After this chapter is the last one, then the Epilogue OMGLDKSL.
Ahem. Been working on this series for over a freaking year now, I'm so giddy that it's coming to an end. Not that I want to be rid of it, but I'd feel like I had accomplished something. *Dances*
So, as its coming to and end, I'd like to thank everyone who followed these stories. Stay tuned!
And please review, jeez XD
Chapter 22: Genevieve and the Balance.
Crack.
The thunder and lightning stuck across the sky and the black sand closed in on the Guardians. They stood on a circle; weak and pale, as Jamie watched in the middle with growing unease. The street lamps snapped off their necks and crashed to the floor; the howling wind was rising. The boy trembled as nightmarish, distorted figures crawled from the dark places in the road, slowly dragging themselves towards them.
A hand fell on his, and Jack Frost looked down at him. "C'mon! Let's go!"
And the group fled; like rats they seemed as the dodged the nightmares as the charged at them; Bunnymund and North using the last of their strength to stop it. But they did not get far- a wall of black sand rose at the end of the street, and it grew darker than ever before. Jo gritted his teeth, Ayver cowering behind Bunnymund.
The Pooka snarled at the closing in nightmares.
Pitch's voice echoed around them, cold and smooth.
"This is so familiar, Jo. So much fuss over one little boy...only this time he refuses to believe. Ironic. Maybe he should have been in your shoes..."
Jo remained stiff; weak though he was. He stared at the shadow moving along the walls of the houses; a hand reaching out to ever last light there was.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
"Very well. There's more than one way to snuff out a light."
And Pitch appeared from the black sand around him, eyes bright and glinting; his face more terrifying than it ever had been. "So what now, Jamie? Do you believe in the Nightmare King?"
"Jack. I'm scared."
"I know, I know..."
Jack's words were faded to Jo, who kept his eyes locked with Pitch. The taller boy stood up and placed his hand on Jo's shoulder now.
He spoke low. "I know what to do, Jo."
And the Silver Man, perhaps in stories he would be recorded to reply, said "Go on."
Pitch's smooth smile twisted into a scowl, eyes burning, as Jo lunged at him. The fearlings shrieked like wild beasts and reached for him as he tossed out silver light from both hands, with the last of his strength keeping him at bay. Pitch, not prepared in his arrogance, retreated backwards into the air.
The Guardians below sprinted back, and the winter sprite froze the road so they could slide along. And, as Jo leaped from the ground after Pitch, hitting him again in again, he drove him up. They drew higher, not one hit landing but at least pushing him away.
Jo's shadow warped where it had been on the ground, and was pulled up from the cold stone into the air with him. Pitch hissed and blocked another silver strike from Jo, as the boy spun around in the air. The shadow leaped and swiped at him.
Pitch snarled and drew back away, the fearlings forming around him. He smiled, "Very well, Jo. We'll end this now."
Jo dodged as an arrow came at him; fearlings trying to claw at his feet. He hit them away; his arms felt sore and his head ached. "You've...stooped lower than the low, Pitch."
Pitch's eyes narrowed, and this time he conjured his long scythe-like weapon. And this time Jo wasn't quick enough. It hit him in the chest like a bat; not slicing but painful. He was flung back through the air as the Nightmare King threw a bolt of black sand at him; it burned and stung his form. Jo flew back through the air like a rag doll, struggling to straighten himself.
Being hard, the black sand spun around him in the air like a mad carousel. His hair flew in the wind.
"Believe me, I know what low is, Joseph."
"Don't make me destroy you."
Pitch's laughter echoed frightening through the story air. The thunder boomed and the lightning flashed. The sand stuck him and he shot downwards, then he was seized by the ankles and tossed away.
He crashed through an old building's roof- luckily for him it was rotted and soft. Jo, his head swimming, leaped back into the air like a grasshopper. The black sand blocked his view of Pitch; surrounding him. He blinked and the blue outline came to his vision; but still he could not see him.
"Your little tricks won't help you anymore."
The sand struck him again, in the back, then in the front. Jo swayed as he hovered, head flopping.
And then, a shout came from below. Pitch turned his head and Jo followed his action. Down below them, in the street that still had two lamps shining bright, stood the Guardians and a clutter of children. Jamie stood among them; Jack at his side. The shadow from before swooped over and grasped Jo's shoulders, swiping him away from Pitch and down to join them.
Pitch laughed again from his black sand pedestal. "You think you're a match? Against THIS?"
The sand was drawing closer; ready to swallow them whole. The light of the whole city, in every city where the sun had left the sky, was going out. Jo's feet touched the ground and Anguish appeared beside him, grasping his shoulders.
The Guardians drew an alarmed breath, but Jack held up his hand. "It's okay. Its Anguish."
"He knew Alecvander." Jo's cracked, husky voice added. No more was said. Bunnymund weakly raised his boomerang. He glanced at the children around him.
"Don't worry, mates. We'll protect you."
"Oh! You'll protect them...how sweet." Pitch was having a merry time, calling down to them as their doom came close. "And whose going to protect you?!"
"I am."
Jamie stepped forward, and his friends followed. Pitch's sneer grew and the thunder grew louder.
"Still don't believe in the Boogyman?!"
The sand was right there. Anguish, staring straight at it, raised a hand. His brown eyes looked to Jamie from the side. "There must be...a balance."
Jamie raised his hand, and so did his friends. Jo raised his hand. Jack raised his hand.
"I do believe in you." Jamie spoke, his voice strong and sure like Jo's had been when he faced the Boogyman all those years ago, when Anguish had spoken to Death with such certainty.
Jo's eyes hardened, and he looked up at Pitch. "We're just not afraid of you."
The black sand hit. It spiraled towards them; engulfing them as Pitch's laughter rang through the air. But then, the first wave's sand began to rumble.
Then, so suddenly, gold and silver broke through it and the darkness crumbled away. Jo was lifted into the air by the silver sand, and he and Jack shot towards Pitch with weapons in tow; Jack bore his staff as Jo readied a spear of sand.
Pith had no time to gape, as they struck him a moment later. They rose into the air, and their battle began above. Below them, nightmares and the other ghostly forms of the fearlings sprung at the group.
North threw two globes down, and through the portals came yetis armed to the teeth. He rushed at the monsters and began slicing through them; Bunnymund attacking them from the rooftops above. Tooth still knelt, her wings flopped. She smiled weakly as they fought. Through tunnels in the ground came Bunnymund's warriors, and knights of silver and golden sand charged at the black menaces.
Jamie and his friends whooped at the different shapes the sand took; gold and sever intertwining, dreams and belief.
From above, Jamie spotted something- a flying boat...?
"Its Hal!" He remembered the person Jack spoke of, and he saw him now; the trickster of Halloween swooping down in a flying boat. Blue sparks flew from the sail as the youth swung his tall staff in the air, showering the fearlings with orange and purple bombs.
"Yeeeeha!"
Anguish rose into the air, watching the gold and silver knights attack the fearlings- but they kept coming. He looked upwards at Jack and Jo; both throwing all they had at the Nightmare King.
He lunged forward, but the fearlings blocked him.
Jack tossed frost after frost at the Boogyman, but so far only two had hit. Pitch gritted his teeth in fury and raised his hands, blocking his beam with his bare hands.
He threw it back at him- and Jo, panicking, rushed in front of him. Jack cried out.
"No!"
SPARK.
Something purple and bright hit the bolt of ice and black sand firth. It threw Jo backwards- but didn't hurt him. Jack spiraled back through the air, his chest heaving.
Pitch seemed equally bemused. His brow furrowed and he looked over his shoulder. It couldn't be.
"Genevieve..."
The girl was there; hovering above them. Wings of black sand drew out; holding her in the air yet not moving. Her feathers where almost completely black; sharp yellow eyes boring into his.
The sand curled around her like snakes; along her legs and arms. They slithered and her sand, tinted with blue, contorted and shivered.
Her voice was cold and cut through the air towards him. "The fearlings no longer need to rely on you. Now I don't have to deal with you anymore!"
She stuck him with the purple lightning, and he drew back. He clutched his chest, eyes wide but scowl still in place. She stuck again and this time he blocked.
"You should have stayed where you were. I am the one with the power!" She shrieked in fury and the sand around them quivered and shook. Lightning stuck and she raised her hands.
This time her strike landed on his chest full power, and Pitch fell back on the black cloud he stood on. He clenched his fists and snarled. "How can you be this powerful? I created you!"
"You HURT to me!" Genevieve surged forward and struck him again. "And now I'll make you SUFFER!"
Jack looked down at the ground below them. The roads had begun to crack; the golden and silver sand was beginning to fall back. He stared up at the girl in horror.
"We gotta stop 'um both!"
Anguish swooped in beside him, "You have to handle Pitch, Jack."
The frosty youth stared quizzically at him. Anguish looked back; frowning surely. "Only one can stop Genevieve. And he must go to her."
Anguish, without another word, swept through the air and hovered between Pitch and Genevieve. He raised a hand to her. "He is beaten, Genevieve."
"No he's NOT!" She threw a bolt at him. He moved away, and this time Pitch had to duck downwards. He gripped onto a Nightmare's mane to escape the shower of bolts, and Jack flew after him.
Pitch snarled upon seeing him, and soon they were flying through the wind, tossing shots of their power back and forth, neither lucky enough to land.
Genevieve pushed Anguish away from her, and shirked in fury as he tried to draw closer. The black sand around he grabbed him and tossed him downwards- he fell to the cold stone floor below with a crash.
She stood there in the air, the black sand and fearlings no coming to slowly circle around her. Her head was bent, and he breathed heavily.
And then, another figure came to hover before her. He landed on a silver cloud only wide enough for his feet. His legs bent from exhaustion, and he raised his head to look at her.
"It was you...all along...you took my memories. You made me forget."
Her eyes narrowed. "It was better that way."
Her voice was cold; calculating. Jo's breaths where labored and he remained where he was. He remembered all the bad memories, of course. He had seen those images that Pitch has in his mind; those terrible memories...
But they had to be there. Balance; good and bad.
"No. Some things you have to remember. Even if you think you're protecting someone..." Jo straightened up, and his breathing steadied. He frowned at her.
"You can't make people forget forever."
Genevieve snarled, so animal-like on her soft face, and she rose a hand towards him. Black sand swooped out towards him and stuck him in the chest. He flew back through the air, barley managing to get up.
He raised his head, and looked into her eyes with the blue light around them.
He saw her reflection through her eyes; young and innocent. He saw her longing for a family, staring through the windows of happy homes...
...He saw Pitch reach out to her, kind and loving...
...And he saw him lash out at her and drive her away again.
Her screech of fury punctuated his mind and pierced the air. He cringed and lowered his head. The black cloud around her hit against buildings and the ground; thunder and lightning cracking through the night.
The silver cloud he stood on was destroyed, and he fell. he sand grabbed him by the leg and hit him against the ground, twice, then threw him into the air.
Jo, weak and tired, forced himself upright in the air opposite the girl. He stared at her, panting. He had been so angry at her. He had blamed for for the misery he'd went through in his childhood. But now he couldn't be mad. She had been hurt more than he had, and still was.
He felt as if he knew her- and in a way, he did. Was it her he had been looking for in that forest- the one who had clouded his memories? Had he spent his dreams looking for a girl more lonelier than he was...? It felt that way. He felt as if he'd found something he'd lost.
Jo could not hate her.
"...I'm..." He could barely whisper, "I'm so sorry...but you can't go on like this."
She looked astonished- then fury set back in as he continued. "I'm not listening!"
"...You need to stop!" He reached towards her with one hand, "You know this has to stop, Genevieve!"
She screamed and threw more of her violent lightning at him. He dodged them, shaking. One hit and he was pushed back, but he raised his silver sand and blocked the last one.
The dark fairy yelled at him, "I was alone, always! And it always hurt!"
"I know...I know what it's like..." Jo knew, more than anyone. In that bare, cold room he called his own, staring out the window, not believing in anything good.
"You never will!" She yelled at him- but her voice was cracking. He leaped, his legs shaking, to another silver cloud he managed to conjure. She drifted back from him, her fists clenched and trembling.
Her scowl deepened, her eyes wide with scolding fury. He met her gaze with a stern, determined look in his eyes. This would end now.
"So you'll become like Pitch? Forever?"
Her furious face flickered and trembled; her whole form was shaking. Jo reached towards her.
"Genevieve...thanks. For trying to help me." His sternness faded away, and Joseph Mgeeth, the mortal boy he still was deep down, reached out to her.
"But this isn't the way. You have to believe things will get better...or they never will. You have us. You always will."
She wailed and turned away from him, "Liar! That isn't the truth!"
"That'll always be the truth!" Jo threw himself from the silver sand and wrapped his arms around her, folding her close to him; a closeness he had longed for when he was small and scared- and that she had longed for, too.
The Moonlight broke through the clouds and shined down on them. The sand circling them both, ready to swallow them whole, burst in a flurry of blue and silver.
Down below, the golden sand raised into the air to them building up brighter and brighter. It embraced them in its hold, and the Guardians and fearlings alike watched as the moonlight grazed it with its gaze.
And, from the golden light, the Sandman appeared- pulling Jo and Genevieve up into the air with him. He stared, warm but determined, at the sea of darkness before him.
He cracked hi knuckles, and Pitch's eyes widened. Jack smirked crookedly and stuck him once more with his staff before swooping down to join the others. Bunnymund leaped into the air. North stared up in wonder like a child.
"Sandy!"
Tooth's wings snapped back into shape as Genevieve raised her head from Jo's chest. Her blue feathers had returned, and they seemed lighter than ever; yellow eyes warm and foggy. Her face was free from the twisted fury that had been. She stared up at the boy, and tilted her head. "Jo...?"
Sandy patted J on the head to get him to open his eyes. He slowly did- and when he saw his mentor there he threw other arm around him. Sandman ruffled his hair gently, then scowled business-like at Pitch not so far away.
The alarmed Nightmare King scowled and pulled out an arrow. "No!"
The Sandman flew at him as he came, and the two rushed at each other with their sand building up behind him. The others stared in wonder as the sand collided- and the golden took over the black completely.
The fearlings roared as they faded away; some retreating back to the shadows like cockroaches, weak.
A cheer broke through the air and the ground seem to tremble; something had snapped back into place. And that was the balance- the darkness was back where it belonged, and the light had returned. The frost melted and the cracks in the road dealt by the evil sand faded away.
The storm was dying down to a gentle breeze as the Moonlight shone down on them all. Jamie and his friends danced around, Tooth fluttering around North and Bunnymund as her little selves rejoined her.
Sandman, in the street, dragged Pitch by the wrist towards him. The Nightmare King, on his stomach, stared up at him in horror.
Sandman shook a finger at him, and with a flick of his whip he threw him away.
Above them, Anguish hovered away from the light and he cheering. He was silent; the wind did not ruffle his form at all. He watched Jo and Genevieve, two children asleep in each other's arms on the soft green grass below.
Tears slid down his face.
And he smiled.
"It is done, Alecvander."
That was a BIIIG Chapter for me. Please review. Badass Sandman is back!