Fear. He was the spirit of fear. All of these years, we had believed it to be Pitch, but Pitch was merely a host. Invisible. Control. Through Pitch the spirit of fear prevailed, and now he was going to destroy us all. He had corrupted Pitch, corrupted Queen Halloween, and now he was going to corrupt the Guardians, the last protectors of children on earth. The world would be sent into an eternal age of darkness. Terror would reign, and the children would lose all faith, would lose all of their hopes and dreams. No. I would not let is happen. Could not let it happen. No!
"No!" I shouted, and the scene suddenly fell silent, as if time had stopped. The onslaught halted, and the nightmares that had been plaguing us dissipated. The Guardians remained circled, eyes alert for something we could not see. My mind whirred, trying to find a way out, an escape. I needed time. I needed to stall. "At the very least, tell us why."
"Why what?" The spirit of fear asked, his voice without body. It was disorienting, hearing his voice echo in the cavern, without origin.
"Why you were created. Why you wish to overtake the minds of the Guardians and terrorize the children. Why you chose to steal Pitch away from me."
Fear laughed, chilling the air. "You want to know why? Hm. I assume since I'm about to doom you all, I could humor you.
"You see, I was created the very night you and Pitch were. Indeed, I was not meant to be, but your friend the Moon forgot one little tiny detail. Night can bring joy and dreams and wishes upon stars, but it also brings me. Fear! He forgot children shiver and hide in the middle of the night, tremble at the thought of wolves that prowl in the darkness. You cannot have night without fear. Sickeningly naive, your Moon was. Once I was created, there was nothing he could do to stop me! I was too weak at the beginning of my creation, without form, without body. It wasn't too hard to overtake your precious Pitch though. He was perfect, night and fear are virtually inseparable." He laughed eerily, and it took all of my willpower to stay still, to not lunge at the invisible threat all around me.
"Why not me?"
"You? Day and fear cannot go together. Too much sun, too much of that hideous giggling children do during the daytime. How wonderful it would have been if I could, but..." he paused, before whispering the next few lines in my ears, "You were too powerful for me. Children have such faith in the ridiculous sun, too much surety that it will rise every morning. Never in a million years would I have been able to overtake you."
His chilling laughter resumed as the breath against my ear disappeared. I winced, knowing there was nothing to strike out against. It had grown eerily quiet, and the Guardians around me were uncharacteristically silent. I glanced around, realizing with horror that the other Guardians were nowhere to be seen. I had been distracted, clueless as they vanished before my eyes, too absorbed in my own devices to notice they were no longer by my side. A wave of horror overwhelmed me, knowing I had done nothing to help them.
"I should never have become a Guardian..." I whispered under my breath; shocked, and scared. I sank to my knees, a feeling of helplessness gripping my mind. My eyes lifted to the hovering form of Queen Halloween. Her once blood-red eyes had turned pale white, no longer the host for the parasitic Fear, but still a slave to his will. Where was Pitch? Was he still under Fear's control?
"Perhaps you shouldn't have. Indeed, you have been nothing but a burden to your friends, and have proven especially helpful in luring them into my trap. Yet, it makes my job all the more interesting." Fear cackled, and suddenly a heavy breeze billowed into the cavern. A void began to open before my eyes. It was even darker than the cave around me, a solid wall of pure black. The deep red eyes that instilled such fear in my heart appeared at the top of the growing void.
"Finally..." Fear breathed. He was taking form. The void was his body, his consummation. He had grown strong enough to manifest himself physically, which could mean only one thing...
"What have you done to the other Guardians?!" I shouted, lunging for him. My wings spread out and I hurtled towards him, aiming towards the glowing embers of his eyes.
My hands grasped nothing and I collided against something cold and hard, my head smashing painfully against the damp rock walls of the cave. I gasped and whirled around, staring back at the ever-growing void. I had passed straight through him.
"I have done nothing to your Guardians." Fear stated, his voice deeper, fuller. His voice was filled with...power. He was more powerful. "They shall fade with time. They need not be taken care of now. In fact, I'd rather enjoy the fear they'll experience as they slowly fade from existence. But as long as you still stand, as long as you still bring the sun, the stars, as long as you still bring faith to the children, I can do no harm. But here you are, in my grasp, weak and useless. How pitiful. I had figured you would put up a greater fight. No matter. It is much easier this way, is it not?"
His glowing red eyes widened, a laugh escaping his newly-formed mouth, a victorious sneer dancing upon his lips. Fear. This was Fear. It washed over me as I looked up at his immortal form. He was the void, the parasite that sucked the joy, the hope, the dreams from the minds of children and filled them with mind-numbing terror. He fed off their fright and relished it.
And there was nothing I could do to stop him.
The shadow, the void grew closer, larger, more terrifying in proportion as Fear loomed over me, dread filling my mind and spreading through every inch of my body. I was powerless, paralyzed, as his hands reached down and wrapped around my throat.
"Goodbye Dawn."
