"But…he can't kill an immortal…" said Hunter. "And he's right here!"
"The nightmares." Said Joy. "He's attacking the roots of their power. He's gone after the children! Immortals cannot die, but they can fade."
"Wait, then why don't WE fade?" asked Rose. "We aren't spirits of nature, and we have no believers."
"Except for uncle Jamie and aunt Sophie." Said Hunter, Joy freezing. "Pitch doesn't have the power to hurt an adult though."
"He does now that he has Mom." Said Joy. "What's he going to do with him?! Obviously he's not just taking Pitch's influence. Pitch has be trying to get full control."
"Sand!" Nick was pushing a big bag of Sandy's dream sand to his siblings, carrying one of their Father's boomerangs.
"If mom's part of the sand, can he do what he did with Sandy?"wondered Emma. "Take full control?" Hunter shook his head.
"Mom isn't sand, nor does he control it." He said. "The sand alone shouldn't be able to take him over like Pitch did to Sandy." Joy opened up the large weapon storage, seeing rows of knives, swords and daggers, Tooth's razor sharp quills, enough dream sand to drown a herd of elephants, boomerangs bearing barbs and blades, and glittering snowflakes, their edges sharp enough to cut through a solid titanium pole with a good throw. Full body armor was carefully stored in the back, as well as extreme weather equipment, four heat suits and some kind of cold suit.
"Cool." Said Joy, looking at the boomerangs and snowflakes while Hunter opted for more traditional swords and knives. Emma and Rose both chose small daggers and vials labeled with different warnings. Nick had found some egg bombs, Hunter setting up the small colorful things to his little armor harness. Emma touched a snowflake and squealed, recoiling quickly.
"Cold." She said, Joy holding a flake with her brow raised.
"It feel fine to me." She said.
"Because you have that affinity to ice, like Mom." Said Hunter. "We're more geared towards spring. Come on, we have to get out of here." Joy shouldered a few sets of barbed boomerangs, a pack of egg bombs and a belt of snowflakes, grabbed her Mother's staff and slipped towards the door. Cautiously she sniffed about and perked her ears. Nothing, save for the scent of fear and the sound of slithering sand, as it was when they entered.
"Come on." She whispered, slowly leading her siblings out. As Hunter closed the door, they heard a dark chuckle.
"I knew you'd return." A shadow to the right moved, Joy pulling out her boomerangs as she trained her eyes on the dark figure. A lean man with ashen gray skin slid forth, black sand tainted with glittering blue swirling around him angrily. He chuckled, as if the sight of the five Pookas was amusing.
"Give back our Mother." Said Hunter, shakily holding a knife at the ready, joining his sister.
"Ah, fear." He sighed, taking a deep inhale. "It's been so long, but your fear smells like your Father's. So many years ago…if watching the pain wasn't so amusing, I would have killed him too. Burning your Warren brought back such good memories...burning them alive was how I ended your Grandparents you know. Fitting, that I'll use ice to destroy you."
"You know as well as I do you can't control Mom's powers." Hissed Joy, fur on the back of her neck rising.
"But I will soon." He chuckled. "I only need eight ingredients, and you know of the four I have. Now, which four to pick?" The black sand inched forward, the blue seeming to slow it down.
"One step closer and I end you." Snarled Joy, ready to spring. Pitch laughed.
"O, like you did last time?" he chuckled. "Because of you, your Mother is as good as dead, nightmare. Not that he MEANT to save you. After all, you ARE their personal nightmare. Unloved, unwanted…your Mother wishes he never spawned you."
"That's not true." Said Hunter.
"Really?" chuckled Pitch. "You're not much better. Your Father is the Easter Bunny, yet you hold a deep love of Christmas? You can't even run without an inhaler, or paint a pathetic egg. You're a failure. You're weak. They are ashamed of their worthless little North wannabe." The sand inched closer, nearing Emma, Rose and Nick's feet, Pitch's taunts distracting Hunter and Joy. Nick whimpered, clinging to Rose, the twins shivering as their back's touched the wall.
"Now, you three…you don't even HAVE a talent." He chuckled. "You are just a waste of space. It must be painful to be magical spirits, GUARDIANS, and yet have such pathetic, useless brats. You think Mommy loves you? Ha! He WANTS to kill you, freeze your little limbs off. But…I still need my ingredients." Rose shrieked, the sand grabbing her ankle and pulling, Emma and Nick screaming as the sand pulled at them as well, lifting them in the air as Hunter jumped to grab them. He managed to grab Nick, pulling him from the sand and throwing them both into the ground.
"Lemme go!" screeched Emma, thrashing wildly, Rose getting a determined look in her eye. Rocking back and Forth, she managed to grab the sand, opened her mouth, and bit down, HARD.
"GYAHHH!" Pitch dropped Rose, the sand convulsing in pain while he wrapped his grey hands around Emma's paws, holding her still. "You little BRAT!" A boomerang shot out, slicing through the black tentacle holding Emma, a mound of black sand falling to the floor, Emma dangling from Pitch's grasp. Joy jumped, firing egg bombs as the boomerang careened back, catching with one paw and firing it and its twin again in one fluid movement, Hunter grabbing Rose and handing Nick to her, shoving them back into the record room. Hunter halted as he shut the door, eyes narrowing at the pile of black sand. Tiny blue sparkles flickered in and out of sight, and he could have sworn nearly invisible blue sand lifted into the air and disappeared, leaving nothing but black behind. He squeaked, a black tentacle grabbing at his ankle and lifting him in the air.
"I can kill one of you." Snarled Pitch, blocking Joy's attacks while he stared down the gray Pooka. "You're pathetic Father may be immortal, but for now YOU'RE NOT!" Hunter's eyes widened as Pitch's nails grew, the bogey man pulling back his hand. He didn't think as his paws met the dagger handle, his arm seeming to move of it's own accord. Time seemed to slow as the grey hand moved forward. Hunter shut his eyes, and three screams filled the air as warm drops hit his face, the sound of crackling ice and a cold blast chilling the air around him. He hit the ground with a thump and heard his name, and only then did he dare open his eyes. Two of Pitch's fingers lay next to him, his dagger and fur wet with black blood, Joy down for the count with an icicle protruding from her hind leg.
"You little bastard!" hissed Pitch, blood running in rivers down his hand as a nightmare swirled around Emma's head. "I'll be back to RIP YOU TO SHREDS!" Hunter jumped up as Pitch began to disappear, Emma still bound in the sand. Hunter saw red, blood pumping in his ears.
"LET GO OF MY SISTER!" he screamed, dashing forward with speed Pitch had not anticipated, grabbing an egg bomb and firing with dead on accuracy while his other paw grabbed a sword. Hunter grunted as his sword dug into a wood pillar, the black sand disappearing on the down swing. He panted a moment, catching his breath before he was forced to grab his inhaler and take a puff. He heard the door open, and looked back as Rose cried out.
"Joy? Wake up!" Hunter pulled the sword free and sheathed it, hopping cautiously over to Joy. The icicle in her leg was tainted with black sand, though the amount was small.
"Go get me the medi-pack in the weapons closet." Commanded Hunter, examining his sister's wound. Rose nodded, leaving Nick with Hunter as she hopped back in. Soon she returned, Hunter taking the pack and drawing on the medical books he had read. He firmly grasped the icicle and took a deep breath.
"This is gonna hurt…" he said quietly, before yanking out the icicle. Joy's eyes shot open, an agonized scream filling all their ears. Silently Hunter cleaned up the blood and wound with peroxide, Joy wincing and twitching at the burn. Carefully Hunter stitched up the wound and wrapped it up, thankful the icicle hadn't caused tendon damage.
"Ow…" groaned Joy, nails digging into her hind leg as she gingerly sat up. She looked about, not seeing Emma anywhere. "Where's Emma?"
"Pitch." Said Hunter quietly, showing her the blood on his paws. "He got her when I cut off his fingers. I wasn't fast enough to get her." Joy's ears drooped and Nick started crying, demanding his absent older sister. Rose hugged him tightly, letting the two year old cry into her fur while her body shook with unshed tears for her twin, the separation unnatural to her. Joy looked at the blood and severed fingers, and finally the black sand on the floor.
"Hey…" she began. "There was blue in the-" Moonlight shone down from the ceiling, creating a bright beam in the globe room. The kits rushed down (Joy limping with her leg, leaning heavily on Hunter), staring at the glowing center of the Guardian symbol.
"Man in the Moon?" questioned Joy, looking up at the Moon. An image of Jack's staff appeared in the light, then a picture of the Burgess pond.
"Mom's staff and pond…" mused Hunter. "What do you mean?" An image of Pitch and nightmare sand filled with tiny dots came to life, the sand being sliced off and dots slowly going to the tentacles and vanishing with each sliced off arm. The little lights (now dark on the floor) floated to the pond, and disappeared in the water, a disk forming on the water until all the dots were in, the staff placed atop the disk. Finally, there was a picture of a person holding the staff, floating above the pond with a drawn hood and cape.
"That's how we can free Mom…" said Rose, eyes wide. "We have to cut away the sand!"
"So the lights, they DID come out of the sand…" mused Hunter, remembering the floating blue particles. Joy looked at the staff in her paws. She had grabbed it, tried to use it with her power and succeeded, but the result was not just an attack on Pitch. The staff rejected her, driving an icicle through her hind leg.
"We can save Mom." Said Hunter. "If we can save him, then we stand a chance."
"Did you catch that bit, abut Pitch knowing a way to control Mom's power?" asked Joy, looking at Hunter with a quizzical glare.
"Yeah, but-"
"He might know how we can free him too." She said. "And now we need to get Emma back."
"What about Spring, Summer and Fall?" asked Rose. "They might know how to help."
"Mom said not to go near them." Said Hunter.
"But they know the most about seasonal spirits, like Mom." Said Joy. "They might be able to help us get Mom from the sand without getting too close to Pitch." Hunter sighed, both girls nodding at their new plan.
"Theres a reason Mom didn't want us near them!" he said. "But… you two already decided, didn't you?" Joy and Rose nodded, Nick clapping happily. Hunter sighed as Joy limped to the globe.
"Hey globe!" she called, activating voice command. "Show us Spring, Summer and Fall!" A pink, green and red dot appeared on the globe, all in the southern hemisphere. Summer, the pink dot, was in Australia. Spring seemed to be close to the equator in Brazil, Fall in Peru.
"Which one first?" asked Hunter, arms crossed.
"Fall." Said Joy. "She's been around the longest." Rose took a portal from Hunter's pack, only to fumble and nearly drop it when Nick jumped down.
"Tunnel!" he said, stopping one foot twice. A small rumble came from the ground, a hole opening in the Earth. Joy, Hunter and Rose stared at Nick a moment, the two year old clapping happily at his accomplishment.
"Dad would have KILLED to see that." Said Hunter, smiling as Rose picked up Nick and made him cling to her back, hopping into the hole behind Joy. Hunter looked about once more, shivering at the black blood on the floor before following his sisters. For some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom.