"Wh-who are you?" Jack stammered. The hand tightened painfully on his shoulder and the scythe pressed harder on his pale neck until it drew a thin line of blood. "What do you want?"
"What are you doing here?" a voice whispered in his hear suddenly, and Jack shivered at the closeness of it. The accent was one he had never heard before. It sounded ancient and, well, dead.
"I'm Jack Frost. I was s-sent here to recruit Antanasia Hallows for Guardianship."
A loud, derisive laugh pierced the sudden silence of the room. "Do not dare to believe that you can fool me, boy. What are you really here for?" the voice hissed angrily.
"I'm not trying to fool you! Man in Moon wants Antanasia to be a Guardian!" Jack protested. There were chuckles and murmurs coming from the shadows now, but Jack tried his best to ignore them.
"Man in Moon, did you say? And why would Man in Moon want the terrifying, master-of-the-dark Antanasia Hallows to be a Guardian, Jack Frost?" the voice, a girl, Jack decided, asked him mockingly.
"I don't know. Why don't you ask him?" the winter spirit shot back.
He gasped as he was wrenched away from the wall, roughly turned so his back was to it and slammed against it again. A pair of fierce orange eyes met his in the darkness and Jack was momentarily captivated by how they seemed to light up the gloom, despite the anger burning bright in them, like twin mini fires.
"Do not talk back to me. Do you even know who you are dealing with?" the voice said softly, yet with a hint of danger. And with that, the lights flickered on, and Jack was graced with the sight of the room he had landed in. Of course, that included the creatures that made up the perimeter of it, too.
He suppressed a terrified shriek at what he saw. There were people, if they could be called that, surrounding him and the owner of the voice, who was wearing a cloak that shrouded their face with the exception of the burning orange eyes. The people had skin like ivory and their eyes, their eyes, for god's sake! Their eyes were colourless, lifeless, empty. A few of them snarled and Jack caught a glance of sharp canines and put two and two together. Vampires.
And not just vampires. There were also huge men surrounding him, except they weren't just men, if the coarse fur covering their bare torsos were anything to by. Plus, the men had long noses, almost like snouts, and their mouth was framed in a frightening grin, animal-like teeth on full display. Werewolves.
And if that weren't enough, Jack saw transparent ghosts floating two feet off the ground, smirking witches with crooked pointy hats and plenty of other creatures that he'd previously believed only to be myths designed to scare children. Finally, they formed a close circle around him and the person with the orange eyes took off their cloak to reveal...
Antanasia Hallows.
Jack fainted.
"What is taking the gumby so long!" Bunny grumbled. "He just up and flies off to the most dangerous place in the spirit world after Pitch's lair and he's not back yet!"
"Calm, calm, Bunny. No need to be worried," North placated the Guardian of Hope.
"I am NOT worried about the anklebiter!" Bunny protested loudly.
Sandy was frowning, and had been frowning since Jack had left a few hours before. Finally, he formed some sand images above his head. Should we go after him?
"I don't know, Sandy," Tooth replied, fluttering this way and that. "I want to make sure Jack's alright, but what if it's a trap?"
"A trap? Vhat do you mean, Toothie?" North asked.
"What if... what if Antanasia captured Jack when he arrived and is waiting for us to rescue him so she can capture us?" Tooth answered hesitantly.
"Capture us? For what? She may be a bloody dangerous sheila, Tooth, but she's no Pitch. She'll leave you alone if you leave her alone," Bunny proclaimed.
"Is true. Antanasia probably threaten Jack and send him on way back here," the Russian said optimistically.
Just then, there was a shimmering of purple in the shadows and Antanasia Hallows herself stepped out, holding a certain unconscious Guardian of Fun by his hood.
"What did you do to him, you bloody creep?!" Bunny yelled furiously, boomerangs and egg bombs raised. The others noticed her presence and raised their weapons too, livid glares on each face directed towards her.
"Oh, Guardians, what a lovely welcome. I see you're no different than a thousand years ago, when we last met," the girl answered nonchalantly. She dropped Jack onto a nearby couch and continued, "As for your winter spirit, I didn't do anything to him. I merely asked him why he was barging in on my home and he fainted."
"Probably fainted from seeing all your hideous monster friends, more like it," Tooth muttered as she zipped over to inspect Jack for any injuries. She found none except for the bruises in the shape of a hand on his wrist and on his shoulder and the small cut on his neck, which was already closing.
North saw the injuries, however small, and glowered at the Spirit of Halloween. "If you ever go near Jack again..." he threatened, thick hands clenching his swords.
"Oh, please, North. Do stop with the threats, now. They don't suit you. Now, Jack mentioned a small matter which has me a bit confused..." Antanasia said, starting to pace around the room. When she came near the gathered yetis and elves, they scuttled back, the elves hiding under toys and in corners, the yetis grumbling nervously. With a wave of her hand, her cloak changed to a shiny black V-neck shirt and orange flowing skirt that went to her knees. Her feet were covered with purple leather cowgirl boots. Of course, her scythe remained in her hand.
Do you mean that Man in Moon chose you to be a Guardian? Sandy signed.
"Yes, I did mean that matter, Sandman." No one was surprised that she could understand Sandy. The girl had vampire bat spies all over the world; she must have picked up on the symbol language sometime while observing another Guardian translate for the Guardian of Dreams.
"Well, what about it? Man in Moon has finally gone off his rockers, is all," Bunny growled.
"Bunny!" Tooth exclaimed, frowning at him disapprovingly.
"What? You can't seriously believe that this sheila," here he pointed at Antanasia, "is a proper potential Guardian! She'd just join Pitch as soon as we confronted him."
"Pitch?" the girl asked, and for once the angry and dangerous tone of her voice was gone, replaced by something else, something the Guardians couldn't identify.
"Yeah. You know, Pitch Black, the Boogeyman? Your friend?" Bunny mocked.
"He is NOT my friend!" Antanasia roared in sudden anger, and a strong wind whooshed through the Workshop, showing her power when angry.
"How are we supposed to know? You're just like him, in every way!" Bunny yelled back. They were in each other's faces by now, each countenance seething with rage. Surprisingly, only Bunny's face showed hatred.
"You think I'm like Pitch? What are you, blind?! I couldn't care less about your petty arguments. Just leave me out of it!" she howled.
Bunny was about to retort, but he was interrupted by a bloodcurdling scream. They all turned as one to see who had screamed.
It was Jack.
