Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians in any way, shape, or form.
It had been more than four years since that fiasco with Moon and his wretched spirit of fear and shadow. Saulė Starfire, the Sun Woman, had believed that her decision to distance herself from the entire situation (and every spirit involved) would save her further headaches and embarrassment, but she couldn't have been more wrong.
One moment she was sitting on her throne, enduring an endless slew of tedious seasonal reports, the next her senses were acutely aware of an impending disturbance.
Her servants and courtiers all tittered and gossiped, wondering who would dare intrude upon the star spirit's realm. Saulė was wondering the very same thing when a shadow portal appeared towards the back of the throne room, providing her with her answer.
Pitch Black!
The Sun Woman seethed with unbridled fury. How dare that wretched spirit come here?! As if bedding her daughter was not enough, now he'd come to rub his continued existence right in her face!
Damn her agreement with Moon! That shameless shadow spirit would be struck down for this!
Just as Saulė worked herself up into a true rage, however, a tiny little shape fell out of the shadow portal and landed hard on the Palace floor. Confusion instantly overwhelmed her anger. Who, by every star in the universe, was that? That could not possibly be Pitch Black; the form was far too small.
Then her ears were filled with the sound of childish giggles.
"I went too far again daddy!"
Saulė froze in her throne, staring down at the child from the top of her fiery dais. Daddy? This spirit had a father?
That could only mean…
In her moment of distraction, the Sun Woman failed to notice what was happening around her until it was too late to stop. Reacting instinctively to such a blatant invasion of the Golden Palace, one of her guardsmen drew his fire whip. Like most servants, he and his compatriots had sworn to do the children of Earth no harm, but only Moon's rabble ever felt inclined to extend that same protection to non-human offspring. As such, he acted with no regards whatsoever to the trespasser's youth, and lashed out with all his strength. The weapon's red-hot tip sought the crown of the child's head, aiming to smite her with a single powerful blow, and Saulė could only sit numbly and watch it happen.
Only…it didn't happen.
Upon hearing the telltale whoosh of approaching flame, the little girl's head whipped around. Fast as lightning, her arm came up, and instead of being cleaved in two, as everyone in the throne room expected her to be, she effortlessly caught the whip in her hand.
Blackness immediately engulfed the flames. Saulė could sense darkness and shadow both, for they were the total opposite of everything she was, but this did not feel like either of those things. This was far more powerful, powerful enough to easily swallow flame, and yet it was somehow less, somehow…lacking. Whatever it was, it flowed from the little spirit's hand and up, up along the whip, and in that moment Saulė saw true fear flash across the typically stoic servant's face. He released his grip at once, allowing the handle to clatter to the floor. The little intruder let go as well, and the mutilated weapon lay abandoned, crackling and popping weakly as the remaining half struggled to stay alight.
The mighty Sun Woman had time for a single startled thought (Where did the rest of it go?!) before the child turned her head.
Saulė Starfire, the all-powerful star spirit, felt herself tremble.
Those were not eyes. Where eyes should have been were two massive black holes, big gaping spots that nearly engulfed the child's entire face. They pierced the Sun Woman through, seeing her as clearly as if the star spirit's entire existence was laid bare in front of her. Saulė wanted to look away, to spare herself the humiliation of being judged so blatantly, only to discover that she could not. She was held helplessly bound by that intense, all-knowing stare, and for the very first time in her long, long existence, the Sun Woman felt truly afraid.
What is this? How can this be?! How can she possibly hold such power here in the physical world?!
But then, a split second later, the little spirit blinked and those bottomless pits were gone, replaced in an instant by normal olive green eyes. Saulė's heart raced inside her chest, and she discovered, much to her relief, that she could move freely once more.
"Sorry lady," the little girl said cheerfully. She was smiling broadly, revealing sparkling white teeth that were delicately pointed. "Daddy always tells me not to go to other spirits' realms, but sometimes I can't help it."
Sun Woman stared, speechless for the first time in eons. Completely oblivious to the stunned silence that now filled the throne room, the little girl stood up. She brushed dark gray hands along her black and purple clothes before summoning a shadow portal with a careless flick of the wrist. With a gleeful shout of, "Daddy, catch me!" she leapt inside, the portal swirling shut behind her moments later.
As soon as she was gone, the heavy tension—no, the powerful aura—that smothered the Golden Palace vanished away. Saulė's courtiers all began to talk at once, confusion and worry and even great fear evident in their words. Sun Woman sank back into her throne, her mind too full to take part in the various conversations or even order silence. For long moments she sat in silence, stunned and horrified by what she had just witnessed with her own two eyes.
Take care to raise that child properly, my daughter, she thought somberly. If a day ever comes when she is no longer benign, everything in this world will be swallowed up into that terrible darkness, leaving not a single drop of spiritual magic or human blood behind.