Eternal

By Saffire Blade

Summary: "Belief is ever fleeting Jack," said Pitch. "Worlds come and go and stars die, even fun and fear doesn't last forever. But cold and dark, are eternal."

Part 1

The howling wind rushed over the white wasteland, stretching out for miles across the open plane. The once tall trees had fallen and mighty mountain buried under layers upon layers of fallen snow, even the once furious, thrashing waves of the ocean were stopped in their tracks, forever frozen in jagged glaciers.

In the very centre of this nothingness, under the orange veil of the dying sun and the light of full moon, sat a being of white and cold wielding a wooden staff. He blended into the empty back-ground, hair as white as virgin snow and eyes like the deepest ocean, and one if one were to stare deeper they would see the veins resembled two fallen snowflakes.

So much time had passed, so much had changed over the past millennia, but no matter how far he tried to run or how long he hid the wind would always bring him back this exact spot. Underneath miles of snow and ice, forever frozen in time was his lake and the remains of the town of Burgess and its people.

"Why did you have to leave?" Jack asked hand pressed flat over the snow, as if willing it to open and swallow him as it had done his home.

It all began many a millennia ago, when the world was so warm, so colourful and so full of wonder and life, yet still so empty. He had travelled the world, never seen, never heard and never believed in.

"Jack Frost." Then those two words changed everything.

A face, a child whose face Jack could no longer remember brought such light to his once bleak world. Someone saw him, finally saw him and his life began to change for the better, it grew brighter and had drawn in so many loving people, people Jack would later come to call his family. Those were the happiest years of Jack's life and for the longest time he was content. He had children to play with during the day and the Guardians to welcome him home every night. Everything had been so perfect until...

He stood amongst a sea of black and grey. Frozen grass crunched underneath his feet and all around him were slabs of grey stone embedded in the ground, with names and dates carved along the smooth surface. These meant nothing to Jack except the one in front of him.

As an immortal, death played little to no role in Jack's life. Yes he could die if children stopped believing in him or if winter came to a stop all together, but it was just an occupational hazard. As long as he did his job and kept out of trouble (for the most part), fear could never catch him, never claim him.

A heavy handed patted him on the shoulder.

"This is why we cannot get close," said a deep and wise voice. "Our time with them is so short and so fragile."

"Does it always feel like this?" Jack choked. "Does it ever get better?"

"The first is always the hardest. They are so special and most precious." There was a heavy silence, followed by a mournful sigh. "No Jack, it will never feel this hard, but that does not mean it will get any easier."

Tears he had been holding back so long finally fell and with it a heavy blanket of snow descended over the graveyard. Virgin snow purified the sea of grey and obscuring the writing of the newly placed gravestone which read;

Here lies Jamie Bennett.

A golden light sailed in from the west and with it came twilight. The snow was bathed in a warm light as sparkling sand descended over the land. Jack did not need to look up to know a ship made entirely of sand was sailing across the horizon, forever moving with setting sun and bringing sweet dreams to the children of the world.

At least it would if there were any children left to dream.

A small, round and golden man drifted downwards from his magnificent ship, a trail of dream sand following his every move. Sanderson Mansnoozie, the first of the Guardians of Childhood and one of the two remaining Guardians left.

Jack turned his face away from the tranquil figure, taking in several deep breaths to calm his nerves and wiping the stray tears from the corner of his eyes with the back of his hand, grateful his body temperature wasn't low enough to freeze the salt water to his cheek and eyelashes.

Jack offered a week smile to the fallen star who returned it with a sympathetic one own and laid a small, yet strong hand on Jack's shoulder. Much like his friends before him, Jack had come to understand the fallen star without the need for words and thanks to many more centuries together Jack could now fully converse with Sandy without the other needing to resort to miming with his dream sand.

"I miss him." Jack mumbled, brushing off Sandy's hold and using his staff to help rise to his feet. "I miss them."

Sandy's eyes shined with the light of the sun itself as turned towards the full moon and pointed.

Jack followed the elders gaze and his eyes widened in awe. The moon was closer than Jack had ever seen it before and several times as bright. It shook with life, the plates of the rotating satellite rubbed against each other, the vibrations powerful enough to cause the wind wash of them like a power tsunami as the ice to cracked under his feet. The plates separated and the moon itself began to unfold, a giant mast emerging from within and with it two beautiful golden sails, like two large lunar moth wings unfolded and flapped amongst the sea of stars.

"It's time," Jack translated.

The Moon Clipper rose again.

Jack once heard fate had a funny way of repeating itself and much like the battle of the Nightmare King, it all began with Tooth.

Life was ever changing, ever adapting to new environments and humans were no exception to this law. Society had changed, where old customs and traditions no longer held a place in the world and they slowly faded from the minds of adults who never passed on those traditions to their children, the next believers. No longer were children taught that if they put a baby tooth under their pillows, a fairy would visit the in the night and leave behind a present.

No one saw it coming. It happened gradually at first, a few fallen believers here and there, but nothing that would demand a lot of attention. Then after a few decades the numbers dropped quite rapidly. Even with so many fairies for every fallen tooth, their queen could not keep the belief going no matter how hard she tried. The next generation of children who never grew up with the Tooth Fairy, simply could not fathom why they kept finding loose change under their pillows and shrugged it off as mere coincidence. Desperate, Tooth left even more extravagant gifts behind but with no name, no whispers of a fairy that visited at night, the children could not put a face to a name they'd never hear of and Tooth's belief vanished.

Jack could only watch as the once beautiful and vibrant colours of the humming bird woman fade into dull browns and greys. Her feathers dropped one by one, as did her fairies who lost the ability to fly with every fading believer. And then Tooth's once bright pink, amethyst eyes looked into Jack's own one last time before she too left this world, her feathers carried away by the mourning wind and raining down over the crumbling palace like fallen tears.

Sandy waved his dreamsand around the two of them and together they rose from the dying planet on an island of sand and flew towards the majestic ship of the Golden Age. Jack couldn't keep his eyes off the giant vessel whose sails could block out the very sun if they wished. Moonbots ran up and down the deck, each going to their designated positions, operating machinery and pulling levers. The Lunar moths flew overhead, orbited the ship as the Moon beams whizzed happily around underfoot, eagerly wanting to see everything at once.

They rose higher and higher, higher than Jack had ever flown before and as they continued ascending the Moon Clipper only grew larger in mass and air grew thinner. It was then Jack felt his entire body jerk back and if it were not for Sandy's sand whips he would have plummeted off the cloud.

"Wind!" Jack gasped, practically throwing himself over the side, hand outstretched as if to grab hold of an invisible hand. "Stop! Go back, you can't come with us!"

The wind howled furiously and clung on desperately, the sheer determination strong enough to Jack's cheek like the worst paper cut. It was unbearably warm and dry like a desert storm and Jack felt the frost melt from his cloak.

"Please! You won't survive out in space, it'll kill you," Jack begged, feeling the wind beginning to fade under his grip. "You have to turn back!"

The wind was no longer hot, dry and unwelcoming, now it weaker as it brushed over Jack's face with a loving caress, cold and damp. The wind was crying and Jack cried with it.

"I'm so sorry," he sobbed. "Goodbye my friend."

Jack released his hold.

The once loving embrace of the north wind slipped through his fingers and a part of Jack's soul fell with it. Thrown back onto the cloud, Sandy's sand released Jack, who curled up on his side, arm still pointed outwards. The once constant cold of the wind was no longer there to sooth him, the strong hold encasing him since he first rose from the ice was no longer there to lift him up or catch him if he fell. Worse yet, the loss of his first and oldest companion, even in the driest of lands, the deepest of caves, in the smallest of spaces, the wind would always manage to reach him. No matter how lost or lonely he thought he was, the wind was there, always a whisper away.

For the first time since his rebirth, Jack felt heavy.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

With the loss of superstition, lead to the loss of Christmas. Back then it seemed impossible how a man larger than life like north, filled with so much joy and childlike wonder could simply fade into nothingness, snuffed out like a fragile candle light from a gentle breeze.

Even though they were prepared this time, slowly but gradually people stopped putting up Christmas trees, stopped hanging up colourful lights and wrapping presents for loved ones. Children were no longer raised to believe that on one special day of the year a jolly old man in red with a white beard would come down the chimney and leave presents to all the good boys and girls of the world.

The giant and powerful form of North began to crumble, his body grew weaker, the once kind hearted smile and faded and the Guardian of wonder was just a shadow of his former self. For the first time since Jack had known North, Father Christmas finally looked like an old man and when his body became too heavy, North fell and faded from this world as well. The elves and yetis held a ceremony in his honour and the remaining Guardians stood where their great leader once stood.

Not long after the workshop vanished, Jack to this day could not figure out if the Yetis and Elves faded not long after or left the Workshop all together, venturing into the surrounding mountains, away from mankind.

Sandy helped Jack step aboard the Moon Clipper, who stumbled onto the deck with heavy legs, no longer walking with the same light spring in his step. Without the wind's loving embrace to keep him afloat Jack felt like his feet were made of lead and used his staff as a crutch to keep himself up. Sandy patted Jack on the shoulder and ushered him towards the bridge. All around them Moonbots walked back and forth, but never once bumped into the two Guardians. Jack's eyes darted back and forth, wanting to take in everything he was seeing, the fresh colours, the loud noises and the movements. How long had been since he'd seen so many people moving about with such urgency and life, even if it they were robots?

Sandy silently clapped his hands in delight and Jack felt his throat close up as the biggest Lunar Moth of them all descended over the bridge, and on its back was a short, round man in an elegant white suit. He was bald expect for a single wisp of hair that curled above his head and all around him more Lunar moths gathered, and scurrying underfoot the lunar mice rushed towards the two guardians, a good few climbing up Jack's staff for a closer look at the Guardian of fun. Even Jack had to admit they looked cute in their little hats and sailor outfits.

"Sanderson Mansnoozie and Jackson Overland Frost, I welcome you aboard the Moon Clipper." The man greeted and he smiled with the same kindness and affection only a child could give. There was no denying who that face belong to.

"The Moon in the Moon." Jack mouthed to himself, absentmindedly brushing off one the mice now on his shoulder.

Sandy ignored the mice and bowed at the last son of the royal Tsar, waving his dreamsand about in various fashions, no doubt greeting their host, which Jack quickly returned with a grateful "thank you".

"I apologize for making the two of you wait for so long," the mighty Tsar said. "Had I predicted the events to come, my Moonbots and I would have acted sooner in restoring the Moon Clipper to operating conditions," he sighed heavily, revealing his real age. "Perhaps if I had been more prepared, I could have acted sooner and saved our fallen comrades and the remaining children from this dying planet."

Jack lowered his eyes, wanting nothing more than to go back to another time, when their three friends were alive and still believed in by many, when Jamie and Sophie, and their friends were still just children. He had known the future of this planet, he would have swept the children away from it all, flown them up onto the moon himself and spared them the same fate awaiting the rest of the planet.

But that was a long time ago.

Sandy's dreamsand continued to twirl about over his golden head, creating several beautiful images.

What of the others?

"Though we have lost friends along the way, those not bound to children took their leave a long time ago." MiM explained. "Nightlight left with Ombric and Mother Goose long ago. Mother Nature has chosen to stay behind with the Ice age, no doubt hoping to bring back plant life one day. And many others took their leave a long time ago. I can only apologize for making the two you wait so long."

"We're Guardians," Jack explained matter of fact. "We chose to stay until the last light died, whether they still believed or not."

Tsar nodded. "And the last light has indeed faded. There is nothing left for us on this planet."

He raised his arm and in one flooded motion the Moonbots stood at their stations as an unseeing force flowed through the shimmering sails of the Moon Clipper. The entire deck jerked and Jack nearly toppled over. The Moon beams fluttered brightly as the Moon Clipper fought against the hold of Earth's gravitational pull. The Lunar Moth's flapped their wings, trying to add power to the sails and even Sandy's launched himself into the air, ordering his dreamsand to circle underneath the hull of the ship, pushing up with all of his might. The entire ship creaked loudly all around them and for a moment Jack was sure the Moon Clipper would collapse under its own weight.

There was a sudden pull and this time Jack did fall over, sending the Lunar mice flying across the deck. The Moon Clipper escaped the pull and was now flying through space, away from the dying sun and the frozen planet. Sandy collapsed beside Jack and the younger Guardian was by his side in a second, helping the elder to his feet, who he gave a weak thumbs up in return despite the strain on his body.

Climbing back to his feet Jack grabbed onto one of the railings and leant over the side, eyes filled with awe as shooting stars fell all around them. The vastness of space moved all around them and even though he was being held down by the Moon Clipper's artificial gravity, Jack felt light and agile on his feet once more.

A baby lunar moth swept over his head and Jack just managed to duck and followed the giant insect as it circled the back of the ship. It was then Jack saw the icy blue planet grew smaller in the distance.

"Do you think there will be other worlds out there?" Jack whispered to no one in particular, afraid to look away from what would probably the last glimpse of his home planet.

"Anything is possible." Tsar answered somewhere behind him, Sandy no doubt by his side. "After all there were many species and inhabitable planets back during the Golden Age; The Tsar Empire, shooting stars, Nightlight, even the ancient Pooka race. Who is to say there are not others waiting to be discovered? Anything is possible as long as he have hope."

"Yeah, hope..."

With the fall of Christmas, it was only a matter of time before Easter too fell into neglect as well. Children no longer heard stories of a bunny handing out chocolate eggs on the first day of spring. The incident brought back too many bad memories for Bunny, when Easter had nearly been ruined last time, back when the Nightmare King caused havoc on the world. Jack and Sandy tried to help out as much as they could, but even Sandy's woven dreams of a large bunny bringing treats to children around the world wasn't enough to convince them of the Easter bunny's existence.

It was then when E. Aster Bunnymund reverted back into a tiny rabbit Jack fell into despair. Their view remaining believers were almost gone, Sandy's sand no longer shined nearly as bright and Jack could barely even conjure a snowball. He collected the tiny rabbit into his arms and wept into Sandy's shoulder, ready to fade out of existence with the remaining members of his family.

Desperate times called for desperate measures and with great reluctance Sanderson Mansnoozie went to the Man in the Moon himself for help. Jack had no clue what the shooting star was up to until he felt Tsar Lunar's hold over him vanish and a new hold took over, a new master coming from the cold around him. For the first time, Jack never felt like the embodiment of winter but an agent for it, and as it turned out Bunny felt the same. Although the Pooka regained his height and appearance, he lost all of the powers MiM granted him and now found a new power source through spring itself. While they were no longer the Guardians of Childhood or nearly as powerful, they no longer had to fear dying from lack of belief. The three stayed strong and tried to help children anyway they could. Sandy continued bringing sweet dreams to the children of the world, Jack brought fun snow days and Bunny brought hope every spring...

Until one day there was no more spring...

The frozen planet had long since drifted behind the fading sun, but jack could not turn his gaze away from the sun that had greeted him every morning of his life and afterlife. It was only when the sun was no bigger than a blinking star, did he turn away and wipe away the tears from his eyes he didn't' even know were leaking.

And then he saw it.

Hidden amongst the dark blue and purple swirls of space was a sinister, twisted black ship with shredded sails. The vessel cut through space as swiftly and as elegantly as a manta ray slipping unnoticed on the ocean floor. On board, humanoid figures made entirely in shadows with haunting amber eyes swarmed the bridge and swinging from the railings, each wielding a jagged cutlass. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that they were Dream Pirates, the fearling crew to the Nightmare Galleon.

And at the very centre of all this chaos, standing at the helm was a tall figure shrouded in the blackest of black. Whereas his crew moved fluidly without mass, he stood firm and stoic like a lone island under a typhoon, his eyes staring down the Moon Clipper, eyes with the same intensity as a solar eclipse.

"Pitch Black," Jack breathed.

It seemed not that long ago when Jack and the Guardian first defeated the Nightmare King and put a stop to his evil scheme. True to his word as long as there was fear in the world, Pitch Black would always return.

Another lesson Jack quickly learnt was that much like how death was an uncommon concept to most spirits, the same rule applied to grudges. Immortals were so few in number that they could not afford to turn away one of their own. No one trusted Pitch as far as they could throw him but the moment he graciously accepted defeat to MiM, the royal Tsar only smiled and accepted, like they had just played a friendly game of chess.

Spirits also had little concept over trivial matters like time and Pitch's years of imprisonment was treated nothing more than a slap on the wrist. True, he didn't seek revenge straight away, treating his new found freedom like a well-deserved holiday, but that didn't mean he didn't stir up trouble every now and then (or worse, try to indulge Jack in friendly conversation).

Every family had a black sheep and unfortunately for Jack, Pitch was theirs, for better or for worse.

The vessel drifted alongside the Moon Clipper and Jack gripped his staff tightly as Sandy produced two golden whips. Face to face, Pitch's sharp and contrasting eyes locked with those of the last Tsar Lunar, who's soft and mischief's orbs twinkled with childlike delight. Despite how many miles per hour the two ships were travelling, the two captains remained locked in their gaze for what seemed like any eternity, a silent conversation passing between the two. Eye contact finally broke and Pitch's eyes trailed lazily over the bridge before fixating on Sandy, who cracked his whips in warning, before silver and gold found icy blue.

Jack let out a silent gasp and his grip over his staff only tightened, to the point Jack was almost sure it would snap in half. He wasn't afraid though, not of Pitch. Pitch hadn't been able to touch or so much as glimpse at Jack's fears for a long time now, and he never would again. His eyes must have been playing tricks on him though, as Jack could have sworn for a fraction of a second Pitch's eyes gleamed menacingly and his lips twitch, but it was gone as quickly as it came and Pitch turned away from the ship and its crew, an utter look of boredom crossing his features. The two ships drifted apart and the Nightmare Galleon grew smaller in the distance as the coldness of space swallowed them up.

"Where is he going?" Jack asked.

"The same place as us I imagine," Tsar said calmly, although his eyes twinkled with newfound excitement.

"And where's that?"

"A New Golden Age."

End of Part 1