A/N: Okay, I have now seen RotG a grand total of SEVEN times. What is wrong with me? Oh, well. It's a masterpiece, I won't deny that. Anyway, here it is. Melody's dark past is brought to light for all the Guardians to see clearly.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians. I also do not own any mentioned or described music unless otherwise indicated in the ending authors note.

Chapter 6: More Revelations

The other four had gathered back at the North Pole after failing to find Melody. Sandman guided the cloud of dreamsand through the window of the globe room, bringing the somewhat renegade spirit of music with him, all the Guardians stood up, eagerly waiting for them to land.

"Melody, where were you!" Tooth gently scolded, flying forward and hugging the new immortal in a similar way that a mother would hug a runaway child who had just returned home. "We were all so worried about you!"

Melody stiffened before awkwardly returning Tooth's hug. "I was at my old house." She explained when Tooth let her go. "I'm sorry for running off; I was just overwhelmed by everything that happened. Besides, those copies were kind of rubbing salt into my wounds, both ones received in my past life, and ones received in this life." Sandy shot her an impatient look, as if telling her to go ahead and get it over with.

North spoke before Melody could continue. "We don't expect you to tell us this soon, Melody."

Sandy glared at Melody, as if daring her to even think about taking the out.

Melody caught the look and took a deep breath. "That's very kind of you, but both Sandy and I would rather get this over with sooner, not later." After taking another deep breath, she added, "But I would ask that none of you blame yourselves, for these are the consequences of my choice." When the five nodded, however unsure their nods were, Melody screwed her eyes shut, raised her right arm, and drew back her sleeve, once again bringing her bruises into the light. After the stunned gasps had passed, Melody said, "Take close note of their shape."

There was a moment of silence, and then North murmured, "Handprints."

Melody nodded and dropped her arm, the action causing her sleeve to fall back so that it was once again covering her marks. "I recognized those two men, and Pitch. Those men… Laurel was going to be their first victim. I was the top student in my fencing class, so I made sure they knew that I knew what I was doing with my sword. They said nothing direct, but I knew that if they raped Laurel, I would be forced to watch.

"I hit them hard enough to knock them out momentarily, and that was when I got Laurel out of the house and asked you to protect her no matter what happened to me. The men found me after that, and one of them had a stun gun. When I came to, they already had me where they wanted me. Just before the nightmare started, the shorter of them said, and I quote, 'Oh, relax. We're just going to have some fun'."

Jack gasped. "So that's why…" he breathed.

Melody nodded, looking directly into his eyes. "Yes. That's why I attacked you. I didn't know who you were, didn't know your voice, and the last time someone said that phrase to me… Well, I thought it was going to happen again. When you asked me if I wanted to have fun, all I could see was red. I'm so sorry."

"Apology not required." Jack assured her. "If anything, I should be apologizing to you; I thought you were crazy. Now I know that wasn't the case at all."

"Call it even." Melody said. She pulled her hair back again, revealing the scar from her mortal bullet wound. "See that scar? That's where the taller one's bullet ripped its way through my skull." The music spirit turned around so that she was facing the massive Globe of Belief. "Pitch was the first spirit I encountered. He found me shortly before Jack did. I don't remember exactly what he said, but he did mention that my trauma and fear had given him enough power to challenge the Guardians. I didn't know who he was, so I told him to buzz off." Small bursts of laughter met this last statement, Pitch being told to buzz off by a spirit not even one day old.

"He then said we would meet again and he grabbed my hand. The bruises emerged then, as a reminder of what I had been through." Melody explained. "That's what those copies meant when they said that they were surprised that we had met again so soon. He wanted me to join up with him, but I didn't want to, and now, I want to even less."

The Guardians were silent for a long while before, "Oh, Melody," Tooth breathed.

North stepped forward and gave the girl a comforting embrace, however, Melody was able to playfully squirm out of it fairly quickly; she had already had one mental breakdown and she was not about to have another. "If you need to talk more, we all will listen." North assured her.

Melody nodded. "And I really do appreciate that, and your sympathy about what happened. I'm sorry I let the agents get away though."

"They drove you away." North spoke firmly, but gently. "It was not your fault."

"Besides, they disappeared just before they took that wall down." Bunny explained.

Melody visibly relaxed, comforted by her new family. "Can I go see Laurel? Since those men are still out there, I feel like I need to be close to Laurel at all times. I can stay at my old house during the day and do patrols of the city during the night. I just- I need to make sure that my sister's going to be safe."

"She'd be safe anyway, sheila." Bunny told her, but when the other four Guardians, and Melody, glared at him, he quickly amended, "Howevah, I know exactly why yeh'd be concerned. Go."

"But what if you need our help?" Jack asked.

"I'm sure I could use my music." Melody sounded much more confident now. She brought her violin forward and began to play a piece that sounded a little bit like a fanfare, but also had a sense of urgency to it. Even after hearing only a few measures, the Guardians silently agreed that that would be the signal that Melody would use. "I could send it out using my powers if I come across any agents. Just be ready for any instrument to play, cause I'm not sure that a violin is the best instrument to bring to a battle."

A/N: The piece played at the very end is a section of "Calling the Guardians" off of the soundtrack. Love you all. Oh, before I forget, school starts up again tomorrow, so the updates might not be as regular as they've been, but I will still try to update in a timely fashion.