In the dark recesses of the mind, a disease known as FEAR feasts upon the souls of those who cannot overcome its power...And so, fear is forced deep within the soul of a hero. Conquered... at least, for now...
You may know of the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman. You might even know about Jack Frost.
I know all their stories. A giant bunny who goes around hiding eggs for children to find in the morning, a jolly old fat man who delivers presents, a fairy who goes around collecting teeth and leaving money in its place, a man who gives good dreams to all of the children around the world, and a grouchy old man who brings cold sensations and changes the leaves. I also know they are not exactly true.
But I bet you've never heard of me. Unlike those happy-go-lucky idiots, there isn't any well-known stories about me. Actually, I bet there is no stories at all.
Except for this.
My name is Kathryn, and this is my story.
. . .
"I called you all here because... Pitch is back." North announced once Tooth arrived, causing everyone to look at him, horrified.
"What?" Bunnymund said. Jack jumped down from the ledge he was sitting on, freezing one of the elves, for the others could play hockey.
"Man in Moon told me so. He also said Pitch is stronger now. Too strong for even Jack." North said.
"Well how can we beat him?" Jack questioned.
Before anyone could say anything, the moon rose up, appearing in the skylight of the Pole, and the rays of the moonlight shined into the room, twirling up and up until it formed the shape of a man. It was the Man in The Moon. Then, he spoke.
"This is the first time I have talked to all of you at once, in my physical form," the Man in the Moon said. "But desperate times call for desperate measures."
He was a good-looking, oddly enough, young-looking man. He was about 6"2 and looked to be about 25 to 30 years old. He was very pale, and had light blond hair. He had icey blue eyes. His skin was flawless, and he had a mischievous glint in his eye. He was quite handsome.
"How are we going to beat Pitch if he's even to strong for Frost?" Bunnymund asked.
"The children can't help you this time. Pitch Black has returned after 2 ½ years with new powers, but stronger, and hungrier for revenge, but he's not just targeting the children; he's targeting everyone. So I have chosen a new guardian, but Pitch wants to use the new guardian for his own purposes." the Man in the Moon said simply.
"Who is he?" Bunnymund asked. He quietly muttered. "Please don't say the groundhog, please don't say the groundhog..."
"She." the Man in the Moon corrected. Everyone stared at him.
"It's a girl?" Bunnymund and North groaned.
"It's a girl!" Tooth cheered.
Jack showed no reaction. Bunnymund and North were groaning and trying to convince themselves that he couldn't always be right, and maybe the new Guardian would be a boy. Jack didn't understand why it was so important to them that the Guardian would be male instead of female. He didn't want a new Guardian, but since there was one more, it only made sense that it was a girl. Tooth was the only female Guardian, out of the five of them.
"So why is Pitch going after her?" Jack asked.
"Pitch knows that if he can get her on his side, he will be unstoppable. He will have the powers of darkness and light. He also knows something that I was hoping to keep a secret from all of you, especially her. The new Guardian, is my niece. That is all you need to know at the moment. I need you to convince her to come with you before Pitch can get to her. No need to ask her to be a Guardian yet, first I just need to know she's safe." the Man in the Moon said.
"I'll get her." Tooth offered. "She probably loves fairies. How old is she anyway?" The Man in the Moon chuckled. He had a warm, nice laugh.
"She looks like she's about the same age as Jack, if not she appears to be a bit younger. But she's been around for longer than any of you. She is a bit of a loner, but she is quite trusting of others although she is very wary in the beginning. It might take a while for her to warm up to you all, as will it for you." he said. "She only has one companion, named Zero."
Bunnymund glanced at Jack. He was staring at the Man in the Moon, in deep thought. "But anyway, forgive me Tooth Fairy, but she is VERY fickle. She doesn't exactly like me, or any of you, so she's definitely a rebel, of sorts. She's going to be hard to sneak up on, and even harder to bring back here." the Man in the Moon said.
"I'll go. I've already dealt with ONE irresponsible kid." Bunnymund said, looking at Jack.
"Hey!" Jack pouted.
"Easter Bunny, you may find her in Paris, France. At the Palais Garnier. I told her a long time ago that was her home -like the Pole is you to, North, and the Warren is to you, Bunnymund- so hopefully she's still there. Her name is Kathryn." he said.
And with that, the Man in the Moon disappeared, and Bunnymund was off.
. . .
I walked up on the rafters, watching all the people below. I scoffed. Perfect hair, perfect clothes, urg. Every night, so many people come in the Palais Garnier. So many people, and none can see me.
I was used to it at this point. I watched the operas sometimes, and I had my own little hideaway down under the Palais Garnier in the catacombs that nobody knew about.
It was funny, because one of my little jokes had developed into the opera "The Phantom of The Opera". If only they knew that Erik was an Erin.
The de Changy case, in real life, the Mortensen case, was just an accident that everyone blamed on me. Philippe had simply just drowned. I had no part in it. Believe me, I did nothing. Philippe was actually a close friend of mine. We were in a... secret relationship, I guess.
The deaths and the disappearances, pure stupidity. The only part I had in the story was the chandelier, the disappearing francs, and anything in Box Five. But I never hurt anyone. That's where the story and reality got blurred and creativity came in. With the chandelier story, the story of the injured and that one woman died, was not true. The chandelier fell harmlessly on the stage, and anyone that could've been hit moved. I didn't hurt anyone. And that woman, she went home and had a heart attack. I didn't hurt anyone.
There was only one good part of living here. Down in the catacombs under the Palais, you could go anywhere you wanted, it was quiet, and I felt at peace down there. I was alone. It was perfect.
I was at home.
After everything that had happened with the Phantom of the Opera story, nobody has tried to get to my lake-side retreat, except the author, Gaston Leroux. I had closed off all the entrances. It was easy to get in still, with my powers.
I still aloud people to come in the Communards' dungeon. Gaston had discovered two of my traps with pivoting doors unknown to the machinists of the Opera House, who only used traps with horizontally sliding doors.
I rested my staff over my shoulders, and stopped. I watched the people come and go, and listened to the organ being played. I sighed, and rose up to the roof. I passed through the ceiling, and looked up at the stars.
"I'm just another shadow..." I mumbled, flying across to the next roof.
I hopped from roof to roof, absentmindedly tapping my staff against chimes and the ground, making a tune that went along with the organ, that I could still hear.
I flew down to the graveyard, where my dog was. His name was Zero. Zero usually stayed down in the catacombs with me, but his real grave was here. Last time we had gone somewhere together, he stayed here.
Yeah, Zero was dead. He was a ghost. He was my only friend in the world, and I was perfectly fine with that.
I flew back up to one of the roofs, Zero close behind. He turned translucent in the moonlight. I looked up at the moon.
Angry suddenly bubbled up in my stomach at the sight of the bright, full moon. "So is this why I'm here? For nobody to see me?" I yelled at it.
Just as quickly as it had appeared, my angry disappeared. I slumped down to the ground and crossed my legs. I buried my head in my hands. Zero whimpered and lay down next to me.
"Jack Frost has a story. Santa Claus has a story. The Easter Bunny, Sandman, the Tooth Fairy, they all have stories. Why would you do this to me?" I asked, tears forming and rolling down my face.
Nothing.
I grumbled and stood back up. I wiped my cheeks and I flew to a nearby lake. I slid around, my staff disappearing back into my locket.
My locket was charmed. I could never open it though, it needed a small key. But my staff would always shrink down and disappear into my locket when I didn't need it. I never understood it, but I guess it was charmed to hold it.
The call of a raven was what broke me out of my thoughts. I smiled.
I whistled and the raven dissolved from the darkness of the trees, landing on a branch next to my head. Zero looked up at it.
"Hi buddy." I said.
The raven watched me intently, then looked down at Zero. I scratched its head. It pressed its head into my hand, as I petted its feathers. It cooed.
"You should get going back to your family little guy." I told it.
The raven cocked his head at me, shook its whole body to fix his feathers, and flew off into the night. I went out on to a frozen lake, that glowed under the moonlight.
I closed my eyes, taking in the night. I skated around in silence for a bit, Zero staying off to the side. Despite being a ghost, for some reason, Zero couldn't stand being over frozen water. Lakes, he was fine. Frozen water? He hated it.
I understood why though. When he was alive, his owners beat him. Sent him outside during snowstorms. One day, he ran away. He ran over a lake, and he was on thin ice. He fell through and froze to death.
I took a liking to him because he was abandoned, like me. When Zero came back as a ghost, he was pure white and fluffy, and looked like a normal white dog. He was partially see through when he walked passed lights. He floated above the ground, like I did most of the time, and he had long ears that floated back and up. His nose was a little glowing jack-o-lantern. When he barked, everyone else understood it to be a bark, but I knew what he was saying.
I then heard voices.
"Oui oui! J'ai pense que j'entendu quelque chose ici!*" a little boy called.
I saw some kids running up a narrow path to the lake, and I smirked. They looked so young. So naïve. I flew over to them, and circled around them. Zero flew behind me, as he always did.
"Let's play the everyone doesn't believe in me game!" I mused to myself.
"Il n'y a pas de chose ici Garret, tu est stupide.*" a girl said.
"1." I counted.
"Pourquoi est-ce que tu droit alle quelque place chaque fois que tu pense que tu entend quelque chose qui n'existe pas?*" another boy asked.
"Oh! 2 for 2!" I said. I floated around them.
"Okay... Cette rien.*" the little boy, I'm guessing him name was Garret, said.
"And 3 for 3." I said.
The kids ran off, and I flew up in the sky. I watched as the golden stream of sand appeared through the sky.
"And in comes Sandman." I said. "Right on time."
I watched the streams for a bit, looking at all the little dreams. A piece of my hair fell in my face. I could always fix my hair, redo it and put it up again, but I guess it was a force of habit to have it fall in my face and me to tuck it behind my ear.
I floated down to the streets, and decided to cut through the alleyways to get back to the Palais Garnier. Zero barked, asking if he was staying with me. I nodded. I paused, then smiled.
"Hi rabbit." I said, turning on my heel.
"How did you hear me?" he asked, pouting as well as a rabbit could pout.
"I thought you'd know me better by now." I said, smirking, my ears morphing into bat ears. They changed back. "So why 'ya here?"
"North wants to see you." he said.
I quickly turned and dodged the yeti. Zero started growling at Bunnymund. "Oh hush up Zero." I said. "Your tricks are getting old, rabbit. And I know tricks." I smiled.
I blended into the shadows, and Zero did the same. I snuck up behind him.
"Boo." I whispered in his ears. I cackled when he jumped.
"Fine. How do you want to go?" he asked, rolling his eyes.
I smiled, and hit my staff twice against the ground. "The fun way." I said, smiling as the hole opened, swallowing us up.
. . .
Bunnymund got thrown out of the portal first. He landed flat on his face. Kathryn appeared a few seconds after, sitting on her staff like a witch on a broomstick. A small white figure was sitting closely behind her.
She laughed, which sounded more like a cackle, and smiled. The white figure barked, and North realized it was a dog. He gulped. The dog was see-through. It was a ghost.
"Why you not take my portal?" North asked.
"She said she wanted to take the 'fun way'." Bunnymund grumbled. "That was horrifying."
She smiled, and North noticed that she had incisors. He found it a bit ironic, due to her creepy appearance, that she had fangs. "Yeah, if you're a baby. I think it's fun!" she said.
"What did you want me for?" she asked, looking at him. Her florescent poison green eyes startled North.
"Man in Moon said to bring you here. You have been chosen to be guardian!" North exclaimed. They had expected her to be a little fickle, but she simply laughed.
"Yeah, right." she said, smirking, she turned to leave.
"No! You are guardian!" North said.
"What makes you think I want to be a Guardian?" she asked. Bunnymund smirked and nudged Jack.
"Where have I heard that before?" he chuckled. Jack laughed slightly, but he was more focused on her.
She just looked so different. He'll admit, he wore dark blue hoodies and stuff, but the Guardians were mostly light happy colors. Anything but what she was wearing.
Her eyes were the first thing he noticed. They were bright and noticeable. They were a toxic green color. They glimmered, and she looked like she was always planning something. He just didn't know what.
Her hair was long, straight, and light brown. It was almost the color of cinnamon. She had her hair up in a messy bun on top of her head, with some pieces of her hair falling gently down next to her face. She was very pale, and her skin looked like paper against her bones. It wasn't to the point she looked like a living skeleton, but she was still a very small girl. She looked maybe sixteen or seventeen, about Jack's age, and sure, she was pretty; but with that angry expression on her face didn't match up. The Man in the Moon had been right. She didn't like them at all.
She had a black choker on, with a short chain locket that seemed to be attached to it on the sides. She wore black gladiator sandals, that went up above her knees. Her dress was a dark onyx color, the skirt looking ripped and in tatters, with florescent green fabric in throughout it, only slightly duller than her eyes. Her shoulders were bare, but the dress was designed with long sleeves. The sleeves were white and ripped, and went down to her hands, stopping once it was at the knuckle of her thumb. They looked like fingerless gloves.
She held her staff tightly. Her staff looked similar to Jack's, except it was darker and there were white spider webs by her hand.
Nothing like a Guardian.
Before anyone else could speak, they heard malicious laughter. They looked up to the globe, and saw him. Pitch was standing on top of the globe.
"I must say, this is even more exciting than the last time I gathered you all here..." he said, with that same sarcastic amusement.
Jack stepped a little closer to Kathryn, almost protectively. She made a face. I don't need you to protect me, she thought.
"Is... is that who I think it is?" Pitch asked, actually sounding a bit surprised. He almost gasped. Kathryn stiffened and looked over her should to see the dark robed man behind her.
Pitch smirked. "Ah, it is..." he suddenly appeared next to her. Zero growled. Pitch shot him a look, and Zero whimpered, hiding behind Jack.
"Tell me my dear, how does it feel to have the weight of the world on your shoulders? Is it everything you've always hoped for? Especially when life and death courses through your very veins, and big uncle Manny watching you, expecting the world." he asked mockingly.
Kathryn clenched her jaw and her green eyes started turning electric yellow. "I don't. I don't want anything to do with you, my uncle, or the Guardians." she growled.
He disappeared again, "Ah, a feisty one she is..." he mused. "Always has been, I supposed. Never could quite get over your birth father's death..."
"DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT. YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HIM." she screamed, and then she made a face. "Wait, what was that?" she asked herself in nearly a whisper.
The Guardians looked at Kathryn and Pitch. They were surprised. Kathryn showed no fear against him. She looked at him with a stone cold expression.
Kathryn wasn't scared of him. He should be scared of me, she thought.
"But I do, my dear. I know more about your birth father than you could ever know." Pitch said. "It's been so long since I've felt this powerful... when was it? Ah, yes.. since the Dark Ages... I've never felt so alive in centuries. And you haven't changed much since then, Kathryn."
Kathryn's expression weakened. He reappeared again, his arms crossed. "But you almost ruined my time before the Guardians were even formed. You kept distracting me from my work. Especially when you met that Philippe..." he spat, glaring at her.
She scowled back defiantly. Pitch looked at her for a minute, but then his expression softened," But no matter. All of that's behind us now. I've come to give you an offer." he said.
"Well I'm not interested." she said after a moment. Her staff appeared back in her hands and she seemed ready to leave.
"You've longed for your memories, haven't you? You've asked your uncle to reveal who your father was, and to get your memories back." Pitch said. Kathryn froze, lowering her arms. Pitch chuckled. "Well then meet me sous la Palais Garnier, dans une semaine, ma petite.*"
"She isn't interested." Tooth said.
The Guardians stood protectively in front of the girl, and Kathryn's brave front suddenly disappeared. She started to shy away. She bit her lip, and that was all the answer Pitch needed.
"My work is done here. That's all I came for! I don't want to cause any trouble," Pitch said, smiling.
"You? Since when have YOU not wanted to cause TROUBLE?" Jack asked.
"Normally I would agree, but now all I wanted to do was give my darling Kathryn here my offer." Pitch said. He turned to leave.
"Oh, and Kathryn? The broken puppet sits high in the trees, darling did you look for me? No strings attached, and you've been up there so long you've been going crazy. The sun went down, and the puppet fell down, forgotten by sound. The world didn't care, the little puppet was scared, alone and smothered by darkness." Pitch recited, as if he was reading a book.
None of the guardians understood his nonsense babbling, but Kathryn turned a sickly gaunt color, and fell to her knees. North kneeled down next to her, placing a hand on her back. She was as cold as ice.
"What did you say?" North demanded.
Pitch smirked all the while making an innocent face. "Nothing. I'm just helping her remember, seeing the little Fairy here never bothered too." he said.
And then he wrapped his cloak around himself and disappeared, just like that.
North helped Kathryn stand again. Her legs were weak, but she leaned on her staff. New spider webs because spinning around her staff. She was clearly shaken. "What was that thing he told you?" Jack asked.
Kathryn started floating again. Zero barked quietly, content, and began to lick her palm.
"I-I don't know. I think - I think it was a story from when I was a kid... But how would he of all people know that?" she said.
Everyone was silent for a minute. "I want to go home." she said quietly.
"Okay. We'll take you back to the Palais-" North began.
"No. I was to go to my house. My old house. From when I was a kid. And I need all of you to come with me." she said.
They all looked to each other, and then they nodded. "We will come. Can you tell us where it is sweety?" Tooth asked.
"No. I want to go in my tunnels. They'll know the way." she said. Her staff appeared in her hand and Zero seemed to be smiling. She tapped the ground with the end.
The ground opened up underneath their feet.
Kathryn's tunnels were similar to Bunnymunds. The only differences were that her tunnels were a lot darker. Giggling Jack-O-Lanterns lined the tunnel walls, being the only light source besides Sandy. Their lights illuminated the tunnel. The sound was high-pitched and kind of whispery, but loud enough for all of us to hear. It was so creepy it gave everyone a prickly feeling on the back of their necks. Jack looked into a darker part of the tunnel, and bats flew out, screeching. Tombstones littered the ground. Music could be heard, and despite the fact it was very elegant music, it made everything have an eerie sense. Kathryn wasn't at all fazed by it. She was flying ahead of the ground, arms out wide, and a toothy smile of her face. Zombie dogs that looked like a decomposed version of Zero, without the flight ability, came out of their caves in the piles of bones and barked at us. Zero barked in reply. The pumpkins all sang a quiet tune, disturbingly happy tune.
"Everyone hail to the Pumpkin Queen! The future of Halloween! Queen Queen Queen!"
They then got thrown from her tunnels, only Jack, Tooth, and Kathryn landed okay, due to their ability to fly. Sandy floated up, and North and Bunnymund groaned.
They looked around, and realized they were in the woods. It was dark, but fireflies suddenly seemed to be drawn to them, as they gathered close to the ground, giving a lighted path. A few more swarmed around Kathryn's hands and face.
"How did you do that?" Bunnymund asked.
"I dunno. I never actually figured out all my tricks, but it works with a lot of different animals and bugs. Spiders, fireflies, owls, bats, ravens, crows, that kinda stuff. They kinda just come when I need them, I don't know how though." she shrugged.
They walked forwards for a bit, everyone following closely behind Kathryn. "Kathryn, I'm not sure anything is out - "Jack started after what felt like they had been walking for an hour. "- here."
They came across an overgrown, abandoned cottage-like home. The wood was rotted, and there were holes in some places. Plants had overgrown the place, and other than that, the house looked like it was once a beautiful place. Kathryn paused.
"I forgot about his place..." she whispered.
"What?" they said.
"I can't remember anything up to a few years ago. It was like all the memories before that were just all gone. I remembered who I was, and what the Man in the Moon told me about the Palais Garnier, but I couldn't remember anything else. But something was calling me back here, and now I remember. I grew up here." she said.
She walked towards the door, and raised a shaky hand to the doorknob. She suddenly froze. "The door is rotted shut." she said disappointingly.
And then she did something that both shocked and amazed everyone. She passed through the door. Like a ghost. The door opened, and Kathryn smiled her toothy smile.
"Fixed it." she said.
North chuckled, and Jack rolled his eyes. Oh, of course. The creepy dead nightmare vampire girl can also pass through stuff. Like a ghost, he thought. I should've known.
They followed her into the old house, and everyone looked around. It looked pretty clean and tidy, if the cobwebs, moss, plants and animals hadn't taken refuge in the shelter.
Old dishes were still in cabinets, despite one cabinet being so rotted, the bottom had a hole in it. There was still furniture, and they could see bedrooms. There was one with a big bed, another room that looked the most untouched of them all, and one more off to the side.
"What's that?" Tooth asked, pointing at a dark stain on the floor. It was a disturbing color of dark crimson red.
Kathryn stared at the spot on the floor, as if she was trying to look at it long enough she'd remember how it got there. After about a minute and a half, she bit her lip.
"I can't remember. Probably just an animal dragging its kill in from the cold winter." she muttered.
She ran her fingers across the wall, and closed her eyes. She took a breath, and walked forward, keeping her hand to the wall. They followed slowly, as she walked into the smallest room off to the side.
In the bedroom, there was a small old-fashioned bed, that looked like it couldn't fit someone any older than a nine year old. Kathryn made a choking noise, like her breath caught in her throat.
"This was my room..." she whispered, half to herself, and half to the Guardians.
And then with a blink of an eye she threw herself on the floor in front of an old-looking toy bin. She hesitated, and then she pulled it open and immediately dug through it until she picked up a framed picture. The frame looked to be solid gold, and untouched by age.
But obviously, the photo inside had been. Kathryn took an angry, shaky breath, and closed her eyes. She opened them, and stared intently at the picture. Something sparked on her arm, and then a flame circled up around her arm, eventually going to the edge of the photo. She dropped it, shrugging. But the flame wasn't spreading to the floor. It just stayed on the picture.
She quickly grabbed a few other things in the room, putting them in a small bag, and started floating again."I'll become a Guardian." she said quietly, before going out of the room.
The Guardians followed her, and Jack looked at the photo on the ground. It was of a small girl, no more than five, holding on to what seemed to be her mother's hand, with a straight expression. She looked tired. Worn. He knew it was Kathryn, because of her cinnamon hair and her piercing green eyes. Then, the corner of the picture had been smeared with mud and rain.
He assumed that was where her father had been.
Okay, so this story isn't exactly like the Rise of the Guardians hype and all that, I kinda changed it. When I watched the movie, I never actually understood why if someone is kinda dark, misunderstood, and likes creepier things than everyone else, they automatically are the villain. I mean, they don't have to be evil! So that is how I created Kathryn, on that thought. She's based mostly on me. I wanted to make her seem like a Tim Burton-esq kinda girl, so she would be different than the rest of the Guardians. I know that because I made her like that, the rest of the story is going to be a bit odd, but this is what I wanted to happen. Oh, and I've been taking french for my whole life, but it's hard for me to write in both languages in one story, so here's the translation :
1. Yes yes! I thought I heard something over here!
2. There's nothing here Garret, you're stupid.
3. Why do you have to go somewhere every time you think you hear something that doesn't exist?
4. Okay... It was nothing.
5. Under the Palais Garnier, in one week, my dear.