CHAPTER 9-Chosen Partners

The King of Nightmares, Elsa thought to herself, while handing her music box over to the little fairies. Tooth had instructed the little ones to take the gifts and put it in the guests' rooms, so then they didn't have to hold on to them for the rest of the day. "Can you tell us more about this King of Nightmare? Or Pitch as he is now called."

"Well mate," started Bunny, "the main thing you got to know is that Pitch is our enemy, and we've been fighting him since the Dark Ages. He's a master of fear—he thrives on it from people, especially children. It's his source of power, the stronger the fears are the stronger he gets."

"If that is so, than what could Hans give to Pitch in return for his aid? Other than a handful of children to scare in the night, it doesn't seem as though he will get much out of the war," commented Lukas.

"Fear is like a wild fire." said North. "Once it spread it's hard to control. With enough fear in Arendelle and Southern Isle, it can strengthen Pitch, and then he'll be strong enough to spread his shadow even further…It has happen before and he may be trying it again, this time with Hans' help."

"Then we have to stop him—stop them both!" protest Anna.

North smiled, rubbing his hands and cracking his knuckles. "Glad to see you're fired-up. It is time to make Pact!" All of a sudden, the Promise Book flew out of Lukas's hands and came to a gentle land in North's. "Of course you will have to learn a few things before making Pact, but that will be no problem.

Panicking, Lukas rushed after the book and made to snatch it away from North, but was held back by Bunny. "What do you think you're doing?!"

North paid no real mind to Lukas and flipped the book to the empty pages. "Preparing to make Pact," North said calmly, "Is it not what you wanted?"

"Yes but-"

"-Really?! You want to form a Pact with us?" Anna asks excitedly.

"Of course we do, great advantage in making Pact for you and us."

"If that's the case I call Santa first!"

"Now wait a second Anna," caution Elsa, "We can't just rush into this-"

"Aaah don't get your tail in a tangle there mate," said Bunny. We've beaten Pitch many times before and we can do it again. And with the Pact, we'll be even stronger then Pitch could ever dream of."

"The Easter Bunny has spoken, I'm doing the Pact." said Anna.

As Anna and Elsa continues to argue, Bunny and North fell into their own augment of who will Pact with Lukas, and Tooth got distracted by her fairies as they try to sort out an issue with some misplace set of teeth. Meanwhile, it was only Lukas who noticed Sandy, as the little man tries his best to get the other's attention, rapidly forming several arrows pointing towards an opening, where the moon was barely visible.

"North, North… North!" called Lukas.

"What is it?" North finally answer.

"It's Sandy, he needs to tell you something."

North turns to sandy, and then looks to where the arrows pointed. "Ah! Sandy, you must really speak up." In response, Sandy threw up his hands and rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Manny," continued North, now addressing the moon, "what news do you bring us?"

The moon shined his light through the opening, hitting the center of the very column the party stood upon. First, the light was contained within the empty space of the column, but then it slowly began to spin. And then smaller rays of light were shined from it, onto the ground near the sisters' feet, where they started forming images. As the rays turn, the images they showed were repeated in the pattern of a snowflake, the sun, an autumn leaf, and a flame.

Elsa and Anna were too stunned to speak, their mind was racing through questions, like 'who is this Manny?' and 'how can he has such power over the moon?". Lukas was as stun as they are, but not enough to keep him from asking. "What does this mean?"

"It means," said North, "we are not to form Pact with you."

"And what does that mean?" ask Anna, snapping out of her fascination.

"It's alright Anna. It just means we are not the Beings you should be forming a Pact with." explained Tooth, coming back from her day-job.

"But why, who said you guys can't be our partners."

"Manny said so sheila." defended Bunny, placing a paw gently on Anna's shoulder. "And it's not like we can't, rather, it seems best for you to be partnered with other Beings then us. But don't worry, the bloke know what he's doing, if anything, he knows the best for all of us."

"Who's this Manny you keep speaking of anyhow?" Lukas asks. "Is he that important?"

"He is what you may know as Man in the Moon." Answer North. "I assume you asked him for help in creating portal here, no?" Lucas nodded; remembering when he was casting the portal, Manny's title was used during his chant for the summoning. "Manny too is real, though none of the myths in your world are remotely close to the truth about him. But-no-matter; Manny is the first ever Guardian to exists. He watches all children on Earth protecting them the best he can, through means of his light to shine darkness away, or through us. We were all chosen by him to be Guardians, and now, he has chosen your partners to make Pact with."

"And who are they?" Elsa asks.

North made to answer, but the images in Manny's light quickly changed catching everyone's attention again. It now showed a picture of Lukas's Promise Book. "Manny?" North asks. If there was a response, neither Elsa, or Anna, nor Lukas can hear it. Only the Guardians can hear Manny's voice.

When it seems as though Manny has said all that he wanted to say, his moonlight was gone, and he was hidden behind the clouds. "North?" called Elsa.

The Guardians look at each other, each nodded their head on some secret agreement. "For your partners," North resumes, "they are Guardians themselves though have only become Guardians recently, and are still very young by our measure of time."

"Have they fought Pitch Before?" Lukas asks.

"One of them has had occasional small encounters with Pitch in his past, but they have all only faced him once in a real battle with us…we nearly lost that one."

The news of the young Guardians' experience against Pitch was diminishing to the three humans. They would feel more assured if the older Guardians were the ones to make a Pact with them, even Lukas. "Don't we have a choice to decide which Beings we can Pact with?"

Sandy smiled warmly at them. He recreated the images in Manny's light swirling them over the palm of his hands, before releasing them into the air. They grew big, each shining brightly, before exploding into smaller versions of their former size, sprinkling down like rain in slow motion.

Lukas understands that Sandy is trying to say something, but he is still unused to reading Sandy's symbols for communication.

North, seeing Lukas's difficulty along with the Arendelle sisters, translated Sandy's meaning. "He said there is no need for you to worry. Your partners have great powers within them, some they themselves have yet to discover." Walking over to the sisters he starts to gently push them towards one of the bridges. "And you will all meet them soon enough. But for now, how about we get some food into your stomach? You all must be famishing."

At the mention of food, all three visitors averted their eyes. Elsa regretted rejecting the offered cookies, for she and Lukas only had a light dinner before leaving. Meanwhile Anna thought about how she only had some small snacks to munch on while hiding in the jammed cargo box.

"…Some food would be nice." agreed Lukas, giving an embarrassed smile.

"More than just milk and cookies I hope," Elsa said jokingly.

"Right this way." replied Tooth taking the lead, followed by Sandy by her side, while Bunny made the rear. During their meeting, Tooth had her fairies prepare some food for their visitors, and by now should be ready. In truth, none of the Guardians have the need to eat, but the sensation of tasting food is a wonderful feeling for all of them. A grand feeling that they can't quite let go from their old lives before becoming Guardians. Not to mention, it serves as a good reminder of the normal human needs for their guests.