Pitch shuddered as Sandman released Hiccup. He'd lost the connection with the Viking boy when the princess sang. Her hair killed his Fearling but it didn't clear it from his system.
While Pitch couldn't use the dead Fearling to manipulate Hiccup, he still benefited from it magnifying any fears that Hiccup felt naturally. He tried to keep his distance whenever the boy felt fearful. He didn't want the Guardians to find the Fearling.
But, of course, he knew it couldn't last. Hiccup had too many friends and much to much bravery. Someone would have noticed it even if the boy hadn't spoken of his fears.
Now that it was out, Pitch would need a new way to terrorize the children.
He stayed in the shadows as he followed the golden sand cloud to Tooth Palace. He couldn't get in. He knew that. Even if the Guardians were weakened enough that he could break their protective spells, the Man in the Moon would be watching. He would alert them. Pitch might get lucky going against the weary Guardians, but he'd never be able to hold them and the wizard children long enough to take anyone out permanently.
The shadowman whistled, "Oh, Onyx. I have a job for you."
He wasn't near the sand horse, but he could control her even from a distance. The miniature Night Mare perked up from her hiding place under a gilded spire. She would serve him well. He would have to thank Flynn Rider for unwittingly smuggling her into Tooth Palace on the back of the medallion in the first place.
Maybe that would finally bring darkness to Corona.
Pitch laughed as he thought of the people who would soon be his. He glanced up at the moon.
"Don't think you've won, old friend," he whispered. "I still have power."
When Hiccup woke up feeling very rested, he noticed the warmth. It was summer, of course, but this was a hot, spicy kind of warmth. The kind that never made it all the way to the Archipelago, and rarely to Hogwarts.
Hiccup rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stretched as the Sandman's ship sailed into a valley filled with gilded columns. Hiccup didn't have a lot of time to take in the wonder of the valley as tiny tooth fairies all turned and zoomed at Eugene. The young man screamed and ran the length of the ship.
"STOP!" Rapunzel called, chasing after the fairies pecking Eugene. They didn't heed Rapunzel, but they did stop when Professor Toothiana intervened.
The bird-like professor put herself between Eugene and her fairies.
"Now, now, he was invited this time," Tooth scolded. "Be nice. Welcome back, Eugene Fitzherbert. I take it you have memories for me?"
"Jack stole 'em from me," Eugene said, pointing to Jack.
"For safekeeping," Jack said, handing over the two tubes.
"Um, Professor Tooth," Hiccup started, "I have a plan to save the wizarding world."
Hiccup laid out his plan for her, emphasizing how well the spell worked for Rapunzel. Tooth grimaced as she listened. Once he was finished, she turned and conferred with Nightlight and Sandman. Despite communicating in visual signs, Hiccup wasn't fast enough to pick up what Sandman was saying.
Eventually, Tooth turned back to the young wizards.
"What you ask is huge. But it might work. Hiding one girl is a lot easier than hiding an entire population will be. I will have my fairies separate Muggle from witch teeth. Why don't you kids find your own teeth and put them in a special place. I assume you want to remember the truth? You've earned that right."
Tooth went to speak with the other Guardians, while Eugene and Rapunzel, who'd both been to Tooth Palace before, explained how the teeth were organized. Having a dragon made it easier for Hiccup to find the spire representing the Barbaric Archipelago. As he pocketed his memory case, he ran his hands over the other memories. Especially Astrid's. What did she think? Last year, they broke up because she needed some space to sort out her feelings. Had she figured it out yet? Should he approach her again?
Hiccup was sorely tempted to take a peek, but he couldn't justify spying on her. Memories were supposed to be private. Reluctantly he turned away. He would have to do things the old fashioned way. At least there was no Fearling to hold him back now.
Jack handed Emma her memory case. It was so pretty and golden. She gently stroked the gilded box as Jack picked her up and flew her down to a small lake at the base of the valley. There was a mural on the wall of the Tooth Fairy and smiling children.
Soon, the others joined them. Emma hid behind her brother as the Guardians arrived. The Tooth Fairy was rather pretty, but Santa and the Bunny were much bigger than she'd expected. And there were a couple she wasn't quite sure about: the tall man with a clock on his chest and the girl on the goose. Emma wasn't sure who they were, and no introduction was offered.
"Nightlight!" the young woman on the goose said. She dismounted and ran to the glowing boy.
Nightlight smiled and took her forearms. He didn't speak, but Emma felt like she was seeing a secret. She turned her face away.
"You alright, Jack?" a large man, Santa, asked, patting Jack on the back. "Did it hit hard?"
"Uh ...," Jack said. "Not too bad."
"You fainted," Emma said quietly. Jack glared at her.
"I'll get you for that," he whispered. Emma crossed her arms and stuck her chin out. She wasn't afraid of Jack's pranks.
"I'm sure the tyke is fine," the bunny said. "Just a bit of a blood sugar drop. Have an egg, mate."
The large bunny handed Jack a painted egg. Jack passed it on to Emma. She looked over the pretty egg as everyone put their memory cases down.
"Listen up!" Tooth called. All conversations stopped and they gathered around Toothiana.
"I'm going to be casting three spells. One will affect the Muggles. They will not remember wizardkind. To their minds, wizards will only be imaginary. The product of uneducated minds attempting to explain phenomena they don't understand. The second spell will affect the wizards. Rather than taking memories, I will be implanting memories. A memory of a wizard council instructing them to hide from Muggles."
"Some kids can't control their magic," Jack pointed out. "I met one. No matter what magic we do to his memory, he'll still cast spells on accident. We have to help kids like him."
"We are the Guardians," Ombric said. "It will be up to the living humans to enforce the order."
"From my experience," Merida said, cracking her knuckles, "there are a good many wizards who won't heed this order anyway, new memory or not."
"Half of you are royalty," Eugene said. "I'm sure you can work something out. Make a real wizard council or something."
"You said there were three spells?" Hiccup questioned. Tooth glanced at Jack.
"Yes," Katherine said, leaning against Nightlight. "A few hours ago, we cast a spell to make it easier for us to defeat Pitch Black. It worked, but not well enough."
"What spell was that?" Hiccup asked.
"Emma," Nightlight asked, "could you see the Dementors?"
"No. I only felt awful," she said, shuddering at the memory.
Nightlight's lips were tight, he nodded to the others.
"As we expected," Ombric said. "The spell affected all those from the cosmos. Dementors, which are part Fearling and part ghost can only be perceived by people with at least a drop of celestial blood now. Only wizards. Pitch, who lacks the ghost part, should be imperceivable to all."
"So we couldn't see Pitch?" Hiccup said. "That seems more dangerous."
"It works both ways," Bunny explained. "You can't see or touch him, he can't touch you. Unless you let him."
"Who would let him?" Jack asked.
"People who give into their fears. People who let fear get to them. And with the world in its current state …, " Tooth said. Katherine picked up where she left off.
"People are afraid. People believe in him. And so long as they do, he has power over them. He should be imperceivable. But he isn't."
"Then what can we do? Go door to door and tell people to toughen up and not be afraid?" Merida asked.
"Manny had idea," North interjected. "He likes Hiccup's plan. He suggest we apply to us. Make the humans forget the Boogeyman. Make them forget this horrid time. At least the supernatural part of it. Then, swoop in and woosh, no more Nightmare King."
"Great idea!" Jack agreed.
"There's only one problem," Nightlight said. "You and I are no longer bonded. You have only been celestial during Pitch's reign of terror. And for much of that time, you were with him."
"So ... what?" Jack asked.
"So if we cast the spell, Mate," Bunny said, "there's a decent chance you're going down with him. Everyone will forget you. It'll be like you never existed."
"Jack is human, isn't he?" Rapunzel said. "The spell shouldn't affect him."
"Jack was human." Katherine said, "and that part of him died this winter. Since then, he has been living off moonlight."
Jack looked at the Guardians, at his friends, and finally, at his sister. He nodded.
"Do it. I'll take the risk."
"We'll remember, won't we?" Hiccup asked. "As long as we keep our memories out of the spell."
"Oh, yes," Tooth said, "but going from being real for everyone, to being real for only about 10 people is quite the drop, especially in conjunction with our last spell. You might not be able to handle the shock."
"Could kill you, mate," Bunny said. "Forever this time."
"Pitch needs to be stopped," Jack said softly. "Do it."
Miles away from where the Guardians were casting their first spell, an angry mob marched, led by a Muggle teenage boy.
They'd almost reached Godric's Hollow when Peter, the boy, and his dad stopped. The rest of the mob did the same.
"What are we doing here?" Peter asked. He had the feeling that they'd been about to do something important. Something to do with his mother. But he couldn't for the life of him remember what.
From the blank, confused faces around him, it looked like the others were having the same problem.
"Um, Charlie, what are we doing here?" someone asked the village leader.
"I can't remember, Joseph," Charlie said in return.
"There must be a reason," someone else said. The men stood, milling around for several minutes before someone suggested that they go home. Since no one could remember any other reason to stay, they all shuffled back to where they came from. Godric's Hollow was safe.
Emma had argued with her brother, but he wouldn't budge. He'd promised that if she still believed in him, he'd be okay, no matter who else didn't. She didn't like it. She'd already lost everyone that mattered. She couldn't lose him, too. But Jack insisted.
Their first spell had been erasing the Muggle memory of wizards. Emma with her memory case in a small pile in the middle of their circle, was not affected.
The second spell was cast, implanting memories in the wizards. Again, the people in the hidden valley were not affected.
Then it came time for the big one. All the wizards concentrated as they cast the spell, taking some of the burden from the Tooth Fairy.
Emma didn't need to. She wasn't a witch. She couldn't participate in the casting of the spell.
Because of that, she was the only one who saw the black shape.
"Jack, what's that?" Emma said, pointing. No one stopped. No one listened to her. They couldn't hear her above their chant. She looked back at the the dark shape. It was a small horse. It dragged a black tooth case into the pile, then started to knock the others out of the protection circle. They'd all forget Jack ...
No one else noticed. It was all up to Emma. She charged at the black horse.
"Get away from those!" she scolded the horse, kicking the memory tube it had brought in back out. The horse didn't stop. It charged at the other teeth, sending them rolling. Emma lunged. She managed to grab three, holding them close to her chest as the Night Mare attacked, biting her and kicking her with his tiny hooves.
She looked up at Jack, expecting him to come to her rescue. As the wizards came out of the spell, Jack looked at her ... and fell to the ground.
"JACK!" Emma screamed.
Rapunzel uttered the last word of the spell, only to see a miniature sand horse attacking a little girl.
"Jack!" the girl screamed, over and over. One of the Guardians shot something at the horse that made it disappear.
Rapunzel looked down at the girl. She knew the child. This was Jack's sister. But why had they taken her? Jack had died, that's what someone, Mother, maybe, had told her. Something … something had attacked Jack's home … And they'd taken the girl with them to keep her safe. That must be it.
Rapunzel took a step towards the crying girl, meaning to comfort her. Instead the girl screamed.
"GET OUT OF HIM!" she shouted.
Rapunzel took a step back.
"Rapunzel, can't you see?" Eugene said, grasping her elbow and pulling her back a few more steps. Rapunzel blinked and looked around. She saw her friends, Merida, Hiccup, and Eugene, as well as the Guardians, Tooth Fairy, Ombric, North, Katherine, Sandman, the Easter Bunny, and a glowing boy.
"The spell worked," Ombric said. "She can't see him."
"But … see who?" Merida asked, looking around with the same blank stare that Rapunzel was giving.
"Why can't they see him?" Eugene demanded. "We were all supposed to remember!"
Emma wailed, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I grabbed as many as I could."
She held out memory cases.
Ombric gently took them from her. He turned to his Guardians.
"Our enemy has played a trick upon us. And were it not for the actions of this girl, it would have affected all of us. Thanks to her, I still remember."
"But … what happened?" Tooth said. "I remember casting two spells. One to make Muggles forget, and one to make wizards remember."
"There was a third spell. A forgetting spell, which has unfortunately affected all but myself, this girl and this boy." Ombric pointed to Eugene and Emma.
"Maybe I can undo it?" Tooth offered.
"DO NOT!" a voice echoed. The lake they were standing near started to glow, reflecting the moon. From its surface, the little round Man in the Moon appeared. As Rapunzel stared at him, she could see he was not truly there … it was just a shadow. A shadow of light.
All the Guardians were staring at him as the little man spoke.
"The spell worked, so none of you can remember how close you came to being wiped out. Attempting to reverse it now will not undo what has been done to Jackson, it will only aide our enemy in his recovery."
"Jack?" Hiccup asked, blinking several times. "He … he died."
"Yes he did," the Man in the Moon confirmed, "but I infused him with Moonlight as he did so. Now, only mortals who believe in him can see him."
Something about that sounded familiar. Rapunzel noticed Emma and Eugene were both looking grimly at a spot on the ground. Rapunzel focused. Jack Frost was her friend. She could remember that clearly. She remembered all the time they spent together. Playing, laughing, in the snow and summer. He took her flying. He'd died. No. She thought, If Eugene could come back, so could Jack.
Rapunzel opened her eyes and looked at the spot. She gasped. She could see him.
Pitch Black gave a violent start as he circled Tooth Palace. His Night Mare had been destroyed. During the past few years, Night Mares had often been destroyed in battles. Pitch knew when they were gone, but he never felt anything for them.
So why was he feeling so hollow now?
He staggered away from Tooth Palace. Perhaps the Guardians had sent out an attack. That must be it. When they found the Night Mare, they sent something to drive him away.
What had he been doing there, anyway? He was the king of the world. He didn't need to bother with them. They would fade so long as he maintained his rule.
Pitch moved down to a small town. This town used to radiate with fear. He lived off of it.
The people of the Burgess were out of their houses, mopping up excess water. Pitch appeared in an alley, ready to scare the next person who walked by. He needed a boost after whatever the Guardians had done.
Soon enough, a little one raced by chasing a ball. Pitch had a bit of influence. He helped steer the ball into the alley, where the child would be able to see him. The boy, ignorant of the trap, didn't even slow as he ran after the ball. He snatched it up and kicked it out. Pitch glowered as he made his shadows darker, scarier, but the child took no notice, running back to his game.
Pitch walked out of the alley.
"Why don't you fear me?!" he shouted. The child didn't even turn back. No one did. No one gave any sign of having seen him at all. His scowl deepening, Pitch yelled to the whole town, "I am the boogeyman!"
Again, no one looked at him. They gave no notice. He lashed out at the nearest girl … and watched her pass right through his fingers.
No. No. How could this be? He couldn't be seen. He couldn't be touched. He couldn't be heard. But how? The moon shone down on him. Taunting him. Teasing him.
"You. This is your fault. I know it is. I'll make you pay. I'll be back. If it takes a hundred years, you haven't gotten rid of me. And next time, I'll go after the Guardians first."
After threatening the Man in the Moon, Pitch shadow traveled to Arendelle. The girl here wasn't afraid of him, but her fear would help him recover. Yes. Princess Elsa. Feed me.
"I believe in you, Jack," Hiccup said. It was hard. He had a practical mind. He'd seen people and dragons dying in battle. People didn't come back from the dead. But the Guardians said Jack had. They said Jack could come back. And it was hard to believe that someone so full of life like Jack could be gone. But he eventually convinced himself, and then he saw Jack lying there, like a corpse. It seemed somehow familiar, though he couldn't remember seeing Jack dead before.
"He … he's not dead, you said?" Hiccup asked. He'd never seen Jack so still and lifeless. At least as far as he could remember.
"As long as one person believes, he will never completely fade," the Man in the Moon confirmed.
"Why won't he get up?" Emma asked, kneeling by her brother.
"His body was not used to being immortal when the spell hit. He will wake up in time. A century or two."
"But- but everyone Jack knew will be dead by then," Emma protested.
"The Guardians will still be around," Ombric offered.
""Not if your plan fails," Eugene said. "If Pit-"
"DO NOT SPEAK HIS NAME!" Manny said. "It may hasten his return."
Hiccup didn't know the name they meant. He had a vague memory of spending the last couple of years fighting someone, of someone influencing their lives, but he couldn't remember the details. That must be the effect of the memory charm.
"Okay, so what if … He Who Must Not Be Named," Eugene continued, "isn't as gone as you'd like. If someone else hastens his return. If he comes back before Jack does and this time he does wipe you out. Jack will be all alone. And he won't know what's going on. Or where anyone went."
"Hm," Ombric said, putting his finger to his lips. "The boy does have a point. The memory spell will only affect the people alive today. He Who Must Not Be Named has been immortal far longer than Jack. His recovery may be quicker. Perhaps we should assign a Guardian to Jack."
Ombric looked over his Guardians. Before any of them could say anything, Emma raised her hand.
"I want to do it."
The Guardians silently looked at her.
"Please," Emma said. "Jack is my brother. He's the only family I have, and I am his. Let me watch over him."
"You won't live long enough," Katherine said gently. "He could be like this for a thousand years."
"You made Jack immortal," Hiccup pointed out. "Can't you make Emma immortal, too?"
"I cannot grant immortality to just anyone who asks," the Man in the Moon said. "Too many would be like Gothel. I have a very specific process for choosing immortals, and unfortunately, while Emma is a good girl, she has not met the requirements."
"I don't need to be immortal forever," Emma said. "Just until Jack wakes. Isn't there a way?"
Sandman made several signs. The Man in the Moon nodded. Finally Ombric pulled off a bracelet and handed it to Emma.
"A gift from Father Time. It is not true immortality. It will only freeze your age. You still need to eat and can be killed. Take it off if you ever change your mind and want to grow up. It will cease to work when Jack wakes up, anyway."
"But where can they live, Ombric?" Tooth scolded. "I could have kept Jack here, but not the Muggle girl."
"Same with Pole," North said. "Children in pole is bad idea. Too much underboot."
"I'm not having an ice elf in the warren," Bunny sniffed.
Hiccup frowned as the Guardians all rejected Jack and his sister. It wasn't fair. He'd listened to Jack's complaints about his home rejecting him, the Slytherins rejecting him, and now, even in the afterlife, the Guardians were rejecting him.
Even if Emma could convince one of the Guardians to take her, Hiccup didn't like the idea of leaving her with people who obviously thought she was 'lesser' since she was a mortal Muggle. And he didn't really like the idea that Jack would wake up around them either.
"What about a neutral place," Hiccup interjected. Everyone stopped their arguing to look at him. Hiccup took the lead, "I am a Viking. Some … some of my countrymen have mentioned sailing west, to an imaginary land that does not exist. A place called America."
The Guardians looked to one another and shrugged.
"Not a bad idea," Katherine said. "America is real. But it hasn't been discovered yet. The people that are there won't know anything about what's been going on in Europe."
"Our enemy has largely ignored the Americas," Ombric added. "Too many dream catchers over there."
"And it reminds him of our time together," Nightlight said. "We fell to earth there. Pitch won't be in a hurry to go back."
"Then let me sail them there," Hiccup volunteered. "Even if Jack isn't quite dead, he deserves a proper funeral. Only instead of sending him to Valhalla with the flames, I'll take him with the winds to America."
The Guardians all agreed. Emma hugged Hiccup.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Merida knelt down beside Jack's body and looked into his still face. She thought of everything they'd done together. From their very first fight on the Hogwarts Express, to when she kissed him in his village … and their last fight, when she yelled at him for hurting Harris, just before he died.
The Guardians said Jack came back. They said her memory had just been erased. But it was little comfort when her last true memory was yelling at him.
She gently stroked his face. It was ice cold.
"You're sure there's nothing we could do to help him recover?" she asked. "You said speaking of the enemy would make him recover faster … if we all shouted Jack's name?"
"It would not help," Ombric said. "This is more than a memory charm. People didn't just forget Jack. He ceased to be real. To all but these two and myself."
Ombric gestured to Emma and Eugene.
"While they were able to make you and your friends believe in him again, each of you count only as one. You must make more people believe in him."
"How?" Merida asked.
"Tell them," Katherine said. "Tell his story to everyone you meet. Write stories about him."
"It may not work within one lifetime," Ombric added, "but if you lay down his legend, he might recover sooner."
"And remember," the Man in the Moon said, "you must not tell them of the mortal boy who drowned, but of the immortal one who walks among them. They must believe in him as an immortal."
Merida brushed her hair back and gave Jack a goodbye kiss. She wasn't sure how she felt about a relationship with any man, but she was sad to know that there could never be one with Jack.
A/N: There is one chapter after this, then two oneshots (Frozen and ROTG). I was originally planning to release the ROTG one first, but since the book: "Jack Frost: The End Becomes the Beginning" and the movie "Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald" were only released this week, I want a little more time to digest the new information.
