The clang of the bell rang out loud on the silent, dark planet, and the ship's sails immediately absorbed the starlight as it rose slowly into the air. Jack and Nightlight were in the crow's nest, Sandy was explaining to the other Earthlings how the ship worked (and that they should really hang on in about five minutes), and Lunar stood beside Pitch, watching the others with a happy glow radiating from his core. Pitch's tall, dark form stood at the wheel, guiding the ship up, and he was wondering how he was fooled into having a passenger liner.
Lunar nudged him. "Are you well, Prism?"
Pitch made a noncommittal noise. "They're going to throw up on my ship," he grumbled.
The Man in the Moon laughed heartily, slapping Pitch's back. "They'll clean it up."
The Nightmare King couldn't help but smile a little at Lunar's merriment. He was still the same as when they were children. It was refreshing to have Lunar laughing with him again. Jack and Nightlight laughed all the time, but it was Lunar's joy that always made him feel better. If Lunar was laughing, things were going to be alright. After a few minutes, there was a jolt. Lunar, Sandy, and Pitch kept their footing, and Jack and Nightlight gave yells of delight, clutching at the railing around the crow's nest. Toothiana, Bunnymund, and North hit the deck with cries of surprise and pain. Lunar laughed again.
"It's going to get worse when we go into lightspeed," he called jovially.
Jack whooped as they hit another layer. "How many today, Pitch?" he called down.
"Only three," Pitch said evenly, his strong voice carrying despite him not raising his voice. "One more. Then we go lightspeed." He paused. "Jack, get the mop, please."
The boy's face turned mischievous as the last layer of the atmosphere passed, and then they were in the freedom of space. Jack leaped down, landing with ease, then scuttled into the hold to find the mop. Nightlight stared out into the darkness of space, searching for the net. He saw nothing. They theorized that since Obscurus was gone that the net wouldn't be there any longer. They didn't want to go lightspeed without confirming this. They had an hour at top speed to get to where the net had been, and Nightlight was watching closely, not even a smile touching his lips now; he knew personally the fear of the net, and he didn't want to run into it again.
As they sailed, Jack scurried up the stairs then handed the strange mop to North, who stared at it.
"What is this for?"
Jack grinned. "You'll see."
Sandy smiled knowingly, but he said nothing. He was fascinated by this old-fashioned ship. It was beautiful, almost like an Earthen ship that sailed on the water. Its black boards were a clever camouflage, and it spoke of Pitch's daring; it was nearly impossible to get black hole shadows in the quantity that would be needed to cover every inch of the ship. Yet the entire ship was covered, rendered nearly invisible in the vastness of space. It was brilliant.
After an hour, they reached the net. It wasn't gone but still floated there, immovable and terrifying. Pitch pulled up alongside it without a word, scanning the crystals. Lunar frowned and approached the side of the ship to get a better look. Sandy came up beside him. Pitch didn't move from the wheel, and the others didn't move; they would be no help in this matter.
"Well," Lunar said slowly. "I could try and use my power to try and get through."
"I think Pitch should try and get rid of it," Jack said from the crow's nest.
"What makes you think I can?" Pitch asked; the others were surprised that he didn't scoff at the idea.
"Well," Jack said, hopping down and floating to the deck. "You could touch the kids, and you commanded the shadows to go away from you and they did when you were fighting Shadow Man. Maybe if Obscurus is gone, you can control his fear barrier, too."
Pitch pressed his thin lips together, considering this. Lunar reached out and plucked a crystal out of the net. One immediately grew back. The crystal lay there for a moment, then it popped, spreading the red, gooey liquid over Lunar's hand. He stared at it, his brows coming together.
"It burns," he said softly. "Images. Fear. Pain." He swayed a little, paling.
Then water doused him, washing away the goo. Lunar blinked and shook himself, water wicking off of his short, round body. He looked up at Pitch, who held a bucket.
"Don't touch," Pitch said grimly.
"You could have just washed my hand off," Lunar said, his mouth twitching.
"I could have," Pitch affirmed, then he set aside the bucket, a smile hovering around his own lips. "Well, I don't know how this will work. Stand back."
He stood very still, staring at the net as the others retreated away from the net. Lunar alone stayed by his side. Pitch took a deep breath then held out his hands and whispered softly in a powerful tongue. The effect was immediate. The net fell apart, raining the red crystals over the ship and into space. Pitch raised his eyebrows in surprise as the crystals lay harmlessly on the deck and on the others. He hummed.
"You were right, Jack," he said. "Might as well gather the ones on the ship. I'll use them in some experiments. They really are an interesting thing."
Pitch returned to the wheel and pointed the ship toward Earth while everybody else gathered the crystals into a small crate. They didn't pop or hurt anybody; Pitch had somehow disabled their power with his own unique abilities. When all of the crystals were collected, he spoke.
"Lightspeed. Brace yourselves."
He reached for the bell, then he paused. Lunar looked hungrily at the bell, and Pitch smiled.
"Two times, Lunar. Quickly now."
With the enthusiasm of a young boy being allowed to blow the whistle of a train, Lunar reached up and clanged the bell twice in rapid succession. As the sensation of lightspeed travel washed over them, there was the sound of retching, and Pitch laughed, his body refracting the starlight. Sandy was shaking with laughter, his golden eyes gleaming with pleasure, and Lunar laughed so hard that he had to wipe tears away from his cheeks.
"And that," Jack said, still standing and grinning at North. "Is what the mop was for."
"Gee, thanks, Frostbite," Bunnymund croaked, shivering from the strange feeling of lightspeed.
"You'll get used to it," Lunar said. "We aren't coming out for a few days."
"How can anybody get used to this?" Toothiana asked, her face almost as green as her feathers.
"Got no choice, do we?" Bunnymund asked.
"It did not feel like this on Sandy's ship," North groaned.
"Sanderson's ship is much more advanced than this one," Pitch replied from the wheel, setting and locking the controls so he could move around. "No doubt he has the shields necessary to shield passengers from the sensation of lightspeed travel."
Sandy nodded vigorously. "Indeed. Finest controls available. Why do you not have one?"
"It was hard enough to build a ship like this on Earth," Pitch replied. "I had to take a thousand trips into the stars to get enough materials. And the tech needed for a ship like yours is rare and expensive. This isn't the Golden Age anymore, Sanderson."
Sandy didn't respond, unsure of what to say. But Lunar walked down the stairs with Pitch and nudged him.
"And?" he prodded.
Pitch glanced down and his lips twitched. "And I always wanted a ship like this one. I like the look and design of the old-fashioned sailors that I remember so well."
"How do you remember it?" Jack asked. "I mean, where did you see one for the first time?"
Pitch paused, looking at Jack. "General Starfinder," he said quietly.
Sandy lit up, symbols flashing. "I remember him! His ship was very similar to yours now that I think of it. Beautiful sails, handled well. He let me steer it for a while."
"He let Prism sail his for half a lightyear," Lunar said. "Father vouched for him, and Prism loved it. He actually smiled."
"Ha, ha," Pitch said, but his face was a little darker than usual.
Jack tapped his chin with his fingers. "What was the Tsar like, Lunar?"
The mood changed instantly. Nightlight looked down from the crow's nest, his glow dimmer than it had been since he had been sick. Every bit of color drained from Pitch's face, and his expression went blank so that he looked to be a strange, white statue. Lunar pursed his lips, a wistful look on his round features.
"Father was a kind man," Lunar said. "He was gentle and bold and wise beyond measure. And Mother was beautiful, fair as the starry skies with eyes that twinkled as such. She was also kind and gentle and wise, and they ruled for a few thousand Earth years before their deaths…"
"No," Pitch said hoarsely, his face still white as snow.
"You promised, Prism," Lunar said pleasantly.
"Promised what?" Nightlight asked, hitting the deck with such force that it shuddered beneath his slim form. A sharp glow was in his eyes, a warning.
Lunar was unfazed. "That he would explain what happened the day that Mother and Father joined the constellations of our ancestors."
"He had no right to promise that," Nightlight said, speaking sternly; it was as if Lunar was a little child asking about grown-up things.
Lunar tilted his head. "I want to hear the story."
"No, Lunar," Nightlight said, using the Man in the Moon's first name for the first time since he had joined them.
"Why not?" Lunar asked, his voice still pleasant.
"You're not old enough."
Lunar's face remained jovial, but a hardness came into his tone. "I am physically older than you, Nightlight. But I'll always be younger than you age-wise. I am not the little boy you were in charge of for so long. I am Tsar now, Nightlight. Are you going to challenge that?"
Nightlight's jaw was set, his eyes bright as they bored into the small man before him. Lunar stood resolute, his gaze intense as he stood before the boy who had raised him for many years. Pitch watched them stare at each other, neither bending. And he could feel a niggling fear in Nightlight, that the truth would destroy the little boy he had so lovingly watched over and protected from nightmares. Because Nightlight didn't want him to have any nightmares, ever. But Pitch knew that Lunar had. He was no longer a child, Pitch realized. He deserved the truth.
"That's enough," Pitch said, the shadows on his face returning to a pale grey. Both of them looked at him. Lunar's eyes narrowed in anger, but Pitch shook his head. "Nightlight is not going to challenge your claim to the throne, Lunar. And Nightlight, Lunar needs to hear the story. We've kept it from him long enough. I understand why you didn't want him to hear it when he was younger. Your job was to keep the nightmares away. But he grew up, you left, and they came anyway. He's had nightmares, Nightlight."
Horror crossed the boy's thin face, and he turned to stare at Lunar again. "You…?"
Lunar shrugged. "Nightmares are a part of life, Nightlight. I don't mind too much. You did your job. Father and Mother would be pleased with what you did. And then you left to protect me from something, but you would not say what. I assume it was Obscurus."
"I… After what happened with Pitch," he said, clutching his spear so tightly that his knuckles stood out. "We thought he would come after you to hurt you. I was to deter him, to make sure he didn't figure out which moon we were."
"But Earth only has one moon," Jack said after a moment's pause.
Pitch closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "The Earth originally didn't have a moon, Jack. Seven thousand years ago, your moon was a ship. And on that ship lived a king, a queen, and three little boys…"
