'So, the plan, one more time for luck.' North lay his huge palms flat on the wooden table in his office at the Pole, shoulders down and head lifted. 'We leave Tooth Box with Yetis to guard. Use dream sand to go into Jack's memories, remove knife or fix it's damage in each memory he has left, therefore Pitch can't control his head anymore. We wake up same time as Jack, so we have to be safe while asleep, and we give him his memories back from his Tooth Box. He will be strong enough to defend himself, and hopefully he'll be able to stop Pitch from getting back in his head. That all, Toothy?'
'The memories may be in any order- the first one we visit could be from childhood, or it could be from three years ago.' Tooth explained. 'Be prepared to be confused. Things might not make sense.'
'Right.' Bunny nodded. 'So how are we gonna recognise the dagger if it can be anything?'
'I... I don't know.' Tooth admitted, looking downwards. 'I think... We'll feel it. I can feel the real thing... I don't know about you. Well, I hope. We just have to search.'
'How long will we have?' North asked.
'As long as the memory lasts.' Tooth sighed heavily.
'Let's hope that's long enough.' North looked at her, but she didn't meet his gaze. 'Tooth, you've done brilliantly. Thank you.'
The Tooth Fairy smiled up at Father Christmas with a tear in her eye, not quite sure of her own feelings. Sandy came through the door with a sympathetic expression on his face, floating slowly. He knew this was their last hope of saving their Guardian and friend, and it partly relied on him to get it right. Ever the patient one, he made a picture of a traffic light with sand filling where the red one is, with a questioning face on. He changed it to the next light down- the amber- then waited for a response.
'Yeah, ready as we'll ever be.' Bunny grinned at the Sandman, who pushed a thumbs up towards him. He had done his night duty, and they were all tired enough they could probably fall asleep on their own, but they needed Sandy's expertise to do it properly.
They all headed back to the infirmary, as they had been planning in North's office. When they arrived, there were around a dozen Yetis all scattered around the room. At the sound of the doors opening, a few who were around Jack's bed stepped back to reveal him cleanly wrapped up in new bandages and lying down flat. From the metal bars on the edges of the bed hung strings of fabric and thin rope, ordered to be put up by the Guardians. They would, hopefully, hold Jack down if he started flipping out in his nightmares, but they were strictly not to be fastened until he started to writhe. Around his bed were four armchairs- ones that they had got used to sleeping in by now. The Yetis around the room stood guard, and Tooth passed her quintuple locked wooden chest over to three who would keep an eye on it in this room. They nodded to her to sign that they would take care of the Tooth Boxes, and she smiled warmly to signal that she trusted them.
'Right.' North clasped his hands together and rubbed them hard. 'All set?' A Yeti jabbered in Yetish and moved out of the way, and Santa nodded to him once in a very military manner. 'Sandy?'
The Sandman made his traffic light again and turned it to green, then went over to one of the four seats positioned around the sick Guardian. North handed over an envelope to a Yeti he trusted with anything, Phil, who met his stare with surprising emotion. Tooth handed one to two of her fairies, who didn't want her to do this, but knew that she had to. Bunny had dropped one down a burrow, but who knew where it would end up. Sandy had nobody to give anything to, so he had to continue the way he was.
Inside each letter were details on what to do if anything went wrong- the Guardians had accepted that this was going to be dangerous and that there was a risk they could die. For a start, if Pitch turned up when they were asleep, they would be powerless and wouldn't wake unless Jack did. If Jack didn't wake, neither would they. At least, that's what Tooth presumed- nobody really knew, but they wanted to prepare themselves for the worst if it turned out to be the truth. It was perfectly possible that if Jack died in his sleep, they would never be able to leave his mind, and would die with him. They had to entertain the possibility. Emergency procedures had been given for a variety of different situations if they were to arise, and the Yetis and Elves were there at hand to help if need be. Most work had now been stunted, as everyone in the Workshop felt they had to be ready to help in any way they could.
The Guardians positioned themselves around Jack's bed, all holding hands with one another. They looked at each other with sad eyes, but bravery shone in them too. Then they stared down at their fallen friend, and knew what they were doing was worth any risk they took. Jack needed them now more than ever, and they refused to let him be alone and afraid anymore- he was one of them now, and he deserved every effort of his fellow Guardians.
'For Jack.' Bunny said with a weak smirk, his voice low while he looked at the bruised teenager beneath him.
'Yes.' Tooth agreed, squeezing the Easter Bunny's hand slightly tighter. 'For Jack.'
Sandy's dream sand started to swirl around them in beautiful streams, and a warm wind blew across their senses.
'See you on the other side!' North chuckled, and each Guardian felt sleep will them in with gentle lullabies and soft touches.
The world of slumber opened for the Guardians, and they joined their friend in the only place he could truly exist in his broken state- his own mind.
And so ends the broken arc!
There will be three arcs: broken, repairing and healing. Please keep reviewing, following and favouriting- I really appreciate it! Thank you for reading up until here, and so on we go into the second arc- did you guess we were going to venture into memories from the little hints I left? I bet you did, you're smart :)
But yes, read on as the plot begins to thicken...
'See you on the other side!'