The light disappeared from the hall where Jack once stood. Father gave a weighted sigh as he looked up at the ceiling while his mind tried to figure a way out of this situation. He knew what Grim was capable of and he wasn't sure if Jack and Arielle would make it back. If anyone could make it back it would be Jack. But a human within Grim's dimension? The chances were very slim to none since Grim used that dimension to break the human's will to live down a destructive path. He could only hope Jack will make it there on time and get Arielle out of there before Grim could do any more damage to the girl.
"Father!" A shaky voice called out. Father turned towards the voice and saw the rest of the Guardians making their way to him.
"What's going on, mate?" Bunny asked with worry in his voice. He looked around and didn't see Jack anywhere. "Where's Jack?"
"He's in Grim's dimension," the Guardians were confused by the statement and Father saw it in their eyes. "Grim took Arielle into his dimension. Jack is in there now."
"By himself? He won't stand a chance!" Tooth shook at the thought of him being in the darkness without any of them there to help him.
"It's up to Jack now. He's the key of getting her out of there. There is only one way to get into the dimension and I had to take the chance that he would make it out of there with her safely."
"What if they don't come back?" North asked as he strode up to Father. After getting a sense of the situation he knew they had to prepare themselves. But his heart sunk inside about the fact that they might not make it back in one piece, if not at all.
"Then Mother and I need to plan the next step carefully since she is the only one capable to sealing Grim. But the situation back then isn't like it is now, who knows exactly how powerful he is at this moment. He won't let the same mistake happen twice," Father frowned deeply.
"You better believe it won't happen twice, Father…," A threatening voice spoken out to the Guardians.
Jack struggled to get to Arielle as he felt the darkness weighing him down more and more the closer he got to her. He called her name over and over and yet her floating figure didn't respond to his pleas. With every struggle he fought harder as fear crept into his being. The feeling that he was too late. Grim has already won. There is nothing he could do but be swallowed by the darkness and never see the light again.
He got close enough to finally make out her features. Her over all appearance looked the same, she was very still even though she was floating there. Face calm and relaxed, though pale. Eyes closed as if she were asleep. Finally within arms reach he reached his hand out to her and grabbed her wrist only to bring his hand back to himself. Grasping it with his other hand like he was burned.
"Arielle?" He called to her and fear started to seep into him. Voice wavering as he called out again as he reached out to grasp her wrist once again.
Cold… colder then what a human should feel. Cold as…
He pulled her body to him and he wrapped both his arms around her and stilled himself. No response, no warmth radiating from her body, no breathing.
Cold as death…
"Arielle?! No, no you need to wake up! I'm here now and we are going to make it out together!" Jack's mind snapped from all reality. Refusing to take in the situation they were both in. He held her tightly as his being shook. Shoulders wracking and body quivering to the point that he started to rock them both back and forth in denial. Tears gathering in his eyes, his face scrunched up in agony.
"You can't die on me Arielle! We still need to have a snowball fight with Jamie and his friends. We still need to go back to my home town so I can show you everything. We still…. I still…" His bursting shouts quieted to a whisper as he pulled away from her. Her face still relaxed and calm, he brought a hand out to stroke her face. Flinching slightly at the coldness of her skin. He pushed a strand of hair away from her face. Taking notice of her features again. Her bright brown eyes behind closed lids with long lashes against her cheek, small petite nose that he always wanted to "bite", her small delicate lips that were so soft and warm to the touch when they kissed it made him tremble with love for her.
"I need you," He whispered as tears streamed down his cheeks until they froze.
A presence came into the darkness.
"Well, well, looks like you came a little late, Jack," a voice spoke out that made Jack's emotions go from deep sorrow to rage in seconds. Jack let Arielle go and whipped around in a blind fury, lunging with all his might towards the voice.
"Pitch!" Jack screamed with malice as he aimed his staff at Pitch, releasing a burst of ice that even Pitch wasn't expecting. Dealing with Jack on numerous occasions in battles, he has never seen Jack battle with full blown rage. But can he blame him, Jack just lost his first love. Too bad she was just a weak mortal.
"That's right Jack, this is how it is for us!" Pitch cried out as he dodged the icy blow, barely missing as he summoned up his dragon to attack back. "Feel the pain, the sorrow, the sadness, the fear, everything!"
Jack was completely numb to everything around him, all he had now is this furious rage that burned within him. If it could engulf him, he would once know what warmth felt like. This feeling of warmth is probably all he is going to feel until he brings down the ones that had killed Arielle.
And that was final.
The Guardians took a step back as they turned towards the voice they didn't recognized, except for Father. The confusion twisted in Father's head as he thought for sure that Grim would be in his realm waiting for Jack to rescue Arielle. What could he be planning instead? Father thought hard until he heard Grim laugh.
"You look confused, Father," Grim pointed out as he walked towards them. The Guardians took equal steps back to keep their distance. This made Grim laugh out loud from the reaction. His skeletal hands reached up and grabbed the hood of his black robe and pushed it back.
The Guardians, expecting a skeletal head to match his hands, were greeted with the opposite. A handsome, older man with pale white skin that almost glowed under the hospital lights. Eyes as red as a Ruby that shone brightly as he took in the startling expressions from the Guardians, except Father of course. Mid-length raven black hair that had a wild look of light curls flowed around his head.
"I'm not going to lie here, this is quite amusing to me. You see, everyone here on earth expects the Grim Reaper to be all skeletal and can't talk. Well, here I am…," he lets out a small laugh while raising his arms to the side in display, "…In the flesh!" He laughed out.
No one laughed at the dry joke Grim displayed. Clearly a disturb and wild ex Legendary Guardian stood before them acting like nothing was going on. The fact that he was laughing and joking around when he is surrounded by five Guardians made the matter even more unsettling.
"What have you done with Arielle and Jack, Grim?!" Bunny stepped forward while grabbing his boom-a-rang from his strap. Preparing for anything to happen. The other Guardians followed his stance as they took up their own personal weapon.
"Ah, Arielle? The girl who's mother had just died? She's in my realm still, no doubt about that. After losing her mother she wanted nothing more than to have the pain erase from her. Her cries and screams…," Grim's shivers were visible as he grinned evilly, clutching his sides to hold his laughter, "Such a sweet song to listen to, I could have listened to it forever. But I had to end it so soon when your presence came near."
All the Guardians at once couldn't stand to hear anymore of the abuse that was done to Arielle. They all strode forward to get to Grim, but after a couple of steps in they were frozen on the spot.
"What's going on?! I can't move!" Tooth panics as she tried to move her arms. Her feet bounded to the ground like the others were. Suddenly shadows began to appear around the Guardians body that wasn't there before, a black snake wrapped around each Guardian that held them in place. Clearly Pitches doing since they were his shadows.
"That's right, you won't be going anywhere," Grim stated as he calmly walked his way to each Guardian. Looking them in the eyes as he struck fear into each and everyone one of them. Until he stopped in front of Father, who clearly isn't falling for any of Grim's tactics. Grim lived for taunting and playing with his victims that he should have been protecting. Should have been transitioning from life to the after life in a peaceful and calm matter.
"What has happened to you Grim? I thought that centuries of being bound to your prison would open some sort of light for you. Make you think of your wrong doings and try to make them right," Father asked. He has been waiting to confront Grim and ask him this life long question and he was going to get answers regardless of his situation. "Why did you turn on us? Mother Nature and I? Man in the Moon?"
"You really want to know? You should have known from the beginning Father," Grim's grin straightened to a frown from the question. "You and Mother Nature were quite the pair I might say. Given that you two were star struck lovers back in the day."
Father's heart sunk at Grim's statement of the past. Going back as far as to before Grim's rampage throughout the world. But Grim knew that they were together and has never reacted to it. More like fun banter and jokes were spoken between the two of them. Of course, Mother Nature in her mortal form never knew of Grim. Father made sure to keep that a secret from her at that time.
Father couldn't even reply.
"As soon as you and Mother Nature grew fond of each other I was completely left out. Of course she was just a mortal at the time but you left your duty and had me to clean up after you. Watching you two and what you went through had me thinking after we went our own ways. Why should I be protecting life until it's time? Am I not the opposite of you and Mother Nature?" Grim didn't ask the question to them, but to himself. Looking up at the ceiling with hands raised like a mad man who has excepted everything.
"What do you mean opposites? You were the balance of life and death. The in-between of both worlds," Father knew what Grim was talking about. But he didn't want Grim's purpose to be put like that out loud. Unfortunately, it was true in that regard. Grim's purpose is nothing like his and Mother Nature's. Grim has the hardest job of any Guardians that is destined to this earth; to instruct death and bring them to the after life.
"You and Mother Nature are the keepers of life. The fighters of humanity and the world. My purpose is to take that away and in the worse way possible? I have to do the dirty work while you bring life and the time that is given to the living. I have watched so much death that it has consumed everything of me and my whole being. To the point to where I don't care no longer. As soon as I started taking the life that I shouldn't have been taking, I felt a power like never before. Like an animal that has been released from it's cage after so many years!"
"After feeling that power I consumed so much that even you and Mother Nature couldn't hold me back when the time came for you to come together. Much to Mother's enjoyment since she hated you with every fiber of her immortal being. Then the Man in the Moon gave Mother Nature the power to conceal not only my power but my being as well. Of course, not without her pretty much disappearing. Laying dormant within the earth," Grim grinned when he saw Father's face contort into anger. Father knowing exactly what happened that day.
"Anyway, I'm done going over everything that you and I both know, Father. Except these weak Guardians of course. Congrats, you know my history more than what any children's book could tell you," Grim glanced at the others, who looked mortified with the story that was told. Nothing to say and not able to move to do anything about the situation.
"There is only one thing I'm looking for," Grim moved Father's robe to open it and reach into the inside pocket of the robe. Father struggled with all his might to trying and stop Grim from grabbing the items he is suppose to protect at all cost.
"You mustn't Grim, the whole world will fall into ruin!" Father cried out. Giving up on moving as it was pointless.
"That's the point, who the hell do you think I am?!" Grim laughed out as he raised the items and shook them in Fathers face.
One of the items is a small ball that glowed with a dark magic. As soon as Grim threw the ball unto the ground and bursted out a dark and evil red aura. Soon a black scythe was formed from the aura. The scythe is etched with foreign designs and decorated with red jewels that glowed. It was large in scale and more menacing than Pitches scythe.
He grabbed his Scythe with pride in one hand and the Chrono's Timer in the other as he disappeared within the shadows that formed around him.
Pitch couldn't hold on much longer. Even with the given power from Grim that came from the girl herself, Jack is at a completely different level. The dragon started to lose it's power awhile ago as dark sand dust were falling away with each blow from Jack's ice powers. Pitch is completely in the defensive and he needed this to end.
"Jack, we can do this all day and night and nothing will change. She's gone and soon you will join her!" Pitch yelled out as he made the dragon he was riding form into his original weapon; his scythe.
Jack didn't respond to his taunt as his all or nothing desire still burned within him. Though his power weakened incredibly, he pressed on striking Pitch with everything he has left in him. But he was stopped suddenly when a new figure appeared in the darkness alerting them both.
"Wow Pitch, you are having trouble with this little boy still?"
"Grim, no I was -," Pitch took a step back as he bowed his head and tried to come up with a good excuse. It was true though, he was struggling.
"Enough!" Grim barked out. "I got what I came here for, now it's only a matter of time until Man in the Moon decides to call war on us." He showed the Chrono's Timer to Pitch, who couldn't help but grin wickedly that they obtained the items they needed to continue the plan.
"We are done here, the Guardians will be dead soon enough," Grim looked at Jack and gave him a piercing glare that made Jack stop everything he was doing. Made Jack come back to reality.
"She wanted to die, didn't you know that Jack? She was suppose to die the day you saved her. Not of my doing, I can assure you that. I only came here to finished what should have been finished that day. Of course, her death wasn't to be voided after that," Grim's body began to glow with a deep red aura and everything in Jack's body told him to run. Get out of there before it's too late.
"Because if it wasn't going to be the fall to her death then it was going to be the cancer that ends her!"
That's what did it for him…
Even though hope was lost for her, he couldn't leave her body there in the darkness with Grim and Pitch. He grabbed her lifeless body into his arms and fetched the watch out of his pocket and called into it.
"Take me home!"