Sorry for the hiatus. Life happened and yeah. Here's Chapter Seventeen. Enjoy.

[3rd Person POV]

Jack paced back and forth in the lounge of the Cloud Palace, unaware of things occurring about him. It had been months now since Garret had gone after Adelia and just as fate would have it, neither had returned. The Guardians, himself included, had scoured the globe looking for the lost two. Searching high in the Himalayas down to the deepest depths of the oceans waters, they all looked day and night, resting only when necessary. Yet all were unsuccessful and returned naught a day ago to the flying safe haven.

It was as Frost made his tenth loop that a commotion from the Heart Room caught not only his attention. The others all sprung out of their seats and bolted to the door, rushing to get out. Bunnymund, who had been the first out the door raced ahead followed by Jack who cursed the rabbit for stomping on his foot in his haste. Following were North, Autumn, and Hilaria while Tooth and Sandy flew above.

They all bursted into the Heart Room eagerly, and came to find the strangest and perhaps horrifying of sights. Eos was collapsed on the floor, curled up and clearly in pain. M.N. was beside him, cooing and trying her best to help soothe him as he writhed. But what drew the most attention was not only his wings but what the millions of screens and lights revealed.

The wings of the Guardian of Love turned from their pale pink and white to black and ash gray, some of the bottom feathers crumbling and revealing the tissue underneath, the screens flickered and vehement voices could be heard. Along with it came cries of sorrow and desperation, tones of betrayal and worst joy with one's pain. The heart shaped lights in the corner of the many screens began to fade from red to black.

North was the first over to his old friend, asking M.N. what happened in hushed tones only to hear her respond in a very unlike herself way. She sounded so confused and unsure that it was agony to see her not in the normal strong demeanor. Nothing was sure anymore to her as she continued to attempt to soothe her one special person.

As North was preoccupied, Jack looked to the screens to see what exactly was happening. Standing behind him were Bunnymund, Autumn and Hilaria; Tooth and Sandy flew up higher to check the ones that were out of normal sight. They stood and stared for a moment, eyes darting from one image to the next, only to all come to the same conclusion.

"He…He's killing love. Kuroi is literally bringing death to all love." Autumn slowly stated in horror.

Confused and more unwilling to believe that, Bunnymund turned to the Guardian and asked, "How? How can he kill love? It's not an animate living thing!"

"But that doesn't matter to him. He. Is. DEATH. And he is killing love which…I don't want to say."

"Say what? Spit it out mate, now."

Just as Bunnymund loomed over the Guardian of Autumn another figure walked in the room, answering, "It might mean his disappearance. Permanent disappearance."

Looking up the unoccupied group saw a rather exhausted looking Pitch in the doorway. He nodded his head to everyone and continued inwards, going past the arguing group and to the worried duo in the corner. Not even blinking an eye the Guardian of Fear gracefully scooped up the pained Eos and headed back out of the hectic Heart Room, with M.N. and North following closely. The others all paused and though about what he had said, minus the orange haired Guardian. He stood for a mere second after and then left briskly.

"You don't think ol' black sand is right, do ya?" Bunnymund asked the others.

"He actually is." Tooth replied quietly, slowly making her descent down to the rest. "Kuroi has been able to kill one of us before. He used close to the same method that he's using now."

"An' you decided not to tell the rest of us this why?"

"Someone made me promise not to…not until needed that is. There's a lot that I can't say until needed." She answered firmly.

Jack stepped in before Bunnymund could say more and questioned, "Who exactly did Kuroi, kill, if that's how to phrase it?"

"His name was Chival and he was the spirit of chivalry; close to being a guardian but passed before he could be. And, as we see now, Kuroi began to kill off something intangible and had been weakened over the years. Chival started feeling weak and got pains, not as potent as this but similar. And as time ticked on, he slowly faded to nothing, piece by piece. Now him and chivalry are gone, along with most respect people use to show."

All was quiet amongst them as they took in the tale that had just been briefly told. It was hard to believe that there was one that could make them disappear forever and it had happened before. What's more, this gloom fate now encroached on one of the oldest and most powerful of them. If Eos fell, would North be next? Followed by Mother Nature and soon themselves? All of this seemed to create a dark atmosphere in the room, blocking out he flickers of the heart lights and the voices sounding over the screens.

Soon, though, Jack looked up at the Tooth Fairy and asked the question of the hour. "If Kuroi is death, then who is life? Maybe they can defeat him?"

"I myself, don't know. But the one I promised to does."

Bunnymund finally interjected, "And that would be?"

"My friend Father Time." Toothiana answered.

Whoo! Getting started again with the late nights! Thanks for being patient and yeah. Hope to not take long for the next one.