Part five of the Insidious Fear arc.
North stared at Jack in numb shock. This was going as badly as it possibly could. The young Guardian was past listening, his eyes filled with anger and pain. They had to get through to him, somehow.
"Jack, boy, please listen. We're here to help you."
It was obvious the boy didn't believe a word he was saying. The staff glowed with power and not its usual light blue color, either. He pointed it at North. Against his better judgment and ignoring every instinct telling him he was being a fool, the large man dropped his swords in the snow. Pitch was gone and there was no enemy left to fight. That gave Jack a pause. He lowered the staff slightly, hesitation entering his eyes. Tooth tried talking to him next.
"Jack, I know you're confused, but please try to remember. We're not your enemies."
"I remember. I remember what it's like to be alone for so long. I remember that you only bothered with me because the Man in the Moon told you to. I don't want to be alone again."
"You won't be alone! We're here for you now. Jack, I'm sorry—"
"Tooth, watch out!"
Tooth dove out of the way as Jack sent another blast of energy at her. Bunny took a step forward.
"Listen, Jack—"
He didn't get any farther than that before having to jump aside as well. This was getting them nowhere and someone would soon get hurt. North took a deep breath.
"Change of plan. We get him back to Pole one way of another and figure something out there. Sandy?"
Sandy bounced a ball of Dreamsand in his hand with a nod. They'd have to do things the hard way. He just hoped that it wouldn't ruin their chances of fixing this.
Jack flew out of the way of one more ball of golden sand. He made sure to stay high, out of the reach of Bunny and North. At least he only had Tooth and Sandy to worry about and all Sandy was doing was throwing Dreamsand at him. As if he was only interested in sending him off to dreamland. The thought stayed in his mind, like the flame of a candle trying to push away the oppressive darkness around it. It was failing.
He took a sudden plunge down as Tooth tried to tackle him, letting her fly harmlessly over him. He kept expecting a boomerang or explosive egg to get thrown at him, as a quick glance down showed him Bunny was holding both, but they weren't coming. The Pooka must not want to hit one of the others. He missed several chances to catch him when he was farther off, though. As if he was hesitating to use his weapons. North had yet to pick up his sword again, opting instead to just run after them. Maybe he wanted to catch Tooth or Sandy if they fell. He should, the ground was full of jagged ice spikes. But they were taller than North, so there was little he could do. The whole scene was wrong to him. Confusion threatened to overcome the anger filling him. The candle in his mind burned a little more brightly.
The fear was just a memory by now. He had done exactly what Pitch said and embraced the darkness clawing at his mind. He felt much better now. Much stronger. He wasn't a frightened little boy anymore. He was... What am I becoming? The thought gave him a pause and that pause gave Tooth the opportunity to grab him tightly, holding his arms against his side.
"Sandy, now!"
Panic overcame him once more even as the anger had slowly started to fade. He moved his staff just enough to send a blast of cold at Tooth's delicate gossamer wings. The fairy's scream as she was thrown off him ripped through the darkness, freezing him in place long enough for Sandy to throw his Dreamsand at him. The ball went wide as the little man dove after Tooth to catch her before she hit the spikes. Jack stayed in place, watching as Sandy caught her and gently lowered her to the ground. His eyes caught Bunny's. The Pooka still wasn't throwing anything at him.
"Get down here, Snowflake."
His voice was soft and soothing and Jack found himself slowly floating back down, landing a good distance from the others. Tooth was on her feet, leaning heavily on Sandy. He couldn't move his eyes from the tears in her wings. He had done that. Just like he had hurt Jamie and Sophie. The darkness receded from his mind a bit more. They were watching him warily, but not angrily. He could see that now. Maybe they hadn't been lying. Maybe they did want to help, even after what he did. Why should he trust Pitch more than he trusted them? Bunny took a careful step toward him. Jack clutched his staff against his chest, but did not attack. Yet. He didn't know how long his temporary sanity would last.
"Snowflake. Will you come back with us? To the Pole? We'll fix this, I swear we will."
"No..."
"Jack..." Tooth said in a pained voice.
"No. I-I want to, but I can't. I-it won't let me."
He glared down at the staff in his hands as if it was its fault. The darkness may have come from there, but it filled him now and he did not see how he could get rid of it. Soon, it would take his sanity away and he would attack the people he cared for again. He just wished there was anything he could do to make sure...
His eyes widened when the idea hit him. There was something he could do. He could hardly believe he had not thought about it before. He raised the staff up to take a closer look, staring at the black veined ice that covered it, the ice that hadn't been there the previous two times this had been done. It would make this harder. He knew the flimsy looking staff could take a lot when he held it. Maybe he should ask one of the others to do this, but he did not want to force them to do something like that. And he wasn't sure the darkness would let him hand over the staff, or he would have already.
"Snowflake? What's up with you, mate?"
Jack didn't answer. They would see soon enough. Grabbing the staff with both hands in front of him and not giving himself time to reconsider, he brought it down quickly on his knee, attempting to snap it in half. He had expected the pain, but this time it did not stop, it did not fade to a dull ache in his soul as the staff was broken in two. It hadn't snapped all the way through. Waves of power escaped the damaged staff, ripping at his clothes and at the skin underneath. He could not see anything. Tears froze his eyelashes together. He thought he heard the others calling his name, but he wasn't sure. He could not hear much over the sound of his own screams.
He kept pulling at both ends of the staff, trying to break it in two and feeling as if he was trying to rip himself apart. He hoped that, if he passed out before it was done, someone would finish the job. But he could not count on that. He pulled harder until, with a final cracking noise, the pain stopped. The silence was deafening as he let the world fade away around him.
Bunny tentatively got up from where he was lying on the ground when the waves of cold stopped blowing above him. It took a moment before he realized the screams had stopped. He could still hear them. He didn't know if he would ever stop hearing them.
The boy laid facedown in the snow, one half of his broken staff held loosely in each hand. A quick glance around told him the others were getting up as well. North jumped to his feet and did not waste time in running up to the fallen Guardian. Bunny bounded after him, leaving Sandy to help the injured Tooth. He skidded to a halt next to North. He had turned the young Guardian on his back and was currently checking for a pulse. The boy laid there limply, his clothes ripped and stained with blood. If Bunny had ever thought he looked dead when he slept, it was nothing compared to now. He held his breath until North nodded, confirming he still lived. The Guardian of Wonder picked Jack up and cradled him against his chest. Bunny saw tears fall on his cheeks. He wasn't sure he wasn't crying himself.
"Oh, Jack..." Tooth breathed out when she joined them.
Bunny placed a furry hand on North's shoulder.
"Let's take him to the Pole, mate. This mess isn't over yet."
I swear there's only one more part to this arc, plus a few related drabbles (I have two of those planned, including something fluffy). The main arc should be wrapped up next chapter, which may not be tomorrow as I need to call someone to do something about the water backing up from the sink. I'm tired of emptying it with a bucket.
