I'm not going to put the do not kill oath because I feel horrible for writing this. This will be the shortest because I couldn't bear to add more detail. BTW, I changed the date to Christmas Eve. Just remember, you promised to wait till the end of this fanfic to kill me. I don't own RoTG.


I landed on what felt like stone, but because it was dark, I really couldn't see anything. The air around me was old and stale, like no one had been here in a long time. A small amount of light was coming from a tunnel in front of me, and I walked towards the light source. The entire time, Little Sand was tugging on whatever she could conveniently grab, whether it be skin, dress, or hair.

"Little Sand, calm down. All we have to do is find that voice, and we'll be off," I said, trying to keep her from yanking out a fistful, albeit a small one, of my hair. I walked out of the tunnel and Little Sand instantly quieted. I went silent too, because what I saw made my mouth drop.

We were in some sort of underground lair, but there were small shafts of light that cast shadows around the gray stone pillars. Cages made out of black metal hung from the ceiling and slowly swayed, as if pushed by the wind, but the air was as still as death. A golden flash came from one of the cages and I gasped. The dream helpers were all here. I flew up to one of the cages and the dream helpers crowded next to the door. The bars of the cage weren't too far apart and I thought the littler dream helpers could easily get out.

"Come one, you can slip out," I whispered to a few floating sand mice. The little sand mice shook their heads. One touched the cage bars and was instantly repelled, as if it hurt to touch it. I felt the cage doors and they didn't feel like normal metal. It was heavy, and it felt old, no, ancient. The dream helpers couldn't touch it, and the cages seemed to be avoiding the touch of sunlight.

"Lead from the earth's core," I mumbled. Lead from the earth's core was the only lead that was naturally black. The lead had never been touched by sunlight, so it absorbed any light that came in contact with it. The effects on the dream helpers were apparent. Their glow had greatly diminished and their bodies were turning tan. They looked at me expectantly and I patted one of the little mice on the head.

"It's going to be okay," I whispered to dream helpers. "I'll get you out in-"

Misty…There it was, the voice. I turned around, expecting someone to be behind me. All I saw was the other cages and strange staircases. Misty…The voice seemed to echo off the walls, distorting it. I spotted something moving in the shadows. It looked like the silhouette of a young girl. She let out a giggle and ran away.

"-a second. Wait up!" I shouted to the little girl. I flew after her and found myself on top of a bridge. The little girl was nowhere to be found. The cages creaked and threw around shadows, and I felt like I was being watched.

"Hello? Little girl?" I called. My footsteps echoed off the stone floors as I approached a large globe. It had lights just like the globe at the North Pole, but the globe here was made out of a black wires and black stone. I watched as the lights went out faster and faster as the shadows around me leapt onto the globe. My heart leaped into my throat and I stepped back. I was in Pitch's lair.

"Looking for someone?" a voice asked as a shadow passed over me. I transformed my flute into a staff and I shot a jet of water at it. Pitch materialized on a bridge above me and I flew up.

"Where is the little girl?" I demanded.

"What little girl?" Pitch asked in fake innocence. "Oh, you mean her." A little girl made of nightmare sand floated out of the shadows and giggled. She turned into a nightmare and galloped off. I mentally cursed. Nothing more than a trick. I pointed my staff at Pitch, ready for anything.

"Don't be frightened, Misty. I'm not going to hurt you," he said, walking away from me.

"Frightened? You don't scare me," I said, walking after him.

"Maybe I don't, but something does scare you," Pitch said, turning his head in my direction.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I always know. Everyone has a secret fear, one that we never like to show. Yours is that you'll always be alone." My eyes widened and I stepped back. The floor became a wall and I fell, landing on my side. Pitch let out a chuckle and I stood up, confused. A shadow passed on my left and I whipped around. Nothing was there.

"And worst of all, you're afraid that you'll never know why you're all alone. Why? Why did the Man in the Moon place you here, with no one ever able to see you?" Pitch taunted. I stopped as a large shadow appeared in front of me. Pitch stepped out, no more than three feet away from me.

"Well, fear not, for the answer is right here." I looked in Pitch's hand and saw a golden box with colored diamonds on it. The face of a young girl with long brown hair and brown eyes was drawn on the front. Etched in small letters below it was Misty Fog. I slowly backed away. I didn't need to ask what it was.

"W-Where did you get that?" I stuttered. Pitch laughed and disappeared.

"I though you would have been happy to find your memory box," Pitch said as his shadow passed over a pillar. I turned around, but he kept moving. The shadows around me felt oppressive and I felt like I was being closed in.

"Everything you've always wanted to know, in this little box. All the answers to your questions, but you're afraid. You're afraid that the Guardians will push you away, just like everyone else," Pitch said. I stepped backwards and found myself in a corner. Multiple shadows surrounded me and I tried to block out their whisperings.

"Let me ease your mind on one thing, the Guardians will never trust you. Not really." I covered my ears and ran right through the shadows, not caring what happened to me. All I wanted was to escape the blatant truth that Pitch was spelling out and the whispering shadows.

"Stop it!" I pleaded. I kept running until I found myself back on the bridge. Pitch stepped out of the shadows and I backed away from him, not afraid of him, but of what he was going to say.

"After all, who would want to trust a person who could go bad at any moment?" Pitch asked. Anger rose through me and I pointed my staff at Pitch.

"You don't know who I am," I stated.

"Of course I do, you're Misty Fog. You always find yourself in the worst of situations. Why, you're in one now." Pitch chuckled again and tossed me something. I caught the object and found it to be my tooth box. I looked at Pitch and he was smiling. A sickening feeling rose through my throat and I could feel my face turning pale.

"What did you do?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"Better question, Misty, what did you do?" Pitch stepped back into the shadows and let out a haunting laugh. I ran after him, but a shadow swallowed me up. It spit me out and I found myself in a dark room full of boxes. I turned around, realizing I had forgotten something.

"Little Sand!" I shouted. The wall behind me was solid. I pounded on the wooden wall in frustration. The shadows swirled around me and an echoy voice could be heard.

"Merry Christmas Misty." The shadows dispersed and I was left alone. I walked past the boxes and looked into one. It was full of destroyed dolls. My heart sank.

"No," I whispered. Every box around me contained broken toys. I shivered. The air around me was frigid. A small window on the wall looked out to a frozen tundra and I instantly knew where I was. I flew over to the door and turned the handle. A horrible sight awaited me. The workshop was totaled. Broken trucks and cars strewed the floor and it looked like an entire floor had collapsed. I slowly walked among the carnage, moving stray bits of floorboard. I heard some faint voices talking and I listened in.

"Bunny, some fairies just came from the palace. They said a shadowy girl came by and stole a tooth box. What do we do?" Tooth said.

"I don't know Shelia. I really don't know," Bunny replied. I waved away the dust and my foot bumped into something. A small nesting doll was on the floor and a picture of Jack was painted on it. I picked it up and sighed. Figuring this day couldn't get any worse, I turned my head skyward and yelled, "Hello? Anyone here?"

"Misty? Is that you?" Jack replied. I pushed a fallen piece of wood out of the way and walked in the direction of Jack's voice.

"Jack? What happened?" I called back. A bang resounded through the workshop and a cloud of dust shot up. I waved away the dust and Jack continued.

"The nightmares came while you were gone. They destroyed everything: the toys, the bikes, even an entire floor. Nothing survived." I removed a piece of wood in front of me and stepped out into what was probably the clearest space on the floor. There, Jack, Sandy, Tooth, and Bunny stood, covered in dust. Jack looked tired and the cascade of regular sand off of Sandy had only increased while I was gone. Bunny's shoulders had slumped and Tooth could barely keep herself up.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked. Everyone looked up with relieved expressions on their faces, but their relief turned to shock when they saw me. I looked at them, confused.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Tooth's hands flew to her mouth and Bunny turned away from me.

"Look in the mirror," Bunny said, his voice low. I swallowed and flew over to a wall-mounted mirror. What I saw made me gasp because I didn't look like me. The first thing I noticed is that my eyes were black, not dark brown. My hair was no longer short and indigo, but long and black. In the confusion, I didn't realize that my blue dress had turned into a long, skinny, black gown that swept the floor. The worst thing of all, however, was my amulet. The silver was tarnished and the raindrop was black. I looked like a Nightmare Princess. Something must have happened when I ran through the shadows.

"Misty…what have you done?" Tooth gasped. She must have noticed the tooth box in my hand. I remembered what she had said about the tooth palace robbery. She must have thought the shadowy girl was me. Sandy formed a sand fairy, and then a question mark. I turned to the Guardians, distraught. Sandy's image fell and I knew he got the message.

"I didn't mean for this to happen. I was just trying to help," I said. Bunny turned away when I tried to meet his gaze. Tooth did the same. They left the room in silence. Sandy floated off in distress over Little Sand and that left Jack and me alone. I turned away. I didn't want to meet his gaze.

"Misty," Jack said, his voice forlorn, "Tell me it isn't true."

"I know you don't want to believe it, but look inside yourself. What do you think?" I asked. I heard his intake of breath and I sighed. His mind was made up. "It's like I said. I shouldn't be a Guardian," I said. I threw Jack the nesting doll and flew up and out of the workshop. I didn't look back.


I can't believe I just did that. I can't believe I just did that. I can't believe I just did that. I can't believe I just did that.

I think we can all agree I'm insane.

Please review because I feel really guilty for writing this.