Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay...again :) ehehe I hope you enjoy the chapter
Alert: This chapter contains material of the first book written by william joyce, so if you haven't red them, I really suggest you to do it
"It would be two times alpha per the square root of 676 which is 26, so 52 times alpha"
The teacher, a tall and dark skinned man, with a strong and loud voice, smiled when he heard my answer.
"Very well, Mr. _ , it looks like you have studied, you should learn from him, boys" The teacher said to my classmates and I closed my eyes, knowing what would come. The boys behind me threw me wet paper balls.
They started laughing and called me mean names. I didn't like it when they did that, I wanted to leave this school, but father insisted I should stay…
The teacher continued writing something on the board when the door was opened and the lieutenant of the General, my father, entered. We all stood up instantly, extending the right arm in the air in a respectful manner…It took me a few seconds to realize I was doing the salute with the left arm and changed it..
"_! Come with me, please"
I stood up and approached the door, listening to my classmates' whispers.
When the door was closed, I knew it was secure to talk to my uncle, my dad's cousin, normally.
"What happened? Did he come? Is he here?" My dad had gone to a misión against the fearlings two weeks ago. My uncle crouched in front of me with a sorrowed expression.
"_, I am sorry, your father…died in the line of duty…he is a hero"
My heart stopped. It was then when I noticed the black band in my uncle's uniform, and the black flags been hoisted…No, he couldn't be dead.
Shaking my head, I ran away from him, ignoring his calls. I ran through the patio until I found Sanderson, who took me by my shoulders and frowned worriedly.
"What's wrong? Are you ok?" But I couldn't answer him.
"I heard your dad died..." I nodded. "I can't believe it was your fault…"
"Wh-what?"
"The golden haired boy pushed me, his eyes glowing red with madness.
"Of course! Who else would be? You wanted him to go, didn't you?"
"No! That's not true! I didn't want this to happen!"
"You were angry at him, you wanted him to die, you killed him, with an arrow to the back"
A horrible scene was played in my mind, there was a man with dark hair, pierced in the chest by a dark arrow, there was blood in the point, and someone was laughing. It was Shadow Man, the one with red eyes and always covered in shadows.
"Murderer!" Sanderson shouted, stepping on my hand, leaving a red and black mark.
"Ahh!
Shadow Man approached me; shadows moved around his feet, he looked at me with red eyes and large and jagged teeth, smiling.
"We are proud, puppet, you did what we asked"
"No! I-I am not like you! I-I would never kill my dad, I would never listen to you!" After saying that, I started to cough, spitting a black substance mixed with blood.
My eyes widened in fear, but Shadow Man screamed desperate. "No! How do you dare?!"
The shadows held me, holding my wrists and ankles tightly, I couldn't move. The man in black approached me, and started kicking me on the stomach. I couldn't do anything but cry, the pain was unbearable, his blows were so strong someone could think his fists were made of steel. But the worst thing was the images I was forced to see. The dark haired man from before, my dad, was surrounded by shadows, the Fearlings were crushing his chest, breaking his bones while he screamed in pain. I looked at myself there, but as an adult, laughing maniacally as I commanded the red eyes shadows to hurt my father.
"No! Please, stop!"
My whole body was in pain; my bloody knees were burning for all the kicks my uncle and other red eyed people gave him.
"Sandy! Help me! Please!"
"And why would I do that?" He asked innocently. "Why would I help a monster?"
Kick. "I am not a monster! I didn't do it! I am not him! Please..." Scratch, bite, kick.
Sanderson was holding whips in his hands. "Of course you are, you killed him, you have to listen to the fearlings, PITCH"
Cracking the whips in the air, he started to hit me, creating new wounds and bruises all over my body.
"Sanderson! S-s-stoopp!"
But the blond didn't stop, and with a smile he said.
"Stop crying, Pitch!" Hit. "Don't cry, Pitch!" Hit. "DON'T CRY, PITCH!" Hit.
"Ahhh!"
Shadow man approached me, and tried to put his hand on my bleeding forehead, but a silver glow forced him to back away.
I am tired of you! We don't know how you managed to separate us, but you will regret doing it! We tried to get you back in the good way, but you don't cooperate! You will be our body again, our puppet, and the first thing we will make you do is to destroy all the light! Including the guardians.
"No! I am not bad! I-I won't listen to you! I-I am not like you…I-I would-would go with you" I said weakly, I started to cough again, it hurt so much to do so, I couldn't even breathe well, but ended up spitting the slimy black substance again.
Shadow man growled with absolute rage, as if I coughing pissed him off. A whip came into my face, opening a large and burning wound on it.
More shadows surrounded me, showing me more images of my dad suffering, of an entire town burning, of a little golden man with a black arrow in the back.
My body was on fire, each kick, each blow just made it worse; I wanted to pass out, to die so this suffering finally stop, but they wouldn't let me.
Suddenly, something tightened itself around my neck…I can't breathe! I took my hands to my neck, feeling the metal around.
Pitch squirmed in the bed, his choked sobs were the only thing coming from him, as he was struggling to breathe, and with the little oxygen he had, he managed to cry. "DDAAADDDD!"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
North was sleeping soundly in his huge bed, snoring loudly. Candy canes and chocolate cookies flew above his head, until he heard a loud shout. Confused, he blinked a few times to understand what he just heard…Just one person, one child had called him like that…Jack was in trouble!
Jumping out of bed, grabbing his swords immediately, he ran towards Jack's room, the closest one to his.
Opening the door slowly, he poked in head in the room, and couldn't help but smile.
Jack was sleeping, and miraculously, for the time in a normal position, not about to fall, not horizontally, not upside down, but in the middle of the bed, Jack. Jr. firmly tucked to his chest, with his other hand next to his face, sucking half of his index finger. Dolphins swam above his head, and Jack was flying and playing with them.
North approached him and tucked some white locks behind his ear, then he tried to make Jack let go of his finger, Jack put resistance, but at the end, North managed it.
He chuckled silently, thinking on how adorable and peaceful Jack looked…Wait a second..If Jack hadn't called him…then wh-PITCH!
Closing the door, he ran a few rooms more and opened the door. His blue eyes widened in shock for what he saw.
Unlike Jack's room, where the soft blue of the walls illuminated by the rays of the moon through the window and the beautiful, bright golden sand which danced slowly over Jack created a peaceful scene, Pitch's room was the complete opposite.
The walls were covered in dark shadows, light didn't come from the windows, giving the room an appearance of being empty, and North swore he saw red all over the place.
He turned on the lights, and now that he could see, he shook his head in disbelief. Pitch was shaking and squirming on the bed, it looked as if he wanted to scream, but couldn't, he was struggling to breathe. He was wincing in pain, abruptly, so strong and quick that North thought Pitch was having a seizure.
Onyx, Pitch's nightmare, approached him, neighing and nodding towards its small master.
North didn't have time to listen, he was already next to the boy. "Pitch! Pitch, wake up!"
He shook his shoulders strongly, but the dark haired boy didn't answer. "Lad, wake up, please!"
But instead of doing that, Pitch slowly stopped moving, and North couldn't hear his labored breathing.
"Pitch! Don't do me this, wake up! Please, wake up!" North shouted, putting two fingers against Pitch's thin neck to feel his pulse. He couldn't feel it.
"Son! Please, lad! Wake up, son...wake up..." North, knelt next to the bed, was on the verge of tears, looking at the still body of his son. But suddenly, Pitch inhaled laboriously, opening his golden eyes scared. And scaring North half to death
Pitch was shaking horribly, he thought he was alone all again, he will have to stay alone in the dark…that's when he saw North. With fear, he shouted and threw at the person the first thing he had in hand, which was his stuffed toy.
"Son! It's me, it's me! Don't be scared, lad!" North said full of relief, standing up and hugging Pitch strongly.
"N-North?" He had come to see him? When he could have gone with Jack? When he saw North's nodding, he hid his face against North's chest and started crying.
"He-He died, North!" He sniffled. "It was my entire fault! He died, he died! He is dead…it's my fault!"
"Who died, Pitch? Shh…"
Gasping for air, the dark haired boy tried to remember who died...but he didn't know…what he saw in the nightmare was disappearing from his mind, but not what he heard. "I don't know…I can't remember…" He said whining in distress. Why couldn't he remember?!
"It's ok, calm down, son. Stop crying, Pitch, calm down, don't cry, don't cry"
Pitch's eyes widened in fear and separated from North in fear. "I am sorry, I am sorry, Mr. North, don't hurt me, don't hurt me, please, don't hurt me, I-I will stop cr-crying! But don't hurt me" He said, trembling and covering his face.
North once again craddled the boy, telling him he was safe with him. Poor child! What happened in that nightmare!
"Shh...Sssshhh" North cooed, running a hand through the boy's long and disheveled hair, until the boy's cries finally ceased.
"Better?"
North lifted Pitch's head with a finger and for the first time, saw his face was all bruised and bleeding, he had a black eye, and he kept it closed. North frowned.
Pitch shook his head. "I-i don't feel well...I have nausea..."
"Do you want to go to the bathroom?"
Pitch nodded quickly with a hand over his mouth. North helped him stand up because it seemed his legs were weak. Pitch ignored the pain in his knees and ran to the bathroom, barely making it there to throw up.
North slowly approached, worried for the child. He hadn't eaten much these days, distracted as he was for his powers and new staff. He slowly rubbed circles over his back, hoping to tell him that way he wasn't alone. The Boogeyman meanwhile continued throwing up…something North didn't know what it was, it was completely black and looked slimy.
Finally, the boy stopped. He wiped his lip with his gloved hand and looked at the floor, ashamed, tears streaming down his face.
North hugged Pitch, and the boy hid his head in his chest. North lowered the toilet's lid so the boy didn't look at it.
When they separated, North noticed the young spirit was still with a hand over his stomach, breathing heavily,
"Are you hurt?" The Guardian asked, and reluctantly, Pitch nodded.
"Let me see, son, can you take off your shirt?"
Now that Pitch was conscious, he was less disposed to cooperate with North. "no"
"Please, lad"
"no"
North sighed and rolled his eyes, taking the boy's t-shirt off, who seemed unbothered by the fact as long as he wasn't the one taking it off.
The boy's chest was covered in black, purple and green bruises; he had some bleeding wounds, especially in his back and shoulders.
"The gloves too" North said quietly, examining the wounds.
Pitch reluctantly took them off.
His hands had blood, one of them had a black and red mark, like…a footprint…and the other one had bruises that went up to his forearm, as if he had used his arm to protect himself from blows.
Pitch looked at his chest and then at North with bright eyes with tears, pleading him to help him,
"Who did this to do, Pitch? Was it Bunny?" Pitch shook his head. "Tooth? No. "Jack, Sandy?"
Pitch quickly shook his head. North sighed and looking for the first aid kit every room had, he started cleaning the boy's wounds. He hissed and bit his lip each time the wet gauze brushed his wounds, making them burn.
"It hurts me, North" He said tremulously, not wanting more tears to fall from his eyes.
"I know, son, but hold on a bit more, I am almost done" When North had finally finished, he put cream over his wounds, his chest, back and in his face. Doing 7this North couldn't help but notice how thin Pitch was, his ribs were showing and his arms were thinner than they looked. And here he thought Jack was thin…
"You have to eat more, Pitch" He said with a small sad smile.
He looked at the boy's bruised knees with a frown. He wouldn't let Pitch walk like that. He picked him up bride style much to the boy's protests, and took him to his bed, laying him down carefully. He looked for a new t-shirt in his wardrobe and helped him put it on, this was dark green.
North sat down next to him, and asked him. "Why didn't you tell me you had bruises, Pitch?"
Pitch looked down. "I-I am sorry, North…I-I didn't want to bother you mo-more than I already do…I-I thought it wasn't important…just like when I told you last time…it doesn't matter…"
"..." He-he told me about it and I didn't listen? When?!
"Pitch…tell me who did this to do"
Pitch didn't answer, still looking at his hands with golden eyes bright with unshed tears. North sighed and stood up, approaching the door.
The young Boogeyman looked up wide eyed. He had bad behaved, he was so stupid, North didn't want him anymore, he was angry at him…He was going to leave him in the dark…
"Dad! Wait! Dont' go!" He cried before stopping himself.
Pitch's gaped and blushed a deep purple. He looked at North with a grimace, tears streaming down his face. "Ah…I-I am sorry, North…I-uh"
North smiled sadly. He had called him dad...Pitch did appreciated him, loved him, that made him feel bad for how he treated him before. "I am not going anyway, мой ребенок*, I just want to turn off the lights"
"Oh..."
After turning off the lights, North approached the nightstand to turn on the light of the lamp, just enough for them to see. He sat down again on the bed, letting the boy rest his head against his shoulder, not caring about his clothes covering with black sand
"It-It was...Shadow Man, North" Pitch said almost inaudible.
"Who?"
"Sh-shadow Man" The teen repeated. "He-He hit me and-and kicked me on the stomach...He is always in my dreams, and that blond guy too...He tells me mean things..and-and-and he will hit me again! I shouldn't have told you! He-he is going to hit me again!" Pitch sobbed.
"What?! Who-um-what...? When did he say that?" North asked, completely confused.
"…Before he started strangling me…"
North frowned before hugging the boy. "Don't worry, Pitch, it was just a bad dream, Shadow Man doesn't exist"
"That's what adults say about me…" Pitch said without realizing it, North wanted to hit himself so much right now.
Before Pitch could cry again, North suggested. "What about a bedtime story?"
Pitch rubbed his eyes carefully, not wanting to touch his bruises. "Bedtime stories are for kids" He said with a 'duh' face.
"And aren't you one?"
"No, obviously not"
North smiled teasefully, but resisted the urge to laugh. "Ok, lad…of course…But, not all stories are for kids, though, that depends a lot in what story…For example…Sleeping Beauty and the six elves"
Pitch smiled funnily.
"Or, Little white riding hood"
Laughing, Pitch hit his shoulder playfully. "North! Haha, come on, say it correctly"
"But! Maybe the story of a young thief is more interesting"
"A thief?"
"yes! The most daredevil swordsman, notorious outlaw and clever thief in all Russia!"
Pitch's eyes widened. "And what was his name?" He asked, looking up from North's chest.
"Nicholas St. North"
"Wow! Wait a sec…that's you! NOT FAIR, tell me his true name!" Pitch said with a small pout.
North chuckled. "That's his true name!"
Pitch smiled. "No way! So you were a thief before?! Cool!" He shouted, and North put a finger over his lips. "Ssh, Jack's sleeping"
"Oops..True. Were you a thief like Robin Hood? Who stole from the rich to give it to the poor?"
North blushed slightly, looking away nervously. "Hum..no"
"And why not?"
"Because I stole for me and just for me"
"That's not good, North"
"Can we start with the story?!" North asked ruffling his hair, and Pitch nodded vigorously
North told him about his childhood, a sad and gray childhood where he had to survive on his own.
"I was an orphan, I didn't have mother or father, and I escaped from the orphanage at a very young age"
"I grew up on the woods, alone, worrying about myself only, hunting, and avoiding being hunted. I was really agile, quick and clever. When I was your age, I am not sure..."
"Why aren't you sure?" The teen asked."
"Well...I didn't know my birthday's day"
Pitch looked down at his gloveless hands, the dark mark was disappearing. "I-I suppose that's something we have in common…I didn't have a mom or dad, and I don't know my birthday either…or if I have one right now…Jack do have one…he told me it was near Christmas and he would be turning 15 if he wasn't a spirit…Is it fun to 'do' a birthday?"
North looked directly at Pitch's eyes. He looked confused; sad…It was impossible he didn't have a past life…
He rested his head on Pitch's hair. "I don't know, lad, it's like Christmas, they give you presents and…you are with friends…" North hummed. "Rhetorical question...If you could choose a day to be your birthday, which would you choose?"
"Um..." Pitch hummed while thinking his answer. "Halloween! It would be awesome if my birthday was on Halloween!"
North nodded with a smile, already planning in his mind something really special this incoming Halloween…
"Well, as I was saying, when I was your age, or maybe a bit more, I was taken in by the mosr savage tribe of Warriors called the Cossacks"
Pitch snorted. "You were young before?!" Looking at North's deadpan expression, the Boogeyman burst out laughing.
"Of course I was! We all were once"
"But…Seriously, you must be like 10 000 years old"
"Hey! I am not that old!" North cried indignantly, tickling his sides.
"No-North! HAHAAHA STOP!" When he finally let Pitch escape, he was gasping for air, and the guardian chuckled.
"I was one of their greatest warriors. No one beat me! They taught me everything I know, including my language, but when I was older, I left their group to become a bandit, one of the best, if I can say it myself"
"One day, in my camp, I had a dream. It talked about a village full of riches and treasures, more than a man can imagine. So, calling Petrov-"
"Who's Petrov?"
"My horse" North answered, bending down to pick up the toy on the floor and giving it to Pitch. "It was a really loyal horse, really intelligent and fast"
"I led my men to follow the moonlight, my adventurous spirit told me we would be able to pass all the village's defenses. You see, the village of Santoff Clausen was protected with magic, it had a lot of defenses no bandit had ever faced before and succeed, but! Guess you did it!"
"You!" Pitch answered excitedly
"YES! We passed all the defenses, but there was one left. A beautiful girl appeared, offering us gold and riches, her gaze hypnotized me, thousands of golden coins fell from her hands…and I almost took them!"
Pitch gasped, shaking North's arm to make him continue after his dramatic pause.
"I heard screams, children' screams asking for help. That broke the spell, and for the first time ever, I decided to help someone else than myself, for the first time, I turned away from treasure"
"I ran towards them, and saw a big bear attacking the children, I was the only one who could help them"
"Why was the bear attacking them?"
"Because he was possessed"
"By who?"
"…"
North stayed quiet for a while, eyes wide and lips pursed. "A really bad, bad man"
"Does he have a name?"
"…Um..no…but, we can call him Shadow Man, dah?"
Pitch nodded, shivering at the name.
"I fought against the bear fiercely, and I got hurt, but I saved them"
"I stayed in the village while I healed, I wanted to stay, I thought they would give me treasure for saving them…but they gave me something even more valuable"
"...And that is...?"
"Their friendship. Their support and care, something I had never had...I became the apprentice of the wizard of the village, Ombric, and I befriended a sweet girl named Katherine, who had an incredible ability to write, and she always went to visit me"
Pitch was listening to everything at full detail, golden eyes full of wonder and admiration, wanting to know what happened next. North fell terrible, he didn't want to continue telling the story, but he did.
"Shadow Man was angry, he used a spell to possess a robot I built, and we realized it too late. He attacked us while Ombric and I were looking for something really important"
"What were you looking for?"
"A sword, the sword which belonged to a really powerful man of the Golden Age-"
"Kozmotis?!"
"Um, no. The Tsar Lunar"
"Ah" Pitch pouted. "Shadow Man didn't want you to find it?"
"NO!" The guardians answered, making emphasis with his huge hands. "He knew that if we found it, we would be able to defeat him, so, using a spell he stole from Ombric…he turned us into toys!"
If Pitch had been drinking water, he was sure he would have spat it all. "IN TOYS?!"
"But that is so cruel! What kind of sick person does that?! Did it hurt? Could you talk or move? Were you of plastic or porcelain? What size were you? What was the spell's name? Did you-?"
Pitch was practically above North now, jumping with excitement, wanting to have all these questions that popped up in his young mind, answered.
"Wow, wow мой сын, мой сын*, story is for you to make you sleep, not to make you more awake" North said frowning playfully and making Pitch lay down again. The wounds on his face weren't there anymore and the bruises were almost healed.
"It hurt at first, it felt real weird to shrink and not be able to move…but we returned to normal at the end"
"Great…" Pitch said, dozing off, his eyelids were starting to close, as if North's words had taken effect.
"I fought Shadow Man, but, as he was using my robot as a suit, I couldn't harm him. At the end, Shadow Man escaped"
"Haha, coward" Pitch yawned silently and snuggled closer to North's shoulder.
"How-how did you turn back to normal?"
"Belief, my dear son. A person's faith is really strong…" He said, humming softly while stroking his messy black locks.
"You are cool, North… I wish I had seen you …using…" Yawn. "Magic…and...swords...*yawn* horses…"
North cradled the boy to his chest, and feeling comfortable and warm, he finally fell asleep.
North slowly took his shoulder back, and Pitch slid down to the pillow. The bruises and the cuts weren't any more on his face, North didn't know if the cream was that good or it was something else…
Tucking him into bed, he thought it was better to leave the lamps light on. He was about to go when he heard Pitch mumbling. "Shadow Man…is not 'ere anymore, right? He won't hurt you anymore? I don't want…you to get hurt…"
"Nyet, моя маленькая* , sleep now, it's late"
Pitch turned to his side, happy with the answer.
Already by the door, North whispered.
"Of course Shadow Man isn't here anymore…because my boy is now in his place"
*мой ребенок: My child
*мой сын: my son
*моя маленькая : my little one
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