"Ugh! Those wretched Guardians!" Pitch black exclaimed, scaring off the nightmares that swarmed him and causing the several large bird cages that hung around the dark lair to shake "AZALEA!"
Higher up near the back of the room, laying in one of the cages, was a young girl. The yell woke her from her deep slumber, and she started pushing herself up onto her hands and knees, "Yes?" she answered even though the action caused her to cough, her throat was dry and cracked from screaming at the nightmares that haunted her constantly.
Pitch rose up and stared at the girl, her face still held a subtle softness but her once strawberry hair was not a dirty grey and was matted. Unlocking the cage, he smiled and held out a hand "Come..."
Pitch's subtle accent tended to have a calming effect, but she saw the gleam in his eyes and knew that smile all too well.
"It is time for you to finally be of use to me." As she started to step toward the entrance, the dark nightmare demon like horse appeared behind Pitch and stomped eagerly "You my dear are going to the surface and you must gain the trust of the guardians, find something I can use to destroy them… Even if you must face off against... Him." His eyes gleamed at the sight of recognition in her eyes "And in return you will earn your freedom."
A memory drifted to the front of her mind, the last memory she had of her mother;
"No matter what you do," her mother's voice was low as the life began to drain out of her "Be strong my little flower… And remember... There is always hope."
Tears welled in her eyes and began to spill over 'You lied mother. There is no such thing as hope.' with a determined gleam in her eyes, she stood tall against Pitch and nodded "Fine."
With a wicked laugh, he grabbed her hand and threw her onto the back of the nightmare horse, it reared and charged up to the surface making Azalea lose conscious.