Hey, guys! Yay, I actually didn't screw up my schedule this week! ...sort of. It's a few minutes past midnight where I am, but...oh well, close enough XD Anyway, let's get to the reviews!
Thanks so much to Tina-Chan 0 (Thank you for your clarification over PM! Hope my explanation cleared some things up :) and Prince Maggie (My God, thank you so much! I've been having a a bit of a rough time lately, and...honestly, you made my day with your super kind words :) for reviewing!
ALSO! Just like with RFL, I'm currently in the process of putting together a soundtrack for this story...I personally have a few more ideas this time than I did last time, so I don't need quite as much help, but if any of you can think of a song or songs that you think fit with this story, go ahead and suggest them, and I'll see if I agree! Thank you!
And with that, on with the (long) chapter!
Chapter 18: Visitors
After Ebon, Jack found himself receiving many more visitors in his cell. Every so often, the door would open and reveal a familiar face, each of them always behaving in their own different ways.
Ebon, of course, always came to hurt him. Sometimes he would drop him back into the pool beneath him, sometimes he would cast dark spells to expel all the air from his lungs or contort his aching limbs in strange ways, all while relentlessly taunting him for struggling, and sometimes he would just walk right over and kill him. That was how Jack had learned to tell the real Ebon apart from the imagined one. The real Fearling always kept him alive.
Whenever Simon showed up, it would be to try to help Jack escape. He always somehow had the key to the shackles around the boy's wrists, and the archer usually managed to get him down eventually, though Jack was never quite sure how. Unfortunately, Jack would always come back to his senses just before the escape attempts could come to fruition. Once, Simon put him on his back and had run halfway down the hall with him until Jack blinked and realized that he was still hanging in the cell. Jack always idly wondered how the real Simon was doing each time that the imagined one left, before his thoughts were lost once again in the confusion that was now his mind.
Sometimes, he'd see Zephyr standing next to him (even though he was fairly certain that horses couldn't normally stand on water), nickering and nudging at him worriedly. Every once in a while, the stallion even had a voice, and would tell Jack that he missed him, and that he wanted him to come back so they could ride together again. Jack sometimes tried to answer, but his voice wasn't really working anymore. His heart was never quite in it.
When North appeared, he'd never really look at Jack. It was almost as though the man had no idea he was even there. All he would do was pace sadly around the room, looking dejected, as though he had lost something and did not think he would ever get it back. Jack wondered if the real North missed him this much. He wasn't sure anyone would.
Aster often came to shout at Jack. The boy didn't pay much attention to what the Pooka said, but every time, without fail, he would find himself in tears at the end of the tirade. He figured that it must be his fault that he had gotten himself into this situation, though he didn't remember much about how it had started. Whatever insults that Aster shouted at him, he was sure that he deserved them.
Tooth was always kind when she came to visit. She would hover next to him, holding his hand and gently telling him that she and the others would come rescue him soon. She'd hug him and allow him to cry on her shoulder, much like a mother would for her son. Jack never thought he was worthy of such kindness, but he liked her visits.
Sandy also brought a tiny ray of light with him whenever he came. He would do his best to make Jack smile by putting on little shows with animals made of dreamsand (though it never worked), and when he was done, he would float up and hug him much like Tooth did. His presence was calming, and sometimes, Jack wished he could speak again so that he could thank the little golden man.
Though he didn't initially expect it, Jack was especially fearful of whenever his little sister showed up in the cell. It was never the version of her that he liked to remember (a white-haired, blue-eyed little girl with endless enthusiasm and curiosity), but instead the terrified brunette he had met years after his village was destroyed. Without fail, she would always end up bleeding out on the floor in front of him. Sometimes, the charred corpses of his parents joined her.
Usually, Onyx would appear once his sister had died. She would taunt him in her silky, poisonous voice, reminding him over and over again that he had failed to protect Olivia. Then, she would thrust her dagger into his own chest for good measure. She too often brought him to tears.
On rare occasions, even the Nightmare King himself would make an appearance in the cell. Unlike most of the others, he never spoke a word, nor even moved a muscle. Pitch Black would merely stand there in the darkness, staring at Jack with his unsettling amber eyes until the young sprite was sobbing and shaking with fright. He could never fully recover after these particular visits.
Strangely enough, though most of the visitors notably showed up multiple times, there was one in particular who only came to him once. Lily Callia, New Iskald's resident magic expert, was among the most recent people to visit him. Not only was he confused as to why someone he barely knew would take the time to come see him, he found the way she acted rather strange.
Lily had entered the room cautiously, as though expecting to be attacked, and when she saw him hanging there, she had gasped in abject horror. Her eyes had begun to glow as she searched the dark room for something, then she had rushed over to him.
"Jack! Oh, Moon above...w-what's he done to you!?"
Jack, of course, hadn't responded, merely gazing back at her with vacant, dim eyes. He was so tired...Ebon still hadn't allowed him to sleep. His immortality was likely the only reason he hadn't died yet.
"L-Listen, I don't have much time...I've been incredibly suspicious of Arios for the past two weeks now, and last week, I tried to confront him about it. He responded by blatantly threatening me and...and he forced me to stay quiet about it…"
Jack still hadn't responded. He had nothing to say to an imaginary visitor. Or anyone at this point, for that matter.
"A-Anyway...he's imprisoned Simon once again, and I think he's done something to Cynthia as well...and he told everyone you betrayed us and are lurking somewhere, waiting to attack. Not many believe it, but people's minds are starting to be changed by their fear…"
Jack's face had held no expression. He'd barely even moved.
"I started tailing him a few days ago...subtly, so he wouldn't notice. I discovered that he's been using a secret route out of the city, which...leads to this cell. Unfortunately, I have no doubt he'll carry out his...his threats if he finds me here, so I had to wait until he was preoccupied with other matters to come investigate here. I'm afraid I must leave now before he returns...but I promise you, I'll tell Dr. Fletcher about this, and then I'll magically contact the Guardians of Childhood like you asked me to before. I'll do it in secret, and I'll tell them where we are. I know many won't like it...but whatever's happening can't keep going on! Goodbye for now...I'm so sorry I have to leave you here, but...I promise, help is on the way."
After that, she too had vanished. Though...there was something strange about her exit, and for the longest time, Jack had been unable to figure out why.
Then, suddenly, it hit him.
While the other visitors simply disappeared, Lily had used the door.
()()()()
Later, something entirely new happened; Jack received multiple visitors at once.
Ebon arrived alone at first, and had proceeded to perform his usual sadistic routine of dunking him in the water pool and repeatedly hexing him in various painful ways, each effect more "creative" than the last, as Ebon had put it. Soon, however, the door burst open once again, and not even the Fearling seemed to expect it.
The monster stiffened, his slightly-pointed teeth clenching as his yellow eyes narrowed. He did not, however, turn around to see who the three new visitors were. Instead, as though somehow already knowing who had come, he spoke, using only Arios' voice.
"...Father."
"Arios! What the hell is the meaning of all this!? What have you done!?"
"What I had to. I've only been protecting our city, Father."
"Protecting it? You've been terrorizing it! Convincing everyone poor Jack was a traitor...locking up Simon again to reinforce the idea that humans are evil...you've driven the whole place mad!"
"..."
"Well!? Do you have anything to say for yourself!?"
"...how did you find this place?"
"I will not say."
"Tch...protecting a rat, are we? No matter...I'm already certain it was Callia."
"It was not-!"
"Don't waste your breath, fool. You can hide nothing from me. I see all that goes on in the shadows."
"...Arios...my son...what's happened to you…?"
"Ha...please." Ebon's yellow eyes flashed. "I am no son of yours."
"W-What the-!?"
"What a terrible father...never once noticing that his son was possessed, even after all these years…"
"P-Possessed…Arios, w-what…?"
"Oh, and the name is Ebon, by the way. Not Arios."
"I...I...guards! Seize this demon!"
"..."
"...w-wait, why-?"
"Oh, did I forget to mention? Yes...all of the New Iskald guards currently answer to me. That being said...guards. Seize this foolish man."
"Wha-unhand me at once!"
"Not going to happen. You see...I'm afraid you've witnessed a bit too much here. Sure, I could keep you here and torture you as well...I'm sure your Fear would've been remarkably satisfying, but...ah, well, too many disappearances would get suspicious. No...I think instead, I'll use you."
"U-Use me for what!?"
"For my plan, of course! My plan to turn the rest of the sprites here against the outside world...the Guardians and Tsar Lunar especially. Yes...you'll be the perfect martyr for my revolution. Just think! The city's kindly doctor brutally murdered by not only the first outsider to come across this place in the last six years, but the newest Guardian of Childhood to boot! Ah, it's almost poetic!"
"Y-You...you're mad if you think anyone will believe you!"
"Oh, please...I'm a Fearling, Fletcher. One with a flair for the dramatic, at that. With the right props...well, I'll have no issues."
"N-No...don't do this...Arios, you must listen!"
"Ebon. Not Arios. Ebon. Honestly...I shouldn't have to remind you this much."
"Arios, I'm your father! Would you really kill your own father!? What about your sister!? What about everyone else in the city!? Would you really plunge all of them into a needless war!?"
"Ugh...still not listening. Arios might not do this, but I, Ebon, would. Got it? Oh, and about that little girl...your daughter, yes? No need to worry too much about her. I've only cast a prolonged sleeping curse on her to keep her from talking...she isn't dead, and yet she won't have to live through the war! Happy now?"
"Y-You son of a bitch!"
"Wow, and you still think I'm Arios, right? That seems like a bit of an insult to your dead wife...ah, well. No matter. How about I send you to join her so you can apologize?"
"W-Wait-!"
"No more waiting. Goodbye, now."
Jack watched lifelessly as Ebon rapidly drew a dagger made from pure ice and plunged it into Dr. Fletcher's chest, intentionally just barely missing his heart. The doctor gasped, then coughed violently, blood spraying from his mouth as Ebon pulled the blade back out of the wound. The two guards let Dr. Fletcher fall to the floor, where he lay coughing and convulsing for a few moments as his life poured out of him.
"A-Arios...w-why…"
That was all he managed to choke out before his body finally went still.
Ebon scoffed and tossed the ice knife down next to his motionless form.
"Hm...stubborn until the very end, eh? Oh well...you two, back to your stations. I'll deliver the body into the city through the shadows. Act surprised when you see it. I'll take care of the theatrics from there."
The guards nodded, then immediately left the cell. Ebon remained for a few seconds more, turning to look at Jack.
"That is what happens to those who cross me. And if your precious Guardians come after you...rest assured, they will suffer the same fate."
The Fearling raised his hands and closed his eyes.
"Clairvoyas Nicholas St. North, E. Aster Bunnymund, Queen Toothiana, and Sanderson Mansnoozie."
Swirling white mist appeared in front of Jack, and, as Ebon vanished into the shadows along with the doctor's corpse, images began to form within it.
()()()()
All four original Guardians of Childhood stood in the middle of the Motorean desert in the dead of night, gazes resting on a nondescript patch of sand that looked no different from the rest of the terrain.
At least, it would have, had it not been outlined with a blue, ethereal light.
"So this is place," North commented grimly.
"Seems ta be," Aster confirmed, arms crossed. "If the girl's ta be believed, we head down there, we find Frostbite."
"I still can't believe there are more snow sprites aside from Jack…" Tooth whispered softly. Sandy nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, well...there's only one snow sprite we need ta focus on for now," said Aster. "Two, if ya count the one that captured the kid. We're gonna need ta do somethin' about him for sure."
The other three nodded in solemn agreement.
"Alright…" North exhaled. "Let us go."
The man reached out and touched the glowing patch of sand, and it immediately dissolved under his fingertips, revealing a stairway made from ice that led down beneath the desert. With no more words exchanged between them, the four descended into the dark.
Soon, the sand illusion closed back up behind them, and, had it not been for Sandy's soft, golden glow, they would have been completely shrouded in darkness. As it was, they managed to reach the bottom of the stairs without issue.
That was as far as they ever got.
Without warning, dozens of knives shot out of the walls, each of them flying far too quickly for even the all-powerful Guardians of Childhood to dodge or block. The knives sliced and stabbed them in all different ways, cutting through them from all different directions, and ultimately leaving each of their bodies a torn, bloody mess.
The Guardians had fallen without a fight, without even a word spoken.
After a long beat of silence, a familiar figure appeared before their broken forms. Ebon grinned, his sharp teeth somehow glinting even in the darkness as his yellow eyes gleamed.
"Pathetic…" he chuckled cruelly. "What's the use in potentially living forever if a few simple blades can still kill you in the end?"
With another cold laugh, the Fearling waved his hand, and both he and each of his victims vanished into the shadows.
()()()()
A long, long time after the mist had faded, Jack still had not stopped crying. He was entirely certain that it had, in fact, been several days since then, as Ebon had visited several more times and told him as much. He had figured out that the real Ebon only came once or twice a day, even though the fake one showed up whenever he pleased.
Jack couldn't remember when, but at some point, when Ebon had come, he had brought the Guardians' still-bleeding corpses with him. From time to time, he would unchain Jack and lay him down on the floor beside them so that he was soaked in their blood, which never seemed to dry. The bodies sometimes reached out to him. They sometimes groaned and cried and told him it was his fault that they had been killed.
He couldn't help but agree with them.
Jack started having difficulty telling which Ebon was the real one. All of the torture and stabbings and everything blurred together before long. He did know that, at some point, he stopped finding himself still hanging above the pool. Now, he perpetually lay on the floor, completely unbound but still unable to stand, making him just as trapped as before. The fallen Guardians made a habit of holding onto him while he cried. He thought they might be trying to comfort him, but such kindness being shown even after their deaths made him cry even harder.
One day, Ebon didn't come. Instead, four other visitors came in his place.
He couldn't see who they were, as he kept his eyes closed while he quietly sobbed. He thought he might recognize their voices, but he couldn't quite put names to them. Not that he tried very hard, of course.
"...oh no...J-Jack…"
"What is-? ...oh...crikey...is he…?"
"...no. He is still alive."
"Well, that's a relief, mate, but...agh...from the looks of it, death might've been kinder…"
"What!? How could you say such a-!?"
"No, he...he may be right."
"H-Huh…?"
"But...does not change rescue mission. Come...let us get him back."
"Okay…"
"Sure…"
"..."
Jack felt himself be picked up and held gingerly in someone's arms, but he didn't bother trying to struggle. He knew these visitors likely weren't real. They had mentioned a rescue mission, after all, and no one was coming to rescue him. Ebon had made that much clear.
He felt the Guardians try to grab at him and pull him back down as he was lifted away from them. He considered apologizing, but even as he was taken out into the hallway, he knew that he'd be back soon enough. No matter how many times a visitor took him away, he always ended up back in that cell.
Always.
Oh boy...this one was a bit of a trip, huh? Welp...next time, things will be made clear. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed, and remember to review to tell me what you think, or if you have a soundtrack suggestion for me! Song title/artist/brief explanation is preferred. I'll see you guys next time!
'Til then, Sapphire316, out.