Hello guys and Merry Christmas! Sorry this is late, between school and my kids, I have been super busy. Plus I had a major writer's block. But enough about that! On to the sto-

Wait, let me crush something real quick. If I don't update in awhile, sending me a email telling (demanding) me to update the fics is not going to get me to do it faster. I was really upset when I check my mail thinking I got some review about my story or maybe some type help to make it better. Instead I get private messages about updates. I have a life that unfortunately does not revolve around Fanfics. I'm a mother of two and I'm going to school full time. When I have time for myself, I'm trying to relax and get ready for the next day. So please don't pester me about updates. Respect that I have to put priorities first.

Laryn had a skip in her step as she ventured down the crimson hallway. Her cloak swayed around her tall, naked body each time her feet hit the velvet carpet. The Obyrith was deep in her thoughts.

'This changes everything. With the Nightmare King in an enchanted sleep, it may be time for my kind to rise again, to take back what was rightfully ours. But the question is... will our Lord do it?'

Laryn stopped in front of a heavy black iron door. She knocked on it once before pushing it open. Fire licked up the walls are she traveled across the stone floor, reaching the raised dais. Already there were people in the area.

Two more of her ilk stood in the front, both males with thick, muscular bodies. Between them was a cowering male in a blue suit; a human.

Laryn snickered. Humans were either cowering or admiring their power. Back in the Olden times, before Pitch Black, humans would sacrifice their family and friends just to get a taste of that power. To have it all back...

Laryn turned her attention back to the conversation at hand.

"...and I did what you asked, I planted the bomb at the UN and set it for the time when they had the meeting." The human said.

"And it went off just as planned," a dark voice interrupted. "Leaving behind a few unimportant representatives and you, the Secretary-General of the UN."

The human nodded before continuing, "Yes, officials are trying to find a leader for this time of crisis and they have nominated me. Elections will commence in 2 days."

The figure in the chair before them all hummed thoughtfully. He suddenly stood up and stepped out of the shadows. Heavy boots tapped against floor as he continued gliding down the small four step staircase. His navy colored robe swayed slowly as he reached the bottom. He towered over the human male, staring down at him with glowing red eyes. His right hand came up and caressed his short grey beard for a moment as he thought.

"You will continue on as I have instructed. For now, pretend you do not want the position, but are only doing it for the people. Once you are in command, we will go from there."

The Secretary-General nodded his sweaty head, "Yes, my king."

The ruler was about to dismiss him when the human began to speak. "My king, I beg pardon but...my family? You said you would help me get them back?"

Laryn rolled her eyes. Humans are so demanding, always questioning everything...

The King looked at the man with a frown, "After you get elected-"

"BUT YOU SAID YOU HELP ME AFTER I KILLED EVERYONE! I DID AS YOU TOLD ME! I HAD TO WATCH MY FRIENDS DIE IN THAT EXPLOSION! YOU CAN'T JUST-ugh!"

Burning claws wrapped around the hysterical man's throat, and smoke began to pour out of his mouth. The demon's eyes narrowed.

"You dare to argue with me? Who has given you all and everything when you had nothing? When your wife left you, and when you were about to be voted out of office? It is I who has gotten you this far, AND YOU DARE TO ARGUE WITH ME?!"

He threw the human down to the ground, staring at the mortal before calming himself, taking a deep breath and taking a step back, "After the election, you will report back to me immediately. Not before the election, not after your little 'Congratulation' party. Immediately when they say your name..."

With that, the guards grabbed the Secretary-General by his arms and dragged him away. Laryn watched in disgust.

The demon returned to his seat and beckoned Layrn to approach. She strolled over quickly and kneeled until he commanded her to rise.

"Layrn, my faithful servant. How was your walk around the mortal world?"

The demoness rose from her position and gave her master a grin, "It was dull for most of the morning. I watched humans scramble around with their meaningless lives. However, I came upon Death with an unusual group of cohorts."

Her ruler hummed a bit, "Death you say? Haven't seen him for a century or two."

"He was with Eros-"

He interrupted her, "Eros? Well that's no surprise. Those two have been hanging around each other so much, I would think they were married. Continue..."

Laryn nodded. "Both were with the Man in the Moon's Guardians."

The ruler began to chuckle, "Little Manny's Guardians were with them? Well, isn't that interesting. Confusing, but interesting. Where were they located?"

"In the forest outside of a town called Burgess. The group was not alone though."

The demon raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Who else was with our merry band?"

The other smirked, "Pitch Black..."

Jack wandered about the workshop, chewing on the toast he managed to snatch from a Yeti. The other Guardians were either still asleep or still at their homes, leaving the winter sprite a bit lonely and bored. He would have bothered North's helpers, but they were currently busy with Christmas toys.

He looked at the door which lead to the room where Pitch Black and Death were. For most of the night, Jack couldn't sleep knowing that the enemy of the Guardians and Death himself was within the vicinity. He didn't feel comfortable knowing that Death was here and could easily killed them all.

The Guardian of Fun stood before the door, before sighing and gripping the handle. 'Yep, it's locked...' he thought. He turned around to leave, only to yelp as Eros stood before him, "Busy, kid?" Jack placed a hand on his chest to try to calm his rapid heartbeat, "What are doing here? Wait, did you already create the antidote?"

Eros quirked a brow. "I'm not a miracle worker, child, no matter what they say. So no, I did not. I came to check on Death and to make sure he has not killed you all."

Jack frowned, "Yeah, well good luck getting in. Death locked it."

The Lord of Love stared at the door for a second before sighing and leaning against the wall, "Well, nothing to do but wait for him to come out."

The winter sprite looked at Eros before sitting on the floor and finishing his toast.

Five minutes went by before boredom set in, and Jack wanted to ask questions.

"So how long have you known Lord Death?" He asked.

Eros looked down at Jack, "Well, he's been around for a long time. Gods, when exactly did we meet?" The blond haired man looked up in thought as he tried to remember, "I think we met when Rome was still young. There wasn't a government for them yet I believe, and I was still learning how to separate love from lust in a person."

Eros continued, "I was actually trying to get this couple to finally get married, and I succeeded. Unfortunately, the day of the wedding, the bride stepped on a viper and she was poisoned. Didn't even make it to the altar."

"So," Jack began to ask, "Did you kick Death's butt?"

Eros looked back down at Jack with an arched eyebrow, "Are you crazy? He was carrying a huge ass scythe when I met him. But I did yell at him about taking the young girl's life. All he replied was that it was her time. I don't remember much about that incident, but I do remember being quite cross with him for a couple of years. We decided to bury the hatchet due to an event and remained acquaintances, then became friends later."

"Wow. So, was he always like this? So cynical?" Jack asked.

The other spirit sighed and sat on the floor, "Do you remember how you were when you first appeared? Your attitude, your look on life?"

The winter sprite thought for a minute or two. He did remember. In the beginning after his birth, he was happy. But after a few decades or so of no one seeing him, he was actually depressed. A couple of times he was angry that other spirits had someone or was able to be seen by humans while children continued walking through him. It was only recently that he learned to be content with making the little ones happy, even if he was invisible to them. Even with becoming a Guardian, there were still some emotions left over from his years of being ignored.

Eros looked back at Jack, "I'll take your silence as a yes. Every spirit goes through that, even the Guardians, even if they don't show it," He unfolded his arms and begin to rub his head with his hand, "Hell, when I was appointed Lord of Love, I was shy but enthusiastic. I wanted to spread the feeling to everyone and everything. But as the time goes by and you begin to see the world as it really is, it can take a lot out you. Sometimes people do not get their happily ever after. And sometimes love is not enough."

Jack was still quiet as Eros continued, "Death, he...well, personality-wise he has changed, yes. When I first met him, he was mean, cruel and yet had compassion that was rarely seen. Back then he wore his heart on his sleeves around those who he considered friends. But now..."

Eros bowed his head. Jack could see a few tears leaking from his eyes, "There was a war, so many things changed, and it's like I don't even know him anymore..."

"ARCHEON! YOU NEED TO HOLD STILL! EROS, HOLD HIM! HOLD HIM!"

"IT'S YOUR FAULT DAMN, IT! YOUR FAULT I'M LIKE THIS!"

"I'm sorry-"

"NO YOU'RE NOT SORRY! HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT YOU! I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

A hand reached out toward him, only to be slapped away.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Death gasped as he awoke from his slumber. He breathed heavily as he sat up straight in his chair. He began to calm down and slowly let his eyes adjust to the darkness. Death then remembered where he was and what he was doing.

The specter looked at the sleeping figure lying in the bed. He slowly grabbed Pitch's hand again and squeezed it, sighing.

Death suddenly got up and reached for his mask. As he placed a hand on it, but paused as he heard a familiar voice. He walked over to the door, and opened it to find the backs of the Frost boy and...

"Eros? What are you doing here?"

The spirit looked up quickly and jumped to his feet, "Ah, Death. I was just coming to speak with you. How are you feeling?"

Death sighed behind his mask. Of course, "I...did not have a good sleep. I apologize if I seem a little...cranky."

Before Eros could comment, the door across the room opened and North and Tooth entered the hallway. Tooth looked up and saw the three conversing.

"Lord Eros, you're here?" She inquired.

Eros closed his eyes to steady his emotions before opening them, "Yes. And no, I did not find the antidote, so don't ask."

Tooth frowned and North interjected, "Then why are you here? You should be doing your work like Mother Nature commanded!"

Death growled, "Don't tell Eros what to do! He knows what Mother said and he will get to it. Besides, don't be hypocrites! The Frost child and I are the only ones who have been doing our duty. What have you been doing?"

"We wanted to make sure everything was taken care of back at our homes." Tooth replied.

Eros interrupted, "That's no excuse. Mother Nature said that your jobs are obsolete and are not required. That means as soon as you got here, you should have begun guarding Pitch!"

Jack walked between the shouting pair, "Enough! We don't need to be arguing. We need to work together. You heard the old guy from last night. This is a major crisis and the last thing we need is to fight when we could be helping Pitch."

There was silence, and then...

"Out of the mouths of babes..."

Jack looked back at Death with wide eyes. Eros meanwhile rubbed his temples to stop the headache that was forming.

"Who will guard Black next?" He asked tiredly.

Tooth flutter forward, "I guess I will. It will be for a couple of hours, right?"

Jack nodded along with Death. North stroked his beard, "Then I will wait for Bunny and Sandy, then we switch."

Death turned to Eros, "Was there something you wanted to discuss, Eros?"

Eros' eyes widened as he remembered, "Uh, yes," he turned to North, "Do you have a room where we can converse privately?"

North frowned, "Yes. This way."

The three men left, leaving just the fairy and the winter sprite in the area, "Jack, did you get a good night's sleep?"

Jack looked at Tooth, who was again wringing her hands, "I...I slept okay."

"Good. I haven't been able to sleep a wink, what with everything going on..."

Jack nodded and hugged her to give Tooth comfort, "It will get better. Somehow it will. How are the Mini-Fairies?"

Tooth pulled away from Jack, "I left Baby-Tooth in charge of her sisters. They are fine but if anything happens, I told them to come here."

Jack gave her a small smile, "We'll get through this, Tooth. I promise."

The Guardian smiled and cupped Jack's cheek. She leaned down and gave him a kiss on his forehead before fluttering into Pitch's room.

As the door closed, Jack watched as North came from the other direction. Bored and wanting to know more about Eros' relationship with Death, he headed to the private room.

"What do you need to speak of?"

Eros looked at Death. "How are feeling?"

"I already told you-"

Eros cut him off, "No, be honest. How are you really feeling? About this situation, about...Pitch?"

Death folded his arms and huffed, "Why do you care?"

Eros copied his form, "Because I know the truth. I know why Father Time really sent you here. I know why you said those things at the summit. I know how you really feel about-"

"THE PAST IS THE PAST, EROS!" Death yelled as he got into the other spirit's face.

"A past you seem to be running from. Don't forget, I was there when everything happened. What you said, who you said it to, who you hurt..."

Death's shoulders fell, "I know, I know, but I cannot allow it to interfere with my life."

The spirit of Love grabbed Death by his shoulders, "It is though. No one can see it but me. You've changed since that day."

The other pulled away from Eros and folded his arms, turning his back to him, "What do you want me to do, my friend? It's too late for me... for us. And I doubt he feels the same way about me."

Eros placed his hand on his friend's back, "Archeon... you won't know until you try."

Death turned his head at the forbidden name. The name he once held before he abandoned it, "That's not my name anymore. You know that."

Eros pulled away, "Right, that man is dead."

"Eros-"

"I have to go. I have a potion to finish. Just...remember what we talked about, please. I care for you, my friend. This is not about the rest of the world. This is about you and Pitch. I just want you both to be happy."

Death gave a mirthless chuckle, "Didn't you say not everyone gets a happily ever after? Besides, he is currently lying in the bed waiting for his true love's kiss."

With that, Death walked to the door and pulled it open, "And after what I said to him, I doubt I'm his anymore."

Death walked away from Eros, heading to the big door leading outside. The spirit watched his old friend leave the workshop before he sighed, "How much did you hear, Frost?"

A groan came from behind the couch before the winter of sprite slowly got up and walked over to Eros with a bright blush on his face, "Ummm...everything."

Jack suddenly found his chin grabbed roughly by the other, forcing him to look into the other's narrowed eyes, "I trust you will keep silent about this?"

The young Guardian nodded, and his face was released. He rubbed his chin as he continued to watch Eros prepare to leave, "Wait, what was that all about? How does Death know Pitch? What are you all hiding?"

Eros looked back at the sprite, "A lot, actually. Which is none of you or the Guardians' business."

"But whatever it is, could it help Pitch wake up right?" Jack asked.

The taller spirit stared at Jack, making him feel self-conscious, "Why do you want Pitch to wake up?"

"Because he can help us save the world. Mother Nature said that the world needs fear and-"

"And what, Frost? He fixes the world and everything goes right back to the way it was? Don't forget why he took the elixir in the first place, child." Eros growled.

Jack pulled away, "But what about-"

Eros folded his arms, "Look at it this way. Death acts like he doesn't want Pitch to awaken. Why?"

The young sprite frowned, "Because he wants people to die?"

Eros smirked and shook his head, "He could care less about that. No, it is a selfish and yet at the same selfless reason. A reason not mine to tell. Think about it. You seem smarter and more open minded than the rest of the Guardians. Think outside the box." With that, Eros disappeared, leaving the smell of sandalwood and cut roses in the air.

Jack quickly caught himself when he realize he was nibbling his lower lip. It was a bad habit he caught from Tooth and didn't realize it until he saw her doing it the same time he did it.

The younger Guardian walked over to Pitch's room and opened the door, spying Tooth sitting in the large chair with a book in her lap. She looked up as Jack entered the room.

"Is everything alright?" She asked.

He shook his head at the other Guardian, "No, I'm more confused now. I just want everything to make sense."

He stood in front of his bookshelf, chin in hand as his servant continued her story.

Pitch Black had drank the Sleeping Beauty elixir, putting him into a deep sleep for the next half a billion years. The Guardians and Death were charged with protecting him while Eros tries to create an antidote.

It was utterly hilarious.

"And so I think we should go and kill the Nightmare King when he is weak and unaware."

He quickly turned around with a smile still on his face, "Laryn, my dear, that's no way to treat a future ally and guest. I thought I taught you better..."

Laryn blushed deeply before speaking, "Of course, my Lord. But shouldn't we exact vengeance on him? Make him pay for the suffering he has caused for our people?"

He chuckled at her enthusiasm, "Laryn, Laryn...so bloodthirsty and eager. I love that about you," He turned to his desk and grabbed the bottle atop it. He poured some of the crimson liquid into two glass tumblers, "I'm going to be honest with you, my dear."

He passed her one of the glasses while he begin to drain the other, "Yes, Pitch had a hand in your defeat. But it was your mistress, our 'beloved' that in reality led us to our downfall. She was like you, so eager, ready to challenge the changing forces of our world. If she had waited, if she had taken the time to watch and discover weaknesses, we wouldn't be having this conversation. So if you want to blame someone, blame her."

Laryn blushed again, "Yes, my Lord. I'm just looking out for our people."

He sighed and continued speaking, "You have to understand. We shouldn't kill Pitch Black. We should invite him in, as a comrade, as one of us. Do you know what he does for the world?"

"He controls fear?"

"Yes, he does. A talent like that? It is beautiful. I was so impressed and yet disappointed when I found a creature like that existed, and yet all Manny was using him for was to scare children away from creatures of the night," The demon laughed bitterly, "It's a pathetic, a waste of potential. I had offered Pitch a place by our side once, but maybe the offer was too soon. He didn't know that Manny would replace him with these...'Guardians'. In a way, I feel sorry for him."

He finished his drink before turning back to Laryn, "Here's what you are going to do. You take another with you. One that is fast. I want you to keep watch on the shop. Have them report back to me when and if something important happens. I don't want this opportunity to slip past our fingers."

Laryn placed the glass down and bowed to her master, "It shall be done, my Lord."

The other smiled and walked up to her, "Please, you have my respect now for bringing this event to me. Call me Malacoda..."

Hopefully I can get a new chapter up early next year. Before the next semester comes up. After the month of March, I'll barely be online because of my Graduation project. So until next time...