North stalked back into the room, his swords clattering against the floor in front of us. "No more waiting. No more fading. We take out Fear. Now." His voice was deep and threatening, though we knew it was useless. I looked up at him, and could see the determination melt off his face. We had done everything we could. With the Moon gone there was nobody to guide us. But North's sorrow and anger consumed him, causing him to pace back and forth in front of us. His swords glinted against the light of the setting sun. There would be no moon tonight. There would be no stars.
"Jack! Dawn!" North cried suddenly, moving swiftly towards the globe. The circular pattern upon the floor had begun to shine bright blue, despite the absence of the Moon.
"Another guardian? Why now?" Jack asked, leaning heavily upon his staff.
"This better not be trick," North grumbled, though the anticipation on his face shone thorugh.
We watched awestruck as the crystal rose through the floor, illuminated not from above, but from below. As if the light of the Moon had been trapped beneath the floorboards, waiting to be released. What the statue revealed, however, was puzzling.
"A...symbol?" Jack said skeptically, stepping up and tapping the crystal with a finger.
North shook his head, waving a sword. "Manny, what is this?"
"Wait, we've seen this before, haven't we?" Jack said with surprise as he turned to me.
I couldn't speak. I was frozen, staring blankly at the statue. The symbol depicted by the crystal was none other than the pendant hanging about my neck, which had started humming against my chest. I raised the necklace to them.
"Your pendant? But why? What does it mean?" North puzzled, moving closer to examine the twisted metal. It began to shine brighter as he neared: pink, purple, green, orange, and yellow all emanating from the half-sun, half-moon.
"Can an inanimate object become a Guardian?" Jack joked, floating nearer.
"Why not? You became a Guardian, didn't you?" I responded, knowing that Bunny would have beaten me to such a statement. Jack graced my comment with a good-natured smile.
"No, no, there is message hidden by Manny. Pendant is not Guardian, but is important somehow..." North stroked his beard and began to walk back and forth, swinging his swords.
"Their souls should still be in there, shouldn't they?" Jack asked, turning to face North.
"Yes, but why? Why is pendant absorbing souls?" He turned to me, looking for answers.
"I don't know! I can't..." I clenched my head between my hands, fighting against the growing confusion. What did my pendant have to do with any of this? Why was it so important? Why was it trapping the Guardian's souls?
"What if..." Jack began, twirling his staff as he thought. His gaze was trained upon the floor as he spoke. "What if we're supposed to fade?"
"What are you talking about?" North responded, incredulous.
"Wait, hear me out," Jack said quickly, holding up a hand. "When Sandy, Tooth, and Bunnymund faded, they didn't simply disappear. They were taken into Dawn's necklace. I don't believe that would normally happen."
"What are you saying, Jack?" North asked slowly, eyeing Jack carefully.
"We don't know what truly happens when a Guardian fades," the frosted spirit continued, "but I can say with certainty that they wouldn't simply wait for Dawn's pendant to absorb their souls. It doesn't make any sense. What does make sense is our inability to defeat Fear right now."
"Jack..." I said, starting to realize what he was attempting to convey. It was a reasonable idea, but one that I didn't even want to consider.
"I'm saying that they key to defeating Fear is hidden within your pendant, Dawn. The spirits. Look at how it shines when you touch it."
I unclasped the necklace from my neck, holding the symbol in my hand. It glowed brightly, with several colors swirling about the moon and sun.
"Just like that. But when North or I hold it..." he took the necklace from my grasp, and the light faded. "There's nothing. I believe Dawn is the only one who can unlock the last reserves of power captured in their souls. Look at the colors," he said as he placed the pendant back into my palm, where the glow resumed, "yellow for Sandy, pink and purple for Tooth, green and orange for Bunny. Which colors are missing?"
"Red..." North responded with a sigh.
"And blue," Jack finished, nodding. "We complete the rainbow."
"But what does the rainbow have to do with anything? Why does that affect me?" I asked, trying to find some other answer, some other way. I couldn't lose them.
"Rainbow embodies full spectrum of light," North commented thoughtfully, beginning to follow along with Jack's reasoning. "And you, Dawn, are spirit of day, spirit of light."
"Exactly," Jack smiled. "And the Guardian of Faith. The most important piece of a Guardian's existence. Without faith, we're nothing."
I shook my head vigorously, stepping back from them. That meant they had to fade. That I was going to face Fear alone. That I may never see them again.
"But what if...what if your fading is permanent? What if...I use the last of your power, and you all fade forever?"
The two looked to each other, both of them shuffling on their feet. Jack bit his cheek, but nodded. North strode up to me, placing his hands upon my shoulders.
"We are Guardians," he said with a solemn smile. "It is risk we are willing to take."
"I don't want to lose you," I said with a wavering voice. North embraced me, wrapping his heavily tattooed arms around me.
"You are not losing us. We are here, inside pendant." As he responded, he pointed to my chest. "Inside heart."
I blinked away the tears as he stepped back, smiling his jolly North smile. Jack nodded and cast me a mischievous grin. As they stood side by side, I could see the wooden walls behind them grow more and more pronounced. Not once did they show any hesitation. They waved, and then with one last flourish of light, were gone. A snowflake and piece of red fabric lay upon the ground, the last pieces of their souls. With a heavy heart, I reached down and touched the fragments, watching as their lights were absorbed into the pendant, which now glowed with a complete rainbow.
I stood, staring out the window at the white snow. The black sky.
The necklace hummed and sung about my neck. I could hear the song now. Could hear their voices. I took a deep breath.
It was time to face Fear.