Upon emerging into the memory, Tooth nearly lost her footing and switched to hovering.
The pilot light vanished into golden dust, its function finished for now.
She was surprised to find she was on a ship.
But not just any ship.
A huge golden galleon sailing through a sea of stars. A pale but unfamiliar moon shone to the starboard side and beneath the ship, there was a celestial current acting as a path for the ship to follow.
The boat flew the way a normal ship would sail on water, huge sails fluttering in a breeze.
Tooth laughed delightedly at the sight.
The entire scenario was impossible! But it was beautiful.
Sandy had often told her about the wonders of the Lunar Empire but it was something else to see it in person!
Around her, crewmen bustled about, securing rigging and moving supplies.
They wore pale blue uniforms with gold brocade, looking more like soldiers than sailors but they obviously knew their way around as they shouted orders to each other.
The memory was clearer than Tooth expected.
Sandy had told her that, as far he knew, Pitch remembered little to nothing of his former life.
But the small details, like the medals on some crewmen uniforms, were too clear for this to be a 'dead' memory. Perhaps Pitch sometimes remembered flashes or saw the scenes in dreams?
She made a mental note to ask him when they woke up.
A loud whistle attracted her attention.
A burly crewman was piping it and pointing into the distance.
The effect on the crew was electric.
Sacks were dropped from shoulders, crewmen playing cards leapt to their feet and weapons were drawn.
The burly crewmen stopped and piping and bellowed, 'General! We've got another one!'
Tooth turned to see who he was addressing and couldn't hold back a gasp of surprise.
Kozmotis Pitchiner was descending the stairs leading to the helm.
She shouldn't have been shocked by his appearance: Pitchiner was wearing the same outfit Pitch had worn when he had saved her from Sandy at the Tooth Palace.
But it was the way he carried himself. Pitch always walked slightly hunched despite his height, as if he were curling in on himself. Pitchiner strode confidently across deck with an easy smile.
A young boy followed in his footsteps, trying hard to keep up.
Pitchiner reached the crewman and opened up an elegant looking telescope. Once he had had a look at whatever had started the commotion, he passed it to the boy. The boy nearly dropped it to the laughter of the other crewman. A pointed glance from Pitchiner stopped the laughter. Tooths aw the boy's hands were shaking as he passed the spyglass back.
Pitchiner took it and said, 'Oh well. Can't leave it scuttling about can we?'
His voice was lighter than Pitch's and Tooth inwardly laughed this was probably due to the lack of sarcasm overload.
'No sir!' the crewman smirked.
'You know what to do', Pitchiner said and walked away, the young boy still in tow.
Tooth followed them into a cabin beside the stairs.
Pitchiner went to a cabinet and took out a brace of pistols. Handing it to the boy, who began to examine them, Pitchiner adjusted the central clasp on his chest that kept his dark blue cloak in place over his armour.
'You look worried', he said to the boy who jumped, dropping a pistol onto the floor.
Pitchiner picked it up before the boy could grab it.
'Sorry sir', the boy said dolefully, taking it back, 'I've never seen one of their ships in real life'.
'Well when you signed on as a cabin boy, you knew you'd see one sooner or later. Better sooner lad', Pitchiner said gently, 'I'm not going to lie. There are going to be plenty more'.
'But they're all saying the war is nearly over', the boy said, pausing in his preparation of the pistols.
Pitchiner took a sheathed sword down from where it was hanging on the cabin wall and began to attach it to his belt.
'And who's 'they'?' he asked.
'People back home', the boy responded, 'They all talk about you. They say you're winning the war single handed. That you can't be beaten'.
'How can I win a war single-handedly when I can't even get this confounded sword on with two hands?' Pitchiner laughed, untying the knot on his belt and beginning again.
The boy looked at him.
'Aren't you happy people are talking about you?'
Pitchiner didn't respond for a while.
'It's better than not being talked about I suppose', he conceded, finally managing to attach his sword, 'Pistols ready?'
The boy handed them over and Tooth, as well as Pitchiner, saw a longing in his eyes.
'Are you scared?' Pitchiner asked.
The boy stuck his jaw out defiantly but said nothing. Tooth could see the boy flushing with shame. She thought he looked a little like a younger Jack Frost.
'All I have is a slingshot', he said, 'They'll have swords'.
Pitchiner smiled fondly.
'It's not the weapon son. It's the warrior swinging it'.
'Well those Nightmares looked bigger than me', the boy protested, 'And that's from far away!'
'Doesn't mean they're better than you', Pitchiner said but then drew the boy close to whisper, 'They might be better than me though'.
'No they're not!' the boy cried, aghast, 'You're General Pitchiner! The best soldier ever!'
'Until the day I'm not', Pitchiner said, rubbing his neck with concern, 'I'd feel better having somebody watching my back over there. Could you do that for me?'
The boy saluted.
'I won't let you down sir!'
'It's going to be dangerous'.
'I don't care!'
'And you only have that little slingshot'.
'It's just the right size for me sir!'
Pitch ruffled the boy's hair and walked him outside. Tooth followed and saw the rest of the crew had assembled in formation. Each held weapons and stood to attention as Picthiner emerged. The cabin boy took up a vacant space in the front line as Pitchiner jumped onto the ship rail.
Tooth followed his line of sight and saw the enemy.
A vast black galleon, a darker mirror of Pitchiner's ship was swiftly coming towards them.
Tattered sails hung listlessly and eerie glowing lights shone like eyes in the dark. Tooth could see shapes moving on the deck. Black figures like living silhouettes with no two quite the same. The ship and crew were formed from living darkness. Tooth knew what they were: Nightmare pirates. Sandy had fought many of them; he described them as darkness made flesh, living only to bring misery and fear to others. When they had discovered the Lunar Empire, how could they resist it's light and beauty? They had plundered and destroyed the realm until finally beaten back by the Lunar forces. Beaten back by him and Kozmotis Pitchiner.
Despite the gravity of the situation, Tooth felt a strange thrill. Sandy's stories had always sounded like swashbuckling adventures. Now she was going to see one first hand!
Pitchiner turned to face his troops.
Pitchiner's smile was different now: the gentle empathetic smile for the cabin boy was gone, replaced with one showing nothing but exhilaration at the fight to come. Taking hold of a long rope from above, he pointed at the ship with a long spear in his other hand.
Tooth recognised the metal as moonlight steel. Sandy had shown her some fragments once he had kept safe but the small, shattered pieces had been a dull grey. According to Sandy, the metal had been magically created by the Lunar Tsars for their troops to destroy the Nightmare forces plaguing their kingdom. Each weapon held a sliver of moonlight that would burn any Nightmare it cut.
Pitchiner's spear looked almost alive. Its shaft was a soft gold engraved with glowing runes Tooth didn't understand. The light reflected along it, creating a rainbow sheen on the metal and it flashed like a beacon as Pitchiner raised it high.
'Lucky us!' Pitchiner said loudly, addressing his troops, 'A chance to bring the other prisoners in the Black Cells some company!'
Some men laughed nervously, some all too aware of the Nightmare ship now within firing distance of their own ship.
'Come now', Pitchiner said, still smiling, 'Just this morning you were all complaining how boring this patrol was. I go to all this trouble to find you Nightmares to fight and all I see are sad faces!'
Some more laughter. This time with some genuine smiles.
'Well, nothing for it', Pitchiner said, shrugging, 'More for me!'
He leapt from the rail and swung across to the other ship, yelling 'For the Empire! For the Tsar!'
The grandstanding had the desired effect. The cry was taken up all along the golden galleon and the battle began properly, Lunar soldiers following their General on to the enemy ship.
Having no need of a rope to get to the other ship, Tooth flew high above the melee and perched in the Nightmare ship's crow's nest for a better view.
The battle was fierce and Pitchiner was like a force of nature. Spinning and leaping around his foes, the spear was like a whirling dervish, slicing into their inky flesh. Tooth was an experienced warrior. She knew just by looking that Pitchiner could have easily disarmed or wounded the Nightmare crew without the flashy moves but realised just as quickly he wasn't doing it for his own satisfaction.
It was to make sure his men could see him. He was making it look easy on purpose, taunting foes and often letting his soldiers have the final blow. This included the young cabin boy whose fear now seemed all but forgotten as he used his slingshot to deadly effect.
Eventually the Nightmare crew was beaten, the sails of their ship so tattered and ruined they had no hope of escape.
The remaining ten crewmen were herded into a tightly knit circle on the main deck, their Captain now secured with golden chains of dreamsand.
He was larger than the others with only one white eye in his face. Like his crew, he was little more than a silhouette but bulky with the heavy weight of muscle evident in his shadowed form.
Despite his precarious position, he was smiling obnoxiously, one golden tooth gleaming amidst a maw of black jagged teeth.

Tooth flew down from her perch and stood beside some of Pitchiner's soldiers to get a better look at the scene unfolding.

'The mighty General Pitchiner', the Captain appraised as Pitchiner approached him, 'I'm flattered they'd send you for me'.

'Don't be. Happy accident that we ran into each other', Pitchiner said then turned to one of his soldiers.

'Take them to the ship then scuttle this vessel', he ordered.

'What's to be done with us then?' the Captain asked, twiddling his tendril like fingers in mock nervousness.

'Following your surrender, you will be tried for crimes against the empire. Then detainment at the Tsar's pleasure'.

'We come from the Void boy', the Captain smirked, 'Compared to that place, the dankest dungeon is paradise. The pleasure will be all ours'.

Pitchiner was unfazed.

'Maybe', he conceded, 'But it doesn't change the fact you'll never trouble another innocent soul ever again. And it doesn't change the fact that every soldier standing here today has seen you are not invincible. You are not frightening. You are beaten'.

Tooth saw the Captain snarl at Pitchiner's words and at the cheers from the Lunar troops that followed them. She saw the cabin boy smile, face streaked with dirt from the battle.
It was so strange to her: here was Pitchiner helping people be brave while all Pitch wanted to do was make them scream.

Pitchiner turned to his troops and began issuing further orders amongst his men.
The Nightmare Captain stirred as if turning away in disgust.
Only Tooth noticed the sharp edge that materialized in his fist.
The Captain stabbed upwards at Pitchiner and Tooth cried out along with another voice.
Pitchiner turned just in time to see the cabin boy get in the way of the Captain's attack.
The knife bit deep into the boy's back.
The boy's eyes widened. One arm tried to vainly reach behind his back before falling limply back to his side. He exhaled softly and fell to the deck. The hilt protruding from his back dissolved into nothing but Tooth knew instinctively the blade would still be in the boy's body.
The Lunar soldiers gave several cries of shock or anger. More chains were conjured and bit deep into the Captain, pinning him to the deck.
Tooth saw Pitchiner's eyes widen but he didn't move.
Blood was already starting to pool around the boy's still body, the black inky substance the hilt was composed of mixing with the red to stain his blue tunic. He wasn't breathing.

'You should be pleased General', the creature mocked, 'He didn't have time to be afraid'.

The creature laughed, its comrades joining in. Pitchiner continued to stare at the boy's body. The young eyes stared at the stars, the boy's soul in a place where he could not hear the cruel laughter.
Tooth barely saw Pitchiner move.
She didn't register what had happened properly until the Captain's head fell to the deck with a soft thump. It rolled in a semi- circle, stopped and burst into ash. The laughter of the Nightmare crew died as fast as their Captain had.
They stared at the pile of ash, already beginning to disperse in the celestial winds. Then they looked at Pitchiner.

'Now who's afraid?' Pitchiner asked coldly, holding his sword up to the torchlight. The black ash remaining of the Captain flaked and vanished as the blade's magic burnt it into nothing. Like his spear, the sword was moonlight steel as well.

'You promised us mercy!' one creature cried, flinching as Pitchiner's head swivelled at the sound.

'Following a surrender', Pitch said coldly, 'Your Captain had trouble understanding the concept. Do you?'

As one, the group of remaining Nightmares began dropping other concealed weapons amidst myriad pleas for clemency. Some fell to their knees and kissed the feet of their disgusted soon to be jailers.
For a moment Tooth thought she could almost see Pitch's eyes looking out of Pitchiner's eerily calm face.
Pitchiner ignored the bound creatures as they were herded away by the other soldiers towards his galleon. He knelt and closed the cabin boy's eyes. He straightened as a subordinate approached but gave no other sign he noticed the other's presence.

'Sir, the Tsar wanted the Captain taken alive', the man said quietly.

'I'm sure this boy's mother wanted him back alive', Pitchiner said sadly, watching as the boy was wrapped in a white sheet by two more soldiers, 'We can't always get what we want'.

'The boy did his duty Sir', the soldier said gently, 'He's a hero'.

'I'm sure that will comfort his mother', Pitchiner said bitterly, 'Like it's comforted all the others. Once again we return with a dead hero instead of a living son'.

Tooth noticed the soldier's confusion. Evidently this behaviour was not normal for the General.

'The boy knew the risks Sir. We all do'.

'I didn't even know his name', Pitchiner said, 'I forgot to ask. I never forget'.

'Everyone makes mistakes Sir'.

'I can't afford mistakes', Pitchiner snapped.

'Well there are some people, like the Tsar for example, who'd argue that killing that Captain was a mistake Sir', the soldier said gently.

Pitchiner turned to the soldier, his stare cold and hard.

'Then perhaps the Tsar should have come to get the creature himself', the General said, sheathing his still stained sword.

Pitch woke up in the jungle.
The heat immediately caused his shirt to begin sticking to him and he opened his top button to try and cool down. Exotic birds wheeled over his head and he squinted as his eyes tried to adjust to the noonday sun shining down from above.
The nearby sound of children laughing drew his attention.
As he turned in its direction, he spotted the little lilac hummingbird pilot light.
It jerked its head towards a dirt path and then cocked its head the opposite way.
'Oh I thought I would just enjoy the ambience for a moment', Pitch said sarcastically.
He didn't expect the bird to fly right at his head.
He ducked and the pilot light stabbed its beak insistently into his back.
He swatted at it and it flew slightly out of reach, once again gesturing to the track.
'Well if you insist!' Pitch said exasperatedly and he began to follow the hummingbird down the gently sloping hill.
The children's voices grew louder and Pitch was struck by a thought.
This was one of Tooth's memories. Did that mean if he was spotted it would change the memory?
He assumed not but regardless, he kept to the trees when he discovered the source of the laughter.
A group of five children, all girls, were playing beside a stream, one chasing the other four.
From their clothes, skin colouring and the jewels on some of the girl's foreheads, Pitch guessed he was somewhere in Asia. It wasn't an area he had visited very often: he didn't enjoy sunshine as a rule.
He picked up a nearby fallen fruit and cocked his arm back, ready to throw. The hummingbird jabbed him in the head.
'Ow!' Pitch snarled, 'I'm not aiming at the children you dodo!'
This seemed to satisfy the hummingbird who alighted on a plant and began to groom itself.
Satisfied he wasn't going to be the victim of any more avian dive bombing, he threw the fruit into the stream.
When no child reacted at the splash, he took it to mean his theory was sound: nobody in the memory would pay him any mind.
As Pitch watched the children, the designated 'chaser' tripped on a tree root and fell. Bumping her chin on the ground, she immediately began to cry. The other children stopped their games and clustered around her. Pitch saw the girl spit a small tooth out into her palm. She stopped crying, seemingly entranced by the sight. The other children began to smile and chatter excitably in an unknown language. One slightly older girl ran into the undergrowth.
As the other children helped the girl back unto her feet, the older girl returned with a lady in tow. She was not dressed in the same coloured robes as the others. Instead she wore a plain white dress and went barefoot. The only colour she wore was a vibrant rainbow coloured feather woven into her long dark hair.
Pitch identified her as a priestess of some sort: women who walked around woods barefoot with feathers or twigs in their hair usually were. The feather was also definitely familiar. Briefly he wondered if the priestess was perhaps Tooth before she became a Guardian but discounted the theory almost immediately. He would know if it was her.
The girl who had fallen, scraped knees evidently forgotten, ran forward and showed the lady the tooth. The lady smiled and took the tooth, examining it like a precious jewel.
She nodded in approval and the little girl beamed, a noticeable gap doing nothing to diminish the joy in the smile. Taking a small silk bag from a pocket in her robe, the lady placed the tooth inside and hung it from one of the low branches. She whispered something gently and bowed her head as if giving thanks to an unseen deity. She finished and walked away, the children following like a line of ducklings. As they left, each one gazed longingly at the lonely looking bag until they had all vanished into the undergrowth.
Even though he was fairly sure they wouldn't be able to see him, Pitch's stealthy instincts told him to wait before approaching the clearing. The memory was one of Tooth's. Which meant she had to be nearby or she wouldn't have the memory of the event.
A couple of leaves falling from the canopy above and a subtle creaking of branches told Pitch he was indeed not alone in the clearing. The hummingbird took flight and faded away into a sprinkling of lilac dust.
A small figure in a hooded dusty looking robe athletically swung down from a branch. A thin face peeked out from the hood, eyes fixed on the bag containing the tooth. A dainty hand reached for it, the sleeve of the robe sliding up the arm to reveal feathers coating the limb. Then the bag was snatched and the figure, who Pitch now knew to be Tooth, was gone, leaping back into the safety of the trees.
Pitch broke cover and gave chase, his long legs on the ground easily enabling him to keep up with Tooth. After what seemed like an age of stumbling, bursting through bushes and swatting insects, the jungle finally opened out to a large cliff face above a vast canyon.
Ahead, the younger Tooth ran towards a large structure.
It was a stone temple, cracked with age and overgrown with vines. Huge carved statues flanked the temple's arched entrance above a set of steps. They had been female figures once but their faces had been long eroded by weather. The remains of feathered wings rose from their backs and they were decorated with carved headdresses and jewellery.
Pitch followed Tooth up the steps and entered the temple.
It was pleasantly warm with areas of sunlight shining through windows cut into the rock.
Tooth threw off her cloak and revealed her usual bright plumage. Examining her back, Pitch saw her wings were much smaller in relation to her body. That explained the travelling by foot.
Tooth entered the main chamber of the temple and Pitch as amazed (much like how Tooth had been by his garden) that the antechamber was covered in flowers. The floor, nothing but bare earth, was a natural garden that had spread (seemingly through lack of regimented gardening) throughout the chamber, climbing walls and the pillars supporting the roof.
As Pitch watched, Tooth opened the bag and took out the tooth.
Like the little girl and the priestess, she smiled at it, turning it this way and that, examining it closely.
Then, deciding she had studied it enough, she dug a spot in the earth and to Pitch's confusion, she dropped the tooth into it. She covered it with earth and held her hand on it, then closed her eyes and began to sing.
Pitch smiled when he heard the tune: it was the same one she had used to help them enter the mindscape. It was truly an old favourite then.
And to Pitch's surprise, in this place at least, it was also magical.
As Tooth began to finish her song, a small green shoot appeared from the covered hole and grew within seconds into a plant bearing several beautiful, fully formed pink flowers. Several were also black and withered and some did not seem to have opened yet.
Tooth opened her eyes and gently plucked one of the open pink flowers.
Holding it tenderly, she walked back to her cloak and slipped it back on, being careful not to drop the flower. Once she pulled the hood up, she left the temple again, walking back towards the jungle.
Pitch, amused by the thought of being Tooth's 'shadow' followed her back to the village. The journey was longer this time as Tooth, obviously protective of the flower seemed to have decided that travelling through the treetops at speed was too risky.
As a result, it was dark by the time they returned to the streamside. The full moon above at least provided good light for Pitch's decidedly less nocturnal eyes.
He followed Tooth into the undergrowth and emerged in front of a wall formed of wooden stakes.
No doubt this was the village the children and the priestess lived in.
Pitch watched Tooth boldly walk in through the open front doors, unnoticed by the two guards standing watch and begin to walk between the numerous one level huts. Evidently her hesitancy around humans didn't extend to those that couldn't see her.
She found the hut she was looking for near the back of the village. Peeking into a window, she used a wooden box to climb inside. Pitch watched her at work, as he had done so many times before.
The little girl was asleep on a pallet beside her parents, mouth slightly open with her gentle breathing. Tooth knelt down and placed the flower beside the girl's thin pillow where it wouldn't be accidentally crushed by the girl while she slept.
As she knelt back, Pitch saw Tooth catch sight of the girl's parents. She looked at them for a few seconds and he thought he heard the barest of sighs from the frail, robed fairy.
Then, quick and silent as a zephyr, Tooth came back out of the window into the night.
As Pitch watched her vanish into the darkness, he realised the memory was ending. The landscape was dissolving into darkness around him. Still, he tried to keep the little bobbing figure in sight as long as he could before his real eyes opened.

Tooth and Pitch both regained consciousness simultaneously.
Tooth let go of Pitch's hand and waited patiently.
She remembered how full of questions she had been after her first session. She knew what memory Pitch had seen and the same would be true of him. She wanted Pitch to ask her questions so she could ask in return. She had nothing to hide and there was nothing Pitch could use later when he became 'himself' again.
'That temple didn't look like the Tooth Palace', Pitch said.
'It wasn't. It's where I was born', Tooth replied.
'You lived there alone?'
'Yes'.
'The statues looked a lot like you'.
'The daughters of the sky used to live there and humans carved those statues to remember them'.
'Aren't you one of them?'
'Not exactly', Tooth conceded.
Pitch looked at her and Tooth took the cue to elaborate.
'The daughters were an ancient people. They protected the jungles from evil and the people worshipped them but after a while, the people started to forget them. You already know what happens to creatures like that when that happens. So to make sure they didn't die completely, they made me to keep their memories alive. It took everything they had but it worked. I woke up and knew what I had to do'.
'Collect teeth?'
'Yes. The daughters were the original guardians of the memories in teeth. They'd always been given teeth by the people of the villages in the jungle so I just kept collecting them in the bags. But the villagers couldn't see me: the belief in the daughters wasn't strong enough anymore. They had become a superstition like – well…'
'The boogeyman?' Pitch said sardonically.
'Wasn't going to say that', Tooth said.
Pitch changed the subject, sparing her having to come up with an alternative.
'Why couldn't I understand the people in the memory?'
'Back then I didn't understand the language. It took me a while to learn it'.
Pitch nodded.
'Well that's my abridged life story', Tooth said, 'Now I have some questions for you'.
Pitch waved a hand in invitation.
'That memory was clearer than I expected. How much do you actually remember about Pitchiner?'
'Bits and pieces', Pitch shrugged, 'Sometimes they flash up like déjà vu. Mostly I just ignore them'.
'What's the earliest memory you have?' Tooth pressed.
'Let's just say a long time after what you saw there', Pitch said.
'Do you remember anything about the Nightmare War?' Tooth asked. Obviously Pitch wasn't ready to let her in that door yet.
'Classic good versus evil conflict, if you buy into such umbrella terms', Pitch said dismissively, 'The Lunar Empire fighting the forces of the Nightmare King for control of the galaxy. I'm sure there's a movie like it somewhere'.
'And Pitchiner was a general in the Lunar army?'
'Yes. If you could call it an army'.
'What makes you say that?'
'Because what good is a soldier if he can't kill his enemies?' Pitch scoffed.
'In the memory', Tooth said, 'the Nightmares were being taken to a place called the Black Cells. A prison?'
'The reason the Nightmares gained so much ground in the war is because the Tsars were too merciful', Pitch explained, 'They insisted on wanting to understand the Nightmares when there was nothing further to understand. So instead of killing them, they captured them and tried to make them see things from their point of view'.
'It didn't work?'
Pitch raised an amused eyebrow.
'The fact that I exist is proof it didn't. While the Tsars were busy trying to make friends with and influence creatures that had no interest in peace, their troops paid the price. For every Nightmare galleon captured, the Nightmares destroyed three Lunar ships. Eventually the Tsars got the hint and defeated the Nightmare King, cutting the head off the enemy forces'.
'What was the Nightmare King like?'
'Full of himself, prideful and utterly convinced of his own superiority. Stop smirking'.
'Sorry', Tooth said, trying to put on a straight face.
'You'll doubtless get the rest of the story as we proceed. At least it sounds like you're already past Pitchiner's awkward teenage phase. I've got yours to look forward to'.
'Well, we'd best wait for a couple of hours', Tooth said, 'The first session takes a lot of concentration so we should take a break before going again'.
'I feel fine', Pitch said, 'You're not tired are you?'
'I don't think so but there can be some side effects from these sessions', Tooth said, standing up.
'Side effects?' Pitch exclaimed.
'Don't worry', Tooth said, 'They're always minor'.
'Well fine print always is isn't it?!' Pitch said indignantly.
'Look, the only side effects I've ever had are my eyes changing colour for an hour afterwards and my voice deepening by an octave for the better part of a day', Tooth said, 'That's it. Besides, as we keep going, the sessions will go faster'.
Pitch seemed to be reassured.
'Your voice dropping an octave? That would be amusing', Pitch smirked, 'Though it would ruin the singing'.
'You thought my singing was nice?' Tooth teased.
'You were better than I thought', Pitch said, stretching, 'Well if we're going to have a break, would you like a bath? Provided it doesn't affect these little henna tattoos'.
'Don't worry about them', Tooth said, 'Now we've started the sessions, the ink won't fade until we're finished. Speaking of which, look'.
Tooth pointed to the dot she had inked inside the web on her hand and Pitch saw it had moved from the outer border of the web to further inside it.
'That memory of Pitchiner means we're on the first step towards getting you back to yourself'.
'Not a moment too soon', Pitch said and began to walk back up the stairs, Tooth following.
'So, why do you have a bathroom anyway?' Tooth asked, 'You're mostly shadow aren't you? So no need for baths'.
'Doesn't mean I don't enjoy them', Pitch said, 'Besides the hot springs were here when I moved in. I just built them into the lair's design'.
'Hot springs?' Tooth laughed, 'A garden, a library, guest bedrooms. What's next? Stables?'
'Well, I have to keep the nightmares somewhere', Pitch said, opening another large door.
The chamber was gloomy but balmy.
In an odd way it made Tooth nostalgic: it felt like the jungle she had grown up in.
'Hold on. I need to cool this water down', Pitch said, 'There are candles if you want some light', Pitch said, walking into a side room.
Tooth began to methodically light the candles, enjoying the way the light reflected on the water.
Every room in the lair seemed to be huge. It was beginning to put Tooth in mind of an ant farm: curving tunnels leading to countless uniform chambers.
The hot spring was a pit in the centre of the room, bubbling and steaming. The candles ringed the pool, save for a set of stone steps leading into the water. There was a shelf cut into the rock that held jars and sponges. A stone chest sat open near the water's edge with soft towels nestled inside folded neatly. Tooth shook her head: Pitch truly was full of surprises.

In the side room, Pitch placed his candle into a wall mounted lantern. There was a rock platform holding several bottles of bath oils and a floor length mirror on the wall. He located the thick knotted rope dangling at the back of the room used to add water from another underground source and pulled it. He was rewarded with the sound of rushing water and a cry of surprise from Tooth in the main room. As he turned, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and paused.
It disturbed him how much he didn't look like himself.
He felt unarmed. Toothless. The shadows he was constantly surrounded by were more than an extension of his powers. They were a shield. A portable safe haven. A weapon.
They were everything that made him who he was and now they were beyond his reach.
He touched the alien yet familiar face and wondered who that left.
Suddenly he felt a pain in his head that intensified as soon as he focused on it.
It was like a million insects buzzing between his cranial walls.
His eyes were pounding and the lullaby was so loud in his brain he could feel it pulsing behind his eyes!
He cried out in pain and knocked a container of balm to the floor where it shattered. He lurched to the door frame and braced himself against it.
Why was it so hard to think?!
Tooth, finished with the candles, saw his posture and concerned, came over to him.
Pitch's head was bowed, his breathing uneven. One hand gripped his hand and the other hand's knuckles were white from gripping the door frame.

'Pitch? Are you okay?' Tooth asked.

When there was no response, she touched his shoulder lightly.
Pitch's breathing calmed and he raised his head to look at her.
His eyes widened and he grasped her shoulders.

'Woah! Hey!' Tooth cried in surprise.

All of a sudden, Pitch's arms were around her and she was being pulled closer despite her attempts to pull away. Pitch's eyes were unfocused. He was smiling but it was too serene: like the smile of someone having a pleasant dream.

'Serafina?', he said softly and began to lean in.

'He's not going to-', Tooth began to think but then noticed Pitch's lips pursing, 'Woah! Okay! He's going to!'
Her eyes darted around frantically as she continued trying to break his grip on her.
There was only one option: she hoped it would be enough.
Jamming her left hand over Pitch's mouth, she bent her knees slightly. Her touch made Pitch stop for a moment and stare dumbly at her.
'Sorry about this!' Tooth said and leapt upwards, her wings flapping to carry her into the air.
Pitch's grip was broken due to her sudden take off. He stumbled for a few steps, swayed comically for an overlong moment then fell backwards into the cloudy, steaming water.
Tooth flittered back to avoid the splash.
Pitch surfaced quickly, gagging as he slicked his now sodden hair out of his face.
His clothes clung to his slim frame as he waded to the side of the pool, his pale skin flushed from the heat of the water.
He took the towel Tooth offered him and wiped his face.
'Sorry. Again', Tooth said, offering him her hand.
Pitch ignored it and climbed out of the pool, avoiding her gaze.
'I suppose I should be grateful I didn't lose another tooth', Pitch said, 'But I'm curious about what I did to merit the dunking'.
'You umm…that is…you had a flashback of some kind. It's one of the side effects I warned you about'.
'What did I do?'
'You were babbling about not being able to get your sword belt tied', Tooth lied, 'I tried to grab you but you ended up in the water'.
'It's one way to get a bath', Pitch said, wringing his shirt, 'I'm going to get changed. There are towels in the chest once you're done'.
He left the room quickly, closing the door behind him.
As Tooth lowered herself gratefully into the warm water, she felt guilt gnawing at her.
Yes she had lied to Pitch.
But it had been for good reason.
He was already on edge. No need to complicate things with quirky romantic mishaps caused through magical meddling.
Still, the intensity of the flashback worried her. He had become Pitchiner for a moment, existing in another point in time. She would have to keep an eye on him until they were done.
She leant back, idly wondering about this 'Serafina'. Maybe a later memory would have an answer.
It was nice to think that Pitch, even in another life, may have had someone he had cared about.
Maybe she and Pitch weren't so different even though he pretended he didn't care about his solitude.
Talking about her own early years had brought up old feelings Tooth thought she had forgotten.
The feeling of wanting to belong. Of being an outsider. Of not having someone to talk to. To laugh with. To kiss…
She didn't bother trying to kid herself that the resultant blush and warm feeling inside her chest were to do with the heat of the water.

As she dove beneath the surface, trying to clear her head of potentially treacherous thoughts before the next memory session, an unseen spectator slipped away, keen to relay all that it had learned to its master.