Uhh... so it's been a while.
REVIEWS:
InMyMarauderStage: (whose not in their marauder stage) that means a lot to me, thank you so much! I didn't realise how long it would take me to update, so sorry for the cliff-hanger, and it doesn't sound weird, I'm just really glad you like it!
RedHead2000: hopefully you're still reading, I know it's been ages, I hope you enjoy
Anonymous user: *evil cackle* I love making the confusion
Shrubbery: Glad you like it!
Really very sorry for how long it's been since I last updated, I'm going to attempt to write a little every week from now on at the least. Thank you for coming back, I hope you enjoy!
The sunset fell past the horizon, a deathly black haze fixing over the grey sky. Perilous thunder clapped as the wind howled in agony and crackling lightning traced it path down the monotonous sky, like sickly veins trickling down from the heavens.
Pitch black cackled, watching from above as his nightmares gained ground on the ever weakening Guardians, refusing to give up. It won't be long, he thought, thinking back to the countless days and nights he had dreamed of this. More power than he had ever had and growing strong and stronger by the second.
He raised his hands and laughed manically, unleashing another horde of his troops onto the unsuspecting Guardians, still fighting valiantly below. Black sand spewed from their blades as they whipped and slashed violently through the endless army, charging at them with increasing speed and power with each new round. Bunny charged, trusty boomerangs in hand, slashing through the devilish sand just before it could crush Tooth under its ginormous hooves. She thanked him with a nod, too out of breath the speak. He returned the nod, quickly spinning around to face another oncoming stallion as it charged.
Their attempt was valiant, Pitch had to admit. But they were still no match for him. He looked around at the chaos and destruction around him, bored from watching. With an evil smirk he fell backwards, shadows encasing his body as he teleported to an abandoned alley.
Bang!
The street lights around him shattered in a dazzling display of fireworks, casting the world even further into his impenetrable darkness. Splintered glass littered the floor, crunching underfoot as he stepped forwards. Swishing his outstretched hand, more bulbs exploding around him. The shadowed street fell into the abyss, debris raining down like thousands of fragments of broken ice onto the cobbled streets.
None of the Guardians noticed the vast silhouette of the Nightmare King towering over them, a thick ivory scythe forming in his hands. He brought it down in a crushing motion, the sheer force alone enough to know the Tooth Fairy off of her feet, propelling her backwards, smashing through a troop of the shadow army. Her back cracked in agony as she pummelled, smacking hard against a large building. Her breath escaped from her lungs and she crumpled, out cold.
Bunny screamed in anger, brandishing his weapons wildly into the night trying to fight off as many attackers as he could and get to the wicked being who dared hurt Tooth.
Pitch smirked at the anger consuming the pooka as he swept violently through the crowds, spraying his beloved nightmares to dust. Looking at the pandemonium around him, he noticed just how far the warriors had advanced, corpses of black ash covering the streets. He didn't care, advancing forward anyway.
He had blood to spare.
Crisp white snow fell from the endless white sky, coating the trees in a soft dressing, light catching the glistening icicles hanging gently from their branches. A warm glow filled the clearing, radiating from the golden orb in the sky. Jack Frost looked around, confused at the sudden change in scenery - wasn't it night not long ago? He could have swore he was in the forest in Burgess only seconds ago, but this was certainly no place he had ever seen before. The whole place felt other-worldly: he could feel the magic tingling all around him, hear the soft jingling as the tender snowflakes fell in captivating motion.
His porcelain skin seemed luminescent, catching the light just like the icicles. Blood coursed visibly through his veins, popping brightly under his translucent skin. He twirled his hands over, fascinated by the blue liquid flowing through his body like a delicate stream in the middle of spring.
The atmosphere was so peaceful, so calm; not even the wind interrupted the silent whistling of the snow as it floated lazily down to the ground. His toes curled around the cool snow, crunching as he walked around the trees, looking for something, anything, other than the white serenity which surrounded him.
"I see you are confused, Jack." An ethereal voice spoke, startling the winter spirit. He turned around, but as far as he could see he was completely alone.
"Who said that?"
"Look up." The voice spoke once more and Jack immediately glanced up. The heavenly sphere glowed bright as it floated down and landed in front of him, pulses of energy and power radiating off it in brilliant rays. From its centre, a silhouette began to form, stepping out into the expanse towards Jack, who was staring with deep inquisition.
The man was tall with large muscles that seemed to ripple with every step under his simple t-shirt, his hair was a dazzling blonde, catching the light from the luminescent orb. His cheeks were hard and chiselled and his stance portrayed one of absolute power. Though his featured made him look young, his bright golden eyes deceived him for within their depth swirled pools of ancient knowledge, past the beginning of life. Perhaps, Jack thought, he is life itself. But... he looked at the man, unsure.
"Am I dead?" Trembling slightly, he asked the dreaded question. He could think of no other alternative to where he was, or why he was there. The nameless man looked at him, his eyebrows scrunched deep in thought. Without a word he walked over to a gentle stream flowing with fresh water (that Jack swore was not there a second ago) and smoothly sat down, dipping his hand into the cool, refreshing liquid; relishing in the way it felt on his hands. After a moment, he looked back at Jack, then patted the space next to him. Jack obeyed, plopping down onto the soft snow beside the man, looking at him expectantly with wide eyes.
"Its been so long since I've been able to do this." Water dribbled through his fingers and the man lifted his cupped palms up to his face and took a sip, sighing in soft delight as he felt the cold sliding down his throat. "You know," he looked at Jack properly for the first time "you're very special."
"What do you mean?" The confusion was evident on his face. How was he special? There was nothing remarkable about him in the slightest, he was just a lonely, unloved spirit.
"But you're not Jack, you possess more greatness than you know. I realise I didn't answer your question before. To be completely honest, I didn't know what to say." He shifted on the wet earth, his toes dipping into the stream. "Yes," he sighed "you are dead."
Jack didn't know what to say other than "oh". He sighed, looking down at the snow beneath him. He could still feel it, the way it crunched under his fingers as he applied pressure, the way his hand left an imprint when he pulled it away. Perplexed, he looked up at the man - surely, he shouldn't be able to do that? He was about to ask, but it was as if the man could tell already sense what he was thinking.
"Who are you?" He asked instead.
"My name is Tsar Lunar, but you may know me better as Man in the Moon. You have not seen me in my human form, at least not in this life. I can sense you have many questions, but I will try to explain this to you as best I can. At the dawn of time, there was nothing. And then, miraculously, there was me. For centuries, I was so lonely - there was nothing but a vast emptiness. So I split myself, giving part of my power to create galaxies, planets, teeming with life. It was glorious, blossoming in all corners of the universe, overflowing with nature and beauty. Yet still, I was alone, no one to share the paradise with. The humans, great as they were, were ignorant, unable to see the magic in what I created. After many years, they grew weak and tired and I realised that their lives could not go on forever, and so I created death."
"Why?" Jack asked, intrigued.
"The majority of people see death as a cruel punishment, but that it not the truth. I created it as as mercy, to end their suffering. Nowadays, the humans are corrupted, their evolution changing something inside their minds. They create more death than is necessary. As I used part of me to create death, I am technically both life and death at the same time, and so they fear me. But, that is not the point."
He sighed, looking onto the horizon that had suddenly appeared, bathing the white landscape with magnificent hues of oranges, pinks and reds.
"However, I also unwittingly created evil, bringing sins into the world, and there were some horrific people who took advantage of this in unthinkable ways. Many unfortunate people lost their lives too soon to this evil and so I created an afterlife, for those who deserved it. These people in the afterlife, they could see me and I was finally happy. I thought all was okay in the world, but I was wrong. A threat so powerful arose that I was the only one who could stop it by banishing it to the depths of the universe, myself with it. There was now no one to protect life while I was gone, so I decided to choose a few truly good people and give part of my power to them."
"Like the Guardians?"
"Yes, the Guardians were all chosen. Pitch Black, too. Though he has changed over millennia, the darkness capturing him in ways I could not save him from. The shadows now rule him, and I fear there is none left of the man I chose."
"Is that why he's so evil now?"
"Do not mistake this, child. Kozmotis Pitchiner was one of the finest men I ever met. It is not him that is evil: he is trapped, in his own mind, unable to break free from the chains."
"So if there was a way to remove the darkness, he could come back?"
"Theoretically yes. I don't know how one would manage that, though." Jack looked deep in thought before Moon continued.
"You however were especially peculiar, giving your life at such a young age to save someone so dear to you. I saw something in you that I hadn't seen in years. But you were bound to the realm of the dead and I had to use a lot of my power to bring you back. It took nearly all I had but something didn't work quite right and though I brought you back to life, you were (and still are) technically dead. The power that was meant to revive you instead infused into your soul but, at such a young age, you couldn't handle it and hence it latched onto the closest thing to you: your staff. This is why you feel such connection to it, because it is you."
Jack blinked, taking all of this in. There was one thing he was still confused about. "What do you mean I gave my life?" Lunar looked at him, not having remembered the boy had no memories. "Forgive me, I forgot. Here." He held out his hand, taking Jack's into his own. Instantly, his mind was overcome with memories of who he once was. He gasped as he remembered everything, from his mother's disastrous cooking to playing tag in the village, to sacrificing himself for his sister. Smiling inwardly to himself, he whispered a gentle 'thank you', a small tear drop rolling down his cheek. Moon reached up and wiped it off, smiling back at the boy.
"Please accept my apologies for not doing that sooner, I thought it would do more harm than good. I thought it may break you, knowing your family and friends were right in front of you and them not being able to see you back. You had it tough, I know, but those hardships only contributed to the person you are today. Back to your previous question: yes, you are dead. But you always have been."
"So what am I doing... here?"
"Your soul has removed itself from your body while it was in such pain. You can go back at any time you choose, but you must learn to remove the pain."
"So I'm immortal?"
"All spirits are immortal, in a way. Though humans do not tend to live past a certain age, spirits can choose when their time is up: be it whether they are ready to move on or they are in so much pain that they can stay no longer. You, however, are more powerful than that. You can 'die' over and over, but return to your body whenever you choose. You have my power imbedded into your soul and you have used your own powers to build on that. Essentially, you are as powerful as me. You have the power to create life, even take it away."
"But I can't use my powers without my staff, and even then I can only create blizzards and ice."
Moon laughed, as if this were the silliest thing he had ever heard.
"Ah, that is where you are wrong. Over the years, that is what you have taught yourself, and you have become so used to that idea that it is now your belief. In the beginning it was merely a conduit, helping you to concentrate your powers. You have developed a dangerous connection to it though and that is why it hurt you so much when Pitch snapped it. Upon doing so he released your life power, which immediately flooded from the staff back into your soul. You essentially went into overload. You just need to learn to focus that power within yourself and you will be able to summon a thousand blizzards with the snap of your finger."
"Cool."
The man chuckled, watching the boy's eyes fill with wonder as he imagined the endless possibilities of his power. He saw himself in Jack somehow: perhaps it was the innocence, his fruit for life despite his hardships. Snow fluttered in excited swirls around them, mirroring the the Guardian's emotions, who hadn't even noticed. He had a lot to learn and their time together was limited, but Tsar Lunar had no doubt he could do it. Still, he was worried for the other Guardians, fighting for their lives out in the battlefield of the real world - the only way they could win was if Jack was fighting alongside them.
He smiled and stood up, brushing the snow dust from his lap. He held out his hand to Jack, his muscles rippling as he pulled him up.
"Shall we begin?"
So I know what I've written about Tsar Lunar isn't right (according to the books, though Kozmotis is correct, I believe). I just liked the way this fit with the story. (Also just wanted to say thank you to the people who are still reading and have stuck with me while I've been absent. I don't want to go into details, but I love you all)
