Author Notes: Sorry for the extremely long wait for the update guys. I had a lot of work to do for college... not to mention I have to really be in the mood to write a chapter for any story. But anyway! Let's get right into the chapter, shall we?!
At the Tooth Palace...
Raven greeted all of the Guardians warmly as she hugged them all. A few of the Mini Faries hovered over to her as they chirped and squeaked happily. Raven chuckled.
"Good morning, my lovelies. And how are you all today?" She asked as she held up her hand to allow one of the Mini Faries to perch on it. They replied and chattered in squeaks as some of them perched on her shoulders, snuggling into her surprisingly warm neck. A few others sat happily on top of her head, nestling into her soft, thick hair. She giggled as she slowly and carefully turned around to face the Guardians. Tooth giggled a little as Jack chuckled as he leaned on his staff.
"They really love you, don't they?" He asked. Raven nodded very slowly with a large grin on her face. Bunny looked around the Palace looking for any sign of Pitch or his sand.
"So? Where's ol' face ache at then? You did say tha' 'e would be comin' to see us." Raven was about to answer when she suddenly felt a presence forming behind her. She turned around to look to where the figure would be entering and, not long after, a tall, dark figure stepped out from the shadows on top of one of the higher up platforms. The Mini Faries squealed in alarm as they flew away to hide. The Guardians gripped tighter on their weapons as Pitch looked down at them from the edge of the platform. He smirked menacingly. Raven then pulled back one of her oversized sleeves and checked her invisible watch. She then looked back up at Pitch as she held a very unimpressed look on her face.
"'I'll meet you there', huh?" She quoted sarcastically. He scowled at her. "Where on Earth have you been, eh? You should've stuck with me, mate. It only took me three seconds to get here whereas it took you over thirty! Big loss in time there, buddy." He rolled his eyes as he scoffed to himself. He was already becoming sick of her. He needed to get rid of her quickly before he lost his sanity.
"Why are you even here? Haven't you got some murdering to do somewhere else in the world?" The Guardians exchanged worried glances. The Spirit of Death let out a deep sigh as she turned her head to the side, rolling her eyes up as she did so.
"So, that's the game you want to play, eh?" Pitch raised an eye ridge awaiting her next move. He then heard a loud snort behind him as a large puff of breath was blown onto his head. He turned around, expecting to see one of his Nightmares. But his eyes widened ever so slightly in shock as he gazed upon the large, mighty Shadow Horse who was glaring at him with fiery red eyes. The creature was almost twice the size of Pitch. "Pitch," Raven began. He looked back at her. "Meet Mammon. My Shadow Horse." The Boogeyman turned his attention back to the large beast who had his ears slightly pinned back. He breathed Pitch's scent in deeply through his nostrils and snorted it back in his face. Mammon growled lowly as he glowered at him. "Easy, boy." Raven spoke softly. Mammon grunted as he looked between Pitch and his Mistress. He slowly raised his head and glared at Pitch one more time before leaping off the ledge and landing heavily on the lower platform where his Mistress waited. He trotted up to her and flicked his ears and tail happily as he nuzzled her. She chuckled as she patted his neck and stroked his fringe back away from his eye. She kissed his nose as he whinnied happily, kicking his rear legs out playfully as he cantered over towards the Guardians to greet them. They all stroked and patted him, knowing fine well that he would never hurt them. Pitch observed all of this and he scowled at the Shadow Horse and his owner. He wanted to just end them all right then and there, but he figured that plan wouldn't go down too well with the 'wraith' being here. So, instead, he sighed impatiently. Raven turned to face him with a sly smirk. She suddenly disappeared into a cloud of black dust and reappeared behind the Boogeyman, making him jump slightly and turn to face her. "Enjoying your time here?" She asked with an innocent smile. He frowned deeply.
"Oh yes. I'm having a blast." He replied monotonously.
"Oh, good." She could hear the sarcasm and decided to play on it. She watched the Guardians play with Mammon as some of the Mini Faries decided it was safe enough to come out of hiding. "After hearing what my little Shadow had told me last night, I decided to round the Guardians up for you. Did that make things any easier for you?" He looked at her for a while and then back at the Guardians. He shrugged his shoulders a little.
"I guess so." She didn't expect an answer but she was happy that she got one never-the-less. She looked up at the sun and took note of its position. She formed her scythe and examined the blade. Pitch had noticed this and, unconsciously, took a small step back. He watched as she then leaned back and bent her knees as if she was going to sit down. A throne, made completely of shadows, was formed just before she made contact with it. She crossed her legs and positioned the head of the scythe on her knees. She then formed a silver stone that was about the same size as her hand. She quickly ran the stone across the edge of the blade as she began to sharpen it. Pitch watched her for a moment before facing the Guardians who, for some reason, were all smiling weirdly at him. "What are you smiling at?" He snarled.
"You seem to take interest in our friend, yes?" North questioned, already knowing the answer. Pitch looked between him and Raven a few times before frowning.
"If you're talking about this pathetic excuse for a witch, then no. I am not interested in her what-so-ever. To be honest, I couldn't care less about her and I'd be delighted if she could stop following me around like a shadow."
"You caaaaaaaaaaaaalled?" Came a whisper came from behind his right shoulder, making him jump and shiver slightly. He glared behind him at the tiny Shadow. It giggled as it floated over to its Mistress. "Prepaaaaaaaaring your scythe forthis morrrrrrrning's shift?" Raven nodded with a small smile as she glanced at her Shadow. Pitch huffed impatiently as he looked down at the Guardians.
'I can't wait any longer!' Pitch thought to himself as he looked back over at Raven who was still sharpening her scythe. He disappeared into the shadows and reappeared behind the Guardians who turned around to face him, gripping their weapons tightly. Mammon lurked nearby with a deep scowl on his face, listening to his Mistress' thoughts. She told him not to interrupt, she wanted to watch this. She had stopped sharpening her scythe and sat back to watch how this 'marvelous' plan of Pitch's would play out. Out from the shadows behind him came a herd of Nightmares, ready to strike at their Master's word.
"Uh... Raven. Little help?" Jack called out.
"This battle doesn't involve me, therefore I have no reason to intervene." Pitch looked up at her, surprised by her reply. He quickly turned his attention back to the Guardians as he readied his bulky scythe. His Nightmares suddenly shot forward at the Guardians neighing loudly. The five spirits fought back as best as they could, but they were becoming more and more separated as the Nightmares started to lead them off in different directions. North was in the same spot he had started, Bunnymund was over to the left near the ledge of the same platform, Toothiana was up in the sky flying around the pillars, Jack was leaping and flying from platform to platform to help out where he could and Sandy was floating towards Mammon. While they were all separated, Pitch saw this as his chance to attack, starting with Nicholas. He swung his scythe forcefully between his Nightmares directly at North, who managed to stopped the heavy blow using both of his swords as a guard. Raven watched the fight between the two spirits for a bit before watching Jack fend off the Nightmares trying to bite his feet off. The Shadow beside her sighed a ghostly sigh as they watched the chaos unfold around them. She looked at her Shadow. "Getting bored?" She asked. It nodded a little before looking up at the sun.
"Theday... is waning faaaaaast..." She, too, looked up at the sun and took note of its slightly changed position one more time. She stood up from her throne as it faded. She held her scythe firmly in her left hand and looked down at Mammon. His ears flicked as he looked back up at her.
'Time to go.' She told him through her thoughts. He snorted as he bowed his head slightly. A Nightmare ran into him forcefully, knocking him off his feet and onto his side. He rolled over and snarled at her. She snarled back as she regained her balance. She neighed harshly at him. When he got up on his feet he looked to his Mistress. 'Attack. But don't kill.' He nodded and turned to face her, his head low and his ears pinned back. He growled lowly at her as he approached her slowly but threateningly. She snorted and grunted as she did the same. They both circled each other for a moment. She made the first move as she reared up and neighed loudly before dashing towards him at full speed. He ran towards her grunting angrily, putting all of his weight before him. The second before they made contact, he lifted his head high and swung his neck hard, sending her flying to one side. He headed towards her and jumped heavily. She rolled over onto her side, just managing to avoid his heavy hooves. He made sure to keep her on the floor for as long as possible by biting down on her neck spikes and pulling her head down to the ground and by kicking her back and stomping on her side. She screamed out to her sisters who came to help her. They kicked Mammon off her and helped her up. They surrounded him and began to slowly move in on him. He remained in place with his ears back and his teeth bared. His eyes glowed a dark red and it looked as though there were actual flames coming from his eyes. When he decided that they were close enough, he kicked out his rear legs hard, striking the Nightmare behind him in the head, knocking her out cold. He then ran straight for the Nightmare in front of him, using his head as a battering ram, hitting her hard in the chest and sending her flying into a wall. He then sunk his teeth into the neck of the Nightmare on his left and swung her into her remaining sisters, injuring them all. He spat out the Nightmare onto the floor and loomed over her as she panted. She looked up at him helplessly and layed her head down on the floor, defeated. He snorted and growled as he leaned his head down to sniff her. His eyes calmed down as he could smell the sadness on her. He looked up at his Mistress. She disappeared into a cloud of black dust and reappeared beside the Nightmare. She smiled at her.
"You fought well." The Nightmare looked up at her. Raven knelt down beside her and stroked her head. She leaned into the touch and flicked her tail a little. Mammon snorted to himself as he looked around the palace. Pitch had stopped fighting North a while ago and had moved onto Sandy. He obviously didn't notice the fight between Mammon and the Nightmares. Raven helped the injured Nightmare up and patted her back softly. She then stood in front of her and looked into her eyes. "What's your name?" The Nightmare nickered her name. "Shadow. Beautiful." Raven looked at Mammon and smirked a little. "Well then, Shadow. Why don't you let me heal you? All you have to do is look deep into my eyes." Shadow focused on Raven's eyes, not noticing that they were slowly getting brighter and brighter. She could feel her strength returning to her. "Good girl." Raven stepped back and blinked once, her eyes immediately returning to their original colour. Shadow was perfectly still. Her eyes, instead of being golden, were now a bright white. She had been hypnotised and was now in Raven's control. Mammon walked around her, admiring his new companion. "Shadow. I want you to do me a favour." Raven began. "I want you to give all of your sisters here a small bite on the neck so we can add them to our herd, okay?" Without blinking, Shadow bowed her head and raised it again before leaping into the air to begin her mission. She flew as close to her sisters as she could before giving them a quick bite on the neck, infecting them with the curse. One by one the Nightmares responded to Raven's will and one by one the Guardians and Pitch started to notice the drop in attacking Nightmares. When she had finished, Shadow landed in front of Raven and bowed her head. The rest of the Nightmares soon followed and bowed their heads to their new Mistress. Raven smirked darkly before looking up to Pitch. "You'll get these ladies back when you've learned to behave."
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THEM?!" Pitch practically shouted at the top of his lungs.
"I've simply prevented them from doing any more damage... Well, without my word anyway." She smirked again. Pitch just stared hopelessly at his poor Nightmares. "Anyway, I must be off. I have some 'murdering to do somewhere else in the world'." She quoted Pitch's previous attempt to piss her off. She turned to her Nightmares. "Come on, ladies," She then turned to Mammon. "and gentleman." He smiled happily. "Let's go." She opened up a large portal made of shadows to allow her Nightmares to go through. She mounted Mammon and turned her attention to Pitch one last time. "Oh, and don't even think about using your Fearlings as replacement. I can hypnotise them just as easily as I can your Nightmares." He stared at her in disbelief, his mouth opening slightly. "As I said: You'll get your Nightmares back when you've learned to make friends with the Guardians. They're really not all that bad, you know." She smiled at them, earning a couple of smiles back. She looked at Pitch again. "Good day to you, Boogeyman." She said as she rode Mammon through the portal, which closed up in a swirl of black shadows.
