"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us."

Marianne Williamson

"Are you ready to see true darkness?"

Wirt's hand shook slightly as he held the lantern closer to his face, trying to regain composure while the Beast stood frozen in the wood. There was a moment of hesitance as he glanced around him; at the tree slowly enveloping his younger brother and the small bird flitting worriedly from branch to branch. The Beast remained still, watching onwards with blank eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Wirt opened the small metal door of the lantern.

"Ar-"His voice cracked, killing his momentary courage. Another deep breath. "Are you?"

Wirt lifted the lantern to his face as if to blow it out, freezing as the Beast bellowed.

"DON'T."

The hand of the Beast reached outwards as the shadowed creature trembled in what could have been fear or anger. It struck Wirt as odd, the desperation of the Beast only furthering his suspicion that the lantern was crucial to its existence.

"Don't." The Beast repeated.

Wirt lowered the lantern, exhaling with a sigh and a wearied glare towards the Beast. The two locked gazes, unable or willing to move. He thought about his options; considering the possibility of returning the lantern to the Woodsman and focusing on his return home. It just didn't seem complete, like he needed some sort of closure before he would feel comfortable leaving this place.

From behind the Beast, the Woodsman had gotten to his feet, and Wirt found himself able to break away from his thoughts momentarily. The Woodsman nodded almost imperceptibly as he gave Wirt a look that was both lost and resigned, and the boy made his decision.

Wirt opened the small metal door of the lantern once again, opening his mouth to speak yet closing it without a word. The Beast didn't need any confirmations or rambling poetic speeches before his soul was snuffed out, and Wirt certainly didn't need to waste his breath validating his actions. This needed to be done quickly. So that he and his brother could return home as soon as possible. For Greg.

It took one breath, and the world around him fell into complete darkness.

Wirt could vaguely hear the muffled gasps of Beatrice and the Woodsman as everything turned to black. He could still feel the cold metal of the lantern in his hand as he stood, attempting to call out to Beatrice but somehow not capable of making sound.

Instead of words, a soft glowing light escaped from his mouth and remained suspended in the air less than a foot in front of him. It permeated the darkness, and Wirt could see the small clearing of the wood once again.

Beatrice had perched upon the Woodsman's shoulder, and the two were as fixated upon the glowing orb as Wirt himself. Nothing moved while it pulsed slowly in the center of the clearing.

Wirt watched it in awe, but in the back of his mind he felt a trace of fear.

Slowly, the orb spiraled downwards, glowing brighter with every second. Wirt followed it with his gaze, freezing as he caught sight of the hand still grasping tightly to the lantern. While the light grew brighter, he could see that his body was slowly fading, becoming almost translucent. Something clicked, and there was a moment of realization as his mouthed opened in a soft gasp. Wirt looked up towards Beatrice, fear in his eyes as the light made its way towards its destination.

"Beatrice?" he found his voice once again, and he continued on with more determination. "I need you to help Greg get home. Tell him I need to stay here for awhile, or that I'll try and come back later- I don't know, just promise me you'll get him home, okay?"

"I promise…." for once the small bird had surprisingly little to say.

Wirt looked back down at his hand, barely visible in the light that was growing brighter by the second. He could tell that he only had a few seconds, if that. And although the proper reaction probably should have been fear or sadness, he just felt sort of shocked.

He took a breath, glancing back up towards Beatrice as she watched on with worried eyes. The necessity to say something, yet not quite knowing what.

"Goodbye, Beatrice"

As the lantern flooded with light it fell from invisible fingers and hit the ground. Flickering madly for a moment before continuing to shine upon the wood.

Beatrice flew down to the small pile of clothes at the base of the lantern, a small pair of scissors laying atop a familiar blue cape.

"Goodbye Wirt."

AN: The chapters from this point on will be considerably longer, and hopefully the first real chapter will be up by next week. Thank you all for reading 3