Prologue: The End of the Dark Ages
The Dark Ages were a horrible time. Everyone was scared. Terrified. Frightened by every shadow and any sound that came from the dark. Everyone lived in fear. Pitch Black laughed malevolently as he felt another child wake up from a horrific nightmare. How he loved to make people fear him. It made him stronger. More powerful. And the children—oh, the children—always seemed to believe that their nightmares were real. Pitch stood on top of the roof top of a house and looked up at the Moon, which seemed much brighter than usual. Pitch had begun to notice slight, subtle changes in his old friend's appearance. It was almost as if the Man in the Moon was planning something. Something that he did not know about. Pitch sent out seven more fearlings and then began to converse with the Moon.
"Another night of children living in fear," said Pitch. He smiled up at the Moon. "And you aren't going to do anything about it?"
The Man in the Moon didn't respond. Pitch often liked how their conversations went. It was always one sided, but Pitch knew that Tsar Lunar was listening. He just chose not to say anything.
"I was thinking about spreading my fear across the globe," said Pitch. "This small village is full of young children, but image having the entire globe fear me." Pitch chuckled. "Now that would be something I'd greatly enjoy."
The Moon didn't respond, but Pitch could feel the Man in the Moon's disapproval.
"Oh, don't worry," Pitch said. "I'll make sure to mention you somewhere. That you were the one who sat back and watched me destroy childhood and didn't do anything at all."
Pitch swirled his fingers and his nightmare sand weaved in between them. It wasn't quite ready yet, but it was still able to give children the most terrible nightmares. Pitch sunk into the shadows and found himself in a little girl's room. He sprinkled his black sand over the child's head and the girl immediately began to toss and turn. Pitch smiled evilly, but was caught by surprise when he saw a moonbeam shoot through the window and shined with all its might. When the pale moonlight touched the nightmare sand, the sand disappeared. Pitch glared at the moonbeam that floated in front of him.
"I'm guessing that Tsar Lunar sent you," said Pitch. The moonbeam dimmed and brightened and Pitch knew that meant yes.
"But he's never interfered with my work before," Pitch thought out loud. He turned to the moonbeam once again. "What is the Man in the Moon up to?"
The moonbeam did not respond, but what it did do was send Pitch a message from none other than the Man in the Moon himself. Pitch nearly stumbled backward as Tsar Lunar's voice filled his thoughts.
"The Dark Ages are coming to an end, and a new age shall begin. An age of wonder, hope, dreams, and light. And a group of four shall usher it in. Your reign of darkness will soon come to an end Pitch. So, start counting your days."
Pitch blinked as the bright light of the moonbean dimmed. Pitch stared at the little messenger of the Man in the Moon and spat, "That isn't possible. I am the Nightmare King and only I rule here."
The moonbeam dimmed as if to say, "Not anymore."
Pitch growled and swatted at the beam of light, but the moonbeam quickly dodged and flew out the window. Pitch sunk into the shadows and stood outside, watching as the beam of light shot back toward the moon. Pitch frowned and nightmare sand and fearlings curled and twisted around his feet.
"There's one thing you've forgot about me Tsar Lunar," Pitch said crisply. The King of Nightmares began to make his way back toward his lair, malevolence gleaming in his amber eyes. "I don't go down without a fight."
Author's Note: New story, new story! To clear things up, I decided to make a little list of things to know while reading so you guys don't get confused. =)
This story takes place before Rise of the Guardians. The Guardians are meeting up for the first time to beat Pitch Black. Now, the Guardians have encountered each other before, so they know a little bit about each other, but not much. The Guardians are still connected to the children, their holidays (like Christmas and Easter), and are powered by belief, but the whole "Guardians of Childhood" thing hasn't been officially started yet.
Technically, this story is pretty much my version of what I think happened during the very first battle with Pitch in the ROTG universe since the books are a totally different story and don't fall in line with the will be a couple of book references (because I love sneaking 'em in there *rubs hands together*), but this story is just a product of my overactive imagination, so don't think that this is canon, okay? XD
I hope that clears up a few things as you guys read on, and I hope you guys enjoyed this Prologue! =D
Until the next chapter!
-BeyondTheMoon1203