Austrian: That's a really good observation, I definitely agree, Jamie is a guardian... Just like you. Du hilfst mir immer und motivierst mich, so wie ein Hüter würde.

Guest: Why would I judge lmao, it makes me incredibly happy that you reread the story just because you are bored. And is Jack that short? Really?

Sorry for the late update, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 22: The Guardian Of...

"Come, my darling, homeward bound

When all is lost, then all is found..."

"You will be a great guardian."

She has already been blushing, she averted her eyes away from her while she was silently praying that her cheeks weren't crimson red.

"I doubt that." she eventually said, her tone was hushed and timid. "I am not the type of person who is capable of leading others to the right path. I am... lost. The Man in the Moon should choose someone more experienced, who knows what they are doing... I don't even know what my center is." Elsa mumbled under her breath frankly.

The Fifth Spirit shifted nervously, a part of her wanted to get out from that house, but the other part of her wanted to stay because the presence of Tooth and the child was quite... soothing.

The half-hummingbird fairy did not say anything, instead, she tilted her to look at the infant, who was sleeping peacefully on her bed.

Elsa indeed felt alleviated by the sight of an innocent child, whose sleep was adorned in lovely dreams. Thanks to this innocent, heart-melting sight, she felt as if the world was a beautiful place, as if pain, disappointment, greed and fear had never existed, as if nothing had ever been wrong. All that mattered was this moment, that this child was happy.

"Elsa... Of course you can't always know what the right way is. It's not about that anyway. The important thing is to be there for them at all times and to support them no matter what. If you do that... All the children around the world will have someone, who guards them." Tooth eventually answered, she was staring at the child with ponderous eyes.

"How are you certain that I am capable of fulfilling that duty? You don't know me."

The Tooth Fairy turned her head and rested her pink eyes on the Snow Queen, there was a small, but a bright smile on her face. "You are right... I don't know you. But I can easily see the love in your eyes when you look at this child who you don't even know."

"Why don't you kill me now?"

"Young lady, why don't you kill me now?"

Pitch Black was... interesting.

She remembered their first meeting vividly. She was walking in the dark hallways with Jack, they were trying to find the enemy. Meanwhile, he was casually sitting on his throne, waiting for them to reach the throne room.

His attitude was bored, cool and arrogant. He offered them tea as if he wasn't the very same guy who killed half of Einstök and kidnapped the other half, then tortured the rest of the villagers.

When they first met... She instantly felt strained because of him, he even lowkey scared her. Nevertheless, in time, she somehow got accustomed to him.

"Do you know what it feels like to have everything you care about to be taken away from you? To long for a... family... You and I are not so different, Elsa. We are both misunderstood... A monster. That's what they think we are. That's what they think we ever will be."

172 years ago, he begged her to help him. He pleaded her to understand him, to emphasize with him. And what did she do? She thought herself superior, she raised her chin and looked down on him. She told him how disgusting he was, out of all people, she, even though she was accused of being one, she told him he was a monster.

What did he do? Let alone tormenting her and then murdering her, he saved her life. He saved her from the Nightmare Man as known as the Dark Lord, choking her to death. He attempted to injure his own ally in order to protect her.

Of course, he has undeniably made so many unacceptable things. He was the King of Nightmares, he murdered Nightlight, he tried to kill Sandy, he hurt a lot of other people.

But was he a monster? To the children, to the guardians, especially to Katherine, he was indeed one. However, to Elsa...

"I woke up in a pile of dirt and found out that my daughter was dead... I saved the whole country but what's the point? She is not here now!"

To Elsa, he was a father, who had lost his daughter, who was in great pain. To Elsa, he was a misunderstood man who was confused, aggravated and... lost.

In time, she had made empathy towards him, she tried to understand his motives, his reasoning, she sympathized with him because... Pitch Black and Elsa Arendelle weren't that different.

He too was misunderstood, he too longed for a family, hence, they shared the very same fear, being alone for the rest of the eternity.

"You will not hurt him, understood? No one will harm a single hair on his head. Today, our enemy is the Dark Lord, not Pitch." the Fifth Spirit warned the guardians with a serious manner, there was a determined scowl on her face.

Katherine basically gave no explanation to the guardians, if she had told them why they were fighting against the Dark Lord, she would have had to clarify what had happened in the first place and that was... Well, both she and Elsa doubted the guardians could digest that easily. So many incidents had happened and their memories were erased, it was better not to explain. The truth would result in only confusing them more.

Elsa suggested Katherine that maybe Tooth could help them, she was the Guardian of Memories after all. But the Guardian of Storytelling insisted that it would be no use, since Tooth had no idea about what had occurred, she couldn't find the missing memories and help the others to remember.

In the end, Katherine contended with telling the guardians that a demon-like creature named the Dark Lord was controlling Pitch and he had to be stopped immediately. Elsa added that they shouldn't hurt Pitch at all costs. The guardians were taken aback by her statement but they didn't cause a scene, except for Bunny. Nevertheless, when Elsa stubbornly stressed her words, he ultimately shut up.

So, here they were, all the guardians plus Elsa, standing next to a broken wooden bed, glancing at the dark, wide hole on the ground.

"Stay on guard." Katherine mumbled under her breath, as always, she was unreadable with those steady gray eyes.

"I was planning to throw a party and get drunk, mate." Bunny grunted sarcastically, his arms were crossed together.

When Katherine sent him an unimpressed and extremely ominous glare, he avoided her and dropped his grumpy attitude. Elsa felt lucky that she didn't get on her bad side... Katherine could be really scary when she wanted to.

One by one, all the guardians jumped down from the hole...

"Do you want me to hold you?" Jack offered politely, they were the last ones.

She couldn't help but curse under her breath for not being able to fly, it would be a lot easier if he assisted her. Still, that damn Storyteller, she immediately jumped into the hole with Tooth before giving Elsa a chance to request the fairy to help her.

"Sure." she replied curtly.

His hand slid into her body, then he pulled her towards himself and wrapped his arm around her tightly. She did her best not to shiver at the touch... It pained her. She felt a lot of emotions, she spent years of missing him, imagining his touch and now, it was too much because to him, this meant nothing. To him, she was just a stranger.

"Ready?"

"Let's do this." she declared confidently, she realized that Jack's grasp on his staff tightened, he did that whenever he felt he was in danger...

Together, they leaped into the hole.

"I've been in this place before... Follow me." Jack commanded them with a stiff tone, he has already been directing the group.

Pitch's lair was... just as expected. It was an enormous underground base, everything, the stairs, the bridges, the walls, they were either black or gray. It gave the impression as if daylight had never entered this place.

Elsa couldn't help but wonder... He lived here. He lived in this dusty and dirty cave-like place who knows how long. This inhuman habitat wasn't adequate even for an immortal man like him. It was too depressing for a living soul. Sure, he was the Boogeyman, according to the common belief, he hid under the bed, nonetheless, Elsa had hoped this myth wasn't real.

Living here for the rest of eternity... Even the thought of it was enough to give her goosebumps. Once again, she couldn't help but feel sympathy towards him.

Elsa had to shut her eyes down when they met the unexpected sunlight, the contact dazzled her but soon enough, they adopted to the light.

The first thing that caught her interest was the grayish-black globe. Just like North's the globe, it showed believers all around the world. But while North's globe made her fascinated, this one admittedly creeped her out. Soon after, her eyes caught the glimpse of hundreds of cages, which were hanged on the ceiling.

When Elsa's eyes finally found what she should have been noticing in the first place, her previous thoughts didn't matter anymore.

She couldn't recall how she reacted when she first saw that sight. Maybe her eyes went wider in terror, maybe she brought her hands to her mouth and suppressed her scream, or maybe she just watched in a dull manner. Either way, in the blink of an eye, she found himself by his side.

Pitch Black was lying unconscious on the cold, hard floor, his mouth was covered in dry blood.

"Pitch!" she screamed whereas she was nudging the Boogeyman harshly to wake him up.

Before she knew what was going on, Elsa found herself thrown to the ground, the sudden pain struck her body. The guardians have already been attacking Pitch, who was battling back fiercely with a black, lengthy scythe.

Pitch's eyes... They weren't golden. They are hollow and white, they were the most horrifying, the most dreadful Elsa has ever seen. The Dark Lord... He was there, inside Pitch, he was in charge of his body.

"I am not a monster, young lady."

He had said this to her 172 years ago... 172 years ago, she strongly disagreed with him, she thought he was a monster. A monster who imprisoned, tormented, a monster who took many so many innocent lives.

However, now, she was not going to let that demon took control of his body. She knitted her eyebrows, a sensation of determination was making her feel powerful.

The Snow Queen stood up at great speed and shouted as loud as she could. "Pitch! Listen to me! You are not a monster, you hear me? You are not a monster and deep down, I know there is a tiny piece of goodness in your heart! So please, get rid of the real monster that is possessing you!"

"I don't have a heart." he spat out, but he didn't sound like his typical cunning, bored, snarky self. No, he sounded deadly, malignant, his voice was thicker and raspier.

Elsa was just about to respond, but her attention was drawn into something else. Jack flew closer to Pitch from his back, he was going to dismantle him whereas the guardians were distracting him.

"Jack!" she cried out as the man suddenly whirled around...

She was too late.

Her sight went blurry when she discerned the blood on his navy blue hoodie.

Jack stared at Pitch with the beautiful blue eyes that she cherished more than anything, they were puzzled and dull. Then, he fell down into his knees before completely collapsing on the ground.

She strived for going to his side, however, she faced the horrifying fact that her legs were refusing to move, they were shuddering too hard that she found herself sinking to her knees.

She didn't know how to describe the anguish she had felt, she was feeling hazy and numb. It was too much, too much that she had no idea what would be her next move.

"No, Pitch." she found her voice because she had to speak, she had to continue to fight for the sake of her... love. "You have a heart. You still do feel love. I know you do. That's the only thing I am sure of. I know you care about your daughter more than anything. So please, please fight against the Dark Lord."

She whimpered in agony as the man continued to attack the rest of the guardians. He didn't listen to her, what did she expect anyway? Everything was her fault, Jack was dying because of her.

"Hey Pitch!" she heard a familiar voice shrieking with a taunting manner, instantly, she raised her head in disbelief, her eyes were wide open.

Jackson Overland Frost was standing up, his one hand clenched his staff while the other one was applying pressure on his torso, where the Dark Lord and Pitch had wounded him. There was a mischievous glint in his eyes, he was smirking.

The beast in Pitch's body turned around, he seemed pissed off. He immediately proceeded with hurling the scythe at Jack whereas the Spirit of Winter was shooting icicles at the man nonstop.

Elsa got up in a blink of an eye, finally decided to utilize her powers so that she could help Jack. She created ice walls to trap Pitch, silently praying that would be enough to distract him. She really didn't want to go violent.

Thankfully, the guardians came to her rescue. Katherine was repeatedly hurling daggers, Bunny was throwing his boomerang at his leg so that it would entangle them. Even though he couldn't succeed, it was still bothersome for Pitch to avoid the boomerangs. North and Tooth were now fighting side by side right next Jack, with their swords.

She felt herself being lifted, she grinned at Sandy when the golden yellow little man flashed her a smile, he was promptly bringing her to the battlefield.

"You can't kill me." Pitch snarled, he was moving backward and backward within each attack that he was receiving from the guardians.

"We are not going to kill you." Jack growled matter-of-factly as he approached the weakened man. "We are going to help you."

Hence, he hurled a strong kick right at Pitch's torso.

Pitch wrapped his arms around himself as he bent in pain, his torso was coated with ice. He tumbled down, he was once again lying in the fetal position.

He hiccuped loudly as his eyes were shut down, he seemed to be losing his consciousness once again. Before he had a complete blackout though, his sealed lips parted and he ultimately... puked the darkness that was eating his soul.

The guardians and Elsa prepared themselves for an incoming attack from the enemy, they were ready for another battle. However... The darkness plainly vanished in front of their eyes.

They stood there in bafflement, everyone was glancing at the spot where the Dark Lord was supposedly there.

"Now what? Did we defeat the Dark Lord?" Bunny raised a question curiously.

"Partly," Katherine answered swiftly. "He is gone for now but not forever. You can't get rid of darkness..." her voice trailed off as her reserved gray eyes shifted to Pitch. "Just like you can never get rid of fear. They are still a part of humans, even of us."

That statement finally brought Elsa back to her senses, she now had the time to take care of Jack and his injury.

She approached him hastily without trying to hide her apprehension. "Jack! Don't worry, you will be fine!" she shrieked as she took a closer look at his wound that he was still applying pressure on,

"Elsa."

"How do you feel? You must sit down and not spend your energy!"

"Elsa." he spoke out her name softly once again, caused her to finally stare at his blue eyes, they were sparkling with amusement. "I am fine. Immortal, remember? It takes more than one wound to kill me."

She rapidly wiped her tears away, she didn't want to bawl like a baby in front of him. Yet, here she was, sobbing in misery and now, also in relief. She decided to let her guard down for once, her pride wasn't her priority now.

Therefore, she crashed him into a desperate hug, she was clinging to his body, letting the sensation of his skin overwhelm her. Jack didn't respond to the embrace, so she attempted to pull away, but then, she felt his arms clutching her tightly.

"Oi! Stop making out! We are leaving!"

The two immortals broke the contact, Elsa could see the crimson red blush on Jack's cheeks, still, that didn't stop him from insulting Bunny. "Shut up Kangaroo!"

She narrowed her eyes as she got on the sled, Pitch was laying unconscious next to Katherine, who was refusing to look at him, she had a blank expression on her face.

"We are also taking him?" Jack asked what Elsa was exactly wondering.

"We can't just leave him... Even if he is a monster, as Elsa said, he is not our enemy today." Katherine replied curtly, her tone was apathetic and rigid.

Everyone quietened after that, except for North, who was urging on the reindeer. They all tried to enjoy the silence while they were traveling on Santa's sledge.

"Are you still doubting that you are not qualified enough to be a guardian?" Tooth blurted out, resulted in attracting attention to herself.

Steadily, the Guardians of Childhood rested their gazes on the seventh guardian that the Man in the Moon has chosen.

The Snow Queen's lips moved delicately, a sweet, peaceful and content smile spread across her face. She examined her friends one by one, her blue eyes were glimmering with...

Love.

"I suppose, I can't say no."

The fandom: I hate Pitch

Me: He is a baby boy, you can't change my mind.

The entire chapter is about me, fangirling over Pitch and I am not even sorry.

I hope you all liked the chapter, only one more left! Please leave a review, love ya all!