Tooth knew the Burgess entrance to Pitch's air had been reopened following a discussion between him and Jack and was glad of the winter spirit's diplomatic efforts when she parted a series of fir trees.
There was the old broken bed over the dank pit that led to the sunless vaults Pitch called home.
Hovering over the rotten timbers, she flew up and dropped, landing heavily on them.
They cracked and disappeared into the darkness.
As she hesitated on the precipice, she fancied she could hear barely audible noises echoing up towards her. Voices, animal noises and distant laughter.
She shook her head fiercely to rid it of the auditory illusions (a favoured trick of Pitch's) and closing her wings, dropped into the unknown.
Using her wings to slow her speed, she eventually landed on smooth stone.
Walking down the short tunnel, the path opened into a vast circular space.
She shuddered at the atmosphere as well as the cruel looking cages that hung from the ceiling.
She knew what they had been used to contain before he had used them as prisons for her fairies.
Even though she couldn't see him, she knew Pitch was here.
This place was as much a part of him as his minions, the Nightmares.
His memories bled from every stone: bitter and cold, they rankled at her unwanted presence. She had no authority here.
Then, in a large, soft looking black velvet throne, she saw two pinpricks of light.
As she approached, trying to appear casual, they narrowed.
'You rather stick out down here don't you?' came Pitch's smooth voice.
'Hello Pitch', she said evenly.
'Spare me the pleasantries Toothiana', the irritated voice said, 'The only time you Guardians ever visit is when you want something'.
There was no longer any point in small talk.
Tooth unrolled the poster she had taken from one of the park lampposts and held it up to a thin beam of light coming from somewhere high above.
'What do you know about Candy Heart?'
Pitch leant out of the shadows for a better look.
He smiled unpleasantly and was swallowed once more.
'Only that she has a penchant for obvious aliases', he said, eyes continuing to gleam with amusement, 'I'm surprised you don't recognise her on that alone'.
'You know who she is?' Tooth asked, cautiously optimistic but aware of the boogeyman's penchant for mind games.
'We've never met in person but the sickly pink, hearts and angel wings do rather give it away'.
Tooth looked at the poster again, identifying the objects Pitch described.
It was if a veil had been lifted from Tooth's eyes and everything became clear.
How could she not have seen it?!
Maybe it was the alienating aura of the lair or Pitch's own dark influences but suddenly there it was, clear as day.
Then again a glamour wasn't exactly mind control: more a trick of the senses.
By choosing to appear as a human version of herself, Cupid had ironically hidden her true identity perfectly.
It was even worse than Tooth thought: if Cupid could be seen then that meant she had believers. Which meant she currently had an endless power supply at her command.
'How did you know?' she asked.
'I don't care what people look like Toothiana', Pitch's silhouette said, shrugging, 'I always know who they really are, unfortunately for them'.
'But why?' Tooth cried, looking disbelievingly at the poster, 'How could she do this?! Does she know what she's doing?!'
'My guesses are A) because she's bored, B) with mind control and C) she obviously does if she's managed to brainwash so many people', Pitch stated, ticking the reasons off his fingers.
He stood up from his throne and cracked his knuckles luxuriously. Tooth flinched at the noise and tried to calm herself.
Now he was fully visible, she had forgotten how much taller Pitch was when compared to her own petite frame.
'Instead of asking pointless rhetorical questions, why don't you go ask her?' he asked.
'I will but I need your help', Tooth said, 'You're the only other one of us who hasn't heard her song'.
Pitch stopped stretching and raised an eyebrow.
'Doesn't automatically mean I'm going to help you. Why should I?'
'She's taking control of everyone!' Tooth cried, 'She even got North, Jack and Sandy!'
She hadn't expected much from the boogeyman but even he knew what was at stake!
He had to!
Pitch however, seemed totally unconcerned.
'Still, she shouldn't be an issue for you surely?' Pitch said, 'An all-powerful Guardian? Much as I relish the idea of you suffering the slings and arrows of defeat, in your food chain, she's the equivalent of plankton'.
'It's not her I'm worried about', Tooth explained, angrily crumpling up the poster, 'It's the people she'll use as a shield. I know you can incapacitate them without hurting them'.
'Is this because I decided to help Frost at Halloween?' Pitch snapped, 'Honestly, you can't just come knocking at my door every time you find yourselves in over your heads! What's next? Murderous drunken leprechauns on St Patrick's Day?'
Tooth followed the shade as he began to walk down a twisting flight of stairs. She took to hovering when a step gave way unexpectedly and was swallowed into the bottomless pit below.
'Fine', she said, 'Look at it this way. Isn't it a little hard to scare someone under hypnosis?'
She nearly collided with Pitch's back as the implications swam through his brain.
'I hate it when you're right', he groused, 'But what's to keep me from suffering the same fate if I do hear her little ditty?'
'You and she both feed off equally strong and opposing emotions. Love can overpower many emotions but not fear. It's too important to the human mind'.
The staircase led to the platform where Pitch's globe stood, black and twisted but oddly beautiful with the numerous golden lights adorning it.
'But if what you say is true', Pitch surmised, 'then fear can't overpower love'.
'No. But it can weaken it', Tooth said, 'You can make the victims doubt if their feelings for Candy are real'.
'How sadistic of you', Pitch snickered, amused by Tooth's nonchalant analysis of human frailty. 'I always assumed you'd go in for the 'true love conquers all' nonsense'.
'True love does. Not obsessive adoration', Tooth said defiantly.
As Pitch didn't respond, she was forced to look away from his searching, yellow gaze. Even from a few feet away, it was like looking into the eyes of a predatory cat: primal intensity radiating from the dark pupils.
'What are you looking at?' she asked stiffly.
She suppressed a shiver as Pitch instantaneously closed the distance between them. His cool fingers turned her resisting chin to face him. His grey skin was illuminated by the glow from the globe making him look almost human. It disturbed Tooth.
'You're not just a pretty face are you?' he asked, pointed teeth gleaming beneath his thin lips.
'I'm a lot of things', Tooth said, removing Pitch's hand, 'Which is exactly what Candy's going to find out'.
'How ironic', Pitch commented, granting Tooth some much desired personal space, 'usually it's Candy that knocks teeth out, not vice versa. She's really ticked you off hasn't she?'
'Her job is to make people realise they're in love and make that feeling grow. Not to control how they feel for her own selfishness or plant false feelings where they're not wanted'.
She bristled at Pitch's sarcastic slow clapping.
'Bravo! Toothiana the champion of free will!' he said before darkly adding, 'Except where I'm concerned it seems'.
Despite her dislike of the boogeyman, Tooth felt the old pang of guilt resurface.
She and Manny had stopped restricting Pitch's powers in recognition of what Jack had told her the boogeyman had done at Halloween. But she knew it would be a sore spot for both her and Pitch for a long time to follow.
'I'm sorry about that but I was-'
'Just following orders?' Pitch interjected, 'Never heard that before'.
'Pitch, please', Tooth said, covering her face as she tried to push the unpleasant implications of the phrase from her mind.
'Please what?'
'Please help me', Tooth asked plainly, tired of mind games and banter, 'You want me to say I'm frightened. Fine. I'm frightened. You want me to say I need you. Fine. Pitch. I need you! Now are you going to help me or not?!'
She was so prepared to hear a mocking or negative response that Pitch caught her completely off guard with the one he gave.
'Alright then'.
'Just like that?' Tooth asked, her feathers unintentionally sticking up in shock.
'Are you complaining?' Pitch responded, idly examining his uneven nails, 'You're hardly the negotiator Frost was but I can't deny you must be desperate'.
'I'm just surprised you offered to help for nothing'.
'I never said that', Pitch smirked.
Tooth fought the urge to roll her eyes. He almost had her.
As if the boogeyman would ever do anything selfless!
'I just haven't made up my mind yet what to ask for', he elaborated,' Now I know how children feel writing to North. That said, I'm more than happy to work for the promise of payment later'.
He extended a long fingered hand.
'Do we have a deal?'
'Deal', Tooth said, uncomfortably aware that Pitch's hand felt warmer than it had been and that her admittance of fear likely had something to do with it.