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It was ironic, really.
The teeth in his hand were the only chance he had of regaining his memories, and yet, he was planning on throwing them over a cliff in a desperate attempt to forget how his actions ruined Easter.
If Jack weren’t so numb, he would laugh.
He reared his arm back, fully intent on throwing his memory box into one of the icy caverns below, but he couldn’t bring himself to let go.
He tried once more, but ended up angrily dropping his arm to the side, the teeth still clattering something fierce from within the cylindrical container.
No matter how much he didn’t want the reminder of what he had done, he couldn’t bring himself to let go of the one thing connecting him to who he used to be.
Jack sighed miserably and looked up at the gray sky. He couldn’t see the moon. He looked into the icy caverns below. He couldn’t see where they ended.
The wind and snow nipped at his exposed skin, but he couldn’t feel it. He stopped paying attention to cold sensations long ago.
He held the tooth box up and studied it, from the intricate and shiny designs to a miniature portrait of his face on the side of it.
Would Tooth even want his teeth back?
The edges of the box dug into his palm as he shoved it into his hoodie pocket.
“I thought this might happen.”
His head perked up at the unexpected company, but once he recognized the voice, the numbness vanished, leaving only anger.
Pitch Black.
“They never really believed in you.” He continued.
His grip on the staff tightened. He could feel his power flowing through his arm.
“I was just trying to show you that. But I understand.”
Jack turned and attacked, unleashing a powerful ice blast. Pitch defended himself with a shield of black sand.
“You don’t understand anything!” Jack yelled against the wind as he charged at Pitch, shooting another ice blast at him.
“No? I don’t know what it’s like to be cast out?” Pitch yelled back while defending and attacking Jack with his nightmare sand.
Jack let the wind carry him into the sky as he mustered up his power into another winter blast. He yelled ferociously as he fired his ice while Pitch summoned a wall of sand to protect himself.
Jack landed and walked through the grayish mix of ice and fear in the air as Pitch called out to him from behind.
“To not be believed in?”
Jack turned and aimed his staff at Pitch once the remnants of magic started clearing away.
“To long for… a family?”
Jack’s eyes widened slightly. He dropped his offensive stance and loosened his grip on his staff. He didn’t know what Pitch’s endgame was, but he couldn’t help the sympathy he suddenly felt for him, given his deep longing for the very same thing.
“All those years in the shadows, I thought no one else knows what this feels like.” Pitch looked up at him. “But now I see I was wrong.”
Pitch motioned to Jack, who took a couple of steps back and let his staff drop to his side. He still didn’t know where this was going but he had completely lost his intent to attack the other spirit.
“We don’t have to be alone, Jack. I believe in you, and I know children will too.”
Jack looked down, a strange sensation of hope spreading in his chest from what Pitch seemed to be promising.
“In me?”
It’s all he’s ever wanted.
“Yes! Look at what we can do!”
Jack looked up, noticing the giant ice monstrosity that stood in front of him for the first time. It was almost as if the winds and snow were avoiding it.
“What goes together better than cold and dark?”
Jack took a few steps closer to the spiky figure to examine it. Something within it was calling to him.
Something powerful.
There was darkness laced with his ice. He could feel it. The two were perfectly intertwined.
“We can make them believe!”
Jack was half listening, half studying the black ice in front of him. He stared at his reflection. He wasn’t the boy from the tooth box anymore.
He didn’t know who that boy was.
But here, now, he could define who he was going to become.
“We’ll give them a world where everything, everything is-”
“Pitch Black?” Jack turned his head to face Pitch, catching him in the middle of his rant he wasn’t even sure was directed at him anymore.
Pitch hesitated, seemingly collecting himself, before calmly responding. “And Jack Frost, too. They’ll believe in both of us.”
Jack looked back at the ice. Subconsciously, he placed his hand against the figure.
He felt it instantly.
It was different from how his ice magic felt but not unwelcome. Nothing too out of his league.
Pitch was right.
Nothing really went together better than cold and dark.
“What do you feel?” Pitch asked, observing Jack from where he too was standing near the icy figure.
“Cold and fear. You and me.”
Jack pulled his hand away from the ice and examined it. There were tiny wisps of black sand that swirled around it before disappearing in less than a second. His hand closed in a loose fist.
Pitch’s eyes widened. The sand disappeared quickly, but Jack had controlled it.
Jack had the power to control fear.
Pitch watched as the winter spirit’s eyes shifted and uncertainty started swirling within. Jack was obviously aware of what had just happened, even if he couldn’t do what Pitch could do. Either way, Pitch could use this.
He could definitely use this.
“We’re more alike than you let yourself believe, Jack.”
Jack chuckled cynically, avoiding looking at Pitch. “Yeah, sure.” He didn’t want Pitch to know how bothered he felt from the fear.
Pitch maneuvered around the ice until he stood behind Jack, their reflections staring back at them.
“I’m serious. Besides all that about not being believed in, fear is deeply rooted in your winter magic. Much more than you realize.”
Jack’s eyes narrowed. “No. No, that’s not true.”
Pitch raised his eyebrow. “Is it not? Would you care to explain this to me then?” He motioned at the black ice still standing in front of them.
“Or how the sand came to life in your hand for just a moment?” Jack didn’t answer as his eyes trailed the height of the ice.
As Jack was staring at the tip of the tallest spike, Pitch had maneuvered to his side to place his hand against the ice.
Jack could see the fear swirling from within the ice in his peripheral vision. He looked at Pitch, who seemed focused on what he was doing, but not in a way that looked like he was planning an attack.
Pitch pulled his hand away, and tendrils of fear and black sand from within the ice came with it. The darkness seemed much more comfortable and lively in Pitch’s hand as Pitch manuvered his fingers, controlling it.
The sand started to shift into shapes, and Jack’s eyes widened as he recognized the features of the person the sand was mimicking. His stomach twisted into knots.
“Jamie.” Jack subconsciously whispered.
“Such a bright and innocent young boy. He’s a believer. And yet, he doesn’t see you.”
Jack huffed. “What’s your point?”
“My point is, why doesn’t he? I mean, you took him on a sled ride around town! Ice was magically appearing, creating a road for him!”
Jack tilted his head, apprehension filling his expression. “How did you- when did you- you were there?”
Pitch left the staggered questions unanswered as he continued his story. “All these hints that someone magical was there, doing that for him, and yet, he ended his fun adventure expecting a visit from the Tooth Fairy. No mention of the winter spirit who created that memory for him.”
Jack watched the sand as it recreated all the events from that day, ending with him being left alone and Jamie leaving with his friends and one less tooth in his mouth. He was suddenly very aware of the teeth still in his hoodie pocket.
Jack’s mouth set in a thin line, and something akin to defeat was starting to seep into his eyes.
“That’s not all, Jack. Think about it. That boy was scared. That’s why I was there. He was scared during that sled ride. Wouldn’t you be? He could’ve died if you did something wrong. A car could’ve hit him, or he could’ve hit his head when he landed after a jump. That’s the thing about winter. It is not just about fun and snow days, as you seem to believe. After 300 years, I thought you’d have learned that by now.”
Jack looked away, gripping his staff tighter. It was the only thing keeping him grounded during this whole ordeal, even though it wasn’t doing a very good job.
Pitch smirked to himself, willing the sand away. He put on a caring expression and clasped his hands together loosely.
“I can help you, Jack. I can help you make them believe.”
Jack looked away from Pitch and towards the ice once more.
The darkness started swirling in different directions from within, even though no one was touching it.
Jack took a timid step backward from the ice and met the reflection of his eyes.
He was afraid. It was showing in his eyes. He hated it.
“How interesting.”
Jack flinched from the sound of Pitch’s voice ringing out from behind him. The fear jumped with him.
“I’m not doing that, Jack. You are. Face it. Fear is an important aspect of winter. It keeps kids safe. You have to be very powerful and well versed in darkness to use it unprompted, especially when you’re not associated with me or my nightmares.”
Jack looked down, refusing to look at the ice or at Pitch. His shoulders were tense and his hand was starting to hurt from how hard he was gripping his staff.
“I can teach you to use it. To control it. We can work together. We can make them believe in us. You don’t need the Guardians when you have this. Can you imagine the possibilities?”
Jack hesitated before he answered. Pitch’s words hung heavily in the air.
He wasn’t an idiot. He knew what Pitch was trying to do.
Yet, he found himself considering it.
All his afterlife, he had just wanted to be believed in.
And here was someone with the power to make it happen.
“Jack?”
Jack flinched again when Pitch broke his train of thought. He really needed to stop doing that.
“Hmm. You’re doing it again.”
Jack hesitantly looked up at the ice tower again. The fear was swirling once more, but at a leisurely pace this time.
His eyes trailed down the ice until they landed on the eyes of his reflection. The murky ice warped his reflection for a split second. His aura was darker. His eyes and hair looked gray.
Jack placed his hand over his reflection and the fear instantly scattered away, leaving his reflection untouched.
His hand trailed down the ice and he met his own eyes.
He couldn’t pinpoint what he was feeling and didn’t want to try to decipher it.
All he knew was he definitely felt fear. Whether it was his real fear, Pitch’s artificial fear, or a residual effect from the ice, that was what he didn’t know.
He also felt tired.
So, so tired.
Jack sighed, looking away from his reflection. He could see his reflection soften up and the fear drift outwards in his peripheral vision.
The Guardians all had believers. What made him so different that he didn’t get any? Didn’t deserve any?
He had an entire season. North and Bunny only had a day each. That right there felt unfair to him.
However, he could understand Tooth and Sandy. They each worked every single night of the year. Tooth made sure the kids knew someone was watching over them by collecting their teeth, even if that is gross, and Sandy made sure that-
Sandy.
His arm, all the way down to his hand, tensed and his nails lightly scratched at the ice. The fear came rushing back to where his hand rested against the ice.
His reflection was warped by darkness again, but Jack paid no mind to it. Instead, his eyes drifted to Pitch’s reflection from within the ice. He was standing a few feet behind him, watching the show.
“Wait. Wait a minute.” Jack pulled his hand away from the ice and rubbed his eye. He took a few uncertain steps backward and turned around to face Pitch. “You killed Sandy. You killed Sandy. How am I just supposed to trust you after that?”
Pitch raised his eyebrow, appearing almost put out from the sudden distrust. “Trust me or not, that’s your choice. But remember, they cast you out. They have no use for you anymore now that you ruined Easter.” Jack’s eyes narrowed in anger. “I’m your last chance for believers, Jack, whether you like it or not.”
“You’ll just make them fear both of us, and that’s not what I want. Now leave me alone.”
Remembering what Pitch did to Sandy made it a lot easier for Jack to be annoyed and resist his poison laced words.
Pitch tried to take a step closer to Jack, but Jack held his staff up in an offensive position. His hands were deathly white from how hard he was gripping it. The frost that coated the wood glittered brighter than usual.
He would berate himself later on how he was considering for way too long going with Pitch. He decided that once he left Antarctica, he would go back to the Guardians and make things right. He would gain believers his own way and never learn how to use the power of fear.
That is, if he ever got out of there.
Pitch smirked something unsettling. His golden eyes seemed to glisten and Jack couldn’t help the shiver of fear that ran down his back as his grip faltered ever so slightly.
“Very well. You want to be left alone. Done. But first-”
Jack’s eyes widened as he heard a familiar chirp come from behind Pitch’s back.
As Pitch held out his closed fist for Jack to see, his heart stopped and his senses filled with dread.
“Baby Tooth!”
Jack flew a few feet off the ground towards Pitch, but thought twice and stopped a few feet short so Pitch wouldn’t hurt the little fairy. He held his staff up once more, fully intent on firing his magic, but hesitated as Pitch made his demand.
“The teeth, Jack!”
Jack met Pitch’s eyes, apprehensively.
“I’ll let her go, and in return, you get rid of those teeth. They’re weighing you down.”
Jack’s eyes sharpened. “I can’t just get rid of them. They’re my memories, and Tooth will want them back-”
Pitch scoffed, cutting Jack off. “You really think she will want them back?”
No, he didn’t, but it hurt more hearing someone else say it.
“It doesn’t matter. The teeth are your choice, I presume.”
Pitch opened his fist. Baby Tooth’s wings were crinkled and damaged, meaning she couldn’t fly or get away. She shivered as Pitch raised his other hand, sand starting to swirl in his palm. Unlike before, he knew Pitch was readying a possibly fatal attack this time.
“Wait! Wait!” Jack yelled, causing Pitch to look at him, barely concealing his twisted expression of glee. He willed his attack away and closed his fist around the little fairy again.
Jack dropped his staff to his side in defeat. He didn’t quite understand why Pitch wanted him to get rid of his teeth when he himself had forgotten about them in his hoodie again.
It was a miracle they hadn’t fallen out on their own.
“Let go, Jack. Let go of the burden of the past. Knowing who you were won’t do anything for you now.”
Baby Tooth was squeaking out protests, but she couldn’t do much from where she was trapped.
Jack looked between her, his teeth, then finally, up at Pitch.
“You’ll let her go?”
“I’ll do it right now.”
Jack could only watch uneasily as Pitch started willing sand back into his free hand. He opened his fist and Baby Tooth looked around fearfully. Her eyes landed on Jack once more and she started squeaking out more protests and what Jack registered as cries for help.
He wanted nothing more than to reach out for her, but couldn’t bring himself to move.
The sand started to swirl around her, almost taking the shape of an egg, and enveloped her, cutting her scared chirps off.
Jack could only watch as the only friend he had, the only one that was on his side this entire time, disappeared.
The sand dissipated and unraveled, revealing empty space in Pitch’s hand where Baby Tooth used to be.
Jack looked up at Pitch, who seemed way too calm in contrast to Jack’s buzzing nerves.
“Don’t worry. She’s at the North Pole with all the other Guardians. They’ll take care of her. Now.” Pitch snapped his fingers. “The teeth.”
Jack sighed and nodded slightly. He had to hold up his end of the deal despite how much he greatly distrusted the other spirit.
“Leave your staff.”
Jack flinched at those words, not wanting to be left without his weapon, but he knew Pitch would quickly turn back on his deal if he didn’t comply.
Jack crouched down, never breaking eye contact with Pitch, and set his staff down on the ground. He didn’t see how the blue ice from within the wood disappeared when he stopped touching it.
He stood back up and turned around. He started walking towards the cliff he had planned to throw the teeth off when he had first come here.
He was basically trudging his feet in the snow.
Once Jack reached the edge, he looked down. He still couldn’t see where the caverns ended. But this time when he looked up, the moon was starting to peek through the clouds.
And yet, he still couldn’t hear anything the moon might’ve been saying.
Maybe Pitch was right.
Why would he need to know who he used to be to live as he is now?
He was defining who he was by choosing to sacrifice his memories to save Baby Tooth. That was good enough for him. Who cares if the moon still wouldn’t talk to him? Try to save him?
Jack sighed once more in what he told himself was confidence, but his stomach was still intensely twisted in knots. Despite his nerves, he reared his arm backward.
And was struck with something piercing square in the back.
The force of it was enough to make him fall to his hands and knees. The teeth fell out of his hand and landed a few inches away in the snow.
His back felt like it was on fire with any small movement he made. The painful burning spread to his limbs and he fell onto his side, instinctively curling up in the fetal position.
He heard laughing from behind him.
If he had to define pure evil, he would use Pitch’s laugh. He forced his head up as best he could so he could see Pitch.
Jack could barely make out the bow-like contraption in his hand, and it suddenly clicked what Pitch had done.
He shot Jack with the same type of arrow he used to shoot Sandy.
Jack should’ve expected nothing less from a coward such as Pitch.
Despite the millions of questions swirling through his head, he couldn’t say anything. His throat physically wouldn’t let him. If he did get a sound out, it was probably a scream, but he didn’t know. His ears were pulsing in tune with his rapid heartbeat.
“Isn’t this just beautiful?” Pitch asked as he casually strolled over to where Jack was doubled over in pain.
Jack glared at the Nightmare King as best he could, but it probably came out more like a pained grimace.
“The moment I saw you control that sand, I knew you, we, were destined for bigger things. Who needs the Guardians or the Man in the Moon when you have limitless power?”
Jack curled up even tighter on himself. He didn’t know what was happening to him, but with the expression on Pitch’s face, he didn’t have high hopes he would get out of this unscathed.
“The arrow corrupted the Sandman in a different way than it’ll corrupt you. See, since he was made of dream sand, he simply turned into nightmare sand. You, a winter spirit, are an entirely different type of magic. One that can be corrupted in a way that won’t destroy you.”
Pitch chuckled to himself. Jack didn’t think any of it was funny. Pitch crouched down next to Jack as if observing his transformation.
“Already, the fear is consuming you. Just look.”
Jack didn’t want to, but he looked at his hand. Wisps of sand and pure fear were swirling around it. It was different than the fear in the ice.
This fear belonged to him the same way fear belonged to Pitch.
However, he was too focused on the pain to decipher his emotions given this situation. There were certainly a number of reasons that tears were streaming down his face at that instant.
“We are going to be great partners, Jack. I look forward to it.”
Pitch stood up and walked away, but stopped a few feet away. He could still hear Jack’s ragged breathing and cries of pain from where he was standing, but that wasn’t what stopped him.
What stopped him was the moonlight that was suddenly shining down on Jack, as if trying to undo what Pitch had done.
“No!” Pitch yelled out. He wasn’t about to let all his progress slip through his fingers.
He summoned a swath of sand and enveloped Jack within it, the same way Baby Tooth was enveloped in Pitch’s hand.
The only difference was that Jack wasn’t going anywhere.
“Good luck saving him now when even you can’t penetrate my nightmare sand!” Pitch yelled at the Man in the Moon. He didn’t care if he didn’t say anything back. He knew he was being listened to.
“Even you can’t save him now! You didn’t even bother to save the Sandman! And now I’ve taken your best bet at defeating me!”
Pitch walked over to where Jack’s staff was discarded in the snow and picked it up, dusting the snow off as if it were a personal trophy.
“Enjoy the show, old friend.”
Pitch could almost see the moon flashing in anger as the clouds completely parted, but he didn’t care. He knew his message was received.
Pitch looked back at the ball of darkening fear on the snow. There was a disturbance in the balance of fear, as if it was shifted in his favor.
Pitch smirked. This was definitely a welcome change.
He watched as the sand parted and dissipated, leaving behind a lonely, unconscious, winter spirit.
His corruption was complete.
The spirit’s hair was now grey instead of its usual snow white, his blue hoodie had faded, the frost that rested on his shoulders had solidified into small spikes, and his skin was paler than Pitch had ever seen it.
Pitch crouched down next to the spirit, marveling at how wisps of fear were clinging to his body and swirling around him.
“Not so neutral anymore, are we?” Pitch mumbled to himself.
The spirit suddenly shifted on the snow and started to regain his consciousness. He cracked his eyes open and Pitch could see that they were also grey instead of their former ice blue.
Pitch smiled something wicked.
Everything worked perfectly.
The spirit pushed himself off the snow and sat up, staring blankly ahead into the horizon. He made no move to brush the snow off of his arms or head, instead opting for sitting still. He also said nothing to Pitch who was watching from a close distance, as well as actively blocking the moonlight trying to shine brightly on the boy.
“Not very talkative, are we?”
The boy shifted his empty gaze to Pitch, still saying nothing.
“It doesn’t matter to me, as long as you listen.”
Pitch held out the winter spirit’s old staff. He knew it was still connected to his core, despite his transformation, and the boy would be powerless without it.
The spirit didn’t hesitate and grabbed the staff, rekindling their connection, and the change was immediate.
The wood all along the staff splintered out because of the overflow of corrupted ice magic. The center was a swirling mix of blue and black, showing that the boy could control ice and fear.
Pitch considered that to be the most impressive part of this entire ordeal.
The spirit almost instinctively curled up into a ball and floated up in the air, before opening up and releasing a giant wave of mixed fear and snow in every direction.
Pitch watched as their surroundings became even darker and the moonlight dimmed.
Pitch clapped slowly as the spirit landed on his feet, still completely silent and not even glancing in Pitch’s general direction.
“Yes, this will work perfectly against the Guardians.”
Pitch clasped his hands together, ready to take this fight to the Guardians once more with a new pawn on his side.
“Come, young spirit. Let’s leave this wretched place. We have work to do.”
Like an obedient puppet, the reborn winter spirit followed Pitch with no hesitation or protests. It’s like he was just a body with no mind.
Perfect for what Pitch had planned.
Together, the spirits disappeared through a cloud of fear, leaving behind nothing but a giant ice monstrosity that even the wind was scared of and a tiny cylindrical container of teeth that was already being buried in the neverending snow.