Quote and characters are from Rise of the Guardians. This is a fan based work. Please support the official release.
It took centuries of planning and years of work, but it was all about to pay off. The plans were nearly complete! Easter was destroyed, the children were rapidly losing faith in their precious Guardians…soon there would be nothing in my way!
All that was needed was that boy. The neutral party it had been a mistake to ignore. The Man In the Moon saved him from that ice for a reason. I should've known that much. Now, he was the Achilles heal in both our plans.
Jack Frost…neutral party my foot. The way that boy destroyed my precious nightmares…
But yet he wasn't with the Guardians, not truly anyways. That boy cared nothing about this fight…all he cared about was his precious memories.
Who would've thought that would make my plans so much simpler? By abandoning that little fairy for the box, he sealed his betrayal with the Guardians…of course my nightmares were already at the Warren with or without Frost, but this made it much sweeter of a victory.
I waited on the frozen tundra. You hear rumors about other spirits, even those who weren't Guardians. I knew this place was the one place other than Burgess the boy felt at home. He wouldn't dare go back to his pond after his failures.
I had originally hoped to make him one of my fearlings. Torment him further until he was broken enough to surrender his will fully. True he was a nuisance, but the boy had too much power in his body for me to just waste it…
With him, nothing would stop me from destroying those Guardians. Even sweeter was the thought of them being destroyed by someone they thought was their own. It was too perfect.
How long does it take the boy to get here? I Did he already go somewhere else? No, he had to be here.
I sat down for a time; I didn't even see my lids drooping down.
Suddenly, a memory from long ago creeps into my mind. It had been years since I've had these memories:
The castle was dark and cold. Nothing but despair. From an outsider's eye, this place would've looked ominous. But in reality, it was a prison. A prison for fear.
One man guarded it. A lonely and desolate man who had fallen from his golden age years ago. He was once a great general who led countless armies across the stars. He led the skies into a prosperous era known as the Golden Age. But that mattered little to him.
What had mattered were the ones he cherished at home. He had a beautiful wife. She was fairer than all the women in his village; he met her before his golden years, and was surprised he was the man she chose…
Soon, they were married and had the most wonderful daughter…Emily…he would give her anything her heart desired…he would've give her the stars…
But as with all good things, they come to an end…
And a bitter one at that…
The man rode home one day after being sent on a false lead…only to find his wife dead in his arms…
He couldn't find his daughter…she was long gone…he was miserable ever since…
Now he was trapped in the same hell as those monsters. No other form of contact. No sunlight. No hope. Just a small locket of a young girl to keep him sane.
"Daddy!" The man wheeled around as he heard a familiar voice screaming from inside the prison.
It couldn't be.
"Daddy, help! It's scary in here!" "Emily?" The man rethought about it, "Kozmotis, don't be a fool! Your daughter's been missing for years. There's no way she could be in there!" "Daddy, please help me!" The man went to the door, turned the keys, but he only put his hands on the knob. The knob felt cold to the touch. He hesitated…he should know his daughter can't possibly be in there. She was somewhere far away from here…
What if she had found out where he was…what if she wanted to see him after all this time…
He hesitated for a while. The possibility that his daughter might be in there, and the fact that she couldn't be was tearing him up inside.
"NO!" "EMILY!" He didn't hesitate any longer. He opened the door and ran in. He stared around and saw nothing but shadows. Of course she wasn't here. He had finally gone mad after all this time.
Still, one thing was clear, he needed to leave before it was too late.
Suddenly he felt his body being ripped open, his heart ached…his soul was being torn to shreds…all anyone could hear was one long scream…
I woke up hitting and kicking air. I must've dozed off. I didn't realize I was that tired, or bored. After all, taking over the world can take a bit of a toll.
Jack! I might've slept too long! What if I had slept too long? Did the boy go back to the lake?
Banishing sleep from my eyes, I look back towards a cascading ice cliff. The temperature dropped and the snow began to flurry faster than even this climate's predictable weather patterns.
Jack Frost had arrived. Just as expected. His despair rolling off him in waves. This was perfect. It would be so easy to break his spirit now. I was about to begin this process…
But someone else had stopped me…someone I only know in a dream…who was exactly like the boy…
I peered into his memory box long before he arrived in my lair. I knew a little trick to break into those memories, just like I had figured out how to tamper with the sandman's dream sand. I already knew Jack Frost before he became the little pest he is today. I had seen him save his sister from falling into the ice at the cost of his own life. It would've been a mercy if the Man In the Moon just let the boy drown, instead of condemning the boy to this eternal hell.
An eternity of being hated…unloved…losing everything and gaining nothing…
In many ways, the boy was no different from myself; my younger, more naïve self. Only to be embittered by…this.
Did he really think the Guardians cared? They didn't even give him a chance to explain himself when Easter was destroyed. None of them offered him any sympathy. Just like they never offered it to the boogeyman.
I look up at him. He deserved better, we both do. I finally decided. I wasn't gonna force Jack into this…I wouldn't torment him anymore than those worthless spirits did…
"I thought this might happen," I started.
I told him that they never believed him. It was the truth, they didn't. He may be 300 years old, but he was still a child. He needed to accept reality. No matter how harsh!
Still, I was sympathetic.
He was angry and hostile at first and we fought for a couple moments.
He says I don't understand?
I do, more than anyone could even imagine!
In one brief moment of weakness, I let him know this fact. Cast out, walked through, unloved…I longed for a family for millennia. The family I had lost so long ago. He didn't need to know though…
He lowered his guard. I knew he understood.
I believed together, he and I could be great! We would no longer be alone. We don't have to be two miserable existences wandering for eternity until judgment day. I look at the ice sculpture our powers combined had built! It was beautiful! A whole future demonstrated in a masterpiece of cold and dark.
For the first time in years, I felt hopeful. There was no way he'd refuse this offer! But still, we hadn't gotten off to good terms over the past couple days. Maybe it was the way I was going off about it, but he thought I was going to use him…
Of course, I wasn't. Did I at first, maybe…but that wasn't so anymore. He wasn't like those useless creatures. He was more than that. He would be a partner…a prince…a son…
I had a daughter. I thought I had another in that girl Katharine. But my own daughter abandoned me, and I was forbidden to call Katharine mine. Both of them began to hate me.
But Jack could be different, neither Emily nor Katharine ever understood this fate. Jack did. He was almost exactly like me in so many ways. The boy and I could be a family. He'd have a place where he belonged. I'd be a father again, and have the son I never had…
But fate was once again cruel to me…
To my surprise, the boy refused. I couldn't believe it. He couldn't possibly want this pathetic existence…
No, he just didn't want a thing to do with me! I'm to be hated that badly, was that it?
So be it! He wanted to hate me? He'd rather be alone than accept help from me?
Very well, I may as well give him a real reason to hate me. I had imprisoned that little fairy Jack saved in my own black sand, where I was able to summon her at will out of the shadows. I didn't know why I didn't just throw her in with those other pests, but it seems to have worked in my favor. Jack was already worried for the little bird's life! I wasn't going to just give the boy what he wanted.
The staff! If he wouldn't join me, that was his decision. But I will not have that pest ruin 300 years of hard work after the last miserable defeat!
He looked ready to fight, but there was no other option. It was either keep the staff and kill the fairy, or sacrifice his power for the fairy's life. As I expected, the boy was too soft. He'd rather surrender everything that made him Jack Frost for the sake of one stupid fairy. Like I said: "naïve". Did he really think I'd let her go after that?
The shock and hurt on his face came after I refused to let the fairy go. He wants to be alone? He doesn't deserve company! He won't accept help from me; he might as well know what it truly feels like to be alone! The little brat!
It was after the fairy stung me when I truly lost my composure. I threw the fairy to her death and with her I destroyed the boy's powers. It must've been painful as he howled in agony. Good! I relished in each torment I gave him. Then I lashed out a bit of black sand and he fell into a dark chasm. Throwing him away like the trash he was!
I stopped and looked at the broken staff. Part of me thought about keeping it, or destroying it until there was nothing left.
But I decided against it. It was a useless twig now! It would be a waste of time and energy to destroy it. Besides, a little memento of Frost's broken life…I tossed it down for him to stare at it. He had nothing now!
He wanted to be alone? He got his wish. He could spend all eternity in that ditch for all I cared! He had no one, the fairy was dead. He had no power, that stick was gone! He was left broken, forever.
Still, even though my heart still burns with fury…I can't help but feel a certain sadness welling inside my chest. I had never known someone who was as broken inside as he was. Being alone for so long, wondering what went wrong, takes its toll on one even as old and experienced as myself. But even he rejected me. He didn't want Pitch Black's help. He'd rather be alone…
I never wanted to be alone again, but the damage has already been done…
Try as I might, that may never change. After I became the boogeyman, I had wanted to do "good" with my powers. I even tried to help people by using fear to prevent them from getting hurt, stay away from cliffs, wild animals, and poisonous plants…all of the world's ills. A fat lot of good it did.
True, I may scare for enjoyment. But don't mortals do the same? Scary stories around the campfire should be proof enough, right? Didn't they love fear just like him? The adrenaline rush, the pounding excitement of your heart, your body feeling more alive than ever?
So why? What did I do that was so different than the Guardians bringing wonder, hope, and dreams to children? Why did the Guardians want me dead? Why did Jack throw him off? Why did the children hate me so? Why was I damned to this eternal nightmare?
"Be brave, don't be afraid." That's what they tell their children now. "There's no boogeyman. He never existed. Or he might as well not…"
Jack's words still rang in my head: "No, they'll fear both of us! And that's not what I want!"
I am alone. I always will be. I may bring fear into the world, I may rid myself of the Guardians, and I may get believers.
Still, Jack is right. They would only fear me. They would never love me, not like they did the Guardians. I would never be loved. Any real love I ever had died with Kozmotis…the day I became the Nightmare King…
But maybe, that's to be expected. No one can ever fully understand what goes on in our hearts. The people we love or claim to love will abandon us one way or another. It's easier to lose trust than to gain it. Love and companionship are as fleeting as the seasons of time.
So maybe…in a sense…we are all destined to be alone.
A/N: I know there are millions of Pitch stories based on his back story in Guardians of Childhood. I personally like it when they give the villains a more sympathetic back story. Kind of humanizes them from being the mustache twirling, one dimensional baddies we see in older movies. And it works (another one comes to mind: Loki). Plus, there could also be a redeemable quality in Pitch. You never know.
A lot of people believe Pitch was playing Jack, but the creators said that Pitch was being honest. And a lot of people did see similarities between the two. Just my take on the dynamic.
I know Baby Tooth made it and Jack's power doesn't come from his staff, but Pitch doesn't know that! This story is entirely from his POV.
For those that don't know, Katharine (Mother Goose) and Emily Jane (Mother Nature) are from the Guardians of Childhood book series.