Merith hobbled into the light cast from the lamppost and the Guardians gasped in shock and disbelief. The man was dressed very modern compared to the last time they saw him, wearing tight-fitting black jeans and a dark green sweater. His long hair was swept into a messy bun and he wore a light black cloak over his attire. Upon his back rested his scythe and on his feet were heavy combat boots decked in silver chains. With the figure of the panther striding next to him, Merith struck an imposing figure to those who hadn't seen him in centuries. North's swords almost slipped under him from shock.
"But-how? How did you escape the bonds we placed on you?"
"A little magic and secrets of the trade can go a long way." Merith smirked sardonically in North's direction, eyes still directed towards the one person he wanted to see most in the world for the past few centuries. His lover was standing there next to horse-like apparitions of his Fearlings, looking shell-shocked at Merith's appearance. Kozmotis still looked the same, but the presence around him seemed lighter somehow, as if he had been relieved of some unknown burden.
"Kozzie, come here and hug me." Merith pleaded, arms open in invitation.
Next thing Merith knew, he was being engulfed by the comforting arms of his soulmate, an embrace so tight he'd have been squished to a pulp had he been human. But in all honesty, he was holding onto the other just as tightly.
Merith wiggled a little and felt the arms around him tighten instinctively before they loosened enough for Merith to move his head from where it laid on Kozmotis' shoulder to rest his forehead against Kozmotis'. They stared at each other, gold ensnared with green for what seemed like eons before they spoke.
"I'm sorry-"
"I'm sorry-"
Pitch laughed softly as he gazed at Merith, greedily taking in every detail of his lover.
"I must ask for your forgiveness love. I abandoned you when you needed me. We were both grieving, but we should have gotten through our grief together, instead, I left you to suffer for so long alone. Please, forgive me."
Merith smiled as he rubbed noses with the other spirit, and the sound of Kozmotis huffing in mock annoyance amused Merith to the brink of tears. He had missed this man so much; the world had felt duller without Koz by his side.
"All is forgiven Kozzie. We both didn't handle our grief and others suffered the consequences. It's time to let things rest and restore balance, hmm?" whispered Merith.
"As always, we seem to be on the same page, my love." Kozmotis responded fondly.
The couple reluctantly separated to find that the Guardians, Jack, and Jamie were awkwardly standing around, determinedly looking off into different directions.
Entwining his left hand with Kozmotis, Merith walked closer to the rest, a mask of icy disdain firmly over his face. Just because things had to be restored to order didn't reduce his hatred towards the Guardians and what they did to his family.
"Now Koz, knowing you, you must have a plan in the works, or nearly finished plan considering the state of the world and the Guardians." remarked Merith as he examined a Nightmare that came closer, just as curious about the new spirit.
At seeing the Guardian's state of shock and nervousness about talking with the newly revealed Merith, Jack decided to step in.
"Pitch has given all the children nightmares and obstructed the Guardians to the point that Jamie is the last kid who believes in any of us."
"Hmm. And who are you?" Merith questioned, head tilted slightly as he stared at what was obviously a winter spirit. His aura seemed young, only a couple centuries at the most; however, his soul, his soul was a new one, reborn only once for a very brief period, just like…, no, don't think about that.
"Jack Frost, a spirit of snow days and fun times." Merith focused back on the conversation with an inward shake of his head.
"Not a Guardian then." Merith asked, an oddly fixated stare at the winter spirit and his soul that looked eerily familiar.
"No, but I'll protect the children even if I'm not a Guardian." Jack stated determinedly.
'Something is up with these two spirits, they keep bringing out these weird feelings in my core.' thought Jack in confusion as he glanced between the two 'evil' spirits according to the Guardians.
"Good, so we're all working with the same goal in mind then." Merith gave a firm clap of agreement as he turned to his soulmate.
"The children have not been harmed. They-" Pitch began before clamoring from the Guardians interrupted.
"What do you mean they have not been harmed? All the lights of the world have been extinguished except for young Jamie here. Children are suffering from endless nightmares, how is that not harmful?" North yelled indignantly.
Pitch smirked. "Because it's all fake, an illusion of the highest caliber. Fashioned by the Man in the Moon himself."
Pitch raised his hand to halt further outbursts from everyone. "During my time imprisoned on the Moon," at this the Guardians exchanged guilty looks while Merith glared in quiet fury, "Manny told me what happened. His real message to you had been intercepted by another Sentinel and the Council decided to step in. The Sentinels removed the presence of the Fearlings festering in my brain and then gave me the temporary power to enact punishment on those who wronged me. They told me to attack the stronghold of the Guardians until they became weak from lack of faith and then mute the connection between you and their faith."
"What!? How is that possible?" exclaimed Bunnymund at the same time Jack asked, "Wait, what does that mean?"
Ignoring Bunnymund, Pitch turned towards Jack. "The Sentinels, or Guardians of the Moon, are the protectors of this planet and in charge of the Guardians here on Earth, which means they have the ability to mess with our powers if they so desire. After raiding Tooth's palace and the first nonbelievers were being created, I muted the connection made between the Guardians and their believers so they wouldn't be able to feel it when their faith was restored. Like Easter Day for example. I merely captured your little eggs and left regular eggshells in the tunnels; after you had left in despair, I revealed the real eggs for the children to find and regain their hope. Their beliefs are still there as strong as they were before, you just can't feel it. In fact…" Pitch murmured lowly to a nearby Nightmare that ran into the shadows of a building and a few moments later, blurs of bright green seemed to fly out the side of the building.
"My girls!" exclaimed Tooth in joy. They all eagerly flew around Tooth in jittery excitement as she stared at them in befuddled awe. "They're flying, ...but they can't fly unless children believe in me."
She tried flapping her wings again but was disappointed to see them lay limp against her back.
"But what about the nightmares you've been giving them?" North spoke up, disbelief clearly written all over his face.
"Jamie."
Jamie startled from where he had been held piggybacking on Jack Frost, calmly listening to what was going on. He would've thought it was all a dream, but even in his wildest imagination, Jamie wouldn't be able to make this up. Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy being the bad guys, this was crazy.
"Umm, yes Mr. Boogeyman?"
Pitch sighed inwardly at the boy's address before he asked his question.
"Jamie, have any of your friends complained about nightmares not allowing them to sleep well?"
"Uh...no, not at all. All my friends said that they don't remember their dreams like they usually do, but they're fine." Jamie said after a long pause.
"Thank you, Jamie, you've been a big help," Pitch said, smiling at the boy before he looked over at the Guardians with a smirk.
"The last step was to use young Jamie, your 'final' Light as my bargaining chip to release Merith, but not everything goes according to plan. For one thing, I wasn't expecting you to escape before I found you." Pitch said towards Merith in mock exasperation, though his eyes were filled with only fondness and love.
"I'm not suited for the damsel in distress role, Koz. It took some time but collecting a few centuries of magic can create quite a punch when given the proper nudge." Merith said as he laughed derisively but shook his head when Bunnymund started demanding answers about how he had escaped. Merith didn't care if it was being petty, the Guardians were getting what they deserved, he didn't have it in him to even pretend cordiality.
"Doesn't mean I don't want to help you when I can. And besides, I think there's something you need to know, something that Lunaoff told me before I left." whispered Pitch in Merith's ear.
"WHEN ARE YA TAKIN' THE BLOODY CURSE OFF!?" yelled Bunnymund, tired of being ignored.
"When the Council has felt you've served your punishment to the fullest. And don't worry, your friend Sandman will be dealing with his punishment on the Moon and sent back when your punishment is over; his power can't be muted without hurting the children. Now, what I," Merith jabbed Pitch in his side, "what we want to know, is more about you Jack Frost."
"Me?" questioned Jack as he pushed a sleepy Jamie further up on his back, the boy now up way past his bedtime and dozing off on Jack's shoulder. "Is this about the strange pull I've been feeling every time I've been in contact with one of you?"
"This is what I wanted to talk to you about actually." stated Pitch as he gazed between his love and the winter spirit.
"What?"
"Huh?"
"Man in the Moon informed me that, our child...her soul was reborn into a new body. And immortalized." Pitch said, his voice nothing more than a whisper by the end.
Merith looked stunned, wide green eyes staring at Pitch while Jack looked on in confusion.
"What-does that mean for me?" said Jack as he inched closer unconsciously, as though their presence was slowly drawing him in. The look on Pitch's face punched the air out of Jack's lungs. His gaze was cautious, but so full of an emotion Jack had only ever seen in those faded memories of his old family; and in the decades since, peering through windows of happy families, just hoping that he could one day have someone see him and look at him that way. The way a parent would look at their child. The way Pitch was looking at him right now, with such fondness and adoration.
"It means, that you are the reincarnation of our child." whispered Merith as he focused on Jack. "It means whatever we decide is up to you Jack. If-if you'd like for us to be part of your life, to try-um, try being a family, we could do that, but if you don't want to have anything to do with us, we totally understand, it's whatever you'd like to do!" Merith rushed out, his words falling on top of each other.
"Yes!" Jack almost shouted, startling everyone and nearly waking Jamie on his back. Reaching back, Jack gently untangled the young boy from his back and carried him over to the shell-shocked Guardians. Handing him to North, he turned back towards Merith and Pitch, ignoring the silent looks of betrayal from North, Tooth, and Bunnymund. They didn't deserve to act betrayed after what they've done, and Jack didn't want to waste his time on people who repeatedly didn't trust him.
"I'd like to try. Try the family thing, if that's okay?" Jack said, attempting to appear less self-conscious but knowing he was failing by the way he was curling into the depths of his hoodie.
Merith smiled fondly at the winter spirit and enveloped the younger into his arms. He felt Jack tense up for a long moment before slumping into the hug with a sigh of relief, reminding Merith of when he was a young boy, always so desperate for affection, but unused to actually receiving it. Feeling Pitch wrap around the two, Merith closed his eyes with content. After all these centuries, he finally felt like his hope for a family was coming true.
~ODF~
A tall redhead male walked hand in hand with a brunette whose curly shoulder-length hair bobbed lightly in the air across the small town's plaza, watching their daughter gleefully skip ahead to their destination. Mindful of his pregnant wife, the two continued on until they reached the gates of the cemetery where their daughter was bouncing in place. The couple pulled out their wand and tapped the entrance twice before they made their way in. They went deeper into the cemetery until they finally made it to the grave site where they've been visiting for the past five years without fail, keeping the grave clean and covered in fresh flowers.
The redhead crouched down by the grave with fresh flowers, and after carefully positioning them on the grave, he looked up at the statue behind the gravestone.
"Hey Harry, Happy Birthday. Hope you're doing all right up there, hanging out with your parents and all. The Wizarding World is still pulling itself together after the Final Battle, but real change is happening finally. For everyone to be treated on an equal level, not that 'Mione would have it any other way."
Ron, what is that supposed to mean!?" Hermione fussed on the stool Ron had transfigured for his sixth month pregnant wife. They had gotten married four years after the Final Battle, having taken their 7th year all over again once the castle was fixed from battle damage. Once they graduated, Ron went into the Auror program, now seen as a potential Head in the future while Hermione was making a name for herself in the Wizengamot, causing a stir in her drive for equal rights for all.
"Nothing love, nothing at all. Uh, Rosie honey, say hello to your Uncle Harry." Ron said hurriedly, side-eyeing his wife who merely huffed in exasperation at her husband.
"Hi Uncle Harry, Mummy and Daddy told me a lot of stories about you today. But Mummy said I shouldn't do the stuff you did when I go to Hogwarts."
Ron and Hermione exchanged bittersweet smiles over their daughter's head as she continued her conversation with the statue. It was a statue commissioned of Harry Potter, robes caught mid-flutter and wand outstretched in a pose of triumph, despite the Weasley's and Hermione's request to have a more modest one true to Harry's personality.
After the blast between Voldemort and Harry, according to witnesses, Voldemort's sunken corpse collapsed to the ground and Harry along with the Elder Wand disappeared in that flash. With no corpse remaining and all the Death Eaters truly faithful to Voldemort having dropped dead moments later, the remainder of Voldemort's army surrendered. The Light had won and this time, they were determined to prevent a third Wizarding War a few years down the line by making changes to the society from the stagnant pool they had been in for decades, largely headed by the young generation that had fought in the Battle at Hogwarts. Since there was nothing remaining of Harry to bury, the Wizarding community instead decided to put up a statue of Harry next to the grave site of his parents.
Rom and Hermione continued to update him on current events, like the upcoming wedding of Ginny and Dean or Neville and Luna's first child Gerald.
Eventually, the time came for the little family to say their goodbyes, leaving the graveyard the same way they came, unaware of the figure hidden from mortal sight within the shadows.
Merith walked out from the shadows he had subconsciously hid in. Even though he knew it was impossible for them to see him, Merith still felt that Hermione's sharp eyes would discern his location and he didn't want that. They were moving on, starting their lives without him and if he were to reveal his reborn self...it would be too painful for all of them. He was happy enough to just see them; one of his concerns for a long time had been what would the fate of his friends have been after he had disappeared. So, with a tearful smile in the direction of his friends, he disappeared from the graveyard.