Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Rise of the Guardians except for any and all OCs. The creature mentioned is not mine. She belongs to D&D Monsters Manual.

Previously on ODF:

Finally slipping into his lair, Pitch sat upon his throne and smirked to himself. Merith would belong to the Nightmare King very soon.

"Speech"

'Telepathy'

'Private thoughts'

Merith slipped into the Netherworld before collapsing by a nearby tree in shock. Raising his trembling left hand, he once more gazed at the ring and the stone within that once more flipped his world upside down, though not in the positive way he had been hoping for. He knew it was partially his fault for not explaining his job properly and then not doing anything when the rumors spread, but he had gotten so distracted by the thought of having someone just for him that he didn't care what those idiots said about him. But the thought of his mate believing those rumors, even by a little bit, hurt so badly and Merith just wanted to hit himself for his carelessness.

'How stupid can I get, honestly, why would my mate accept me when I never stopped those rumors about me. This isn't the Wizarding World where I didn't really care of what the public thought of their precious Boy-Who-Lived. This was supposed to be a new start, a second shot at happiness and I've already ruined it with the one person that's supposed to make me feel whole again. Maybe the Dursley's were right after all. I'm nothing but a worthless freak, unlovable and dangerous to be around others.'

A soft shove on his right shoulder broke Merith out of his increasingly depressing thoughts as he looked up to see one of his most loyal familiars Myst standing above him, concern filling her intelligent brown eyes. She was a rare afterlife beast called a displacer and looked rather similar to a large panther, excluding her six legs and two fur covered tentacles that stretched from her shoulders to form broad leaf shaped tips, deadly poisoned spikes lining one side. Her tentacles were meant to cast shadows ahead of her in order to trick prey towards her, but when Merith had found her injured and scared next to the body of her dead mother, one look at her pitiful brown eyes and he had no choice but to take her in. He raised her to fend for herself in the Netherworld by herself, but when it came time for her to leave, Myst stubbornly stayed so he created a familiar bond with her. This allowed her to join the telepathic that he already shared with Toreth and Salath, a useful gift when it came to the ceaseless task of collecting and guiding young souls to their destination.

'What's wrong Brother Merith? Why are you making sad smells? Are you hurt? Do you need me to bite someone?' She rumbled worriedly in his mind.

Flapping sounds from above descended as his other two familiars landed near their master.

'Stupid feline. Not everything can be solved by biting, Master is simply wanting to mate with the Shadowed One to bear hatchlings.' hissed Soreth, sniffing haughtily in Myst's direction.

Merith just sighed in exasperation at the two girls that never seemed to get along.

'It must be a female thing I don't know. It's probably a good thing my mate is male then, I'd end up confused every time we talk otherwise.'

Thinking about his mate however brought a new wave of despair that didn't go unnoticed by the three familiars. Toreth, who had remained silent up to this point, finally rose from his lookout position and ambled to his master. Gently placing wicked looking claws on Merith's legs, he emitted a low grumble. Having gained eye contact with his master, Toreth opened his jaws- letting loose a miniature cloud of smoke and ash shoot towards his startled face. There was a moment of silence as Myst and Soreth gaped at the two and Merith sat there in shock. Toreth merely climbed down and ambled back to his previous spot, the perfect picture of nonchalance.

Merith burst out laughing, his soot covered face crinkling in joy, tears of happiness streaking across his cheeks.

"Thanks for that Toreth, I really needed that. It doesn't, shouldn't matter what my mate thinks of me; if he can believe some stupid rumors over me, then he's not worth it." Nodding his head, Merith stood up and quickly stretched before looking at his familiars.

"OK, enough slacking off, we've got work to do, and the shades can't do all of our jobs. Soreth, I want you to head south, I'm sensing some strong souls there, take a group of shades with you for backup, lots of L4 and L5 creatures tend to linger down there. Myst, head east to the Siberian region, there's usually heavy blizzards around this time of the year, so expect lots of spirits in need of a guide. Talath, you can go on rest, you've been working real hard in the Americas all day. Everyone knows what they're doing so let's get to it."

No longer reacting to the strange feeling of Talath climbing up his arm before melting into a deceptively still tattoo, Merith watched as Soreth and Myst took off before heading off in a different direction. Death for adventurous children almost always occurred around night.

For weeks following their first official meeting, Pitch soon found himself irritated by Merith's new behavior, most likely caused by that damn ring. Ever since that ring, whenever Pitch tried to start another conversation or attempt to follow him around, Merith simply faded away into the legendary Netherworld, only popping out somewhere else to watch over departing souls.

Though this made it rather difficult to approach Merith, Pitch wasn't at all discouraged, in fact, the possibility of a chase further excited him, making him more determined to trap Merith in his lair to...interrogate him.

He planted his shadows by the house of every child's home and waited patiently for the moment his pretty triggered a shadow. Leaving him to merely appear on site and quickly shadow bind Merith before he could react, taking him into the shadows to the lair.

"What the fuck bastard! Let go of me Black!" yelled Merith as he was spat out from one of Pitch's personal shadows. Icy green eyes glared up at the black clad man as he feebly struggled from the bonds wrapped snugly around him as he lay on the ground. Pitch slinked predatorily around Merith, all the while wearing a rather creepy shit eating grin.

"Now now Merith, there's no need to make such a fuss, I merely wanted to talk, that's all; nothing too difficult I presume?"

Merith merely snarled silently in his kidnapper's direction before examining his surroundings he was currently stuck in (because the damn bonds were blocking his ability to melt to the Netherworld) like he had been trained into his previous life. They were in a large, almost cavernous room whose only contents appeared to be a statuesque yet simple throne of wrought iron upon a dais. He really didn't want to be here, having already been rejected by his mate and isolated from other spirits, Merith just wanted to suffer in solitude as he did his job until he finally died from heartbreak.

Smiling at Merith's stubbornness as he forcefully tugged at the smaller spirit's bonds until his lack of balance caused him to stumble into Pitch's ready embrace. Smoothly tugging out Merith's left arm from the bond, Pitch continued his previous examination to find out what strange phenomena had happened the last time they were face to face, absently noticing Merith's tensing body and intensified struggles.

The cause of all this drama was just as fascinating to Pitch as its owner. The inlaid gem of onyx with interspersed grey flecks seemed to call to something deep within him to the point that his chest, his very being ached.

"Why does this...this ring-call to me so strongly?" murmured Pitch. Tightening his grip to near painful, he continued to whisper into Merith's ear. "What sorcery is this that you are using upon me? Don't you dare lie or change the subject; with the fear you're emitting, I'll know and keep you here trapped until you answer."

Continuing to struggle for a few minutes, Merith finally slumped over in defeat as he slowly started to explain the cause and purpose given to him by his predecessor and the Man in the Moon, carefully omitting anything of mass importance; meaning anything about his past life-or would it be future life- and the existence and his ability to do magic. Pitch noticed the discrepancies but ignored it to remark upon later as he soaked in the knowledge his...mate, gave him. Soulmate.

Deafening silence filled the lair for what seemed to be an eternity as Pitch continued to stare down at a slowly hyperventilating Merith in his arms, face unreadable. The green eyed spirit started to tremble as Pitch continued to stay silent, before he finally couldn't take any more of the stress.

"It's not like you have to reciprocate or even do anything, it'll be like I don't even exist, I won't bother you or get in your way, you won't be affected by the bond at all-"

"Can you shut up and stop rambling?"

"But, why?"

"Hmmm?"

"Why even bother? You clearly don't care about me or the bond, if anything, you seem to take great pleasure in demeaning me and my job. All based solely on what you've heard from rumors which also makes you a hypocrite. From all the things they've said about the 'dark, power-hungry Boogeyman who scares children to death for the mere fun of it', I should've been avoiding you. And yet I ignored their rumors and decided to gain my opinion of you, even before I found out that you were a hypocritical bas-mmph!"

Slightly chapped lips pressed roughly against Merith's own, interrupting his nervous rant. Lips slipped and slid against each other, one almost timid in its exploration, and the other curious and slightly possessive. The two spirits finally split apart for breath, Merith panting and slightly flushed, cheeks darkening even more at the sight of Pitch licking his lips.

"Hmm. You taste...sweet, yet there's a hint of something...spicy. That was much more pleasant than I expected." Merith blushed even harder but tried to focus as Pitch continued to speak.

"I've decided to give this a try. We shall 'date' and I will decide if I want to consummate this bond at a later date, are we in agreement?" Pitch questioned as he casually released Merith who stumbled a bit from shock and lack of balance.

"Uhm, okay?"

Merith tried forcing it down, but couldn't help the small spark of how blooming in his chest at Pitch's words.

"We'll work on your language skills at another time but for now..." murmured Pitch as he tilted Merith's face towards him and claimed those succulent lips with his own, enjoying the spark of hope and desire that lit up those verdant green eyes. Pitch's last conscious thoughts before he became lost in the sensations were that he would never be alone again. As they continued, Merith opened his mouth to deepen the kiss.

Oh yes, he definitely wouldn't be alone again.

AN: Self-edited 9 July 2016