Hello my lovelies! Last day of half term, and I have got some bad/good news for you: because of writers block and school all-in weekends, I have made the executive decision to put this story on hiatus until the Christmas holidays, when I will hopefully be able to give you a buttload of updates. this is to give me time to plan new chapters and just muse on the story in general. I know it's annoying, and I'm sorry, but I do think it will be better for the story.

To tide you over, I am giving you the first chapter in the 'what on Earth did Lily tell Jack that fateful night?' arc (woEdLtJtfn for short. Catchy, don'tcha think?) I have never read the guardians of childhood books, but I do know a lot of back story from other stories on this site. Mine will be a blend of both- I'll be tweaking back stories and timelines to make it all fit together. Please don't hate me for it.

So, happy read, sorry about the large amount of dialogue, and see you in December!


"Let's just say, I don't like Mim anymore," muttered Jack. He was sprawled out on the sofa, across the coffee table from Sophie, who was wrapping herself a hot chocolate, lips still blue from the cold. The twins, now age five, had collapsed into bed for a nap, exhausted from the hours in the snow with the winter spirit.

"Come on, Jack," grinned the blonde. "You have to give me more than that; how am I supposed to write another book when you barely tell me anything about the spirit world?"

"Most of the spirits aren't worth talking about," he replied, pushing his white hair back from his face. For some reason it had started growing soon after he moved in with North, and now needed regular trims. "Not unless you want a book full of self-serving, power hungry assholes and sheep who don't seem to have the mental capacity to think for themselves." Sophie tutted, rolling her eyes.

"Well, you aren't being melodramatic at all; besides, I thought Manny was supposed to be one of the good guys?"

"Yeah, I thought so too." He sighed and looked at her. "You're not going to drop this, are you?" She smiled sweetly back.

"Nope." He sighed again, and resettled himself.

"Okay, well, I guess I'd better start at the beginning."


"Way back, in the beginning, before our sun had even really formed, there was a period of time called the golden age. I don't really know much about it- there's only a few people around now who were around back then, and they don't tend to talk much."

"Anyway, there was a war going on- a war against these creatures called fearlings. Nasty things- they were the worst fears and memories of every sentient creature in the universe personified. Well, sort of personified, if you know what I mean. The side of goodness and light and whatever was ruled by the Lunanoff family, and their army was led by a famous general, a man named Kozmotis Pitchiner. He eventually managed to capture the fearlings, and trap them in a cage, which he was then asked to guard."

"Pitchiner?" asked Sophie. "Like... Pitch? The Bogeyman?" Jack nodded.

"Yeah. He had a daughter, called Seraphina. She grew up away from him, because he had to guard the fearlings. Well, they left him there too long- I don't know how, but the fearlings managed to corrupt him somehow, and he let them out. They took over his body, possessed him, and changed him into the Pitch Black we know today before going on a rampage against... well, I suppose you would call it an empire."

"What happened next?" breathed Sophie, who was entranced.

"Apparently it was a really bad war, really brutal; a lot of people died, including the Lunanoff family. Well, all the Lunanoffs except for one- the young prince, who was sent away in an escape pod. He survived the slaughter."

"While all this was going on, Seraphina had grown up. She had left her home and the... empire or whatever behind, and gone off to... I suppose to pave her own way. She'd come to Earth when it was still at the bubbly magma and lots of sulphur stage, and she saw potential. While the battle was raging, she was balancing the world- making oceans, making valleys, and making little clumps of blue-green algae."

"Wait? She was running evolution?" Jack nodded.

"Not just evolution- pretty much everything natural. Weather, the tectonic plates, temperatures. It's why everything was so turbulent at first: she had to get used to it. Anyway, when the prince heard about her living here, he thought she would be his safest refuge."

"He decided to hide at his arch enemy's daughter's house?"

"Two things were well known about her: she had power, and she hated Pitch. Hated Pitch for abandoning her."

"But he didn't have a choice!"

"Yeah, but Gaia- which is what she changed her name to- doesn't think like that. She's kind of, uh, horrible." Sophie wrinkled her nose.

"God. Okay, well, what happened to the prince?"

"He was on course and everything, due to arrive quickly, but he forgot to take one thing into account." The winter spirit paused for dramatic effect. "The moon."

"Manny? The prince was Manny?"

"Yup. Once he'd crashed, there was no way for him to get down to Earth, so he was stranded up there. Renamed himself the man in the moon." Jack shifted and resettled before continuing on. "Well, of course Pitch came looking for him. He knew that Manny had gone to Gaia and he was furious. However, Pitch hit two snags: one, he successfully avoided the moon and landed on Earth. And two, well, he didn't bank on a vengeful daughter quickly stripping away most of his power, trapping him here. So, if things had remained the same, that would have been the end of it: Manny trapped up there, Pitch trapped down here, and Gaia with all the power."

"What happened?"

"Humans." There was a long pause, then Sophie shook her head.

"Okay, you lost me: how do we fit in?"

"Well, the main thing was that humans started thinking for themselves. Manny and Pitch are both opportunists. See, faith and belief and stuff like that was a main power source in the golden age. Belief that they were doing the right thing was what fuelled the Lunanoff armies during the war. So all they had to do was make the humans believe in them. Pitch became the creature in the night, the monstrous beast found in legends all around the world, while many ancient cultures worshipped the moon as a deity. Gaia, Pitch and Manny were equal in power, and for a while there was balance."

"Until...?"

"Until the rise of religions like Christianity and Judaism, ones that don't worship the moon. Manny started to lose belief, fast. After thousands of years of power, he was weakening again, and Pitch was spreading fear like there was no tomorrow. There's a reason there's a time in human history called the dark ages."

"So did Gaia help him?"

"Proof that you've never met Gaia. She could have given less of a shit about them. No, what happened was a shooting star, crashing into Earth."

"Did people take it as a sign or something?"

"No. On that shooting star was a little creature you and I know as Sanderson Mansnoozie."

"Sandy?"

"The one and only. He had come looking for Manny, and like Pitch before him, missed the moon. His rocket slash shooting star was broken, and all he had was a little bit of magic sand to get him by. From what I know, his people are wish granters; you know, wish upon a shooting star, yada yada yada. He didn't have enough sand for wishes, but he had enough sand for dreams."

"And people began to believe in him," realised Sophie. "And Manny, being an opportunist..."

"Caught on to this, yeah. So he spoke to Sandy, and convinced him they had the same goal in mind. Told Sandy he wanted Sandy to be a guardian. Chose Tooth next."

"Wait, what was Tooth?" Jack paused, weighing up his answer.

"Yeah, I'm just going to say the living embodiement of humanity, and you're not going to think on it too much, mkay? He made her all her helpers using the belief Sandy had, and they got to work doing tooth fairy stuff."

"And then?"

"A time travelling Pooka called Bunny arrived and found he didn't want to leave, because he was chosen to be a guardian too. North is the only actual human of the original guardians, and he was chosen last for his big eyes full of wonder."

"What?"

"Nevermind. The point is, Manny chivvied them along and got them nice and believed in, and overthrew Pitch's rule and stuff, so that it was just him and Gaia. Pitch tried to take over again, and get rid of Manny once and for all, but I stopped that. Gaia went mad a couple of years back, and Sandy has done only Mim knows what with her- literally, Mim and Sandy are the only ones who know where she is."

"So Manny is the last one with any sort of power?" Jack nodded. "And you don't like him because...?"

"I'll tell you another time," said the winter spirit. "You look exhausted and I have a meeting I need to get to." Sophie tried, but couldn't suppress a yawn; she then smiled ruefully.

"Way to leave me hanging, Jack. I'll be up all night wondering what Mim did!" Jack shrugged and scooped his staff up from it's perch.

"And you say I'm dramatic. I'm sure you'll be-" he began, but stopped; Sophie was already fast asleep. He gave her a small smile. "Sweet dreams, Soph." With that, he hopped out the window. "Wind! Take me to Santoff Clausen!"