Heading out of Kailani's room, feeling a surge of warmth fill his body, Jack heard someone call out to him from somewhere far off.
"Jack? Jack?"
"That- that voice. I know that voice." He murmured, feeling a sense of familiarity fill his bones as the sound of the girl's voice.
"Jack?" Jack flies off the roof as wind carries him towards the voice with Baby Tooth following him. Almost like being tethered to that voice, Jack follows where he heard the voice until he reaches the lake.
"Jack?!" The voice calls out to him and he rushes towards the sound of the voice, a sense of urgency and familiarity rushing through his veins, propelling him forward almost desperately.
"Jack?" Landing near the lake, he glides quickly, the voice sounding closer now but with a tinge of worry underlying the tone.
Jack freezes as he sees a bed made of wood that looks old and wrecked. It looks familiar and yet it confuses him as to why there is a bed in the middle of the forest where the lake was. Baby tooth yanks at his hoodie to bring him back but there is something pulling Jack towards the bed.
Was it curiosity?
Was it hope?
Was it the voice?
Or something more.
"Don't worry. There's still time." Jack murmurs distractedly as he continues to walk towards the bed, knowing for some reason that he would find an answer in here or at least know where the voice was coming from. He walks slowly and sees the cracked wood leading down to a dark tunnel underneath the bed.
It was dark in there.
Almost pitch black.
Jack knew he should've been wary about this but there was just something about this whole situation that was calling to him, practically tugging him towards the hole underneath the bed.
He knew something was down there. Maybe the person who was calling him. That voice that sent a jolt of familiarity down into his soul. Into his being.
He used his staff to break off the loose wooden boards, breaking them off so the hole would get bigger. The boards fell down into the tunnel until it fell with a reverberating thud sounding from the bottom of the tunnel.
"Jack?" He heard the voice again and he knew that someone was down there, calling for him because there was this tug again, this pull of familiarity that Jack just couldn't ignore.
He needed to know what was down there. Jack vaguely heard Baby Tooth squealing out warnings but he couldn't ignore the voice or any of this. He needed to know.
Jack jumped in as Baby Tooth followed him.
For a moment, everything was pitch black as he landed on the ground but he saw a small hole spilling out light.
Baby Tooth yanked on him and Jack impatiently shook her off. "Baby Tooth! Come on! I have to find out what that is!"
He needed to.
He entered the hole, Wind helping him jump onto the tops of certain structures. He was close, he could feel it. But when he looked up, the need to find out what was going on changed into confusion and despair.
He saw cages with Toothania's helpers in them, squealing with fear and confusion. Ignoring the voice that he had heard, Jack flew up to the cages to see if he could free them and how Toothania's helpers were doing.
"Shh, keep it down!I'm going to get you just as soon as-"
"Jack?"
He froze, hearing the familiar voice again and it was so close. That voice was here, with him and he needed to know where it was coming from. Hanging from one of the cages, he twisted his body to see where the voice was coming from and saw hills of gold.
"Jack?"
"As I can..." He murmured at last
He jumped down onto the hills and noticed it wasn't gold but the teeth of all the children. Hope and desperation bloomed in Jack's chest, filling him with a determination that bore no likeliness to any other.
He dug through the cases of teeth, hoping to find his teeth. His memories. His everything that would finally make sense to him in this world. He wanted everything to make sense.
Why had the Man of the Moon chose him?
Why didn't he remember his memories like the others?
Why was he attracted to Kailani?
Why could she catch glimpses of him and how they had touched and talked just earlier today?
What was that voice that kept calling to him?
He wanted to know.
And the answer was in his memories. Memories that were deeply hidden in these hills of teeth cases of the children.
He tossed each case away carelessly, looking for the one that was his. He heard Baby Tooth and all the others squealing at him in worry but he was vaguely aware of them. He was on a mission.
But something stopped his search. He felt a certain darkness near and knew who it was,
"Looking for something?"
Jack didn't hesitate to grab his staff and shoot a blast of ice at Pitch and attack him. Jack chased his mocking laughter as he rushed up the swirling staircase that he had no idea how it got there. He wanted to attack Pitch and avenge the death of Sandman.
He wanted to destroy Pitch for what he was doing to all the children of the world. Causing fear and disbelief to grow in their hearts.
He wanted to hurt Pitch for what he was doing Kailani. He knew Pitch was giving her nightmares and it pained Jack to know he couldn't do anything to stop Kailani's nightmare. But he could stop the person in charge and save Kailani's belief and all the other children.
Jack searched for Pitch but all he heard was his mocking laughter that angered Jack.
"Don't be afraid, Jack.I'm not gonna hurt you."
"Afraid?" Jack asked almost cockily as he pointed his staff at Pitch who was standing away from him. "I'm not afraid of you."
Jack walked towards Pitch menacingly, wanting to hurt him for causing pain to Kailani and all the other children, but mostly Kailani.
He didn't want the thought that Pitch was touching her dreams and belief with his dark fingers of pain and fear. He didn't like it at all.
"Maybe not. But you are afraid of something." Pitch said. Jack didn't like the sound of confidence in his voice.
He didn't like it at all.
"You think so, huh?" Jack said as he continued to walk to Pitch with his staff pointed at him like a weapon, ready to blast him away at the smallest hint of a fight.
"I know so. It's one thing I always know. People's greatest fears. Your fear is that no one will ever believe in you."
Jack froze and Pitch laughed and suddenly Jack was falling. He hit the ground painfully as he fought to stand up, gasping.
He heard Pitch's voice but couldn't see him. "And worst of all, you're afraid you'll never know why. Why you? Why were you chosen to be like this?"
Jack knew Pitch was messing with him but the fear had come back now. The hopelessness and confusion that had plagued Jack's mind were coming full force as Pitch came to him.
He couldn't move.
"Well, fear not. For the answer to that is right here."
Jack knew he shouldn't believe anything Pitch said but it was too tempting to not reach for the teeth case that had his memories on it. That had his hope in them.
He knew he shouldn't believe in Pitch for anything but how could he not when it was right there? His for the taking.
"Do you want them, Jack?" Pitch asked almost jokingly, making fun of him. "Your memories?"
Yes, he did. He wanted them. Without realizing it, Jack reached for them, ready to take them until a flash of Kailani's face burned in his mind. He snatched his hand away as if it burned.
Pitch disappeared with the case and Jack felt a pit of hopelessness grow in the pit of his stomach. Jack heard his mocking laugh and it pushed him to look for him.
He was not going to be made a fool.
"Everything you wanted to know, in this little box." Jack raced as Pitch's shadow ran ahead. "Why did you end up like this? Unseen. Unable to reach out to anyone. You want the answers so badly. You want to grab them and fly off with them. But you're afraid of what the Guardians will think. You're afraid of disappointing them.
Pitch was playing him but he couldn't stop the need to know banging at his head. Pitch was talking, his shadow circling Jack like a vulture would his prey.
"Well, let me ease your mind about one thing. They'll never accept you. Not really."
Jack grabbed his head in frustration and anger. "Stop it!"
He couldn't believe in this. Pitch was playing at his fears and insecurities. Jack knew this but couldn't stop them from attacking his shield. Jack knew all of this.
But he couldn't stop.
He tried to think of Kailani. She believed in him. But doubt crept in. Did she really believe in him? Did she think he was a dream or hallucination like the other times?
Jack knew in his heart that Kailani believed in him but the longer Pitch mocked him, the more he didn't believe in Kailani.
"Stop it!" He yelled to stop the voice of disbelief ringing through his mind and heart. He didn't want this.
"After all, you're not one of them."
"You don't know what I am!" Jack threatened angrily at Pitch, Kailani's face coming into his mind before it morphed into a dark cloud of uncertainty.
"Of course I do. You're Jack Frost. You make a mess everywhere you go. Why you're doing it right now." Pitch tossed Jack's case of tooth towards him and Jack caught it, uncertainty and disbelief warring in his heart.
Dread began to grow in Jack as he tried to understand what Pitch was saying as he held his memories in his hand.
"What did you do?" Jack asked, almost afraid to know what was going on.
"More to the point, Jack. What did you do?" Pitch said mockingly as he disappeared into the shadow and Jack lunged for him, using his staff to attack him but Pitch was gone.
He turned around but found himself stuck at a dead end, a wooden circular door blocking him as he pushed at it. He realized that he was locked out and Baby Tooth was locked in with all the others.
"Baby Tooth!" He called frantically as he turned around.
"Happy Easter, Jack." Pitch's voice circled around him as Jack saw the ground littered with broken Easter eggs and the sight filled him with dread.
"No." He said before he flew off, hoping that he wasn't too late.
