Author's Note: Hello, everyone! I'm so sorry for the late chapter. My mom, sisters, and I headed to the mall and didn't come home until way after five (and this is mainly because i thought I left my phone at the bookstore when it was actually in my coat pocket the whole time. I felt so dumb. QwQ)
I can't come up with anything else to say other than this chapter is pretty short (it's been a long day TwT), so I hope you all enjoy it. =')
- Chapter Eight -
No Turning Back
Pitch stared at his globe. Next to him stood Onyx, his most cherished Nightmare. He stroked her mane thoughtfully as he gazed at the thousands of little lights flickering on the Earth model before him. The Boogeyman's lips pulled back into a fiendish smile.
Soon, he thought. All these lights would be snuffed out like candles.
Onyx's ears twitched and she pranced in place, whining suspiciously. An unearthly wind blew through the dark room. Time slowed until Pitch felt as if he were sinking through tar. Turning around, he saw the Lord of Time. Billows of mist pooled out from underneath his road. His beard shifted and curled in the air. The man's expression was solemn.
"Time," Pitch greeted curtly. He did not appreciate the man's intrusion, but he did exist between all reality. He couldn't have stopped him even if he tried.
Father Time gave Pitch a nod. "Black," he returned. His form flickered and waned. It was then Pitch realized that he wasn't completely there. But his mere presence still affected the atmosphere around them.
"I cannot stay long," said Father Time. "But I came to enlighten you. It has been done. The Guardians have been transformed into children."
Pitch's diabolical grin returned. "Perfect," he purred. He continued stroking Onyx's mane. "They didn't put up much of a struggle, did they?"
"I exist between space and reality," Father Time explained. "Even the most powerful of immortals wouldn't be able to detect me. They had no idea I was even in the room."
Even Pitch, the Nightmare King, was awed. What I would do with that kind of power… He could paralyze people with fear, and they wouldn't even sense him. The Guardians wouldn't be able to stop him, for they would not know where he was when he struck.
If only the Battle of Burgess had played out differently. If he had the cosmic power that Father Time possessed. But such a fantasy was futile now. He would get what he wanted in time.
"Pitch Black."
Pitch was pulled out of his musings, and his amber eyes lifted to Father Time. For a moment, the man appeared to be bothered, but his expression quickly changed to that of inquisitiveness.
"If I may," the Lord of Time began. "I am not certain what this has to do with getting revenge on the Guardians. Why not avenge directly? That is what you have always done. Are you not the Boogeyman?"
As polite as his tone was, Pitch felt nothing more than flashing fury. Even Onyx snorted nervously at the feeling of her master's sudden change in demeanour.
"I thought you were smarter than that, Time," Pitch growled. The Boogeyman stared at the Time Lord, stepping closer with each word. "The plan is as simple as what you have reduced the Guardians to. Eventually, your tampering with their hourglasses will become permanent. They'll be stuck in their child forms. Their years will catch up with them. Then they'll die faster than a worm withers in the sun."
They were face to face now, Pitch's expression taut with rage. Father Time kept his composure, but even he was disturbed.
"Jack will be crushed," Pitch continued. He pulled away from Father Time, twirling Nightmare sand in his fingers. A single silhouette formed. It was slender with spiked hair and carried a crooked staff. "And when he comes to avenge them—"
Pitch clapped his fist over the lone figure. Father Time stiffened.
"I'll annihilate him him," Pitch said with terrifying simplicity. His eyes brightened with malice. "I'll kill five birds with a single stone."
Father Time's eyes narrowed. "This is not what we agreed on," he said. "The Guardians' influence carries a heavy weight on the children. If they were to suddenly disappear—"
"Have you forgotten what they've done to you?!" Pitch roared. Father Time recoiled. "How they used you for centuries without acknowledging you at all? As they grew more and more powerful, you slipped further and further into the shadows. How can you defend that sort of action?"
The Lord of Time looked at his feet. His mists cowered away from the shadows.
"...Forgive me, Pitch," Father Time said. "I had forgotten my goals. The Guardians have received all the attention they need." He looked up, blue eyes flashing with fury. "It's our turn to rise."
Pitch smiled with satisfaction. Ah, Time. You're just like the others. So caught up in your own desires that you don't realize what's in front of you.
"Good," the Boogeyman said. He turned back to his globe. "I will alert you if any progress has been made."
With that, Father Time flickered away. In the darkness, Pitch's grin widened.
It will never cease to amaze me…how even the most powerful can be so easily manipulated.
