-It's about midnight as I write this, so forgive anyplotshotsand let me know if you want to see anything more or fix anything! Enjoy 3 -

~Pitch Black~

Astrid shifted in the bed, face scrunching and making that irritated noise in the back of her throat she often made when having not quite a nightmare, not quite a dream. I sighed, reaching a hand forward and brushing her hair from her face, the pure-white of the bed beneath her contrasting with the black hair and almost, almost, letting me see a shimmer of blue somewhere. But possibly that was from my own fatigue.

"She is stronger now than before, if that is even quite possible." I scoffed and stood from where I'd crouched, having gotten her situated in the solitary bed that most likely hadn't been there until we arrived. The whole rest of the room was massive, dwarfing in fact, and bare of anything except a ceiling painted with constellations. I turned to the voice, measuring him with icy judgement, seeing the ancient figure's eyes falling onto her in a way that made my skin crawl, made me grimace in distaste.

Longing. Regret. Pain. But not once ounce of what she really wanted from him. No, of course not. He couldn't feel that, for if he did then we might not be in this whole mess in the first place. If he could feel that, we all might be in very different situations. But 'guilt' was something his pride would not allow.

"Indeed she is. Bitter pill to swallow, isn't it?" I mused, suddenly noticing the other Guardians as they tensed around him, my entire focus on either Astrid or this man from the moment he summoned us here against our will. They all stayed a respectful distance away from the man, as if getting too close would burn them, or they'd be shamed in some way, as if this man could ever truly do anything bad to his Guardians.

"I am glad for her." He said quietly, looking up at me with a face too young for the voice, too old for the bright silver of his eyes that scrawled over me, nodding, a frown under a silver beard that creased his aged skin almost too easily, skin that moved in a way that made him seem much more expressive than he really was. And there was a weight in that gaze, on that face. A weight that looked like it had been pressing there for quite some time, a weight that had to do with why we were here.

I read his fears like a book, all bubbles of noise that were low and annoying, fears of Hal, fears for his Guardians and the children, fear of being found-out, fear of their reactions, fear of what he'd allowed to happen, fear of failure. But one actually made me sneer, one made a dangerous-feeling smile coil onto my face, feeling the venom in my own blood. 'Ah yes, there's some sense in that head yet' I thought, the distinct fear ringing in my head. Fear I was glad he had. Fear I wanted to fester.

Fear of Astrid.

"Glad? Oh, I'm sure you are. Glad that she's been through hell, I assume? Or glad that she just got kidnapped by a psychopath?" I asked, seeing his eyes widen in surprise as I stepped a bit closer, motioning a hand towards her as this man, this cowering, trembling, pitiful man tried to look angry or in control, only succeeding at looking weak, as always. Now, I wasn't exactly sure why we were here, or what he thought he could accomplish or explain by having us here, and I couldn't honestly care less.

"Honestly, if I were you, I'd be terrified for when she actually wakes up and sees you." I mused, looking over at Astrid, sleeping obliviously as the fear tried to level out in her mind, the noises unconcentrated and scattered, like frightened mice darting everywhere, the fear itself disoriented and not sure what to be or how to feel. Whatever Hal Wean had told her had set her severely off-balance, and she needed as much rest as possible before she woke back up in this mess of a life she had.

"...Pitchiner, I am here merely to help, nothing has-"

"It's Pitch, you pathetic little man. And I wouldn't immediately assume that, after all the help you've given her over the years, she will even accept your offer, whatever it may be." I cut him off sharply, offering a sarcastic and icy smile as I shrugged, his eyes wide and caught between hurt and anger, somehow aging them and creating more wrinkles.

Before he could speak, before he could try to defend himself, I walked brusquely past. Since the moment we'd come here, I could feel his eyes on her. Feel the desperation in them, sense how he actually thought, after all this time, after everything he'd done, that she'd just... No. No, I knew Astrid better than that. Much better.

He can give her a room and take us here for 'protection' or whatever he had done it for, but he couldn't make her trust him. He couldn't make either of us accept his help. And he certainly couldn't keep me in that room... And yet, even as I made my way past the Guardians, even as I stepped out through the ornate, massive, white-laden door, even as I made my way into the shadows of the glitteringly white hall, I couldn't help but pause just behind the door and wait. Couldn't help but listen to them speak through the unsteady thrum of Astrid's fear...

~E. Aster Bunnymund~

Manny didn't even flinch as Pitch left, my jaw almost slack if it weren't for the anger coursing through me, shocked that anyone would talk to Manny in such a way. Then again, it was Pitch, wasn't it? He didn't have a reason to respect this man before us, the man who let of a faint and constant glow, as if he'd absorbed the moonlight itself into his very being, the man who spoke eloquently and evenly, the man who had created us and called upon us to help protect the children...

And I hated it, hated it, but I'd always imagined meeting this man, meeting the Man in the Moon, and being just completely awestruck and humbled by everything he'd done for us, to lay eyes on a being that cared so completely for the children of the world that he'd made his own army of spirits to protect them against the darkness...I'd always imagined that. But that wasn't what happened now.

Now, all I could think of was what Pitch had said about Astrid waking up, about the 'help' MiM had given her...about talking to her at those two trees. Right before we'd been attacked, even before I spoke to her, I'd gone to find her without any questions asked. And I wasn't sure if I'd just been around her too much, wasn't sure if I just got too close to her, but something in my chest pulled at her, that old and ancient thing hidden away somewhere seeing that desperate look in her eyes...

I had to follow her. And when I did, when she finally spoke to me in a way that made me believe her, when she told me about her, about her brother, it suddenly made everything that much more complicated. I looked at him, at the Man in the Moon, and tried my bloody hardest to see him like I always had, like the silent vigil in the night, like the father-figure of everyone, like the man who could do no wrong. I tried and tried again.

But I couldn't. Because I knew too much about Astrid, and that man I had in my mind couldn't have done any of those things. And I wanted answers, but couldn't ask them, couldn't bring myself to that level of disrespect, couldn't admit to myself that Pitch may be even the slightest bit justified...

Manny chuckled a bit, but it was heavy and almost a bit bitter, sending a wave of unease through all of us. To see a figure like Manny acting like this...it wasn't right. It was like a child seeing their parent crying, or soldier seeing their commander freaking out. It was ground-shaking. Something Astrid tended to do to us a lot, even when she was sleeping.

Manny walked forward a bit and rested one of his hands on the end of the bed, the cold metal rising up at the foot shimmering like all the rest and creating a moon-like arch over the end, acting as a foot board. And the man who had stood so straight when we'd arrived, the man who did wash us all over in awe in the beginning, suddenly looked tired at Pitch's words, weary even. And a flash of anger ran through me.

I hated this, hated questioning everything. I hated my views being changed, hated seeing things I didn't want to see. I hated everything Astrid had brought unto us, hated every word Pitch had spoken that was raw and brutally true. In fact, I hated every moment from the second we'd met those two, those two who took my fine-and-dandy world and ripped it open, showing the raw and brutal insides, showing us truth and erasing the black-and-white of it all. I hated that it couldn't be undone.

"Manny." I heard North say softly, all of us looking over as the large man took a tentative step forward, an odd expression on his face that I couldn't read, "...Manny, zere are...many questions to be had. Some to be discussed once Astrid wakes up, no? Yes. Es easier zat way, if es alright with you, to discuss Hal spirit and reason for us being here in first place." Manny nodded slowly, still looking at the sleeping Astrid, her face scrunching a bit in sleep.

"Yes, yes I think that would be best Nicholas. All of us may need a break after what we have been through as of recently. My home is and always will be open to all of you, and you my roam and rest where you please. I will send word for you when Astrid wakes up, and then we may all collect our thoughts together. Here, I promise, you are under my full and capable protection." He said sincerely and with warmth, and yet when North spoke next it was still tentative, nervous.

"Es great honor Manny, and we all thank you very much for opportunity and assistance...but as of late...as of meeting Astrid, that is...there are...other questions that we would like answered."

The room was silent, everyone silently hoping that Manny hadn't been insulted and at the same time that he would answer, that he would give us his side of the events. To prove them true or false. Paraphrased or to-the-point. We just had to get resolution. Had to know if Manny could actually do something like that to a child...

Manny was silent for a long while, his back to us and robe falling into a train on the floor, pure white with a grey sash that had emblemized moon phases all along it's length. He paused, and I wished I could have seen the emotions crossing his face, wished I could have at least known if he were angry and upset or please or something other than silent, because bloody hell I wanted to know! I had to, we all did...

"...She has spoken to you, I have seen it from up here in my own home, but you must understand first how extraordinary that is. She has lived her life in severe isolation, Pitch her only companion in times of great need. She has trusted no other, but then again you all were very special. That is why I chose all of you in the first place. Children, of any age, trust you...

"Why I chose Astrid, though, was quite different. And I suppose that is where I must start if I am to answer your questions, my children, for it seems..." He paused, and then looked up at the ceiling, as if the constellations painted above held some answer, "After all these centuries, and in light of recent circumstances, it seems that the time for truth has come. You all deserve answers." His voice trailed off for a moment, my hands fidgeting with the brown sling in apprehension and eagerness.

I wanted to hear this. I didn't want to hear this. Everyone was shifting as I was, thinking as I was, all of us terrified of hearing the truth and relieved that it was finally coming out. We were all too ready for this. We weren't ready at all. Manny spoke regardless, turning and walking over to Astrid's bedside, face now visible as heavy, saddened, a bittersweet smile in his eyes, a self-depreciating grimace on his face. He looked old. He looked tired. He looked nothing like the Man in the Moon that I'd envisioned.

"It all began when I felt myself strong enough, when I felt the world ready to begin, and when the time had come to make something of my existence. You see, my children, I had existed for a time infinitely greater than that of this planet's existence, and will continue to live past its extinction. But when it came to be, when people began to show intelligence, when they began to show traits and values, I knew that great good was going to be sowed into the soil...but with great good, there would be great evil to combat it.

"Therefore, before the evil could begin to spread, I had to act. It was agreeably a...trial period, one could say. I was ancient in terms of existence, but an infant when it came to creating beings to assist me in a war that had not yet begun. As I went along, it got easier, it improved, and I rarely had a moment of poor judgement, Jack being one of the exceptions when I chose to deny him of his memories."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jack shift a bit, but Manny moved on, speaking as if telling a sad tale, as if telling a melancholy bedtime story.

"...But Astrid had the unfortunate gift of being the first. Tragedy and pain had already spread through the world, and I wanted nothing more than to start with a clean slate. So I searched for someone I knew could handle it all, someone strong and fierce, someone with a heart both warm and made of steel. A true warrior." He reached a hand forward as if to brush it across Astrid's face, but stopped abruptly when he got too near, as if burned by just being close to her. His features creased a bit in sadness and he closed his eyes, inhaling before continuing, hand still outstretched.

"I found that in Astrid. I delved into her past and found that she had lost both parents to treachery within their village, killed by her uncle who wished to cement a place in the monarchy of the tribe and was later sentenced to death himself. That was her only family, other than her older brother for whom kept the warmth going in her heart when the rest of it closed off, the love in her icy kingdom.

"I knew right when I saw her that she was the one...and so, with little time and little concience, I took what I wanted."

Another silence fell at his words, this one permeated with the feeling of dread, of knowing what came next and both not wanting it and craving it. Because we'd heard this part of the story before, just not this side. We knew where it was going, just not how it was going to be told. We wanted to believe it. We wanted it to be lies. Manny just looked like he wanted to sleep as Astrid slept, opening his eyes wearily and giving her a longing look, laced with a secret only they shared.

"I thought not about what harm would come to her. I was young in terms of my own years, naive, headstrong. I didn't know that certain measures had to be taken, and others left out. I didn't know that possibly, maybe...maybe this wasn't what she wanted. Or maybe it was what I had done to her that made her so resentful. I did not know so much...

"But those are excuses. You wish to know the truth, and I will give it to you unbiased. Yes, I took Astrid into the world of spirits and magic without her consent. I gave her power without knowing how strong she would become. I did not want to have to explain much to those whom I thought were not bothered by the situation, just wanting it all done.

"And so I took all that she had left. I took her brother's memory of her, wiped it clean from his mind, and assumed it would all just fall into place, just like that...oh, how foolish I was. How selfish, how cruel...and I did not deserve to be as surprised as I was when she finally rebelled against me. She had the right to, she had every right to. Possibly I was hurt, hurt that what I had created to give the world a clean slate had found only solace in my enemy.

"But I knew, even then, especially now, how incredibly wrong I was in it all. And I know what you are wondering now: Why, when I had done such wrong, did I not speak out for it? Why did I just leave the broken pieces on the floor?" He turned towards us, face in a bittersweet smile and brandeshing a large-sleeved arm outwards, indicating something that wasn't there.

"Why touch the broken pieces and break them further? I had done enough to her, truly I had, and felt that nothing more should be done lest I make another mistake, lest I injure her further. And that may be another excuse to sit and create others, to continue my quest, but even now I see no other alternative. Through it she has become stronger than anyone who walks that planet. Stronger than even myself.

"Through it she found an ally, though that ally was my enemy. Through it she met you all... But often I wonder, was the price for all of this one too high to pay? Possibly I will never know. I doubt even Astrid knows. And I apologize if any of this has destroyed your image of me, if you no longer view me as the man you once did. But understand that this is the truth of the matter, this all happened, and as well I have learned from my mistakes and created each of you in ways that were much more fair.

"You were each given the choice of seeing your memories, the knowledge of that choice spare Jack, to whom I do owe a sincere apology. You were each given a full life before you were chosen. You each were given free-will. I could never take that away..." He looked down at Astrid again, his face falling. "...But for Astrid there was no choice. Not in the beginning. And when she was finally allowed to make one, it condemned her.

"I can never forgive myself for what I have done to her, my first child, the one who became so eloquently strong and brave, the one with defiance lit in her eyes. And I would blame none of you if you never forgave me, either. But know that you are all here today so that I may attempt to ease some of the adversity towards me, so that I may take a step from the sidelines...

"But that is for later, when Astrid awakens. Now, I must ask, are there any other questions unrelated to your being here before we disperse to think, to rest, and to make ourselves at home?"

As he finished, I felt a certain numbness for a few moments. My fur bristled as I looked from Manny to Astrid, mind swimming. I knew all of it. I knew the information, I'd been told the story. But...it was true. All of it was true, and when I remembered how, years and years ago, I'd chased Astrid away with words like 'crazy' and 'nutjob', now knowing who she'd mistaken me for...

I took a step back and inhaled a deep breath, feeling a suffocating feeling fall onto my chest, a familiar one. One I'd felt around Jack eight months ago. The same mistake, only this time almost a bit worse. And that whole relax and think thing was sounding better and better by the second. I just...I couldn't be in here with her, knowing now what Manny had done, that he wasn't who I thought he had been, that he'd actually done all those things to her...

It cemented how shit Astrid's life had really been. And I couldn't handle that. Couldn't handle feeling empathy for someone who should have been an enemy.

"I'm gonna take up that offa' an' walk aroun' a spell..." I said, and then looked up to see Manny looking at me, something else in his eyes, something unreadable, something almost knowing, and it made me want to scratch at my fur, made me want to hide. I felt searched. And, not knowing whether to say 'thank you' or 'I'm sorry' or anything like that, I just offered a bow and turned, rushing from the room with the eyes of the others on me.

And when I exited the door, the feeling of being watched lingered. I paused, stopping dead in my tracks as the door creaked closed behind me, now almost halfway down the short hall. And the shadows felt alive. I panted, looking at the ground, not sure what to say or how to react. Conflicted. Horribly conflicted.

"Not so nice when the liar tells the truth, is it? Kind of...distorts reality." The voice was vindictive, judging, and angry. And I needed none of that now. I needed silence, I needed space, I needed clarity. And so, without a word, I took off, faster than any shadow could catch, not that any even tried. In fact, I wasn't sure even Pitch had stayed after he'd spoken, the uneasy feeling one generally got around him now gone.

And as I ran away from him and his words, I wondered if that was really what I was running from. After what I'd heard, after seeing the truth and pain in Manny's face, after hearing those words repeated...

Who could I run from if Astrid and Pitch weren't exactly the enemy?...And who could I run towards?

~Pitch Black~

Her hand was light and slightly chilled over mine, grasping it in a light and trusting way that generally followed a nightmare, something she'd been free of tonight. Instead, the smaller hand ran lines across the back of my hand as she shifted in sleep, little trails of sensation across my skin as I remembered a time, not too long ago, when I held this hand more firmly, fingers laced into my own in an almost intimate way.

What had happened that night I still was not sure of. The drug of her beauty and the music, of the gentle movements of dancing that had never seemed easier, of the something in my chest that I had yet to find a name for showing a new light, a new emotion within itself, it all had formed quite a dangerous cocktail, and now I did not know where to stand.

I'd prided both of us on exactly what connection we had while not being able to place it with a name. Now, though, I was not so lucky. No, because something felt different. Something had rippled the water, disturbed the peace. Something in that night had changed everything. I just didn't know how, or what.

"You eva' leave her in peace?" I heard the words mumbled in that terrible accent, and I didn't even grace him with a glance as I mused,

"I am the only one who has never left her. I intent to keep that record for as long as possible. Deserting a person would be more of your job, wouldn't it?" I did not know why, and I knew the repercussions later, but the anger and unjustness was stirring within me. It was always there, always a dull ember, but being in this place and seeing her like this, hearing him...

Something seemed to snap away all rational thought. Besides, this was getting ridiculous. Someone had to stop it before she got hurt any further, aftermath be damned.

"The bloody hell you goin' on about? I neva' left anyone!" He snapped, but I could already hear the hesitation in his tone, hear the low thrum of fear and dread. I could hear it, but I wanted more. I wanted him to know exactly what he'd done to her. Now was a time for truth.

I leaned back and let out a laugh, his fear spiking a bit as the shadows around me shifted, as the nightmare and butterfly in the corner who had found there way here sirred in their own sleep. I laughed because what he said was pure denial. It was hopeless. I looked over at him as I contained it a bit, fixing him with an icy stare, a venomous smile, seeing his eyes light in uneasiness and hostility, seeing his hand inch towards a boomerang of all weapons.

"Never left anyone, have you? Oh, how brave! How kind of you! My my, you truly are as great and wonderful as they say, aren't you? The Easter Bunny can do no wrong! After all, he's never left a child behind." I spoke with venom, my voice loud and hostile and snapping, leaning forward a bit as Astrid shifted uncomfortably in sleep, rolling with her back to me and releasing my hand.

Aster paused a moment, glowering but for the first time unsure. Unsure if I were wrong or not. And that fear was delicious.

"I neva' have..." He said, voice trailing off, and all too fast the routine got old. All too fast I got fed up with it all. It wasn't even truly my problem, but all my existence, since I first laid eyes on her, her issues had become mine. I was surprised with how that burden didn't affect me.

I flew to my feet and stormed forward, Aster stumbling back in shock and fear, hand fumbling for a boomerang but my words stopping him short, my anger finally releasing in a wave of shadows flaring up the walls and words, words shouted, fists balled, leaning forward. Because he was denying it. He knew, deep inside, and he was denying it. Denying her. And she'd gone through well enough, thank you.

"You just don't want to admit it, Aster! You know! You know but you're too afraid, too scared to be associated with someone like Astrid, aren't you?! You are an idiot, but not to this extent!" I thundered, seeing his eyes widen in shock, seeing his fur bristle, looking like a rabbit about to flee. I spoke quickly before he could, the shadows blocking the door if I failed. I flung and arm in Astrid's direction and shouted, that twisting, infuriating pit of anger in my stomach tightening, needing to be released.

"Look at those marks on her arms!" I demanded, and his eyes flickered over for just a moment, "You've seen those before, haven't you? Haven't you?! Yes! You have, because they're on your own body, your own markings identical to hers! Don't you dare tell me that's coincidence! Don't you dare tell me you don't notice her eyes, her mannerisms, don't you dare tell me that when you raced out to see her, to find her, to comfort her, that you didn't feel something inside of you, something from the past!

"You know, Aster! Stop denying it! Hasn't she been put through enough, hasn't she lost enough without you rubbing salt in her wound, without you looking her in the damned eye and denying everything?! You think only of yourself when you hurt her, you know that right? You couldn't stand it, could you? No, that shame! So you hide it, you hide it from yourself and everyone else, but at what cost?" My voice was loud enough now to wake the entire castle, my anger explosive enough to turn the shadows around us churning faster, flailing, the nightmare whinnying in anger and disturbance.

And I should have stopped, I really should have. This wasn't my tale to tell...but if I didn't do it, no one else would. And I was tired of seeing her hurt. I never again wanted to have to hold her in my arms as her pain tore through me. Never again wanted to see such a strong force cry. Never wanted my brick wall to crumble again. Maybe it was because she was too much like me. Maybe it had to do with whatever had happened that night.

Aster looked distressed, fur bristling faster, panting almost in panic, eyes never leaving Astrid, something swimming behind his eyes. I felt the fear, felt it spiking, heard the vibration in my mind. Fear of me being right. Fear of it. Fear of everything, poignant and with a familiar ring, like a genetic code in a family line. And I felt desperate, and I felt terrible, and I felt above all else, above every piece of guilt and hate, anger.

It was time to end the act.

"I don'...I can't understand..."He said, and I let out a loud noise of frustration, loud enough to shock Aster into looking at me again. All my natural anger at him. All the anger from here, from now...

And the words came before I could stop them.

"Do I have to spell it out for you, Aster?! Fine! You are the brother!"

Silence. Heavy. Suffocating silence. Nothing moved. The shadows stilled. The air just stopped. All there was was the shattering of a reality, of a world. And two green eyes showing everything, raw and uncut. Wide, aching, painful. A chest falling. His face showing a crumbling resistance, and a growing agony.

Eyes that slowly slipped from me to her, and then widened more. The sound of a heart breaking.

"You guys wanna shut the fuck up, huh? I'm trying to get some god-damned sleep over here." Her words were mumbled, slurred in sleep as I glanced back at her, suddenly unsure, suddenly realizing what I'd done, what I'd changed. Suddenly realizing that I may have just made everything worse.

She stretched until she looked up at us and paused, brow furrowing in confusion. And agreeably, we must have looked quite a sight for the world that we just shattered. We must have looked a mess.

"...Did I miss something?"