I wish I knew the guest that left the review wishing they were Alice because I send lots of hugs towards you. Bless you. Bless you all. :)

Things...are about to get interesting. Heh, they kind of have been since the beginning, hasn't it? Anyway, here's chapter twenty two. And hey! April Vacation is coming up for me so maybe over break I'll be able to sit outside by the coast with my laptop and write some more. :)

Chapter 22

During the visit to the Lair

Sadie sat on the floor of the living room, her Friday night homework strewn around her in an organized manner. Luckily her teachers didn't pile too much work on her, and history was always an easy topic, but nonetheless it took up a good two hours of her time, where she'd rather be doing something else. Screw science, she thought as she finished the last formula. Her backpack lay with it's zippered mouth open, her sketchbook and collection of H6 to B6 pencils tempting her to draw.

Sadie looked up at the clock near the kitchen stove, moving long, light brown hair out of her eyes. 8:09 PM.

She knew her sister and Pitch were out, she just didn't know when they'd be home. But nonetheless, she wasn't too concerned. It's not like Sadie is going to burn the house down. Her only plans for the night was to finish her homework so she wouldn't worry about it over the weekend, maybe get a nighttime snack and then watch Netflix until she fell asleep on the couch. Since Alice was gone, she wouldn't be there to gripe for eating Ramen on the sofa. Sadie smirked at that after stuffing her binder and two stickered folders back into the patched backpack and turned on the television.

Just as she started up her favorite movie, Crooked Arrows, and headed towards the kitchen to quickly heat up some oriental ramen noodles, a light tapping came at the sliding glass door. The sound was almost untraceable, like a gentle knocking a timid child would make as to not disrupt someone inside, but she heard it. Sadie turned at the sound, and saw Sandy standing close to the door, his breath frosting the glass and so close his curled shoes were almost pressed against the door.

Her smile broadened at seeing him, but then fell at his expression. He looked...fearful. She quickly ran over to the door and slid it open. Sandy jumped in before she opened it wider than seven inches, and began frantically mouthing to her and signing.

"Whoa, whoa, Sandy," she gently touched his hands, "Calm down. I can't understand when you go very fast. What's wrong?"

He took a few frantic breaths and started over, They're coming. The Elders. You need to hide or something! I can't leave with you because they know I'm here.

"Wait, what's going on?" Sadie felt fear drop into the bottom of her stomach. Now she wasn't so hungry for Ramen now.

Sandy, with wide eyes, glanced at the door quickly before grabbing her hand and running towards the right door that led to the stairs of the attic. Sadie quickly followed him up, and the sandman made sure to close the door behind them. Hopefully they wouldn't go looking for them up there, because there was no lock on the door. No bolt, nothing. The only thing that could keep the Elders from looking up there is if they made no sound and wished that luck would be on their side.

"Sanderson, you need to tell me-" Sadie started, but Sandman covered her mouth with his hand, holding up a finger to let him talk and to not make a single sound.

Please, from now on, do not talk, and do not make a sound. We have to pretend we aren't here. You can sign to me, that's it. They cannot know we're here.

Sadie nodded before signing back, Tell me what's going on. Why can't they know?

The Elders found out about Pitch and Alice, how he broke the rule. They found out after Father Time saw me with you-

Sadie's eyes widened and she sucked in a silent gasp, Wait, how?! We were alone, right?!

Kind of. He sees every life through the hourglass...I guess it was bad timing.

YOU THINK?! Sadie's sign language could've actually screamed in fear if it were voiced aloud.

Father Time, Mother Nature, Grim Reaper, and Destiny are the Elders. You know what they do, right? Sadie quickly nodded, allowing him to continue, They make sure the spirits follow the rules of the Man in Moon along with their own duties. There's only a few rules, but they're so easy to break that they have the duty to keep the balance between the world of humans from the world of spirits. The rule Pitch broke was to not fall in love with a human, one of the extremely serious ones created. The last and first spirit that made that a rule was Cupid. He was the cause of so many children on Earth being born with magical powers-

Like wizards and witches? She asked, stunned.

He nodded, before continuing, As punishment they buried his heart deep into the recesses of the Earth's core and forbid him from seeing his lovers ever again. He had to give up his spirit form, and his firstborn would be the heir of the Cupid line. After that, Man in Moon made sure that spirits knew the boundaries crossed with humans. We could not form strong bonds like what Cupid did, but he knew that because the power of the Devout Bond is stronger than what some thought, he knew something like this would happen again.

What's going to happen to Pitch? Alice will be so heartbroken if he's gone forever! She loves him!

Sandy embraced her in a hug, trying to keep her from sniffing or making any sad noise. Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes, stinging slightly. She pulled away, What's going to happen to you?

I don't know...I don't think I'm in trouble...yet. I think it's Pitch because he's gone breaking this rule without getting caught for five years. I don't know what's going to happen-

The sound of the sliding glass door opening made them both freeze, like marble statues. They struggled as to not make any noise, for they knew that it wasn't the sound of Pitch and Alice coming home.

"You saw him go in here? No one's home." a dark, almost demonic and echoing voice stated.

Sandy looked at Sadie and mouthed, Grim Reaper.

"Don't doubt me, Grimmauld. She was home…" an elderly voice trailed off, obviously troubled.

Father Time.

"They're still in the house. Why else would the T.V be on? Look, food is still left on the counter."

"Good eye. Check the rooms."

The two womanly voices Sandy couldn't distinguish. He's never met Destiny before, but he knew Mother Nature fairly well. She often kept herself well hidden from others and wasn't known to make appearances. She kept to herself and those she trusted most, and was very neutral to things. During the Nightmare War and other spirit wars ahead of that, she always made sure to stay out of it. The only time she's ever assisted in a war was when the ten plagues were brought onto the land of Egypt when the Pharaoh would not free the Israelite slaves. Sandy knew that she was Pitch's daughter and from the same Golden Age era as him, and back then slavery was unheard of, nonexistent. Everyone was free, and when she came to Earth and saw people bound against their will to servitude, that destroyed her faith in humanity. After cursing the land of Egypt with the ten plagues, she vowed to never interfere again.

He couldn't blame her. He would feel immense pain and guilt knowing that among the horrible, evil people, that the innocents who did live among them suffered, and no doubt she felt that pain. He was glad he wasn't in her shoes. That made him wonder how she dealt with the slavery later in the world...she must've really suffered. No wonder she sheltered herself away from humans.

Doors opened downstairs, and the sound of shuffling made Sadie's heart flutter faster and faster in fear.

Pitch...please, if you can hear me...or sense my fear or something...help me! Sadie frantically thought, hoping her thoughts would somehow be delivered to him.

A sudden bark of laughter erupted downstairs, followed by Father Time asking, "What?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Just this movie playing." the Grim Reaper chuckled, "Pfft...Chewie. Heheh!"

Sadie snorted back a giggle, and immediately Sandy slammed a hand over her nose and mouth. The look of utter terror...it reminded her of their predicament. She flopped. She made a noise. And it got them caught.

"I heard it. They're upstairs."

Now Sandy recognized that voice as Mother Nature's.

Sandy quickly turned Sadie to face him, and hurriedly kissed her right as the door to the attic opened. Tears streamed down Sadie's face as Sandy turned around with a stony, determined face and drew out his golden sand whips. He's not giving Sadie to them without a fight. He knew they'd use Sadie as leverage...and he's not letting them lay a finger on her.

Mother Nature was the first to appear from the creaky wooden staircase, her black ebony hair flowing around her as if she was underwater. Her dark green dress looked as if it was woven by leaves. Sadie would've considered her very beautiful if she didn't have such a hard expression, her mouth pursed together with troubled thoughts and her eyes clearly focused elsewhere.

Once she saw Sandman standing guard in front of Sadie, she stopped, her eyes widening in surprise. She's never seen Sandy like this before…

"Good Sandman, why are you protecting her?" she asked, and behind her appeared Father Time, Destiny and the Grim Reaper.

Destiny glowed a vibrant white, her face hidden behind a silver, metal mask with ancient runes etched into it. Her shock white hair was almost as long as Mother Nature's, but unlike Pitch's daughter, she wore a body suit of the same white as her hair color. The Grim Reaper didn't carry a giant scythe like Sadie thought he would, or at least not now. He did have a tattered hood over his head, but she could see his eyes staring right into her soul. Red...and absolutely terrifying. His eyes were red as the molten lava of active volcanoes. He wore no expression like Mother Nature, maybe a bit more sinister and pissed off than the others. He wore dark, almost obsidian armor and he had a light stubble on his strong jaw. Maybe without the hood hiding his hair and shading part of his face, Sadie would guess he looked to be just six or seven years older than her, at least in appearance wise. Father Time looked exactly like she thought he would. His long, white beard nearly touched the floor, and his hair on his head was braided since it was so long. He wore loose, light blue robes and a dark scarf. A wooden, almost gnarly hourglass was grasped in his withered hand, as if he fashioned it himself without cutting off any excess twigs or live leaves. The sand itself inside it seemed to pulsate with life, a glowing color of sky blue.

I'm sorry, but you can't take her. She's under my protection, and I vowed that no danger would come to her. He stared at each of them hard.

"Oh, but we can," Grim said darkly, "She may be under your protection, but you have your oath to the Guardians and MiM himself. You'd be wise to back down."

"She's coming with us until this matter is settled for good." Destiny chimed, her voice ringing with many other voices hidden into it.

Sadie stared at them, and then back at Sandy. He was dead serious. He's not going down without a fight. If anything that terrified her more. She couldn't bear the thought of Sandy being beaten to the ground in her name. From what it seemed, they weren't going to hurt her in any way. They were going to hold her with them until Pitch came and confessed of his crimes…she was going to be used as bait.

She didn't realize by then that Grim snapped and was now shouting at Sandman to get out of the way before he sends him straight to Hell. Mother Nature flinched at the booming voice, and Destiny glanced at Father Time to see if he would allow Grim's behavior to keep going like that.

Just as the Reaper finished his threat, Sandy flung his left whip to wrap around the forearm of the spirit of Death, and yanked him so close their noses touched. Never has Sadie seen a vicious snarl on Sandy's face…

"You're not touching her."

Everyone's eyes widened in pure shock, even Sadie's. That was not Father Time who said that. Not Destiny. Not Grim or Mother Nature.

That was Sandy.

For a long time Sadie thought he never spoke because he was a mute, but that wasn't the fact at all. Along with his gift of being a spirit, protecting the children of the world and blessing those with dreams, he could not speak one word, or everyone in the entire world, from human to even the mice hidden in the sewers of vast cities, would wake up from their sleep instantly. For hundreds of centuries, he spoke not one single word in order for those to get their sleep. It was easy for him...he wasn't known to be quite a talker before his time as a spirit anyway...but the Reaper was threatening him of his Devout Bond, the one that Sandy held close to his heart.

He loved Sadie. He sacrificed his vow of silence to warn the Reaper that if he dared hurt Sadie...he'd destroy him.

He loved Sadie so much he woke up the entire world.

Sadie's heart stopped at the sound of his voice. It was just like she imagined in her dreams...warm, almost musical and sweet, but in cases like this, strong and determined while still retaining the warmth and musical tone she would hear when she dreamed. His voice was like the voice of the archangels above…

Grim's ferocious look in his red eyes lowered to utter surprise. He's never seen Sandy like that...no matter what came across the man. He and Sandy weren't always on the best of terms, probably because sometimes he would claim the lives of humans as they slept peacefully...even if he did it in the favor of humans so they would not be in pain, Sandy hated it.

But always, had they held respect for each other. No matter their different views, they never fought.

The sinister expression softened, almost soft hearted in a way. The spirit of death nodded, showing true sincerity, "I promise, I will not."

"S-Sandy," Sadie's voice wavered as her tears now started falling down her cheeks.

Sandy let go of Death's arm, and turned around to the girl. He cupped her cheeks in his hands, gently wiping away tears only to have more be replaced.

Do you remember that night on the porch? How I promised to never leave you again?

"Y-yeah," Sadie cried, nodding slowly.

Sandy smiled and kissed her forehead, I'm making up for my absence. And I'll say my vow again. I will always be with you, protect you, no matter what happens. You are the star of my life.

"S...S...Sandy…" Sadie cried, feeling weak against the gentle tug of Mother Nature's hands on her arm.

Sandy gently smiled and nodded, It's going to be okay. I'll go get Pitch. You'll be fine.

"Sandy, wait-" Sadie began pulling on Mother Nature's and Destiny's grip, wanting one more hug from the dream spirit, "Sanderson! I...I love you."

Sandy's eyes widened at that, and just seconds before the Elders pulled Sadie into the blinding light that Father Time conjured, away from him, she saw his eyes fill up with tears.

With the sound of thunder from Father Time's disappearance, and once they were all gone, Sandy fell to the floor onto his knees…

And cried his heart out.