Hello everyone, how's it going? Sorry I don't update as often as I like to. But real life is a bitch, plain and simple. I've been promoted at work and may have another promotion coming up. I also may be having surgery.
Well guys, this is it. The big battle, who will win the heart of Genie? Let's find out.
Shout out to my reviewers: FreckledFaceNerd, Guest , HamstersRule194, Aramoorn, AhsokaNicole (formerly HamstersRule194),Guest, Guest, AhsokaNicole
Underline: Australian slang
Italics: Man in the Moon speaking
Disclaimer: I do not own rise of the Guardian
Also warning: Somebody does die in this chapter.
Genie's POV
"How is it feeling?" I was pulled out of my concentration by the familiar voice of Pitch Black; he had come back into the room to see me reading the book he'd left on his nightstand. I think it was history related, which I hated but it would have been suspicious for me to have a totally different subject then the one he has left near me.
It's been a while since my little 'accident'; I'm estimating maybe 2 days or so. Pitch still hasn't let me put any pressure on my foot. And I was going crazy being confined to the bed.
"Good. I'm pretty sure I can walk now. Let me give it a try." I placed the book down on the bed before scooting over to the edge. Pitch rushed across the room, stopping before me. He put his hands out for me to grab and use as leverage.
I placed both my hands in his before jumping off the bed to land on my 'good' leg. Putting my acting skills to the test, I hesitantly lowered my 'bad' leg until my toe was barely touching the floor.
"If you feel any pain at all…"
"I know. I know." While taking a deep breath, I placed more pressure on my foot until it was flat against the floor. I looked up at Pitch and nodded, letting him know to start walking backwards. Slowly, he took baby step, leading me by my arms.
"That's enough." I had limped about maybe 10 steps.
"But…"
"You're barely getting better. We better not risk it. Now come on, back to bed." Before I could protest anymore, he had picked me up and was carrying me bridal style back to the bed.
"I can't handle the bed anymore Pitch. It's so boring." I whined. He chuckled while setting me down on the edge of the bed.
"I didn't think it was possible for someone to be so whiny and adorable all at the same time, but you pull it off without even trying." He placed both his hands against my cheeks, his thumbs lightly rubbing circles against my skin.
Overtime, I've noticed that this was one of Pitch's ways of calming me down when he noticed I was getting mad. In a sensual matter, he would touch whatever part of my body he could get his hands on. In a way, it was calming to him too.
Almost as if confirming to himself that I was actually here.
After several more seconds of him rubbing my cheeks and staring into my eyes, his hands slid down from my cheeks down to my neck then to my shoulders. His face moved in closer to mine then up slightly, there where he was now looking down at me.
Which was pretty easy for him since I was currently sitting on the bed and he was still standing to his full height.
I followed his movement, leaning my head back to look up at him.
"Must you be so perfect?" He whispered inches away from my lips. I thought he was about to kiss me but he had other plans.
I couldn't help the moan that escapes my lips when his mouth started to lick and nip along the sensitive skin of my neck. My body started to take in deep breaths, trying to calm itself down from the seductive moves.
While a mouth continued to assault my neck, hands roamed away from my shoulders. Where the hands roamed, they left goose bumps in their path. Fingertips ran along the side of my body down to my stomach. They slipped under my shirt to feel along my stomach and my lower back.
He pulled me closer to him, my legs automatically parting to allow him to stand between them. I felt that all familiar bulge pushing up against my sacred area, which was literally on fire at the moment.
I hated how he could get such a reaction out of me so easily. I hated how weak I became at his hands and his mouth.
With one last suck, he released my neck; a wet popping sound echoed off the barren walls.
His next action shocked me. He dropped down onto his knees, grabbing onto my 'injured' ankle.
"I may have control over the Immortal world; I may be the one that has followers. I may be the one who they worship. But you, my sweet, you are the one I worship. You are the only one who can make me gladly fall to my knees, kissing the ground that you walk on. You are my one and my only, my sole reason for living."
"Pitch…." He silenced me by rubbing a single digit along the inside of my thigh, getting closer and closer to my aching center. He then replaced that digit with his tongue, taking a long single lick.
Yup, that shut me up for good.
"Please, I already know what you will say. And I beg you not to say it. Let this be my perfect moment, allow me to adore you the way you deserve. The way a Queen deserves to be worshipped by her King."
He wrapped his arms around both my thighs, standing up to his full height once again. This caused me to fall back onto the mattress.
"I love you."
How was it possible for him to love someone who didn't return those same feelings?
While Pitch continued to his way with my body, my mind began to wander back to his book I had read when I was still with Bunny.
He had once been a great warrior with a good heart. But due to a cruel trick, not only did he lose his humanity but also his wife and his daughter. Was that the reason Pitch was so quick to pleasure? From the very beginning, he had been so scared of losing me. I wonder if in the back of his mind, he remembers a little bit of what had happened.
I had come back to when I felt Pitch's fingers toying with the elastic of my underwear, when had he removed my shorts? And my top?
"I see someone's finally back with us." He commented.
"What?"
"My love, you were complete silent no matter what I was doing. Are you feeling well? Are you hurting?" His fingers immediately left the elastic. A look of panic crossed his face, no doubt scared that he had hurt me when he had removed my shorts.
All I could do was stammer, not really sure how or what to answer him. I can't believe I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even notice I was practically naked.
"I'm sorry." Seriously? Of all things to say, that was the first thing out of my mouth. Alright brain, time to catch up with the situation.
"No, I'm sorry. I should have known better. No matter how eager I am, I need to remember that you are a fragile being."
"Just because I'm human doesn't mean I'm fragile. I know that Immortals can get hurt too so don't try to act all high and mighty." Reaching out, I grabbed a fistful of the covers and pulled them over my body. Pitch had already climbed off the bed and was heading towards the wall.
"I need to go cool myself down for a bit. Please rest for now." By then, the sand had already gathered out in front of him and made a portal for him to step through.
"Wait a minute…" He paused while already midway into the portal, looking his shoulder at me. "Is there anyway Abril can come spend time with me?"
The sand was more in tune with his emotions than I had originally thought. At the mention of the April Fool's spirit, the sand began to twirl around him in what I could only describe as rage.
"You will not be seeing her ever again!" With that, he stepped all the way through the portal and it disappeared in a flash, leaving me alone in the room once again.
I was completely shocked to the core by his sudden yell that I was only able to get out one word.
"What?"
Pitch's POV
Any boner I had while leaving the room was gone, all thanks to hearing that name. Abril.
With just one look, my Nightmares and Night Terrors could tell that I was in an extremely bad mood. They all took one step back, avoiding any contact with me.
I needed to get out of here for a bit.
On my way out, I passed by the room that was considered Abril's prison for the meantime. Liam stood charge over the door, as I had instructed him to do once I was done with her punishment.
"Is that you I hear out there Pitch?" That horrid woman's voice yelled for me. How she could tell it was me was beyond my understanding.
Liam elbowed the door, as if telling Abril to keep it down. Only, she's not one to listen. She's a very rebellious spirit. If only she hadn't let me down, she really was a valuable aspect to my team. Now, she'll join Jack and the rest of my prisoner.
"Pitch! Don't ignore me!" She continued to yell out. Not wanting to deal with her any further, I continued my journey to outside.
"Just to let you know, when I get out of here, I'm going to kick your ass!" The woman continued yelling. I wonder, was she always this spirited or did it just happen when she became an actual Spirit.
"Abril, my love, please stop. The King's already in a bad mood."
I was already too far away to hear how the rest of Liam's and Abril's conversation would go. I know her well enough to know that she will disagree with him and demand that he stopped calling her his Love.
After walking for several more minutes, I finally made it to the entrance of my lair. A cool breeze hit my face as soon as I stepped out.
It was so refreshing and relaxing. Not as relaxing as lying next to my Genie but it would have to do.
I growled. At what? At myself. Why? Because I had hurt her again. When I had been getting ready to make love to my Queen, she had stopped responding. No longer moaning or aching for my touches. She had just stopped and lay there silently.
I often forget how she is so delicate and frail. One wrong move and I could potentially destroy her. And that was the last thing I wanted.
Contrary to what she believes, she is frail because she is a human. The weakest species on this earth. True, Immortals can get hurt but we can actually take a punch.
If only she was an Immortal, I wouldn't have to worry about hurting her down our love sessions. Many times, I had wanted to throw her onto that bed and have my way with her. When she had passed by me in our room while reaching for a new book, I had wanted to grab onto her wrist and push her up against the wall; immediately burying myself into her tight mound.
But I had to be cautious.
Why couldn't there be a way for me to turn her into what we are? The only way to become a Spirit is by dying, leaving behind your old life for something new. But not everybody gets that second chance. Man in the Moon is the one who decides who gets to come back and who has to leave forever.
Even though Genie is special to me, I have no idea if he is special to him. And since she is my weakness, if she were to die, I have a feeling Man in the Moon would let her.
"You won't take her from me." I looked up at the moon, threatening my old friend. "I will find a way to make her an Immortal without your help."
Needing to feel the cold even more, I dropped down face first into the snow covered ground. If possible, I could hear a sizzle from where my skin had completely contact with the snow.
Was I really that furious to where I was that hot? Or was it because lately, I haven't been feeling well?
Not like myself at all, it felt like I was becoming weaker.
It might be because I've been working a little too much. But it was impossible to take a vacation from this kind of work.
The snow was become more comforting to the point where I was practically falling asleep. Lost in my drowsy state, I had barely noticed a small rabbit passing by my face.
When I locked eyes with it, it froze in its tracks. My vision began to become blurry; it was hard to tell the distinguishing features of the small creature.
"You seem almost familiar." The bunny began to scratch at its nose and brushed against his ears. I never understood while rabbits always did that. The small nose began to sniff at me and twitched.
"Yeah, well I bet you smell pretty awful yourself. At least I know where my smell comes from, a beautiful woman that makes me quiver in every way." I blinked a few times and shook the snow from my face when I realized that I was actually making conversation with a rabbit.
Though when I went back to look at it, it was long gone. Or was it even there to begin with?
"I think I'm beginning to go crazy." I chuckled to myself. "See what you do to me Genie?"
Abril's POV
"I'm begging you, please go away." I can't believe I'm being lowered to begging now. I don't beg, I make others beg me.
And yet, here I am, pleading for the stupid leprechaun to leave the damn door. Using the remaining of my strength, I had crawled over to the door to lean against it. Why? Because it was cooler than the walls.
And with the way my face was probably bruising, the coolness felt nice against it.
I had no idea that I was being guarded, or that it was by my 2nd most hated person in the world Liam. If anybody was wondering, my 1st hated was Pitch Black.
Oooohh, when I get my hands on him, he's going to wish he was never born….died…reborn…oh whatever. He's going to wish he never met me.
"I can't do that, my love. I'm under strict orders from Pitch to guard this door." The unfortunate reason I couldn't crawl away from the door was that I was trying to preserve my energy. Once I feel like I'm 100% healed, I'm going to try to knock down this door.
So I'm forced to sit here and listen to his horrible nagging.
"So where was I? Oh yeah, back to my story. Then when I was about 15, my dad decided that it was time for me to learn how to cut down a tree like real man. But since I was short, it proved to be more difficult…."
"Shut up, shut up, shut up. I don't care about your stupid life story." I covered my ears with my hands, singing out a random song to drown out his voice.
In the middle of my song, which had turned out some random country song, I pushed myself away from the door, reaching for my long forgotten stick on the floor.
The doors locked clicked, signaling that someone was opening it.
Well, what little energy I had was going to have to do it. I crouched down onto the ground, my weapon at arms. Patiently, I waited for the door to open fully.
But when the door was fully open, there was no one there. And what was more confusing, Liam was flat on the floor, knocked out cold.
"What the hell?" I stood up but didn't walk through the door. No way was I about to fall into a trap where I'd be ambushed.
For all I know, Pitch might have knocked out Liam in order to make getting me easier. I don't know if he'd actually do that to his friend but it seems like something a sleazy guy like Pitch would do.
"Pitch, come out to play." I sang out loud. If only I had a couple of bottles to clank together.
Nothing happened.
"Well, I'm not going out there to play. Mama didn't raise no fool." I hit my stick against the edge of the door frame. "Get in here Pitch."
"G'Day Abril." An Australian accent caught me off guard, sending a shiver down my spine, in a good way. Oh, I've always been a sucker for some with an Australian accent.
"Who said that?" I swung my weapon around in random directions. "Last I checked, Pitch didn't have anyone here who has an Australian accent. Which means, was it a ghost?"
"Stop talking and look down." Listening to the voice, I looked down to see a bunny….hey, it was that adorable bunny I saw on Genie's locket. Which means…
"Easter Bunny?" I cautiously asked.
"Just 'Bunny' will do." He nodded and bounced back out of the room. "It's safe." He informed me. Taking a breather to calm down my racing heart, I lowered my weapon and followed after him.
"You took down Liam, by yourself?" I poked Liam with the other end of my stick.
"I don't mean to Big-note oneself but I did." He puffed out his adorable little chest. So badly, I wanted to pick him up and scratch his little ears. But I had to concentrate for now.
"So since you're here, it means you found the locket, right?" I knelt down to be closer to his level.
"Reckon!" From his back, he pulled out the small locket I had been talking about.
"Shit, that means our plan worked! Yes!" I knew that Genie was going too thrilled about this.
"The others are outside, waiting for my signal." He held the locket in his small paws, which made it look huge. If only I could take a picture of this, but I guess a mental one would have to do for now.
"And when does that go off?"
"When we have both Jack and Genie." I nodded and placed my palm down in front of him, waiting for him to climb on. He looked down at it before looking back up at me, giving me an 'are you kidding' kind of look.
"Look, at the moment, I have the longer legs so I'll be faster. And if we run into any Nightmares or Night Terrors, they won't do anything to me." At least, I hope they won't. "You, on the other hand, look too suspicious. So knock off that manly bunny pride and climb on."
I saw him roll his eyes before hopping onto my hand and up my arm to where he would be perched on my shoulder.
Once he was settled, I took off running to where I knew the dungeons would be. Our best bet would be to get Jack first. And free the other Immortals; we'd stand a better chance against Pitch if we somehow got caught.
Not that I planned for that to happen.
After running for a while, all while dodging those stupid Night Terrors; we finally made it to the dungeons.
"Abril, you're ok." Several voices yelled out as I passed them. They all noticed the bunny up on my shoulder, recognizing him as the Easter Bunny. Cheers began to erupt all over the place.
"Sorry guys, Jack first." I said to them all as I passed by to get to Jack's cell in the middle of the dungeons.
Jack's POV
Abril's sweet voice couldn't have come at a better time. I was literally on the verge of giving up hope of any of us getting out of here. And then, there it was. Thanks to everybody's yells, I knew that Abril survived even before she got to my cell.
I ran up to my bars, waiting in excitement to see my friend. She couldn't have gotten here sooner.
"Jack!" She called out to me while stopping in front of my cell.
"Step back, I'm going to smash the hell out of these things." She raised her weapon high up in the air, I had stepped back, fully prepared for the smash.
"Uh…that won't be necessary Shiela." Looking to her shoulder, I saw him; it was Bunny, back in his original form with no powers; except with the ability to talk. In his small hands, he was holding what looked to be Genie's locket and a set of black keys.
Abril immediately took the keys from his paws and began working on the lock.
While she was doing that, I became preoccupied with remembering that conversation Pitch and I had that first day I was here. When he had informed me that my best friend was also in love with my girlfriend.
Because of this, I was having mixed emotions about seeing Bunny. On one hand, I was so happy to see him, to know that he was alive. On the other hand, I wanted to punch him over and over and over again.
Yes, I'm a jealous guy. I already have Pitch going after my girlfriend too. It hurt to know that my best friend might have done the same thing. A small part disagreed. Even though Bunny liked her too, he would never hurt me like that.
But the other huge part that was jealous immediately stomped on that idea.
I heard the lock click open. Once it was off completely, Abril stepped back, letting me push open the bars on my own. It was strangely very liberating.
"Ok, I'm going to get everybody else. Cupid, just to let you know, you're last!" Bunny jumped off her shoulder, landing right in front of me. Abril took off to do her thing.
"Jack, mate, you're a sight for sore eyes." He opened his small furry arms, as if expecting me to hug him. I just continued to glare down at him.
"While I'm happy to see you, I don't know if I would call you my mate." I crossed my arms over my chest.
"I don't understand what you mean. Jack. I know being locked up isn't fun but why you cranky at me?"
"Well, I have a right to be cranky; and I can tell you several reasons why. I've been locked up like an animal for months. I haven't seen my girlfriend but can hear her being touched by my worst enemy. And what's worse, I leaned that my supposed best friend has a crush on said girlfriend also!"
I yelled out that last part. By then, the rest of the Immortals were already out of their cells and surrounded us in a circle.
"Jack…" Mother Nature was going to start lecturing me, so before she could continue, I began yelling again.
"On second thought, I'm more than cranky, I'm mad as a cut snake!" He jumped back in terror. He was also shocked that I used some of his Australian slang.
Mother Nature is quite a linguist and had begun teaching me different languages during our time locked up here. It was a great way to pass the time.
"What's going on down here?" We all looked towards the opening to the corridor to see Hal standing there with a stupid look on his face.
All of us had been so excited, or in my case angry, that we had been yelling. Hal saw no reason for that to happen so he must have felt a sense of duty to see what was going on.
"Somebody else deal with him." I mumbled to the others. All the Immortals immediately rushed towards Hal. I heard him scream before he turned to run away. Hopefully they'll get to him before he gets to Pitch.
"Who told you I like Genie?" Bunny questioned.
"Who else have I had contact with down here since the beginning?" I sarcastically asked.
"Whatever Pitch told you is a furphy."
"Jack, we don't have time for this." Abril stepped into our fight and grabbed onto the nape of Bunny's neck to put him back on her shoulder. "It's only a matter of time before Pitch hears everything; we need to get to Genie now."
She was right.
"Fine. But once this is all over, Bunny and I have a lot of talking to do. And I will find out the deadest."
Genie's POV
It took me only a few seconds to get over Pitch's sudden outburst at the mention of Abril's name. Now I'm in a weird state of feelings: it was a mixture of panic and anger.
I knew perfectly well what Pitch is capable of when it comes to inflicting pain on someone. I had tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, that he wouldn't hurt Abril. I had painted some pretty picture in my head, that he would take my words to heart. That he would understand how important she had become to me.
He would look upon her and remember my words, remember me begging for him to spare her. Something inside him would change his attitude and he'd release her.
But his explosion just now shattered that picture I had painted.
That was the reason for my panic. As for my anger, that was a combination of everything. In a huge wave, everything came back to me: threatening my siblings and family, forcing me into hiding, hurting my friends, kidnapping me- that was all caused by him.
The mixture of emotions continued to stir around in my stomach for a while. They were all building up that it felt like I couldn't keep it in anymore. So I did the only thing I could think of at the moment, Scream.
I screamed out in frustration, grabbing onto the pillows and throwing them in random places around the room. The last pillow didn't get off that easily. I tore it out of the case and started to tear apart the fabric that held in all the stuffing.
White foam like substance spilled out from the giant hole. But it wasn't enough to make the anger go away.
I threw the foam away from me and jumped off the bed. Once down, I bent down at my knees to reach the bottom of the bed frame. If someone were to walk in and see this scene, they would most likely laugh at me. They would be thinking that someone my stature wouldn't be able to lift up this wide heavy thing.
I would have proven them wrong.
With my adrenaline running on high, I was able to lift the frame off of the floor. Using all the muscles in my legs, I stood to my fully length and straighten my arms. The frame was now over my head.
With a gusto scream, I pushed the frame out of my hands. I'd never been one for physics but I knew I had produced enough energy to make the frame turn all the way up to vertical. When it refused to fall, I went to kick it. That was enough to make it lean the other way and land floppily on the far side of the room.
The panic was no longer there but the anger for Pitch was still present; but in a moment, I had produced anger for someone else.
That someone was me.
"How could I have been so stupid?!" I yelled while grabbing on the roots of my hair, threatening to tear them straight out of my scalp. A few of them actually did tear out and fell onto the floor.
I looked around for anything else I could tear apart or throw that wasn't my hair. First I saw the two nightstands that somehow remained in their original spots. With the way I threw that bed frame, I thought those 2 would have moved also.
I almost went along with those two until I remember I had a big bookcase behind me. Between the 2 options, I went with the biggest one. Why?
Maybe I was hoping that Pitch would hear everything and come running to see what was happening. He would see that I'd been faking this whole injury. Perhaps then I'd be on the receiving end of his anger for once, instead of those that I love and cherish.
I hadn't noticed when I grabbed the bookcase, nor did I remember throwing it down. I personally heard no big bang from the impact, though I'm sure it was pretty loud.
I had completely blacked out for a few moments. Currently, I sat on the floor up against the wall; my knees were pulled up to my chest and my head lay on top of them.
Silent tears fell from my eyes once more.
"Mom, Dad, Jaime, Sophie, North, Tooth, Bunny, Sandy, Jack, Abril, everyone…I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I did this. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect any of you. I'm sorry for being a weak human, in mind and body."
My tears were no longer silent; they had slowly gotten louder and louder until I was weeping at the top of my lungs. My lungs began to contract uncontrollably, making my chest physically hurt.
"Hey hey, it's ok." I felt a small pressure on top of my head, it felt like a hand.
I didn't recognize that voice at all though. But it brought a strange sense of security into me.
My head snapped up to see who was touching me. The voice may not have sound familiar, but the eyes sure did. Because only one person in the world had these beautiful of eyes. Blue. Calming blue. The kind of blue that made it seem like you were staring at an endless ocean. The kind that you wouldn't mind losing yourself in for hours.
"Jack?"
Jack's POV
I don't know how Abril did it. But she somehow was able to get a hold of one of Pitch's few remaining Nightmares. She held onto the reigns of the struggling horse with two hands. Bunny was no longer perched on her shoulder, now he was on mine.
It took all my might to not flick him off, but we had made a small truce to not discuss anything until Genie was safe with us and Pitch got his ass kicked.
"Look here you stupid horse, I'm not up to dealing with your shit. You're going to listen to me and do exactly what I say. And right now, I say make a stupid portal into the damn room." She yelled in its face.
I saw it lift one leg, getting ready to hit her; luckily, she had already seen it coming. With her stick, she swung and hit the leg so hard that it caused part of the sand to disintegrate.
"I know for a fact that horse can walk with just three legs. But if you're going to be that difficult, I don't mind knocking them all off and dragging you the rest of the way. Now let me in!" Abril can be pretty scary when she wants to be.
Fully understanding that she meant business, the Nightmare hobbled up to the wall and leaned fully against it. More sand fell off from it, this time willing. It slowly formed a large circle on the wall and filled it in at a rapid rate.
It must have finished, since Abril grabbed the horse once again and walking right through the portal.
Bunny jumped off my shoulder and fell right into the hole.
This is it. I'll see her again.
I had entered the room a little too eagerly. I was expecting to see Genie standing there with a small on her face and her arms wide open for me to run into. But that wasn't what I saw. Or what the others saw.
The three of us froze at the sight: the room was totally trashed; there was no other way for me to describe it. A bed, pillows, blankets, and who knows what else were thrown around random parts of the room. So many pessimistic ideas flowed into my head, all involving Pitch hurting Genie. At the moment, it was the only logical reason as to why the room looked like this.
It was until we heard small cries that we looked to the side to see Genie sitting next to a fallen bookshelf.
I left out a breath I wasn't even aware I was holding. Genie didn't look like she was hurt. It then dawned on me that she was the one who caused this mess.
I had pushed past the other two to get to her but stopped in my tracks when I heard her start talking.
"Mom, Dad, Jaime, Sophie, North, Tooth, Bunny, Sandy, Jack, Abril, everyone…I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I did this. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect any of you. I'm sorry for being a weak human, in mind and body." With that being said, her small cries grew louder and louder until it was like she was just screaming at the top of her lungs.
I jumped back at first, knocking into Abril. She was still frozen to her spot, but she finally found her voice to start speaking.
"She must have held this in for months." She whispered before placing on palm on my back and pushing me forward. As much as she wanted to comfort Genie, Abril knew that Genie would have wanted to see me first.
"Don't rub it in." She grumbled quickly, how did she know what I was thinking?
I smiled at her before continuing forward. When I was finally in front of Genie, I knelt down onto my knees and listened to her cry for a bit. I had waited to see her again for so long, a part of me couldn't believe she was right there in front of me.
"Hey, hey, it's ok." I spoke softly before placing one of my hands on her head.
Very original, I know. But I honestly had no idea what else to say.
Her head snapped up suddenly, her eyes glossed over and red from the crying she had been doing. Her mouth then dropped open and her eyes widened.
"Jack?" She whispered.
"Yeah, it's me." My voice cracked a bit, showing that I was now getting ready to cry. Not out of sadness, but out of pure joy. It's been far too long since I've been this happy, and all from just seeing my girlfriend. My Genie.
"Jack?" She asked once again, as if she couldn't believe it was really me. Her hands came up hesitantly towards my face. Not wanting to wait any longer, I grabbed onto both her wrists and pulled her fully into me.
Once our bodies touched, I wrapped my arms tightly around her, refusing to let go. She was still for but a second. Then with the same amount of gusto as me, she wrapped her arms around me too.
Once again, our bodies molded perfectly together. At the moment, nothing could get better than this.
"You're alive." She cheered a little too loudly in my ear, but I didn't mind. I had missed the sound of her voice, so she could yell for all I care. Just as long as she keeps holding me like this.
"You're safe." Both of us pulled away to look into each other's faces once more. So badly, I wanted to kiss those lips, so I did. I pushed forward until our lips attached. There was no need to make it more than just that.
Just like I remembered, tasty and soft.
"I did not need to see that." She pulled away from me all too soon, looking over my shoulder to see who said that. Of course, Abril had to just ruin my moment. She totally did that on purpose.
"Abril!" Genie pulled away from me and jumped up onto her feet, rushing towards her friend. I should be mad at this but hey, you can't get between your girlfriend and her friends. "Abril, you're okay."
The two of them hugged as if they hadn't seen each other in years. It's only been a few hours. Oh great, now I'm getting jealous of just my regular friends. I really need to take a step back and calm down.
Genie is her own person and doesn't belong solely to me.
"Of course I'm ok. Why wouldn't I be?" Abril and Genie stepped away from each other, but still continued to hold onto the other by their arms.
"Because Pitch…" She suddenly had looked down to notice Bunny standing patiently on the floor, looking up at her with bright doe-like eyes. Immediately, she recognized him. "Bunny, my friend." Her voice was so soft as she addressed him. She dropped down to her knees to catch the hopping Bunny.
She hugged him tenderly to his face, his arms doing their best to wrap around her face. He nuzzled his nose against her cheek and then her nose.
"It's so good to see you again, my friend." He made sure to emphasize the last word, probably for my sake.
"Are the others here?" She asked.
On cue, we heard a loud crash come from outside along with plenty of yelling. "Guess that answers my question."
"We need to get out of here. I'll lead." Both Bunny and I yelled out at once. I turned to glare at him; he just gave me a questioning look before glaring also. He jumped out of Genie's hands and ran over to me. Immediately, he put his fists up, ready to battle me.
How was he going to win? I'm bigger than him at the moment.
"No, Abril leads." Genie cut in.
"Ha! Victory suckers! Genie knows that I'm better." She spoke smugly. "And also, you three have no idea where you'd be going. I'm the only one who knows how the lair works."
"Give me more credit, I found you, didn't I?" Bunny pointed at her with his little paw, all while his whiskers twitched.
"Pure stupid luck, cutie pie." Abril winked at him before turning to face the Nightmare. While Abril readied the stubborn sand animal, I stepped up to Genie's side and grabbed for her hand. She looked down at our intertwined fingers before looking back up into my eyes.
"We'll get you out of here safely, Genie. It's all almost over, I promise."
"Hopefully." She mumbled. Abril informed us it was time to leave, grabbing onto the Nightmare's reigns once again.
The portal was once again formed. We had thought that Genie would be the first one to go through the portal, excited to finally be free of her make shift prison.
But instead, she was hesitant to step through the black hole, even after all of us assured her that Pitch wasn't there. He was most likely up there battling.
When she didn't budge, it was decided that Bunny would go through first to scout the area. We only had to wait for a few seconds before his head popped back through the portal.
"All safe." He gave a thumb up.
"All right, let's do it." She spoke softly, most likely to pump herself up. Genie stepped through; followed closely by me then by Abril and the Nightmare. Once we were all out and safe, Abril pulled the Nightmare away from the wall. Immediately, the sand fell to the floor and went back to its original owner.
"Alright everyone, be sure to keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times and stay close. Are we clear?" Bunny and I humored Abril and nodded our heads. When I looked back over at Genie, I noticed that she was not paying attention to anything that Abril said. Instead, she had been staring at the wall where the portal had been.
"Genie, what's wrong?"
Genie's POV
"Genie, what's wrong?" I heard Jack ask me. But I was unable to give him an answer. Because I honestly didn't know what was wrong.
I had always thought that as soon as I stepped out of that room for good, I would be jumping for joy and racing everybody out the hall to freedom. But my body refused to jump or run or do anything for that matter.
Instead, it just stood still; resistant to leave the room I had called my home for the past few months.
Once I had stepped out of the portal, my eyes stayed glued to that spot, even when the portal disappeared. In a way, it held a strange power over me. My body finally started moving, except it moved towards the wall.
When I got close enough, both my hands moved up to place a palm flat against the cool concrete. I then leaned forward until my forehead was touching the concrete also.
Goodbye
Now was I saying goodbye to the room or was I saying goodbye to Pitch?
"Genie, come on." Jack urged me out of my stupor. Once that word was muttered in my mind, I gained full control of my body again. So I pushed myself off the wall and walked towards Abril.
"Right. Lead the way, Abril. Get us out of here."
With that done, she turned and began her mission to get us out in one piece and together. As scary as it was, Jack, Bunny and I had to follow blindly. If I felt like this, I wonder how Jack felt. I'd been able to walk around maybe 2 times with Pitch; Jack had been in the dungeons since his first day.
A few minutes after starting our walk, the walls began to shake, like if we were in an earthquake; but the ground stood still. The walls than began moving on their own into several different positions before finally settling on one.
"Don't worry guys; this is just Pitch's defense mechanism. These walls move every few minutes or so, except when he's the one walking through."
"But they didn't do that last time.
"Well, they didn't need to. Pitch ordered them to stay put." She took a while before deciding which hall we were taking. "This way. I remember this pattern."
"So with the walls moving and taking orders from Pitch, does that mean they're alive?" Jack asked. "Like haunted?" He continued.
"I guess, if you want to look at it that way." Abril shrugged her shoulders.
"Pretty cool."
"Are you kidding? Pretty cool, more like pretty creepy! I want out." I grabbed onto Jack's arm and held it for the rest of the way. All this talk about haunted walls just made this place get creepier.
"I forgot you don't like scary thing. Sorry about that." Jack whispered into my ear.
"Just get me out of here and we'll call it even." I said out loud for everyone to hear. That should finish our horror talk.
"Did he hurt you?" Jack decided to make conversation as we walked. But he just had to pick the subject of Pitch Black.
"Physically no. But mentally yes. Pitch is very good at mind games, and I'm a sucker."
"Stop talking bad about yourself. You're not a sucker or weakling."
"Now let me ask you something, how can you still want me?" It wasn't a secret that Jack could hear everything that went on between Pitch and me, including the R-rated stuff.
How could he still want me when he no doubt heard me moaning in pleasure?
"I still want you because I love you." How can his answer be so simple?
"But you should be disgusted with me. You heard everything. I know you made a promise to Jaime to protect me but you don't want to keep pretending to love me."
"I'll tell you the truth Genie. Yes, I was so mad. Mad at how he was able to touch you when I couldn't. And mad that he got to be the first one to feel you around him in that sense. But even with the moaning and all that, I didn't feel like you betrayed me."
That felt like a stab in the heart.
No matter how Jack chooses to look at it, I did betray him. I cheated on him with Pitch, though unwilling. My mind and heart may have stayed with Jack but my body betrayed him but loving how Pitch touched me and made me scream in want.
Jack and I had been so enamored with our questions that we hadn't noticed that we were already standing in front of the stairs that led to the outside. While our hideout was hard to find, our stairs weren't. They were right behind Pitch's throne in the Throne room.
"You two done being all hush hush back there? We're ready to get out of here. Bunny, are the Guardians ready for us?"
"I've been trying to reach them but no one has answered." Bunny took the locket off himself before jumping up a few steps to be at level with me. "This is yours." I knelt down slightly and bent my head forward so that he was able to slip the light chain over my head.
"So how we gonna do this?"
"Since the cutie Bunny is already on the steps, he can go first. I'll stay in the rear just in case. Jack, why don't you go second to help out Bunny?"
"Sounds good." Bunny started ascending the steps, followed closely by Jack. I took one more look around the Throne room before following the boys.
"Don't worry girl, you never have to see this place again."
"You think I'll be able to see my family soon?" I asked her.
"Maybe. Think I can meet them too? I'd love to meet Jaime, Jack has told me lots of fun stories about him. And Sophie sounds freakin adorable." I chuckled at the thought of Abril meeting my two mischievous siblings. They would have no problem seeing her, and I bet they'd love her.
"Don't let the adorableness fool you. Sophie likes to use that to her advantage in order to get extra cookies. Then again, I'm the one that taught her that, and the one that tends to give the extra cookies."
One by one, each of us climbed out of the hole. Jack grabbed onto my hand to help pull me out. Once I was good, he reached back down to get Abril. While he did that, I was able to see what was the big commotion we had heard earlier while still in that room.
"Nobody followed us out Abril." I heard Jack inform her.
"How do you know?" She asked.
"Because they're all out here." The four of us stood side by side, finally witnessing the blood battle that was taking place.
Immortals and Guardians, fighting against one another. Well, more like a majority of them fighting against Pitch, Hal, and Liam. On Pitch's team also were the Night Terrors and Nightmares. The one that Abril had held captive had ran off a long time ago to help Pitch.
"Jack, Bunny, come help." I heard North call out to his other two comrades, as he continued fighting against a Night Terror.
The two of them didn't need to be told twice, Jack gave me one more kiss on my cheeks before running off to help his friends.
Abril stayed back with me, giving herself the order to protect me at all cost.
I was not sure how long that fight had been going on. Looking over at Pitch's side once more, I noticed how small his group was. I could have sworn he had more Night Terrors and Nightmares than that.
When I looked back at the midway point, I saw an Immortal run towards a Night Terrors and blast it with his power. Instead of withstanding the attack, the Terrors blew up right there, scattering the sand everywhere.
If I remember correctly, those guys were supposed to be the strongest of Pitch's army, how were they losing?
Pitch didn't seem to notice his army dying out; he saw that he was still winning. Several other Immortals were lying motionless on the floor, blood spilling out from their wounds. They almost looked like they were died. But aren't Immortals called immortal for a reason? They shouldn't be able to die like this.
"Immortals can die if the wound is caused by someone of their kind."
Whoa, I just heard a voice inside my head that wasn't mine. While I was trying to figure out who or what spoke to me on the inside, I could hear Abril yelling at me from the outside.
"…..dying." I heard only the last word to Abril's sentence.
"What? Who's dying?!" I grabbed her shoulders and shook her a little.
"The terrors are dying." I took a deep breath before releasing my friends. I then walked past her a little further into the battle to get a better look. But she had grabbed onto my arm and pulled me back to her.
Even when she pulled me back, I continued to study the battle. The terrors continued to die off one by one. Everyone was so busy with them that no one noticed Pitch in the background looking sick.
I decided to concentrate on him for a bit. Last I saw him; he looked perfectly fine to me. Now, he looked like someone who was having the life drained out of him.
Any color that his grey skin had held was now gone, it looked so dull to the point of translucent. His once sharp yellow eyes had withered to mustard looking color, and his hair that looked like he had styled it with gel fell flat against his face.
Hal and Liam fell back a bit to check up on Pitch. Jack saw this and took advantage. With his staff finally back, he had all his powers as well. He charged head first through the crowd towards Pitch. Just as I expected, Pitch pushed Liam and Hal back away from him, his hands form a large scythe to fight back. When this happened, all the fighting ceased. The people moved back into their original groups.
On one side, we had Pitch's army; on the other, Jack's army. They all stood silently as Jack and Pitch circled one another. I was too far to hear what they were saying to each other.
I continued to study Pitch and could tell that something was off; I just couldn't put my finger on it.
"What do you feel for him?"
There's that voice again, who the hell is that? Did I create another personality in my captivity? Oh, I'll figure that out another time. I need to figure this out for now.
I considered the question that the voice asked me. What did I feel for Pitch? Thinking about it, I mainly felt pity and sadness. I also felt sorry for him; I knew he'd be so sad when he found out that I was leaving for good.
"No fear?"
No, no fear…..holy shit! That was it!
"Light bulb went off in my brain." I grabbed my head as I said this. Abril looked over at me pretty concerned.
"Are you feeling ok?"
"I figured it out. I figured it out. I know why the Terrors dying."
"Really?" She became excited at the idea that I knew the key to their defeat. "Tell me"
"I feel nothing." I announced to her. Abril continued to stand there and stare at me, waiting for me to say more.
"What?"
"I feel nothing."
"And?"
"That's it!"
"Ok dude, I need you to explain further because you're not making any sense." She threw her hands up in frustration. I was getting frustrated at the same time, how could she not understand what I meant?
"Look, I was always told that Pitch got most of his power from me. Why? Because I feared him. I feared not just what he could do to me, but my friends and family as well. This is going to sound bad but overtime, that fear started to fade. Now today, it's all gone. The terrors are dying because Pitch doesn't have much power. And that's because I don't fear him anymore."
"Precisely, my dear Genie."
Ok stupid voice, who the hell are you? Are you another personality? If you are, I will make it known that I am the main once.
"No silly, it's me. Man in the Moon."
It took me a while to remember what he had sounded like. It's been months since we last talked. Thank God I wasn't going insane.
Once Abril was fully satisfied with my answer and understood it, she turned her attention back to the battle.
"No, you're not going insane. But my Immortals are."
What do you means?
"None of them are listening to me. All that I can hear in their minds is hate and anger. Which I understand completely but them killing Pitch is not the right way to go."
What? They were all planning to what?
"Abril, what's going to happen to Pitch once he's beat?" I had to ask to confirm this.
"What do you think? We're going to lock him up and probably kill him for revenge."
I was completely shocked at her answer. Thankfully, she had continued to watch the battle that she didn't notice my expressions.
"All of them are being taken over by the darkness in their hearts."
But that's not possible, these are your Immortals. They can't have darkness in them.
"Hal and Liam are my Immortals too. I gave them life, in a way. Yet they are overcome with darkness. It can happen to anybody, even the person with purest intentions. Much like how it happened to you once. Yes, I'm aware of that time Genie. Luckily, you are one of the people who overcome this darkness. But that doesn't mean it's not in you; like how light is in Pitch's heart but he chooses to ignore it Genie, I have no right to ask this of you, but I am begging you to stop this before it's too late."
What the hell can I do? I'm just a human.
"A human who is meant to become a beautiful Guardian."
Oh yeah, I remember that conversation. He had let that fact slip out accidently. I had to ask this before I made up my mind. I needed to know if Man in the Moon was asking me to do what I think he wants me to do.
"I am."
But the fighting…
"It will stop. I know it will. Will you make this big sacrifice for all the Immortals, Genie? Will you save them?"
You would think a decision like this would take time to think about; however, it only took me a few seconds to agree with this risky plan. For once, I'll be the one to save everyone.
"Abril, do you believe everybody has good and evil inside of them?"
"Genie, don't you dare try to defend Pitch, he's done so much wrong to you and…"
"Just answer the question. Do you?" I cut her off. She has yet to answer my question, and it didn't look like she wanted to. "Do you think that I'm a good or bad person?"
"Good." She answered that without faltering.
"What if I told you there was a time when I had horrible thoughts running through my head of how to get rid of somebody I was supposed to care deeply for? What if I told you that I had come so close to it but had a change of heart at the last second? Would I be considered a bad person for those thought or would I be considered good because I changed my mind and try to lead a good life from then on?"
"I believe that good people can make bad choices; just how I believe that a bad person can make…good…choices." I think she was beginning to see what I was saying. "Why are you asking me this?"
"I guess I just needed to hear what you were going to say. Because I believe the same thing." We both turned out heads back to the battle. Jack and Pitch had furthered away from each other. Pitch had changed his scythe to a crossbow with a black arrow sticking out. Jack held his hands out, getting ready to laugh his attack.
"Promise me you'll still be my friend when I come back and you won't be mad at me for doing this." Before she could answer me or react in anyway, I quickly snatched her weapon away from her.
Her grip had been loosened that it came out easily. I then swung the stick, aiming for the side of her head. My goal was to just knock her out.
I felt the stick connect with my target. Abril fell limp onto the ground.
I succeeded by missing her face. No doubt when I come back she'd coming looking for me for revenge. An eye for an eye as they say. So if I did anything to her face, she'd probably do the same thing to mine.
I don't mind a hit on the head but I'd rather avoid black eyes.
Dropping the stick, I then took off sprinting to the battle. I was neither physically nor mentally prepared for what I was about to do.
No, I wasn't terrified of dying. I was terrified of pain. But if this is the one way I can save the Immortals from damning themselves, then I'd gladly sacrifice my life for them.
Besides, I'm supposed to come back as Immortal. But no one else knows about that.
No one had noticed me running into the field, just like they hadn't noticed me standing in the middle until it was too late. Jack had already launched his attack of frozen sharp icicles and Pitch shot the arrow.
It was too late for either of them to stop their attacks. I closed my eyes, forgetting which side either of them was on. I turned in towards one of them though; I needed to be in the direct path of both those attacks.
It seemed like eternity passed before I finally felt the sharp sting from my pierced skin. Both the arrow and the icicles went straight through my chest, hitting my heart.
"Genie!" I heard so many voices calling my name. I also heard the rustling in the snow as they all rushed for me. My body couldn't hold me up anymore. My knees suddenly collapsed, forcing me to fall sideways into the snow.
Someone had finally reached me and pulled my head up gently onto their lap. I didn't want to see who it was that did that. So I just kept my eyes closed and concentrated on the slowing beat of my heart.
There was probably more blood in the snow then there was in my body. The voices were getting softer and softer. I could feel my heart struggling to continue pumping blood.
"Don't touch her!"
"What have we done?"
"Try to stop the bleeding."
"She's already lost too much."
"It's too late."
"No, it's not. Don't say that!"
Whoever said it was right, it was too late to save my human body. Any second now, my lungs and my heart will stop.
I had always wondered what I would see when I died: a dark abyss or my life flashing before my eyes. Instead, I saw something completely different. Since I technically wasn't fully dying, I was being reborn.
I didn't see any darkness; instead, I was surrounded in a bright light. In front of me stood him, the Man in the Moon.
I really hope you know what you're doing. Jack and Pitch are going to be devastated.
"Don't worry about that. I will have a talk with them. For now, let us worry about you." He then came up to me and grabbed both of my hands.
"Go ahead and take your last breath as a human, Genie."
With that being said, my chest heaved up once more before releasing the last breath from my lungs.
I'm not crying, you're crying. You know how hard it was to write my own character's death. Super hard.
Don't worry; I still have a few more chapters to put up.
Here's the guide for the slang if anybody is interested:
Reckon! : you bet! Absolutely!
Sheila : a woman
Big-note oneself : brag, boast
Cranky : in a bad mood, angry
Cut snake, mad as a : very angry
Deadset : true, the truth
Furphy : false or unreliable rumour
Until next time guys, please leave multiple reviews.