Hope you enjoy this next chapter. I incorporated a little bit of Greek mythology into it with the concept of Pandora's Box.
Chapter 21: Pandora's Box (Bunny's POV)
"No!" I shouted, realizing the connection between the scene in front of me and Pandora's Box. No one knew the rules of the Guardians better than me, Sandy and the Moon, but in the circumstance where saving the child really isn't better than saving yourself as well…
I made up my mind then that I would give up my Center to save my friends. But Jack made that choice for me before I even opened my mouth to speak.
"I give…I-I give up my hope." Jack's voice cut through everything else. He refused to look at me, and instead stared dejectedly at the ground. I felt the ground start to shake and my whole being filled with terrifying dread. I couldn't stop it now. It was too far ahead of me. A few seconds later with an earth-shattering rumble, the ground in the middle of the valley swirled open, leaving a small hole. You see, the danger of truly giving up hope within the periphery of my warren is this: my life is connected to the life of Earth, and it has always been my duty to guard Pandora's Box, and the Hope inside it. The Box is a living thing, it will hear you, if you truly give up all hope. Hope wants to be free, so it tries to break out of the Box so it can help all of the lonely, sad, and depressed people on the planet. That's where I come in as the conduit of Hope, so that Hope won't ever escape and thus be susceptible to dark forces.
It'd be a serious problem if someone released the Hope. Without the spirit of Hope, I will eventually die. I never told Jack any of this, so how Hell and Dark found out is a bit of a mystery, but the other Guardians know that I am actually one of the most vulnerable immortals. My Center can be taken, yet it is also a part of me. Having Hope taken from me was like having someone draw all the blood from your veins — metaphorically.
Dark flung a sphere of shadows outward, and it expanded, preventing anyone from stopping them. The instant that Pandora's Box rose out of the earth, Hell's fire spirits took it, and Hell, Dark, Jack, the fire spirits, and Pandora's Box were gone in a vicious whirlwind of flame. In Jack's place there lay a pile of ice shards. He'd been helping and leading us to this moment. Had he intended for that to happen? It was more likely that he was somehow forced to do that. Not willingly, except for the moment he told us the run.
The further Hope got from me, the faster I began to die. But really, what could I do? There was no hope left.