Did it! Woo~ have fun guys! I really don't know how or why you guys are still bothering to read it, or how I'm still gaining followers XD
It was awful for me. I was losing hope. There was only darkness, and lurking in that darkness was a monster. That monster was me. I had done the worst thing imaginable; I had attacked a friend. She had been completely innocent as well. I hated myself for that more than anything. As I gazed at her crippled body in my arms, I felt overwhelming guilt. I could see her face beginning to bruise and her hair carelessly caressing her face, as if to hide what I had done. I squeezed tighter and pressed on, if I could only find the other guardians then we could leave, and I could get her the treatment she deserved. Yet, I couldn't find them. I felt as though I was in a maze thats walls were ever-changing. As though I was just eternally chasing my tail. It couldn't get much worse.
I know Pitch just wanted nothing more than to watch me break, but I just couldn't. When I held Cupid in my hands, I couldn't seem to back down. I felt as though whatever happened I could protect her. I didn't like to see her so scared, afterall she is quite terrifying. If I could prevent that, I would.
But god dammit, this was all my fault.
I couldn't help but think this was me. Me, me, me. I had hurt Cupid and put everyone in this position. If I just hadn't been so stupid...
Actually, perhaps it was Jamie's fault... Yeah, I'm just gonna blame it on Jamie and keep going.
But, that doesn't seem right either. No, the one who caused all of this was Pitch and only Pitch. He had used Cupid years ago and was back to torment her and the other Guardians. This was serious and I should treat it seriously. But that's really difficult to do when you've been walking in darkness for hours carrying about one hundred pounds of weight with death lurking behind you. I didn't even believe Pitch was still in the cave. Perhaps he went to Chuckie Cheese, got a soda, ate some pizza, and will be back to torment us later. I wished I could do that. Just take a break from all this craziness, grab Jamie and Jessica and Cupid and have a good time at Chuckie Cheese's.
"How would that be?" I whispered to the sleeping Cupid in my arms. "Me, you, Jamie and Jessica all at Chuckie Cheese's? We could all have pizza and soda, then play some games. We could escape from this labyrinth of Pitch's games and be free," I guess I got a bit wrapped up in my fantasy because I had to be snapped out of it. There was coughing coming from behind me. I turned my head slowly, expecting a wave of nausia but got nothing. Instead, Death's form was crippling. He seemed to be choking on such coughs. I laid Cupid down beside me and stooped to help him up.
I don't know why I helped Death up. It's not something any logical spirit would do, and especially since he was on Pitch's side. I just couldn't help but pick him up to his feet and pat him on the back to help his choking. His body felt wierd, like solid air. He wasn't soft like a normal person, but stiff like a corpse with a thick fog-like miasma around him. Touching him felt like traveling through mist until you hit a tree. Big, round white eyes raised slowly to mine.
"Jackson... Overland Frost..." He whispered in his hoarse, echoing voice. "What is it that you seek?" The dead spirit raised his black hand to my shoulder and touchd me gently. I felt the need to shudder, but it was instead comforting.
"What do you mean?" I gasped. His sudden communication had shocked me.
"You do not seek glory, nor pride, nor protection... you only wish to protect, isn't that so?" I slowly nodded. I thought of all my friends who needed me right now. How every child in the world was looking forward to Christmas tomorrow and I only needed to save them. I thought of Cupid lying beside us crippled. It's true I didn't care what happened to me at this point. "To protect, one needs strength, Jack. And wisdom for which to use that strength. Look around, dear boy. Is this all the reality you had expected?"
The reality I had expected...? "What does that...?" I stopped mid-sentence because the rancid odor had returned. The smell of death was far too strong.
"It's not your time, boy," Death continued from within his bubble of pungency. "Nor is it your friends'" I quickly grasped Cupid's body up from the ground and took my steps away from the dead spirit. It wasn't my time... Nor was it my friends? I glanced down at Cupid's sleeping face. Hurting Cupid wasn't something I expected, in fact, I never expected to raise my hand against this loving spirit. This wasn't part of my expected reality.
As soon as I realized that, she vanished. I was holding nothing but air, my hands grasping at what had never been there. It had been Pitch's trick all along. I hadn't hurt Cupid. No, she was somewhere within this labyrinth. But there was another confusion. This was no labyrinth, I know because I had been the one to come in here years ago with Jamie. We had played while he had still been young, and I know for a fact that it as not a maze. It was a simple cave, and not nearly as dark as this. Light slipped in through little cracks in the cave walls. This cave was incorrect. This cave was not reality.
It was as if I had cracked the code. As if I had been walking with my eyes closed because, suddenly, I could see. I turned around expecting to see Death, but I saw no one, nor did I smell anything. I saw the cave entrance now. It was fairly far away, but the shimmering light gave me hope. It was still dark, but the Moon reflected off of the snow outside, and even snuck in through the holes in the cave, just like so many years ago.
It had taken me a while, but I was finally going to rescue my friends. I gripped my staff in both hands and charged forward into the cave, finally awaken.