It had taken forever to get to the Tooth Palace, over twenty hours if Annie recalled correctly. It was filled with Pitch's boasting and bragging about his amazing plan and even talking about the future. How everyone will fear the Boogieman and his henchgirl.
"Just imagine, Annie! No Christmas, no Easter, no dreams, no little fairies sneaking in during the night." Pitch sounded more like a child than the god of fear with all that excitement in his voice. Annie sat and listened, never saying a word. Pitch didn't seem to mind, instead he continued to talk about the plan and the future and the downfall of the Guardians to what could have been nothing but a brick wall. Annie sat on the back of the nightmare, clutching onto Pitch with her head pressed tightly into his shoulder blades, thinking.
What would the world be like without the Guardians? Annie couldn't imagine it. She couldn't help but feel horrible for all those children, for the Guardians. Without some good to balance out the evil what would happen? Something awful, Annie knew that. Well, she felt it. You can't upset a natural balance without tipping something way off. Was that really worth being believed in? Maybe it was to Pitch, but not to Annie. She had never been believed in in the first place. It was important to Pitch though, so she helped and couldn't keep away that slow sinking feeling in her stomach that perhaps that was the wrong thing to do. I should have just stayed at the village. She thought and it was true. If she had stayed she would have never been in this mess, she would have never fell for Pitch, would have never gotten connected, and would have never set out to destroy the Guardians.
It was easier to think about what life would have been like had she ignored or rejected Pitch that day in the clearing. She probably would have kept up with her daily activated of wondering and eating rotten food. Maybe she would have saw her father get married and have another daughter and die with his family. Annie allowed herself to smile at the thought of her father finally moving on in his life after months of depression. It warmed her heart. And May, perhaps she found someone new and continued her own life, visiting Annie's father for silent tea meetings. Maybe Annie would have even been able to make them believe in her somehow, to see her. Annie's heart soared. What if? Of course it was too late but it was a nice, happy thought to dwell on before destroying so much happiness.
"Now when we get there," Pitch began to instruct over his shoulder when the brilliant palace came into view. The place was surrounded in a bright, fun aura that Annie just adored. It was a refreshing change from the dull, evil aura of Pitch's domain. "You will go and help the nightmares collect the teeth and fairies. Only come out if I need you too." He finished strictly. Annie nodded against his back. She had seen the fairies before on late night trips outside. They were adorable little things even if they always screamed and ran away from her. Annie always dreamed of seeing the Tooth Fairy when she was a little girl, her father telling her wonderful stories about her. Growing up a fairy fan, this definitely hurt Annie.
The nightmares banked violently around the palace, snatching fighting fairies in there jaws and storing them in their ribcages. Annie had to close her eyes even though she knew they weren't being hurt. There were fairies and nightmares everywhere, nightmares obviously winning against the small feathered creatures. Tooth Fairy was there in person as well, furiously fighting off what she could.
"Go, Annie!" Pitch yelled over the chaos of the palace. She hadn't even registered that they had landed in front of a gigantic wall. Annie's emerald eyes met Pitch's golden ones and she lept off, dashing right towards the wall. There were millions of pictures on the wall, each one of a different child. She even recognized some from her old village. She began pressing her fingers to the pictures, opening the cubbyhole with a flash of light and pulling out the canister of teeth, throwing it mindlessly behind her for one of the nightmares to grab. She worked like this for what seemed like forever before something caught her eye.
There were two pictures, one of a little brown-haired boy, one of a little dark-haired girl. Immediately Annie flew up the wall and hovered in front of the pictures. She recognized the children instantly. "Jack." She whispered before hastily tapping the pictures and snatching the canisters, stuffing them in the waistline of her brown hunting pants and covering them with her loose, draped, forest green shirt. It concealed the teeth perfectly much to Annie's excitement though she was afraid they would slip out. She pulled away from the wall, allowing the nightmares to do the rest of the work and floated off to where Pitch was.
She could hear his booming voice half-way there, sounding as if he was having a casual conversation with them. "The Big Four, all in one place. I'm a little star-struck." He stated, waiting a beat before continuing, this time speaking directly to North. "Did you like my show on the globe, North? Got you all together, didn't I?" He said smugly. Annie hides out of view of her lover and the Guardians behind and tall glowing pillar. She can hear an feminine growl of anger before the whoosh of wings.
"Pitch, you have got thirty seconds to return my fairies!" The Tooth Fairy warned angrily. Pitch just scoffs at her threat. Annie can feel the arrogance flowing off of him in waves. "Or what? You'll stick a quarter under my pillow?" Annie can feel him moving about the room through the shadows. It was an element of that intimation they had talked about. There was going to be a lot of that.
"Why are you doing this?" North spoke up, his swords clanging around. Annie was surprised that Saint Nick carried swords. Why would he need them to deliver gifts to children?
"Maybe I want what you have. To be believed in." Pitch's rises considerably, Annie could feel him moving through the shadows again, this time emerging from behind a column. "Maybe I'm tired of hiding under beds." He ands angrily. His cockiness was only growing as his anger rose.
"Maybe that's where you belong!" Bunnymund adds. Pitch laughed dryly at this before moving around in the darkness once again. Annie figured that would be intimidating, not know where your enemy could turn up next. Annie feels a bit of surprise in Pitch before he speaks again, this time in a mocking sort of shock. What could he be shocked about?
"Hang on, is that ... Jack Frost?" Jack Frost? Annie's eyes widen and she whips her head around the column to stare at the Guardians. She saw the standard four, looking around until she recognized Pitch standing by a column. He was speaking to a boy with white hair holding a large hook-like staff. Pitch laughed. "Since when are you all so chummy?" He asked. Annie watched on with wide eyes.
"We're not." The boy said sternly. Annie nearly squealed, using all of her restraint to stay put. She knew that voice, had heard it a million times. Always a bit too low for the boy's age. Pitch spoke up again, this time intentionally being cruel.
"Oh good. A neutral party. Then I'm going to ignore you. But, you must be used to that by now." He said casually, triumph shooting out of his pores. Even from so far away Annie could see the light in Jack's blue eyes die and his sadness hit Annie right in her heart. He wasn't believed in. Annie had experienced it herself, people ignoring her, walking through her as if she weren't there. It was painful, she knew that. Understanding filled her and she flew, though she didn't tell the energy to lift her.
"Jack!" Annie screamed before she could stop, flying like a first-timer because of her emotions. She hit the floor hard in middle of the opposing sides, her body aching and long hair everywhere as she fought to get up. She could feel the shock off everyone around, fury slashing out of Pitch. Annie didn't care. "Annie!" Pitch hissed at her, clenching his fists so hard his muscles turned with and a blue vein rose on his forehead. She groaned as she pulled herself off of the floor despite her screaming ribs and glared at Pitch.
"No." Annie snapped at him. Her own confidence shocked her as she stood up shakily. Pitch look at her in outrage. Annie had never stood up for herself against him before and she could already feel the slow burning deep in her body from the coming separation. "This is wrong, Pitch!" She yelled at him cradling her rips gently as if to protect them. Pitch growled at her, disappearing in the shadows before rising in front of her.
"Who is Jack Frost to you?" He demanded, spraying saliva all over her that she didn't care to wipe away. He sneered at her silence. "Answer me!" He screamed directly in her face, she cringed at the order out of habit. What had she gotten into. Moving at incredible speeds, he lunges at her, grabbing her wrists in one hand her jaw in the other and brings her to him, spinning her around to face the stunned Guardians.
"Oh, I know." Pitch announced mockingly. "Jack, that little boyfriend you had. The one that drowned." He added, the grip on her hands and jaw getting tighter and tighter with every word. Annie struggled, knowing that she could easily get out of his hold with her power but she refrained for now. "Fuck you." She spat. No sooner had the words come out of her mouth the sharp pain of a slap flashed across her face and she was on the floor again. The burn from the slap was nothing compared to that she was feeling in her body. It felt like she had swallowed lava, why wasn't Pitch feeling it? He was stalking closer to her when a voice spoke up.
"Get away from her, Pitch." It was the Russian accent of North. It was menacing and would have scared Annie if she had been paying less attention to the melting of her insides. She could hear the footsteps of all four Guardians step a bit closer to Pitch who was still sending arrogance every which way. "Not so fast, Guardians." He spits the word like it tasted foul and laughs, the sound followed by the grunting, rearing of a nightmare. Annie turns to gaze from the floor to see him soothing the being to calm it down a bit. He brings his hand to it's mane, drawing up a wisp of black sand and twirls it in his palm, this time speaking to Sandman.
"Look familiar, Sandman? Took me a while to perfect this little trick, even ask Annie. Turning dreams into Nightmares." He said, her name no longer flowing charmingly off his tongue, know her own name was being used to mock her. The Nightmare rears again and Pitch laughs. "Don't be nervous, it only riles them up more. They smell fear you know." He informs smugly. Bunnymund laughs at him. "What fear? Of you? No one's been afraid of you since the Dark Ages!"
The statement hurt Pitch even if only momentarily. "Oh, the Dark Ages." Pitch said, his voice drowning in nostalgia. "Everyone frightened. Miserable. Such happy times for me. Oh, the power I wielded!" He exclaimed loudly before his voice lowered. "But then the Man in the Moon chose you to replace my fear with your wonder and light! Lifting their hearts and giving them hope! Meanwhile everyone wrote me off as just a bad dream! 'oh there's nothing to be afraid of, there's no such thing as the Boogeyman!'" He screamed in outrage before calming down enough to continue. "Well that's all about to change."
Annie knew exactly what was happening before it happened. The palace began to crack and crumble and if decaying. Pitch laughed at the ruin of a nearby column. "Oh look, it's happening already." He said cockily. Annie stood up, the pain fading slowly until it rested at a dull burn. Everyone's eyes where widening in shock as the palace crumbled around them.
"What is?" Jack asked and Tooth sits in stunned silence as she feels the loss of the children.
"Children are waking up and realizing the Tooth Fairy never came. I mean much a little thing, but to a child..." Pitch said in that same mocking tone. Annie shifted her gaze to Tooth who kneeling on the floor. Hey eyes were filled with tears as the light left them. "They don't believe in me anymore." She said mournfully. Pitch's laughter echoed around the room.
"Didn't they tell you, Jack? It's great being a Guardian - but there's a catch. If enough kids stop believe, everything your friends protect - wonder, hopes and dreams - it all does away. And little by little, so do they." Jack's eyes widen in realization. Annie could tell he finally understood the magnitude of Pitch's plan. "No Christmas, or Easter, or little fairies that come in the night. There will be nothing but fear and darkness and me! It's your turn not to be believed in!" Pitch was interrupted by Bunny who throws his boomerangs at him though they were quickly dodged. Pitch jumped onto the back of the Nightmare down into the depths of the Palace. The Guardians dive after him. Jack stayed behind, staring at Annie's hunched frame before following the rest.
Yay! They finally met! Well, to some degree. Annie knows now that Jack is still alive (kind of?) This chapter really excited me, it sets up the whole rest of the story. All the dialog was taken directly from the movie script with the exception of a few things that tied it into the story. I just want to thank everyone because you're all super and I love you and want to make you egg sandwiches in the morning.
Listen to Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. I have decided that none of the songs will have anything to do with the story unless I say so. These are all just songs I like.