Genre(s): Hurt / Comfort, Friendship and Family, Drama, Adventure, Humor

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians and its characters. I only own my story and characters.

Pairing(s): None, Slight OCxOC

Note(s): If requested, we may add some Jack Frost x Toothiana. Inspired by Pan's Laybirth (It's a beautiful movie) and Germanic folklores.

Summary:

Once upon a time, there's an innocent world, clean without sorrow, pain and darkness. Then human invited shadows to their front door.

All who sided with the good had long since given up on fighting a loosing war. But Man in Moon decided against it and when he invited a very dangerous neutral party into the fight... War was doomed to happen yet again.

Prologue:

I Dreamt A Dream Far, Far Away

Lies Albert turned her gaze at the open sky. A kite lazily drifted into her view. The purple, sled-shaped, nicely decorated kite softly dived in the air as fishes would dive in water. She heard a distant laughter somewhere down the open field and saw a pair of arms reaches out anticipatedly to catch the falling kite. She watched for any sign: a smile, a wave, anything indicated owner of said kite's aware of her presence and would gladly share their fun with her. When nothing happened, Lies flopped back on her mattress of soft grass and stared at the blue sky above. She reached out for the dots of clouds in her eyes and dreamily groped the smears of pink and violet that's spreading out from the horizon. The wind bore a scent of fresh flowers and warm herbal tea which left beautiful aromas in your mouth. And the crickets... Lies became alerted as she couldn't hear them anymore. She shot up and bolted for the gate as thin footsteps reached her ears.

"Lies! Have you done the laundry?"

She made it just in time. Lies dusted her dull dress cursorily as she straightened up to meet her aunt's eyes. Aunt Remorse stood proudly in front of the door and fixed her in a quiet, deep stare, ("Well, haven't you?" The woman just seemed like she wanted to ask out loud). The petite brunette fidgeted with her sleeves but her voice was blameless and clean of guilt, "Yes, auntie."

"Good." The woman heaved an answer before she walked over to hug and kissed her on her temple. Lies briefly took time to fix her bangs after Aunt Remorse let go and stood still in her place as the older woman gathered all her books and tucked them on her shelves. "Your bookcase is packed again." Said the woman. Lies sheepishly nodded, though she inwardly prayed her aunt will not pry more answers from her.

"How do you get them?"

She whined to herself, then covered her mouth before that could make it to her aunt's ear. The young girl rocked back and forth slightly on the balls of her feet and stopped when her older relative turned sternly. "Lies, speak to me." Aunt Remorse commanded and she dipped her head in a resigned sigh. "I got them from Father Steve, auntie."

"Father Steve!" Cried Aunt Remorse as she looked at all the books again. Father Steve was one of the old belief workers of a Church nearby, and though neither Aunt Remorse nor her husband were devout they did go there to pray every once in a while. Steven Nicholas Jones was an amiable soul- a very devoted, charming man. But what he has stored up on the numerous cases of his surprisingly modest house was a surprise to all residents nearby- he stores books! Books which were made of real papers, from real trees! Some of which were the very last copy of literature pieces as well as children books and informative works. He donated whatever he's asked for and gave them up as gifts for scholars who came to his house's door nearly every month, sometime even gave it to people who came to the Church. However, Father Steve enjoys, and in fact encourages children whose parents led them to his Church that they should believe in fairy tales. "A little bit of miracle of life", that's what he said.

Like every sensible, grown-up adults in the neighborhood, Aunt Remorse and her husband did not approve such wild, immature thoughts. They'd rather their youth to learn more proper, educational knowledge and of course, stop dreaming. They cannot make successful adults if they continue day-dreaming of a world with candy houses, princesses and magic castles! And Father Steve even reasoned with them that children were meant to dream. What ridiculousness! They will ruin their life, falling back behind their realistic, mature friends and eventually stuck in their own house with no job and a hungry mouth that needs to be fed three times a day. Aunt Remorse cannot accept that or the fact anyone in this house's affected by that belief, especially when her child's approaching his seven soon. She turned and eyed Lies disappointedly.

"Auntie, I promise it isn't fairy tales this time. It's just bed-time stories. You know I can't sleep." The little girl pleaded to her aunt, who appeared to be softened at her words. Aunt Remorse sighed and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear as she knelt in front of her niece- the pretty little thing now had grown enough to meet her eye-level when she kneels. "Lies, you know what I and your uncle think of those." She whispered gently, stroking the soft hair of the young child.

"But auntie." Lies insisted, "I can't sleep."

"I will figure something out. But for now, don't let your uncle see these." Aunt Remorse gestured at the shelves. Lies nodded, albeit hesitated. "I will take this and call it a day. Your uncle will not doubt it if I bring at least one back." Said she then stood and reached out for the book which had red cover and the worn black title 'One Hundred Stars'. Lies winced as she looked at the book sadly, knowing she might not ever see it again. Placing a hand on her niece's head, Aunt Remorse pulled herself up and quickly dusted her grey trouser before she walks out the door. "Oh! And Lies?" The young girl looked up, showing that she's had her attention. "Happy early birthday." Cheered Remorse before the white doors slid closed. Lies sighed to herself in silence.

"Papi, where were we again?"

She murmured while climbing onto the nightstand, carefully as not to break anything and reached out to touch the walls. The muddy green walls glowed brightly as her palm pressed onto it, following a series of reaction with her DNA and the door gaps slowly craved themselves into Lies's room ceiling. She touched the door again with her fingers as it slid and a ladle fell smoothly into place like it had numerous times before. Lies ascended the ladle soundlessly with her tiny feet and hands then pulled herself into the antic and the ladle folded itself under the ceiling with the door slid closed on its own. In the dim darkness, creatures that inhabited the place silently welcomed her and soft, warm smiles were given.

"At The Sunset Sky, Lies." A voice answered her previous question. She grinned good-naturedly as her eyes followed the skipping steps of her friend. "Where, Papi? I don't remember."

"The Sunset Sky." Said the voice again. It led her to the window as she sat and folded her hands on the open book, her fingers traced the inked letters. "Ah, yes, I see it. [ At the peak of nightfall, the soft hue edges faded into a darker shade of blue, yet the view's still beautiful as stars slowly lit up the darkening sky and a bright, glowing moon peeked out behind the clouds... ]"

Lies continued reading, occasionally trading hushed conversation with her friend as they together read through the story in which the boy that flew that kite lost it to the God of Wind and went on his adventure into the Garden, accompanied by his loyal friend Amy. The lack of illumination didn't seem to bother her, so as the grey sky and gloomy city view. She's lost in the story so much she didn't even mind the smoke that usually annoyed her so badly. Lies ignored the screeches of hover-cars' engines and the neighborhood's many voices, as she could only hear the crickets, the whispers of tree leaves and Amy's joyous barks throughout the forest.

But outside; very, very high above, even without the luminous presence of all the stars, Tsar could still see the brown-haired child well. He grinned to himself with a sigh of relief; he has finally found her! The girl, he mused, does look similar somehow. He quietly faded into the shadow casted by the clouds as he turned his attention elsewhere, spreading it all over. What he had to do now's reaching out for the spirit. He scanned every corner, peered into every shade as finally he found one of the entrances to her 'home' in an abandoned graveyard in former Germany. Smiling proudly, Tsar Lunar closed his eyes and let his presence known by the creatures that inhabited the dark passage.

Lady Grey. He heard the echoes of his own voice as shadows started to whisper, delivering his voice further into the tomb. Your old friend is in need to see you. Quickly.

A siren-like hiss pierced through the silence as darkness shook and the gravestone crumbled into pieces. But there, lingered in the dreadful air was a rueful sigh that's just slightly more vivid than the hums of quietness themselves and the sounds of an ancient existence shifted aroused. Tsar Lunar set back on his white, velvet chair with his entangled fingers rested on his lips.

All that's left to do now... is wait.

Thank you so much for viewing! R&R if you enjoyed it and have a good day!

OLAT's out!