Easter Day

Jack? Who's voice was that? Jack! A girl's voice? Off in the distance! Jack!

He flew down past the pond and through darkened trees. An old bed frame rest over a hole. He paused as Baby Tooth shouted words at him.

"It will be alright." He laughed. "I just want to take a look."

He brought his frost staff above one of the wooden planks. He hit it several times causing splinters to fly. Taking a breath he jumped in down the tunnel. Baby Tooth flew after him in fear; she didn't like what he was doing. He landed at the bottom of the tunnel; concrete and dust greeted his feet firmly. There were massive stone pillars and bridges, shadows loomed over the walls and the other tunnels.

Baby Tooth began to chirp up again pulling on his sweater.

"Baby Tooth! It's alright, I just want to find out what that is!" He waved his hands.

A sounding chirp came from a cage just above. He flew up to one of the cages and they all perked up and chirped in his presence.

"Hush, I'm going to get you out of here." He told them.

Jack? The voice called again. He turned to see a large pile of golden boxes. He then proceeded over to a pile furiously searching for the voice.

"Looking for something?" A shadow loomed over him.

He turned around aiming a shock of frost at the shadow. Pitch had disappeared but Jack took chase after the Boogeyman. He turned a corner puzzled, the nightmare was not there. A laugh came from all around him.

"Don't be afraid, Jack. I'm not going to hurt you."

Jack spotted Pitch on a ledge and leaped after him; his side slamming into the solid surface.

"Afraid?" He questioned. "I'm not afraid of you."

He held his staff ready to strike as he slipped closer to Pitch.

"Maybe not, but you are afraid of something." Pitch turned around.

Jack's heart fluttered but he didn't let it show. "You think so huh?" He laughed.

"I know so!" Pitch's voice broke with a chuckle. "It's the one thing I always know; people's greatest fears." A smirk crossed his face. "Yours is that no one will ever believe in you. Hehehehehe."

Pitch's shadow crossed Jack's scared face. He fell down into the tunnel of darkness losing his staff.

"And most of all," the Boogeyman's voice was cheery.

Jack fell to the floor trying to regain his staff quickly. He felt the cold bark and swooped it up facing his back to a wall.

"You're afraid you'll never know why! Why you Jack? Why were you chosen to be like this?"

Jack's breath became rapid and exhausting. His chest heaved as his eyes pierced around in the dark looking for the shadow. Pitch became very close to him; Jack stood tall up against the wall trying to get away.

"Well fear not." Pitch whispered. "For the answer to that is right here."

His had crept out of the shadows holding a golden memory box. Jack's face was on the end. Hope surrounded Jack as he reached for the box. He was afraid of what he'd see so he didn't take it. The action was followed by Pitch's horrid laugh.

"Everything you wanted to know, in this little box."

The shadow faded away. Jack ran down a flight of stairs attempting to take back what was rightfully his. The hope melted away like summer and his heart was corrupted by black.

"Why did you end up like this? Unseen, unable to reach out to anyone?" The dark Pitch teased Jack.

As quickly as he could, Jack flew up to the shadow and was blocked again by a wall. He could feel Pitch inside his head messing with his emotions and feelings.

"Oh you want the answers so bad!" The voice laughed. "You want to grab them and fly off with them!" Shadows loomed on the walls. "But you're afraid."

Four, six, eight shadows surrounded Jack. He couldn't keep up with the real Pitch. His head swirled with questions and retorts but Jack knew better than to feed Pitch's fun.

"You're afraid of what the guardians think! You're afraid of disappointing them!"

Jack kept turning trying to keep up. His knees were weak and his breath was barley visible.

"Well let me tell you one thing." Pitch was behind Jack. "They'll never accept you, not really."

Jack's heart and feelings were overwhelmed.

Jack moaned in frustration, "Stop it! Stop it, stop it!" He covered his ears.

Tears threatened to form in his ice blue eyes but he swallowed back in panic.

"Well… You're not one of them." The Boogeyman taunted.

Pitch came out of the shadows towards the globe of lights.

"You don't know what I am!" Jack threatened back.

He held his staff ready in front of his body pointing at Pitch. Pitch just laughed and shrugged.

"Well of course I do!" He smiled. "You're Jack Frost!"

Jack backed up hitting the globe with his staff.

"You mess up wherever you go. Why, you're doing it right now."

Jack's eyes widened. Pitch tossed the golden box of memories at him. He swiftly caught it drawing his attention to curiosity. Realization took over and he looked up again.

"What did you do?" He whispered.

"No Jack, what did you do?" And Pitch was gone.

Jack raised his staff; it was glowing with frost. He ran towards where Pitch had faded away only to bump into a mossy green wall.

"Baby Tooth!" He hit the wall but it wouldn't budge.

Happy Easter… Jack.

Jack turned around relieved Pitch was gone. In front of Jack lay hundreds and thousands of Easter eggs smashed and broken. The panic started up again in his stomach threatening to push upwards. He flew towards the clearing were Bunnymund was. Everyone came out with worried expressions.

"Where were you Jack?" Toothiana asked.

"I was… I just…" Jack didn't know how to put words onto his tongue.

"Where's Baby Tooth?" She asked again concern in her voice.

Jack went to speak but Toothiana got to him first.

"Oh, Jack." She covered her mouth. "What have you done?"

Jack firmly held the capsule of teeth in his hand. North stood tall and angry beside the tooth fairy. His eyes glared down at Jack in disappointment.

"You were with Pitch?" North asked.

Jack tried to calm them down, "No, listen, listen." He took a breath, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen."

Bunnymund hopped up behind him, his ears back and a sour pout across his furry face. "He has to go. We should never have trusted you!" He yelled in anger raising a fist.

Jack backed away shocked. He never wanted to hurt anyone. He didn't understand why the Guardians did not understand. Tears threatened to leak down his face but he held back.

"Easter is about new beginnings, Jack." Bunnymund said. "Easter is about hope, and now it's all gone." He turned away.

Jack turned to North and Toothiana in hopes of solitude. His chest filled with sorrow; a pain unlike before as they turned away from him. Jack flew away as sorry and frustration crept up. He didn't want to say anything more. Frost flew high into the cold North and found a ledge that dug deep into the ice bellow him. He ran up attempting to throw away the memory box. Regret and shame stopped his arm and hand from letting go. Throwing the box away would make things worse.

"They never really believed in you, did they?" A deep voice spoke from behind him.

Jack furrowed his brown eyebrows. The tension built up in his arms and frost glowed on the staff. He turned around anger steaming as he struck at Pitch with frost. Pitch commanded sand to block the strike. Jack only hit again and again until the ice built up and formed into dry ice. The dry ice hit the sand sending both Pitch and Jack in opposite directions.

"I know what it's like not being believed in!" Pitch yelled. "To long for a family..."

Jack stopped from striking again. Did Pitch really mean what he said? All those years living in the shadows, not having any connection with others; that was how Jack felt.

"We don't have to be alone Jack." Pitch walked around him. "I believe in you, and I know children will too."

Jack frowned but kept his mouth shut. He was thinking.

"They will believe in me?" He asked.

"Yes, Jack. Look at what we can do!" Pitch showed the massive spiked creation of black ice before them.

It loomed high and mighty over the two of them. Although Jack did not want to make nightmares, he wanted people to believe in him.

"We'll give them a world where everything, everything is-"

"Pitch Black?" Jack questioned not liking the outcome.

"And you too Jack, Jack Frost." Pitch smiled folding his hands behind his back.

"No, just leave me alone." Jack turned walking away.

A familiar squeak echoed behind Jack. He turned to see Baby Tooth being squeezed in the grey hand of Pitch.

"Baby Tooth!" He flew back aiming the staff. "Let her go." He said firmly.

"No!" Pitch said. "The staff Jack! Give me the staff!" He held out a hand.

Jack hesitated, "Let Baby Tooth go!"

Pitch kept his hand still ready to equip the staff. Jack handed it over waiting for Baby Tooth's release.

"Well? Let her go." Jack held out his hand.

"No."

Baby Tooth jabbed Pitch's hand with her nose beak feeling Pitch release her. She flew towards Jack for safety. Pitch angrily snapped Jack's staff in two. No Jack mouthed feeling like his heart and soul were snapped as well. A dark force overcame him and he fell to the ground. He curled up as if his energy source was the staff and the breaking caused darkness to take over.

"Now all you need is a touch of fear." Pitch touched Jack's head sending sand around him.

Pitch laughed throwing Jack against an ice wall and down a crack in the ice. He fell down into a depression landing just as hard as he did on the ice. Jack could feel the darkness take him over as it did with Sandy. The dark tainted his pale skin to a lighter shade of grey. His eyes were white with little specks of sapphire blue still left. His hair was ruffled and dull. The frost around his clothes turned into brinicle; a deadly form of ice that froze anything in its path. Jack's lips were a shade of blue grey; as if hypothermia took place. His heart was crusted over an evil black and nightmares loomed around him. Baby Tooth shrieked as she watched Jack turn into something horrible. She tried to make Jack see the memories but he refused. He sat there saddened; his white eyes open and searching. He no longer felt the need to be happy or sad. He slugged up to the ice wall and rested his head against the cold comforting surface.

"Don't touch me." He told Baby Tooth.

She didn't listen. She touched Jack's hand and froze instantly where she stood. The ice formed over her killing her in a heart beat.

"What a pretty ornament." Jack took Baby Tooth in his hands. "It's as if you are forever sleeping in a capsule of ice."

A smirk crawled across his face.