Author's Note: Hello everyone and welcome back to "The Winter Child!" Sorry for the bit of late update; I was spending time with some friends after school (virtually, of course ='D). I was laughing so hard, that my stomach is actually quite sore now- XD
I don't have much to say other than I hope you guys enjoy this chapter so...I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! XD
~ LXV ~
Drowning in Darkness, Part Six
Find the book
Find the spell
They found it
But their worries weren't quelled
For the only way to remove the darkness
That plagued Jack within
Was to allow it to take control of him
With no restraints laid
...
Aster, Tooth, and Sandy searched and searched Ombric's extensive library for the spell they needed. The library in Big Root was very large, but they had been there enough to know where most of the spellbooks were kept.
Still, this didn't make it any easier to locate the needed book for Sandy's spell. In order to retract the Fearling resting within Jack, the Sandman needed to perform a very specific enchantment. Of course, dreamland was involved, and Sandy knew that it wouldn't be much of a struggle. But he hadn't done such an extraction in years, so the process was a bit hazy in my mind.
Sandy didn't want to risk anything when removing the Fearling from Jack, so he decided to find the book that contained the extraction spell needed, just so that he didn't accidentally hurt Jack if he did the process wrong.
Time was of the essence, so the three did their best to hurry. Even though Jack had a seal protecting him, Pitch's Fearlings were wild and unpredictable. Tooth sighed as she closed another one of the many spellbooks that lined this section of the library's shelves. They still hadn't found the book they were looking for, and her worry was only beginning to climb. What if they never found the book? What if it wasn't even here? Tooth shook her head and placed the book back on the shelf. She had to stay positive. Things would be fine, Jack would be fine. All they had to do was find that book.
"Ombric said that it'd be here," said Tooth. She looked at the others. "But I haven't found anything so far."
"There are several spellbooks in here. Even someone as genius as Ombric can keep track of them all," Aster said, setting another book aside and opening another one.
"Too bad there isn't a faster way to search for a book," Tooth mused, pulling another book from the shelf, hoping that this one would be the right one.
"We'll find it soon enough," Sandy's dreamland flashed over his head. At least, that's what he hoped. The three were deeply worried for Jack, especially with the knowledge that Pitch had his eyes set on him. None of the Guardians knew what Pitch wanted to do with the boy, but if there was one thing they all knew, it was that they weren't going to let the Boogeyman get to him.
For all they knew, the Fearling within Jack could be spying on him. Or, Pitch might want to use it to lure Jack to his hidden lair. The Fearling, though mall, had forced Jack to cause serious destruction in North's home. If the snow sprite had managed to get outside…the Guardians didn't want to imagine what would've happened.
Tooth flipped through the pages of her book, her bright eyes skimming over the words as she fluttered through them. When a particular heading caught her eye, she stopped sifting and examined the page closely. As she read through, her feathers twitched with glee.
"I think I found it!" Tooth proclaimed. Sandy and Aster were immediately at her sides. Tooth had paused at a chapter called "Spells of Extraction."
"Well this looks promising," said Aster. Sandy nodded in agreement, and Tooth flipped through the chapter until she found one that spoke of Fearlings and their ability to possess. On the page next to it was a spell with all the steps needed to remove a Fearling if it managed to gain a hold of someone.
"This is definitely it," said Tooth happily. As she read through the page, taking in the information had to offer, her wings began to slow in beat as she stumbled across something on the page.
"What? What is it?" asked Aster.
Tooth let out a breath. "And just when we thought all our problems are solved…" She pointed at the bottom of the page.
The Pooka and Sandyman read the sentence at the bottom of the page. Sandy's glow flickered. Aster's ears flopped against his head.
The spell could only be performed on someone who was under the control of the Fearling. Jack would have to be possessed by it in order for Sandy to remove it.
…
North soon returned with Jack's stew and, despite saying that he wasn't hungry earlier, Jack swallowed every last drop. With his stomach full, Jack felt the weight of that day's events finally settle on him, so North kindly tucked him in as he drifted off. The dreamsand seal pulsed against Jack's chest as North ran a hand through his hair. The young snow sprite smiled in his sleep. North swore that he wouldn't let Pitch near his precious boy.
A knock came from downstairs, and North assumed it to be the Guardians. They must've found what they were looking for at Ombric's, so North went downstairs to find out what they had uncovered, leaving Jack alone to rest.
Jack breathed softly as he slept on. He was so exhausted, that he didn't feel the shift in the atmosphere as the room darkened around him. The shadows grew longer, and the sun from outside cowered away as Pitch rose from the corner of Jack's room, where most of the darkness gathered. Silently, he glided over to Jack's bedside. A malicious grin tugged at his lips.
"My oh my, you have since I last saw you," Pitch drawled. His fingers hovered over Jack's white hair, nightmare sand curling at his fingertips. The Fearling inside Jack shifted, and Pitch could feel its restless movement. The Guardians and Santoff Claussen were led to think that their forest and village were empty of Faerlings, but Pitch had managed to sneak in a furtive few that kept to the shadows, only creeping out at night to give him reports of the happenings inside of the magical town.
This was how he was able to learn of Jack's plan to leave the village, and he planned to capture him once he set out. But learning that Jack had an accomplice—a young boy no less—Pitch had to make a few changes to his plan…and he, frankly, liked the second one more than the former.
He knew how much Jack cared for his friends, and he'd put himself in harm's way just to save them. So, using young Jamie as bait over the lake, Pitch was able to get Jack to fall right into his trap. If things had gone his way, he would've corrupted the boy right then and there, but Jack proved to be stronger than he appeared.
A Fearling still managed to embed itself within Jack before he could reach the surface. It only acted on Pitch's command. He could make it make Jack do anything he wanted…like attacking the Guardians and his friends.
Pitch's lips curled with anger; he thought he'd corrupted every last snow sprite. All of that hard work only to have one slip through his fingers.
During the years he was in exile, Pitch had sent his remaining Fearlings out to spy and patrol the Tsardom. One had managed to slip into Tsar Lunar's palace, and it had overhead confidential information that it immediately report to Pitch. What the Guardians didn't know was that a snow sprite was to become the next Guardian of Childhood when he came to the age of seventeen. It was said he would be Pitch's end, so Pitch went out of his way to rid of every last one. What now made up most of his Fearling army were snow sprites who had been consumed by his darkness.
Pitch was sealed away and defeated by Tsar Lunar and his army, and as he recollected his energy, he felt no trace of a snow sprite. When he made his return, Pitch expected it to be an easy and quick sweep of Lunslruna…only to be completely taken aback by the discovery that Jack was still alive.
Instead of turning the boy into another one of his Fearlings like the rest of his kin, Pitch decided to use him as a weapon. He knew the power that Jack possessed; he had watched it through the eyes of the Fearling that resided within him. With Jack, he could shock Fear into all of Lunslruna, and take it over far quicker than using just his shadows and nightmares. He would become his Darkling Prince, and together, they'd take control of the entire Tsardom, cloaking it into a world of eternal cold and dark.
This would surely crush the Guardians; Jack was their child after all. How crushed they would be to find that their boy had turned to the dark. The thought of their anguish sent ecstasy rolling down Pitch's spine.
The Boogeyman's fingers curled with nightmare sand. They sparkled ominously, and Pitch lowered his darkened fingers, ready to corrupt the boy when there was a flash. Suddenly, his fingers burned with pain. Pitch recoiled and hissed, caressing his flaming fingers as he looked at Jack, who hadn't even twitched.
There, lying on his chest was a glowing seal of dreamsand. Pitch had seen these seals worn by children who were plagued with nightmares. They wore them around their necks to protect them from any Fearling or Nightmare that threatened to overtake them. It protected them from the darkness, which meant in his current position, Pitch couldn't do anything to Jack as long as that seal was on him.
Pitch growled, but, he still had one last trick up his sleeve. He summoned another fearling and pointed at the shadows.
"Wait here until I give you my command," Pitch ordered. The Fearling bobbed its head and dove into the darkness. Pitch felt a diabolical grin crawl onto his face.
The only way to remove the Fearling inside of Jack was for him to be under its control. Once the Guardians removed the necklace, Pitch would strike.
They would never see him coming.
"Soon," Pitch whispered to the sleeping boy. His amber eyes narrowed. "Soon, you will be mine."
Then he sunk into the shadows.
Author's Note: *Sighhhh* Pitch, ya really have to be such a pain in the butt, don't ya? =/
Anyway, I hope you guys this chapter, and I hope to see ya'll in the next one!
Until the next chapter!
~BeyondTheMoon1203
