Hello, sorry for taking so long, I've been swamped with both work and school, but I have no intention of killing this story. Before we begin I would like to get a few things out of the way. one, This chapter is going to be mostly exposition and character development, so don't expect any epic fights. Second, this chapter is going to contain a lot of flashbacks into the far past. I have never been much of a history buff so chances are more then likely that I'm going to get a bunch of stuff historically wrong. Just remember, the point is to give the characters depth, not to teach history, so I don't want a bunch of nit-pickers pointing out historical inaccuracies. On that note, we begin.
The Masked Guardian
Chapter 7 Secrets reviled
High over the frozen wastes of Antarctic, one of North's snow globe portals opened, it's mystical whoosh drowning out the raging winds.
"Why did you brrrr…bring us here mmmm…mate?" Bunny said, shivering.
"Safe house." North replied flatly.
"What safe house? We have a safe house?" Tooth said, surprised and confused. Sandy formed a question mark over his head. North didn't reply, instead he brought the sleigh down just outside of the Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova hut.
"This is the safe house?" Bunny said with distain. "Looks more like a haunted house." Again North didn't reply. Instead he crouched over and felt around in the snow.
"It should be here somewhere. AHA!" He pushed down with all his might, and the ground dropped, forming a ramp large enough for the entire sleigh and reindeer to enter. "Everyone in" North said. As soon as they were all below ground, North pulled a lever on the wall and the ramp returned to it's original position.
For a split second it was pitch black, (meaning devoid of light, not to be confused with the primary antagonist) but then dozens of torches lining the walls magically ignited, illuminating a long stretch of hallway that the guardians followed.
They soon found them selves in an underground bunker. Half of it appeared to be a meeting area. There was a globe-of belief with a circular couch surrounding it. The other half was clearly living quarters. there was a kitchen, a pantry, a stable for the reindeer, and a garage for the sleigh.
"Look at this place." Tooth said, surprised. "How long have you had this place.
"I had it built shortly after Pitch's last attack." North replied.
"Why didn't you tell us about it?" Bunny replied.
"Because until now we never needed it. I had this place built as last resort." North replied. While the other guardians bickered about North keeping secrets, Frost was still fuming. He stomped over to the glob and sat down, his every move full of rage. Seeing their friend like this, the other guardians stopped arguing and joined their friend.
"It's our fault you know." North said. Jack looked at him.
"He's right mate." Bunny added. "Were the ones who drove Lantern away. It's us you should be mad at."
"Well, in our defense." Tooth began, but was met with glares from the others. "Their right. We are the ones who pushed Lantern right into Pitch's clammy hands, but we'll get him back. I promise." Jack looked at Tooth.
"When you say, 'get him back' do you mean save him from Pitch, or get revenge on him?" Tooth was silent for a moment, then said, "Yes." Everyone laughed, even Frost.
At the now concurred North Pole, Pitch was over seeing the imprisonment of the Yetis, Loss and Lantern by his side.
"This is the happiest I've been since the Dark Ages," Pitch said with a chuckle 'and it's all thanks to you, my new friend." He patted Lantern on the shoulder. Lantern, however, was more interested in the boy everyone refer to as "Loss" The boy had not spoken a word since Pitch had made a directly request from him. Right now, he was sitting on a window sill, looking onto the icy wasteland.
"Pitch, you seem to have everything under control. Would you mind if I took a little break?"
Pitch didn't respond. He was clearly immersed with the subjugation of the Yetis and elves.
Lantern walked over to Loss and sat down next to him. For a while they were silent, then Lantern created a chocolate bar. As he unwrapped it and asked Loss if he would like anything; Loss replied with a small shake of the head.
"You are probably around the same age as her." Lantern said as he took a bite of the chocolate. Loss looked at him again. "I'd like to tell you a story, the story of how I became what I am today." Now he had Losses full attention.
"It was several hundred years ago. I was an orphan, working as a bakers apprentice. Back then, people were afraid of the strange and mysterious, and persecuted anyone who fit those criteria. However, while others feared the unknown, I was fascinated by it. I lost count of the number of times my curiosity got me into trouble, and one day it would change my life forever." Lantern paused, allowing for dramatic tension.
"One early autumn day, the town caught a woman they had accused of witchcraft, but the truly frightening thing was that the convicted 'witch' as just a little girl. She tried to reason with them, tell them that all she did was make an herbal remedy her mother taught her, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. She was to be burned at the stakes the following morning. Nothing about the scenario sat right with me. Besides the fact that they were sentencing a child to death, what really angered me was the towns narrow mindedness. If this child knew one remedy, what could her parents know, never mind the rest of her tribe. The things we could have learned would be invaluable. It was then that I decided to act." He took another bite of chocolate.
"That night, I disguised myself as a demon: it was just me in a black cloak with an animal skull on my head, and frightened off the guards, allowing me time to free the girl. At first she didn't trust me, but i eventually won her over with some sweats I had made earlier that day. She told me that she came from a tribe of druids, and that she had been separated from them and wound up near town. She had been caught using some of her tribes teachings to help an injured man, and was accused of witchcraft. After days of traveling, we finally found her tribe. They were beyond grateful. They taught me several of they herbal remedies, and invited me to participate in their upcoming Samhain celebration.
"'Samhain'" Lantern was truly surprised, Loss had actually spoken to him.
"Samhain' was a pagan holiday. Think of it as a primitive halloween. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to saver the celebration. No sooner had we concluded that we were ambushed by a band of witch hunters. It seamed that the village had figured out what I had done, and tracked us down. They were going to capture and execute the entire tribe, but I managed to save them all.
"How?" Loss asked softly.
"We were near a river, with only a single bridge crossing over it. Once the tribe was across, I set the woods on fire. I would have joined them on the other side, but I tripped on a gap in the planks and blacked out when I fell." Lantern paused and looked up at the moon.
"I would have perished that day, but someone was looking out for me that night. I woke up some time later. My head was killing me, but other than that I was fine. Everything around me had been reduced to ash, but I was completely unharmed: even my cloths or my lantern were unscathed. The moon said he saved me, but he didn't tell me why, and he didn't say anything else to me even again. After that, I was on my own. I discovered my powers through trial and error. Because my shapeshifting allowed my to be seen and interact with normal people, I decided to rejoin society. I changing faces constantly to ward off suspicion, and spent centuries expanding my mind and developing my skills. However, every October I made Samhain my priority. Not only have I kept the holiday alive for all these years, I also shaped it into the Halloween we know today. I was the one who started the traditions of costumes, trick-or-treating, and even the carving of Jack O'Lanterns." Lantern concluded his story by finishing the chocolate. No sooner had he finished when Loss asked,
"Would you like to hear me story?" Lantern looked at the boy, and nodded.
"I came from a country where war just never stops. I didn't matter who was in power, or how they got there, everyone would get angry and there would be more fighting. I don't know who did it or why. but one day, my home town was attacked. I was the only one to survive."
Loss paused, choking back tears. "For a long time I wandered, lost and scared. As I saw so much bad stuff happen around me, I lost all sense of hope and wonder. My dreams for the fighting to stop died, and all my memories were full of nothing but hurt. That's when I met Pitch. He told me about the guardians. How they're suppose to protect children like me and bring wonder, hope, dreams and fun. But it their job is to protect children, then how come some much bad stuff was happening to me, and so many others?" Loss was trembling as he spoke. Lantern put a hand on the boy's shoulder, and he calmed down.
"Pitch told me he could take me away from all those bad things, keep me safe and give me power; so I would never feel that way again. I accepted."
"Tell me, if Pitch succeeds in his plans, what will you do then?"
"Pitch said that we will become the new guardians. When that happens, I'm going to make it so what happened to me and my home never happens to anyone ever again."
"Funny. I bet many of the people who caused all that suffering wanted to do the same thing." Loss looked at him.
"I have seen many horrible things in my time, and nearly every one of them were caused by people with good intentions. I know that you have experienced terrible things, and it is always easier to blame others, but remember, no one is perfect, not even the guardians. If I were you, I would talk to them next time you see them.' And Lantern left Loss alone, quietly mulling this all over.
Back in his under ground lair, Pitch was admiring his globe; the lights were going out all over, and he could feel his power growing with each one.
"Enjoying the view?" Pitch turned, and saw Lantern stepping out of the shadows, the glow of his lantern strangely added to the already unnerving atmosphere.
"Very much." Pitch said. "I saw you and Loss having your little chat. I haven't seen him open up to anyone like that before. You must be very special."
"Speaking of opening up, how about you open up to me and tell me what your planing to do."
Back at the Antarctica safe house, the guardians were debating how to precede with their counter attack.
"We need to hit Pitch and his ankle biters hard and fast!" Bunny said.
"We don't have the resources to do that." North retorted. "Or have you forgotten that Pitch has taken all our bases?" Bunny grunted in a defeated tone.
"What we need to do if find out exactly what Pitch is trying to do." Frost said. Tooth was about to reply, when she suddenly looked toward the entrance and flew off without warning. Before the other guardians could even ask what she was doing she returned cradling one of her fairies in her hands, she was covered in snow and shivering like mad.
"Crikey mate, how did you get here?" Bunny asked. The little fairy squeaked franticly, but obviously none of them could understand her.
"She says that she fond a hole in her cage and managed to escape without being seen, but Pitch showed up and sealed up the hole before the others could escape."
"Well, at least you managed to get away" North said with a warm smile. The fairy then began squeaking rapidly again. Tooth translated.
"She say's they Pitch's plan." She said. She listened attentively to the little fairy. When she finished, Tooth dropped out of the air to her knees, a look of shock and dread on her face.
"Tooth. What is it?" North asked. Tooth took a deep breath and said, her voice shaking.
"Lantern was right. Pitch is planing to use the lunar eclipse to go to the moon. Once he's there he's…" Tooth pause, she looked like she was about to cry. She took a deep breath and continued. "Once he's there, he's going to kill Manny and take control of the moon."
To be continued
I hope you all enjoyed my latest chapter. I was actually planing on keeping Lantern's past a secret until a future bonus chapter, but this seemed like the better option. If you enjoyed it leave a review. See you next time.