"What goes better then cold and dark?" Jack heard Pitch say, motioning towards the jagged sculpture that was created from their initial clash. "We can give them a world where everything-everything is ours!"
Jack blinked as he remembered how the Guardians had virtually kidnapped him, told him that he was to be a Guardian, told him about how he was once human with memories, and then betrayed him by throwing him out into the metaphorical cold. All because of Pitch.
But then the Boogeyman wanted to be believed in, like him and the dark man was actually offering that to him.
A part of Jack, he found wanted that, yet he had grown a bit fond of the Guardians as well.
Then there was the death of Sandy, and Jack wanted to cry.
That hesitation was all that Pitch needed, and he wrapped an arm around the boy.
"Jack," He said smoothly, and yet gently. "For the longest time, the Guardians ignored you, and I personally didn't know you either, but now I'm offering you something that I can give. I can make you a Prince."
"I'll help you," Jack said slipping out of the embrace and walking away, just as Nyfe shot up, bright as a tiny star. "I'm with you, but I'm still going to have fun."
Nyfe frowned, and Pitch smiled, quickly cupping the shining Pixie in his hands. He knew as much about the bonded Pixies, as Story did. He knew that the pixie was the source core of Jack, and he quickly used his powers to fuse a fearling with the pixie known as Nyfe. And then just as quickly, he released the Pixie. Jack never saw the shine, and when he turned around to look at Pitch again, he saw Nyfe as dark as ever.
He smiled as Nyfe flew over to Jack and settled on his shoulder.
"I'm not asking you to change what you do," Pitch said smiling. "We'll work together. As for you being a Prince, done! You'll be my Prince, like my very son. Don't worry Jack. I'll protect you."
Jack looked at Nyfe, and smiled as he saw the Pixie smile.
When he woke up, Jack found himself in a makeshift sand cage. And next to him, in another cage made of the golden sand, he spotted Jynx sitting down and going through his bag.
"N' where in th' world is th' blasted thingadoodle," Jack heard the Werecat mutter. "I kn' it's in here."
"Jynx," Jack said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "What happened and what's going on?"
"Don't try t fight th' bars of th' cage," The Werecat informed the boy. "They jus reform. B' the Sandman's done left t get th' otha Guardians."
Jack felt a spike of fear, for some reason, and he remembered that the Guardians were now the enemy. He remembered that he was bonded to Nyfe, and they must have gotten separated, so he started focusing on trying to use that deep connection to call the Pixie.
And true to the call, Jack saw a dark form shooting through the sky, straight for him. And when Nyfe stopped in front of Jack, he got a good look at his partner.
Jack knew that this was Nyfe, yet it was memories of this world. Nyfe, back in his own, was still with Story. This Nyfe looked a bit like him, almost a mirror image, however one eye was yellow and had what looked like blackish veins under the skin around the eye. And the other eye was a clear blue. And his hair also had white and black streaks in it.
He remembered spending time with Nyfe, both learning from Pitch, and the Pixie grew in size, his appearance grew to sort of match Jack's. It made the Frost spirit happy, but yet he remembered that Story had stopped talking to them and seemed sad-up until his disappearance.
"Nyfe!" Jack said quickly. "Can you try and get us out of here, before the Guardians show up?"
"Why'd you even come here Jack?" Nyfe said, his voice was like a whisper.
"I don't know really," Jack answered, as Nyfe attempted to destroy the bars of sand. "I wanted my staff."
"You have me," Nyfe said, pausing to look at his Partner. "Remember what Pitch taught us. That your staff was like a security blanket, you no longer need it."
Jack remembered now, recalling how Pitch helped Jack to fly without it. He was a Pixie as well, and even without physical evidence of wings, he could still fly.
"Ah hah!" Nyfe said as he managed to break a bar using his powers. The bar started to reform, and the pixie quickly reached in towards Jack, and pulled him out.
Jack was relieved to be out of the prison and he smiled as he looked at his partner, "Thanks."
"I can't leave you ever hanging," Nyfe told him, as he looked at Jynx.
"Can you get him out too?" Jack asked.
"Sure!" Nyfe said, cracking his knuckles.
"Oh not you," The Werecat groaned.
A few minutes later, Jack was soaring out and away from Sandy's island, with Nyfe carrying Jynx. They were free, but something bothered Jack. This wasn't his world, but there were a lot of questions in his mind. What happened to Nyfe? What happened to Story? How did the Sandman return? And how were the Guardians? He knew that if he stuck around, he'd eventually find out the answers. And with it, a way to get back to his own world. He was starting to think that Manny knew more then anyone knew, and this was all the result of him. But he had to be sure.
"Where to?" Nyfe asked, ignoring the werecat who was clinging to his back.
"Let's find Pitch," Jack said, feeling an odd feeling of fondness towards the dark man.
Nyfe grinned and he chuckled a little. "It's been a while since we saw Pitch," The dark Pixie said joyfully. "It would be great to see Father again."
I hope you like.