7. Dealing with Devils

Note: Thanks for the reviews. This chapter is mostly to advance the plot.

Library

North Pole

Jack groaned, dropping the latest failure of a book. While the other guardians has their injuries attended to, he and Sandy had decided to check North's famous library for ways to help Midday. So far: nothing. While both agreed her present state was the Nightmare King's fault, neither knew how. Lady Midday wasn't a fearling and Pitch would've used her during their last confrontation if she was possessed. Sandy had submitted the idea that Pitch had simply driven her mad in an attempt to convert her, but Jack wasn't sure. After all, insanity doesn't come with a color change, and Midday's eyes were clearly different. Jack dropped another book, taking slight satisfaction as it hit the ground with a thump. "You have anything?"

The Sandman shook his head, carefully setting his own book down on a table. Jack felt a twinge of concern for his much older friend; seeing her again had opened some old wounds. "Well, let's keep going!" He faked a smile, picking another book up. "We won't get anywhere by giving up!"

"Quite right, Jack." Came the silkily drawled response. Jack and Sandy froze, turning to face the intruder. Pitch Black was in the North Pole.

Immediately, the Guardians attacked with gold sand and ice, blasting Pitch across the room. Their target hit the wall with a groan, sinking to the ground as Jack and Sandy advanced. "Why are you here?" Jack demanded, barely resisting the urge to skewer the dark man with shards of ice. Do it, came the increasingly loud inner voice, kill him for hurting her. Ice energy crackled along his skin, making his eyes glow with an arctic light. Sandy backed away, eyes wide. He hadn't known Jack could summon ice energy without his staff. Similarly, Pitch gulped, forcibly reminded of a certain vengeful redhead. "Believe it or not, I'm here to help you defeat Lady Midday."

What?

HSHSHSHS

They were in Sandy's room again, this time for an interrogation. Gold and ice blue eyes glared down at their prisoner (who was looking much less intimidating practically dripping in dreamsand chains). "Well?" Jack demanded, breaking the silence.

Pitch cleared his throat, a tiny puff of black sand escaping in reaction to the presence of the gold. "I have been made aware that you recently encountered the summer spirit." Jack nodded, unwilling to answer verbally. "And once again, with consequences to your teammates." Another nod. "I'm here to help."

"Why?" Jack demanded, "since when do you want to HELP anyone?!" Pitch choked as the chains tightened, squirming as Sandy glowered down at him. Finding his breath again, the Nightmare King laughed bitterly. "I assure you, this is a matter of self preservation. I'd love watching her incinerate you, but then it would only be a matter of days before I ended up the same way. Everyone would."

"What?" The Guardians shared a look, both equally thrown by the statement. Dark gold eyes widened, "the accursed Man in the Moon didn't tell you?"

"Tell us what?"

Pitch laughed again, "Lady Midday wasn't wandering around because she's bored, she's working out battle plans. The girl is planning an all-out assault on the spirit world, the end goal being the destruction of all spirits not allied to Mother Nature!" Sandy reared back, dreamsand flailing wildly in shock. Jack just stood there, barely able to think as the voices warred in his head, commending and maligning the summer spirit. Blinking, he shook them off, turning to Pitch again. "What did you do to her, Pitch? Why's Midday like this?" The older male flinched slightly at the question before sighing. "Let's put it this way, Mother Nature sets up her spirits with a…defense mechanism. Push them too much and they go into 'wrath of nature' mode until the danger ends. Turns out, overexposure to nightmare magic causes it to bind with an individual. In this case, Midday's magic is convinced she's always in danger, effectively locking her in her alternate form." He sighed again, muttering to himself. "It would have been wonderful if her issues with me hadn't carried over."

Jack caught Sandy's fist a second before it reached the Nightmare King's face. He agreed with the sentiment, but hitting somebody who couldn't fight back was definitely against Guardian ethics. "We're not going to kill her. You have anything else in mind?" Pitch smiled up at him, "What do you know about magic mirrors?"

Despite his rage, Jack felt an eyebrow rise at the odd question. "They show you the 'fairest' of them all?" Pitch snorted, voice full of condescension, "I'm not talking about childish stories, Frost, I mean old magics infused in reflective surfaces by mages." Jack shook his head, still lost. "Why would that help?"

"Because," the 'you idiot' was strongly implied, "I know of a mirror capable of reverting our rebellious friend to her rightful state. The Mirror of Souls. It shows a person their true self. One glance and Lady Midday will be her noble little self again." Jack felt a spark of hope. "You have it?"

Pitch flinched again. "Not exactly. That's why I'm here, I can't get it myself but you can." The hope dulled and suspicion rose. "And why is that?"

"Because it belongs to the first ice spirit, Old Man Winter, and I'd rather not end up trapped in a glacier if he doesn't feel like parting with it." Jack blinked. He knew there were stories of other winter spirits but he'd never met one. "He's that strong?"

Pitch's cheeks darkened with shadows as he looked at a spot slightly to Jack's left. "I tried to acquire the Mirror from him shortly after I arrived on this planet. He…chose not to part with it."

Jack smirked, "He kicked your ass, didn't he?" Sandy nearly fell out of the air laughing as Pitch growled in annoyance. "Do we have a deal or not?"