Elaina had morphed into the wind and took Jack where the Snow Queen said she last saw Pitch, which was interestingly enough the exact place that the blizzard of '68 happened. "Pitch!" Jack shouted once they all arrived.
"Ah, Jack! I was wondering when you and the Guardians would..." Almost immediately, Pitch's words died, and he appeared in front of them. "...Daughter?"
"I have a name, Jack Ass." Emily spat as she rolled her eyes.
"What are you doing here?"
"Here to help the Guardians defeat you. You've hurt enough people, Father."
At her words, Pitch's face morphed from stunned to pure rage. "Have it your way...Emily." He lifted his hands and darkness enveloped the are in the already dark forest in the middle of the night, and Nightmares were conjured in the form of a wave, heading straight for them. "The first I'll go after will be the newest Guardian!"
"Oh! I don't think so!" Elaina shouted, and morphed into her physical form.
"E-Elaina!?"
"Hello, Pitch!" She shouted as she flew up, touched the Nightmare sand, and much to his Pitch's horror, but her delight, the Nightmare Sand easily went to her side.
"H-How!? I mean...! You...! How did you take control of...!"
"You know...interesting stuff happens when Light and Dark come together and have a baby. Isn't that right, Father?" She asked as she looked to Sandy.
"That's exactly right." He confirmed with pure pride.
"S-Sandman!? Wait...I heard that she had taken another husband...IT WAS YOU!?"
"Technically I was her FIRST husband." Sandy shrugged, still holding a look of pride. "The two of you told everyone you were married, but I found out the truth from her and some of the others in the palace. You weren't married to her...you only hung around, because you heard she had a kid and it was yours. However, that's not the case anymore. You see, she's MY daughter, and she has MY last name, and SHE accepted me as her Father."
Elaina smirked wickedly at Pitch and she summoned the Nightmare sand towards her. "What are you going to do with that!? You can't throw it back to me. It'll just be a game of catch! I'll take control again...on second thought...THROW IT AT ME!"
"No..." Elaina breathed out calmly, allowing the light magic to flow freely through her as she also allowed it to take over the Dark Magic. She gently touched the Nightmare sand, and it erupted into a mystical and beautiful gold that surrounded them. She touched it again, and conjured a dragon that stood twelve feet tall. "...I don't much like using Dark Magic. So, this'll do."
"Y-You can use dream sand!?"
"I can do a lot more than that!" She growled out with a large grin as she conjured her own scythe out of the dragon she just made, and she morphed the sand to become both dream sand and Nightmare sand. "You've had your hand at the Guardians. How about try a Princess from the Golden Age?"
"How about you try two!" Emily chuckled low as she had vines come from the ground to give her a golden hunter's bow.
"You two would fight your own Father?"
"You're only my Father by blood...but you are not the one I call Father!" Elaina growled as she pointed her st
"Yes, I would." Emily answered, proud of Elaina's answer.
"So be it!" His smile grew wicked and sickening as he raised his hands once more, and wailing could be heard from everywhere. "I guess I should summon all of my forces just for you two!"
"Better here than with children!" Elaina shouted as she brought the scythe towards him, but he blocked it with his own scythe.
Then, Emily started conjuring arrows to shoot from her bow within her hand, and started firing them off while they heard the Guardians fighting the oncoming shadows, Fearlings and Nightmares. "If I can help it..." Emily shot three arrows at once, piercing his arm at one point. "...this will be the LAST battle with you, Pitch!"
Pitch didn't say anything as he lifted his hands to toss more Nightmare sand, but Elaina raised her own hand while still holding onto her scythe, and turned it into dream sand. "You will not hurt her!"
"Why do you care?" Pitch growled out. "She's just your half sister! She's the first born! Oh, and what's this I sense...oh, what a delicious fear, daughter..."
"YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER!" Elaina screamed. Then, Pitch used his shadows to lift her up off the ground, and he conjured two Fearlings to come towards her.
"Oh, but we share blood you and I. I am your biological Father, and your fear is so wonderfully delicious. You're afraid of so many things, but they all come back to Sandy and I. You're afraid that with your dark magic you'll become just like me. Corrupt, wicked, and powerful. You're afraid that the darkness will consume you. You're afraid of losing the man YOU CALL your Father. You're afraid that you'll hurt him, that you'll kill him like I killed him! Oh! And the most marvelous fear of all...you're afraid that you'll enjoy being a Fearling Princess!"
Before she could spit back another comment she saw a large arrow made of dream sand fly past her vision and it obliterated the Nightmare sand behind Pitch. With widened eyes, both Elaina and Emily looked over at Sandy who was glaring daggers into Pitch's being. "You know, archery isn't really my strong suit, but if you even think of torturing MY daughter with your fear talk again, they won't EVER find your body!"
"Why don't you fight like that now!?" North and Aster questioned in immense shock.
"Because, unfortunately he's needed, but my words are not a threat. They're a promise if he keeps up the fear talk! The only thing he's needed for is fear and darkness, and I'm almost certain MY daughter could do a better job than HIM and still hold onto the light inside her!"
"Light..." Elaina whispered out as a sudden burst of realization rushed through her. 'THAT'S IT!' She quickly went to Jack and yanked him away from the others that were fighting off Fearlings. 'Jack! Do you remember when we helped Cupid out that one time and she decided that as a favor, she would tell us what type of love we had?'
'Yeah...?' He asked as he continued to fight as she talked, but he did so at her side.
'She said that we had True Love and that it was the most powerful love, right?'
'Yeah, I remember that.'
'Okay, but she also said that True Love...as far as Love goes in the realms of dark and light...she said that it's the brightest light. She said it's even brighter than the lights of believers, because True Love never dies! We need Light! That's why our Light Magic works together so well! I have an idea, and I need you to just trust me, okay? No matter what...no matter what may happen to me...trust that I know what I'm doing, and that I'll be okay, and if it looks like Father will get involved...stop him, okay?'
'E-Elaina...you're worrying me.'
'Please, Jack! I need your trust and love now more than ever!'
'A-Alright...I...I trust you!'
'Remember...no matter WHAT...I know what I'm doing, okay?'
'O-Okay...'
Elaina nodded her head at him and started calmly walking towards Pitch. "Pitch Black!" She shouted, and Emily stopped firing as she noticed that Elaina was walking closer.
"Elaina! What are you doing!?" Emily questioned desperately.
"What is it, Elaina?" Pitch asked as he slowed his attack to speak with her.
Elaina held tight to her scythe and looked at it briefly before looking at Pitch. "If I agree to become your Fearling Princess...will you agree to leave Jack and Sandy alone?"
"Just them?" Pitch inquired with an intrigued brow.
"They mean a lot to me...and you're right...Emily IS just my half sister."
"E-Elaina!" Emily whimpered out as tears were threatening to fall from her eyes.
"NO!" Sandy shouted with his Sand and he immediately started rushing towards her, but was stopped by Jack wrapping his arms around him. "JACK LET ME GO!" He cried out, tears frantically spilling from his eyes. "PLEASE, JACK! LET ME GO! SHE CAN'T!"
"Sandy! You can't go over there! He'll kill you...again...and we need you!"
"I DON'T CARE! SHE'S MY DAUGHTER, JACK!" Sandy shouted desperately at Jack as he struggled against the vice like grip Jack had him in.
With an aching heart that no one could notice or know about, Elaina turned to face Sandy as calmly as she could and let out a slightly shaky breath, and she allowed some of the darkness from her scythe to make it look like a Fearling briefly touched her just before speaking. "You're Sandy. You're the Sandman. You're no Father of mine."
"N-No..." Sandy stopped fighting, because at that moment, his will to fight vanished instantly while his heart shattered to a million pieces. "...My Elaina..." He whispered out as he sagged in Jack's arms, tears falling uncontrollably.
Elaina then turned to face an all too pleased Pitch and held her hand out. "Do we have a deal...Father?"
"We do!" He shouted with pure delight as he took her hand, but then she clutched his in a vice grip. "Daughter?"
'Jack! Come kiss me! Kiss me with all the passion you can no matter how awkward it may seem!'
Jack dropped Sandy and rushed towards Elaina and did as she asked, and just like when she placed her hands on his, as soon as his lips met hers, and his hands held her face gently and lovingly, there was a brilliant light, but it was much brighter, and actually caused several houses and buildings to lose power, because the light cut through an electrical box and power line. As it grew, the others had to shield their eyes, but she held her grip, and even summoned golden sand to wrap around their hands. "Wh-What!?" She heard Pitch shout, but she had to focus.
She focused on her scythe and on the darkness she felt inside Pitch. 'C'mon...try and pull out the scythe!' She thought, and almost as if on cue, he uses his other hand to try and swing his black scythe at her, but she blocks it with her now completely golden one after focusing for so long, and she hooks the two together, and begins to focus even further as she hears the Fearlings scream as they die in the light. 'C'mon!' She shouts in her mind, and she finds what she's looking for. She felt her Light and Dark Magic touch his Magic, and kissed Jack deeper, causing her Light Magic to increase. She then, pushed as much Light Magic as she could into Pitch while still leaving her enough to be able to regenerate more Light Magic over time.
Then, just barely in her vision, she could see Pitch's clothes change, and his skin color was returning. 'I love you, Elaina!' She heard Jack whisper out through his thoughts as he continued to kiss her, and it was enough to send a power surge through her entire body and therefore, Pitch's. The light increased, turning night into day, and with the sound and force of a sonic boom, Pitch and Elaina were pushed apart and flung across the forest. Jack backed away just in time, but the light that started to dim was almost blinding. 'Elaina!?'
'I'm alright, Jack!' She shouted with her mind as she rushed towards Sandy and quickly wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so sorry, Father! I didn't mean any of it! I love you! You're my Father! I swear!"
"E-Elaina...m-my s-sweet Elaina!" Sandy sobbed as he returned the hug, and much to everyone's surprise, he actually SAID it, which caused both of them to quickly end the hug.
"Wh-What!?"
"I...I spoke..." Sandy said with his mouth. "I-I'm speaking! What in the w-world did...wh-what d-did you do!?"
"It must've been the Light Magic..." She whispered out in awe before wrapping him up in a hug again. "I'm so sorry, Father!"
"Oh..." He breathed out as he continued to sob. "...As glad and overjoyed as I am with suddenly being able to talk...I thought I almost lost you! I thought I DID lose you. I would've rather been trapped inside the Nightmare world again than watch you...than watch you get turned into a...a Fearling Princess...or a Fearling regardless! It hurt so much...and I had just gotten you back!"
"Oh..." They all heard a groan to where Pitch had been flung.
"Father, please understand..." She told Sandy as she quickly pushed out of the hug. "...I have to go see him, but I promise I'll be okay!"
"I'll be right with you. Let's go. I'm interested to see what you did to him. I don't see any signs of Nightmares, Shadows, or Fearlings." With a quick nod, Elaina made her way towards Pitch with Sandy, Emily, and Jack following close behind her. The others stayed back just in case.
Once they got there, they almost couldn't believe their eyes. Up against a tree, sloped half way down it sat Pitch, holding his head, groaning in pain, but that wasn't the strangest part of the sight. No, the strangest part was that his clothes had most certainly changed. He no longer wore a black robe, but instead he was wearing regal golden and green armor that a King would wear into battle, and his long green and golden cape laid beneath him. His hair was no longer up in spikes, but neatly combed back, and still black as ebony like Emily and Elaina's hair, and his skin color returned to a normal Ivory color. "Oh...Oh my..." He groaned out, and there wasn't a sickening tone to his voice, much to everyone's surprise. He opened his eyes, and they were no longer an eerie gold, but a pleasant stardust silver. He looked around and his eyes widened considerably.
"Pitch?" Elaina questioned carefully.
"F-Father?" Emily asked as her own heart started pounding at seeing her Father dressed this way.
Pitch immediately looked at Emily, and his eyes widened further in confusion. "Um...would anyone like to explain to me...what just happened?"
"What do you mean?" Jack asked as he tilted his head in confusion.
Pitch slowly started to stand up, and as he did, he had to keep himself propped on the tree for a bit, but once he was able to stand, he adjusted his armor and let out a sigh. "What I mean is..." He began to trail off as he felt his knees go weak once again and he slowly started to fall backwards, but Sandy rushed forward and caught him with dream sand, which caught everyone's attention, especially Pitch's. Once he adjusted onto of the dream sand chair that was made for him he looked at a bewildered Sandy. "Okay. Now, what I mean is...I've been trapped inside...my own mind...for billions of years...and not only am I free, but my clothes have changed and I can feel my Light Magic rushing through my veins again, but now it's rushing WITH Dark Magic...it's combined itself...I can still control shadows...but...I'm...well...me again."
"What do you mean trapped inside your own mind?" Jack questioned carefully as he noticed that Pitch seemed to have a slight migraine.
"I could see, hear, smell, feel, and taste everything I did as the Boogeyman...but no matter how much I screamed, it didn't do anything and I watched my own hands kill innocents, and hurt good people. Now...I'm free, but still in control of the darkness...so...what happened?"
"It was me." Elaina answered with widened eyes. "I thought...well...Jack and I helped Cupid get a stubborn couple together one time, and because we did that, she offered to tell us what type of love we had...and she said that it was True Love. She said that True Love shines a brighter and more powerful light than the lights of believers, because True Love never dies...with that in mind...and the fact that Jack and I BOTH possess Light Magic...I worked to trick you into holding my hand. Then, when I got you to clash your DARK scythe with my LIGHT scythe...and with Jack saying that he loved me...Mine and Jack's Light Magic pushed the darkness away from you, purifying every shred of darkness. There are no Fearlings, Nightmares, or unnatural shadows. I was worried it wouldn't work, but I didn't expect THIS. I had only expected to make you like me...both Light AND Dark. I didn't expect to return you to normal."
Pitch gave her a gentle and appreciative smile as he tapped the sand he sat on, and stood, taking the sand with him. He looked at it, and allowed it to swirl around his arms with it's comforting warmth. "Clever daughter you have there, Sanderson." Pitch chuckled as he sent the Sand to Sandy.
"R-Really?" Elaina asked, blinking several times in case she was not only seeing things, but hearing things.
"You chose him as your Father, and you're happy. Not much more to say about it. You even have his last name."
"Alright, what the hell is goin'...on." Aster stepped through and his ears instantly fell flat against his head as his heart and breath nearly stopped completely. "Y-You...Ya c-can't be...I mean...th-this has to be some t-trick!"
Pitch chuckled warmly as he walked towards Aster. "I've never been good at tricks. You know that, Aster. Tricks and pranks were more of your thing rather than mine."
"K-K-Kozmotis!?" Aster questioned as he firmly fell on his backside.
"Well, I am now, and you have Elaina to thank for that. Well, specifically Elaina and Jack."
"H-How!?"
"She used the Light Magic that was hidden in True Love, and she combined it with the Light Magic her and Jack already shared." Kozmotis answered with wide grin. "It's good to be me again. You can't imagine how...terrifying...it is to be trapped in your own mind like I was. I...I screamed for them to stop hurting the Pooka...but..."
"Y-You're really you!" Aster shouted in astonishment as he stood back up.
"Yes...he is." Stated and guided his dream sand towards Kozmotis. "Watch. Koz, could you turn the dream sand into a replica of Bunny's home planet."
"Sure." He chuckled and lifted his hand gently, morphing the sand to turn into a large circle with a ring like what you would see on Saturn, but the ring had spikes on it, and the planet had two moons.
"Th-That's...you're really you!"
"Yes!" Kozmotis laughed out. "Trust me! I can hardly believe it either, and..." He didn't get to finish as he was firmly tackled to the ground by Emily. "Em-Emily!?"
"You're back! Father! You're back!" She sobbed out as she lifted herself up off of him.
"Oh...my sweet Emily Jane..." He whispered out as he held a hand to her cheek. "My sweet daughter. You've suffered greatly..."
"It doesn't matter anymore! You're back!"
They hugged like that for a while, but then they eventually stood back up to face the others. "Well, it's good to be back, I must say." He chuckled out.
"It's good to have you back, General." Sandy stated with a bright smile.
"Ah! And it's good to see the King of the stars! I almost forgot your grand title!"
"KING of the STARS!?" Jack gaped with a slight laugh.
"Well...I was LIKE a king. I was one of the head Generals of the League of Star Captains..."
"You mean you were THE head General. You were my second in command, and you were IN FACT a KING. You had a palace and everything if you recall."
"I-I...yeah...I remember, but you know I don't like flaunting my title."
"Oh, I know. It was infuriating at times."
"Is everyone alright?" Tooth asked as her and North finally headed towards them, but they both immediately stopped when they saw who they were talking to . "P-Pitch!?"
"Ah...the Tooth Fairy with a mean right hook." Kozmotis bellowed out a laugh.
"Wh-What!?"
"He's not Pitch anymore..." Sandy stated with a wide smile. "He's Kozmotis. Jack and Elaina's Light of True Love and their Light Magic cured him of darkness."
"Is this true?" North asked, and received a polite and apologetic nod from Kozmotis. "Well, then we shall celebrate! You shall come to pole! We have many things to discuss! If my friends say you are to be trusted and that you are who you say you are...then celebrations! Oh...but what will you do now? What will your purpose be?"
"Oh...I don't know. The world still needs fear and darkness...and thanks to Elaina and Jack I have both Light AND Dark Magic...so perhaps I will go around and deliver appropriate fears while still being called the Boogeyman."
"Sound like plan!" North bellowed out.
"This is certainly one big weird family...Blood or not...we're family...aren't we? Well...except I love Elaina a little differently...but..." Jack chuckled as he gave Elaina a gentle kiss on the lips.
"I'd have to agree with Jack." Kozmotis and Sandy agreed at the same time.
"Yes, there will be many adventures ahead!" North bellowed out joyfully.
"Maybe, but at least the adventures will never be boring." She told him before she kissed him back, and they all knew that there was going to be an adjustment period in their future adventures or just in the future in general. However, they can and will do that together as a family. Related by blood or not.