To Pitch's dismay, he and you were both dragged to the North Pole amongst the others. It wasn't like they were going to let the two of you off that easy anyway. It took some arguing about whether the sleigh method or rabbit tunnels would be the best method before ultimately the next thing you knew was being pushed into a portal. No one was expecting what occurred next once you were all standing on the floor of North's workshop, looking all around at the interior of the globe room. Each of the Guardians let out a startled gasp.
Furnishings were toppled over. At least an entire state-worth of previously wrapped gifts for this later year's holiday season were now torn up in shreds. Ripped scraps of red and green wrapping paper were scattered across the wooden floors of the workshop as the toys that were once inside were also either broken apart or tossed on their sides. Snow globes as well as glass figurines and a variety of ice sculptures were also knocked down from their now empty shelves and tipped tables, laying shattered in puddles of water or piles of broken glass at your feet. Books were thrown from their designated shelves. Dark marks on the walls were stained deeply from a collection of aged dust after decades of the now destroyed furniture having rested against them. Everything that once had a place in the workshop was now lying, mostly in pieces, where you stood. The only part of the room that still stood seemingly unharmed was the massive globe of lights that bore the planet's believers.
The Guardians all were speechless, some with their hands over their mouths, as they took in the sight of the workshop entirely in ruins. Pitch could only raise a brow, crossing his arms and just barely holding back a laugh under his breath. As much as he did not want to be there, this predicament could prove as interesting. Bunny was the first to narrow his eyes at the Nightmare King.
"You did this," the pooka spat. Pitch scoffed in return.
"How could I have done this when I was just back there with all of you?!" He extended an arm to gesture to the whole of the room.
"Clearly you summoned some sort of control over what happened here, we know your power!"
You turned your head to a sight that caught the corner of your eye as Pitch and Bunny began to argue. Your brows furrowed while staring at the wall to the side, spotting more markings that differed from those that remained from bookshelves being set against the foundation. The back-and-forth banter between Pitch and the others started to fade into distant echoes as you tuned them out. Tilting your head to the side in wonder, you found yourself then making your way over from the group toward the wall.
The wide entryway where the globe room led into the main living space showed a somewhat familiar sight of dark scrapes torn through the wallpaper that appeared to represent claw marks. In the select spots around the entryway where they were located, they stretched out at a length as if one's nails had been dragged for a purposely extended amount of time to accentuate their presence. They were in sets of three - three blackened scratches through the wall where the decorative paper parted and the actual wall was tinted with the thin lines in each area that they were marked. As you stood in front of one of the few sets of clawed markings, your subconscious led you to reach out to it. When your fingertips pressed and ran lightly across the rigid indents within the wall between the paper, you felt your chest tighten with a shaken exhale as your fingernails grazed the black taint.
"They're coming for me..." the whisper was uttered under your breath before you even realized it. That's when the background chatter paused and everyone in the group behind you turned in your direction.
"What was that, (Y/n)?" Tooth asked from the middle of the Guardians. You swung around to face them as they all stared at you. You glanced over at Pitch who stood off to the side from the others, also forming a frown your way. It was when you noticed him glancing over your shoulder you were able to tell he was then seeing what you also were trying to point out. You gathered yourself the rest of the way before speaking up again.
"Pitch didn't do this," you defended. Bunny replied with a huff.
"Then who or what did?" He asked sternly. You pressed your lips together to prepare your reply.
"What if it was the fearlings?"
Each Guardian held a puzzled face at which Pitch glanced before casting a roll of his eyes at them. For the most part, he cared more about leaving than anything else. The rabbit resumed his side of the conversation.
"The same fearlings that were wiped out decades ago and replaced with Pitch's nightmares?" Bunny chuckled in disbelief. "Yeah. Right."
"Actually," Tooth hovered closer to the floor with a light flutter of her wings as she chimed in. "Now that I think about it...I could have sworn I saw some sort of shadows move on their own the other day," she fidgeted a little as she explained, "ones that looked just like them near my palace."
Jack looked up in confusion. "Is that what those things are?" He asked. "I just figured they were something Pitch failed to cook up any time I saw one. What about you, Sandy?"
Beside Jack, Sandman met Jack's amused look and raised his hands up to the sides with a shrug of his shoulders. In the middle of the others, North was scratching his chin with a low hum.
"Couldn't be fearlings," the elder Guardian pitched in. "Like Bunny said, remainder was taken out long time ago. Right, Pitch?" Blue irises narrowed toward the Boogeyman when North's tone increased in seriousness. Pitch, with crossed arms, pressed a hand against his chest with annoyance.
"Oh, so now it's my fault if a few have been wandering about out of my control?" The Nightmare King spat. Bunny then stepped in again.
"It is if you're the one who let them out of your control in the first place!" The pooka declared back. "You're their leader!"
"Was," Pitch corrected. "So apologies if they happened to get the memo that they're no longer wanted in my presence."
Bunny shook his head at Pitch's satire before continuing. "If there have been sightings of a few, there must be hundreds - maybe thousands - more hiding away then," he warned. "You know how they cluster in their nature. And if they have been without a leader and turned against Pitch, they could be in search of a new one if they haven't created one already."
As they conversed, your gaze lowered to the floor. You felt your heart sink in your chest as you thought. Your realizations only spilled out into words once more. "They could be after me..."
Everyone's eyes were on you again, which you sensed almost immediately. When you saw them all once more, you first noticed Pitch's expression soften.
"(Y/n) -"
"Think about it," you interrupted him before he could get any further words in. While you spoke, you started to pace upon a small section of the floor that hadn't been littered or soaked with snow globe water. "What if that's why they trashed the workshop? They could have found out that I was here before. They already know I've been in Pitch's home." You avoided going into detail about your last fearling encounters so the Guardians wouldn't worry further. With a twitch of his nose, Bunny added in again.
"If that was the case then there wouldn't be a single place on the planet safer than any other," he said. "They wouldn't stop hunting until they've reached their target. It would be an endless chase until all of them are gotten rid of. 'Sides, fearlings are fast creatures, how would they not have caught up to you already if it were you they wanted?"
"Fearlings taunt," Pitch murmured just audible enough for everyone to listen. "They may be fast upon attacks but they have immaculate patience, they know when to wait instead of always striking first. If this..." he extended an arm to motion to the disorderly heap all around the space, "mess...truly was a result of their actions, then it could indicate a warning. But they go for just about every living thing they haven't touched. A warning could be for anything." His eyes trailed over to your figure after that last sentence as a form of silent reassurance.
Your stomach turned with the ongoing thought trapped in your mind that, warning or not, it was meant for you. Blood could be heard rushing behind your ears as you wondered if possibly there was a pair of eyes - or multiple - watching you through the walls standing in the middle of the disarray of the workshop that you were meant to see. You wanted to deny it all like the rest of them for the sake of your comfort, but your mind only continued to race with the possibilities and slowly tuned out every outside sensation from your body yet again. It wasn't until Bunny's voice sounded again did you reassociate back into your focused self and regained attention.
"Well then," the pooka started confidently. "If there's a fearling problem, we should act fast because those things are capable of far more than this. If they do their worst, they could harm anyone, take children, create more fearlings. If there's any way to stop 'em, it's to get rid of the last of 'em for good."
Jack flashed a look still full of uncertainty. "Yeah, but if you said that Pitch wasn't able to finish that himself yet, how would anyone else?" The winter spirit questioned. Tooth was next to pop into the chat circle.
"Guys, I have an idea!" The fairy brought herself to a higher hover with a quickened beat of her wings before she rushed herself through the air closer to you. She stopped when she placed herself in front of the other Guardians to be between them and you. "Obviously Pitch hasn't wanted anything to do with any fearlings for a while and surely knows ways to take them out already. But let's not forget that we also have (Y/n) here now, and she did tell us that she wants something we just might have." She then looked straight at you with a kind smile. "(Y/n)," she addressed with hope. "How about if both you and Pitch help us stop these fearlings, we will grant you your memory box so you can find if what you're looking for is inside."
"Tooth!" Bunny tried to protest before you could get a word in, snapping his head at her in disbelief.
"(Y/n)!" Pitch's voice caught your attention next. You could tell he was gritting his teeth behind his clenched jaw. He stood still off to the side from the Guardians, his irritation more clearly visible than ever. Silver-gold eyes bore into yours while he took a breath to maintain himself on his final straw. "A word, please." He eyed the others through the corner of his vision. "Alone."
With a sigh, you closed your eyes momentarily to gather yourself. When you looked back at the Guardians again, you sent them a subtle nod and pivoted on your heels to motion for Pitch to follow. You could already notice Bunny and the others huddling up to Tooth and murmuring to her about what she had just suggested. Your ears caught a handful of whispers asking if she were insane by any chance and if she even knew what she had just said to you, her responding with how she knew what she was doing and that her offer was clear. Trying to block them out, you went on making your way through the scraps on the floor to the entryway that led into the living space.
Once you entered the other room and shifted to stand off to the side behind the wall for the Guardians to not watch, Pitch was already on your heels. He dived around the corner with you to get out of the others' sight as well. He silently thought to himself that he minus well just sweep you away to anywhere else but where you already were just so this dreadful day could be over with. He was nearly nose to nose with you when he and you faced each other.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He sneered.
"Getting what you've wanted me to have," you answered without hesitation. "This could be our only chance of finding out what my memories have to show without all of the Guardians freaking out about it."
"I am not helping them." The Nightmare King pointed a finger toward the entryway where the Guardians remained in the globe room.
"And what about the fearlings?" You reminded with raised brows. "Not just the ones that I've seen but the ones that they've seen too."
"Whatever it is they may want, I don't need anyone else to snuff them out for me."
You placed your hands on your hips in an attempt to appear closer to his height. "Well, you can try again to go after my memory box yourself too, but this is the closest we've ever been to getting it."
He didn't reply to this. His eyes searched yours to stall for the making of some sort of excuse or banter about how he should have sent the both of you to another continent before the Guardians had the chance to drag you here. As if having to fight them off earlier was not enough, him being forced to stick around in their headquarters where just about everything within was invented to weaken him or void him off was pushing him closer to his breaking point. You took another breath, wishing simply for compliance. The faster you both cooperate, the faster you both get out of there. You relaxed and eased your tone of voice.
"Pitch," you started again. "Think of it this way. Even if the fearlings go after just about any other human, I am just another human."
His stare faltered for a second, almost letting himself interrupt you.
"If they really are after me, would you rather risk letting them have at me and change everything about me, or would you rather help the me that's standing right in front of you now?"
Twin solar eclipses slowly scanned you up and down, expression frozen from wavering thoughts twisting to try to reach some sort of realization.
"And if they ever caught me...if there was nothing I could do to stop them, tell me exactly what would happen to me." You already knew the answer to this, but you wanted it to click in his senses as well. You watched him straighten himself slightly. His gaze had to lower in order to keep his vision on yours. Within seconds, he was turned to both sureness in what he had in mind as well as unenthusiasm.
"You're looking at it," he muttered. You maintained your hard stare, to which he let out a breath and glared away. "Fine," he agreed at last under his breath. "You can tell the others whatever you please, but don't expect me to go frolicking around in their dwellings like this again."
A smile drew your lips up and you thanked him quietly. The tips of your toes lifted you higher on your feet to grant a peck on the cheek that you ended before the king had a chance to react. You then turned back to the entryway to return to where the Guardians all awaited. That's when you heard his voice behind you again.
"And you're going to be keeping that sword of yours on you at all times from now on."
You kept moving, pretending to ignore him in the process. You re-entered the globe room to find the Guardians still whispering amongst themselves. Tooth seemed to be reasoning with the rest of them in hushed words. Your approach caused them to lift their heads and their chatter to dull down into silence. After having stepped over the various piles of rubbish still scattered across the flooring, you stood tall in the middle of the space.
"Tooth," you addressed. To be sure of what you were about to say, you glanced back over your shoulder and noticed Pitch leaning against the wall of the entryway behind you and waiting for you to deliver the news. You faced the others again with more confidence. "We're going to accept your offer."
The fairy dropped the tension in her shoulders. "Perfect!" She expressed with a grin. "We should get started right away then."
You remained in the center of the room while the rest of the Guardians began shuffling around. Part of you was considering trying to appear as though you knew how you wanted to make use of yourself at that exact moment. You then felt the touch of a hand on your shoulder, which you instantly shifted toward to find Pitch hovering over you. Just as you were about to flash an encouraging look of comfort, he was leaning down toward your cheek. Lips brushed past your ear as his accent spilled over in a loving murmur.
"You're also not just another human."