Chapter Thirteen-Sympathy Pains
In the depths of the night, on the other side of the world, Pitch Black was going about his business hoping they could get everything sorted out before Jack tried to switch Jobs. He couldn't help thinking of the boy as just that, a boy. He needed to get back to his usual self as fast as possible.
As he worked he mulled over the possibilities for their return and how they would greet him. Likely he would die on the spot. He didn't expect a warm welcome, nor did he think he deserved one. He only hoped to be able to coexist with them, it was all he wanted. He didn't kid himself with the hopes and dreams of maybe joining the odd little mismatched family they had made for himself, he had no right. He had caused too much, even if it hadn't exactly been him. Even though it wasn't his fault that some of those things happened, he still took that burden on himself. If he had been smarter in the beginning the Fear wouldn't have been able to take over.
"You can't kill fear." Something on the wind whispered to him, causing a shudder. It was an echo of his own words so long ago it seemed.
"I didn't try. I banished it from my soul." He insisted calmly, not turning to look for who he knew was there. He wouldn't give it the satisfaction.
"You took my essence into you, gave it new life. You will not cast me out so easily." The original soul of the Boogeyman, of nighttime terrors and monsters under beds stood eyeing him from the shadows.
"Boogey. Be gone. I fell for your tricks once, it is a mistake I don't intend to repeat." He hissed angrily.
"No. You were my predecessor, and you were doing so very well. I can't do my job like this, Pitch. You will be the Boogeyman once more, mark my words." His voice was rough, like scraping metal. It made the hairs on Pitch's arms stand on end.
"You took advantage of a new spirit, desperate to protect the children of the world. Had I been unwounded and of sound mind I would NEVER have agreed to that. You used me to your own sick, twisted ends and I refuse to believe in your power again. I will never touch the power of fear again." He spat, wanting so much to scream but it would do no good. Boogey's laugh echoed around him maddeningly.
"My son, you have no choice." He dissipated, but Pitch still couldn't shake that horrible feeling that he had once again unleashed a powerful enemy. He knew what to do, but without the other five chosen Guardians, and re-taking the oath himself, he couldn't trap Fear again. He was weak, that gave him a better shot, but time was dwindling.
"Mani, I hope you realize the mess you've put me in." Pitch mumbled. He wasn't expecting an answer so when Mani's voice rang through his head he nearly fell out of the sky.
"I admit this was…unintended. I had thought Boogey's essence had dwindled, which was why this plan helped to exorcise him from you. I hadn't realized that he would still be strong enough to maintain his sentience." Mani admitted tensely.
"Well now we've got a time-crunch." He griped to his friend and borderline parent. "Not to mention that they aren't likely to be happy when they see me in their usual form. How am I supposed to get them to believe me before they outright murder me?" He asked desperately, frustration and fear filling him to the brim until he couldn't contain himself. Mani was, after all, the only outlet for this he had.
"I know, please try to calm down. I will not let them kill you." He offered, his heart broke for his newly rediscovered son. That he had put him through this was more than he cared to think of. He regretted choosing him not because he did a bad job, but because had he not been chosen his life would have been so much better. It was his dedication to his cause that had brought Boogey to him, and he wished he had been fast enough to save him from that curse.
Pitch sighed heavily and turned back to the golden sand he was directing.
"I know, I know. I'm sorry."
"Do not be sorry. I understand your worry, I do. Please know that this time, I will be able to help you. Boogey will NOT possess you again, I swear it." He didn't know who he was trying to convince, Pitch or himself.
"I believe you, Mani. I know what happened that day, and that was my failing, not yours." Pitch assured. "Now, old friend, I've got work to do." He smiled his goodbye as he watched the moon fade from the sky. He would find a way.
He couldn't believe that some of his old memories were real, and in many ways Jack could relate about then.
"So the elves?" Jack asked, Jamie was telling his story now.
"Yeah, they weren't really the workers, he just let them think so. They were really nice, most days, but they just weren't the…intellectuals in the group." Jack nodded thoughtfully. This was fitting into his dream from earlier too well. They really had been in it with him, not the oddest thing to have happened, all things considered. He was starting to wonder how true the whole situation really was.
That didn't mean, of course, that he was going to up and believe in Santa in one night. Of course that would be ridiculous, wouldn't it? He was almost nineteen, had taken care of his four younger siblings almost all of his life, he couldn't believe in magic because magic just wasn't real. He was, though, starting to consider the "imaginary" Guardian's centers, and realized that he fit one of their rolls stunningly well.
He was starting to understand that all his life he had been the one to make a game out of their misfortunes, hide and seek, fetch the ball, scatter. He was the one that made everything bearable and kept them the kids they deserved to be. He hadn't thought about it like that before, but he was now.
He was also starting to see what they saw. He saw wonder in everything! Lights in the trees and magic in the air! He didn't know why he was thinking about it with that sentence, or why he heard it in his mind with a thick Russian lilt, but he was. He also couldn't help but see hope in their eyes. With Jamie and his mom in their lives, they had hope, beautiful hope. He knew that things would work out and for once in his life, he would be okay, his siblings would be okay. Their dreams were coming true, and he was beginning to let his dreams for the future fly through his mind as he would never have allowed them to before. He did, however, manage to forget about that horrid past. He locked those memories away and tossed them into the ocean, keeping only precious few which seemed to dull in comparison to his present.
"Well, go on then, what did they do?" he asked.
"Well," Jamie started, "they were always running around, getting stepped on and in the way, so he decided that he should give them something to do." Jamie explained. "So, that's why he lets them think that they make toys with the yeti, so they stay occupied. It makes them really happy, too." He offered. That was the end of his story.
Sandy started a little round of applause and snuggled up to Jessica who had to suppress an 'aww' noise. They had all told their little stories and explanations about the guardians save one of them.
"Alright, it's Sandy's turn." Jack grinned at the boy who hadn't really ever had the full attention of more than one person at a time in his life. He was confused as to why everyone was looking at him, having just zoned out. Jessie chuckled and gave him a little squeeze.
"It's your turn to tell a story, Sandy." She grinned at the boy who looked like he could pop his eyes out of his sockets if he didn't blink soon. He gave Jack a questioning look that held everything from uncertainty to wondering how he was going to 'talk' to them.
"it's okay buddy, I'll help." He assured. Sandy nodded cautiously, trying to think of what he wanted to say. He had a billion stories in his brain, brilliant as he was, but he was also five. He was smart but not overly eloquent yet.
He ended up telling a story about the Sand Man giving out dreams which was almost too detailed to be from a five-year-old. Jack started to wonder if maybe the sleepy little boy was smarter than he let on. There was also some small part of Jack that was screaming at him to BELIEVE! He couldn't ignore that it was there, but he was too cynical to give it much thought. That was more than infuriating to the part of him that was Jack Frost.
He was stuck there, newly awakened and screaming at himself to get a grip and wake up! He was one of the guardians, they were sitting in front of him right now! They needed him to believe! That part of him was screaming so loud that he ended up with another headache. Somewhere out in the sky, giving dreams, Pitch was having a similar problem.
"You know you miss it, the power you wielded when we were one." Boogey enticed. Pitch ignored it, or pretended to, going on about his work. "Come on, Pitch, you were brilliant as the Boogeyman, and you know it." He tried once more. True he had sworn him as an enemy, but he would take him as an ally if at all possible. Little did he know that Pitch's will was too strong for him to ever willingly allow Boogey control over him as he once did.
He focused on all the wonderful dreams he was giving, all the wonder and magic, hoped and memories he was focused on in those dreams, making sure they still believed. He was directing the faries more and more as they realized they were a bit more scatterbrained without Tooth there to guide them. He had designated Baby Tooth to do most of that, but now he needed to take some of that load off her. She had been much more willing to listen than he had thought, but then again they knew his memories, so they knew better than most that he wasn't lying. Not to mention that she had seen Boogey with her own eyes many times before, when he WAS still one with him.
"I know, I can't thank you enough, but you need rest." He had assured the fary as he took his place in the middle of the shimmering palace several hours later. He couldn't really be "in the field" as Tooth could because that wasn't part of the magic he could access, but he could help them out in knowing where to go. Her knowledge as it leaked into him was beyond impressive. He hadn't collected teeth for memories when he had protected them. Then again, he was an overall protector of childhood, not of one particular asset of it.
Just then, he realized that there was something nagging at him, something important to know. Had he been Tooth he would have known, picked it out and interpreted it almost instantaneously. As it was he was happy he caught it at all.
"Can someone tell me what's happened to cause a light to alarm?" He asked, not knowing what the heck he had said, but knowing on instinct from Tooth's magic that he was right. A tooth fary fluttered up and informed him that there was a child with false memories that was beginning to realize that they couldn't really access them, that they were foreign.
"Does the child know that the memories are false or are they just realizing that they can't remember things?" He asked.
He was informed that they were not aware of the false memories.
"Well, who is it?" he asked.
One of the mini-faries guided him over to the small map which held Tooth's lights. He took a moment to realize he was doing a better job than he thought and allowed himself a relieved breath at the healthy glow emanating from it before he realized what she was indicating.
"That's Jack." He said deadpan and terrified. He didn't know if this was a very good thing or an incredibly disastrous one.
Alright, much to my happy surprise I'm on a hot streak here! Thanks for sticking with it! As always, let me know what you think! No news isn't always good news and I love hearing what you have to say! Reviews keep me writing more than you know! You are all wonderful people.