getting closer :) will something save him from the fade or will it go through? be honest, are you guys liking the new characters?
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Thursday
The glow from the sunset shinned down on the Eiffel Tower. There had been many times he had met Pitch here. He didn't know why this was a place they had decided to come after he had disappeared many times in the past. Jack was here before the sun actually went down just so there was no chance that the shadows called Pitch yet. He needed time to think. He was also waiting on his next guest.
"You're smart, coming early so the shadows won't call on him yet." He turned, not surprised this time. A woman stood next to him with long brown hair and bright honey colored eyes. She was beautiful. Just like the picture in the locket Pitch hid away deep in the cabinet in his room. The only reason Jack had seen it was because he had broken past Pitch's wall. The only other person who knew what she looked like was Bunny.
"It's nice to meet you, Emily." The golden band sat on her hand, one that had a match beside the locket. Standing beside him, was the wife of the Nightmare King. She leaned against the railing of the tower in her golden dress. It was definitely one from the past, a flowy dress almost like a summer dress he has seen.
"It's nice to talk to you, Jack. I've been waiting for the day to speak to the boy who brought my husband back to the light." Jack couldn't help the small smile on his face. It wasn't that much of a shock to still hear love in her voice when talking about Pitch. The stories Bunny had told him about Emily and Pitch were ones straight out of a love story. They had love at first sight and never parted until their last meeting.
"There's only been a few stories told about you, they don't speak about you much." She laughed before turning to him. She had been watching the boy since he saved Pitch. She was thankful to see her husband finally out of the nightmares that trapped him for so long. She never blamed him for not being able to fight them. She still loved him.
"I've heard I am a sensitive subject. I wouldn't blame them though, it was a happy time that they feel they can't go back to. You let them feel happy again." Jack smiled before leaning beside her. He had so many questions and unlike the other two he actually wanted to talk to her.
"Is it true that Pitch and Bunny's father were best friends before he became the nightmare king?" Emily smiled before nodding. She stood up straighter before wrapping him in a hug. Her heart hurt for Jack all the time to see him in so much emotional pain. There were many times she had yelled at Aster and Pitch even though they couldn't hear her to go check on him.
"That is very true. We were all very close in the beginning. I've never heard them tell you about how Sandy was close to us as well but he was the most mature." Jack nodded, he had heard that story. He accepted the hug fully. A new voice made him jump.
"Sandy was a child when it came to hanging out with us, Emily." He pulled back to see Elenora standing beside them. They all three went back to leaning against the railing after Elenora did the nose bump on his forehead.
"Is there something knew that can be told to me or not?" Emily looked out at the sunset. It had been a long time since she let herself sit in the present world for so long. It was hard seeing Aster and Pitch at opposite sides for so long but now that they were back it was hard seeing them so different still. She loved her husband and growing up, Aster was like another child for them.
She looked at Jack as he watched the sky. She had been watching him since he saved Pitch. She had done very dramatic things even though no one could see her. She yelled in Manny's face for not letting Sandy try harder to save Pitch, she yelled at Aster for giving up, and she yelled at Sandy for letting go. It was when Jack came that she let herself hope. Now, she hoped him leaving wouldn't let the darkness back in.
"The boys are worried you think you're dying so we can tell you that you're not dying. It's going to be like going to sleep but you'll wake up outside of your body." He processed Elenora's words. He would have an out of body experience, this was a horrible situation but why did that sound so fun to do?
"You're used to pain when something bad happens, we are here to say that nothing about this is going to hurt." He glanced at Emily to see a motherly smile on her face. He smiled back before turning away. This sounded easy but he could see there was something they were holding back. It made him feel like there was someone else he needed to hear from before knowing, he just couldn't think of who.
"Can I ask one more thing before Pitch gets here?" They both nodded. He knew they probably couldn't answer him but he had to know. If he was right, he would have so much blackmail when he came back. There were so many embarrassing stories Pitch had told him that had to do with her and Bunny.
"Is Lilly going to be where we are going?" He sent a sly smile towards Elenora which made Emily throw her head back laughing. Elenora just shook her head with a small smile. It was weird seeing a joking smile that looked like his son's on the boy's face. But she couldn't find it in herself to lie to him.
"Yes, she is. And she can't wait to meet the boy her fiancé calls son. She's claimed you just as we have since he first called you kit." Jack couldn't help the smile on his face. He had a family with the Guardians, he knew that but hearing that all the Pooka's had taken him in even on the other side made him feel more loved than ever.
"The last time I saw that smile, I was consoling you on when your father first called you son and you freaked out." Jack jumped along with the women at Pitch's arrival, he hadn't sensed him show up. He found it hard to turn and look as the shadow walked up beside him. He turned back to the sky line suddenly nervous.
He glanced over to see Emily looking at Pitch with a sad smile as Elenora was doing the same. Both of the women turned to him smiling before walking towards the back of the tower. He knew they would leave like the others did, at least he hoped.
"You promise you won't fall back into the darkness right?" He couldn't look at Pitch while talking. God, it was like first talking to Bunny all over again. This was the only other person he was going to have this much trouble with. He felt the man shift beside him before long arms suddenly hugged him. It felt like Emily's hug.
"Yes. I also promise to watch sunrises and sunsets and think of your annoying presence within the however many years you are gone." Jack laughed through his emotions at the sound of Pitch trying to be a smartass in this situation. He hugged back like the kit he was as he pressed his face into the man's chest.
"I am also here to say, that whatever ghost are visiting you do not have my permission to take you to the other side." He tensed up, trying to pull away to figure out how Pitch knew but was held in place. The long arms tightened around him, holding him still as he continued talking.
"Sandy found me and told me that he felt a familiar presence near him, Denver, a young man he took in a very long time ago. I questioned Nicholas and Toothiana and they also said they felt familiar feelings near them with you around now but couldn't put their finger on it. I could take a guess on who they were. These people do not have my permission to take you."
Jack swallowed before hugging Pitch tighter. He was never going to tell any of them who was visiting him until Sunday. The shadow ran his fingers through Jack's hair like he did when the boy was upset. He had arrived a little before announcing himself to hear Jack ask about Lilly, Aster's fiancé, and knew that it had to be someone from the other side. He didn't like it.
"I-I'm not dying, that's not what's going to happen to me. It's something, I can't tell you everything but I can tell you it's not as bad as it seems." Pitch didn't like the sound of that either but knew there was nothing he could do. He had been looking through every spell book he could find around the world since Sunday to see if he could find something to end this. But there was nothing.
"I don't care. I don't like any of this and if there is choice at the end of this, I will personally ground you worse than Aster will if you choose the wrong one." Jack nodded before he pulled back to look up at the man. The yellow eyes were completely serious but held sadness that Jack wasn't used to seeing on him.
"Everything's going to be okay, it always is. I won't be doing any of that. Besides, who will be here to turn your hair grey?" Pitch rolled his eyes before pushing Jack away. He sent a big smile that became contagious to the upset Nightmare King making him roll his eyes again before they looked at the last bit of glow left in the sky.
Pitch didn't have the heart to tell the boy that his ice had stuck to the back of his robe and wouldn't melt off. He also couldn't find it in himself to tell Jack that his skin was slowly becoming so bright it almost looked like glass. He was actually fading into ice right infront of them. His ankles now were covered in the ice as it slowly spread up his legs. Pitch was sure that by tomorrow it would be at his knees. There was no way Jack didn't feel it. Pitch just knew the boy was blocking it out.
"You had better head off, I would very much appreciate not being the one to upset your father." Jack smiled before taking off. He turned at the last minute to look one last time at the person who had become one of his best friends. The man nodded to the silent goodbye. Jack hadn't out right said the words but it was there.
Pitch watched as his young bestfriend flew off until he became a speck in the sky. He squeezed his hands together tight before speaking, hoping that someone he had tried not to think of for so long was listening.
"Emily, don't let him go to far...or take him away. He's all me and Aster have. I have a feeling there is a certain family of rabbits with you and they better listen as well, especially the oldest one." The old feeling of the one he missed so dearly went up his spine. He turned his head to the side, knowing now she was probably there but couldn't see her like Jack could.
"I have him, darling. I have him." She smiled sadly, wishing he could hear her. She hadn't visited him over the years only watching from a distance. Only once had she gotten close to him and he realized but then again so did the mares. They took over the human part of his mind once again forcing him back down. She watched him tense as the other Pooka stepped forward.
"You will do well to listen to me as well I hope, old friend. I'd hate to see what your son would do if you were to mess up anything, after all the terms you end on back then were bad enough as it is." With that, Pitch turned back to the shadows to leave. He did not allow himself to think to long on the feeling of his lost wife and lost bestfriend that felt then. It didn't help to feel Elenora there either.
"It's your turn to visit the boy. You wanted to be the one to tell him everything, you can't wait any longer. Tomorrow he goes to see all of the Seasonals, then on Saturday we leave him be." Elenora looked at him long before he finally nodded, taking his leave. The women watched him leave together.
"How do you think this is going to go, Elle?" She took a deep breath before responding. Her husband had only five things he ever truly loved in his life. His bestfriend, his wife, her, their son, and always said the fifth thing would be the child that Aster and Lilly would bring. Even though Jack didn't come from Aster, he was accepted. And she knew that telling Jack about the fade would hurt him.
"I am thinking that this is going to be a very emotional talk after Aster goes to sleep. I do not doubt that Pitch or Sandy has told Aster of the feeling of us around him. I don't think it would be wise of us to show up too." The women turned to watch as the stars rose up. Emily couldn't help but notice that the moon was missing, hidden behind the clouds. She hadn't seen him since Sunday.
She frowned. What could he possibly be doing that he wasn't spending these last few days watching over Jack?
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so who was prepared for that? better yet, who is ready for the talk between Jack and Aster's father? and where is Manny?