A/N: So, another chapter! I got a review already! Yay! Im really excited for this story, its kind of exploding in my head...and im no where finished. So, another little blurr, a little less exciting, but i introduce the villians next chappy! Please read and review!
Jack smiles, and he stumbles forward, his staff dragging against the wood of my floor, and I move towards him, watching with wary eyes as he sits on the edge of the bed. I scoot away from his ice as it starts to overtake that half of m bed, and I stand up, crossing my arms as I await the tale, my eye brows furrowing in confusion and frustration the longer it is held from me.
"We….need your help." Jack says, and my eyes snap to his, narrowing as I try to figure out what went wrong. I don't see Pitch, so I know that he may have something to do with it, and I try not to let the disappointment and slight heartbreak show through to my face, but by Jack slight wince, I know he can see right through my mask. I shift my weight around as I let them stew in the silence, Tooth's brilliant wings the only constant noise in the semi darkness. I glance out my window to see the moon hovering again as he always did. I knew about the man in the moon after I had caught Jack talking to him in my tree outside of my window once.
I nod respectively towards him before turning my slightly sleepy attention onto the guardians before me.
"Is it Pitch?" I asked, and Tooth fluttered anxiously around my room, finally noticing my Pitch corner, and she flitted over to me, looking me over. I ducked my head as she reached for my mouth, and Jack hooked her with his staff, pulling her away from me as I smiled at him in thanks. He tried to grin, but he just let it slip off his face.
"What happened?" I asked, and North shook his head, turning to look at Bunny and Tooth, leaning on one of his swords. I looked back at Jack, hoping he would see the desperation in my eyes. I didn't like it when my only friends ignored me. He sighed, flashing his teeth in the saddest, smallest smile I had ever seen on him before.
"So…..you know Hades? And Set?" he asked, and I nodded slowly, my thoughts going miles a minute as I scrambled to figure out what they still weren't saying. I took a step back as I let my arms fall to my sides as I realized what he meant by that.
Another take over. By the 'old' gods, this time. Was it my fault? Did I bring something old and evil back into the world, only to have them try to take it over? Did I put all this stress on my only friends?
These emotions must have passed one by one over my face, for I suddenly found myself in an embrace, once of cold blue hoodie and white hair in my peripheral. I blinked, aware that a single tear was trekking down my cheek, and I wrapped my arms around Jack, aware that his staff was lying on my bed, the wood free of frost, and I closed my eyes, burying my nose into his shoulder, ignoring the cold that was radiating off of him. We all sat in the silence again, before I pulled away from Jack slightly, taking his scent of peppermint and fresh snow with me in my memory, and I looked over my friends again.
"It wasn't you, child. It was bound to happen sometime." North said in his thick Russian accent and I smiled, for I always enjoyed hearing him speak.
"You haven't said anything about Pitch. Has he joined these gods?" I asked, and the Guardians all looked between one another, the emotions passing over their faces translating to 'what should we tell her? The truth? Will she stop believing? Or yell again'. I huffed, crossing my arms again as the moonlight seemed to intensify, and North turned to look at it as Pitch had, long ago. I watched, my eyes narrowed in concentration as I attempted to read his facial expressions while he was talking to the Man in the Moon. He was as easy to read as a brick.
"If he has joined them, then I give you all good luck. You know how easy he defeated you all last time!" I said, and they nodded, their eyes locked onto the floor in slight defeat. I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I walked to my bed, slinging myself over it, and then walking towards the door, going to the kitchen for a glass of water.
I knew that the Guardians would follow me, or at least Jack would. I ran my hand through my hair as I grabbed my glass from dinner, filling it with water from the tap, and then turning to see Jack standing in the doorframe, his staff tucked behind him like a naught child trying to hide his dirty clothes from his parents.
"How long have they been fighting against you all?" I asked, and Jack leant against the aging wood of the doorframe, fiddling with his staff, making the frost gather and melt off. He only did that when he wanted to evade questions, and I could easily read from his tense body posture and shifty eyes that he was intent on not telling me. I sighed, finishing my water and yawning, stretching my arms above my head as various joints and bones creaked and popped back into place. I shook myself out afterwards, enjoying the feeling of having loose joints, and I walked over towards him, grabbing one of the sturdy beat up chairs and flipping it around so that I could sit in it and lean on the back with my head cradled in my arms. He smirked tiredly at my tired face, and I stuck out my tongue at him in protest.
"Don't you all have something more important to do?" I asked, and he sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair, and nodding, his eyes slipping shut as he let his head smack into the doorframe he was leaning on, twisting slightly in his spot to rest his back on the wood as well. I stood up, yawning again as I walked towards him again, poking him in the side and barely flinching at the cold he gave off.
"Go. Rest, sleep, do what you sprits do when you need to recharge. I'm going to go back to sleep. You all know how to get back into contact with me if you need it. " I said, and he nodded, shifting and dragging his staff with him up the stairs as I walked before him, throwing open the door to my room to see Sandy was the only one left.
I smiled at the small floating golden man, waving in weariness. He was the only Guardian who didn't look dead on his feet. He waved back, gesturing to Jack and to the moon. Jack nodded, flying out of my open window and into the inky darkness of the sky. I lay down, my eyes alight onto the Pitch corner, half hoping to see his eyes after all these years. I knew deep down in my heart, that he was a person only asking for someone to believe in him. Sandy smiled, walking towards my beside with my newest picture already crumbling into sand, and he sprinkled some on my head as I let my eyes drift shut into the darkness.