When you feel my heat,
Look into my eyes,
It's where my demons hide,
It's where my demons hide.
Don't get too close,
It's dark inside,
It's where my demons hide,
It's where my demons hide.
"What's the point Jack, what did you do?" Pitch smiles, his crescent white grin still visible as he sinks into darkness.
Jack cries out, charging towards him blindly, flailing his staff. He runs deeper in the cave, but all he saw was blinding darkness, little did he know it was one of Bunny's tunnels.
He tried to turn back, but a wall was blocking his path. Then he realizes, "Baby Tooth!" he slams his fist on the wall in hopes of breaking it.
"Happy Easter Jack" Pitch's silky voice echoes the tunnels. Jack looks down and sees a trail of cracked eggshells. "No…" he breaths and charges forward to the end of the tunnel.
The morning dawned clear with the crispness of the cool air. The sun never shined brighter than before, making it the perfect day for egg hunting.
Almost perfect
Jack watches helplessly as the children went right through the Easter rabbit when he tried to hand them eggs.
"Jack," he hears North's voice call his name, he turns to see the jolly man looking exhausted with a sword in each hand. The ends of his coat were torn and nightmare sand stained the velvet red lining. "Where were you?" he sighs, planting both his swords on the grassy field. "The nightmares attacked the tunnels, smashed every basket, nothing made it to the surface."
The winter spirit was shocked, unable to say anything in comment.
"Jack…" Tooth swoops by, sounding relieved to see the frost child was okay, but her look of relief changes to suspicion when she spots the box of memories he held in his hands, "Where did you get that?"
Jack's heart nearly stopped, his mind scrambling for an explanation. "I was…"
She looks around, "And where's Baby Tooth?"
Jack's mouth opened and closed, trying to let out the explanation that was stuck in his throat. He knew what she was thinking,, he traded baby tooth for the memories, but none of that was true.
Tooth gasped, "Oh Jack, did have you done?"
"North takes over. "That is why you weren't here? You were with Pitch!?"
"No, listen listen" Jack struggles and gives a defeated sigh. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen."
Bunny is suddenly behind him. "He has to go" he says in his accented gruff voice.
"What?"
"We should never have trusted you!" the Pooka snaps, his fist making contact with the boy's cheek, causing him to fall over.
"Bunny!" Tooth scolds, although they were all stuck in their places, unable to move from shock.
Bunnymund was shocked himself but he hides his puzzlement with his anger, "Easter is about new life, new beginnings, Easter is about hope, and now it's gone." He spins around, trudging back to the center of the clearing.
Jack picks himself off the floor and turns to the others, expecting one of them to come forward for comfort, but Tooth, despite her range from Bunnymund hitting him, she just stares at him with a disappointed look and North, he just turns away. It hurt
Jack felt hot tears stinging his eyes; he digs in the pouch of his hoodie, fishing out North's Russian doll. He looks at it for a moment, then leaves it abandoned on the grassy field. With a gesture of his staff, he calls the wind, his one true companion, and commands it to take him far far away.
He collapses by a large glacier in Antarctica, bringing his knees up to his chest and burying his face in his arms. It felt like his soul has been mercilessly ripped out of his body. He never trusts anyone he meets, but he trusted the guardians, in hopes they could help him gain some believers, now Bunny here is the one saying they should never have trusted him. It's not like he wanted to trust them either.
Antarctica was always his favorite place to sulk; the cold arctic air stung his sore cheek, black and blue bruising beginning to appear on his pale skin.
When North first told him he was a guardian, he was reluctant, but he had to admit, being around them was actually fun, it made him feel like he was never alone, like he's known them for years and that hurts him more. Being turned away was actually normal for him, he was the bringer of winter, of unforgiving cold that could freeze people to death. The the other seasonal spirits turned him away and it was actually casual for him, but being turned away by the guardians, it broke his heart. He was never meant to be a guardian, not only does he bring joy to children but his blizzards kill life.
He never felt hatred towards the other guardians, no matter how many times they scold him, yell at him for the blizzard of 68 or leaving him confused and alone without knowledge of why he isn't seen by the children. But now, his anger was seething, there wasn't a decent explanation but he was seething. What would Sandy say about this? He looks up at the clouds, Sandy was gone.
Unconsciously his hand digs in the pouch of his hoodie again, drawing out the golden tin of his memories that was the cause of this whole situation. He scowls, his anger flaring in his eyes. He runs to the glacier's edge, his arm recoils, ready to toss the tooth box down the bottomless pit, but he didn't have the courage to. He tried again but his hand refuses to let go. He draws it back, taking a look at the picture of the lid that was supposedly him. He was curious of what was in his memories.
"I thought this might happen." Pitch appears behind him, his cold voice rings clear in his chain of thoughts. Jack clenches his jaw in anger, mouthing furious words.
"They never really believed in you," he continues I was just trying to show you, but I understand."
"You don't understand anything!" Jack shouts, blasting a ray of ice at him.
Pitch blocks his attack with his nightmare sand, the ice causes the sand particles to freeze. "I don't know what it's like to be cast out?"
Jack gives a war cry, flying high in the air and releases another attack.
"To not be believed in?" Pitch didn't stop, blocking away his attacks with a wall of nightmare sand.
Mist suddenly wipes out they vision. "To long for a family?" he stays behind Jack.
The hellion whips around, his plans seem to be working, the phrase made Jack lower his staff, his blue eyes wide.
"All those years in the shadows, I thought no one else knows what this feels like, but now I see I was wrong." The dark being moves closer to Jack who remains in his place, staring at the ground in deep thought. "We don't have to be alone Jack, I believe in you, and I know children will too."
"In me?"
"Yes!" he gestures at the frozen shards of nightmare sand. "Look at what we can do, what goes together better than cold and dark? We can make them believe, we'll give them a world where everything, everything is-"
"Pitch Black?" Jack finishes for him with a point of his staff.
"And Jack Frost too," Pitch corrects "They'll believe in both of us." He gestures at both of them, "all you have to do is shake my hand."
Jack raises his hand, but hesitates, biting his lip.
He needs more persuading.
"You want to be believed in right?" he asks.
"Yes…."
"Then trust me, I did it before and I can do it again, those children will see you in no time." Pitch grins, but it wasn't enough to convince the winter spirit to join him.
"I'm sorry Jack," he apologizes. "For earlier, I meant nothing about it, I was just trying to show you."
Jack refuses eye contact and continues to stare at the ground.
Pitch spots the bruise visible on his ivory pale skin. He moves closer, reaching out a hand, but the movement only terrifies the winter child causing him to move back.
"No, it's okay" he says softly, his grey hand reached under his chin, tilting his head up. "The rabbit did this to you didn't he?"
Jack nods solemnly, like he couldn't believe it himself.
"Well don't worry, I will never hurt you." Pitch pats him in the head. If the guardians could make him feel welcomed so can he. "I know there is darkness within you, I see it in your eyes, all you have to do is let it out." He continues to coax him.
When you feel my heat,
Look into my eyes,
It's where my demons hide,
It's where my demons hide.
Don't get too close,
It's dark inside,
It's where my demons hide,
It's where my demons hide.
Pitch was right; he did enjoy the fear in Sandy's eyes, Tooth's look of shock, North's disappointment and Bunny's anger. He belonged to darkness.
He's slightly convinced.
Pitch holds out his hand again and Jack takes it.
The nightmare king smirks, "welcome Jack, now come, I have a lot of things to show you" a barrier of darkness encompasses them, within seconds the scenery changed from the artic glaciers to pitch black darkness. He was back in the shadowy comforts of his lair.
Bunny finally realizes what he had done. Jack may be a 300 year old immortal spirit but he was still nothing but a mere child. He was a guardian, the protector of childhood yet he hit a child. What kind of guardian was he?
By the time the thought dawn on him, it was already too late, the Pooka grew anxious and he wanted to apologize for what he did albeit he hid his guilt. To Tooth and North he was still the furious Easter Bunny who couldn't calm down 'cause everyone in the world has stopped believing in him.
It was until he shrunk to the size of a defenseless little animal, he grew even more furious.
"We should go look for him," Tooth says, her wings beginning to go against her command.
"Why?" Bunny hisses "Without that show pony none of this would be happening, he betrayed us."
"We do not know that," North cuts in. "You know Pitch, he is manipulative."
"Yeah," Tooth agrees "He is the one who helped us collect the teeth."
"Yes, you promised to give him his memories if he did help us before, now that he got what he wanted he won't even bother with us." Bunny points out.
North sighs, for the first time he doesn't know what to do anymore, what Bunny was saying might be true, even if he refused to believe it. He glances at the globe of belief that used to be dotted with a billion lights, now slowly fading.
Pitch Black sat on his shadowy throne in the middle of his lair, watching the fading lights with pure mirth. He gloats about his enemies' downfall; he couldn't wait to see the look on their faces when he reveals Jack has joined his side.
The guardians really should learn how to take care of their treasures, they get a hold of something like Jack yet they carelessly turn him away like refuge, now the power belongs to him now, they were unstoppable. He glimpses at the winter spirit, who seemed lost, roving around his lair like he wasn't sure of which side he was actually on.
Meanwhile Jack was busy with his own thoughts. He tries to believe what he's doing is the right thing, but something deep down inside seems to be stopping him. He glances at the globe of belief. Pitch sure spent a lot of years making his plans, maybe he should help him, but the guardians spent their entire lives protecting the children too…He shakes his head violently in confusion, Which side was he really on?
He hears the thumping of Pitch's footsteps against the cold cement floor. He whips around to come face to face with the nightmare king smiling down at him. "What's the matter Jack?"
The frost child shakes his head. "Nothing."
Pitch's grey hand slides under his chin again, his thumb gently stroking the bruised surface of his cheek. "I know what is troubling you Jack, and I just wanted to remind you that the guardians will just throw you away like a used can of paint when they have defeated me with your power, you don't belong with them, you belong with me."
Jack shifts uncomfortable and squirms away from the hold under his chin. Pitch seemed more welcoming now; it confused his feelings even further.
The dark being moves and clamps a hand on his back. "Look at those golden lights, each of them believes in the guardians right?"
Jack nods
"Soon, the globe will be filled with those lights again, but instead the children believe in us, they will be able to see you, isn't that what you always wanted?" Pitch asks, slowly gaining his trust, he continues. "Have the guardians said anything about helping you gain believers?"
Jack shakes his head, lost for words.
"They don't care about you, but I do." He puts a hand where his heart supposedly was. He smirks when Jack turns to him and gives him a smile.
It's eternal night in this winter solstice…
I want to hide the truth,
I want to shelter you,
But with the beast inside,
There's nowhere we can hide.
No matter what we breed,
We still are made of greed,
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come.
Hello dear readers who have been following all my stories :D
I just started another chaptered story that lengthens my in progress crap list -_- oh joy….
Anyway this idea has been bothering me since the day I first watched the film, but I had a little trouble putting my thoughts into words.
But the song 'Demons' by Imagine Dragons inspired me. Of course I don't own the song, I own nothing albeit a certain part of the lyrics will be appearing every chapter and if you have heard it you might know how this story will turn out.
To further harness out the rough edges of this plot, a reviewer, namely Gabsters gave me a small idea, which really helped a lot even if it was just a small part, it helped big time, if your reading, thank you so much for the inspiration, your idea will be in the later chapters and to avoid any spoilers, I'll shut up now XD
Please leave a review :D