My eyes snap open when I hear it- him. A cackle in the silence of early morning. The sun shines through the crack in the curtain, casting long shadows in my room. For a moment the world is unfocused, a blur of blue and fire-like orange. I know I see it, though. A dark figure moves in the shadows. The hairs on my arms stand up as goosebumps travel down my arms. Instantly adrenaline courses through my body, causing me to jump out of bed, my arms outstretched to where I saw movement.
A hand is placed on my arm gently, and my eyes snap up to see Jack. "Elsa, calm down," he tells me softly. I look to the bed and only now realise that he wasn't there when I woke up. Hesitantly I lower my arms, glowering in the direction of where I saw movement. The figure steps out into the light and I tilt my head in confusion.
He's tall, with hair as white as the moon. His eyes are as green as spring grass, beautiful in an eerie way. His skin is what bothers me- it glows, radiating white light. He carries a staff, much like Jack's. It takes me a few minutes to realise who I'm looking at, and when I figure it out, I'm not entirely sure how I feel. At first I feel somewhat mad because I told Jack not to get anyone else involved, but then I also feel relieved for obvious reasons.
The boy holds out his hand which I take in mine. "Nightlight," he introduces himself. "I'm going to assume you're Elsa." He sounds older than what he looks, which takes me by surprise. Then again, he is immortal too, so I shouldn't be.
I frown. "Uh, not to sound weird or anything," I say, "but did you, um, cackle a minute ago?"
Nightlight looks to me, then to Jack and back to me uncertainly. He lets out a nervous chuckle, which doesn't remotely sound anything like the laugh I heard break the silence and waken me. "No," he replies. "Maybe you're just hearing things." He shrugs his shoulders, looking a little uncomfortable. I purse my lips- I wasn't hearing things. I'm sure I heard a cold laugh. Had I been dreaming? I think hard, trying to remember.
I'm just surprised I got any sleep at all. I was certain sleep was never going to happen. I can definitely feel the effects of the lack of sleep- my eyes feel sore and droopy, my body aches from fatigue and I have a longing to return to my bed. Of course, I know that's out of the option. I stare at my bed for a second longer, and then I look to Jack. He looks a little concerned.
"I know you didn't want me to get anyone else involved, but, El-"
"I know," I intervene. "It's okay. We need all the help we can get." I look to the shadows... that cackle, it had to be him. Part of me hopes it's him so that we can end this right now. Now that Nightlight is here, we're stronger. Pitch doesn't stand a chance against us- I hope. Perhaps in his absence he's become stronger; so strong that we can't beat him. The thought unnerves me, so I try to push it away.
That's when a small little rapping noise is heard from the balcony door. I look in that direction, and tilt my head in confusion when I see a small colourful thing tapping the window. "Is that-?"
"A tooth fairy," Nightlight cuts me off before I can even ask.
He flies over and opens the door. The little tooth fairy flies over and begins tugging on Jack's jumper. Jack holds out his hand, looking concerned, and the little fairy lands on his palm. She points urgently outside, and I get a knot in my stomach. Has something happened? Or did she just spot Pitch? I feel instantly on guard. If it's Pitch, I'm more ready than I'll ever be.
"Lead the way," Jack tells her. "We'll follow.."
So we do. We follow the little fairy up into the North mountain, and the knot grows tighter in my stomach as we near my Ice Castle. No way is Pitch up there... we searched there. There was no sign of him whatsoever. My flying isn't great, and Jack and Nightlight have to help me several times as we journey further up the mountain.
The snow falls heavily the further up we go, almost blinding our vision. "Jack?" I ask.
He just frowns at me. "It's not me," he says.
I know it's not me either. Who is it then? It's hardly Pitch... He doesn't have the power to control the snow like we do. Who, then? I rack my brain as I try and think of anyone else to do with the weather that Jack may have told me about, but in panic, I can't seem to remember anyone. Pursing my lips, I carry on with the other three.
The little fairy begins to slow from tiredness. I can see it though; my ice castle. I shake my head in anger. The fairy points towards my castle and I nod my head, understanding what she means. Whatever awaits us is inside.
Jack takes the fairy in his hand. "Go get Tooth," he tells her.
She makes a squeaking noise, and looks sadly towards the castle. All three of us stop flying and look up too. It takes me a second to realise why the fairy looks sad and desperate- whoever's up there has Tooth. I have no doubt it's Pitch. So, I fly faster than I've ever flown before (even with Jack), up to my castle, up the stairs and I land in front of the ice entrance door.
Jack and Nightlight land next to me and I take in a deep breath.
"El, you don't have to go in," Jack says softly to me. "You can go back to Anna- Nightlight and I will be down when it's over."
"Yeah, it's probably safer," Nightlight agrees.
I shake my head quickly. There's no way they can make me go back. I've been mentally preparing myself for this all night. No matter how terrified I am of Pitch, I'm not turning back. Not now. He had me killed, for crying out loud! Of course this is going to be personal. I was going to defeat him, no matter what it took, or how long it takes. I'm not giving up. Not now, not ever.
Jack just nods his head in understanding. "Well, then here goes nothing," he mumbles.
The door opens easily like I knew it would. My hands are shaking terribly, so I ball them into fists to try and control them. I haven't been here since Jack first visited, when I thought I was crazy and rushed up here for an escape. Turned out I wasn't crazy after all. Okay, maybe a little bit for coming here when I know there's danger.
I look up to the balcony overlooking the entrance. Up there stands a tall cloaked woman, with long black hair and grey-like skin. A mist seems to surround her. She's staring down at us expressionless. She tilts her head to the side, pursing her lips. She's narrows her eyes slightly, considering the three of us standing here.
"Em-J?" Nightlight says puzzled.
"You're looking for my father." It's not a question, but her voice sounds somewhat confused.
Emily Jane, I realise. Mother Nature; Pitch's daughter. My eyes widen a little in surprise when I realise who it is. I notice now that the mist surrounding her is actually clouds. No wonder the snow was so heavy outside. Emily Jane was causing it.
"Where's Tooth?" Jack asks instantly. "And where's your father?"
"Toothiana is in the room upstairs," she tells him. "As for my father, I wouldn't know. You know how he loves to wait in the shadows. I've been watching you all for awhile, now." I frown at this. "I'm sorry for what my father did to you," she says to me. "He doesn't know I'm here, or so I hope."
"Do you know why he has Tooth?" Nightlight asks her.
"The usual reason," she sighs. "He just wants to bring down the Guardians so the Dark Ages can return."
"Why are you here?" I ask, not rudely.
She straightens herself. "I like to watch," she simply says.
Jack just shakes his head at this. "Come on," he says. "We have to get Tooth. We can't waste any time- Uh, no offence to you, Emily Jane."
She shrugs this off. We fly up the stairs to Emily Jane, and as we ascend further, she walks behind us, not making a single noise. It's unsettling how quiet she is, and how she seems to blend in with her surroundings. The clouds around her swirl like smoke, making me feel a little dizzy as I look at her. Why has she been watching us? Does she want to help us? For some reason, I doubt this. After all, Pitch is her father.
The door to the only other room in the castle is open, allowing us to see it empty. Confused, I step in and my eyes widen in alarm when I see Tooth chained to the wall. The chains holding her are as black as the night sky. Her head rolls from side to side, and she looks disorientated.
Emily Jane walks no further than the entrance to the door. Perhaps seeing her, Pitch emerges from the shadows looking outraged.
"What are you doing here?" he exclaims angrily, ignoring the three of us for a time.
"You know I'm nothing if I'm not curious," she says indifferently.
The light in the room seems to dim. I can see Pitch struggling to control his emotions. Tight lipped, he turns to us three, and spotting me grins maliciously. "So, it's true, then. The Man in the Moon has made you immortal." His hand twitches, his emotions not in control yet. He bows his head to Nightlight. "Always a pleasure to see you, Nightlight. Tell me, how's Katherine these days?"
"Fine," he answers darkly, glaring at Pitch in disgust.
"Why do you have Tooth?" I ask, hating the small talk he's making.
"She's always been the easiest target." He shrugs his shoulders, looking bored. He grins again. "But now that you three are here, we're going to have lots of fun. You like to have fun, don't you, Jack?"
"You betcha," he says, gripping his staff tightly, narrowing his eyes at Pitch.
"Great," Pitch says delightfully. "Eugene." Eugene emerges from the shadows. One of his eyes is black, while the other is his natural colour; piercing green.
"Really, father?" Emily Jane calls over. "Is bringing mortals into this really necessary?" Emily Jane looks a little distraught as she stares at Eugene. I feel the knot grow so tight in my stomach that I want to hurl. Even now, after what Eugene did to me, I can't bring myself to hate him. This isn't his fault. I don't want to hurt him, either.
I feel acid in my throat and I swallow, trying to steady my hands and my rapid heart. This has gone way beyond personal. This is just sick. I can't face Eugene. He's been like a father to Anna and I since my own father died. Nervously, I wring my hands together, staring at Eugene, feeling nothing but absolute panic. No. This isn't fair. Pitch is going to far with bringing Eugene into this fight.
The room seems to darken again and black mist encircles us. Figures, demon-like figures, melt out of the darkness, pushing Nightlight, Jack and I into the centre. Pitch laughs darkly at our fear-stricken faces. I bump into Nightlight, and then the three of us are back to back, facing these demon creatures. They don't even have faces, just bodies of darkness.
"Well, isn't this fantastic?" Jack says sarcastically. "I don't suppose we could snowball our way out of this one, no?"
"Probably not," Nightlight replies. "Moonbeams?"
Jack nods his head. "Go ahead," he suggests.
Holding out his staff, Nightlight looks to the demons which seem to be pressing closer. A white orb appears at the tip of the staff, and then a blinding light shoots out. An ear splitting scream pierces the room, and I drop to the ground, covering my ears.
Death I hear whispered. It sounds like many voices speaking at once. Fear... Panic... Death... I look up and cry out when I come face to face with blackness.
"Don't let them touch you," Jack yells. He points his staff and ice shoots out. Hitting the demon causes another scream to echo in the room. My head swims. I feel as though I'm losing consciousness from the screams. What are they? Did Pitch create them, or did he find them?
"Brilliant, aren't they?" Pitch muses. "Making these wasn't easy, but I was truly inspired by you, Elsa." I glance at him in confusion, but not for long as the dark demons come closer, hands outstretched to grasp me. I blast it with my ice, but I know deep down we're outnumbered. "Yes. I like the way you made that snow creature with your own power. It got me thinking. Thinking turned to action soon enough. Bending shadows to my will wasn't easy, but I managed it. It was almost as easy as taking control of this mortals mind," he adds on, indicating to Eugene who stands motionless by his side. He laughs. "So easily persuaded, the mind can be."
I jump off the ground as the demons press way too close. Jack and Nightlight follow my actions. They're everywhere in the room, swallowing up any light. A chill passes through my body as I stare at them, and I feel nothing but dread.
"That is a lot of darkness," Nightlight points out.
"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Jack grumbles. "Any other obvious thing you want to point out?"
"We're doomed," Nightlight replies with a shrug.
To my surprise, a hole appears at the centre of the room, swallowing up some of the demons. I stare in confusion at it, and Jack huffs beside me. "Who invited Cotton Tails?" Jack asks.
Nightlight rolls his eyes. "I did. Cotton Tails might be the only thing that can save us at this stage," he says.
A boomerang emerges from the hole, hitting four or five of the demons, which, much to my dismay, send out more shrieks. Then, to my great joy, Bunnymund hops out of the hole. He crosses his arms and stares at the demons, then to us, not concerned that the demons are pressing closer to him. He cocks his head back and looks smugly at Jack.
"Don't even say it," Jack warns him.
Bunnymund gives out a triumphant laugh. "Looks like you need my help, Frost," he says.
I hear Pitch growl, but when I look to where he was standing, I see that he's disappeared. I scowl, feeling angry. "You won't be able to stop them," he calls from the shadows, as though sensing that I was looking for him. "Darkness is found everywhere. They replicate when they touch the darkness. You can't ever get rid of darkness."
The three of us look to Nightlight who seems to understand immediately what we're thinking- We may not be able to get rid of darkness, but Nightlight can. His moonbeams can cast away the shadows in the room which will give us an advantage. From there, we can fight off the rest of the demons.. and then hopefully we can defeat Pitch.
Toothiana groans from her chains, and she raises her head weakly. With a defeated sigh, her head droops again.
Once we have all that done, we can free Toothiana.
I look to Emily Jane. There's no way she would help us- after all, Pitch is her father, even if he means nothing to her now. I know that if Anna turned bad I would never be able to fight her, no matter what she was doing. She's my family, after all. When everyone else believed me to be a monster, Anna never tried to hurt me, and she never gave up hope for me. Maybe that's how Emily Jane feels.
Nightlight raises his staff and light erupts from the tip illuminating the entire room. The light reflects off of the ice, casting rays of light in all directions. I squint from the brightness. I let out a sigh of relief when I see that the demons aren't replicating anymore.
"See, now this is fair," Bunnymund says.
"Couldn't agree more," I chime, feeling the dread lift off my shoulders.
"Let's have some real fun," Jack says with a grin.
Jack and Nightlight hold out their staffs, Bunnymund has his boomerangs at the ready, and I hold out my hands before me. I can almost feel Pitch's rage as he appears again, his eyes full of hatred and fury. I don't care anymore-
Ice erupts from my hands, piercing the demons. This time no more come back. Bunnymund chuckles, wiping out several of the demons at once with his boomerang. He hops around them, almost as though he's performing a dance with them. Jack and Nightlight fight back to back, hitting as many demons as they can.
The demons howl, melting away with each blast from us. Avoiding them is easy seeing as I can fly. Bunnymund, although on the ground, doesn't struggle much with avoiding them either. They seem to be slow at moving, obviously still a work in progress for Pitch. I have no doubt that it took a lot of time, patience and power to create these creatures. I wonder how long he's been making them.
I realise with a start that I've never been around Pitch with Olaf, or even Marshmallow, yet he says they inspired the idea for his shadow demons. Has he been watching me? If so, for how long? Was he watching me before I met Jack?
"Ain't so bad now, are ya?" Bunnymund says as his boomerang come back to his hand, destroying more of them.
By now, there's only ten demons left. Pitch has his hands clenched tightly into fists, staring at us through narrowed eyes.
He lets out a blood curdling scream, and the demons erupt into black dust. Panting, the four of us, and even Emily Jane, stare at Pitch. His breathing has become deep and heavy. A black staff appears in his hands and he grips it tightly, his grey-like skin turning bone white.
"I've had it up to here with you golden age immortals," he yells. "You have it all. You took away the dark ages- you took away their fear! You want to know what fear is like? I'll show you." The dust on the ground begins to shift, making its way into the centre, rising up like a massive wave, until it's level with Jack, Nightlight and I, and then it's above our heads. It tilts forwards, and in a split second I realise what's happening.
I thrust out my hand, and Jack and Nightlight do the same. The three of our powers hit the oncoming wave, It explodes, and then the room is silent.
Confused, I turn around- but I'm almost too late when I see what's happening.
Bunnymund has his back turned, as those the other two. Pitch wanted a distraction. He has his staff held up, and he screams out, and out of the staff emerges a jagged spear, pointed directly at Jack.
Everything seems to happen in slow motion.
Jack begins to turn, but I know he won't be able to stop it- so I do the only thing I can think of to stop it from hitting Jack. I fly in front of the oncoming spear. It pierces me in the stomach, and there's nothing I could have done to have prevented it. My powers couldn't have stopped it- no one could have but me. This was my choice.
A pain erupts like fire through my whole body. Blood gushes out of my wound, pumping so much blood that I'm surprised I haven't yet passed out. The fight isn't over yet, though.
I fall to the ground, and my body aches.
Pitch looks down at me in triumph.
"Father," says a voice. Emily Jane stands above me. She doesn't look angry, or happy. She looks blank. "You know murder isn't something I agree with. Enough. End this now."
Pitch lets out a cold laugh- oh, god. There's so much blood. My breathing becomes rapid.
"Elsa," I hear someone whisper. Jack is looking down at me, pain on his face. This was my choice.
Jack lands down, and kneels over me. His eyes look glassy, and he keeps shaking his head. Nightlight lands down beside Emily Jane, and Bunnymund stands behind Jack, twisting his boomerang in his hand.
"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way," Bunnymund says quietly to him. "Your choice."
I see the alarm in Pitch's face. Part of me believes he knew he was defeated from the moment we arrived. His mouth is slightly parted as he tries to think of something to say. He just shakes his head angrily. "You can't get rid of fear."
"No, but we can get rid of you," Nightlight reminds him.
"Never," Pitch says. "You'll never get rid of me."
Suddenly, Pitch is pushed against the wall by an invisible force. Emily Jane steps forward, looking coldly at her father. "I'm getting a little tired of your games, father." I realise that Emily Jane used her power to press him against the wall. The clouds around her shift, now looking like storm clouds. Her hair blows around her face, but I don't feel any breeze. "I think it's time you return back to your cell."
Bunnymund stomps his foot and a hole appears beneath Pitch. The force holding Pitch against the wall disappears and he falls down through the hole, bellowing in rage. It closes up again, and the room is silent.
"El, El," Jack chokes out. "Why did you do that? Oh, god. Can't we help her?"
Weakly, I raise my hand and take his. He looks at me through tear-filled eyes. He looks desperately back to Emily Jane for an answer, but she looks at him sadly, so he drops his gaze again to look at me. With effort, I give his hand a gentle squeeze, and tears begin to stream down his face as he gazes at me.
Bunnymund, although looking pained, steps back and goes to help Toothiana from the chains.
"Jack," I say hoarsely. My whole body aches. "It was my choice, okay?" He nods his head slowly. "T-tell Anna I lover her, please? She needs to know that. She needs to know that it was my choice too, all right?" My breath hitches in my throat and I begin to cough. I taste blood in my mouth and I make a disgusted face.
Jack wipes a strand of hair from my face and tucks it behind my ear. "You made a stupid choice," he sobs. "You should have let me get hit. I already lost you once, El."
I raise a hand to his cheek and I wipe away a tear. He holds my hand against his face. "It'll be okay, Jack," I promise him. "I love you, Jack Frost."
"I love you, too," he whispers. "I always will." He bends down and kisses me softly on the lips. We both know it's the last time we'll kiss one another. I relish the smell of him- a Christmas smell, like cinnamon, and pine. I memorize the way his lips feel against mine, and how my lips tingle and go numb. His lips taste salty from his tears, but I don't care. He pulls away, resting his forehead against mine.
My whole body begins to feel numb, and I can slowly feel reality slipping away.
"Take care of Anna," I tell him. "She'll need you."
"I will," he replies, his voice cracking.
My head becomes light and my vision begins to grow dark. Feeling too weak to hold it up anymore, I let my hand drop to my side.
I love you, I think before I close my eyes, knowing that that would be my final thought, ever.
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Please don't kill me.
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imma just leave now.
ahahahaha, hope you enjoyed.
one more chapter left.
love you all
please don't hate me omg
I did a bad thing... :L
Slán :)