your sword I mean."

"Of course I do! I left it with the Lunar Lamas." North laughed.

"Moon Llamas?" Jack said in confusion.

Tooth snorted a little. "No not quite. They are little men who serve Tsar Lunar. None of us really know how they got here or how they found out about him..but they're allies nonetheless."

'Great.' Jack thought. 'More exposition and moon loving people.'

Bunnymund seemed just as pleased as Jack. "North can't you go get it yourself??? I have a feeling you're gonna drag us along with you to get it."

North smirked. "Now where's the fun in that Bunny. Besides, you can use your tunnels this time!"

"Alright fair, but those guy are beyond irritating.."

"It's better if we travel in groups anyway. Who knows what would happen if Pitch attacked the Lamadry while North was getting the sword back." Katherine remarked.

Bunny sighed and stretched his legs. "Fine. I'm gonna find a tunnel to the Lamadry and meet you lot there. Will you be okay Tooth?"

"Yeah I'll be okay. I just need to get thing started here and I'll catch up with all of you." She smiled trying to reassure her friends.

"We'll see you at the Lamadry Tooth." North said before going over to his sleigh.

Jack watched everyone begin to set off and Tooth looked over at him.

"Aren't you going with them?"

"Oh. Uh. Yeah. Sorry Nobody really said anything to me so I just assumed.."

Sandy patted Jack on the back and lead him over to the sleigh. Jack looked back at Tooth and she gave him a warm smile before going to check on her fairies.

The sleigh landed smoothly on the Himalayan snow while a light snowfall tickled the reindeer's noses. Some tried to eat a flake or two and it made North chuckle.

"Good work all of you! When we're done here you can all finally rest back at the pole. Yes yes you'll get great dinners tonight promise!" He said petting each of their faces.

Jack stared up in awe at the sight before him. It was a simple palace made of Lapis Lazuli with some opalescent mosaics that could be seen from the outside. It was beautiful by every meaning of the word but yet..something about it felt off to him. Where did the feeling come from? Was it dread? Jack could barely comprehend the feeling. His chest tightened as if something bad was going to happen.

North patted his shoulder and he snapped out of his train of thought.

"Little daunting at first I know. Just follow us. This will be over before you know it."

Oh how he wished North would be right. He stepped out of the sleigh with everyone and followed closely. Some Lamas stepped out and bowed respectfully to the guardians upon seeing them.

"Tsar Lunar notified us of your arrival Guardians. Welcome to the Lamadry."

The Guardians did a semi bow back in respect. Jack awkwardly followed suit.

The Lamas perked up at the sight of Jack and all smiled warmly at him.

"Oh! This must be the new guardian he has chosen! How exciting! Intriguing! " They said in excitement.

North quickly squeezed between them so Jack couldn't be crowded.
"That is still is the works uh... We just need to get the sword and be on our way.. You can welcome Jack as a guardian another time.."

Jack anticipated them being disappointed, even just a little, yet their expressions didn't change. They just nodded, moved away from Jack and led the guardians inside. He looked at North with a slight smile as if to say thank you. North simply nodded back and continued on.

"You'll get used to them." Katherine whispered. "No matter what we do they move at their own pace and.. never seem to frown."

"So that's what Bunny meant by frustrating." Jack rubbed his temple with a tired sigh.

They walked down a few halls and passed a few wall mosaics at a casual pace. Finally after what seemed to be forever to Jack, they reached a very open looking room. Different murals laid about the walls and a large golden tile sat in the middle of the floor. Of course it had a moon insignia from what he could see from the doorway. Then, Jack stopped in his tracks at the murals painted before him. North’s, a square, held the tale of an abandoned baby turned Cossack turned a yule warrior. Sandy’s, a golden circle showed his past as a star pilot and giver of good dreams. Tooth’s, a diamond, held her family’s tale and her transformation. Bunnymund’s, a triangle, showed his ties to the earth, the keeper of the egg relic and connection to easter. Katherine’s was a kite shape. Hers showed that she too was an abandoned baby. She was seen on her giant goose with book in hand and even showed her wielding a dagger bravely. It was so much to take in at once but it amazed him. All their stories were right there.

Then his smile of awe faded. Right before him was a hexagon mural. Nightlight stood in the center of it. It showed him breaking free out of Pitch’s heart. Holding a baby…. In that same fragment of the mural, two figures that were depicted seemed scarily familiar. His mind flashed to his nightmare of the two regal parents. Their cries for him to protect their son seemed more clear than ever. Their bodies began to turn into shimmering dust, leaving not a trace of themselves behind. Jack wanted to scream but he felt utterly paralyzed.

“Jack?” Katherine said in concern.

The horrifying images finally left his mind and he could catch his breath again.
“Sorry I-I must have spaced out…”

He glanced back up at the mural..uncertain of what it all meant. He had visions of whoever those people were… But why? Why did it keep happening? Did he know those people in some sense?
Nightlight wouldn’t give him an answer. He was just a mural after all.

He tried to shake the sense of dread off and rejoined the group and peeked over to see what North was doing.

The golden tile reacted to their presence and began to rise up out of the ground. Inside, two blades slowly rose up and floated in the air. One was a sword that was magnificently gold but had a powerful aura to it. North smiled and carefully took it from the magical essence that kept it safe. North’s hand welcomed it like an old friend and he swung it around a little for good measure before putting it inside it’s scabbard.
All that was left floating was a small dagger. It was the same size as the one Katherine had used in Bermuda except it had no sheath at all. It's blade was a sight to behold, yet no one stood up to take it. They felt unsure about removing it all.

“What is that..?” Jack whispered.

“One of Nightlight’s daggers.. It was made from the tears of Tsar Lunar…”

Jack felt all his attention shift to the dagger. Anything the other guardians were whispering slowly turned into white noise for him. He couldn’t even think straight while in the presence of it. It felt like it was calling out to him.

“Jack..?” North whispered.

No response.
Jack had only one thought on his mind.
He needed to touch the dagger. The glow of the dagger captivated his very mind and it got just a little brighter as he leaned closely.
Jack dropped his staff and started walking towards the floating dagger without any second thoughts.

“Jack?! Mate what are ya doin?!” Bunnymund cried out, trying to get Jacks attention.

He tried to touch Jack’s shoulder but Jack acted as if Bunnymund wasn’t even there.

“The blokes in some kind of trance!” He said uneasily.

The guardians all tried to say something but it was too late. Jack reached the center of the golden sphere and grabbed onto the dagger. The moment his fingers wrapped around the dagger, objects surrounding him began to glow in sync with the dagger. First the dagger itself, his eyes, the tip of North’s sword and finally; the moonstone around Katherine’s neck.

“Whats happening?! Jack!!! Snap out of it!!” Katherine yelled.

She tried to run towards him but a wall of ice erupted from the floor and curled around Jack. More began to form, completely engulfing him in a sort of protected ice sphere. The Lamas all whispered among themselves and had their gaze fixed on Jack.

Jack opened his eyes and the Lamadry was nowhere to be seen. No murals, no statues, no lamas… and no guardians..

“Hello??” Jack called out.

He was in almost complete darkness. He tried walking around and the “floor” beneath him felt….
Wet?
Out of curiosity, he reached down to touch it. It was very murky looking water that refused to freeze upon his touch. It would have been neat to him if it was under different circumstances.

“Where am I…?” Jack whispered while trying to get a good look of what was around him.

Floating above him was a glowing icy blue gem shard. The closer he got to it, the more brightly it glowed. By force of habit, he reach over to use his staff to get it down.

“Oh. I guess it didn’t make it here with me...wow. Feels weird without it…” Jack rubbed the hand he usually held it in.

Jack then fixed his gaze back onto the shard. He reached towards it, feeling no wind to boost him or no ice to lift him beneath his feet. The shard however reacted to him and slowly moved towards his hand and brushed up against it. It felt...warm and cold at the same time.

'What an odd little thing to exist in a void.' He thought.

Once he touched it, the shard began to display imagery from inside it. There he was swooping and saving Katherine from nightmares and there he was looking at the odd black ice left in Bermuda. The shard’s vision faded and it went back to glowing brilliantly.

“That’s from today!” Jack exclaimed.

Jack let it float out of his hands and watched as that one shard showed him dozens of others just like it. It looked like a night sky lit up with brilliant shards.

“All of those must be my memories..” Jack deduced.

He never quite realized how many he had until they were all floating above him. Just then, a realization hit him like a truck. If his memories were all here before him..were the ones from before he was Jack Frost, existed there too? Once he finally pried his eyes away from the brilliant memory shards above him, he saw a faint glow in the watery floor beneath him. A memory was all the way down there?

Jack dropped to his knees and hesitated for a second. His hand shook only a little as he held it above the murky water. If this was his memories then what was he afraid of..? He bit his lip and reached into the water on the count of 3. It was thicker than it looked and it felt hard to move his hand at all. There was no going back now. Jack held his breath, dunked his head into the water and dived inside. He looked above him, the shimmering memory shards were still visible but barely. There wasn’t any option but to swim down to the shard that called out to him.

He didn’t swim very often but he had an idea of how to swim. He just propelled himself using his arms as best he could. The shards in the sky were getting farther and farther away with each passing stroke. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see other shards floating in the water. Their glow was pathetic compared to the ones he first saw.

‘What happened to those memories..?’ Jack wondered.

“Save him!!!” Jack heard someone scream below him.

It sounded so eerily familiar that it gave the winter spirit goosebumps. The brightly glowing memory shard was very close now. He heard the woman’s voice get louder the more he swam to it. The only other thing besides her voice that he could hear, was the sound of his heartbeat.

‘This is connected to me… Nothing can hurt me here..’ Jack tried to internally repeat to himself.

The fear of something staring back at him was at the front of his mind and Jack wanted to push it back as far as he could. Jack outstretched his arm to the glowing shard, hoping he could just touch it and get out of the murky depths as soon as possible. Much to his horror, a hand emerged from the shard and latched onto his own with immense strength. Jack tried to scream but the water silenced any noise he tried to make. He jerked his body in any direction he could, desperately trying to get the hand to let go of him. With great force, the hand yanked Jack towards it. A second hand emerged and grabbed onto his jacket.
Finally, the hands pulled Jack completely into the shard. It’s light nearly blinding him as the last thing he saw were those blue hands dragging him in..

Chapter Text

Jack slowly opened his eyes and it took them a moment or two before they could fully adjust to the area around him. He could hear fighting… swords clash with each other.. The air was cold but not enough to bother him. Once his vision focused, he realized he was on some sort of ship. He caught a glance at his reflection and his signature blue hoodie was gone! It was replaced with a black bodysuit with lightweight armor that made him feel almost like a knight. It wasn’t exactly like a Knights but.close enough. In the center of his chest piece were familiar looking stones. Jack didn’t get to examine it too closely as he could hear a familiar scream nearby.

“______ where are you?!” A Man’s voice called out.

He was sure they said a name but..he couldn’t make it out. Maybe they were referring to him..? So many thoughts rushed to his head that it almost paralyzed him. He sucked in a deep breath and flew to where he heard the yell. The sight alone sent chills down his spine.

There was a man and a woman, both regal looking and armed with glorious looking swords. They were the people of his dreams..the ones begging him to save their son.

‘I knew it…’ Jack thought, ‘ They’re pieces of my past!! But...if this is like the dream-’

Jack’s attention then was honed in on the sword the man carried. It was exactly like the one North claimed at the Lamadry. They were…

“Tsar Lunanoff!” A moonbot called out, “They are breaking through our defences! What are we to do?!”

The Tsar looked at Jack then at the Moonbot, “Give me just a moment. I’ll join the rest of you.”

‘They’re….they’re the people on Nightlight’s mural… I’m connected to them?!’ His thoughts were going a million miles per second. It was almost overwhelming.

He could see they were possibly saying his name but it felt like he was partially deaf whenever they said it. Did he just not remember his name? Why couldn’t he hear it???

The Tsarina unwrapped a cloth bundle in her arms and revealed she was carrying a baby.

“Please...Go deep into the clipper and save him. We don’t have much time. Please N…… He is all that we have and all we ever will be.”

He could hear more of the name now. Only a smidgeon. It was close to what they said in his dreams. He reached out and accepted the baby from the Tsarina. He had a round face and somewhat pale complexion. The baby smiled at Jack like he recognized him. Before Jack’s thoughts could delve further, his body and mouth moved on its own. He bowed his head towards the Tsar and Tsarina and said;

“I will. I swear.”

His voice alone startled him. It was lighter, somewhat layered and had a faint echo to it. It was...ethereal if he had to put a word to it. Once again it moved on its own and he flew inside the moon clipper. He managed to look back at the couple one last time before delving into the depths of the clipper.

“Toot toot?” The baby babbled while pulling on a stand of Jacks hair.

“Holy shit-” He stopped mid air in surprise.

His hair was long enough to hang in his face somewhat. In a panic he kept flying further in the clipper. He had to take care of this baby first before anything. His body flew to a nursery and laid the baby down inside his impressively decorated crib. Jack stared down at the child as he looked back at Jack in confusion.

“You’re The Man In The Moon...aren’t you. I know you can’t actually answer me but..” Jack sighed and leaned against the wall.

“Everything is pointing me into the idea that we knew each other. Barely but.. I was important to you right..? I was trusted to keep you safe? It was on the mural so clearly you know about it..So why… Why?! WHY?!” His shouts were enough to cause baby MIM to start to cry.

Jack winced at his wail and hesitantly ran over to his crib with a sad smile on his face. He wiped the baby’s tears with his fingers.
“I’m sorry...I shouldn’t be taking it out on you. Not this version of you… You’re just a baby right now. Whatever happened here isn’t your fault.”

Baby Mim smiled at Jack and Jack returned it with a tired smile of his own. Mim’s tears all slid down his fingers and collected in the center of his palm. Then something incredible happened.
The tears froze and grew into an opalescent blade. It’s hilt looked like dark colored ice. It was the exact blade he saw in the Lamadry.. He held it firmly in his hands and stared deeply at the blade.

Mim made some happy coos and Jack glanced back over at him.
“I’m guessing you don’t have magic tears huh…”

He sighed and looked into his empty palm. Golden sand started to materialize and his hand moved on its own to sprinkle it over Mim’s head.

‘Is that why Sandy said I have a tolerance for dream sand..? I could make it and use it..?’ Jack pondered.

“Remember me in your dreams..” Jack said, his voice sounding ethereal again.

His body didn’t need to move on its own for him to know where he was supposed to head. The last part of his nightmare that hadn’t come true yet was the darkness. Something was supposed to happen to him involving darkness or falling into it. Jack stopped in his tracks before reaching the opening onto the deck.

Everything the memory had been showing him pointed him to only one conclusion about his former identity..it.
It wasn’t easy to swallow.
He took one look at his reflection and nearly dropped the dagger at the mere sight of himself. His skin was now a light blue that had its own luminescence.. His face looked younger as well, probably that of a 13 or 15 year old if he had to guess. Jack’s hair was longer and it’s waves moved on its own.
Even his eyes were different..no trace of blue in the strange green looking back at him.

“I’m… I was…” He reached out and touched his reflection with his bare hand.

“I was Nightlight..” Everything in him wanted to break at once. He nearly dropped to his knees and just wanted to scream. Not in fear or anger.
He wanted to lament.

‘Not yet.’ He could hear his thoughts say. ‘Get out of here..then we can finally get all the answers we need..’

He staggered onto his knees and wiped his face in a desperate attempt to collect himself. The memory wasn’t done with him yet. He could return to his true body soon...He just. Had to push on.
With a shaking breath, he swallowed his tears into a lump in his throat. He pushed it back as much as he could then looked towards the entrance to the deck. Jack closed his eyes one more time, sucked in a deep breath and exhaled as he walked out. There were broken moonbots littering the deck. A good number of them were still functioning but were held captive by creatures in the darkest shades of black he’d ever seen.

“We’ve hid him away. Your attempts to locate him are futile.” Jack could hear the Tsar spit out.

Jack peeked over the chests he snuck over to and got a view of what was holding Tsar and Tsarina captive. At first it was a horrifying looking abomination straight out of Lovecraft’s nightmare.

“Oh please Lunanoff...I can sense his dreams.. I know exactly where he is…” It spoke with a hauntingly familiar voice.

Jack’s body stood up and shot in front of the doorway to the lower decks. He had sliced some of the nightmare men cleanly in half with his dagger. Its light glowed brightly with a determination to protect Mim. The abomination looked towards Jack and laughed.

“I wondered where you ran off to little light.. Allow me to present myself in a more symbolic manner…” The mass’s form changed drastically. It started to form a more humanoid shape..that of an incredibly tall man. His clothes were that of some kind of a general’s and his black hair was slicked back but it still moved similar to how Jack’s did. His eyes were colored like two eclipses starting into him.

“Pitch Black…”Jack whispered in shock.

“Mhmm. Well well..the light remembers me.” Pitch said smugly. “As you can see Light, your masters are my captives.. Just one word and they could be killed by my will. Or sucked dry of every emotion they possess… I could spare them if you hand over yourself and your little prince.”

His shadow men snickered with their king and the Tsarina defiantly screamed out to Jack.
“DON’T!!! IT MATTERS NOT WHAT HAPPENS TO US! REMEMBER YOUR OATH!”

“SILENCE!!!” Pitch roared.

“It's your choice little Light.” He said with a smirk.

Jack’s heart sank into his stomach.
‘This is the darkness I have to sink into...isn’t it.’ He looked over at The Tsar and Tsarina and recalled their fate in his nightmares, ‘You’ll be turned into stardust...but now I know you’re just willing to accept that….but it doesn’t make this any easier.’

He gripped his dagger and changed his stance.
“I’m sorry.” He managed to say towards the Tsar and Tsarina.

Then Jack shot himself off the deck of the clipper and straight into Pitch. His dagger was held out in front of him to stab Pitch and he could hear his hellish scream upon impact. A powerful blast of light emerged and nearly blinded Jack. The last thing he could see over his shoulder was the blast vaporizing the Tsar and Tsarina, who both held each other tightly. Then just as quickly as the light showed up. Darkness began to swallow him whole. He saw the moon getting farther and farther away from him as he sunk deeper into the pit of darkness. He wanted to scream for help. To make it stop.

But nobody came.

Jack did a sharp gasp as he opened his eyes. He was back in the murky waters with the glowing shard in his hand. The feeling of fear completely took over him as he tried to frantically propel himself towards the surface. He stuffed the shard into his hoodie pocket and strained himself to keep moving.

‘Don’t look below you.’ He repeated in his head.

The openness of the waters and the idea of something in the vastness scared the living hell out of him. He could barely see the light from the above but he was determined to get up there. Every muscle in his body was aiding him in his escape. The water’s thick texture made it a struggle. The urge to cry out was immense but the waters made it impossible for any sound to come out of him.

Then he saw something from the surface. A hand had stuck itself into the water reaching for him. It was trying to help him! Jack pushed his body to its limits and made a desperate attempt to reach out to it. He latched onto that arm for dear life as another hand forced itself into the thick water. It latched onto Jack and tried with all its might to pull him out. Once his head was freed the rest of him slipped out with ease.

He just laid on his side on the surface. His body shook intensely as it tried to readjust to the pressure difference. Everything that he had experienced just sort of hit him at once.. He didn’t know if he wanted to scream, cry, thrash or anything.. He was just numb and staring into the distance.

That was until he realized someone was there with him. He jerked his head up to see a boy sitting across from him, he had the same hands that pulled him free from the waters...and the ones that pulled him into the memory shard.

“You’re…” Jack tried to speak, still trembling.

The boy smiled,
“Hello Jack.” His voice was exactly like the memory had depicted it.

“Nightlight..” Jack whispered in pure shock.

“Yes and No.” Nightlight said as he moved closer to Jack. “I’m your mind giving you someone to talk to.. Hello.” He said again.

Jack huffed and lowered his head back onto the ground.
“I’m talking to myself is that it?”

“On all levels yes. You were just through a lot… You shouldn’t be alone to process it all.” Nightlight said.

He laid down beside Jack on his back. Jack wordlessly gazed into the abyss below them, thoughts swirled in his head.
“Ironic..”

“Hm??” Nightlight glanced at him.

“That the answers were in me all along..That The Man In The Moon didn’t have to lift a finger.. He..He could have told me..He could have told me who I was..” Jack hiccuped as he tried to swallow his tears again.
“I’m sorry everything is so jumbled up I can’t think straight..”

“I don’t expect you to. It’s okay to not be okay right now. That.. was a lot to learn..” Nightlight looked at Jack with empathy.

Jack turned onto his back and stared up at the twinkling sky above them. It was then that he remembered the memory he just reclaimed. He reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled out the brightly glowing memory shard. Nightlight sat up a little and smiled at it warmly.

“It’s not our happiest memory…”

“Clearly, but why are you smiling at it?”

“It was the last time we saw everyone. Fulfilled the oath and kept him safe.. It was our beginning in a way.”

Jack solemnly brushed the surface with his finger.
“Yeah.. I guess.. It still doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me so it doesn’t mean as much maybe?” He sighed. “I got my answers but yet I’m still so fucking lost.”

Nightlight reached for Jack’s shoulder and placed his hand on it. His touch was warmer than Jack’s. It felt like the sunlight was on his shoulder warming him. It was comforting in a sense. Jack looked at Nightlight then back at the shard. Both their hands held it and they slowly raised it up to join the other memories above them.

Nightlight looked at Jack, his face was clearly numb and he stared off into space. He waited for a little bit for Jack to process his thoughts.. Then he broke the silence.

“How did you become me? Do you know?”

Nightlight stiffened.

“It’s down there. Isn’t it.”

Nightlight shook his head.
“No. Thankfully. They were broken a long time ago but the pieces floated to the surface.”

He reached into a pocket and pulled out pieces of a broken memory shard.
“You may look if you desire. You won’t be sucked into this one like the other. It's far too broken to have that kind of power.”

Jack took a deep breath and took the shards from Nightlight. Light projected from a shard in between his fingers and showed him a piece of that memory. It showed him flying above a battlefield. The guardians were screaming at him for something.

“They wanted us to turn back. The battle raged on to keep us safe from Pitch’s clutches.”

Jack glanced over at him.
“That was after you-I-we?? Lost our powers right??”

Nightlight nodded.
“We were much easier to kill.”

Jack held up another piece and it showed him Katherine kissing him before he flew off. That piece gave Jack some conflicted feelings and he tried to make the visage go away.

“I. Had a feeling you- AGH.Sorry. That we used to be involved like that...From the way she spoke about it. I just really don’t want to think about that right now.”

Nightlight nodded in understanding.

The next piece showed Pitch chasing after him, fighting him with blades. It showed Pitch being stabbed just before fading completely.

Nightlight frowned.
“That is my least favorite piece..”

Jack reached under his hoodie and gazed down at his stomach. The dark scar on his abdomen made sense to him then. It was from Pitch. It was a reminder of what ended his previous life and the start to his new one. Jack didn’t know how to feel about it at all. He raised the shards up and they weakly flew up as high as they could to the other shards. They didn’t glow as bright but did their best.

“I was important.. Wasn’t I?”

“You still are Jack! Of course!”

Jack looked towards the dark floor beneath them.
“Then why did he do this to me..to you..to us..? I got the feeling from that shard from the depths.. That I meant a lot to Mim. Maybe he loved me and I him… Was I just made to clean up the mess he made and got us in?! Is that all I’m here for..?”

Nightlight frowned and got in front of Jack.
“I don’t know why he did it. Why he chose us to rise again and why he didn’t do anything to help us-”
Nightlight’s shoulders lowered and he looked away from Jack.
“He didn’t even tell them.. He raised us and didn’t even tell our friends… my friends.”

Jack could feel tears running down his face just as it looked like Nightlight was crying. He could feel everything he was intensely feeling in that moment. Like it or not..Nightlight was a part of him. His beginning. His past. Despite it all, Mim threw both of them away and picked them back up. How was that fair?

“I’m going to tell them. I’ll tell them everything.”

Nightlight smiled at Jack and wiped his tears.

Tooth flew in as fast as she could and gasped when she saw the state the Lamadry was in. The Guardians were all huddled around Jack’s ice walls as he remained still inside. His eyes were still glowing as bright as ever along with the other relics and Katherine’s necklace.

“Tooth!!” Katherine called out.

She ran to her and hugged her.
“What happened..?”

Bunnymund sighed.

“Jack touched Nightlight’s dagger and has been in this state ever since. No matter what we do his ice won’t break. An’ nothin will wake him up either.”

Tooth buzzed over to the Lunar Lamas.

“Sorry to bother you all but..do you have any idea what this means??? Any of it?”

The Lamas all had smiles bigger than usual. They seemed most excited, so much so they could barely contain themselves.

“Oh Queen Toothiana, it is a marvelous occasion! The first guardian has finally awakened within himself!”

“I’m sorry what?” North called out stepping towards the Lamas. “Jack isn’t the first guardian, it was Nightlight.”

The Lamas whispered among themselves.
“He never told the guardians..?”
“Oh dear how troublesome.”
“They will be excited when they hear the truth! Yes yes!”

“What the bloody hell are you lot talking about?!” Bunny demanded. He looked ready to swing at any of them if they just blinked wrong.

The Lamas cleared their throats and took a minute before any of them spoke.
“Sir Jack Frost Is Nightlight.”

The Guardians all fell silent.

“Surely all of you could tell there was resemblance!”
“He's older now yes, but still the boy of fun and bravery!”

Katherine stared at Nightlight’s mural and how it’s eyes were glowing with Jacks. Despite every thought telling her it couldn’t possibly be true.. What was happening with Jack had to be a sign that they were right.

“If he was Nightlight then why didn’t he remember us?! Why didn’t he come back to us?!” Bunny shouted.

“Something went horribly wrong.”
“Tsar Lunar could not fix all of him.”
“Now something is!! He will be back and all will be great again!”

Sandy used his sand to push the Lamas a little further away from his friends. What they were saying was clearly upsetting everyone so they needed to go talk over there.

“Thank you Sandy.” North said as he walked back with them to Jack.

Tooth’s wings drooped as she looked at the state he was in.
“Could it be true..? Did Tsar Lunar revive him and didn’t tell us..?”

“I don’t know. Only one who might know for sure is Frost.” Bunnymund said as he touched the ice wall, “I hope he’s okay..”

Bunnymund pulled his hand back in surprise, the ice wall was turning into snowy mush!

“It’s melting!” North said while he jumped onto his feet. “Stand back!”

North then used his sword to cut through the softened wall, causing it to collapse.

“Oh good job North bury him why don’t ya.” Bunnymund hopped right to work.

Bunnymund dug through the snow and found Jack still out like a light. He pulled Jack out of the snow and checked quickly for a pulse..just in case.

“Phew.. Okay.. He’s still alive. He’s just still out of it.”

Jack’s eyes stopped glowing and they quickly shut. The mural and all the relics stopped glowing just as soon as Jack’s eyes did.

“It’s a sign my brothers!” They heard the Lamas call out. “He has returned to us!”

North got between the Lamas and the others.
“So sorry friends but we really must be leaving. We can...celebrate later. He needs his rest.”

North signaled for the others to get Jack to the sleigh before the Lamas could catch up. Sandy conjured a sand cloud to carry Jack to the sleigh and they quickly ran out of the Lamadry as fast as they could. Sandy carefully put Jack down in the back seat and Katherine sat back there with Bunny.

“You sure he’s okay Aster..?”

“Don’t worry. He’s still breathing and everything. Whatever happened must have taken a toll on him.. Who knows how long he’ll be out.”

Bunnymund looked at Jack and couldn’t help but sigh.
“If it's really true that he is Nightlight..gods I don't know mate.”

Sandy patted Bunnymund reassuringly.

“LETS GO BEFORE THEY ASK TO STAY FOR DINNER!!” North yelled out as he hopped into the sleigh.

Tooth quickly snagged herself a seat with Sandy and North got his reindeer to charge into the air. However..one of the guardian’s shadows remained. It stretched out from the snow and morphed until it resembled the form of a horse. The mare huffed and made haste to its master. The news it just overheard was worrying indeed.

Jack was still in the void, laying on his back with a version of himself just staring above them. He had no idea how long he had been there but he felt like he needed the quiet. The only noise other than his thoughts was the faint sounds of the water below him. It didn’t bother him so long as he refrained from looking there for too long. He wondered though. Why was it so dark there? Nightlight chuckled, he seemed to sense the questions popping up in his head.

“It’s been here for a long time. Ever since the battle on the lake I think. Maybe longer.. It was a lot smaller and harder to see at first.”

Jack turned to him, “Did Pitch do this?”

“Not quite. It houses all the lost memories of our past. The hurts. The anger.” Nightlight frowned, “I don’t think it will ever go away.. We can reclaim many things about ourselves but it will stay. Even in small forms.”

He looked at Jack but gave a tired smile,
“Not all darkness is bad though. It makes you appreciate the light.” He said while looking up at all the new memories Jack made.
“It’s gotten much brighter in here ever since Jack Frost was born.”

“Even if you don’t exist anymore, you’re still thankful for that..? Because of me you don’t-”

Nightlight shook his head. “I live on in you. No. I will never come back as much as everyone might want me to. You are what we have grown into. The decisions you make are yours.”

Jack smiled and looked back up at the sky.
“Will the other guardians think that? Will they accept me as me?”

Nightlight sighed. “I hope they will. I can’t say for certain. They have much hurt in their hearts from what your memories show.”

“....What if...What if I don't want to be a guardian?”

Nightlight was quiet for a moment.

“That is up to you. If being a guardian hurts you too much then it should be up to you.”

“They said it was destiny, that I couldn’t say no.”

Nightlight let out a deep sigh. Jack couldn’t tell if he was annoyed or disappointed. It almost felt like both.
“Ignore what they say. You are most important.”

A shift in the atmosphere caused Jack to sit up and get onto his feet. He looked around seeing the lights flicker and dim.
“Whats happening?”

Nightlight rose to his feet calmly. “You’re waking up.”

Jack looked at Nightlight with worry, “Will I ever be able to come back..? Will I see you again???”

Nightlight smiled and put his hands over Jacks. “With practice you will whenever you want. I believe in you, in us.”

Everything around him started to turn into nothing but darkness and slowly so did Nightlight. Jack reached out for him and his words echoed through his mind. His body suddenly jolted itself awake as if it felt like he had been falling. Sandy nearly fell backwards in surprise when Jack suddenly sat up.

“Sandy!” Jack nearly toppled over from feeling light in his head but Sandy helped steady him. “Where are we..? Are we still at the Lamadry?”

Sandy shook his head no. He looked extremely relieved to see Jack was okay...but something seemed off about him. Maybe Jack was just imagining it, but Sandy seemed sad about something.

‘No. We are at The North Pole. You were asleep for a long time.’ Sandy signed.

“How long..?”

Sandy took a moment to think.
‘Almost 12 hours I think. I lost count.’

Jack ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “That sounds about right… It felt like forever being stuck there..”

Sandy raised his brows and almost inquired what he meant but he shut his mouth. He knew the others would want to hear what happened, but he needed to know if Jack was willing to talk about it with everyone.
‘Do you want to tell us? We were very worried about you.’

“Yeah...I think I’m ready. Just give me a second okay?”

Sandy nodded and floated out of the room to give Jack some privacy. Jack stretched and looked back at the bed they placed him in. Huh. He couldn’t recall the last time he slept in a bed.
‘Maybe Nightlight slept in one once..that's where the strange familiarity is coming from.’

He couldn’t help but chuckle. Just a day ago he was scowling at effigies of Nightlight but there he was; feeling a little better with his past identity. It was too soon to say he was at peace with it all, but he had little time to consider all of that. Jack grabbed his hoodie and slipped it on with haste. Then he took the diamond dagger from between the bed sheets and raised his brows.
‘I slept with this thing in the bed with me? Shocker that I didn’t cut myself.’ He thought.

There was no sheath for it, so Jack improvised on one made of ice and then slipped it into his hoodie pocket. After finally grabbing his staff he made his way out of the spare room and followed the noise of bustling yetis. They were happily working on various toys of all sizes and it didn’t take long before they noticed Jack was awake.

One of the yetis approached Jack and gestured to him to follow it.

“Hello to you too Phil.” Jack muttered while looking at the wonders around him.

Just at the center of the workshop, all the guardians were gathered there whispering to one another. All of them looked like they had just left a funeral. The air around them was heavy as a wet weighted blanket.
Phil cleared his throat and all the guardians turned to him. Jack moved around Phil and walked over to them.

“Tooth! How are you and the fairies? You guys okay??” Jack asked.

Tooth bit her lip a little and slouched her shoulders.
“Oh we’re doing okay. Exhausted but we’re caught up and keeping a steady pace. Thanks for asking.”

“You sure you’re okay..?” He glanced around at everyone sort of avoiding his gaze. “Did something happen while I was out..??”

Bunnymund looked at North, “Come on. Someone’s gotta tell ‘im.”

North sighed and leaned away from the table he sat on. “While you were unconscious...the Lunar Lamas said some strange things.. Things you might not take well.”

Jack folded his arms and raised his brows.
“I’d rather hear it rather than be left in the dark.”

“Alright...They were saying that what happened at the Lamadry was your ‘awakening’ as the first guardian. As Nightlight.”

‘They.
They knew????? Those lunar men knew?????? Did Mim tell them and not the guardians???????”
Jack could feel his rage bubbling, but he had to keep his composure.

“Do you believe it?” Jack said, his tone was more casual than it should have been.

“What are ya talkin about mate?”

“Do you believe it's true that I was Nightlight.”

Katherine bit her lip and looked at the floor.
“We don’t know. We were trying to make sense of it while you were out..”

Sandy glanced at Jack and then at the others with a worried look on his face. Jack’s expression was oddly blank. He wasn’t exploding with fury like everyone expected him to or him running off to process it. He was just standing there.

“Jack.. Are y-”

“-They were right.” Jack responded.

The guardians all felt their blood run cold. None of them knew how to respond right away.. They just stood there gawking at him.

‘How do you know that..?’ Sandy managed to ask.

Jack sat on a nearby table and rested his head onto his staff.
“I saw it. The memory of the first battle with Pitch.. And pieces of the last one. All of you were begging us to not go off and fight him.” He pulled up the bottom of his hoodie and revealed the dark scar on his abdomen. “That’s how our body was damaged, or I guess killed.”

Sandy was taken aback and covered his mouth in shock. He had battled Pitch many times and gotten a few scars from him himself. There was no mistake of it, that scar was tinged with darkness from a shadow weapon.
Katherine had a hard time looking at it. When she finally had enough she turned away from him to hide the tears welling up in her eyes. Jack pulled his shirt back down and looked at the guardians once more.

“Im..guessing The Man In The Moon didn’t tell you-”

“NO HE DIDN’T!!” Bunnymund finally broke, “IF HE DID, DON’T YOU THINK WE WOULD HAVE TRIED TO FIND YOU SOONER?!”

Jack winced a little at Bunny’s sudden outburst. Bunnymund realized what he had just done, he took steps away from Jack and tried to wipe his eyes as fast as he could.

“All that pain was for nothing...the memorial.. The suffering… I had a feeling you were a replacement at first but… that wasn’t it at all-”

“You thought I was what?” Jack got onto his feet and he furrowed his brows in anger.

“Jack, he’s trying to say we all saw some similarities between you and him..It was difficult.” Tooth tried to say reassuringly.

He looked hard at all of them. None of them were showing any signs of joy or even delight at the news.
“Are you mad at me? What did I do..? I-I told all of you the truth..Are you disappointed I can’t remember everything-”

Tooth feathers folded back and she flew towards him,
“No no no Jack that isn’t it at all.. We’re.. We’re feeling a lot right now.”

Jack balled his fists up and stepped away from Tooth, “Are you mad at The Man In The Moon..?”

“Yes.” Bunnymund sharply responded.

“Are you going to do something about it..? Are we gonna talk to him and ask why the fuck did he keep this from you guys?! From me?!”

“Jack!” North practically hissed, “That’s not how this works. We cannot simply message him. He sends messages to us. Unfortunately all we can do is continue our work and wait for a response-”

“THATS BULLSHIT!” Jack roared, “I’VE WAITED FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS FOR AN ANSWER! IF NIGHTLIGHT MEANT SO MUCH TO HIM WHY DID HE LEAVE ME IN THE DARK?! WHY DID HE LEFT ALL OF YOU TO GRIEVE OVER SOMEONE WHO WASN’T EVEN DEAD?!”

“Jack that's ENOUGH!!” Katherine yelled.

Jack caught his breath and realized the whole room was freezing over. An elf could have dropped a pin and they would have heard it perfectly. His fists were clenched so tightly that the skin around his knuckles were slightly turning a different color. He refused to let any tears fall from his eyes but a few stray ones were too hot to freeze on his cheek.

North wanted to reach out and just hold him close but he couldn’t move his body. He had no energy left to comfort anyone..not even himself. Jack pulled his hood up and turned away from all of them.

“I need some space.”

“Jack! What about your responsibility-”

Jack looked over his shoulder and glared at them with the intensity of an arctic wind..
“I'm not a guardian.” Then flew out of the closest open window before any of them could stop him.

He flew for what felt like an endless amount of time. Not even the sight of the moon would stop him in his tracks, he just wanted to get away and be alone somewhere where no living being could bother him. Besides the occasional penguin maybe.
Once he reached the south pole, he nearly collapsed. Jack managed to sit up and looked out at the snow plain before him. He trudged his way to a nearby cliffside and pulled out the diamond dagger from his pocket. In a way it felt comforting but then he remembered how it came from The Man In The Moon. It was HIS tears that made this blade. No matter the significance it held, he felt the urge to throw it as hard he could off the face of the cliff.
It was all in vain. Even with all of his fury, he couldn't let go of the blade.

Jack sat down on the edge of the cliff with his staff resting by his other hand. He sighed and stared off at the arctic ocean. The only sounds that echoed around him were the howling winds and occasional cracks of ice.

He heard some cracks near him and glanced over to see if some of the cliff was going to break off..when he nearly shot back up in the air in shock. There was someone not too far from him.. Sitting on the cliff too.

“Wha…”

Jack reached for his staff and cautiously got to his feet.
‘What the hell is Pitch doing here?!’

He looked over at Jack with an eerily calm expression.
“Hello Frost. I had a feeling you’d come here. That this would happen..I thought maybe it was time we’d have a little chat.”

Chapter Text

Jack stood there in the snow frozen in place, ‘Of course after I learn about my past HE shows up….. Does he even know..?’

Pitch smirked and got to his feet. To Jack's surprise, Pitch was the size of a normal human. No tricks or shape shifting.. How odd..
“It’s alright Jack, I’m very aware of...the recent news-”

“-How?! You weren’t there! No one even spoke of you!”

Pitch sighed at how quickly defensive Jack got but kept on, “Oh please Frost. You think the guardians can sense when they’re being spied on? Besides, the relic I wield reacted to your ‘awakening’ at the Lamadry. Did they really think I wouldn’t notice?”

Pitch could feel the fear rising from Jack, he had no idea how much of his memory was restored.. So Jack could have easily remembered every battle between the two in his past life. He had to be cautious if he could help it.

“The guardians wouldn’t understand what you’re going through...but I understand.”

Jack’s anger reached a boiling point and his staff released bright ice blasts while he roared in the wind.

“YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!!” The snow beneath him answered his call and charged at Pitch like a wave.

Pitch blew the ice blasts away from him with the help of his nightmare sand. Talking to a winter spirit in a place like Antarctica was no easy feet as they had the home advantage. Yet, Pitch persisted as he roared back through the howling winds.

“I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE CAST OUT?! TO NOT BE BELIEVED IN?!” The winds began to die and the snow settled. Jack saw Pitch standing nearby unarmed continuing,
“To long for..a family.”

Jack lowered his staff and stared at Pitch with his mouth slightly agape. It was true, his words were resonating with him but the hesitation was still overwhelming. Jack kept his guard up but stayed quiet to hear Pitch out.

“I had a family once too, Frost. The memories of them can haunt my very being sometimes. I couldn’t save them no matter how much I wish I could-”

Images of the Tsar and Tsarina flashed in his mind as Pitch spoke. Jack tried to bury those feelings but it felt like too much. His emotional balloon was about to pop.

“Mine died trying to stop you.” Jack spat.

Pitch sighed and folded his hands behind his back.

“You remember that then.” He paused “…It’s true. I had no intention of killing them but I have no justification for what I did. I lost my wife and child before becoming who you see before you. I was a beast.”

Jack wanted to continue to doubt him but the tone of Pitch’s voice made it sound like he was being sincere. He wasn’t talking to the Lord of Nightmares , that was just Pitch. He had no nightmares ready to attack, for what nightmare could hide in the snow white tundra.

“Why are you here?” Jack asked as he stared into Pitch's silvery gold eyes.

Pitch took a half-step towards him "To talk. You don't have to be alone in this, Jack. All those years in the shadows I thought, no one else knew how I felt. But I was wrong. Learning you were Nightlight hurt you, didn't it? Part of you wanted to bury it and never look back. Isn't that right?"

Jack swallowed, "Yeah..." He trailed off, clenching a fist around his staff.

Pitch nodded, "I hoped it wasn't true. Not because the spectral boy was my 'mortal enemy,' but because of what The Man in the Moon's actions meant." He moved to the other side of Jack, “Surely you heard at least how he felt towards Nightlight, or you rather, how you were like a brother to him.”

Jack’s fists trembled in rage, overpowering the fear that Pitch’s presence elicited

“Somewhat…” Jack couldn’t help but see the hurt in Nightlight’s face when they spoke in his memories.

“Then tell me Frost, if the guardians claim he loved you, then why would he abandon you?”

“That's what I’ve been asking,” Jack grumbled through his teeth.

Pitch stood in front of him and stifled a chuckle.

“It's sad really. Think of it like this Frost, Jack. Who wants to play with a broken toy? He broke you trying to fix Nightlight and dumped you into the world without a second thought when it didn’t work..” Pitch leaned closer, “Until you got just enough power to be useful to him again.”

Everything Jack tried to swallow for the whole day almost came pouring out. Cold tears managed to get past his best efforts and froze onto his cheeks. Pitch restrained his face from smiling at the sight. He remained quiet and glanced away at the weeping winter spirit until just the right moment.

Pitch placed his hand on Jack’s shoulder and gave him a half smile.

“Oh, but Jack.. You are far from broken.” Pitch gestured to the massive black ice structure behind them, “Look at what we can do!”

Jack staggered to his feet and walked towards the twisting sculpture. It felt like any other piece of ice, except for its core. Something felt off, it felt dark yet unbothered by the light around it. He wiped frozen tears from his cheeks and nearly fell backwards seeing the guardians inside the ice. They stood with his reflection, but turned away with grief stricken faces.

Pitch stepped forward, surprised at the sight inside. "Interesting," He muttered. "The nightmare sand shows you what you dread most.. I wonder what they're saying behind your back.”

Jack straightened and glanced at Pitch. "Didn't you say you had an 'agent' spying on them?"

The Nightmare King barely contained a victorious smile. "Indeed I did. Would you like to listen in on them?"

"Yes," Jack answered, cold eyes turned back on the ice.

Pitch internally communed with the hidden nightmare, then reflected whatever she heard into the black ice.
‘Do not miss a single detail.’ He told her.

Jack watched the sculpture intently when he noticed the guardian’s mouths began to move.

Tooth spoke first, "What are we going to do now?"

Her tone sounded no different than Jack remembered from the North Pole.

"We shouldn't go looking for him yet. He wants to be alone," Katherine muttered. "So let him be alone."

"Who knows what he could be doin,'" Bunnymund scoffed, his ever-present accent cutting through sharply, "Not that we helped at all."

"I think we should look for him at some point, Night.." Tooth paused,"He used to be a relic. He could still be one now."

"She's right," North spoke up. "Who knows what could happen if he fell into the wrong hands."

Jack grit his teeth as his rage boiled over. The tears sliding down his face didn't freeze, they were too hot with anger to be contained by mere temperature.. Pitch saw them glistening and stepped away from Jack. Nature spirits were unpredictable after all and unpredictability meant danger.

“I don’t want to hear anymore.” Jack growled.

As quick as they appeared the guardian’s reflections slowly faded from view, leaving Jack with nothing but boiling rage in their wake. Of course they would dead name him. Of course they would treat him like nothing but a tool.
'Or a broken toy,’ a voice whispered through Jack’s mind.

Then out of nowhere Jack saw the visage of someone that he had never seen before. He had light blonde hair with a lone strand curling above his head and a round face. He was dressed in a similar fashion that the Tsar and Tsarina did in his memories. Then he saw them… the moon insignias.

“The Man In The Moon..” Jack whispered.

Mim stared back at Jack with a similar conflicted expression. The pity reflected in Mim’s eyes was too much for Jack to bear witness to. All of his swallowed emotions came bursting forth at once. His fury, his rage.. His Hatred.

Yes. That’s what he’d call it.

His hatred fueled him to punch the visage of the man who put him through hundreds of years of torture. The man who failed him. With all he put Jack through, could he even be called a man? The impact of Jack’s fist on the black ice caused a loud reverberation in the ice to screech out before it collapsed. The snow beneath his feet was beginning to stain with the blood dripping from his knuckles. The furious winds roared around them as Jack’s rage was peaking. Pitch glanced beneath his feet and saw the ice beginning to crack.

‘He doesn’t have it in him to destroy this whole island, but his powers like this are so breathtaking.’ Pitch smirked while he watched Jack let his frustration out on the wind and ice.

Just as Pitch expected, Jack slowly dropped back onto the ground and allowed the winds to die down. The eeriest part was the snowfall had completely frozen in place. Jack didn’t care to let it fall. Everything around him felt like nothing but pure static. His hands tingled but at the same time he couldn’t really feel them.

‘What’s happening to me..?’ Jack thought.

Pitch walked over and placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder. The simple touch was enough to ground Jack and snap him out of it.
Curiously, the snow started to fall again.

Jack slowly rose to his feet and turned to Pitch. He felt unsure what to say to him after everything that had just happened. The man that stood before Pitch looked almost completely numb.
Just what he was planning on.

Pitch’s face was painted with sincerity as he spoke, “Did that feel good to let it out?”

Jack shrugged, “Sort of? I don’t know…” He trailed off, unsure what to say.

“It’s okay to say it did Jack. You’ve bottled that up for so long I bet. The guardians shut it down every time you let some of it out, didn’t they?”

“They were afraid of me, of what I’d do if I lost control.”

Pitch clicked his tongue in annoyance, “Typical of them. To be scared of someone more powerful than them.”

Jack looked up at Pitch in mild confusion.

“Oh yes Jack, I didn’t stutter. You aren’t a guardian, you aren’t tethered to children for power. It’s absolutely mesmerizing to witness.”

Jack didn’t know exactly how to take that. Pitch was right of course, he’d been right about more things than Jack realized. It was just something that felt hard to swallow at first.

“What will you do now Jack? Surely not go back to the guardians I assume.”

“No.” Jack hissed out quicker than Pitch expected. “I’m not going back to anyone who supports him blindly like that, talks about me as if I'm nothing but a tool or treats me like some CHILD!!” Jack huffed and took a moment to catch his breath.

Pitch gave him that moment. “Excellent.” He smiled as he moved to Jack’s side, “The truth hurts, but you took it better than I thought you would. You do truly deserve to have a place where you are respected as an equal."

Jack raised a brow, “Where are you going with this?”

Pitch chuckled, and extended his hand towards him, “Jack, I want you to to be my ally. Not as a tool or a servant, but my equal.”

Jack’s eyes widened and he felt the blood in his body stop only just for a moment. He glanced down at his own bloodied hand.
“You’re just willing to forget hundreds..possibly thousands of years of battles? What we did to each other..?”

“Do you remember Jack?”

He glanced away for a moment, “Not entirely. Just bits and pieces… I remember the first battle between us. And the last.”

Pitch nodded and paced a little as he spoke.
“I see. Then I understand your hesitance,” Pitch stopped and turned to Jack, “You have 3 paths you can take from here Jack." He held up a finger. "You could go back to the guardians, be the man they want you to be and bribe children with snow days. Then maybe you’d get noticed by The Man In The Moon after a decade or two.." Then he held up another finger, "You could go back to the way you were before. Alone, drifting from place to place making a mess wherever you go.”

He then held up one last finger, “Or. You can join me, and I can show you a world that none of those moon puppets know about. Where you would never be ignored again. Where you’d be believed in not just by humans...but by me. I believe in you Jack.”

Jack could feel his heart pounding loudly in his ears and a few drops of sweat rolled down the corner of his face. His hands shook as he wiped off the frozen beads of sweat on his face. No one was going to teleport to him and tell him what the right answer was. The Man In The Moon wasn’t going to suddenly acknowledge him, say how sorry he was and beg Jack not to make a big mistake.

He didn’t want to be alone anymore. The Guardians made him feel alone in more ways than one, although mostly by accident. If he joined them, he knew for sure it wouldn’t be perfect. He’d be miserable and bottle up his emotions all over again.
Then there was Pitch’s offer.
He had no way of knowing what would happen if he took Pitch’s hand. Despite everything in the books of their past, Pitch could look Jack in the eyes and see Jack for who he was now. Pitch was giving Jack what The Guardians and Mim never did.
A choice.

Without a second thought, Jack seized Pitch’s hand and stared him directly in the eyes.

“I’m in.”

Moonbots laid scattered around the dusty lunar surface. Some were partially frozen and others were mysteriously corroded in parts of their dismembered bodies. A boomerang lifelessly sat in splinters near the rusted clipper's entrance. Deep inside the metallic center, The Man In The Moon desperately tried to hide behind a few broken pillars from the monster that invaded his home. His friends...his guardians…
He couldn't save a single one.

Mim slowed his breathing and tried to focus on his last objective.
Get off the moon.
If he showed any fear, the monster would surely get him with merciless ease. With a deep breath, he tried to quietly move through the tunnels but nearly lost it when he saw the tortured remains of his beloved friends.

'I'll come back for all of you, I swear on it. If I revive any of you now they'll kill you.. Please forgive me.' Mim choked back his tears and hesitantly proceeded.

His heart dropped to the pit of his stomach when he felt someone's hand seize his foot.
With urgency, Mim kicked his foot up and turned to see what it was. The bodies were the only thing by his feet and none of them looked like they moved.

Mim's body trembled, 'Oh god.. I-I'm hallucinating now..'

That's when he heard it.
The sound of multiple voices chuckling, accompanied by footsteps. Mim had no other choice but to run as fast as he could through the halls. He was so close to the exit...He didn't even dare look behind him, for he knew they were closing in on him. Once he opened the door he would be home free. A shooting star would aid his escape and he'd lose them. This was the only hope he had left.

Mim made it to the moon's final gate and practically rammed it open.
To his dismay, there wasn't any shooting star to rescue him. What stood there waiting for him was an incomprehensible mass of darkness with outstretched arms ready to snare him. All of it's golden eyes fixed on Mim but it did not move. Instead something was emerging from the monster, a familiar pale face.

"J-Jack.." Mim stuttered.

Jack's eyes were almost like glass, cold and unfeeling. The only thing Mim could see in the winter spirit’s usually lively and sparkling eyes was his own horrified reflection.
The darkness recoiled for a moment at a mysterious light source behind him. Mim knew it couldn't have been a guardian..so who was it?

He turned to see that the spectral boy from his childhood memories stood behind him armed with his trusty diamond dagger.

"Nightlight!" Mim cried out in relief.

The dread returned when he realized Nightlight wore the same expression as Jack.

"Did you forget..?" Both Jack and Nightlight's voices layered over one another as they spoke in unison, creating a deathly eerie echo. "You did this. You broke us. You.Hurt.Us."

Mim tried to sputter out a response but the shadow entity flung out inky black tentacles to coil around his arms. The entity cackled as it pulled him down to the ground.
Jack and Nightlight stood over Mim, each armed with a blade. He could see nothing but the golden monstrous eyes relishing in his torture, and the fractured versions of his guardian.

"Jack-Nightlight please stop!! You're scaring me!" He pleaded.

"Too bad." They flatly responded. Their faces contorted furiously with rage Mim had never seen before. "You brought this upon yourself. And now you shall perish for it."

They raised their ice and diamond blades over him, still in unison, as if commanded by the same marionette. As Mim screamed the monster, not even recognizable to Jack and Nightlight, only laughed more and more, their laughter hollow and broken at best.

Once he felt their blades pierce his flesh, he shot upwards out of his bed in a cold sweat. Mim’s entire body shook as he tried to get his bearings.
“W..What the hell was that..?” Mim whispered.

Annoyed at the sensation of something stuck in his eyes, Mim tried to rub the sand out of his eyes so he could try and process everything. However, much to his horror, the sand was completely black. He recoiled in horror and tried to quickly wipe his hands clean of the substance.

“That...I just...I had a nightmare..” Mim said, unable to slow his breathing.

Chapter Text

Katherine stared at the clouds above her magnificent tree in quiet reticence. The distant sound of thunder made her aware she’d have to head in soon, but at that point she was too numb to budge. The images that disturbed her sleep still flashed in her mind, far too fresh for her to just wipe clean. Nightmares were not uncommon for her but highly unwelcome. Just as she was about to lift herself off the balcony’s rails she heard footsteps behind her.

“Stormy night, is it not?” A familiar voice called out as he slowly stepped onto the balcony with her.

“I was hoping it would be you..”Katherine gave a tired smile, “What brings you here Ombric?”

Ombric took a moment to clean his glasses, put them back on and turn to Katherine.

“Well, I had a feeling you had a nightmare too. Some of your guards said that you were awake at this hour..so here I am.”

“You had one too?” 

“Sort of,” He sighs, “I was somewhat lucid the entire time, so waking myself up wasn’t a problem.” 

Ombric glanced at her, “Was yours troubling?”

Katherine leaned back on the railing and stared at the distant thunderstorm.
“That's an understatement.. Jack came back. He was scared, begging me to help him. A-And before I knew it,” She paused to steady herself, “Pitch lunged from the shadows and stabbed him. Just like he did before. There was so much blood and I couldn’t save him..I-”

“-It’s okay Katherine.” Ombric reached out to her and without hesitation, she went into his arms. 

He looked down at her and stifled a chuckle, “Forgive me, I just noticed the tips of your hair are still black.”

Katherine wiped her face and laughed hoarsely. “Gee thanks. I was hoping it wasn’t that noticeable.”

They stared at the cloudy sky in silence for a minute or two until Katherine had a thought cross her mind.
“You said you had a nightmare too… What was it?” 

Ombric sighed and pushed his glasses back up onto his nose, “A giant snake chasing me down. Just as it nearly got to me in a body of water, I felt my body jolt. You know, when it thinks it's about to fall.”

“Gods yeah I hate that.” Katherine grunted, “I should ask Sandy why we do that next time I get the chance..” 

“When the night is over, I’ll have to see if anyone else had a nightmare. I sincerely hope it wasn’t shared among all of us. Will you be alright by yourself?”

Katherine chuckled, “Don't worry about me Ombric, I’m okay now. Thanks for checking up on me.”

“Just one more thing Ombric,” Her smile waned, “If we all had a nightmare, would Jack share it too..?”

Ombric sighed in uncertainty.

“I don’t know Katherine. It’s very likely that because he rejected guardian hood all together, he’s severed from us dream-wise”

“I can’t say that surprises me. Maybe if I handled the news better..-Ugh. I can’t get wrapped in those thoughts again.” Katherine slumped against her doorway.

“It’s not your fault he left Katherine. Jack is going through a lot right now, he will reveal himself when he’s ready. Just give him some time.” 

Katherine smiled lightly and nodded, “Thank you.”

She hugged Ombric just before he could teleport off. He held onto her until she felt ready to let go of him and see him off. Katherine, now alone with her thoughts again, gazed up at the moon’s light peeking behind the clouds.

The night clouds blocked the moon's light from shining down on the world below. It made no difference to Jack at this point. He sat on a telephone pole, not gazing at the moon's muffled light above him. He simply watched cars come and go on the street beneath him. 

'To be a human and be free from all this mess..Dealing with death much sooner wouldn't be an equal trade off I think.' Jack thought to himself.

Jack leaned his head against his staff, which sat between his knees, and sighed. Pitch was surprisingly understanding of Jack needing a night or two alone to process what they agreed upon. Despite saying he needed to be alone, he would give anything to talk to someone at that moment. 

‘Did I make the right choice..? Was this what I really wanted and not just me acting like an idiot?’ 

He paused and looked at the telephone pole he sat on. Somehow he expected Nightlight to be there to give him some cryptic advice. Maybe tell Jack that he wasn’t disappointed in him for teaming up with one of the most notorious spirits and betraying his friends. 

‘Maybe I ought to try meditation before I crash tonight. He did say I would be able to go back if I tried..’ He stroked the wood of his staff in thought. 

Just as his thoughts were about to wander, he could see a trail of golden sand stretch like a river  through the night sky. If it was a sign of any other guardian, he might have ran off to avoid speaking to them. Sandy was different however, they were acquaintances long before he was chosen to be a guardian. However, it didn’t make him smile or feel any less guilty over what he did.

‘You don’t know if he talked behind your back like the others,’ He could hear his thoughts echo.

He took a deep breath and tried to ward off the intrusive thoughts, ‘If I cross paths with him, I won’t tell him what I’ve done.’

The golden sand materialized into the familiar man as he floated in the air to further spread his good dreams. Jack watched him from below, not wanting to make his presence known, but he had no desire to run away. Sandy shivered and looked around for the source. Clearly it was no ordinary wind chill, he had enough experiences with nature spirits to tell the difference. 

Jack could feel his heart hit his stomach once Sandy noticed him. Sandy’s eyes widened and it took him a minute before he floated down to Jack’s level. He sent out the last bit of dream sand and turned to Jack. Neither of them knew what to say to say to each other and the silence itself was depressing at its worst. Sandy silently floated over and sat on the nearby wires close to Jack. Jack glanced over at him, took a deep breath and tried to break the silence.

“Busy night huh?” Jack said

‘As always. Never a dull moment.’ Sandy gave a tired smile.

The question was coming, Jack knew it had to eventually.

‘How are you holding up?’ Sandy signed.

There it was. Jack sighed and swung his foot anxiously. He couldn’t tell the whole truth, but he couldn’t bring himself to lie to Sandy either. 

“I’d be lying if I said I was doing perfect. I’m just existing at the moment..” Jack trailed off.

The silence filled the air for a few more minutes before Jack finally let a burning question escape his lips.

“Are you mad I didn’t become a guardian?” 

Sandy’s shoulders tensed and his face tightened just a little. He looked up, not at the moon, but the stars. His thoughts had been jumbled up the moment they received the news of Jack’s past life. The others were not coping well in different ways..but him? He tried to stay level headed, for Jack was no complete stranger to him. He was saddened, but could he really blame Jack? 

‘No,’ He slowly signed away, ‘If i were in your shoes, I’d need time away too. I said earlier we had similar circumstances of being chosen, but it was more complicated than I could ever imagine.’ 

“Thank you..” Jack felt some weight fall off his shoulders and he could finally breathe a little easier. 

Sandy faced him with a clear look of concern, ‘Have you gotten much sleep?’

“Is-Is it that noticeable?” Jack touched the shadows under his eyes.

‘I know your pattern is abnormal so I won’t judge, but if you want I can give you some sand for when you want to sleep.’

“Sandy you don’t have to-”

‘-It’s no skin off my bones, I have plenty of sand Jack. I just worry..You need to take care of yourself during this time, even if it's the tiniest things.’ 

“I know,” Jack laughed lightly and smiled to himself, “Okay, I’ll take some for the road. I need to crash eventually..” 

Jack stood up and walked over to Sandy to receive a small bag of dream sand from him. Sandy would press no further on how Jack was doing, instead he sat back down and enjoyed the sounds of the night. Jack tucked the bag of dreamsand in his pocket and felt another question creep into the front of his mind.

“Sandy? What do dolphins in dreams mean?”

Sandy smiled at the question and racked his brain for the meaning he was more familiar with. 

‘It sometimes means you want to socialize more. Gain more connections and relationships. Along with the strong urge to break a cycle of loneliness.’ Sandy explained. 

Jack shrunk a little and sighed, “Yeah you kinda got it on the nose there..” He felt his face heat up a little from embarrassment. 

Sandy smiled smugly and shrugged his shoulders. He slowly rose back up and did a quick stretch before floating back in the air.

“Sandy! Can you uh, not tell anyone you saw me..?” Jack hesitated.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t see anyone on my run tonight.’ Sandy winked before drifting in the wind leaving a golden trail behind him. 

Jack smiled to himself and gazed down at his shadow on the ground. He waited until it was clear that Sandman was gone and then stood up on the pole.
“Take me to him.” He ordered. 

His shadow grew and grew until it emerged from the ground in the form of a horse. The nightmare huffed before making her way to pick Jack up. He slowly climbed onto her back, almost unnerved at the texture of her body but he tried to shake it off. It was not long before they were off to find Pitch’s hideout. 

“It’s under there?” Jack asked the mare as he stared at a lone bed frame on top of a gaping hole.

The nightmare dissolved into shadows and pulled itself inside the dark hole. Jack squinted at it, wondering how he could even get inside. 

“Oh right.. I forget I can do this trick in the first place.” Jack stuck his staff between his knees and steadied his breathing.

In mere seconds his misty cold breath enveloped his frame and dissolved his entire body into a cold wind chill. He slipped through the wooden supports of the bed frame and dipped right into the dark tunnels. The air flow in the tunnels felt so stagnant even in his wind form, clear signs that rarely anyone ventured inside. 

‘If I was in my physical form I wonder if I’d sneeze..’ Jack thought as he breezed through tunnel after tunnel.

Finally he saw a shred of light and put the breaks on his path. He pulled himself together and made sure everything was where it should be. Head, check. Legs, check. Arms? Check. He picked his staff up with his foot and began to look around. The lair itself was covered in shadows with stairs and arches leading nowhere. Who knew how deep Pitch’s lair truly went. Jack cautiously looked around and could hear faint sounds of hooves and whispering. Sat on a higher part of the ground was a globe not much different than North’s except it was a much darker color. Jack sort of expected that from Pitch, everything black with that guy. The light shining through the shadowy room showed nothing but grays and blacks all around him.

That was, until Jack saw the faintest reflections of color tucked away in a far corner past the globe. The closer he got, the more color he saw shining on the wall. Blue, Red, Magenta Green… It was a mosaic hung on the wall almost as if purposefully put there to be forgotten. Jack wiped the dust off of the glass and could see something moving inside the colorful shards. Were they memories? 

“Dreams actually.” He heard Pitch mutter right behind him, “I knew you were nosy Frost, but not this nosy.” 

Jack turned around to see Pitch standing there casually. He didn’t look mad or upset..just annoyed. 

“Sorry I just- It’s really pretty.. I’ve never seen dream glass before.” 

Pitch’s expression didn’t change one bit. He gazed at the mosaic for a moment then shifted his gaze back at Jack.
“Let’s just leave this be shall we? I don’t feel like discussing it at the moment. I’d rather express my delight that you made it back.” Pitch gestured Jack to step away from this area and Jack reluctantly obliged. 

They walked back over to the more lit area of his lair and Jack tried to keep himself calm. If he had to be honest with himself, he felt like he was in the lion’s den. 

“My you’re very on edge Jack. Are you reconsidering the offer, or are you just nervous?” Pitch smirked curiously.

“Just nervous. You should know better than anyone on where fears come from right?” 

“Of course I do. I just wanted to see if I would get a different answer. You haven’t failed to surprise me yet Jack.” He chuckled. 

Jack rolled his eyes a little and sighed.

“I meant what I said at The South Pole. I’m in this all the way. My thoughts just had me feeling all over the place. Though I don’t think I have to clarify that, you probably sensed it the whole time.” Jack scratched his neck. “Something happened that reminded me why I wanted to join in the first place. So..Here I am.”

“And what was that, if I may ask?” Pitch felt his curiosity peak.

‘Aw shit, here we go.’ Jack braced himself.

“I ran into Sandman on his nightly route.”

Pitch raised his brows, “Ironic really. Did he do anything to you then? Say anything worth of value?”

“He didn’t try anything, we just..talked. He could tell I wasn’t sleeping well and gave me this little bag of dream sand.” 

Pitch shook his head and sighed, “Of course he wouldn’t tell you…” 

Jack stopped in his tracks and turned to Pitch, “Tell me about what?”

“He is the ‘guardian of dreams’, Jack. Any dream can be sensed by him so long as that person or entity doesn’t block him out. It’s almost like a tracking device or a way for him to pry into one’s mind. Rather nasty don’t you think?” Pitch paced slightly, “And while you are taking a “break” from the guardians, he gives you that. As good-willed as it seems, it’s also a good way for them to know where you are.” 

Jack’s face contorted in intense frustration. Sandy was his friend, or so he believed. He genuinely cared about Jack, but what Pitch was saying made sense. Even if Sandy meant it as a harmless gesture, he couldn’t help but feel sickened. He nearly wanted to toss the bag into the shadowy abyss below but Pitch stopped him from acting on impulse.

“Save it Jack. Perhaps it might come in handy when the time is right..” 

“Oh sure, light myself up like a beacon for him, for them? ” Jack scoffed.

Pitch shook his head no, “You have a past with the sand Frost. There might be a time you have to use it for..something else.” 

“Something else?”

“Well who knows what mess we will get into later. Might as well save it you know.”

Jack scrunched his face up a little, but Pitch had a point. He shoved the bag of dream sand in his pocket and stared upwards at some stairs that led to nowhere. The idea of Sandy prying into his dreams to find out his location just didn’t sit right with him. Sandy didn’t seem like the type, but there’s no way he would know if it was done to him already. Did The Man In The Moon have that ability too..? 

“Pitch?” Jack called out behind him. 

“Yes?”

“Can you teach me how to block people out from my dreams? If it's possible to learn I mean.”

“Of course you can learn it,” Pitch smirked with immense satisfaction, “It isn’t easy but I'd be more than happy to teach you. If you are up to the challenge of course.” 

“Anything to keep them out of my head.” Jack spat.

Pitch could barely contain his immense gratification for Jack’s state. The energy that was coming off of Jack was seething and quite dark. 

'All those years of neglect have fermented his rage quite nicely...now to just add some spice to it.’ 

“Ah yes before we get carried away in that, there is something I’d like to discuss with you for just a moment.” 

Jack raised his brows, “Okay. What is it now?”

“As you know, Halloween is coming up and this is the first year in a very long time that I can actively participate in it. Halloween is no fun without a good scare after all but what is Halloween without scares AND fun?” 

“Am I the fun you’re talking about?” Jack asked, completely oblivious.

Pitch couldn’t help but chuckle, “Yes of course. You do know that humans regularly seek out scares for fun don’t you?”

“Not really. I mean I knew of some things like those roller coasters and thrill rides.” Jack muttered, “I don't know.. Won’t too much fear attract the Guardian’s attention?”

“That might be a possibility, yes. We won’t stick around for an all out war, I assure you. Besides, I doubt all of the Guardians would be willing to fight you.” Pitch glanced at Jack again and Jack was unwilling to meet his eyes.

Jack could feel Pitch look right through him, sensing and mentally dissecting the fear that radiated off of him. 

“You’re afraid of fighting them, aren’t you?” Pitch whispered.

“I...Kind of.”

Pitch stepped around Jack, his eyes still locked on him. He was practically calculating by the second.

“Tell you what. I can help you with this fear..along with teaching you how to block out prying dream spirits. If we solve this little issue, would you accompany me on Halloween? If you don’t like it you can always back out.”

‘He hasn’t done anything to me so far.. I can trust him. I think.’ Jack took a quick breath and nodded.
“Yeah..Do you think we could get started now?” Jack hesitated.

“I admire your eagerness. Very well. Follow me to the ground above. I get the feeling you work better outdoors.” Pitch smiled before turning into nothing but a shadow and slithered through the darkness.

“What did I just agree to..” Jack whispered.

Jack had to take a moment to get his footing after materializing once more onto the dry dirt above Pitch’s lair. The plants weren’t dead but they certainly didn’t look alive to him. Except for the few rogue blooming flowers, most of the plants seemed to be hibernating. Pitch didn’t care at all and instead basked in the darkness of night.

“Mmm..Cloudy nights were always my favorite, wouldn’t you agree?” He smiled at the sky above.

“Considering it makes it hard for him to see us, yeah. I’d say they’re one of my favorites too.” Jack couldn’t help but smile too at the night weather. 

He tapped his staff awkwardly, “So was there something we needed to do first? Show you some of my ‘scaring’ skills?”

“Something like that.” Pitch sighed at the chilly wind brushing against his face, “Something that goes by your definition of scary.”

‘Alright we can’t mess this up..Come on think!!’ Jack racked his brain while Pitch waited for Jack to produce something.

Jack closed his eyes and tapped the ground in front of him with the tip of his staff. The ground began to freeze instantly and something slowly started to emerge from the frozen spot. Pitch didn’t seem all that impressed.

“A snowman..?”

Jack nodded, “Go near it.”

“Alright..” Pitch stepped closer to the harmless looking snowman, expecting nothing too surprising.

The arm that resembled a twig suddenly reached out and seized Pitch’s arm. It’s fingers were a lot thicker and sharper than they appeared. Half of its face fell off as it turned to look at him, revealing that underneath that snowy outside was a very human looking skeleton made out of ice. Without waiting a second more, it let out a loud screeching noise. It was enough to make any wildlife nearby jump in their skins. 

The snowman released Pitch and seemingly reset itself. Jack smiled ear to ear waiting to see what Pitch thought of it. Pitch felt a slight sensation come over him and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m impressed Frost. I see you do know a thing or two about scaring.. Time the scream to be a little sooner and it will be perfect.” 

Pitch’s praise made Jack genuinely excited. It was wonderful to finally have someone else acknowledge his handiwork. 

“Heh. Maybe I should have tried this ages ago.” Jack smiled. 

“It will throw the guardians off for sure. They’ll be expecting my nightmares but having some of these little men would be quite a shocker for them.” 

Pitch glanced over when he sensed that familiar sense of unease coming from Jack again. His snowman suddenly didn’t look as sturdy as it did once before. 

“Yeah. Maybe..” Jack imagined them taking care of the snowmen with little issue and gunning right for him.

“Frost?” 

“Sorry I almost spaced out there haha..” Jack scratched his neck nervously.

Pitch stood up straighter and sighed, “The idea of fighting them is getting to you again. I dismissed it before as just anxiety..” He stepped closer to Jack, “But this is looking like a legitimate fear.”

Jack’s face flushed in panic, “I-I’m not scared of them!!”

“You’re afraid of something about them, I can tell. If you keep running away from this, they will continue to have power over you Jack!”

“Oh I falter twice and now suddenly you think you need to comment on it?” 

The stare that Pitch gave Jack almost made his legs shudder, “Fear is the one thing I always know Jack. You want to run away from this until you have to face it head on, I can see it all over you. The more you run away, the more likely you’ll run away when it's time to face your fear. Some fears fade, but not this one. This fear has a death grip on you.”

Jack swallowed nervously. He didn’t want to talk about any of it, nor did he want to think about it. It plagued his very soul for nights at that point. The clouds were there, he knew they were. Yet deep down he could feel the moon’s light burning into him. 

Pitch sighed, “Fine. I didn’t want to do this so soon, but this cannot be ignored if we are going to go through with it all.” 

“What are you-” Jack jerked his head towards Pitch but it was all in vain.

Pitch snapped his fingers and everything around him faded into nothing but darkness. The last thing Jack felt was his body colliding into the ground.

“Please some of you must have seen him, it’s been almost a week!” Katherine pleaded to the frost spirits, “I’ve asked the sylphs of the clouds and they won’t tell me anything. Please we're running out of options..”

Sandy stood nearby, watching Katherine plead with the spirits. He huffed knowing that force wouldn’t get anything out of them, it’d just scare them off and run away as always. He couldn’t help but think about his talk with Jack. He didn’t look horrible but not great either. Did his condition improve at all..? He sucked it up and floated over to see if she was having any luck.

The frost spirits just glanced at one another nervously until one of them finally spoke up.
“I saw him..He was-”

A female frost spirit interjected, “Fern no!! We can’t get mixed up in their mess. They could come back to kill us!”

Fern shook his head and almost spoke in a whisper, “Promise that you won’t tell anyone about us telling you this. Keep us anonymous…”

“I swear.” Katherine said lightly putting her hand over her heart. 

Sandy gave two thumbs up and gestured as if he was zipping his lips.

The frost spirits backed away but Fern remained. He kept his hushed tone when he revealed the truth.

“We saw him in a forest practicing some moves or..techniques.. But before we could do anything he got snatched up by something.. It was so dark it looked like a shadow. I didn’t see where he got taken but it was worrying for sure..” 

She looked at the other frost spirits. She wanted to be mad at them. Yell at them for keeping such news to themselves. Yet at the same time she couldn’t blame them for keeping their distance. The conflict between the Guardians and Pitch Black was not one that other entities wanted to get between, so why would they risk their lives? 

She ran her fingers through her hair and glanced at Sandy. He looked just as horrified as her.

He held his hands close to his chest and felt his body shake for a moment. Did the dream sand he gave Jack reveal his location to Pitch? He didn’t sense Jack use it, but Pitch could have very well done something to hide it from him. Katherine put her hand on Sandy’s shoulder to snap him out of it. He took a shallow breath and nodded at her as a thank you. 

“Thank you Fern. I can’t tell you enough how much this helps us. We’ll be sure to keep your identity a secret.” 

“Thank you..I hope the search will be worth it.”

Fern smiled a little but it faded when he turned to see the looks of his fellow spirits. They weren’t mad at him, they looked uncertain. Scared even. The one who spoke over Fern from before stepped forward to pull him back.

“We can’t stay here anymore. We better go quickly before anything else might put us in danger.” She shot Katherine and Sandy a look before fading into a gust of icy wind with her fellow spirits. 

Katherine looked slightly confused over Fern’s final words but they had no time to dwell on it. She whistled loudly for her beloved snow goose and picked up the pace to hop on her back. 

“Why would Pitch want Jack..?” Katherine looked at Sandy as they went into the air, "I mean I'd understand if he wanted revenge but wouldn't he have just killed him on the spot?"

‘He said he wanted the relics back when we saw him at Punjam Hy Loo and if Jack is considered one-’ Sandy’s hands froze when the realization hit him. 

Katherine felt her blood run cold once she picked up on it as well. With a new sense of mutual terror, both guardians picked up the pace and raced back to the pole. Both of them hoped desperately that history would not repeat itself. 

Chapter Text

The northern wind’s frigid temperatures barely laid a scratch on Kailash’s dense feathers. She continued to fly through the air behind Sandy with great ease. Katherine sat on her back while she gazed in the distance in worry. Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed Sandy suddenly halt and shoot down towards the ground in a hurry.  

“Sandy?! Sandy!! What’s wrong?!”Katherine called out to him as she tried to chase after him.

Sandy reached the ground and frantically pulled at something submerged in the snow. Katherine gasped when she realized Sandy was pulling on an arm. It was sadly commonplace to find a few vagabond bodies of humans left behind from expeditions, but when Katherine grabbed onto the arm she realized this was no human. As the snow released it’s hostage, Katherine’s eyes lit up upon seeing it was just who they were looking for. Jack Frost laid unconscious with frost covering parts of his face, it made them wonder how long he had been out there. Sandy scooped Jack up carefully and gave Katherine an anxious look.

“I don’t know if he can die from the cold, but we better get him out here and fast. I’m sure everyone will be relieved to see he’s okay.” 

Jack could hear her words so clearly, yet his body could not budge. He had fallen asleep in environments like that before, and never had much trouble waking up from such a slumber. Conversations continued as Jack could hear the sounds of North’s workshop around him. The smell of fresh paint, cut wood and mint filled his senses. The warmth of the workshop slowly helped Jack feel like he could stretch again.

“He’s awake!” Katherine signaled the others.

Jack rubbed the melted ice off his eyelids and stretched his arms to the point that some joints popped. 

“Where…” Jack’s eyes adjusted and he nearly jumped out of his skin to see he was back in the workshop. The guardian’s eyes were all on him.

To Jack’s surprise, none of the guardians looked upset or annoyed that he was there. All of them looked relieved. North even looked teary eyed.

“We found him outside buried in the snow..He could have been there the whole week he was missing.”

‘Oh right.. It’s been a week since I last left this place.. But I could have sworn I was just somewhere else..’ 

“Jack! You of all people should know how dangerous it is to sleep during a polar blizzard. I dread to think what would have happened if nobody had found you.” North carried on.

Jack still felt awkward being in their presence and had a hard time making eye contact with them. He slowly rose to his feet and brushed some ice off his hoodie.

“I could have gotten out, don’t worry about that. I appreciate you getting me out though. So. Thanks.” He said briskly.

“Jack, wait! Please just hear us out?” Tooth tried to get in front of Jack before he could try to leave. 

“If it's about guardian hood I already told you guys my answer. It’s no. ” 

Aster shook his head, “No it’s not about that mate. We wanted..to say we're sorry.”

Jack turned to them and his posture eased up a little, “Really?” 

North sighed at the skeptical look at Jack’s face, “We sought out Tsar Lunar to get an answer for why this happened to you, to us. We finally got a response so we tried to locate you as quick as we could-”

“Wait. You got a response?” Jack felt the blood drain from his face.

Sandy nodded enthusiastically and levitated over to a pedestal sticking out of the ground. A large crystal sat on top of the pedestal and had similar colors that rivaled The diamond daggers.

“We were hoping you’d want to speak to him too. You deserve to hear it from him personally instead of through us.” Tooth smiled nervously. 

Jack licked his lips nervously and his mind raced to process the situation. 300 years of silence would be ended and he’d even see the man who was the cause of everything he went through. Here the guardians were so ready to help him get closure..but something felt a little off to him. 

“Did you clear out this level of the workshop for this?” Jack asked, trying not to show how on guard he was.

North nodded, “Yetis should not disturb us while we talk to him. If you need some time to prepare for this, we understand Jack.”

Jack shook his head fiercely, “No. I’m not waiting another 300 years and I’m not waiting another minute. If he’s ready to talk to me, then let's get this over with. I want to hear what he has to say for all of this.”

The guardians weren’t surprised by the venom that seeped through Jack’s words. He had every right to be that upset, but it still unsettled them in a sense. Aster remained ever watchful on Jack while North readied the crystal to begin transmission with the Lunar being. The crystal began to react to North’s magic and started to glow fiercely. It only took a minute before it was almost blinding to look at, but Jack tried to keep his eyes on it best he could. The light burst forth from the crystal and landed in the center of the room. It slowly began to take the form of a short and stout man with considerably professional attire. . Jack recognized the somewhat antenna-like piece of hair that extended from his head and the round face that changed little from his years as a baby. Mim opened his eyes and looked around to take in to where he was projecting.

“It worked? Oh my stars it worked!” He said excitedly.

The guardians shared in his excitement as it was the first time they had seen their Tsar in person in such a long time. Meanwhile, Jack just stood there waiting for him to notice that he was there. If Mim took too long, Jack would make sure he would acknowledge him. Mim shared some smiles with his guardians until Aster broke the tension filled air.

“Tsar, you’re overdue to speak with someone. He’s right here.” Aster said passive aggressively. 

Mim looked past Aster and his stance became stiff upon seeing Jack standing there. He silently floated over to Jack and tried to find the right words for the being that stood before him. His former brother, his guardian, his greatest mistake.

“I have no excuse for being silent to you for so long, Jack. In my selfish haste to try to find a solution for what I caused, I left you in the dark and caused you to suffer. No amount of apologies can fix what I caused. I mean it when I say I truly regret what I have done to you.”

Jack stood there like a stone wall while he stared down the smaller man. If he had heard those words 200 years ago, perhaps it would have comforted him or he’d even forgive Manny. With every word that Manny said he grew more fearful and furious. The fear felt misplaced to him, what was he so scared of in this situation. He wasn’t in danger, so where was it coming from? Did he fear The Man In The Moon? Jack’s chest felt tight as he tried to calmly breathe. Manny watched Jack’s mixed reaction and folded his hands behind his back.

“Take your time. I know this isn’t easy for either of us,” Mim took a deep breath and floated away from Jack, “I’ve caused so much grief for you, that it’s taken me centuries to think of how to fix what became of you.”

‘Fix?’ Jack’s mind rang loudly.

“What is there to fix???” Jack demanded, “My memories? At this point I don’t even know if I want them all anymore. I don’t know if I would want blissful memories of someone who failed me .” 

The guardians all look a little hurt by Jack’s words of not wanting to remember his time with them. However they knew the conversation that they were having, did not include them just yet. All they could do was watch and wait.

“I figured you’d say something like that Jack..I know your time as a Nightlight wasn’t always a pleasant one. It always required sacrifice, sacrifices that you now have every right to not refuse.”

Jack scowled, “Where are you going with this? This is some way to say you’re sorry.”

Mim’s eyebrow twitched a little but he kept his composure as best he could.

“It was my fault your memories were so scattered upon your revival, but that can be fixed,” Mim glanced at North, “It’s fine go ahead.”

Jack wanted to watch what North walked off to do but he couldn’t take his eyes off Mim. There was no way he could trust him enough to give him that much leeway. It wasn’t even a few minutes before Jack could feel the air quality change. He could feel his mouth drying up and the frost on his staff began to slowly melt away.

“What did you do?!” Jack angrily turned towards North. 

The guardians were wearing somber expressions whenever Jack met their gaze. His face went from fury to horrified when he saw all of them had their signature weapons on them. He quickly backed away and turned towards Mim, who stood there with an indifferent gaze.

“It’s okay Jack. This will seem scary at first but you won’t remember it all anyway.” He said too casually for Jack’s comfort.

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!” Jack roared.

The doors and windows all suddenly shut with a reluctant wave of North’s hands.

“Why, we’re going to try it again naturally. If I got it wrong the first time, I’ll be sure to get it right the second. Your revival won’t be so hard this time since you have a new identity now after all.”

The fear he had felt earlier suddenly made sense. The air felt so dry that he couldn’t produce any ice from his body. He just stood there with his mouth agape in horror.

“Y..you’re going to kill me?!” 

“Well when you put it like that you make it sound like I’m the one doing it. No your friends will. You died alone last time, so if you’re surrounded by your friends, maybe you’ll find more peace this time.”

Jack looked at the guardians for any sign that they opposed the madness their king was saying. Aster looked doubtful but made no attempt to speak over Mim. Sandy couldn’t bear to meet Jack’s gaze and it made Jack’s eyes sting. Tooth stood firmly with North by her side but hesitated to show any other emotion. He suddenly heard someone unsheathe a blade and turned towards that direction. It was Katherine with the diamond dagger in her hands.

“If we just make it quick, you won’t be in pain anymore. We’ll be happy again and together as a group..Just like we once were. A-and you’ll be free of those painful memories-”

“-Stay away from me.. All of you..” Jack’s body trembled with every step, “If you loved me back then why would you agree to this?!”

“Oh Jack. It’s simple. We’ll get the boy we lost so long ago if we do this,” Mim smiled, “It will be quick, promise. Don’t try to fight this, you’re only delaying the inevitable. Being a guardian is forever, you swore to it after all..” 

Jack found the strength to pick up his feet and try to run from the guardians as fast as he could. The sheer terror that pulsed through his body overrode any other thoughts in his mind.. 

'They’re insane! All of them!! I can’t stay here..I can’t! I can’t!’ 

Mim sighed as he watched Jack try to get away and signaled his guardians to follow him.

“He won’t get out of here, so just make sure if you catch him to do it quickly. We don’t need him in any more pain than he already is.” 

Jack tried to freeze the ground to trip up the guardians but all he did was cause condensation to form.

“No no no!!!” He ran again once he saw Aster quickly catching up to him.

“C’mon mate we don’t want to do this anymore than you do!”

“THEN DON’T!” Jack yelled as he leaped up towards the highest level of the workshop.

Sandy looked at Aster with great sadness in his eyes. Aster’s ears dropped and he looked back up at Jack on the ceiling.

“It’s for his own good.”

Jack looked back to see a tearful Sandy reading bows of dream sand in his direction. Sandy mouthed ‘I’m sorry’, and released the hardened sand before Jack could react. Jack managed to dodge a few but two managed to severely scrape into his body. One got his arm and the other almost got way too close to his eye. Jack cried out in pain and Sandy could barely look at what he had just done. 

“You’re holding back too much!” Tooth called out as she zipped past them, her expression was fierce yet pained.

The pain caused by the dream sand caused Jack to descend from the ceiling to the lowest levels of the workshop. Aster’s boomerang almost nailed him in the head but he blocked it using a tray of cookies. Jack made his way to the reindeer pen and leaped behind a few hay bales. He tried his best to prevent himself from hyperventilating and to silence his loud breathing. How could he be calm when the guardians were hunting him for sport???

Jack’s head shot up when he realized the reindeer pen’s air was different from the main parts of the workshop and tried to produce ice again. Much to his relief, he was able to produce a small thick dome to encase his body in like a shield. He tucked his legs into his chest to quickly form a plan. The shield could at least cover him in case the guardians found him while he hid but his thoughts were moving so fast it nearly gave him a headache. He tried to rest his head against his cold ice shield, but noticed just how much blood he was losing from the injury on his arm.

“Shit..” Jack grunted as he lifted his hoodie sleeve up to see just how much damage he took.

The wound was right by the shadow scar given to him by Pitch and it was just as deep as Jack expected. The one thing commanded his attention more than anything was that his blood was not the dull red color it was supposed to be.
It was black. 

He reached for the wound on his face and looked at the blood.

‘It’s the darkest black I’ve ever seen..’ Jack’s eyes lit up for a moment, ‘Black...Pitch!! Pitch!!’ 

“That’s why I couldn’t remember how I ended up outside..I’m in a nightmare.” He whispered to himself. 

Pitch had wanted him to face his fears, yet here he was hiding and cowering. He stared down at the stains that painted his hoodie and thought hard about what it could mean. If he died in his dream, would he wake up? That would be the last thing Pitch and Jack would want. If this was his dream, couldn’t he influence it in some way?
His gaze shifted towards his shadow while he calculated his options.

Jack lowered his ice shield, feeling sure that the guardians had lost track of him at that point, and put his hands on top of where his body and shadow met. If no one was coming to help him, then he was going to take matters into his own hands. He focused all his energy onto the bond between him and his shadow. His ice wasted no time covering the entirety of his shadow as cracking noises could be heard by his feet. Jack’s body flung itself towards the ground after a final crack reverberated through his body. Through his laborious breaths he noticed a new presence stood before him. No longer tied to his feet, his frosted shadow stood over him with eyes that glowed an electric blue. It offered Jack a hand and it’s equally cold embrace pulled Jack off the ground.

His shadow stared at him intently as if waiting to hear what Jack wanted to do now. Jack held his injured arm and tried to keep his voice down.

“This is just a dream…So anything I do to them isn’t real..” Jack finally met his shadow’s gaze, “We’re going to face them. Pitch was right.. If I can’t do it in a dream, I have no hope of facing them on Halloween or ever. Will you help me?”

His shadow nodded, took Jack’s hand and together they left the reindeer pen. They went right back into the workshop despite Jack showing hesitance. Given that the air was still as dry as it was previously, he had every right to be scared. His shadow showed no signs of stopping in its path and made sure Jack was still behind it. 

“Ah..there you are Jack.” North called out from the level above them.

Tooth and Sandy met up with North and they looked down at Jack. All three of them looked surprised at Jack’s shadow being detached from him.

“How did he..” Tooth whispered in shock.

“It’s not important. We need to follow orders and get this done as quickly as possible…” North sighed. 

Tooth nodded and unsheathed her swords, “Forgive me Jack.”

She swooped down from the 2nd floor and began to charge at them with the full intent of ending Jack’s life. Jack felt the urge to duck behind his shadow, but forced himself to stand firm. His shadow raised it’s arms to counterattack Tooth. To Jack’s surprise, the ice his shadow produced looked exactly like the black ice he made with Pitch. The black ice collided with Tooth’s body and then another shot up from the ground to knock the wind out of her body. Jack winced seeing her drop to the ground out cold but swallowed any feelings he had. 

“They aren’t real. They aren’t real.” Jack repeated.

Sandy reluctantly readied his arrows once again and Jack looked up in fear until his shadow held onto his hand again.

“This is your dream,” It spoke with a layered version of his voice, “Take control.”

“Take control..” Jack repeated under his breath. 

He nodded at it and raised his arm with it after he decided what to do. Once Sandy released the dozens of arrows once more, Jack and his shadow produced a jagged black frosted shield that blocked every single arrow.

“What?!” North called out in surprise.

“Shit..” Aster said upon arriving at the scene. 

Jack and his shadow rose up to their level and he gazed at Sandy. With great hesitance, Jack whipped up a powerful gust of wind to knock Sandy into a beam hard enough to render him unconscious. To look at Sandy’s laying body made his stomach turn into knots but his shadow urged him to press on. North looked like he was ready to take his shot and Jack just stared at the Russian with sadness in his eyes. .

“North,” Jack urged, “You can’t win this. Please just put down your swords..”

North shook his head sadly, “You know I can’t Jack..”

“I do.” Jack braced himself. 

His shadow stomped on the ground to cover the flooring with the black ice and moved for Jack to make his shot. North charged and showed no signs of slowing down from the ice. Jack slammed his staff onto the ground next and his ice broke through the floor like a breaching whale. The cinder block of ice crushed North against the ceiling and dropped him onto the ground. The sound of North’s legs breaking caused Jack to cringe, and he looked upon the fallen warrior. North was still breathing but he was in too much pain to get up.

“Why…” North grunted out.

Jack did not answer him. He only stared ahead at the remaining guardians, Katherine and Aster. They stood between him and the crystal that Mim used to project himself there. Mim’s phantom figure stood in the distance, perturbed by Jack’s sudden change of heart about fighting against the guardians.

“Keep going.” His shadow whispered.

“I can’t say I blame you for fighting back pal,” Aster stood firmly, “This isn’t easy on either of us.”

“Yet you still want to kill me,” Jack spat, “Lower your weapons and we will leave you alone.” 

Katherine shook her head no, “We have to do this. We have to do this for your happiness Jack!”

“So do I.” Jack said ominously. 

Jack snapped his fingers and the entire room became covered in ice. It creeped around the remaining guardians and lunged at an unsuspecting Katherine.

“GAH!!” Katherine shrieked. 

Her body was pushed to the ground as ice leaped up from below her to restrain her. Before Aster could even hit the ice, it thickened and resembled that of a sarcophagus to imprison her. Katherine struggled to move but her efforts were in vain. At the least she showed no signs of trouble breathing.

“JACK LET HER OUT!!!” Aster screamed in fury.

He just shook his head no, “I intend to stay this way Aster, by whatever means possible.”

“Even if it means the suffering of others?”

Jack paused and glanced at his shadow. It stared back at him without faltering and whispered the same thing it said earlier.

“Keep going.” 

He looked back at the final guardians and gripped his staff tightly in his hands. The hesitation in his body was dwindling the more he stared at Aster protecting the phantom of The Man In The Moon. 

“I intend to stay this way by whatever means necessary. ” Jack growled.

“Fine.” Aster hissed.

Aster lunged at Jack, despite knowing the odds were against him. It almost pained Jack to see how foolish the guardians acted in the face of battle with him. Blindly following the orders of their king even when they knew it meant death for them..it was shameful to watch. He could hear the faint protests of Katherine but he did not waver. Jack and his shadow moved their feet and raised their arms at the same time to release large stalactite sized icicles from the ceiling. Katherine’s shrieks got louder once they made impact with Aster’s body.

Jack felt the urge to look away but he reminded himself that this Aster was not real. He didn’t have to care about that version of the guardian of hope. Mim watched in horror and stared at Jack with an expression of anger and disgust.

“So this is the path you’ve chosen? To ruthlessly hurt and kill your former comrades?! I tried not to let my feelings cloud my judgement...but I was right. You’re just another failure. I will not allow one to wield the core of a star to use it against my brethren!”

Jack sneered and stepped towards the crystal Mim was using to project himself there, “Funny how you continue to speak to me as if I still belong to you. That will be your downfall little man.”

Mim’s expression warped into pure rage, “What would you know about that? If that's the case then who do you belong to then? Do you protect Pitch as his new Nightlight?”

For the first time in Jack’s life, he felt fire pulse through his veins. The very center of his being did not feel the cold bitterness of disdain but ignited with the heat that built for centuries. He turned to Mim with a new look in his eyes. His pupils hauntingly went from black to white and stared right through Mim.

“I am Jack Frost and I BELONG TO NOBODY!!” Jack howled with all the fire in his being.

Without hesitation, Jack dropped his staff and kicked the pedestal over. He took the sacred crystal and began taking all his anger, his frustration out on it. Mim watched in confusion until he saw the crystal begin to crack. Jack’s knuckles began to bleed profusely but it did not make him waver. His blood soaked into the crystal’s shards with each intense swing of his fists and he showed little signs of stopping. The shadow handed Jack his staff to deal the final blow to the sacred artifact. Jack raised it above his head and slammed it into the faintly glowing crystal. The impact caused a burst of light to erupt through the then frozen workshop and imploded the crystal itself.

Then there was silence. 

The haunting silence filled the air and battled the loud pulse of Jack’s heart that rang in his ears. The Man In The Moon was no longer there, the guardians were all defeated and he had won. When Jack realized he could no longer hear the guardians, he looked down at his blood soaked hands and finally took one deep breath. The blackened blood slowly turned back to its original dull reddish color, much to Jack’s confusion. His shadow approached him once more and  then bore a smile at the sight of Jack’s victory.

“You took control, beautifully.” 

Jack wiped his face and slowly rose to his feet, “What happens now..? What does this mean?”

“You have it in you to face them.” It echoed.

“This is a dream, I face no consequences here. How do I know I won’t waver in my first battle with them?” 

His shadow continued to smile, “You won’t. So long as you are not alone, you will have the strength to face them. It is time to awaken.”

He gave a tired sigh and joined hands with his shadow once again. Jack gave it a nod as if to thank it before it phased back into him. 

Once the shadow fully enveloped Jack, he could feel his consciousness stir and the environment around him faded.

“..ack?......Jack???” He could hear Pitch call out in worry.

Jack smiled and felt his body begin to stir as well. His vision was fuzzy at first, but it became clear once he focused on Pitch’s voice. He was still in the forest and Pitch was leaning over him until he sensed Jack was waking up.

“Goodness, that took longer than I expected. Are you okay?”

“Yeah...I think so..” He grunted and slowly sat up.

Pitch stared at Jack, relieved to see he was alright but showed great hesitance on speaking right away..

“I must apologize for my haste action in sending you into a nightmare like that. I admit..I was frustrated to see that fear hold you so tightly, but it did not warrant me to do such a thing to you. I am truly sorry.” It felt like they were foreign words for Pitch, but he knew he needed to say them to make things right.

Jack raised his brows in surprise at how quickly Pitch admitted he was wrong. He almost wanted to chuckle at seeing Pitch in such a state of emotion, but the whiplash from such a nightmare still made his head swim. Though Jack would be lying if he said Pitch’s words didn’t mean anything to him.

“I...really appreciate that. Thank you. You weren’t entirely wrong though. I was afraid of them. Afraid of hurting them or what the Man In The Moon would do to me..but that dream.. It did something that's kinda hard to explain,” Jack trailed on, “I stood up to them and fought them..It felt good in a way. It almost scared me more than the dream, I couldn’t figure out if I should have felt differently.”

“From what I saw, you had every right to feel the way you did. It even shocked me at times. I’m not surprised that so much aggression dwelled within you. However you pulled some interesting maneuvers with it.” 

Pitch’s statement brought the image of Jack destroying the crystal with his fists, to Jack’s mind. The color of his blood tugged at his curiosity. 

“That reminds me..In part of the dream, my blood looked different. I don’t know if that was just the dream messing with me, but was that you?”

Pitch’s smile faltered, “Yes in a sense. Your nightmare grew intense very quickly,  I tried to manipulate it so you would be able to tell it was just a dream. It worked in a sense, but it didn’t wake you up as planned.”

“I kind of figured.” Jack tried to get on his feet but the lightheaded sensation nearly made him topple over.

“Easy Jack. That was a lot your body went through. Perhaps you should just rest for a moment, maybe try to clear your head.” Pitch urged. 

“I’ll try. Do you think we could try to do something like that again? Not right now of course, but as practice?” Jack walked carefully to a calm river bed and sat himself down by the water.

“We’ll have to see..Next time it will be on your terms of course, but if you feel the need to try it again I can certainly attempt it. However if it proves to not be for your benefit I’ll pull you out of the nightmare, does that sound good to you?” Pitch said as he followed closely. 

Jack nodded then paused before dipping himself into the water, “Did I do good in there?”

Pitch smiled reassuringly, “You exceeded my expectations for sure. Your fury was enthralling.”

He breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank you. I’m gonna clear my head for a bit..”

Pitch watched curiously as Jack slipped himself into the water. At first the surface of the water began to freeze, but once Jack suddenly started to disappear, the ice broke off and melted.

‘I never knew he could do that. He just keeps surprising me over and over. At least he accepted my apology, that could have gotten nasty had he not have liked it.’ Pitch stepped away from the water to give Jack privacy. 

The imagery of Jack’s nightmare flooded Pitch’s mind as he tried to process it. One event in particular kept sticking out to him. It was the image of Jack right as he was going to smash the crystal. The change in Jack’s eyes was something he had never seen before.

‘Could it be an ability nature spirits have? I’ll have to ask him the next chance I get. That was certainly interesting…’  Pitch found himself smirking as he gazed up at the clouded sky.

The Himalayan winds dug fiercely into Aster’s fur coat. He slowly stepped out of his makeshift hole and gazed at the large Lamadry that proudly stood in the distance. Just a few days ago he went here to retrieve North’s sword, but instead everything changed for the worse. They found out the truth their king had tried to keep from them and Aster once again blew up at a former comrade when he needed Aster the most.
Aster deeply sighed and watched North get his bearings after being shot out of the hole.

“How you get a tunnel out of a mountain is beyond me..” North grumbled as he staggered onto his feet.

Aster chuckled weakly, “I’m surprised we got enough momentum to slide our way here.”

North noticed Aster’s ears were drooped and walked over to his fellow guardian.

“Aster? How are you holding up?” He asked with concern in his voice.

“I’d be lying if I said I was okay. I guess everythin’ is kinda settlin’ in now. Especially what’s happened since we were last here, y'know?” He sighed. 

“Right...It has been on my mind too. I found myself daydreaming about the off chance I came here alone and Jack never touched the dagger. Would he still be with us, I wondered. But all that wondering clouded me from helping in the search for him and our answers,” North put his hand on Aster’s shoulder, “Is your mind being clouded too?”

“Yeah.. It’s what I said to ‘im before he left us. I just.. I don’t know North. I called his existence meaningless when he first came to the pole and then come to find out he was Nightlight this whole time!” Aster huffed and stared out at the horizon around them, “What would he think of me now? When did I get so angry..?”

“Bunny. Our experiences changed us. You probably went through the most drastic of them. Once a stoic distant eggman, now an adventurous competitive...eggman! Regardless, it is true. You did say things that hurt him dearly, but if you act quick enough you might be able to prove you are capable of changing. I know that you are more than able to, but it's up to you if you want to salvage what is almost broken. If he does not want to, then it's his right.”

Aster inhaled deeply and lowered his shoulders once he exhaled, “Yeah.. I’ll give it some thought. I do want to salvage it, but I’m unsure what I want him to be. Or for me to be with him. Nightlight was like a brother. A quiet, mischievous brother.. Jack is much older than him and the more I try not to see Nightlight in him, the angrier I get..I don’t know if I see them as separate people, or a guy who doesn’t remember our bond. It hurts.”

North looked at the Lamadry and frowned, “Aster, I am grateful you chose to vent to me, but we should finish our mission here first if you are able to. If you wish to stay out here that is fine. It takes much energy to deal with Manny’s followers. After this, we can continue this conversation if you would like.” 

Aster rang his hand through the fur on his head and sighed deeply, “Okay. If it’s still gnawing at me, sure.”

“Good,” North smiled, “Let’s just hope these men know anything.”

North led the way up the vast steps of the Lamadry. Aster hopped his way up and managed to get to the top before North did. Normally he’d jest about being faster than his holiday rival, but this time he just waited for North to catch up. Aster gazed at the doors and cringed. North returned the sentiment and entered first to take the burden off of Aster. A Lunar Lama noticed the two guardians right away and hurried over to greet them.

“Ah we sensed some of you may join us today! What a pleasant surprise to see my holiday lords.” He bowed a little.

Aster glanced at North with a little smirk, “I gotta admit, ‘Holiday Lord’ doesn’t sound that bad-”

“-Focus Bunny,” North grunted, “Well we actually came here to ask you fellows some questions, but if something is wrong we can spare some time to help.”

The Lama smiled brightly, “Wonderful. This is more of an omen perhaps.. Tsar Lunar has been silent to our questions over what it could mean-”

‘Not shocking since that’s what he does best.’ Aster rolled his eyes to himself. 

The Lama led the pair down the magnificent hallways and into the mural room. It appeared to be free of any ice that Jack could have left behind. That was until the Lama spoke again.

“If you two could direct your attention to Nightlight’s mural..” He gestured.

Aster’s ears folded back and North’s eyes widened at the state of the mural wall. The once brilliant mural of their fallen friend was covered in ice. It appeared to come from the center of Nightlight’s chest and had spread out through the wall like tendrils. The skylight above them showed no signs of damage, so the frost clearly had no natural causes.

“Did it just appear all at once?” Aster asked while touching the mural.

The Lama nodded, “It was many hours after all of you were here. We could not make heads or tails of this sign. We at first thought it was perhaps Jack trying to tell us something, but the frosty tendrils stopped growing before you dropped by.”

North followed one of the frost trails with his eyes and noticed one of them stretched out to Mim’s mural. It just barely touched the golden mural, but it was eerie nonetheless. The other tendrils seemed directionless and random like regular frost. There were so many guesses North could make that he had to pause for a moment before speaking.

“Jack left us not that long ago with much hatred in his soul. It was justified though! Manny has not exactly been truthful to everyone as of late, it seems Jack is holding the most disdain for him right now.”

“What do you think that means on what he’s doin’?” Aster turned to North.

North sighed, “There could be a number of things. We will have to consult Ombric to see what are the most probable outcomes of this omen. If we get a conclusive answer, we’ll send a message back to all of you.”

“Thank you Sir North, this will please my brothers for sure. Now what was it you seeked us for?” His smile remained ever stagnant.

“You lot know anything involvin’ Jack’s revival?”

That question made the Lama freeze for a moment and make a ‘Hmm’ sound.

“I see. We do know some things but not all, so forgive me if this is not satisfactory to you.”

North shook his head, “Anything would help. Please, do go on.” 

“When Nightlight gave his life to seal Pitch away, he was in an unusual predicament. He was not a boy of light and yet he was not fully human. It was a transitional period where his status as a Nightlight was beginning to change, thanks to him giving it up for Lady Katherine’s survival. Tsar Lunar wanted to save Nightlight just like he did for some of you before, but it was fruitless. The being known as a Nightlight no longer existed, and no new identity upon his death. We believe because of the circumstances, Manny successfully revived his body and soul. However that portion of his soul was inaccessible to Tsar Lunar’s influence. As to exactly why is uncertain, we can only assume,”
The Lama gazed at Nightlight’s mural longingly. “Perhaps it was something he did not want. Who is to say. Regardless, he came back as a fractured being that Tsar Lunar couldn’t comprehend. He has been silent about Jack up until now..We wonder what he must be going through.”

Aster sneered, “Probably freaked out that his plan fell through and that we found out.”

“Aster!” North snapped.

“What? Am I wrong? It adds up to what we were just told! He tried to revive someone who didn’t exist anymore and-”

“ASTER!” North snapped, “This is not the place to speak of him. I understand your frustrations, all of us are on the same page. I promise. I’d rather us talk about this when we’re all together.”

“You sure you aren’t just scared of speaking the truth about the Tsar?” Aster raised a brow.

“Thank you for your assistance, we really appreciate it. Aster and I must take our leave now to discuss this with our fellow guardians.” North nodded in appreciation to the Lama and turned to leave.

Aster grunted and did the same gesture to the Lama before trailing after North.

“What was that??” Aster barked.

North kept his back to Aster and leaned on one of the stair railings. Aster only then noticed North’s demeanor completely shifted. He looked tired, worried and even scared. It was a stark contrast to his usual strong aura.

“North..?” Aster walked over to his side, “I-If it was something I said I’m sorry..I’m sorry mate.”  

He shook his head, “I’m worried Aster. Everything seems to be saying that Jack could be in danger, or at least that is what I am hoping. One part of me is dreading that maybe Jack is the danger.”

“I...never considered that last part.” Aster muttered.

North gave a tired chuckle and turned towards the stairs, “Come on Bunny, we need to see if my hunch is wrong. For once..I truly hope it is.”

“Me too.” 

Jack finally managed to pull himself out of the water and reform while laying on his back. He sighed with a smile on his face feeling the air hit his cold skin. It was not warm enough to melt the ice resting on his cheeks, but enough to tickle any part of his clothes that were still wet. He gazed at the sky above him that was painted brilliant hues of orange, red and even some purple. 

‘Good, looks like I haven’t been out for too long. Hopefully Pitch has kept himself busy..’ Jack thought to himself as he got up from the waterbed.

With a little more pep in his step, he tried to make his way back to where he originally was with Pitch. Pitch was still there but it looked like he was attempting to shapeshift into a form Jack could barely comprehend. Pitifully, Pitch appeared to be failing at it and grew frustrated.

'Have I seen that form before…?’ Jack pondered silently, ‘I think it was a lot bigger..Ugh, and here I thought my memory was getting better.’

“Hey Pitch, I’m back! What was that? That thing you were doin.” Jack asked while he walked back over. 

Pitch sighed, “I was just testing something. I have many forms, Jack. One of them is almost inaccessible to me at the moment.” 

“How come?” 

“It takes an incredible amount of power to shift into it. In the Golden and Dark age it was easier for me to use it to strike fear into the hearts of any living being. It even inspired a horror writer or two. Alas, ever since I was freed from..you know, my power is much weaker than it used to be.” Pitch gazed at the sky longingly.

It took Jack a moment to try and recall what Pitch meant by ‘you know’. Did he really? 

“Was it the dagger..?” 

“Mhm.” Pitch nodded slightly, “It must’ve been designed for this exact purpose. To weaken me if I ever managed to escape. Nice to see you have always been so creative .”

Jack’s face scrunched up a little and shrugged, “I don’t know chief. I can’t remember much about that, let alone what the daggers could do. I’m just a little surprised you’re referring to us as one person.”

Pitch arched a brow, “You never did say how you stand on that notion, so if that offended you I apologize. Though, I must ask...do you view that portion of your life as your own?”

“It’s... a little complicated,” Jack kicked a rock, “I feel like those memories are mine, I know they are and everything proves that they are. Though oftentimes it feels like they don’t. Like they belonged to the original owner of this body and I kind of stole it from them. I was somewhat okay with it after finding out and uh. Going through the motions. That was until the guardians gave their ‘wonderfully supportive reactions’ and I got discombobulated all over again.”

Pitch sighed, “I can understand that whole heartedly.”

“You can?” Jack turned to Pitch in surprise.

“Mhmm,” Pitch nodded, “Past lives are tricky business. Especially if it was at a different age in your life. Nightlight was a child for a very long time, while Jack Frost is an adult. The disconnect in memories isn’t that odd. To me at least. I feel the same way when I am reminded of my memories from before.”

Jack sat down next to Pitch and studied him carefully, “So you don’t know where you stand on your former self either?”

“Embarrassingly so.” Pitch chuckled. 

Jack couldn’t help but laugh at the common trait between them. Pitch was the last person he expected to have a slight kinship with.

“It’s kind of weird in retrospect that I have so much in common with my former arch enemy. That is what you were right?”

Pitch snorted, “I’d hope so. You tried to squash me so many times it was downright annoying. So naturally I had to return the favor.” 

“Oh so you were like a roach!” Jack nearly cackled at the face Pitch made at being compared to a roach.

“It’s called being cunning, Frost.” Pitch scoffed. 

“Sure sure,” Jack’s smile faded when an odd twinge of guilt washed over him, “Should I even be joking about this? I almost feel bad for even bringing it up.”

“I admit, it’s a bit odd for me as well, but I have no issue with it as long as you don’t. It’s your experiences, it's up to you how you cope and speak about them.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Jack smiled lightly. 

He was laughing and joking with the man that killed him once before. Yet that same man laughed about how Jack nearly did the same thing to him many times. Despite the odd circumstances between them, their interactions at that point just felt so natural to him. The fear that Pitch would destroy him or brainwash him if he didn’t comply no longer sat in his chest. There was still a decent amount of suspicion, but perhaps it was because Pitch was still a mystery to him despite their past. A smile grew on Jack’s face as an idea bloomed in the forefront of his mind.

“Hey, so, I still got quite a lot of energy from that nightmare I had earlier and I got to thinking..I wanted to get it out and wondered if you wanted to join in.”

Pitch stared at Jack in confusion, “You’ll have to be more specific Jack. That is way too vague for my liking.”

Jack leaped onto his feet, “ I meeean, join me in making a snowstorm. It’ll be fun and you might get a kick out of the confusion and panic the humans will have. Plus, you’ll get a better idea of how I work. If we’re gonna be allies, you’d need to have an idea of who you’re dealing with firsthand.”

Pitch chuckled and rose to feet, “Alright. That doesn’t sound unreasonable and you do make a fair point. It’d also give us ideas on what to do for Halloween..”

“Exactly! So are you in?”

Pitch sighed with a smile and whistled for a nightmare to come over to him, “Lead the way.”

“Yes!!” Jack fist pumped the air and called for the wind to raise him up, “Try to keep up Lord Roach.” 

Pitch scoffed again and his nightmare quickly chased after the cackling spirit.

Jack’s excitement was kind of endearing compared to how he was tip toeing around Pitch hours ago. It was a remarkable change in Pitch’s eyes but he would bite his tongue on that part. Jack however, was growing more eager to see just how they would collaborate. If his nightmare showed him anything, besides the expected introspective lesson, that their powers together could produce interesting things. If being on Pitch’s side helped him face the man who broke him, then so be it. He might as well see if they actually worked well together. If not, he dreaded the idea of facing the guardians and The Man In The Moon, alone. 

Chapter Text

“Look over there!” Jack pointed out large droves of clouds heading to the north-east to Pitch. 

“Ah, how unsurprising. The northern part of this content just gets battered with handiwork such as yours. I doubt the humans will be any less prepared than usual.” He leaned into his hand while his other stroked his nightmare’s mane. 

Jack rolled his eyes, “Okay so maybe the storm I picked to follow is kind of predictable but it’s also almost night time there! So you can go command your nightmares to do whatever it is they do, if my antics bore you.”

“I never said they bore me Jack, I haven’t even seen them yet. If you were anyone else I might laugh at how quickly you prepare yourself for rejection.” He lowered himself down to the road of New Brunswick and got a good look around before commanding his nightmares to disperse. 

Jack stood nearby with his eyes fixed on the swarming clouds above. The first fall of snow dropped onto his nose, which made him giggle to himself. He didn’t expect Pitch to appreciate the first snow falls of the season. Pitch was more of a creature of shadow after all, maybe he’d appreciate depths of darkness or something similar. Jack had no idea of what Pitch would actually like and decided to shift his focus onto encouraging more snowfall.

Pitch looked over and saw Jack on top of a tree with his arms outstretched to the sky. His attention was seized the moment he realized what Jack was really doing. Jack’s eyes were almost like that of glass as he communed with the wind. Words certainly left his lips but not a single sound did. The wind coiled around Jack’s arms like an affectionate snake and ran through his messy short hair. His head tilted towards the sky once again and he let out a big sigh of his frosted breath. The wind absorbed all of it and retreated from his embrace. It danced in the air with his frosted aura and with no time at all it began to form something from it. Pitch watched in awe as Jack stirred the wind with his staff and guided it upwards towards the clouds.

Between Jack’s fingers rested a glowing snowflake that danced around his hands once he released it. He inhaled then lightly blew on it to join the wind in the clouds. Once the enchanted snowflake reached the clouds, the light snowfall turned into harder and faster flurries of snow. Jack looked over his shoulder and smirked at Pitch, almost as if he knew Pitch was watching the whole time. He said nothing while floating down from the tree and towards a park’s pond. Jack hopped across the pond’s surface, leaving spots of ice behind his almost ethereal movements. The way Jack moved on top of the freezing water reminded Pitch of ice skaters, but Jack didn’t need any skates or blades on his feet. The air carried Jack’s laughter to the branches and leaves of the surrounding trees. Once barren golden brown leafs were covered with a fresh paint of his frost from the mere touch of the wind. Even the branches themselves seemed to react to Jack’s presence but Jack didn’t seem to notice. The branches swayed and bowed when he passed by them in his ritual.

Jack reached the center of the pond, raised his staff above his head and slammed it onto the iced surface. The sheer impact caused more wind to burst forth and cover anything in its wake with his frost. He looked up and lost his composure completely when he saw Pitch’s hair covered in white frost.

“Oh man, sorry about that! I don’t usually have an audience except for other ice spirits or myself! Hahaha! White doesn’t look that bad on you.” Jack teased.

“Yes, it does.” Pitch wiped the frost from his hair using his hands then brushed them onto his cloak.

Pitch looked at his handiwork and had a hard time not being impressed with what he saw. The wind obeyed him without question, as did the trees and water. The natural elements just bending to Jack’s will at such a volume made Pitch feel more and more secure in his choice to recruit Jack. To have a powerful nature spirit at his side made the possibilities in his mind endless. 

“Are you always this organized or is this a special occasion? The ritual was captivating.” Pitch said as his eyes studied the frost patterns that coiled around nearby trees.

“Sometimes! I kind of felt like being a little fancy tonight. Other times my frost can be wild and just latch onto anything. It used to be dangerous way back when I first started. Nowadays I’m told it’s pretty or obnoxious. How did Aster put it.. On that Easter blizzard I did 50 or something years ago he called it an unwanted calling card for seasonal disarray.”

“You were in the wrong season so I will give him that much but I have to admit.. The ritual caught my eyes first. Were you speaking to the wind?”

Jack smirked enough to reach both of his ears and glided across the ice. His feet barely touched the ground until he stopped at the snow covered grass.

“You probably didn’t hear it because you don’t know the language. It’s incomprehensible to those who aren’t elementally aligned like I am. There are lots of languages I know how to speak! Wind, water, clouds, animal languages obviously and I think I’m learning a new one. Lately the trees have been trying to get on the same page as me. It’s taken me 60 or so years but I can understand bits and pieces of what they say.”

Pitch blinked and managed to follow what Jack was saying. If he could speak to nightmares and dream entities then it only made sense that Jack could speak to his element as well.

“I forgot the sheer amount of languages nature spirits can speak. It's impressive actually. If you can speak to animals, can you understand my nightmares?” Pitch gestured to the one he rode to New Brunswick.

Jack scrunched his face up and shrugged, “I can hear them and can tell they’re speaking to me beyond horse noises.”

Pitch flashed an odd smile of intrigue and curiosity.

“How interesting.. Most wouldn’t even be able to hear them besides their grunts and cries. I’ll be sure to remember this.” 

Jack didn’t fully understand what Pitch meant by that, but brushed it off as something minor. He looked at his handiwork and gazed at his reflection in the frozen pond under him. The memory of him gazing into the black ice in the south pole flashed in his mind.

‘Those reflections I saw..Could humans see it too?’ The wheels in his mind turned. 

Jack smirked and turned to Pitch once he could hear some kids nearby, “I have an idea. Think you can cover the whole lake with your sand?”

His eyes studied Jack carefully before he stepped closer, “My my, you want to experiment with my sand? It isn’t like your snow, Frost. It will scare them but is that what you want?”

“I just want to see what happens.” Jack’s hand sparked as he smirked mischievously. 

Without hesitation, Pitch conjured enough of his hellish sand to cover the entire frozen pond. Jack then slammed his hands down onto the sand, sending ghostly blue sparks all through the lake. His magic combined with Pitch’s sand made it completely freeze over, giving the frozen pond’s ice a more dark and eerie color. The ice thankfully wasn’t too jagged looking like the sculpture they once made, so the children would approach it no doubt.

“Right on cue.” Jack muttered watching a group of kids approach the pond hesitantly.

The eldest approached it first and stepped on the ice’s edge to see how thick it was. The further they walked, the tighter Jack’s chest got. If the ice showed any signs of cracking, he was ready to repair it in a moment’s notice.

“Scared they’ll drown?” Pitch folded his arms behind his back.

Jack tucked his hands in his pockets, “Scaring kids and letting them die are two different things.  If I can help it, I’d rather no child succumb to it at the cost of their lives.”

‘If I can help it ’ was a phrase that piqued Pitch’s curiosity, but he didn’t even need to pry for answers since it was written all over his face. The guilt of his work taking the lives of humans was embedded in his eyes at that moment. 

‘No surprise there. Nature spirits of his caliber having an accidental body count isn’t unheard of. So many things about him to take note of.’ He gleefully thought to himself as his gaze shifted back to the child on the ice. 

“Devonte?! Is it safe?! Can we come now?!” His younger siblings called out.

The eldest boy squinted at the ice below him. It showed no signs of straining but something didn’t feel quite right to him.

“Hang on!!! I think I see something.” He said squatting down to look closer. 

The boy shrieked in fright as he saw a man sized fish beat it’s webbed hand against the thick ice. Most of it’s body was shrouded in shadows, all except for it’s beady glowing eyes. The monster circled around the boy’s feet and repeatedly slammed itself against the ice. 

“AAAAHHHH!!!” The boy tried to scream as he crawled desperately to the pond’s edges. 

“Are you okay?!” The girl ran over to him.

“MONSTER! MONSTER!!!” He shielded his siblings while he watched the blackened pond carefully. 

“He’s just messing with us.” The youngest rolled his eyes.

“No I’m not!!! Don’t go near it!!” Their big brother tried to stop them.

It was in that moment that Jack felt an urge bubble to the surface of his brain in small pops. At first it was just an intrusive thought that he tried to brush off, but it kept getting stronger the more he tried to drown it back to the depths of his mind. 

‘Do it. Do it. This feels good doesn’t it? Do it.’ He could hear it as clear as day. 

It didn’t take much for him to make his way to the children. Pitch watched with morbid curiosity and grinned when Jack began to leer over the children from behind. Jack knelt to the ground and placed his hands deep into the snow. If Pitch looked at a certain angle, it almost looked like Jack’s hands had vanished. 

When the children cautiously looked towards the lake, the ice violently cracked with a loud jolt. Before the children could even scream, they saw a black, webbed hand reach from the water and onto the cold shore. The kids screamed at the top of their lungs and booked it out of the park without a second thought. Pitch laughed while he relished the intense fear they left behind.

“OHH!! Oh that was magnificent! They will have fears of ponds,maybe even rivers, for YEARS! How delicious.” He cackled.

Jack slowly lifted his arms out of the snow and the “monster’s” hands vanished as his were pulled out of the snow. Jack’s mind was racing far too much to even realize what Pitch was saying.

‘I….Scared them. That was different from what I normally do. That was.. Why did I do that? Am I a bad person for liking that???? Why did it feel nice?? They still couldn’t see me so why-’

A nightmare nudged Jack in concern in hopes it would snap him out of his trance. He blinked a few times and sighed seeing the ebony horse staring back at him.

“Jitters?” Pitch looked down at him. 

“I didn’t know that’s what being feared felt like..” Jack tried to rub the sensation off his hands onto his hoodie.

Pitch chuckled, “Oh that’s nothing. Imagine if it was enough to make them see you. Hmm. Wonder what they would see you as..”

The nightmare helped Jack off the ground by allowing him to use her to balance himself before getting his staff.

“Sorry, I guess it’s overwhelming me right now. Wish I could be as delighted as you right now.” Jack sighed.

“How are you feeling?”

“I guess uh… Disturbed? Shocked? For some reason, I was a little pleased.” Jack felt immense guilt the moment he mentioned how it made him feel good in a way.

Pitch smiled softly and shook his head, “It’s quite the rush, but don’t let it get to you. Those children could have gotten hurt being so careless on ice like that. That fear you gave them will make them be more careful from now on. There’s always something to be proud of with a good scare like that. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“When you put it that way, yeah. I never really thought about fear being a good thing I guess.” Jack raised his brows a little.

“Of course not. It’s why it's important to the balance in our world. I know I’ve tipped the scales many times, but that doesn’t mean my work doesn’t have a purpose.”

Jack looked at the nightmare in contemplation and noticed her golden eyes resembled Sandy’s dream sand. She was once a pleasant dream that was practically unreadable at that point. The mare obviously felt no disdain for being turned, she even showed Jack kindness by showing concern for him. Perhaps Pitch’s nightmares were more than twisted dreams and had conscious thoughts beyond their master’s will.

“One little dream can be something extraordinary when used just right.” Pitch muttered in pride.

“I guess so.” Jack answered blankly.

“Come now, why don’t you let me do the scaring for the evening while you take your time processing it all. It’s natural to feel this way after something like that, even that pleasant feeling. No one is here to shame you for it.”

Jack took a deep breath and nodded with a slight smile, “Thanks. Alright I’ll be right behind you then.”

“Splendid.” 

Jack had lost count as to how many houses and apartments Pitch visited himself. Pitch made slipping into homes look easy, but for Jack it was a lot harder considering he couldn’t slip into the shadows like his ally. Jack either had to lift open a window himself or try to find an opening to slip into in his wind form. Turning into water was certainly out of the question but it was amusing to Pitch when he watched Jack attempt to follow him in his own fashion. Jack even almost woke a few children by being less graceful than usual. It wasn’t his fault that some legos went unnoticed. Jack got quite the show when a few cats decided to chase Pitch around a little. One was plenty to handle but one house had 4 of them and Pitch decided he was done with house visits that night. 

Jack slowly dissolved into a chilly wind and slipped between the cracks of the child’s windowsill and materialized outside. Pitch was floating just above a balcony and sounded like he hissed while checking his wounds from the feisty cats. 

“You still have two eyes, so it wasn’t a total loss,” Jack restrained a chuckle, seeing Pitch look uncomposed for once, “Are night runs always this...capricious?” 

Pitch rolled his eyes and slicked his bangs out of his face, “Not all the time. Mind you, my power isn’t what it used to be so some things are easier to hurt me. Remember how I couldn’t access one home because it burned lavender? I used to be able to fight its protective ward in my golden years.”

“Although now that I think about it, perhaps it's a good thing I have to build myself back up.” Pitch muttered. 

Jack raised a brow in confusion and floated down to Pitch, “What makes you say that?”

He glanced over at Jack and considered answering the frost spirit’s question. Pitch’s mind made him recall allies in his past who ended up either dead by the guardian’s hands, left him for personal reasons, or Pitch himself either hurt beyond repair. One in particular flashed in his mind but he tried to bury that man’s visage under his thoughts. In the end, none of them were there for him when he freed himself. 

He looked towards Jack again and shook his head, “Maybe some other time. We have better things to do besides unpack useless baggage of the past.”

“Better things like preparing for Halloween?” Jack kept a mental note of the conversation but tried to respect Pitch’s wishes. 

Pitch’s eyes lit right back up, “Yes exactly. See, you’re sharp as a sword. While these fears and unrest of the town were delectable, the energy of Halloween is unmatched.”

Jack followed Pitch up to the rooftop, “Man you haven’t gotten to celebrate in a while huh? I think I did a few pranks last year. Swiping a few pumpkins that weren’t carved as Jack-o-Lanterns. The white ones were surprisingly tasty.”

“You eat them?” 

Jack stood on top of his staff almost like an owl, “Just the insides and the seeds. Any seeds I don’t eat get tossed in the pumpkin patches for next year. I hope I can do it again this year, they’re nice to munch on after a good round of snowballing.”

Pitch nearly snorted seeing Jack have similar merry energy for the holiday. 

“Then the day after tomorrow will certainly be interesting for sure. My nightmares are more than ready to make sure the children won’t forget,” Pitch sighed with a smile on his face, “We should probably meet up again tomorrow evening to make sure everything is in order. Including any Halloween eve concerns you might have.”

“Yeah..”Jack lowered himself off his staff, “Actually there is one I’d like to ask about if that's okay.”

“Go ahead, I don’t mind at all Jack.” Pitch turned his attention towards Jack. 

“Do you think all of the guardians will notice us and show up to stop us?” 

‘Us. He’s already saying us. That means he’s fully ready to participate with me, how exciting.’ Pitch thought to himself.

“I can’t say for sure. I do know that at least some of them are bound to notice our activities or Father Time will warn them of possible outcomes of that night. That’s why I try to make sure to be fully prepared just in case. The guardians can be quite unpredictable, especially since they believe you are still MIA. They’re probably keeping their eyes and ears out for any signs of either of us. So until then, I suggest you rest somewhere that they, or the moon, wouldn’t think you’d be. The last thing you need right now is to be confronted on their terms.”

Jack nodded and ran his hands through his hair nervously, “Speak of the devil and he shall come.”

Pitch looked in the direction Jack pointed and furred his brow at the half moon peeking out from behind the dark clouds. 

“Of course. I’ll let my nightmares continue their patrols and return to my lair. I’d rather get caught by the guardians than by him. ”

Jack nodded in agreement, “Alright. I think I know where I can bunker down for the night. Where are we meeting up exactly? Tomorrow I mean.”

Pitch gave it some thought, “Burgess, Pennsylvania?”

“That’s oddly specific.” 

He shrugged and stepped onto a ledge, “There's only slight spiritual activity there so we wouldn’t have much competition with other holiday spirits. Less distractions.”

“Besides the flashy decor and screaming kids?”

“Exactly.” Pitch laughed.

Jack slowly got up and chuckled. He was going to spend Halloween with his former arch nemesis and terrorize children. Maybe steal a pumpkin or two. The idea of the guardians storming in and ruining it made his chest tighten up if he thought about it too hard. 

‘I knew I couldn’t avoid it for much longer, I just didn’t think it’d be so soon…’ He thought to himself.

“Take the time off to prepare yourself. This won’t be an easy night for either of us.” Pitch said gently.

“Thanks. Burgess tomorrow at moonrise?”

Pitch agreed and waved Jack off as he ascended high up into the clouds after bidding Pitch a good night. He couldn’t help but anticipate the events soon to come.

‘If his nightmare was anything to go off of. His anger will over power his fear and the guardians will be in for a show. He’s had a taste and it will only get more interesting from here. We’ll have to wait and see.’ Pitch chuckled to himself before slipping into the shadows of the night.

The quarter moon shined down on the world below, but it was not a guarantee that the man’s eyes were on him. Jack soared under the dark clouds and scanned the grounds below for any safe place to hide. At first it seemed like he was aimlessly flying over a sea of forests and a never ending road. A car or two would follow him but would soon vanish behind him, it felt like a reminder how alone he felt. 

“It’s only for tonight.. No wait, tomorrow is the 30th. So I probably have to do this one more time. I doubt it’ll be safe for me to fly around like this after everyone finds out about where I’ve been.. I could be really careful..but there’s telling with that guy.” Jack spoke to himself while glancing occasionally at the moon above him. 

He suddenly stopped mid-flight when he noticed something sticking out of some trees to his far right. Curious, Jack descended to the ground and decided to investigate further. The dirt under his feet didn’t feel quite right, and neither did the stray bits of grass that grew wildly in the eerily open area. Jack walked along the abandoned trail and soaked in the atmosphere of the odd area. An odd feeling of being watched would overcome him then fade as he would point his staff around to scare off any spirits. Occasionally he would come across a corroded man made object and broken glass that he had to carefully step around. 

“Hmm. Maybe I should ask the trees about what this place was..” Jack pondered as he floated up to an elder looking tree and placed his hand onto it’s trunk.

“Pardon me, I was wishing to know about this place. It feels like humans used to be here or dwelled here. Can you tell me anything about it?” Jack whispered to the tree.

The tree’s branches swayed in the wind as Jack heard a quiet response, “It was once a place of fun. Many like us could not thrive here. Concrete covered the ground. Just north of me exists the ruins..the humans left it all behind. We are reclaiming it all. Apologies, I must rest now. Safe tidings, man of winter.”

“Thank you.” Jack held his forehead to the tree trunk for a moment before following the tree’s directions. 

It was not long before he reached what looked like a former entrance to an amusement park. All that was left of the sign was it’s metal beams that once held up a grand sign. Scattered around the entrance was ruins of some knocked down buildings while a majority eerily stood against the elements best efforts to destroy it. Even a roller coaster’s remains stubbornly stood over the ever growing flora that sprouted below it. Jack couldn’t help but be impressed with its structure. He wouldn’t know for sure how long the park had been abandoned but humans were great at making things that took forever to corrode. 

Just as he was wondering how many children the coaster carried in its life span, he felt a pair of eyes looking at the back of his head once again. 

‘That’s not the moon. It would burn much harder if it was him looking at me..Something had to have followed me all this way.’ 

Jack gripped his staff with both hands and listened carefully to the mysterious footsteps. Wasting no time, Jack spun around on his heel and pointed his staff directly at the thing that leered behind him.

“HAAA-Ah?” Jack quickly lowered his staff in surprise to see no guardian..but a Nightmare.

The nightmare jumped back in surprise and looked guilty over scaring Jack like that. 

“You’re one of Pitch’s.. Stars above, don’t sneak up on me like that,” Jack nervously laughed while petting her face to show her he wasn’t mad, “I’d feel really guilty if I shot some ice at you because of a reflex.”

The mare sighed loudly.

“Did he send you to follow me?”

She shook her head no.

“Huh. So..you followed me because you wanted to?” Jack tilted his head a little.

The mare nodded and stomped her hoof a little.

“I’m sorry, I wish I spoke your language but the most we’re gonna have for now is yes or no questions. Unless Pitch gives me a lesson about that but I doubt we’ll have time tomorrow,” Jack looked at the mare and smiled at how gentle her eyes looked, “I guess you want to keep me company, I won’t mind. Just promise you won’t skulk around like that, okay?”

She nodded happily and backed up so he could have space to walk around again. He chuckled at her eagerness to follow him and went back on his way to explore the run down amusement park. Deep down, he was kind of happy to have someone accompany him that night. Even if that someone could have limited conversations with him.

“There aren’t any humans here, so there isn’t any reason for the moon to look for me in this place. It’s not so creepy once you get used to it.”

The mare snorted and Jack looked at her as if he was insulted.

“Okay so maybe it will get creepy when it gets dark dark. I don’t exactly have night vision like you do. Ugh, maybe I used to. Of course those light powers are long gone, so we better find a place to lay down before I can’t see my hand in front of my face.”

He gazed around the barren structures and hastily rushed into what looked like a former dining area. The structure looked larger on the inside, probably due to the raised ceilings. The dining tables were either ripped from the floor or gone entirely leaving nothing behind but stains on where their floor mounts were. Jack took little time to look though as he was walking around the place for what would be a good spot to crash. The Mare whinnied to get his attention and gestured for him to follow her discovery. 

“Ok ok, hang on.” Jack blew the broken glass out of his way and followed the mare to another section in the building. 

She nudged a door open with her face and lit up the room momentarily using her eyes.

“Woah. Neat trick. Guess the dream sand in your eyes can still glow. ” He patted her head before squinting to see what she was trying to show him. 

To his amazement, he realized the room was a kid’s play area, or at least used to be. Slides still showed their vibrant colors but waited for children that would never come to slide down them. The soft mats no longer cushioned any clumsy kids, just gathered dust and debris. 

“Jeez, I can’t tell if this place is cool or super creepy.” Jack curled his nose.

The pair walked deeper into the eerie play area until Jack stumbled upon what looked like a large hole in the ground.

“Hey uh, mare? Can you shine your light over here?”

She snorted and stepped over to the crater-like formation. Jack knelt closer to it and his eyes widened once he realized what it truly was.

“This used to be a ball pit! Well...beggars can’t be choosers I guess.” Jack scratched his chin and realized the mare looked judgingly at him.

“Oh c’mon I'm not gonna sleep in it bare. I just gotta make some adjustments.” Jack smirked as he stomped his staff on the edge of the barren pit. 

Frost gathered at the bottom of the pit and made its way all along every side of the pit until it was completely covered. The mare watched carefully as snow began to accumulate inside the pit until it completely filled the hole. She looked at Jack wondering how he accomplished such a thing without having to make it snow, but he didn’t seem to understand her gesture. He just flopped right into the snowy pit and stretched his limbs with a satisfied smile.

“Impressed? I can’t really sleep on hard surfaces so summoning snow is essential for me,” Jack watched her blink back at him, “I mean.. I don’t know if nightmares sleep but if you want to take the other side I might be okay with it. Assuming you don’t sleep standing up like regular horses I mean.”

The mare made a sound as if she was laughing. She slowly slid into the pit and curled up beside him. Yet her head remained up and watchful of everything around them. Jack smiled warmly and rubbed behind her ear.

“Are you watching over me while I sleep? I really appreciate that.. I haven’t really been feeling safe whenever I’m by myself after I joined Pitch. Thanks..uh…” Jack paused, “Do nightmares have names? I feel kind of odd just calling you ‘mare’ all the time.”

The mare thought for a moment and shook her head no.

Jack sat up, “Since you’re following me around...do you feel comfortable with me giving you a nickname? If not I totally understand-”

She shook her head yes and eagerly looked at him in anticipation for what he would come up with. Pitch never named any of the nightmares, except for his personal one that followed him almost everywhere. It wasn’t that he disregarded the other nightmares, but it was a tiny desire she had to maybe be called something else. Following Pitch’s newest ally was the right decision, she thought. Perhaps she would continue following him, he seemed to like her after all. Jack scrunched his face up in thought and muttered to himself until finally he looked at her with a grin on his face. 

“Skuggi! It's an old Norse word for shadow or reflection. You’ve been following me like a shadow so..I know it’s not very creative but if you don’t like it I can think of something else.”

Skuggi.
She nodded at the name and nudged his head with her own. 

“Haha, okay. Skuggi it is. Hope the other mares don’t get jealous over you having a name. Jeez if they ask me to name them all I’d be worn out.” Jack laughed as he slowly started to lay back down. 

Skuggi sighed loudly and went back to watching the area around them.

Jack looked up at the ceiling and tucked his feet inside of his snow while he thought quietly. The last time he fell asleep, he was challenged by his dreams to try and conquer them. 

‘Could something like that happen again? Pitch did say there were more steps I had to master before I could block dream spirits out from my dreams.. He never did tell me what the next step was. UGH. I hope if I can just shut my thoughts up maybe I can get some sleep..’ Jack thought to himself while trying to empty his mind.

Skuggi glanced over at him and smiled to herself watching the frost spirit toss and turn. Perhaps it would take him longer to fall asleep than she thought. For once, Jack was somewhat happy another living being was with him as he laid for sleep. Even if they had to watch him fight to even get sleepy. 

“Sorry we’re late everyone, the trip to the Lamadry took more out of us than we thought..” North sighed.

Both North and Aster walked side by side as they greeted their fellow guardians but none of them looked particularly hopeful that evening. 

“Did you guys learn anything?” Tooth asked while sipping some hot chocolate the yetis made for her. 

Aster grunted and scratched his face, “Kind of. There were two things we learned while we were cooped up there. The first one was that-” Aster paused, wondering who he should refer to when talking about the mural, “-er..Jack’s old mural was acting up and scarin’ the llamas a little. The thing had frost sprouting from it and some were reachin’ out for Tsar Lunar’s mural.”

Katherine sunk into a chair with her hands in her lap, “Well that certainly doesn’t bode well. If anything it might hint that his anger at Tsar Lunar is getting worse..”

“He has every right to be though, that’s the depressing part,” Tooth folded her feathers back, “He’s been dealing with the news by himself for a week now I think, I’d be shocked if he wasn’t getting worse.”

Sandy looked back at Aster and North and gestured for them to tell the rest of the news they had.

“Right right,” North stroked his beard, “The Llamas knew of Jack’s resurrection but not the whole story.”

“Of course.” Katherine scoffed under her breath and Aster shared the sentiment. 

North continued, “They said that when Nightlight died, he was in a weird stage of not being Nightlight anymore and becoming someone else. Manny wanted to revive him like he did for us many times, but Nightlight no longer existed since his big change with the ‘good night kiss’. Manny revived his body and soul but the being he wanted to save was fractured. So only bits and pieces of his memories remained. They mentioned something about his soul not being fully accessible to Manny at the time but it was only a hunch.”

Katherine felt a lump in her throat as she twirled her moonstone pendant between her fingers. She wasn’t directly responsible for the rebirth of Jack but she certainly played a part in it, or at least that's how she felt. She was too weak to stop Pitch. Too weak to save Nightlight. Too weak to reach back to Jack when he needed it the most. She was still too weak.. 

“Katherine? Katherine?” Aster called to her.

“Huh?” Katherine snapped out of it and realized Aster was trying to talk to her, “Sorry I was..processing everything. Could you repeat what you just said?”

“Yeah, no problem. I was just askin’ what you and Sandy found out when you asked around for Jack’s whereabouts.” Aster said gently, sensing Katherine was getting anxious. 

“Right..Right..” Katherine ran her fingers through her hair, “A winter spirit said he saw Jack practicing some of his powers in some dark woods. Before he could say or do anything Jack was snatched up by a shadow. You guys can probably guess what our theory for that is..”

Tooth gently hugged Katherine from behind, “If you need to take a minute to breathe it’s fine.”

Katherine smiled at Tooth’s maternal gesture and sighed, “I’ll be okay. I’m probably going to head home after this and sleep for a while. The stress from everything is getting to me. First Jack’s past was revealed, then he goes missing, then we hear he might have been kidnapped by Pitch and now weird omens are showing up at the Lamadry!! It feels like we can’t catch a break!”

“Agreed.” Sighed Aster. 

Sandy perked up seeing a familiar form materialize into the room they were in and snapped his fingers to alert everyone.

“Thank you Sandy. I apologize for not coming sooner.” Ombric smiled at his comrades.

“Ombric! Just the man we wanted to see!” North called out in relief, “I assume you’re here for that exact reason eh?”

Ombric chuckled, “You were always so quick to know what I was planning. Yes I am. I’ve been spending my time peeking into the alternate paths our journey could take and how likely each outcome could occur. It took me a while but I have narrowed it down to 3 possible paths that Jack could take.”

Tooth perked up in excitement, “We’re willing to listen. Any good news is really needed right now..”

“Well I wouldn’t say all of these are good..” Ombric cleared his throat, “I have discovered the most recurring branches our timeline gives us. The most common factor in all of these is that Jack’s clouded feelings towards Tsar Lunar will not fade. Depending on which path he takes, those feelings will either get better or far worse than we can hope.”

The guardians all exchanged quiet glances with each other as Ombric continued. 

“The first possibility is that Jack’s bitterness will deter him at first  yet he will rejoin our group, but would be reluctant to participate in any missions given to him. This one seems less likely the more I overheard what you all have learned..”

“One could hope I guess..” Aster muttered.

“The second outcome is Jack will be so entrenched in his distaste for Tsar Lunar that he isolates himself from us completely. Similar to how other neutral spirits become uninvolved with us so as to not get caught in the crossfire of our duties.”

“Finally we have the third and..least favorable outcome. Pitch takes advantage of Jack’s bitterness and sways him to his side. Now these 3 being the most common outcomes don’t mean they are certain to happen. Other foreseen events can change the flow completely.”

Aster tapped his foot in thought, “From what Katherine reported, it could be that Jack might have been kidnapped and is bein’ turned as we speak. That’s just my hunch.”

“It’s not a bad one,” Tooth interjected, “My fairies have been seeing more activity from nightmares on their night duties. They’ve done wonderful at fighting them off, but I worry they’ll grow in such numbers that they can’t do it by themselves for much longer.”

Sandy thought back to that night he saw Jack and how tired he looked. If Jack was truly in danger, his chest tightened at the idea of him not being able to figure out what exactly was happening to his friend.

It was just then that Sandy’s hair stood up in alert to a strong dream he sensed.

“Sandy? Are you alright?” North looked towards the small man.

Sandy licked his lips in uncertainty and resigned to the fact that he needed to speak. Just for a moment.

“Jack. I-I sense him.. He’s dreaming.” Sandy’s quiet trembling voice echoed around the guardians.

“That’s wonderful, can you sense where he is?” Ombric inquired. 

Sandy looked at all of his friends with great concern in his eyes, “That’s just it...I can’t sense where he is.. I-I only know he’s dreaming, maybe what. I can't see the full picture..”

The guardians grew quiet and tense as they all were unsure what to think.

Katherine bit her lip and ended the silence, “Well, at least we know he isn't sleep deprived...But the fact that Sandy can’t see his dream fully, despite Sandy being able to prior to Jack’s disappearance, means only one thing.”

Ombric hung his head low and Aster felt like kicking something over from pure frustration.

“Pitch is involved one way or another.” North muttered. 

“And right before Halloween. This is no coincidence I’m afraid. We must be ready and vigilant this upcoming Halloween. Something is fated to happen and it will not be just an easy patrol like years past.” Ombric sighed.

Katherine got up from her chair and gathered her tome with little regard.

“Katherine, where are you going?” Tooth called out.

Katherine stopped in front of a staircase and looked back at her comrades with an intense expression on her face. Something in her mind looked like it was already made up, which worried one like Ombric. 

“Getting ready.” Katherine grunted before storming off to fetch Kailash. 

Katherine had some of her best spells memorized and written down for the upcoming night but none of them felt powerful enough. No matter what she pulled out of her main collection, none of them felt strong enough to counteract Pitch’s powers. Even the light spells in her arsenal were minuscule in comparison to how Nightlight’s powers affected him. Feeling resigned, Katherine decided that she probably needed to sleep it off and hunt for more spells in the morning.

Her dreams however did not let her rest. 

Katherine found herself inside an endless black void that chilled her as sharply as jumping into a frozen lake. She could faintly see her hands in front of her face but nothing else seemed to be in the void with her at first.

“Hello?!” She called out.

A burst of light suddenly lit up a majority of the void in an eerie green hue. It was not warm nor comforting. It felt wrong. Katherine whipped around to see what made itself known to her only to be met with dozens if not hundreds of eyes staring down at her. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach and her throat tightened in the mere presence of the being. She had seen this form before.

“You aren’t strong enough.” A chorus of voices echoed from the being. 

“I-I-” Katherine struggled. 

The being suddenly collected itself and took a much smaller form that Katherine recognized. Yet that new form did not make her feel at ease, it made her want to puke. What stood before her was a glowing green Nightlight with Pitch’s sword sticking out of his abdomen.

“You couldn’t even protect us...You let us go.”

“No- I!! I couldn’t- You aren’t Nightlight!!! Stop taking his form!!” She finally screamed at the entity.

It tilted it’s head and stepped closer to her, the blood falling from the hole in it’s stomach.

“You know what you can do to become stronger,” It echoed Nightlight’s voice among the others it used as a mouthpiece, “Are you going to let Pitch Black win again? Are you going to let him take another guardian from you? It could be any of them Katherine. You aren’t strong enough to protect any of them...What are you going to do? Are you going to sit there and hope they spare you?”

Tears poured from Katherine’s eyes as she struggled to back away from the entity. It kept walking towards her while wielding Pitch’s sword that once sat in it’s chest.

“Are you going to talk them out of it and reach for their humanity? You haven’t changed at all. You haven’t grown at all. You think you have but you’ve only scratched the surface little one,” It raised the sword over its head and it’s smile stretched beyond what was humanly possible, “You know what you have to do. You know where you have to go. Or else you’ll STILL BE WEAK!”

Katherine shrieked as she felt the sword impale her through her rib cage. She had never felt a greater pain surge through her body in her life, it nearly caused her to topple over. The wind in her body struggled to even emit a scream or a whimper. All she could do was wither in pain as the entity laughed, repeating the same phrase over and over. A book flashed in her mind before the entity pounced on top of her. 

Her body finally jolted as if she was falling and never had she felt relieved to see the ceiling of her bedroom. She quickly checked her abdomen and it was free from any bleeding or wounds. The quietness of her room helped ease her breathing but her hands continued to shake as she tried to process what she just saw. Her nightmares had been bad but that one was one of the worst by far in her books.

‘Is it my nerves..? Did they create that thing? What was it that I saw before it jumped on me..what..’ Her thoughts swirled too fast for her to think.

Katherine slowly got out of bed and reached for a glass of water that she left on her nightstand. After gulping the whole thing, that book from her nightmare flashed into her mind again but much clearer that time. She knew which book it was and where exactly she sealed it away. The list of her spells and tossed spellbooks sat by her desk and stared back at her. All of it felt pointless, those spells put her on a decent level but it was nothing compared to the scale Pitch wielded. 

She snapped a ball of light into existence and slowly made her way out of her room. There were many books in her collection, fables, folklore, mythology and cult classics. However there were things other than stories that sat on her shelves. Ganderly also held novellas and tomes that were too dangerous in the hands of the ill prepared. Grimoires of famous witches and the less morally desirable hardcovers sat in the section she traveled through the least. 

The passage way to such a section had a cobweb in the doorway that Katherine had to chop her hand through. She commanded her ball of light to increase in size as she traveled down the stone staircase. 

‘Is it a good idea to listen to my nightmare of all things?’ She thought to herself, ‘Even if I don’t use it, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have it on hand. The nightmare was right about some things.. I’m not strong enough to protect everyone I love. Not yet.’ 

She weaved through low bookshelves until she found the spine of the book she saw in the nightmare. It was just as big as a regular novel but it had no author like the other books. All it had was a title and a seal keeping anyone from accidentally taking a peek inside. Katherine waved her hand over it and the multiple protective sealed jackets slowly fell off of the book to reveal the dark bound cover. The cover read as simply:
“GRIMDARK”

Katherine knew fully well what this genre of novella spells could do to literary spellcasters but it wasn’t like she was going to use the whole list of spells. Perhaps keeping it in her bag for the eventual battle with Pitch would come in handy. As tempting as looking inside it was, she resisted the urge and tucked it under her arm. While making her trek back upstairs, the echoes of her nightmare demon’s words rung through her ears.

‘Are you going to sit there and hope they spare you? You know what you need to do.’ 

“If nothing else works, I know what needs to be done, for everyone else.” She sighed as she entered her bedroom.

She sat the grimdark book carefully onto her desk and gazed at her calendar that hung above her. Like clockwork, it’s date magically changed to October 30th. Less than a day to prepare herself. Her glazed eyes looked over to her bedside window and watched the moon reveal itself through the clouds. It did not bring her any comfort as she crawled back into bed, instead it’s gaze seemed more distracted as ever. Not long after, Katherine found her eyes closing out of pure exhaustion. As her consciousness slipped, the shadow woven book that sat on her desk was briefly illuminated by the moon’s light. 

A truly disgusting and worrying sight for it. 

Chapter Text

The crisp fall wind danced around Pitch’s feet as he descended to the ground below. The sun was almost completely out of view and the sky was painted with a blue-purple hue. A comforting sight for a creature of the night like Pitch. ‘Dusk’ as humans came to call that time of day, was one of Pitch’s favorite times. Everything became more quiet in rural areas and the humans usually settled in for the night. Big cities at night were less quiet but more chaotic and unpredictable. He admired the twinge of fear a human had when they walked alone in a big city at night. 

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see other entities waking for their nightly routine. The shadows were quicker than any animal, but Pitch knew they were anything but. He paid them no mind however, even if Pitch had lost a good portion of his powers, nightmare demons knew well to steer clear of him. He had no energy to socialize with any of those rats anyway; the irons he had in the fire were more important than getting along with those of his cloth. With his plans in motion, he didn’t even need to worry about competing with other spirits of the shadows. 

Just as he was pacing with anticipation for the day ahead, he noticed a peculiar shadow stare directly at him beside an suv. It was small with bright yellow-green eyes that shined back at him when light reflected into them. Pitch squinted and curiously approached the small shadow until something else commanded his attention.

Faint whispers could be heard coming from a large tree on the other side of the street. The shadow with the beady eyes showed no signs of moving from its spot, so Pitch moved away from it to inspect what could be whispering unintelligibly. The tree itself had roots that practically engulfed the curb and rested into the roadside. Sat in the middle, high up in the tree, was Jack! His eyes had that odd look that Pitch saw him wear when he spoke to the wind the day before. It was almost difficult to see Jack’s pupils at all and his lips were barely moving yet he could faintly hear the mysterious language slipping out of Jack’s lips. 

Jack was so engrossed with his conversation that he barely noticed Pitch’s presence. Despite the otherworldly look in his eyes, the shadows of an unrestful sleep sat underneath. His body slumped against the tree’s thick trunk and his head pointed up at the tree's massive branches above. He had forgotten how long they conversed, but he knew he had enough time to chat before meeting with Pitch at moon rise.

“Are you not afraid of them?” Jack whispered, “The humans. They could destroy you once they deem you as a problem.”

The tree’s branches swayed calmly, “I have seen this area change over my lifetime. Children have played on my roots, taken refuge from the rain, used me to hide and some even spoke to me. There is always a risk of the humans coming back to take me out to further their progress on this block. The idea of dying does not scare me anymore, my cold friend. I will live on in the memories of those who shared their life with me and continue to exist when I will not. Others of my kind might not share this sentiment, but I’m too old now to worry over dying.”

It’s voice was the equivalent of an elderly human and it’s words carried the weight of one. Jack paused to take it in and brushed his hand against the tree’s bark solemnly. To not fear death was an admirable trait to Jack. He had died once before and the idea of falling once again made his heart tremble at the idea.

“What about you, frostling? Do you fear humans? Do you hate them?” 

Jack ran his hands through his hair and sighed, “I’m not scared of them, I know that much. A lifetime ago, I adored them. I wanted to protect them from the things that lurked in the dark. When I awoke in my new life, I tried to still bring them some joy in their short lives. A snow day, ice to stomp and days out of school. I think I tolerate children more than adults.. The adults do a lot of hurting towards themselves and those like us.”

Leaves crackled in agreement with Jack and one fell onto his head.

“I hope to speak with you again, Jack Frost, but someone seems to be staring at you.”

His eyes returned to normal and looked around at the ground below to see if anyone was eavesdropping. His anxiety calmed itself once he saw Pitch poke out from his blindspot.

“Apologies, Frost. I didn’t want to interrupt. It seemed like you two were having quite the conversation.” Pitch smiled calmly. 

Jack patted the tree again to bid farewell, then slowly floated down from the high branches to the ground below. 

“Haha yeah.. I got here a little early so I tried to practice my tree lingo with this elder here. They were..insightful to say the least.” He chuckled lightly. 

“You know,” Pitch put his hand on his chin, “That’s the third time I’ve seen your eyes do that. They changed when you fought against the guardians in your nightmare, then when you orchestrated that snow day and just now. Does that bear any kind of significance to your kind?”

Jack reached up at one of his eyes and shrugged, “I’ve never seen what they look like when I’m like that but I’ve seen some other elementals and nature spirits do it. I guess it just happens if we’re connecting with nature or something. I don’t know much about it myself.”

He was too flustered to say just how much he spoke to those of his kind, which was very little. There were a lot of things about himself that he just accepted as normal and didn’t question very much. Pitch usually had questions that made Jack question it all, and he didn’t know if that made him feel content or at unease. Introspection was a pandora's box for him that he rarely wanted to open, but recent events of course couldn’t leave it alone. Especially his brief conversation with the tree. 

“I see,” Pitch caught himself looking at Jack’s eyes again and caught a glimpse of the shadows that took root under his eyes,”Speaking of eyes.. I take it you didn’t get much sleep.”

Jack instinctively pulled his hood up and shook his head no, “I couldn’t win this time. I don’t want to say any more than that.” 

The curtness of his voice and distant demeanor were all red flags to Pitch, and yet he had to respect Jack’s boundaries on the topic. He knew very well that Jack would benefit from talking about it, and yet Pitch also knew it would drive Jack away if he just ignored his wishes. His incident with putting Jack in a nightmare came to mind and just how close he could have come to losing Jack as an ally if he didn’t take it as well as he did. Jack had to be treated more than a tool or a little pawn, which required Pitch to say and do things he wasn’t quite accustomed to. It didn’t kill him inside at the least bit, it was all just very uncertain given Jack’s situation. Nature spirits were unpredictable after all and if he caught a whiff of possible mistreatment..who knew what Jack would do. 

“Very well. I have yet to begin any preparations because I was distracted-”

“-Sorry.” Jack said out of impulse. It was safe to assume him talking to the tree was the distraction, to him anyway. 

Pitch shook his head, “No it's nothing you did Jack,” he turned his head to stare back at the small shadow across the street, “Something else caught my attention. An old acquaintance.”

Jack peeked around Pitch and squinted to see what he was talking about, “A cat?”

The cat got up onto its 4 legs and blinked slowly at the pair. It stared at Jack with perked ears and a smirk that no mere cat could wear.

“Well this is surely a surprise..” It began to speak, “I had heard The Nightmare King was back in business, but I never thought I’d see Jack Frost in his presence. Although-” The cat did a quick stretch, “-The deserter of the Guardians isn’t a bad choice..”

“I’d advise you to keep your gossip about this to yourself until Halloween concludes, Dekatria.” Pitch leered at the smaller figure. 

Jack watched the black cat grow in size until it grew to the height of a person much taller than him but slightly shorter than Pitch. An odd sigil could be seen in the center of their chest even through their dark fur. Shaggy white hair hung from their head just barely touching their chin line. The cat spirit even had some semblance of clothes but barely. The only clothes on their body were short blank pants that had two bits of fabric that covered each end of their chest. It somewhat reminded Jack of a sleeveless version of Pitch’s robe. Dekatria smirked at the pair and did a slight curtsy with their short black pants. 

“Apologies for not rendering myself in my true form huhu. I wanted to see if the rumors I heard were true.. My goodness this is juicier than I ever anticipated.”

“A trickster,” Pitch whispered to Jack. 

“You rarely see one of them these days..” Muttered Jack. 

Dekatria clicked their tongue in annoyance and sighed, “I can hear you, you know.” They said, gesturing to their ears. “Though you are right about that Jack, it’s rather depressing don’t you think? To think you almost joined them.”

Jack furrowed his brow and stepped closer to the trickster cat, “What are you talking about?”

They locked eyes with Pitch then looked back at Jack with a twinge of pity, “Oh. I guess the Guardians failed to tell you that about them. That or they were going to wait until you joined them.”  

Pitch could sense a rise of emotions stirring inside Jack and wondered if he should intervene to save the man some grief. However, part of Pitch argued that Jack needed to know the truth and yet there was more important business at hand that needed to be taken care of. At least before Jack’s newest emotional episode. 

“There is a reason you don’t see certain types of spirits that much these days.” Pitch joined in, “I thought you were aware of it already but I guess not. However we must-” 

“-Aware of what?!”

Dekatria sighed as their tail flickered, “Mmmm, you two didn’t approach me for a history lesson..so..”

“Pitch what are they talking about?!” Jack demanded.

“Jack, please. Let me speak to them about what I-we need first. It’s imperative to our success tomorrow and will help you.”

Jack begrudgingly bit his tongue and nodded in agreement, “Fine. Do whatever.”

Dekatria’s ears perked up and they leaned off the truck with their full attention on Pitch, “Ohoh? And pray tell what you think I can do to help you?”

“Do you still do commissions?” Pitch smirked. 

Jack snapped out of his haze quick enough to catch what they were saying. Something about the way Pitch’s tone told Jack this was no art project. He just kept quiet for the time being and watched the two spirits speak to each other with an underlying sense of unease. 

Dekatria clicked their claws together with a large smile on their face, “Not life long ones, that’s what got those like me on the guardian’s radar in the first place. My curses last 13 days or less, depending on how long you want it.”

The black cat spirit paced around the pair with a thoughtful smile, “What a coincidence, the Nightmare King asks for a commission the day before Halloween, Jack Frost betrays the Guardians and is seen by his side. That's quite the scandal.”

“Mm, and I repeat; you will keep your maw shut until Halloween is over. That way no one will suspect Jack's turn so early.”

Dekatria grunted but obliged, “Fine, since you’re so desperate for my help. However I must warn you that I’m not against them paying me to put a curse on you either. I doubt they will since they’re so chivalrous. They’d probably just resort to killing you like every other spirit they hunted down.”

There it was. That was the truth Jack wanted to hear but his body could hardly handle.

“That. Why would they do that? I thought they were all for respecting ‘the balance’!” The dread in his chest got stronger and heavier as they continued.

Dekatria raised their brows and crossed their arms, “I guess I’ll entertain you for now.” They leaned back against the same truck and continued, “Everyone noticed a change in the guardians after they lost one of their own to your friend over there. We weren’t too concerned at first, until they started getting more...defensive. With Pitch gone, they could turn their attention to other ‘malicious entities’. Though they displayed this kind of behavior even with that star kid around, you remember don’t you? It was less severe since you were a constant thorn in their side.”

Pitch sighed, “It was rare but yes. I only heard it got worse after that battle between us.”

Jack’s heart nearly stopped beating for a moment. Could he have participated in such gruesome events like they described? Something told him it was unlikely and that not all the guardians would be so willing to hunt any malicious spirits down but yet.. That belief wasn’t as strong when Jack considered what could have happened after he perished as a guardian. His inner self had said the Guardian’s hearts were plagued with grief so there was no telling what the truth was. 

“It's a bummer of a topic, honestly I’d say you dodged a bullet there Jack. Though it’s not saying much that you’re purrobably going to face them tomorrow evening. It will be a show for most of us huhu..” Dekatria glanced back at Pitch, “While we’re back on that topic..Who is it you want cursed and for how long?”

“Your maximum is 13 days correct?” They nodded, “Alright I’ll take that option and I think you already know who I want your target to be.” Pitch kept occasionally looking at Jack to make sure he was still stable.

Jack was watching carefully as the trickster stretched, he was very unsure about this spirit but he was more unsure over why Pitch couldn’t say which Guardian he was targeting. He had to guess it was someone he still had an attachment to and that didn’t make him feel any better. 

“Well, what have you got for payment, your highness?” They leaned towards Pitch eagerly. 

“How does nightmare essence sound?”

Dekatria wrinkled their nose and shrugged, “I dunno...It might be good for bad luck but it would mostly just feed back to you. I can only think of so many scenarios I could use it..”

The weight in Jack’s chest suddenly let up but he had a hard time finding the words. If it truly would help him make his stand in the following evening and it wouldn’t last a lifetime what could the harm be? The guardians were rarely separated as of late so any lethal accidents could be avoided.
He stuck his hands in his hoodie pocket and felt the bag of dream sand rest between his fingers. Reluctantly, Jack spoke.

“What about dream sand?” 

Their ears perked and their nose twitched in excitement, “You actually have some? Untainted, pure dream sand? Not many can even keep it in their hands and say it’s still pure.” Their eyes lit up once Jack pulled out the bag.

“A portion of this and you take the commission. Sound good?” 

Pitch admittedly almost forgot Jack possessed a decent amount of dream sand and was impressed he would offer it for such a thing. 

“Yes, but one more thing..from you.” Dekatria got extremely close to Jack and they patted his hand that held the dream sand, “So long as you use that last portion for your own desires. I sense that it will be quite an event and I do not want you to waste all of it.” 

“I..Sure I guess?” Jack had no idea what the trickster was making him promise to, but he could only guess it was for events yet to pass.

Pitch stepped over and cleared his throat to get the pair’s attention, “Is that all?”

Dekatria leaned away from Jack and looked at Pitch smugly, “Indeed, if you’d be so kind to make me a little bag for my portion? I can’t wield sand like you, such a sad boon of my existence.”

Pitch rolled his eyes and conjured a small bag of shadows, “There. It won’t taint the dream sand since it’s not made of nightmare essence. Use it for whatever scheme you desire against humans or whatever it is you do these days.”

Jack carefully poured a small portion of his dream sand into the shadow pouch and even caught a few stray bits of sand from escaping. Dekatria’s ears twitched when they noticed Jack slowly guiding the bits back into the pouch but kept their maw shut. They simply just smiled and collected the bag from Pitch after shaking his hand.

“A deal is a deal,” They tucked the bag inside their pants pocket and happily leaped on top of the truck’s roof, “He’ll be cursed before All Hallows Eve. Do give us all a good show Pitch and Jack. I’ll be rooting for you two.” They smirked before vanishing into the shadows of the night. 

Jack tucked the dream sand pouch back in his pocket and felt like his head was swimming again.

“It’s Sandy isn’t it? The one you want cursed?” Jack looked at him out of the corner of his eyes.

“He’s the powerhouse of the group. If he is at least neutralized it will give us a better chance of getting through Halloween with minor scratches.” Pitch looked at Jack’s tired and anxious frame and sighed, “I’m sorry you had to learn all that at once-”

“-Are you?” Jack turned to him, “Where was that when we spoke in the south pole? The fact that they..I could have.. UGH!!” Jack kicked over a trash can and huffed.

“Does it make you any more hesitant to confront them?” Pitch stepped closer to Jack but made sure not to crowd him.

“You know what, no actually, but let’s get one thing straight between us.” Jack turned to Pitch with an unsteady breath, “If there is anything else I should know about the guardians or what happened before I can remember, you’re going to tell me when it comes up. No more hiding things from me, or else you’ll be facing them alone.”

It almost felt like a reminder for Pitch that Jack Frost was not his usual ally. His powers were vast and mysterious to Pitch. The idea of them made him almost fearful and a little bit thrilled to see what he was capable of. Not long ago Jack probably wouldn’t threaten Pitch to his face, and yet here he was full of adrenaline and fury. It was intoxicatingly delicious and yet something more was bubbling inside Jack’s chest.  

“Of course. I just won’t overload you so you won’t have breakdowns, that’s my only prerequisite. Is that reasonab-” Pitch suddenly realized Jack’s breathing was sounding more strained than normal, ”Jack?” 

He could have killed other innocent spirits just like the guardians and he wouldn’t even know it. Jack could have been an enemy of various spirits if they knew his former identity. He wasn’t even sure if it was plausible if he was merciful in his past. The guardian’s stories of him seemed so flimsy at that moment. Nothing seemed sure to him as of late. Every day he kept learning something new and horrid either about himself or the people he associated with. The people that supposedly were valiant warriors of peace, people who said they cared and loved him. Was he any better than them? Was Jack Frost worse than them?

Jack’s hands shook as his thoughts got progressively scarier. He could barely comprehend Pitch was trying to speak to him. The entire world around him didn’t feel real but like a dream. He didn’t deserve to be there. So many conflicts were caused by his existence..

'Maybe I’d be better off dead. Would that solve everything? Would everyone be happier if I was just dead again?!’

That was the first thought that truly scared Pitch. It was a kind of fear that he never tried to enhance or prey upon in the modern era. Humans came to call it ideation and it came out during the darkest moments of one’s life. Pitch took his hands off of Jack and decided to do something he had not done for someone in centuries. He put his hands on top of Jack’s shadow and began to latch onto that dark fear Jack was being plagued with.

Jack felt his body freeze in place and in the fear’s spot, a wave of numbness washed over his entire being. His breathing was stabilized but he wasn’t sure what emotion he was feeling in the void in his chest. He slowly turned to see Pitch letting go of his shadow and looking over him with worry.

“Are you alright?” He looked over Jack with genuine concern in his voice. 

Jack slowly shrugged, “I suppose..What did you just do to me?”

Pitch sighed, “I didn’t know what else to do or how to help you.. I drained the fear out of you so it wouldn’t escalate any further. I know it was another impulsive gesture but I couldn’t just-”

He raised his hand to stop Pitch, “-No, look.. I’m not upset at you, I admit I haven’t sunk that low in a long time. So it was probably a good thing you did that just now..”

Pitch’s shoulders dropped, “So you have had this happen before then. No need to go into it, I’m just processing this. How are you feeling now?”

Jack’s eyes were glazed over but at the very least he looked stable, “Numb. I don’t really feel anything in particular. Kind of relieved but- I don’t know. I’m sorry for being such a mess. I thought I was over this and was getting better but here I am having stupid thoughts.”

“Jack, I don’t see you as a mess and none of this is stupid. Everything right now is scary for you and sometimes you’re going to buckle under the pressure no matter how strong you think you are. Which you are. If you were battling this all by yourself for 300 years then you are strong, but you shouldn’t have had to be. It’s hard being in this world with no one by your side.”

Jack could feel his body scream for the urge to cry but the numbness only allowed his eyes to water, “Why are you saying these things to me?”

Pitch flashed a tired smile in his direction and shook his head, “I told you. I understand your plight. I know it appeared I wanted to stomp your fear out a few days ago but that isn’t my intention. I’m not going to do that to you every time you might have something like this happen. If I can help it, I’m at least not going to let you have those thoughts come back to your mind. You said it yourself in that nightmare, you want to live.”

Jack took a deep shaking breath and nodded, “Y-Yeah. Yeah…” 

“If you need a little bit to recover from this I won’t be upset at you. I can handle doing the preparations until you feel ready to join in. This wasn’t exactly the most relaxing of evenings to put it lightly and I’d imagine you need some recharge time. Will you be alright by yourself?” Pitch relaxed his pose a little.

“Yeah I think so.. I..Have a lot of thinking to do, about everything.” He sighed, finally feeling some of the numbness subsiding. 

“Alright then. I’ll be nearby until you’re ready.” Pitch turned around to begin to walk away.

“Uh..Pitch?” Jack called out, “Thank you, for doing that. I don’t know what would have happened if you didn’t intervene.”

Pitch looked back at Jack, almost unsure of how to respond . He lost his words for a moment before quietly chuckling, “Sure. It’s no problem.”

Jack smiled to himself and climbed back into the branches of the tree he spoke to before they conversed with Dekatria. He laid against the tree’s trunk and slowly tried to concentrate on his breathing. He had seen humans meditate before, so if he just concentrated enough he could go back to where his memories were. If the holes in his memory were the cause of his panic, then he needed to seek them out. Pitch was nearby so nothing bad would happen to him, which was an ironic statement but one that had some validity since Pitch went and did that for him. 

Pitch glanced back to see Jack at peace in the tree and found himself replaying that moment inside his mind. Jack nearly succumbing to the dark thoughts inside his mind and the panic overpowering him, such a thing scared Pitch in a way he couldn’t comprehend. He had been just cordial to Jack and trying to stay on his good side but with every meeting they had, yet something was changing. Pitch didn’t take the fear from Jack to gain power or to keep him stable out of selfishness. There was another reason that was still incomprehensible to him, much to his frustration and curiosity. 

'Hmm. Interesting.. Either he has that effect on people or something is changing in me. These emotions..They don’t scare me like they used to, even if I don’t understand them. I’ll have to keep this in mind.. I have things to prepare for.’ Pitch found himself smiling slightly as he greeted his waiting nightmares. 

Ganderly sat eerily quiet among the swaying branches that held it into the air. Kailash was happily napping away as Katherine finished replenishing her food containers. Her mind was stirring like a bubbling cauldron and she sighed to herself in resignation. Overworking herself to keep her mind off of the latest events was not working in her favor and neither was her lack of rest. She had played with too many scenarios to keep her anxiety at bay and her efforts of not entertaining them could only work for so long. Dread sat in her chest as if it was binding her to choke out every breath in her lungs and her friends could do very little to help relieve the pain. Yet she could tell they were under similar stress and hid it from her with less grace. It wasn’t just the idea of Jack joining Pitch, but the thought that Pitch would be much harder to beat with such a powerful ally by his side. An ally that they failed to see was in pain.

She ran her fingers through her hair and sank to the floorboards around Kailash’s nest. The tree’s rustling in the wind filled the air enough for her to focus on just long enough to let her thoughts fall out of focus. Could the winds feel it too? She could not speak tree very well, nor could she understand the wind’s whispers. It made her wonder if animals could understand the elements or it was just their instincts that allowed them to interpret their language. Her hands rested on her sides while she watched the tree branches dance with the wind. The leather of her tome bag was caressed by her right thumb but she quickly pulled it away when she remembered what book sat inside. Shame quickly clouded her mind and wondered if she should return it to it’s spot in Ganderly’s depths. 

As Katherine rose to her feet, the sounds of something traveling up the nearby branches grew loud enough to cause her to jump. Kailash opened one of her eyes and slowly raised her head in the direction of the noise. To their relief, it was Sandy slowly descending through the branches and catching his balance on the wooden floor.

“Sandy?” Katherine lowered her hands, “What’s wrong? You look horrible!” She quickly ran to his side and noticed the sweat collecting on his forehead. 

Sandy raised a brow at the mention of him looking horrible and Katherine laughed nervously. He quietly sighed and shook his head solemnly. He was far from okay and it took far too much out of him to travel to the North Pole. Ganderly was his next best option and he was relieved that Katherine was still at home to possibly assist him. He slowly pulled back on his robe a little and revealed an ominous looking sigil that sat between his collarbones. It’s color ranged from a golden yellow to a sickly green.

“You were cursed..” Katherine whispered in shock, “So, you can barely fly? What else has it affected?”

Sandy tried to conjure his dream sand in one of his hands, but the sand shot out wildly and dissipated before he could snatch it back up. He looked at her dejectedly and threw his hands down in frustration.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a curse sigil like this before.. The way it glows like this makes it look like it was cast from a powerful spirit,” She looked back up at him curiously, “Do you know who or what it was that did this?”

‘Trickster,’ He signed, ‘Sent by Pitch.’

That binding sensation slowly crept back into Katherine’s chest but she had to keep her breathing steady for Sandy’s sake. If anyone could help him break the curse, it had to be someone who was sound of mind at the very least. Her eyes filled with determination and her breath grew steady with confidence over stomping down her anxiety once more. 

“Come inside, I’ll see if I have anything that can give us an idea of how to get rid of it. In the meantime I can let the others know of your affliction. If I don’t know what to do, they might.” She tried to smile reassuringly at him, but he didn’t look as confident as she. 

Sandy followed closely and nearly got knocked in the face by the door.

“Sorry! The door usually doesn’t swing wildly like that..”

He grunted and signed in annoyance, ‘Bad luck spirit. Been like this the entire time’

Ohhh. That made his dream sand disobeying him make much more sense rather than him just losing control completely. She helped him inside and made sure there was nothing around the staircase that could be affected by his bad luck. She opened the door to a spare room and gestured for him to hop onto the bed.

“Just wait here.. I’ll see if I can contact the others. I know some of them are probably busy but North might be available. I’ll also try to see if I can find anything to get that off of you.”

Sandy nodded, but doubt was already seeded inside his mind. The magic used by a trickster was incredibly hard or close to impossible to break depending on how long the curse was designed to last. Sandy’s hunch felt more right as it felt like more time passed since Katherine left the room. He could hear frantic pacing, book tossing and loud grumbles of frustration.

Katherine nearly stomped her feet in frustration and tossed the 12th book she found about trickster magic. Nothing so far was promising enough to securely break Sandy’s affliction. She felt like she had been searching for hours and she very well could have. She estimated she would be searching for another hour or more. That was, until she felt like there was a hole burning in her pocket. Her hand rested on top of the book satchel that encased the dark book she got the night prior. All the alarm bells rang in her head to wait for North and possibly Aster. Yet it was one of the only sources she had not thought to look into, so the chances of it having a counterspell seemed all the more likely.

‘A peek inside won’t hurt..’ She thought to herself as she quickly pulled it out.

The book didn’t look printed like the novels she carried, rather the pages appeared to be written on and the book itself had the appearance of a hand-made tome. The contents however were less than pleasant, yet were morbidly fascinating. Each spell had the makings of being too forbidden to be in any mainstream tome or how-to book. A scrying spell into one’s soul, enslavement incantations, memory manipulation techniques, and conjuring thoughts into other people’s minds just to name a few. She had never even considered touching spells of that caliber but the idea that the instructions were right there was all the more captivating to her. 

'What am I thinking?! I have to help Sandy! I’ll put bookmarks into this later.. There’s got to be something in here that can help him..’  She quickly snapped out of her haze and continued flipping through it’s pages. 

Her thumb rested next to a spell that read ‘CURSE REDUCTION’. She immediately read the instructions and details below.

While a Trickster’s curse is said to be everlasting, there is a way to take away the power of their spell from another. Healers often split the curse so the main afflicted victim can be partially relieved but there is no need to trifle yourself with carrying the burden of another. You must dip down into the recesses of your magical being to pull out that primal energy. It can be used to pry out a good portion of the cursed energy if you recite the following incantation:

‘What was thought that can’t be broken

Let it face my energy and be awoken

Relieve the afflicted 

And let their being become less restricted’ 

The side effect is minuscule to what you can do with this spell. It’s the usual worry for those of this magic practice. With management it is nothing to worry about. 

“A side effect huh..” Katherine whispered to herself, “It doesn’t look like a spelling error..is there really only one? Then maybe-”

“-Katherine there you are! Your Raconturks weren’t sure where you were so they led us all willy nilly.” North called out as they walked towards her.

Aster was trying to pay attention but he was also looking around at Ganderly’s inner architecture. It had been too long since he visited the place so he was distracted until he saw Sandy leaving the room he was in and tripped over a loose piece of the rug.

“Woah there! Sandy you good? We heard about your uh..affliction.” He hopped over and helped Sandy off the ground.

Sandy adamantly shook his head no and silently sighed. He was relieved to see his friends finally arrived but was dreadfully embarrassed at them seeing him in such condition.

“We rushed over as quick as we could, but I didn’t find anything in my workshop that could help..If need be we might be able to ask Ombric-”

Katherine smiled and patted his hand, “-No need. I think I finally found something that might help him.”  

Aster’s ears perked curiously, “Wait really? Trickster curses are nearly impossible to break, whatcha packin’?” 

Katherine tucked her tome back into its satchel before they could view it, “I overlooked a few books that I didn’t think would help, I was right though. There aren’t any spells I know of that can break a trickster curse, but I found one that can dull it until the curse itself fades.” 

North raised his brows and smiled in pleasant surprise, “Well how about that! Your library is still like a swiss army knife haha! I just hope the magic whiplash isn’t too heavy from such a spell.”

“It did mention a side effect but didn’t go too much into detail. I suspect I’ll be exhausted though..” Katherine scratched her hand nervously.

Sandy looked at them in confusion until Aster spoke up, “Right, you aren’t a spellcaster like them.. It’s like when you see those humans fire a heavy gun and get injured from the recoil. Powerful magic can cause recoil or whiplash like that in a user and the effects depend on what type of magic it is.”

He looked at Katherine with great caution at the idea of her possibly hurting herself just to aid his curse. However Katherine looked undeterred at the prospect and smiled confidently at him.

“Don’t worry, if anything happens to me then Aster and North are right here to stop it before I get hurt. We got this.” 

Sandy reluctantly sat down in a nearby chair and the others sat close by to make sure nothing went wrong with her spell. Katherine sucked in a few deep breaths and tried to recall the book’s instructions. Dipping down into her magic essence was no easy feat since she wasn’t born with it like Ombric was. Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead as the air in the room slowly began to change, not by temperature but my pressure. Candles were snuffed out by an unseen energy and Katherine’s hair began to move on its own like tendrils. Her eyes glowed a haunting white as her hand outstretched to the sigil on Sandy’s chest. He stared at her in confusion as she began to recite the incantation. Sandy almost wanted to pull away from her but she had already begun to speak.

“ What was thought that can’t be broken

Let it face my energy and be awoken

Relieve the afflicted 

And let their being become less restricted” 

The sigil on Sandy’s chest flickered intensely and some of it’s dark magic began to flow out of it and into the air like flickering embers. His mouth hung wide open as he stared at the dark magic peeling off of him.

“What kind of magic is this..” North whispered as he watched with shock. 

Aster watched Katherine carefully, “Not one I’ve seen in a long time..” 

Katherine’s hair fell back into place and her eyes slowly dimmed from exhaustion. She managed to catch herself and quickly looked over at Sandy’s cursed sigil.

“Oh good.. It’s a lot duller now at least. I guess it really worked.” She weakly chuckled, “How are you feeling?”

Sandy slowly tried to levitate off the ground and sighed in relief, ‘Powers working slightly,’ He signed. His focus then shifted back to Katherine, ‘But are you okay?’ 

Katherine slowly regained her balance and slowly shrugged, “Nothing too horrible.. My head is swimming though.” She teetered until North walked over and caught her before she could collide with the ground, “Thanks... I guess it was a heavier whiplash than I anticipated. Heheh”

“You should probably sit for a minute Katherine, you look light headed. Although I suppose it is a relief that it was strong enough to give Sandy some of his powers back.” Aster pulled a chair out for her to sit in.

North guided Katherine to the chair, “Yes it is a relief, to think Pitch would contract such a being..”

“Least you will still be able to perform your duties tomorrow somewhat.” Aster said while he glanced at Katherine. She appeared to be fine, just extremely dizzy. His ears twitched in concern and couldn’t shake the feeling he knew what spell that was. Where he saw it escaped him, but Katherine was too exhausted for such questioning. Aster had to leave it be for now.

Katherine watched her friends listen to Sandy’s retelling of his encounter, through dream sand imagery, and laid her head back onto the chair’s headrest. A prickling sensation on the inside of her wrist began to disturb her enough to roll her sleeve up to see what it was. Her sense of relief and bliss were thoroughly stomped out when she saw what the source of the prickling heat was.

In the center of her wrist, lay faint but small patches of dark veins. She quickly looked up to see if her friends had looked her way but thankfully they were still listening to Sandy’s story. Katherine looked down at her wrist again and rolled her sleeve back up before anyone could notice. 

Darkness was all Jack could see for a while. The sounds of being underwater was all he could hear and it pressed against his ears whenever he stirred in the void. Up and Down were nowhere to be seen in the darkness around him. As he tried to move around, he felt something brush up against his hand. He jerked his hand back to his chest until he realized the object didn’t feel alive.. It felt as cold as him, smooth, almost like a crystal. He reached his hand back out and found the object float into his hand. Upon contact, it began to light itself like a dimly lit candle and just barely revealed the environment Jack found himself in. 

The crystal was a memory fragment, although it was too broken to see the memory inside, it still glowed stubbornly as if trying to be remembered. It provided him enough light to try and swim around with it. Other shattered memory shards littered the dark waters and floated aimlessly like dead bodies. Jack could have swam deeper to see what memories littered the bottom, but the fear that nearly suffocated him the last time he was in the dark waters began to crawl up his spine. It made him feel like somebody was watching him. Waiting for him to get deep enough to drag him under. 

He glanced at what he thought was ‘up’ and squinted to see if he could spot the shimmering memories above. There wasn’t anyone coming to pull him out of the waters, at the most, he worried about memories trying to suck him in and making him lose track of time of the outside world. His body shuddered as he saw the shattered memory shards slowly light themselves up, alerted by Jack’s presence. Inaudible whispers began to fill his ears and make his body quiver. His shoulders tingled and tensed as it sounded like the layered whispers moved from ear to ear without warning. 

‘I’ve been down here too long! I don’t even know how long it’s been..has it been longer than last time?! Hah… ha… god I want the whispering to stop. I want to get out of here!! I want to GET OUT!!’ Jack hugged himself tightly and nearly curled up into a ball. 

Just like the struggling memories, he noticed a luminous light growing brighter in the center of his chest. The brighter it grew, the quieter the whispers around him became. The shattered memories floated aimlessly as they did before and no longer sought his presence with their weak light. His light never left his chest but some of it’s light began to stretch out above him and then fade the further it went.

‘ I want to go.’ He repeated in his mind.

The light pulled his body upwards in a way that reminded him of the moon pulling him out of the pond he died in. Except the light was inside of him and he had to help it pull him out of the depths of his fallen thoughts and memories. With every stroke and kick the light pulled harder and harder to bring him closer to the surface. His body was beginning to scream for him to take a break, but the idea of those shards whispering to him again freaked him out too badly. He gazed upwards to get his bearings and was greeted by the distant glow of the twinkling sky of his memories. Relief washed over him as he found a little bit more energy to keep going.

With a few more swift kicks, he propelled himself hard enough to let his head pop out of the thick dark water. Jack didn’t need to violently exhale but his body did so anyway for some reason. He took another deep sigh, yanked his arms out one at a time and then dragged his legs out of the mystifying depths. 

He flopped onto his back and sighed, “Wish I ended up here instead of down there..jeez..” 

The light from his chest gradually faded, taking the shred of warmth it pulsed through his body. Jack was almost saddened to be cold again but he knew it wouldn't last forever. It was then that he felt another presence in the memory void with him.

“Nightlight?” He called out before sitting himself up.

What stood before him certainly looked like his former self, but something changed in his appearance.. He was almost as tall as Jack but that glow of his only looked a little dimmer than last time. His eyes were a much duller green and his skin was almost white looking.

“In a sense,” He smiled back at Jack, “My appearance is unsettling you, why?”

“I uh-I’m just wondering why it changed so drastically.” He tugged at his hoodie strings nervously. 

He sat down in front and Jack, “You. Us of course. We are getting better, comfier with ourselves.” 

“No offense, but today was the exact opposite of that. I keep thinking I’m getting better but I’m just getting worse! I..” His voice trailed off as his eyes looked towards his feet in shame.

Nightlight’s smile faded, “First it was that nightmare and then you thought about hurting yourself.” His hand reached out to recall the memory they had just made before Jack took the plunge. “The trickster spirit dumped some heavy information onto us, it would be more concerning if we didn’t freak out. That is why you came here, to investigate if your fears were correct.”

Jack nodded.

“It would be in our best interest if you didn’t go into the depths for that long.” 

“Why not?! You practically thrusted me into a memory down there last time and pulled me out! Am I not allowed to look back and see if I remember anything?!” He started to raise his voice in anger. 

Nightlight shook his head, “You are more than welcome to do as you please, but looking into the past that rests down there is dangerous. The dark waters claimed many memories upon our revival and some can never be recovered. Some can be reawakened and reclaimed through triggers or other means..but some of the memories you desire are just too broken to be fully recalled. Besides, the dark waters are hard to get out of for a reason.” He patted the water below them to cause a ripple as he spoke, “When you go too deep into the past, you can hardly see the future you’re trying to build or reach above you.”

As much as he hated it, Jack had to admit that it made sense. It felt strange for such a metaphor to exist in his memories but yet he wondered if it did in everyone. The shards he saw in the depths struggled to glow but seemed to recognize Jack despite being in their damaged state.

“I heard whispering..was that the memories calling out to me? I know the memory of The deaths of The Lunanoffs called out to me last time I was here, but it was so much louder and clearer. Those shards were weaker and all whispered at once..”

“Overwhelming I’m sure. Your desperation for a certain memory called out to them but they were too broken to reveal to you what memories laid inside them. You went much deeper in there than you did last time.”

Jack sighed into his hands, “So I’ll never know if I killed innocent spirits then, huh? Great.”

“Not exactly. Halloween is on the horizon and your inevitable confrontation with The Guardians is destined to occur. If you wish to demand them to tell you, our involvement in those activities they couldn’t just say no to you. Especially when they’re so desperate for you to rejoin them.”

“And how do I know if they’re lying to me?” Jack raised a brow.

“You recall the relic Pitch stole a while ago in Punjam Hy Loo? Tooth’s relic?” 

It was then that Nightlight, his reflection, a piece of his mind and soul, flashed a smile back at him that unnerved him. It wasn’t menacing or one that Pitch would wear, but rather such a casual expression for what he was going to say. 

“Use it on them.” The way he said it so nonchalantly caused Jack to freeze in his spot, “That's what caused our path to diverge in the first place isn’t it? Secrets. Lies. If they really dig their graves deeper and continue to lie, out them for it.”

Jack’s silence grew stronger and he could barely meet Nightlight in the eyes. His grip on his leather pants tightened as the idea of doing something like that still made him feel sick.

“Do they deserve your mercy? Or are you still holding bias because of the possibility they will grow to hate you?” 

“I..I don’t want to kill them,” Jack licked his lips and continued, “I want them to see how much they are hurting me, what their grief is doing to me and everyone around them. I used to think it was just me bearing the brunt of it, but hearing Dekatria talk about their race decreasing in numbers after..our death I.. I can’t help but wonder if the Guardians are so wrapped up in their own emotions that they can’t see what's going on anymore.”

“And if they end up hating you? Would you cease your quest?”

Jack grazed his hand against the watery surface under him and chuckled to himself. How ironic that he was telling himself how dangerous it was to dwell in the past, yet there he was complaining about the Guardians doing the exact same thing. If he wanted to get better he had to keep going, keep processing everything and in a way accept it. He had to keep moving forward no matter what . 

“No. I’d just come down harder. Despite my feelings for some of them it doesn’t mean I can excuse anything they’ve done. Hunting malicious spirits down and protecting children is their duty. Yet, if no one has been able to hold them accountable for the ones who didn’t deserve it, then I’ll step up to the plate.”

Nightlight smiled and posed one more question to Jack, “What if Pitch gets in your way of such a goal?”

He paused for a moment to consider the idea. Sure it was possible since his goal was a little more noble than stealing relics or whatever else Pitch had cooked up for the future. Pitch so far had been oddly helpful and his methods were gradually changing within the day. He had every reason to desire to kill Pitch, but he found himself void of any such desire. 

“I’ll find a way around him. If he does try to stop me then all bets will be off. I have to keep moving forward, no matter what. I..don’t want to end up alone though.”

Nightlight put his hand on Jack’s and patted it, “We are going to make sure we never spend another 300 hundred years alone, again.”

Jack smiled and was going to thank him for talking him through another turbulent time; until the water underneath them began to ripple at an increasing rate.

“What’s happening?!” Jack rose to his feet fearfully.

Nightlight simply looked around and sighed, “It appears you are needed. Halloween must be here already.”

“Already?! But I’ve barely been here for..” Jack groaned when he realized he actually had no idea how long he was trapped in the depths of his forgotten memories. Time was never consistent wherever he was. One day he’d come up with a name for it but at least he knew how to come back to it. “Ugh.. Time to face the music I guess.”

Nightlight patted his shoulder and nodded, “Keep moving forward and stay in control.” His words echoed as everything slowly faded to black.

Jack’s eyes fluttered open only to be greeted by the close of a nightmare’s nose breathing in his face, “AH!?!” She backed away almost immediately and looked at him in concern, “Skuggi if that's you I swear.. Is it Halloween already? Hell Pitch must have moved on by now.” Jack leaped down from the tree and looked at the sky for the time. 

“Okay.. looks like it's the afternoon so I’m not too late! Hot damn! I take it back, you're a lifesaver girl.” Jack petted her face affectionately, “Do you know where Pitch is?” 

She nodded and lowered her back for him to hop on. He carefully jumped on and grabbed a part of her hair to keep himself steady. 

“Okay take me to Pitch, girl!” He whooped and hollered as soon as Skuggi took off. He could see how she had no trouble keeping up with him outside his shadow. 

Much to his disappointment, they only had to travel through a few neighborhoods before they could see Pitch pacing back and forth. His face lit up once he saw Jack on top of one of his nightmares and waved at him.

Jack hopped off Skuggi and rushed over to him, “Shit I’m sorry Pitch! Time passes a lot quicker where I was and I lost track of it-”

Pitch looked a bit confused and wrinkled his brows, “Where did you go? I thought you were sleeping in that tree.”

“It’s really hard to explain but no, I was meditating. I was doing some introspective stuff where my memories are but it's fine. I’m good now and I’m here to cause some Halloween mischief.” Jack was almost talking as fast as a squirrel but Pitch managed to keep up.

“Okay. Okay. Slow down Jack everything is fine. Trick-or-Treating isn’t happening for a few hours so you aren’t really late for anything. It is nice to see you rush over here though. Seeing you so flustered and serious about something is nice for a change. However, you can go at your own pace for tonight.”

Jack exhaled loudly and rested against Skuggi, “And here you were rushing me.”

She gave him a simple and loud huff and Pitch found himself chuckling.

“Well, at the very least we can get our bearings before the children come out.” Pitch gestured for Jack to walk with him. 

Jack walked side by side with Pitch and Skuggi returned to his shadow as they strolled down the street. Spiderwebs, fake skeletons, inflatable decorations and all kinds of decorations littered the lawns of human homes. It was almost adorable to see which humans really went all out.

“I saw a few set up their own little scare attractions in their backyard. It's downright adorable seeing humans go out of their way to be scared. Their behavior towards it over the decades has grown more and more affectionate towards the idea. I suppose it's why I look forward to this holiday more and more each year.” Pitch smiled watching a few people ready their candy bowls. A few children were playing outside with each other as a way to burn off their excitement for the festivities. 

Jack observed them as well until a decoration that bore a likeness to a vampire caught his attention, “Hey Pitch, this guy kinda looks like you nyeheheh.”

Pitch looked very unimpressed and folded his arms, “ I suppose if my hair was longer and I looked like I slept for 3,000 years with improper neck support.”

“Technically you were imprisoned for almost 300 so-”

“-Not. The point.” Pitch cut him off. Jack just laughed to himself and carried on with his stroll down the sidewalk. 

Jack had pondered a few ideas of how to scare some children that evening without outright traumatizing them but found himself distracted by the smell of the steadily approaching Autumn night. The leaves danced in the air and the wind was beginning to have a chill. Pitch and Jack ate up the atmosphere of fear and fun that the humans were putting out. Jack had little idea of how well those two things worked together, but it made sense since a lot of humans had fun being scared. Even children were scaring each other when they were running outside with their costumes on. Parents took pictures of their children before giving them a talk about trick-or-treating rules. Jack caught Pitch smiling at a few toddlers dressed as classic monsters and snickered to himself. 

“What can I say? The littlest one’s first Halloweens hit a soft spot for me.” Pitch sighed with a smile.

“So I take it they will be off limits?”

Pitch considered it and tapped his fingers together, “I suppose. The babies and toddlers probably couldn’t comprehend some of our tricks so if they get caught in the line of fire we’ll soften the blow.”

“Awe, you do have a heart.” Jack chuckled before Pitch shot him a look out of the corner of his eyes, “Look I know you do it's just a jest It’s just nice to see you have limits and stuff. Some stories made you out to be a mindless, fear hungry man who was a plague on the world.”

“The stories weren’t entirely wrong on those aspects,” Pitch cringed, “I suppose ever since I was freed from the dagger not only were some powers stripped from me but I’ve regained a lot of control over myself. Although some stories about me were hyperbolized to further the Guardian’s agendas.”

“Sounds about right.” Jack stuck his hands in his hoodie pocket and overheard some kids walk down the neighborhood early. 

“Mom is taking Sophie this year, so she won’t be tagging along with us this time.” A boy with short brown hair dressed in a robot costume walked with a few other kids.

“Makes sense since we’re gonna try to find the scariest yards around.” One of the girls said gleefully. 

Jack perked up and stopped Pitch in his tracks, “Hey you hear that? Do you wanna give these kids a show? They’re a little older soo..”

Pitch smirked at Jack’s enthusiasm to scare and looked over at the children eying a few yards, “Why not. You think you can provide the atmosphere? I’ll take care of the rest.” 

He nodded before slipping into a yard with many plants around it’s gate and fencing. After hunching over in the grass he began to create a peculiar type of ice he saw humans create a while back for fog machines and cooling. ‘Dry ice’ is the name they gave it and Jack could see why. Not long after he spawned the big balls of dry ice, they emitted spooky looking fog right away. He slipped right through the kids and stashed one right by the tree they were walking past.

“Jamie?!” The girl called out.

“Pippa?! Hey what’s going on?!” Jamie coughed and struggled to see through the fog. 

Pitch slithered through the yard and began to change his form accordingly to a more human looking man with completely black eyes and long fingers. 

“Are you kids alright?” Pitch called out, “My fog machine went nuts oh dear.”

Jamie walked towards Pitch’s voice, “It’s okay mister, that was kind of scary anyway-”

The young boy froze when he saw Pitch’s form holding the candy bowl. He smiled with far too many teeth to fit in his mouth and sent the boy screaming.

“PIPPA RUN!!! A MONSTER LIVES HERE!!” He ducked behind the gate in fear.

The girl made her way through the fog and was startled by Pitch’s form but laughed for some reason. “Nice costume mister. Your teeth are kinda cool.” 

Pitch looked at Jack in confusion and gestured for him to help but Jack shrugged in a panic. Kids couldn’t see him so there wasn’t much he could do. Then he recalled their last scare at the lake a few days ago. He used his element to make the kids think they were being grabbed by a fish man, so was it possible he could do it again? Jack took a plunge into some bushes and began to bend them around his body until he resembled a man wearing a bush costume. He followed the girl through the mist until she began to hear his leaves shuffling around.

“Woah! That's so life like! Jamie c’mere see? He’s just a guy in a costume.” She called out to her cowering friend.

The boy slowly made his way back to the pathway and saw the bush man just standing there looking at them. “I-I guess it does look kind of real yeah.”

Jack raised his arms towards his chest and began to pull at the stems and leaves until his bare chest was visible. To the children, they saw nobody inside and their faces turned white as a sheet. Jack put the bush back together and began to walk after them, only causing them to shriek and run. Once they were far enough he slipped out of the bushes and watched them run away. The boy stopped for just a second and seemed to look right at Jack. Was that a coincidence? Was he just looking at the bush?  The mist he created vanished and his hands trembled. Jack gripped onto his staff, and felt a burst of energy run through every inch of his body. Unbeknownst to him, his eyes also became a more vibrant shade of blue. 

It was so much that he couldn’t help but begin to chuckle. 

“Oh that was wonderful! You got a two for one. The bush thing was very clever.” Pitch smirked wide in satisfaction watching Jack, "Feeling alright?" 

"Yeah..Yeah!" Jack quickly turned to Pitch, eyes wide in excitement. "They saw me! Just for a moment!!!! But they saw me!!! Hoo.. I forgot how scaring people can give you such a rush.." 

Pitch chuckled as he turned back into his base form and watched Jack jitter excitedly. Jack snickered then perked up with a sudden idea, "Pitch! I’ve got an idea on how to give them a real scare.. You remember what we did at the lake right? The black ice?" 

“How could I forget?”

“What if you throw your black sand at me and I freeze it upon impact?” He asked with wide eyes. 

Pitch just laughed, "Now you are talking Frost. Sounds a bit risky but exciting..” He raised his arms to conjure enough sand to cover Jack’s entire body, “You’re lucky you have a high tolerance for this. Ready?” 

Jack’s body began to spark, a familiar look to when he unleashed bursts of frost from his staff but peculiar to see come right out of his body. “Yes! Hit me with it!” 

An hour had barely passed before the guardians got disturbing reports of a shapeshifting entity running around a neighborhood and terrorizing children. None of them were reported to be injured by the creature, much to their relief but none of them wasted any time dispatching to the small town to see what would be causing such a stirr. Sandy remained close with his friends, despite his curse being somewhat alleviated he was unsure how effective he’d be in a fight. His string of bad luck had become less severe but the unpredictability of it made it feel all the more risky. 

North hopped out of the sleigh first to scan the area. Some children were delighted to see their ‘costumes’ but unfortunately they had little time to speak with the children. 

Tooth’s feathers ruffled after being brushed with a sharp chill in the air, “I think our target knows we’re here…”

“I’m hearin’ somethin’ up ahead,” Aster’s ears twitched and stretched out, “This way!” 

They rounded a few corners as fast they could only to be greeted by screaming children running the opposite direction. Older kids weren’t as terrified but they looked startled to say the least. Others were laughing but most of the children were cowering.

Katherine tried to see the dark figure up ahead, but the mist surrounding them made it hard to make out what exactly was causing all the panic. North drew his swords and stepped into the mist.
“You there! Explain yourself or we’ll be forced to take you down!” He called out.

The entity turned towards the guardians and began to walk towards them without uttering a single word. The mist surrounding it slowly parted with every step it took and the closer it got the more clear it’s appearance became. Aster’s grip on his boomerangs tightened and found his hands trembling at the mere sight of it. What stood before him was a massive 8 armed Pooka with the expression of a feral animal. 

“H..how is that possible..? I'm the only..” He whispered with his voice itself trembling. 

Katherine found herself paralyzed like Aster, for what stared back at her was the being from her nightmares of night’s past. An eldritch being taking the form of her fallen loved one with parts of him clearly mangled and incomprehensible. It smiled widely at her and jerked its head around to get a better look at her. 

North found himself trying to shut his eyes to prevent his mind from processing what was in front of him. He wasn’t going to let the being psyche himself out, but how was he going to fight something he couldn’t look at?! The other guardians sounded like they weren’t budging either so his worry only grew at his inability to face what form the monster had taken in his eyes. He tried to look over at his fellow comrades and almost all of them were frozen in place at the mere sight of it. 

All except for Tooth. 

Her face only contorted in anger as she stared down the entity’s form. Almost in one fell swoop, she snagged North’s swords from their scabbards and eyed the entity carefully. She looked ready to strike it like a cat prepared to pounce it’s prey. The entity looked a little surprise at her eagerness to fight but braced itself.

“You want to fight do you..?” It called out in a wispy echoing voice, “So be it!! I’ve always wanted to fight one of you hahaha!!!” 

Tooth charged forward without an ounce of fear in her body and swung at the beast’s neck. It just barely dodged her swing but no trace of blood was on the sword when she pulled it back.

“It doesn’t bleed…? Just what is this..?” She muttered. 

The creature floated above her and nearly squashed her with a wall of what almost looked like a solid form of black sand. Curiously enough it didn’t vanish or break upon impact with the ground. 

‘Did Pitch create this thing..? Only one way to find out. If it’s got everyone else under a trance I’ll fight for them!!’ She thought to herself before getting back onto her feet. 

The creature quickly descended onto the ground and almost skated right over to her with it’s arm looking like a blunt weapon. She didn’t have enough time to wonder why it wouldn’t make it’s weapon sharp, since it swung right for her ribcage. She managed to block the swing with the golden sword and tried to keep her block up against the monster’s weight pressing down on her. Tooth frantically scanned it’s body to look for an opening but it’s form kept changing from it’s true form to that it was taking to scare her. The sides of her head began to pound from the illusions the beast cast to get her to stand down. 

“Wearing a dead man’s face isn’t going to scare me.” She hissed and used her empty hand to swing at the unguarded beast’s face. The impact was so hard that it caused the beast to almost fall backwards. She huffed with a smirk until she realized something about what she felt upon making contact with the thing.

It was cold.

On the ground lay a chunk of black ice that appeared to fall off of the creature's face and some of it’s frost rested on her knuckles from the punch. 

“Whatever you are seeing isn't real!!! Please snap out of it!!” She called back to her friends, but they didn’t answer. The fear trance still had a stranglehold on the majority of them, all except for North whose eyes were still fiercely shut.

“Tooth!!! If it truly is a creature of shadows, make the sword shine!” North yelled.

She looked at the sword in confusion as the creature staggered back onto it’s feet. “I don’t know how!!”

“Your fury! Let it burn with you!” 

She thought of the form the beast took, the way Pitch had the audacity to kidnap her fairies, and steal her relic. The sword’s metal began to burn as her anger increased, but her hands only felt the comforting warmth of the sun. The beast charged at her once again to try and knock her down at her feet. Tooth leaped over it and swung the burning sword right down the center of the beast’s back. She then used it to throw the beast against a pickup truck’s tailgate. Dozens of black ice pieces broke off upon impact and shattered the illusion that trapped the guardians. The sword’s burning light dimmed as if it sensed the fight was over. 

“What..?” Aster rubbed his pounding head and looked around, “What happened??”

North hesitantly opened one eye and sighed in relief, “The creature put all of you under a trance it seems. I only stayed free from it because my eyes were shut haha!”

Katherine held her arms close to herself and sighed, “Good..that wasn’t real then.”

Tooth flew over to her friends and handed North his sword back, “None of it was. I’m just glad all of you are free from it’s grasp.”

Sandy gestured towards Tooth in confusion and Aster nodded, “Yeah Tooth, how did you free yourself from it’s trance??”

She just smiled and shook her head, “I killed my greatest fear a long time ago. Once it took his shape, I knew there was no way it was real. I celebrated killing the Monkey King after all.”

“Ah right..” North muttered as his gaze shifted to the trail of black ice, “Did you really kill it?”

“Only one way to find out.” Katherine said as she followed hesitantly behind her friends.

They could hear someone groaning and stirring by the truck’s tires so the thing was clearly not dead somehow. While still armed, the guardians slowly looked in between the cars to see what Tooth had actually fought. 

Aster felt like his heart had migrated down to his stomach and his throat tightened, “Is this still an illusion…?” 

Sandy covered his mouth in horror and floated away from the scene. North looked back at him sympathetically but focused back onto the man that laid in front of them. “I don’t think it is..”

“Hehehehahahaa…” Jack chuckled, “Man..Pitch said you could throw a punch, Tooth. I still didn’t see it coming.” He staggered onto his feet and met the guardian’s dismayed looks. “It’s been a little while hasn’t it?”

The guardians backed away from him a little as he looked completely unphased. The fear that once plagued his heart of facing him was dead and buried 6ft under. He was practically shaking from excitement of it finally happening.

“Jack was the beast?!” Katherine grasped her pendant in disbelief.

“That’s why there was no blood,”North whispered in shock, “My sword can’t kill a pure of heart..”

“So your sword thinks I’m still worthy? How sweet. That’s more reassurance than most of you ever gave me haha!”

Everything about Jack was completely off to them. The shadows under his eyes were darker than the last time they saw him, his eyes were a more vibrant shade of blue and his hair looked a tad bit messier than usual. The smirk that once gave off mischief and joy displayed pleasure in their shock and horror. He used his foot to pull his staff right out of his shadow and rested it on top of his shoulders.

“Oh don’t try to go anywhere, we have a lot to discuss don’t we.” His eyes darted towards the clouded sky and his smirk only grew wider as he pointed his staff towards the sky. Blue sparks roared to life around his staff before they erupted into the sky towards the clouds with a furious pace. The clouds parted like the sea to reveal the full moon, seemingly pleasing Jack. “You aren’t going to be left out this time, Little Prince.”

Jack saying the nickname he once affectionately held for The Man In The Moon sent shivers down some of the guardian’s spines. He turned back to them as he brushed some leftover black ice off his shoulder.

“Now then, where were we?”

Chapter Text

The guardians didn’t need to understand the language of the wind, for its words spoke loud and clear on Jack’s behalf. The air around them felt like an extension of Jack, rather than an element speaking for him. Their bodies briefly shivered against the sharp coldness that persisted with every breath he took. His eyes no longer held a flickering curiosity for them, instead he only stared back with them with ominous intent. 

Even the smile that Jack wore paled in comparison to the mischievous smirk he once wore around them in years past, “Now that’s funny.. At first I thought all of you would be mad, now look at you guys. I’d think you were almost afraid of me.” He gave a hesitant smile. 

“Jack..whatever is going on with you please just think this through-” Tooth attempted to float a little closer to him but she was cut off by a shard of ice erupting from under her feet. Aster managed to pull her back before it could actually hit her.

“What the hell was that for?!” Aster glared down at Jack. He nearly yelled at the man, but the weight of his previous outburst made him hesitate. Jack just stared at him almost as if he was waiting to see what Aster would say to him. “Look..I-If all this is because of something we did or said can we just talk this out..?”

“Just talk this out??” Tooth whispered.

Aster sighed, “I’m trying okay..”

“Talk it out?” Jack’s smile faded, “If I wasn’t so interested in what all of you might say, I’d probably just keep you guys from ruining the holiday for us. But I’ll bite, what do you want to say to me so badly?”

None of the guardians actually expected Jack to hear them out, especially Aster. He looked at the others to help him out but the majority of them struggled to find the words. North swallowed the thoughts that paralyzed him and just opened his mouth.

“Jack.. I know we didn’t react the way you expected when we got the news. None of us knew what to think or say to you once you woke up. When you left, it sunk in how we weren’t the only ones hurting-”

Jack raised his brows but his eyes shined with indifference, “-It put things into perspective for all of you huh?”

North sighed, “In more ways than one I suppose..”

Katherine stepped forward but only by a few steps, “None of this is anyone’s fault. It’s The Man In The Moon’s for doing such a thing to you and you had every right to demand an answer from him.”

Jack was almost taken aback by Katherine making a bold statement despite her fellow Guardian’s shock for blaming their leader. Yet a part of him wondered if she was just saying that to pacify him. He looked down at his shadow and appeared to reach inside of it for something. 

“Ah there it is..” Jack stood back up and held a small tooth between his fingers, “I’d like to see if you’re telling the truth.”

Tooth’s feathers stood up in horror once she recognized the tooth, “Jack! Th-thats-”

“-Your relic? I know. Pitch didn’t seem to mind if I swiped it for tonight. If anything I think he was expecting it and just laid the tooth out for me to take.” Jack watched the growing fear in their faces.

“Mate..you don’t know how to use that please just- Put it away..”

The center of Jack’s chest began to glow, much like North’s sword did when he called upon its more celestial based powers, and the tooth relic reacted to his presence by glowing in a similar vein.

“I don’t think I need to know how,” He smirked as he looked down at the glowing tooth, “Show me the memory.” He ordered. 

The relic obeyed as its light shot out towards all of the guardians. It was relatively painless but not any less horrifying to watch something play out your own memories against your will. All the guardians could do was watch as the relic’s magic paralyzed them while it searched their memories.

A ball of light left the relic’s shell and collected the light that stuck itself into the bodies of the guardians. Once the light had become whole it grew to  an impressive size so all of them could see what exactly Jack had wanted.

“What are we going to do now?” Tooth’s past voice was the first thing they were greeted with. Katherine’s eyes widened in horror when she recognized the scene played out before them.

“We shouldn’t go looking for him yet.” Katherine’s eyes were distant and she had sat herself away from the others, “He wants to be alone, so let him be alone.” 

Jack couldn’t tell if her tone was cold or tired but he wasn't tioo hasty since he didn’t see the full scene for himself.

Aster shook his head at her and sighed, “Who knows what he could be doin’, not that we helped at all.” 

Katherine looked at Aster with a twinge of pity but he refused to meet her gaze.

“I think we should still look for him at some point. Night- He used to be a relic, he could still be one now.”  Tooth continued. 

“She's right. Who knows what could happen if he fell into the wrong hands.” North winced hearing himself say such a thing about someone he considered a friend. Jack wasn’t meeting any of their gazes.

Katherine in the memory suddenly stood up and her hands shook out of overstimulation. Everyone had looked at her in concern but her gaze wasn’t as kind. 

“Are you KIDDING ME?!” She roared. In what only could be considered a lapse in self control, Katherine lunged towards the ceremonial pillar and kicked over the moon crystal with all the force her body could muster. 

“Katherine!! Stop it!! Stop it!!” Tooth and North pried her away from the crystal but she only pushed them away.

“First he does THIS to Jack and now all of you are talking about him like some OBJECT!!! You didn’t even talk about him like that in the past when we first found out he was a relic. I don’t know what changed but just listening to this makes me so.. AGH!!!” Katherine nearly lashed out at a nearby tower of robots but managed to control herself.

Sandy looked at her sympathetically but only had contempt for his colleagues. 

“Sandy you know what we meant-” North tried to go after him but Sandy stormed out of the North pole before he’d lash out like Katherine had done. 

The memory ended with Katherine stomping her way to Kailash to blow off some steam and Jack silently watched the relic’s light fade back into his hands. The indifference that glazed over his eyes melted away and in its stead was a residue of confusion in his stare. He closed his hand gently around the relic and tucked it into his hoodie pocket. Sandy couldn’t help but pity him but hesitated to even step towards him. Jack met Sandy’s gaze out of the corner of his eyes and frowned in uncertainty. 

“Jack,” Tooth began softly, “I’m sorry we didn’t see your predicament as clearly as we should have. Your memories are scattered, you’re scared and confused.. I can only imagine how having everything resurfacing at once made you feel. Instead of helping you through it we only saw ourselves, but we’re here now.”

“They’d probably just resort to killing you like every other spirit they hunted down.”  Dekatria’s words towards Pitch echoed in Jack’s mind. 

“If all of you really are being truthful with me, then I have a question for you.” 

Tooth’s feathers stood up a little but she smoothed them out to ease herself. “Of course, what is it?” 

“After I died, is it true all of you hunted spirits down despite them never committing a crime against the balance or children?” He asked sharply. 

It felt as if the world around them stopped in anticipation for their response. The wind had silenced into a slight breeze and the trick or treaters in the background were hardly noticed. Jack turned up his head and watched the guardian’s carefully. They could only look at each other and struggle to come up with an answer.

That was until Sandy nodded.

“Sandy!-” Aster looked at the smallest guardian in panic.

North exchanged a look with his fellow guardian and sighed, “It is true. We did truly take down those who were a threat..but we were blinded by our ‘sense of duty’. Innocents were unfortunately caught in the crossfire.”

“Caught in the crossfire?” Jack spat, “No you killed them without giving it a second thought didn’t you?”

Aster sighed, “Not all of them.”

The colder Jack’s gaze became the colder the air around them became. It was enough to make Katherine shudder in remembrance of Mother Nature having the same influence on the elements. 

“It was our fault. Nobody ordered us to, we thought what we were doin’ was right but we’ve since stopped that crusade a hundred years ago. Long as nobody threatens us or the children, they won’t get hurt.” Aster loosened his fists and lowered his ears, “Did Pitch paint that horrible picture of us to you?”

“No. I spoke to a ‘malicious spirit’ myself. They were a bit too keen on filling me in but it's rather terrifying to think I could have been a part of that..or the cause for it.” He quickly shifted his gaze away from the cursed seal on Sandy’s body and covered his mouth.

“Jack?” North looked in concern as Jack started to cough.

Their concern only grew as his cough got more hoarse by the second and a misty black substance leaked between his fingers. Sandy’s eyes widened and caught the substance between his fingers. Jack barely had any time to react to Sandy suddenly appearing next to him but he didn’t back away from the golden man.

Sandy looked up at Jack, concern painted all over his face. The wild bitter look in his eyes faded the more of the black sand he coughed out. He backed away when Sandy reached out to touch his shoulder. 

“Black sand…?” Katherine watched it flow through the wind and dissipate.

“I’m…fine..” Jack wiped his mouth with his sleeve, “I inhaled some by accident. Big deal.”

“That IS a big deal Jack. We don’t know what it’s capable of or what it could do to you.” Tooth’s feathers flared seeing shadows dance beneath their feet.

The shadows slithered across the sidewalk until it shoved Sandy away from Jack, “Looks like I was right. All the fun being sucked out of the air had to have meant the lot of you showed up.”

“What did you do to him?!” Aster demanded. 

Pitch simply chuckled and stepped out of the shadow. He was taller than before and his hair seemed to have gotten slightly longer. Jack would have compared it to a vampire looking younger and healthier after finally getting to feed. It was eerily similar to how he looked centuries prior and Jack couldn’t exactly explain how it made him feel. One part of him was oddly impressed and the other was filled with dread. 

"It’s not like before..” He told himself, “Things are different now..”

“Oh I did nothing of the sort, he’s the one who agreed to join me afterall.” Pitch’s grin was almost cheshire. 

“We find that very hard to believe..” Tooth flared her feathers and curled her nose.

Pitch rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue, “Whatever makes you sleep soundly at night will eventually haunt you. So by all means keep telling yourself that, fairy. It surely speaks volumes if he chose to join me over all of you doesn’t it?” 

Katherine hissed at him, “You know very well this whole situation isn’t as black and white as you’re trying to make it look.”

“Ironic, I was going to say the same thing to you little bird.” Pitch smirked.

Jack watched them go back and forth and felt an odd sensation wash over him. His body felt as if everything he was watching before him was a dream, as if none of it was real. None of it made sense, Jack had been waiting for a while to finally have a confrontation with the guardians but why was he feeling that way? Their voices barely phased him and almost felt like white noise.
They were real.
It was all real.

Why didn’t he feel real??? He was supposed to be confronting them and feeling as confident as he did earlier.
Why didn't he feel that way anymore??? Where did it go?? Was it fake??

It got to the point where he could barely understand what Pitch and the guardians were yelling at each other. It all went so fast and all Jack wanted was for it to stop. He grabbed handfuls of his hair and pulled slightly in a vain attempt to feel something. Anything to make him come back to reality.

Pitch was just about to initiate a fight between the two groups, until he could sense a surging presence of fear and confusion near them. He looked over his shoulder and could see the energy flowing from Jack almost like a fountain. Of course he could easily ignore Jack and just wipe the floor with the guardians, but the energy radiating from Jack couldn’t be ignored. It was obvious the guardians noticed too and he had to act before they could get the chance to comfort him. 

Before Pitch could step forward towards Jack, a mare emerged from Jack’s shadow and curled around him protectively. She lowered her head in his face and gently exhaled on his face. Pitch recognized the mare to be the one he gifted Jack not long ago, and smiled to himself.

“North, we just can’t let that thing-”

North cut Aster off, “-Bunny, it’s actually calming him down..not feeding off his fear. Look.” 

Skuggi allowed Jack to hold onto her face until the dissociative episode seemed to calm down. Jack was still feeling detached from reality but he could at least process what was happening around him.

Pitch glared at the guardians, wanting nothing more than to throw their bodies around and make them regret ever challenging him. Then there was Jack, his first ally in ages and could barely discern the scene before him. He thought Jack was ready, but if a fight broke out Pitch knew Jack would barely be able to keep himself together. 

Pitch stood in front of Jack, blocking the guardians’s view of him. “Perhaps that's enough excitement for one night…” 

He snapped his fingers and called various other mares to gallop towards them. One scooped Pitch up and Skuggi lifted Jack onto her back. 

“We can’t just let them get away!!” Aster yelled.

North whistled loudly and everyone could hear the bells of his reindeer steadily approaching them. “Get in! We can catch up to them if we hurry!!”

Jack breathed deep and slow while his arms were wrapped tightly around Skuggi. The cold Autumn breeze on his face made it a little easier for him to breathe but it didn’t cure whatever was plaguing him.

“I’m sorry..” Jack barely managed to look up at Pitch, “I don’t know what’s happening or why it is. I’m stronger than this I swear!-”

Pitch stared ahead, “I tried to rush you into this. Your fears are more complex than a simple phobia. I should have understood more than anyone, but I looked past it in my haste.” 

He finally met Jack’s eyes, “I’m sorry Jack.” 

Jack’s eyes widened slightly in surprise at Pitch’s apology. The ones before sounded like he attempted to be genuine but in that moment it was different. He opened his mouth in a vain attempt to respond, but a golden whip struck Pitch’s face then purified the nightmare he rode.

“Why you!!” Pitch growled and wiped the black blood from his cheek. He fired a burst of black sand at North’s sleigh, corroding its surface.

“Agh! I just painted that!!” North grunted.

Aster managed to get his bearings for a moment and threw his boomerangs as hard as he could at Pitch. It hardly took any effort at all for Pitch to dodge them and he laughed at the futile attempts.

“Really? Was that the best you could do?” Pitch turned back towards the guardians.

Sandy smirked and threw golden orbs of dream sand in Pitch’s direction while he was distracted. The orbs exploded upon contact with Pitch and clouded the sky around the spirits. Jack stopped his mare and blew the dream sand away as best he could. Amidst the clouds, Jack could see Pitch plummeting towards the ground.

“Shit!!! Pitch!!” Jack got off Skuggi so she could speed through the air to catch Pitch.

Other nightmares charged at the guardians and tried to keep them occupied for as long as they could. Skuggi kept Pitch securely onto her back and soared to Jack as fast as she could go.

“Is he alright..?” Jack looked over Pitch and sighed in relief, “Good, he’s just unconscious. Come on, we gotta get outta here.”

He climbed back onto his mare’s back but made sure to leave room for Pitch. The mares heard Jack loudly whistle and retreated from their attack on the sleigh.

“Come back and fight us, you cowardly steeds!!” North knocked one out of the air using his sword.

Katherine squinted, “We’re losing them! Should we fall back?”

Sandy shook his head no and conjured steady streams of dream sand in the palms of his hands. He whipped them forward to latch onto the mare Jack was riding. Jack yelled out in surprise but was relieved to see it wasn’t purifying her.

“Sandy, are you sure this is a good idea?!” Tooth yelled, “What if we make it worse?!”

Sandy nodded and kept a tight grip on his reigns made of dream sand. 

“They can’t get away with the relic!” Aster held onto the sleigh tightly.

Katherine sharply looked at him, “He can’t get away with Jack either!” 

Jack looked at Skuggi, “Your only chance is to lose them in the shadows! I can out run them probably..just get Pitch out of here, okay?”

Skuggi shook her head in defiance and she caused Jack’s hands to sink inside her neck. “Skuggi?! I can’t shadow travel!! Skuggi!!” Jack tried to pull his hands out as hard as he could but they wouldn’t give. 

Tooth’s eyes widened, “Sandy! They’re going to dive into the shadows we have to let go!!!” She yelled out.

It was at that moment that the world felt like it slowed down. Katherine looked around confused at first. 

“What is this… Wait. Ombric?!” She called out. 

“The success of this timeline demands this action be taken. Katherine, please be careful.” His voice reverberated through Katherine’s head.

“What can I do?!” She looked towards Jack, then her friends.

The satchel around her waist felt like it was calling out to her like Ombric had done. Instead, its whispers were in a language she didn’t understand. Her hand shook, but if Ombric spoke the truth then she knew what she had to do.

Katherine drew in a deep breath and seized the cursed tome from her satchel. The whispers were louder and practically right in her ears. The cover flew open by itself and the pages violently turned to the exact spell she needed. Katherine glanced nervously at her wrists at the tiny markings from the spell she used previously. 

It’s for the good of everyone.

Her grip on the tome tightened and she sharply exhaled through her nose. The burning sensation returned to her hands but everything told her to not stop. Katherine read the spell aloud. 

“This story will not stay in the light

It must tread a path much darker

Make the darkness take us farther

And blanket our tale in the blackest of night”

The tome fell out of her hands and it slipped back inside her satchel. Katherine’s eyes turned completely black once time had unfrozen. North’s sleigh had gained a dark aura around it and so did the reindeer that piloted it. Katherine sat back down and pressed her hands hard against the sleigh. North noticed the ink black aura and his fear intensified. Tooth’s feathers stood on edge and Aster held his breath in fear of the magic around him.

“What did those nightmares do to my sleigh?!” He yelled.

Aster felt his heart jump to his throat, “It’s not Pitch! It’s Katherine!”

“What?!” Tooth looked over Aster and gasped at the sight of Katherine in an odd trance. 

“I’m fine!!” Katherine glared at them, “Keep going! We can make it now!”

“Kat you look like you’re in pain we shouldn’t!” Aster tried to get her to remove her hands from the sleigh but the magic burned his hand. He retracted it from her and looked at the magical aura in great concern. “What did you do…”

Jack looked back for just a second but his focus was then seized by Skuggi jerking down to plummet towards the ground. He screamed and managed to catch his staff with his foot. The staff was secured by staying in between his legs but it didn’t make him feel any better. All he could do was yell as the shadows steadily approached them. Jack curled up against Skuggi and shut his eyes tightly. Sandy tried to let go of the whips but the sleigh’s dark aura caused it to become stuck around his wrists. He looked at his friends in fear once the golden sand started to turn a different color. 

“Tooth!!! You and Aster get out of the sleigh!!” North begged.

“We aren’t leaving you!!!” They screamed.

Their voices were drowned out by a deafening silence that enveloped everything around them. It was as if they dove into the darkest depths of the ocean, but there was no water. No life to stare back at them as they flew aimlessly. The darkness felt cold and dead. 

“This is wrong…all of it is wrong…” Aster looked around in fear, “We shouldn’t be here!”

“We can’t exactly get out, look around you Bunny!” North made his sword glow and raised it to look at Katherine. “Katherine, what is going on?! Did your spell do this?”

Her eyes became visible again but the aura around her hands refused to fade. “It was only supposed to allow us to travel inside the shadows! I-I didn’t think it’d do this!”

Sandy tried to bite his hands free but it was no use. He was half tempted to jump out of the sleigh and allow himself to be dragged through the darkness but Tooth wrapped her arms around him.

“Don’t you dare! We don’t know what's in here!” She looked back at Katherine, “Can you reverse this spell?!”

“I don’t know how!” She cried out. Her skin felt like it was being cooked and she could only swallow her tears to not give everything something else to panic over. They didn’t seem to be able to see the dark markings grow on the inside of her wrists anyway.

Jack opened his eyes and sat up to look at where he was. There wasn’t much to make out besides Skuggi and a few passing nightmares. On the plus side, Skuggi released his hands but one of his arms and his stomach felt tingly. It didn’t hurt but it wasn’t very comfortable either. 

“Ugh…it feels like I’m being pricked by needles..” He muttered. “Where..are we..?” 

His voice had barely traveled through the air and his breath was clearly visible. The only source of light he had was the diamond dagger strapped to his waist. Jack took it out of its frozen holster and held it up to get his bearings.

Darkness as far as Jack could comprehend. Goosebumps rose on his skin when he realised there was no end to it. The void was reminiscent of the ocean of lost memories he had barely escaped weeks prior. The occasional nightmare would make Jack jump as it would breeze past him without making a single noise. 

In desperation, Jack turned around and stood on the back of Skuggi to see if the Guardians were still there. He almost wished he hadn’t done that. 

The guardians were huddled in the sleigh as Katherine dropped to floorboards of the sleigh from exhaustion. Their voices were inaudible but Jack could tell something was horribly wrong. The dark aura around the sleigh started to dissipate and the reindeer looked more panicked by the second. 

Jack looked at his glowing dagger and tried to make it shine brighter but the light could only travel so far. His heart nearly stopped as the light being eaten by the void awakened a long dormant memory of his. Pitch’s heart. The never ending darkness, devoid of sound and any semblance of comfort. Skuggi brushed her tail against Jack to ground him before his mind could psyche him out any further.

“Thanks..” He whispered, then turned his attention back to the guardians. The cold was creeping all over the sleigh almost like a snake.

A new conflicting fear had arisen in Jack’s mind, that if the guardians remained in the void they would freeze to death. He looked at Skuggi and her golden eyes looked towards the void below them. Then she looked back at Jack. His chest rose with a strained inhale. Did he have the strength to do that to them?

The darkened sand that latched onto Skuggi stirred at Jack touching it with his fingers. He looked up at the guardians looking right back at him. Fear was written on their faces, each of them steadily losing hope of ever breaking free from the void. All except for Sandy, his expression was almost pleading towards Jack.

The Balance.
Their past.
Their former bonds that tethered them like family. 

It weighed on Jack's shoulders as he lifted the sand that tethered them to his companion. In his other hand was his dagger that glowed defiantly against the sea of darkness around them. The dagger was one of the last ties to his past, his former identity as something barely physical. 

Jack looked at the guardians one more time, each of their past visages briefly flashed before him. His hand clenched the dagger while he raised his arm.

SHINK

The guardians plummeted into the void below, screams barely escaped the nothingness as the one source of familiar light was impossible to reach anymore. 

He was gone.
So were they.