Hello ladies and gentlemen! I am back! Bow down before me!
(Awkward silence, during which someone throws a bottle.)
HEY!
...OK, maybe I deserved that. Look, I know it's been a week, but in my own defense it turns out I'm not as exempt from school as I like to think. I indeed have to start my homeschooling up again and that means a regular update schedual change. It's Saturday now, got it? Sa...Tur...Daaaaay.
I'm kidding, I love all of you, especially the wonderful The One Named Moonlight. She has been a loyal supported of this fic forever so give her a hand and then conk her on the head so that I can see what she has next for The Darkness Isn't All Bad! MWUHAHAHA!
You should really feel honored Moony, I never do this unless I think the writer has immense talent. Drago, Star and Fanty can attest to this.
OK, now with Moony out cold- HEY! QUIT DROOLING ON MY CARPET! -I can now allow you to read my story. Have fun, and BIG BOOKS!
"You. You killed him."
Both Tooth and Pitch didn't speak. Tooth was trying to keep herself calm and not force her way out of the Hunt, just to find the real Boogeyman and beat him to a bloody pulp.
HOW COULD HE HAVE DONE THAT?! She thought furiously, trying to stop herself from shaking. Emotions, a mix of fury and utter sadness, whirled in her heart and mind and she began to pace back and forth to stop herself from blowing up. How could Pitch have done something like this?! HOW?!
"You just don't kill people whenever you feel like it!" Tooth snarled as she passed Pitch. He was staring at Grim with a look of utter horror on his face. She paused the bed again and her face was illuminated by the white light streaming in from the window that Grim had previously blocked out with his wings.
"Why didn't you do anything to stop this?!" she demanded, stopping in front of the window and glaring up at the moon. "Why?! Why didn't you get up off your lunar ass and help this boy?!"
The man in the moon made no answer, as she knew he wouldn't, and the turned away from the window in disgust.
"No, that's right. You just sit up there, watching don't you? Just watching, never helping." Tooth spat angrily. She had no idea why she was suddenly angry, but she was, and she could barely contain it. Her rage, at Pitch for doing such a cruel thing, at the moon for not preventing it, at Grim for- well, she didn't really know what she was mad at Grim for, but she was!
"Stupid spirits." She muttered, stalking back over to the boy's bed and staring hatefully at Pitch. Doing such a horrible thing was over the top, even for him!
But he didn't know, a small voice inside Tooth's head told her earnestly. You saw the look on his face. Look at him now! He's terrified! He didn't know, Tooth.
"Shut up!" Tooth told herself, even though she knew that there was an absolute truth in the voice's words.
Pitch had started talking again. Tooth thought she should listen.
"H- how?" Pitch was asking Grim. Tooth frowned. There was a strange note in his voice that Tooth tried to identify. Was it sadness? Remorse? Anguish?
"How else?" Grim asked coldly. There was steel in his voice and both spirits heard it. "Da nightmare."
Tooth and Pitch both blinked, Pitch momentarily distracted from the crime he had committed and Tooth surprised enough to look straight at Grim.
"The-" they both began to ask with the same note of confusion in their voices.
"Yes, da nightmare." Tooth heard the anger in his voice now. She could see Pitch visibly flinch and she almost flinched herself, but she steeled herself and held her ground, telling herself it was just a memory. Just a memory.
"But- but you can't die in a nightmare!" Pitch stuttered, obviously shaken by Grim's words. Tooth glanced at him and realized, with a jolt, that Pitch was actually looking sorry. More than that! His eyes were wide, his body was tense and he looked like his worst fears had been realized. Tooth felt herself swell slightly with satisfaction. At least he felt properly ashamed and penitent for what he'd done. "It's just a bad dream!" Pitch shouted desperately, his wide eclipse eyes never leaving Grim.
Grim laughed. It was cold and echoy and both spirits flinched. Pitch even took a step back. "Just a bad dream?" he repeated. Tooth could feel the malice emanating from the eyes beneath that hood. Grim laughed again. "Dat's rich, coming from da king of dos said 'bad dreams'." he said, his accent becoming thicker with anger.
Pitch's gray face grew paler than ever before and his eyes darted to the surrounding shadows, obviously fearing for his own life and searching for an escape.
Tooth snorted. "Coward." she snapped. "If you were have the spirit that you make yourself out to be, you would stay and accept punishment."
Tooth! The little voice admonished her. You know very well the punishment for killing a child. He would be stripped of his powers, if not killed, and what would that do? Absolutely nothing! It would leave the world in chaos and no one would be any better off.
Tooth rubbed her head. "That's right." she said, sighing. "Though I don't know how he got away with killing this boy and no one caught him."
How about you listen to the conversation going on? The voice suggested. Then you might know.
Tooth decided to listen to the voice.
"Pitch," Grim was saying slowly, silently gliding over to the frightened Nightmare King. Pitch didn't move. He was too terrified. "This is a bad ting for you. Spirits don't kill humans, ya know."
Pitch gulped and tried to step back, but whatever paralyzing power Grim had had frozen him. "But- but. . ." he stammered, trying to defend himself.
"But, since you are a spirit new to dis world, I will take de man's soul and keep dis secret between us."
Pitch's eyes widened and he let out a small sigh of relief, but Tooth didn't noticed. She was too busy staring in shock at Grim.
"Grim!" she shouted, outraged that he would let Pitch off the hook so easily! "What are you doing?!"
Then something in that last sentence resurfaced in Tooth's mind and she blinked.
I will take de man's soul and keep dis secret between us.
"Man's soul?" Tooth repeated, frowning in puzzlement. Then her eyes widened and she gasped. "Oh moon," she said, tucking her feet up and turning to the bed. The face of the boy- now a corpse, was still uncovered from when Grim had pulled the sheet back to reveal his white hair, which glowed slightly in the darkness. Luckily for Tooth, the hair provided enough light for her to see the very fine layer of ginger bristles covering his chin when she bent closer to inspect him.
"My moon, it's an adult!" Tooth gasped, her hands covering her mouth in shock. It was. The man couldn't have been any older than twenty and for a moment Tooth didn't know how to react. The being in the nightmare hadn't been a boy, it had been a man. She'd just assumed it had been the boy's father or older brother, but she had been wrong. It was indeed the boy in the bed and that meant-
"Then meant you didn't kill a child!" Tooth exclaimed, looking at Pitch. She didn't exactly feel proud of the Boogeyman- he had still killed and that was against spirit code -but she was glad that he hadn't murdered a child.
Pitch himself seemed to be greatly relieved that Grim wasn't going to tell on him and he even tried to take Grim's skeletal hand to thank him, but the Grim Reaper wasn't letting him off that easy.
"I will not tell," Grim said, looming over Pitch. Pitch instantly shrank back and Tooth could see the fear re-kindle in his eyes. "Because ya are obviously an ignorant spirit. Ignorant to da rules dat govern da Spirit Realm, ignorant to da limits of your own powers, and ignorant to da world around'ja. A spirit needs to know dese tings to function, and you obviously know none o'dem."
Pitch opened his mouth to reply indignantly, but he thought better of it and closed his mouth again.
"Wise choice." Grim said. "I will keep dis little encounter to maself, if ya promise to never again kill if ya can help it. Not a spirit, not a human. Ever. Do ya understand?"
Pitch was about to respond but Tooth wasn't paying attention to him anymore. She was looking at something else.
She had been watching this conversation with rapt attention, logging every detail in her perfect memory, but questions kept popping up as she listened. Grim was letting him go? Why? How could he justify Pitch's ignorance with a human death?
Now that was a stupid question. Grim had witnessed uncountable human deaths. That was his job. That, and to collect the souls of the dead and take then to the other side or to whatever afterlife they wanted. Tooth really didn't know the specifics and she wasn't keen on learning, but the point was clear. Grim obviously thought that Pitch would learn to control his powers and he was letting him off.
Or, she thought, frowning at the black-cloaked figure. Maybe he knows more than he's saying about Pitch and he's trying to help him. Or maybe he's just not feeling charitable today.
"The motives of Death are always unknown," she muttered, staring at the tall, dark, hooded figure with the extremely sharp and creepy-looking bone scythe. It was true. He took where he needed and left here he didn't. No one much talked to him and he was left alone by everyone. You had to do something really bad to tick off Death. He was like North in that way, but it was there the similarities ended.
Grim was solitary and liked to be left alone. North was a social butterfly. Grim was one of the three elders- the greater spirits who spoke directly to the man in the moon. North was a Guardian. He only spoke to Manny through the stone in his workshop floor.
Tooth sighed. Well, when she got out of this Hunt she would have to see the Grim Reaper about this and ask him herself. Right after throttling Pitch Black and dragging him out of whatever hole he was hiding in.
After I knock all of his teeth out, she thought savagely. "And he deserves it," she said aloud, with feeling. "For not only breaking the rules once but now I see he's broken them twice!"
You do know he didn't mean to, right? The little voice asked. Just like he didn't mean to kill the girl.
"Intent doesn't matter." Tooth said aloud. "Actions are what matters, and actions have consequences."
Intent is everything! Her mind said angrily. He shouldn't be punished for something he didn't mean to do!
Tooth rubbed her head furiously. Just thinking about it was giving her a nosebleed. "Why was he even giving her such a potent Nightmare?" she asked angrily. "Tell me that! If he didn't want to kill her, then why did he spend so much time on that one nightmare?!"
The little voice didn't answer and for once, Tooth thought she'd won the argument. Then she heard the voice. It was practically inaudible, even though it was in her head.
It was an accident.
Tooth laughed bitterly. "Oh sure it was an accident, just like this man was an accident!" At the mention of the man, her head unwillingly turned to the poor dead man in the bed and she sighed sadly.
Or, at least, she would have. If she hadn't been scared out of her feathers by the young man sitting up in his bed and looking around with a puzzled look on his face.
"What the hell!" Tooth gasped, flying back a few feet. "What the hell!"
the young man didn't notice her- DUH! -and just blinked slowly, staring up at the ceiling like there was something calling to him. Neither Pitch nor Grim noticed him, though Pitch probably would've gone as white as a sheet if he had, and they just continued talking as if the man was of no more consequence.
"I promise," Pitch was saying, nodding earnestly. "I promise, I will control my powers. You won't hear from me ever again!"
Grim's hood nodded. "Dat's what I like to hear." he said, then he went silent.
Tooth was still staring at the man with a look of utter horror on her face. "Dear moon Grim, what have you done?!" she whispered, covering her mouth in shock. She couldn't believe it. Had Grim brought the man back?
"No," she said, trying to sound firm in her conviction. She started pacing in the air behind the man's bed. "No, Grim knows the penalty for changing things like that. He wouldn't have brought him back even if he needed to save the world! You just don't do things like that!"
Then why is he sitting up like he just woke up from a refreshing nap? The little voice inside her asked.
Before Tooth could formulate an answer, Grim turned to look at the bed and the man sitting up in it. Tooth froze. It looked like he was staring right at her!
He didn't speak, but through some kind of telepathic contact the young man swung his legs out of the bed, stood up and walked over to Grim. Pitch didn't notice anything strange, he was too busy assuring Grim that he wouldn't do anything like this again, but Tooth did. She, the unseen visitor, saw all. The young man, clad in a long white nightgown and bare feet, walked right up to Grim and Grim raised his scythe.
Pitch, thinking that the gesture was meant to intimidate him, instantly stopped his flow of words and said, "T- thank you." in a shaky voice.
Grim didn't answer. He raised his scythe in his skeletal hands and, turning the tip of the blade towards the man, touched him lightly on the forehead. The man's eyes widened and his mouth opened, but no sound emerged and, before Tooth could blink, the whole man turned into gray light and was absorbed by the scythe. It was a beautiful sight, but sad, and Tooth felt the whole room shudder from the power of the Grim Reaper.
Pitch, who also felt the power but didn't see it's cause, stepped back and said nervously, "Ahem. Grim?"
Grim didn't respond for several seconds and Tooth could see power rippling along his cloaked body. The red lights that were the Grim Reaper's eyes were out and Tooth assumed he'd closed them, but they instantly rekindled and Tooth knew he was in power again.
"I will take my leave now," Grim said, turning away from the two spirits and raising his scythe. "I hope we never have to meet again little shadow." with that he slammed the butt of his scythe on the ground and turned into an enormous black raven with a wingspan like a bad dream which cawed loudly and swept once around the room, forcing Pitch to duck or else get whacked by a huge girl that was Death. He ducked and, with another caw, the raven swooped out the open window and into the night.
Pitch just stood there for a moment, staring at the departed Reaper. Tooth thought she saw a look of bemusement flash across his face and his lips crease in a small smile, but then the look was replaced by exhausted relief and a little bit of sadness. He turned back to the bed. Tooth did to and wasn't nearly surprised as she should be to find the young man's body still in the same position it had been when he'd died.
The man who had walked towards Grim had been the same man of course, but it had been his spirit, more than his corporeal body. Grim had done as he'd said he would, taking the spirit and hopefully he hadn't told anyone about it already. For Pitch's sake, anyway.
Tooth watched Pitch stare at the body for a while, then he opened his mouth.
"I'm sorry." he said, staring down at the man's face. Tooth was surprised. There was real regret in the man's eyes and at first Tooth didn't believe that he was in fact sorry, but then his next words completely changed her mind. "If I could take it back, I would." Pitch said. "I know that doesn't mean much to you, now that you're dead, but I hope you can hear me and believe me when I say that I am deeply sorry for what I have put you through." Pitch paused. "If it makes you feel any better, assuming you can hear me and I'm not talking to myself,"
Tooth giggled.
"I will never do anything like this again." Pitch continued. "I know my limits now, and I won't intentionally kill another human ever again. I say intentionally, because I don't know what accidents might happen in the future, but I swear that I won't willingly kill a single human ever again."
Tooth gaped. Pitch was making an oath like that?
To a corpse?
Tooth shook her head. "Pitch, you're a liar." she said coldly, remembering the little girl's face twisted in terror. "You did hurt another human, killed another human, and that human was that little girl! I swear that, when I get out of here, I'm going to kick your ass all the way back to the North Pole!"
Pitch stood there for another few minutes, staring down at the man, then he turned and took his leave, stepping into the shadows and leaving nothing but a rapidly-growing cold corpse and a furious Tooth Fairy.
"Coward." Tooth spat, glaring out at where the the Boogeyman disappeared "Slinking shadowy coward. Running away into the night like a sneaking burglar." She really really hated Pitch Black now, not just for what he'd done but for what he hadn't done. He hadn't really done anything useful or important when he'd apologized to the dead man. He hadn't owned up to his crime to the other spirits, he hadn't vowed to rectify his mistake in some way, and he hadn't even done anything to stop himself when it had happened!
Toothiana you are being unfair and unjust! That little voice said again, sternly. You know quite well that he is sorry for what he did, he had no control over it, and when he apologized to the young man, that was the closest he could get to actually making up for what he'd done.
Tooth had to admit that the little voice was right. Pitch really couldn't have done much after the young man had died. He couldn't have done anything, actually. Pitch had no control over life and death and he couldn't have stopped himself once his power had overloaded the young man's heart. She knew this. She knew this quite well. And yet. . .
And yet she couldn't help himself from thinking how much she hated Pitch for what he'd done.
"It's making my head hurt." Tooth muttered, rubbing her head and waiting for the Hunt to be over. Fog would soon be spilling into the room, clouding her eyes and taking her back to her room in her palace. Then she would find Pitch, wherever he was, and wring his neck for this. "No, no, that's not right." Tooth said, keeping her head down. "Pitch is nothing but a stupid spirit who doesn't have enough control over his powers." Her brain reeled. "I- I can't blame him." she finally admitted.
It was true. Tooth didn't want to admit it, she really didn't, but Pitch hadn't done what he'd done intentionally. It was an accident. The voice had been right. Pitch wasn't a malicious spirit- well, not towards children anyway, and he wasn't known for hurting them or any other humans. At least, not physically. Mentally he scared the heck out of them whenever he could, but he didn't go around killing them just because he could. He didn't mean to kill the young man and even though he had killed the one in the bed beside her, intent was everything. Just like with the girl, he hadn't meant to kill him.
"He didn't mean it." Tooth said quietly. "He didn't mean it. Pitch is just a stupid spirit who can't control his own powers." Again, true.
Tooth sighed for the millionth time that night and looked up. "He-" then she stopped. The room around her had disappeared, consumed by the fog that transported her to either a different memory or back to her Palace while she'd been thinking about Pitch.
But she wasn't back in her Palace.
"Now what the hell is this?!" Tooth asked, outrage creeping into her voice as she stared around her. She was in the middle of a dimly lit street with shops lining her on all sides. It was dark and they were all closed. The streetlights glowed yellow above her and by that light she could read some of the shop signs. They were written in Russian and there were small piles of snow in the corners and on the roofs of the street.
"Russia." Tooth said, looking around blankly. "Why am I in Russia?"
Obviously she was still in Pitch's memories, and by the date on the newspaper in a machine across the street, significantly closer to her own time. Maybe nineteen seventy, sixty? Whatever. Anyway, the date didn't have a year, but according to the paper it said it was November fifteenth. Deep into winter, and yet there was hardly any snow on the ground. That was odd.
"Pitch!" she said, turning around, looking for the familiar moving shadow of Pitch Black. She didn't see him, but when she turned to look into an alley that was on the other side of the street she saw a black shape darting into the opening. She frowned. Had that been a tail?
"A Nightmare." she whispered, taking flight and buzzing over to the opening. She poked her head inside the opening and saw, with considerable surprise, that there was nothing there. No horse, no Pitch, no nothing.
She frowned, then she flew all the way into the alley, looking around carefully. The alley was dark. There weren't any lamp posts and the only light that filtered in was the dim, weak light from the neon signs hung on the shops across the street. The alley itself was made from dark-red brick and mortar and didn't look very well-kept. Garbage lined the edges of the wall and she could see several illegible posters that were plastered to the wall. They were peeling and soaked with water.
Tooth frowned. "Um, hello?" she called, peering into the darkness.
No response.
Tooth rolled her eyes and bobbed up and down in irritation. "Great. Another creepy alley." she muttered. "And now I have to wait until tall dark and creepy shows his gray ass."
And so she waited, folding her arms and looking from side to side. She saw that the alley ended abruptly with a bricked up end covered in more peeling posters. The other end, the way she'd come in, was also empty.
"Owwwwwww!"
Or maybe it wasn't as empty as she thought.
Tooth whirled around and, before she realized what she was doing she raised her fists and set them in a boxer position. "Who's there?" She called, glaring out into the opening.
Nothing.
Tooth blinked, then she looked at her fists and dropped them. I may be the Guardian of memories, but I obviously don't have as good a memory as I pretend. She thought, smiling to herself. Talking when she couldn't be heard, raising her fists against an enemy that couldn't actually hurt her, yeah she was definitely having trouble remembering little details. Then her serious expression returned and she glared at the alleyway again.
"OK seriously, are you there Pitch?" she called, this time just to pass the time. "I'm getting bored here."
"Owwwwwww!"
This time Tooth didn't react, though her brain told her to and her fists clenched. The moaning- she could tell it was the moaning of a man -was coming from behind her and a little to her left. Tooth slowly turned around and was amazed to see a small, huddled shape near the floor of the alley. She allowed her wings to slowly stop beating and she sank to her knees in front of the huddled shape. It was dark near the floor, but she could still make out a a scraggly beard and a pair of half-closed dark eyes.
Tooth frowned. Was it a homeless man, hiding in an alley because it was warmer? Or maybe he was a drunk, almost passed out? She was curious and she bent a little closer. She'd never seen a drunk before, but she'd seen plenty of homeless people in the big cities. They were always holding signs and things, saying Will Work For Food or Wash Your Car For Change. Dressed in rags, greasy and grimy, dirty and wet and always sad. It made her want to cry when she saw people like that.
Tooth shook her head. She couldn't think about that now. She had to figure out who this man was and why he was here. More importantly, where Pitch was! This was his memory after all, so he should be here, right?
The dim light didn't illuminate the floor and she had to bend down to see the man clearly. He was there alright, blending in almost perfectly with the dirty bricks. His scraggly hair and a three month-beard were greasy and gray. His clothes were little more than rags, even for a homeless man. There was a ratty blanket covering his legs and Tooth could see a bottle clasped in his dirty hands. Several more bottles were scattered amidst the garbage and refuse. Green bottles, brown bottles, and even some clear bottles that she assumed had vodka in it, him being Russian.
Tooth stared intently at him. He looked like he'd been there a long time. The fingers that clutched the bottle were crusted with grime and maybe even frostbite. He was shivering.
"I can't believe they do this," Tooth said, staring sadly at the man. "Humans. I can't believe they leave their own to suffer like this."
It made her extremely sad to see people like this, left alone because no one cared about them. Still, she knew that she couldn't do anything about it. Just like she couldn't do anything about the young man who had died.
"So, what happens now?" she asked, looking at the man. He was almost asleep and, since he couldn't see her, he didn't answer.
Someone else did answer though, just not in a language Tooth understood. One minute she was staring at the semi-peaceful man, the next she was staggering back against the wall when she heard- and felt -the snorting of an animal right beside her face.
"AGH!" Tooth yelled, flinching and zooming backward a few feet with her fists raised again. There was a huge, black horse standing in the alleyway, looming over the man and snorting into his face. It's coat writhed and glimmered like sand-
"SAND!" Tooth exclaimed, suddenly recognizing the familiar horse. It was one of Pitch's Nightmares.
Tooth narrowed her eyes. If this was a Nightmare, then it's master couldn't be far behind. What was it doing here anyway?
The Nightmare lowered it's head towards the man leaning up against the wall. Tooth almost made to stop it, but then she remembered that she, like Jack when he wasn't believed in, couldn't touch it or anything else. She growled and gripped her hands in tight fists. If this...thing did anything to hurt a poor, homeless man-
"If it does anything to him," Tooth said tiredly, unclenching her fists and looking up at the sky sadly. "I'm stuck just watching and trying to avert my eyes." I was true. She couldn't do a damn thing about it. Just like-
"NO!" She said angrily, surprising even herself with the outburst. "No," she said again, a little more calmly. "I can't think about the young man that died. He died a long time ago and I can't do anything about." She sighed. "Again, this is why I hate Memory-hunts. The nosebleeds, the lack of solidity, and the freaking annoying lack of ability to do anything about what I'm seeing. It's driving me crazy!"
It was driving her crazy, but just like the contents of the memory, she couldn't do anything about it. She was the unseen observer and, until the memory decided to let her go, she was at it's mercy.
The Nightmare-horse had it's nose right up against the man's face now. She could see it breathing and blowing back his hair with each snort. The man didn't seem to notice the giant black sand horse right in front of him and Tooth wondered if he was asleep. She wanted to take a closer look, but she was afraid of the Nightmare.
Finally, unable to quell her curiosity, she allowed herself to drop about a foot down. She couldn't see from her vantage point or disadvantage, as the case may be, and that was killing her. She wanted to know what was doing on!
"It's just a memory," she told herself over and over again as she drifted closer. "Just an incredibly realistic, living, snorting memory. NO! Bad girl! Don't be thinking like that!"
Still, whatever she told herself the Nightmare continued to freak her out and she still stayed to the left of the beast, hovering away from it as far as she could be without losing sight of the man on the ground. It seemed like the creepy horse was nuzzling against the man's head, but somehow she didn't think that was it. She watched for another few minutes, then, just as the horse was about to pull away the man let out a scream and Tooth and the horse were blinded by a flash of white light.
Tooth staggered back, simultaneously blinded by the bright light and nearly deafened by the blast of pure, unfiltered sound that battered her eardrums. The man's scream was long and lasted for what felt like hours, but in reality was only a few minutes, and she had to clap her hands over her ears to drown out the terrible sound. Even then, the noise filtered through the miniscule gaps between her fingers and penetrated her eardrums, making her moan in pain.
"STOP!" She begged, all other thoughts completely washed from her mind. All she could hear were the torturous sounds of the man's screams, as if-
Her mind ground to a screeching halt. Oh no, please no!
Before she could stop herself Tooth opened her eyes and tried to stare past the blinding light. It hurt like white fire, but she had strong eyes and she could just barely make out the shape of the man huddled against the wall and the black beast in front of him. It's nose was touching the tip of the man's forehead and there was pure fear in his wide, green eyes.
It's the same as the man in the bed, she thought, staring at the man in front of her with a look of utter sadness in her eyes. She knew what had happened.
The Nightmare had taken this man's life. Scared him to death, just like that little girl and that young man.
Before Tooth even had a chance to react, however, a familiar voice spoke form the mouth of the Alleyway. "Ebony!"
Tooth didn't turn around. It was Pitch, of course. The voice was silky-smooth, just like before. She could tell that it was him. Just in time to witness his oath being broken to Grim, she thought savagely, clenching her fists.
"Ebony, I thought I told you not to-" the voice stopped. The footsteps that had accompanied the voice as Pitch walked into the alleyway stopped as well and the world around her was plunged into complete silence.
Tooth didn't want to, but she couldn't help herself. She turned around. No doubt Pitch was slack-jawed in admiration for his creation's work, but when she did turn around and look upon the Boogeyman for the first time since the end of the first memory, she was astonished to see him shaking with fear!
Tooth blinked. Maybe she was seeing things. She kneaded her eyes, but when she looked again he was still acting the same way. His mouth was open- not too much, just enough to show his tongue, his eyes were wide with a combination of fear and outrage and his shoulders were shaking.
"What have you done?" he asked. His voice was barely above a whisper and Tooth had to strain to hear it. There was a strange tone layering his words that she hadn't ever known the Boogeyman to use. Whenever she'd heard him speak, he'd always been smooth, arrogant and completely sure in himself. Now, he sounded like a child who had just come home to his cats chewing on a dead baby bunny. I know, not the most appetizing of similes, but I digress.
"What have you done?!"
OK, now the seeing-a-dead-bunny voice was being rapidly replaced by a seeing-a-puppy-peeing-on-your-favorite-chair, just-as-you-get-home voice. In short, indignant and very angry.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" He finally screamed, striding forward like the 'all-powerful' Boogeyman he pretended to be. The horse, at first proud of its accomplishment but now knowing that it did something exceedingly bad, whinnied nervously and shifter on its hooves. "DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH TROUBLE I AM IN?!" he bellowed.
The beast nickered and Pitch erupted in a shout of anger and sent a bolt of black sand straight through the horse's side. It lat out a pained cry and then dissolved into black sand which flew back to Pitch's hand and he clenched his fist around it, crushing it.
Tooth jumped at what she swore was a horse's cry faintly coming from his hand, then it faded. She stared at him. Pitch still had his fist in the air and sand trickled from between his fingers. He was staring down at the man. His greasy hair had been turned pure white, just like the other two, and the look of utter horror on his face was still there. Tooth had to turn away. She couldn't look. Pitch stood there for a long time silently, just staring at the man with a look that was obviously part self-preservatory fear and part pity for the dead man.
Right, she thought. Like he actually feels sorry for what that thing did.
"Well, fancy seeing you here, Pitch." A familiar Jamaican-accented voice said from right behind them. Pitch jumped as Grim emerged from the end of the alley, all black cloak and shining raven's wings, just like the last time they'd seen him. Tooth didn't jump. Fighting Pitch for such a long time and knowing so many other spirits that popped up like that without warning had given her a high tolerance for surprises.
"G- Grim," Pitch stuttered, the pity immediately evaporating from his eyes to be replaced by naked fear. "I swear, I had no knowledge of this. I didn't do it, one of my-"
"Pitch, Pitch," Grim said, stopping the Boogeyman's stammers of explanation He was sounding suspiciously calm and it unnerved Tooth. He walked closer. "Relax. Can't I just pop in to see an old friend?"
Tooth snorted. Grim was playing the intimidation game. The calmer he appeared, the more angry he was. Pitch should know that. But, being a young spirit at this time, he probably didn't.
As if to clench this, Pitch's face lit up and he obviously believed, just for a second, that he might actually get out of this situation alive. Then Grim put the skeletal hand- one that wasn't holding his scythe, on Pitch's shoulder and squeezed. Pitch cried out, but he was quickly stifled by the force of Grim's hand. Skeleton though he may be, Grim was immensely powerful and as such was more than a match for Pitch. Pitch was a kid with a devil mask shouting "Boo!" compared to Grim.
"AH-!"
Tooth flinched. The Nightmare King's shout reverberated off of the brick walls.
"Now," Grim said in a deadly calm voice. His accent became more pronounced and his voice deepened to one that was used by a being of immeasurable power. Which Grim was. "We haven't seen each other in some time Pitch. How have you been?" Another squeeze, making a scream erupt from the Nightmare King's mouth. He tried to sink to his knees because the pain was too much for him, but Grim's strong hand kept him upright. "Seen any new spirits recently?" Another squeeze. Tears were streaming down Pitch's face and he had to gasp for air, even though he didn't need it. "Murdered anyone lately?"
With that, Grim dropped him and Pitch crumpled to the ground, curled into a little ball of pain.
For a second, Tooth almost felt compassion for the Boogeyman. Technically he hadn't killed this old man, the Nightmare had. Yet, the Nightmare was under Pitch's control. He was responsible for whatever atrocities it committed The thing had been acting of it's own accord, but Pitch was still it's master. If a dog killed a sheep, the owner had to pay for it. It was Pitch's turn to pay and, though he looked so pitiful lying there on the ground, holding himself and trying to stem the flow of tears, she couldn't bring herself to forgive him.
"P- please," Pitch gasped, his body now convulsing with pain. "I didn't-"
"Spare me." Grim said coldly. "Ya violated our agreement. Ya killed again. And now ya shall pay the price."
With that, Grim raised his scythe and prepared to bring it down on Pitch's neck, but Pitch let out a loud scream and wailed like a playground bully, "IT WASN'T ME! IT WAS MY NIGHTMARE!"
Grim paused, his scythe poised above the unfortunate Boogeyman. "Say again?" he asked.
"It wasn't me!" Pitch pleaded. "I didn't take his life! I was on the other side of the town, giving a well-deserved nightmare to a bully who broke a seven-year-old's nose."
Grim stared down at him for a long moment and Tooth practically heard the iciness that he directed at the Boogeyman, but he didn't say a word.
Pitch, relieved that he wasn't being beheaded and slowly calming down, gulped and said, slower this time, "I told it to go on ahead back to my lair without me and that I would meet it their, after making my usual rounds. It apparently decided to take a detour."
Grim continued to stare down at him, his scythe unwavering. Tooth hovered a little closer and she swore she saw Pitch look at her, then she realized that the dead man was directly behind her and she knew that he was looking at him. Still, this afforded her a chance to look him full in the face and when she did, she saw that there was genuine regret in his eyes.
"I swear, I didn't want this man to die." Pitch said, sounding more like his normal self but with a touch of compassion in his voice that Tooth hadn't heard before. "I will punish my creation profusely for this and," he glanced up at Grim. "I know that I, as the horse's creator am to blame partially."
Grim still didn't respond.
"And, ah, I will promise to keep a tighter leash on my servants in future." Pitch said, stumbling over the first few words. He was looking up at Grim with a hopeful, if slightly fearful, look on his face. Tooth didn't think Grim was buying it.
Grim continued to stare down at him for a long, long time. Then, just as Pitch started to open his mouth to talk again, Grim's bony fingers tightened around his scythe and before Tooth could scream or Pitch even had a chance to raise his hands in defense, Grim let the scythe's blade fall between the Boogeyman's legs.
Pitch closed his eyes and gritted his teeth in anticipation of the horror, but Tooth kept her eyes open. She was curious, in spite of herself.
Five seconds, then ten. Then Pitch tentatively opened one eye and looked down. The blade was lodged in the concrete, right in the middle of his knees. He let out a relieved breath and opened the other eye. Then he glanced fearfully up at Grim, who began to laugh. It was not a pleasant laugh. Not one you would want your boyfriend or husband to have. Not an endearing laugh or even a fairly nice one. It was a deep, booming laugh, and it made the feathers on Tooth's arms stand on end. It was creepy.
"Oh, ya should see ya face!" Grim said, chuckling darkly. Then he yanked the scythe out of the pavement and reached out a skeletal hand to help Pitch up. Pitch looked at the hand, then at Grim. "Oh, take it Pitch." Grim said, sounding just like any normal friend, as if he didn't have giant raven wings, bone hands and a scythe that could render Pitch unable to have any female company in his long years to come. "I'm not mad at ya."
"Y- you're not?" Pitch stammered, obviously surprised. "But-"
"Listen, Pitch," Grim said, looming over the rapidly paling Boogeyman. Grim's tone was conversational, in a deep, creepy way that made you think of the voice of Kronos in Tartarus from the Percy Jackson books. Tooth would not be surprised in any way, shape or form if the writer had modeled Kronos's voice after Grim's. It was a voice of real power. "I have no grudge against ya."
Pitch stared up hesitantly for a few seconds, then he accepted the hand and was pulled to his feet by the other spirit. Pitch was about to thank him, but Grim squeezed his hands more tightly than your usual friendly handshake.
"In trut, da old codger was going to die the next day anyway. He had no family or friends, so he won't be missed"
Pitch started to nod but grim squeezed again, silencing him.
"Still, I don't want you to forget this day soon, in case you let another one of your pets free."
Suddenly Pitch cried out in pain and he tried to break the link, but Grim held on.
"Let dis be a reminder to ya, Pitch Black." he intoned in a deep, movie-promo voice. "So dat'cha might not take life an' deat' so lightly."
"I won't!" Pitch screamed, fighting to break free of the spirit's hold. "I won't, I swear!"
"Good." Grim let the hand drop and turned to the dead man. Pitch fell back onto the floor and stared up at the tall, imposing Reaper looming over him. "I know ya will be a good boy now Pitch. And if not. . ."
Pitch screamed in pain again and clutched his face. "What are you doing?!" he asked, clawing at his face as if burning tar was caked on it.
"Just a little present." Grim said. "To make sure ya remember. Ya are a vain spirit, Pitch Black." and then, after touching the dead man on the head with his scythe and taking his soul, the Grim Reaper disappeared
Tooth, curious to the point of irritation about what Grim had done, flew closer that he ever had to the Nightmare King. His hands were still covering his face and he moaned in pain.
"Why?" he moaned. "Why me?!"
"Move your hands!" Tooth ordered, for the first time overcoming her fears and talking like she would to any other spirit. "I want to see what he did!"
But Pitch didn't move his hands. At least, not immediately. After about five minutes, during which Tooth watched him like a hawk, he reluctantly lowered his hands and stared fixedly at the dead body.
Tooth scrutinized his face. There wasn't anything different that she could see. Same Nose, same hair, same skin tone, same invisible eyebrows-
She froze.
Right where Pitch's eyebrows would be, if he had any, were two pink lines. She stared.
"Pitch... had eyebrows?" She said slowly, as if not daring to believe it. Then she said it a little louder, with more conviction as she realized the truth of her discovery. "Pitch had eyebrows!" It was true. She remembered it now! When she'd seen him in the memory, she hadn't looked at his face properly. Well, she had looked at his face face, but not his eyebrows and hairline. She was just so use to not seeing them in her time that she dismissed their existence now as a trick of the light, but now she could see them very clearly.
Or, at least she could see the places were they had been. Now that they were gone, all that remained were those twin patches of lighter skin above his eyes. They looked like they'd been shaved off when Pitch was having a tan, the skin-tone was so different. The eyebrow patches, pink though they were, also looked a little lighter that the rest of his face. More like human skin that his own ashen complexion.
Tooth smiled and allowed a giggle to escape her mouth, then a snort, then a full-blown laugh. This was great! Grim had hit upon the one thing that would make Pitch remember his oath. His vanity. Grim was right. She'd never seen a spirit preen so much.
Not that she didn't do her own healthy bit of primping on occasion. Tooth enjoyed the glossy sheen of her feathers and took great pains to make sure they looked like they did and not the moldy old feathers of a cockatoo.
Still, it was hilarious that, out of all reasons, THIS was how and why Pitch had lost his eyebrows.
There had actually been a few rumors going around the spirit grapevine as to how he had lost said hairs, the theories of which ranged from an accident with the summer Spirit to him just being bad at shaving. Tooth's theory had been that it was a generic anomaly, but now she knew the truth! That it was Grim's doing!
"I can't wait to tell the others!" She said, chuckling evilly and rubbing her hands together in anticipation. The fog was already forming around her and she knew that she would be back in her palace any minute. When she got back, she knew that she was going to have to tell the Guardians about this. They would be outraged to know that Pitch had broken the spirit code not once but three times, and they would be even more furious to know that Grim had helped him.
This thought suddenly brought all other thoughts in her head to a grinding halt.
"Wait," she said, frowning. "Grim. What am I going to say about Grim?"
What a damn good question.
She lowered her hands and looked at the fog around her. It was almost as thick as it needed to be to transport her home. She would be back in her own room within minutes.
"He spared Pitch, even when he deserved to be punished. Why?" she asked herself in a whisper. "Why did he do it?"
Well, that was just as stupid a question as it was the first time she'd asked it. Grim never gave away his reasons easily, if at all. He was much like Manny in that way. Always working behind the scenes. A puppet master, moving strings and chess pieces.
"The man behind the curtain." Tooth muttered. "But why was he helping Pitch out all these decades earlier? Did he know what was going to happen?"
No, that was ridiculous. Only Father Time had access to the Time Stream and knew the future, which as always changing and so whatever future he saw changed almost as soon as he saw it. That wouldn't work.
"Maybe Grim was told by Time," she mused, allowing the fog to engulf her and spin her around like she was in the center of a mini-cyclone. "That might make sense, although the inconsistency of the shifting Time Strands might make the knowledge useless." She really didn't know. Father Time was the only one who really understood these things. She had no idea how Physics worked. Her specialty was memories, which had a lot to do with the Time Stream, but not enough that she'd been privied to exact knowledge of their workings.
Several seconds later a still-thinking Tooth was deposited into a place that certainly wasn't her palace. Namely, a hospital room in Phoenix, Arizona.
