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Church of Bones	By : LuciferDragon Category: +M through R > Rise of the Guardians Views: 1334 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Rise of the Guardians world, and I make no profit at all from this fiction. All in good fun.

Chapter List
- 9
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10.
The forest we emerged in was eerily quiet, even from my standpoint. Usually at least crickets and the cicadas were active this late. Tonight, not even they made a peep. Jack rushed ahead, saying he needed to check on someone named Sophie. I couldn't recall any of the children named that, and so didn't question his motives. I dismounted Onyx and I saw Drago follow suit. We sent the horses off on their own, knowing they'd come when called upon. "Why did you want to come with me?" I asked. The question had been eating at my mind. I genuinely was curious as to why the boy would want to jump into such danger.
"I want to help," he answered. "I… I want to make up for what I've done."
I frowned. "What you've—" It hit me that he still blamed himself for earlier. "You've helped more than you're aware of. If that's all you want to be here for, you've done your part."
"No, I also wanted to help Jamie. He seems nice."
I only looked forward as we continued out of the woods. I couldn't agree or disagree with the boy's statement.
"He was scared of you though. I thought he was too old for one of your visits. Or did you scare him when he was a kid?"
I bit my tongue, trying to find the right words that he would understand. It was about time he knew what I was capable of, and what I had done in the past. "When Jamie was a boy, about your age, I attempted to usurp the Guardians."
"What's usurp?"
"Overthrow another's power. In other words, I tried to make the Guardians not be believed in, knowing they'd fade from existence." I held back my surprise as I felt his hand grab mine, his still small fingers grasping on tight.
"Why?"
"There was a very long period of time where I wasn't believed in. Oh I could be heard, I could be seen by a few for awhile, but it wasn't enough. As time passed and the humans started questioning things more, it grew worse. They would pass through me, they wouldn't hear anything I had to say. Parents stopped telling their children stories about me. I had no way of bringing fear to anyone. But then, I discovered a hidden ability."
"What?"
"Sandman's Dreamsand. I could manipulate it into bad dreams, I could invoke fear through a child's most precious and vulnerable moments. Sandman never really noticed when small bits of his Dreamsand went missing, and so I kept up with it for a very long time, gathering an army of Nightmares. When I had enough, I made my stand." I helped him over a fallen tree, making him keep up his pace.
"What happened?"
"Not everything goes according to plan. In the end, I was defeated, but the Guardians still haven't let me forget my attempts."
"But how does that include Jamie?"
"Jamie was the last child in the world to still believe in the Guardians. No matter what I did, he still believed, and due to that, he managed to tip the balance again." I had long since accepted what it all brought me. If I hadn't lost, I wouldn't be right where I was in life. I'd still do it all over again given the chance, but at least in this way I had gained what I truly wanted. I was believed in again, I was a father again, and I had the only woman in my life again that understood my frustrations. There had been a fling long ago when she had first left, when I was still on my downward spiral. I still hate to admit it, but I did abuse Hana. It was how I coped with things, and she never fought back until the day she left.
So, instead, I did what any normal man would do and got myself completely shitfaced and managed to run into Death as she was making her rounds in Italy. We had one night of less than satisfactory sex, and I sent her on her way. I spent the next hundred years building the army of Nightmares and avoiding Death. I learned the hard way that the saying was true. You should never stick your dick in crazy. The woman to this day has issues, and the only thing keeping her away was her agreement with Hana. I had never known my little Spirit could be so territorial. When she had returned battered and bruised, her clothes a tattered mess, and she told me what she had done, I fucked her right there on the floor of the main chambers.
When I thought about it, the situation made her seem a little crazy too. However, given what had happened in the past, and that she didn't care about anything else I did, I'd let it slide. Given the fact that Death had tried to give me an aphrodisiac at one point while Hana was back in the picture didn't help Death out at all. If a man tried doing that to Hana, I wouldn't simply beat him within an inch of his life. I'd make him suffer.
"Is Mom still mad at you?"
"Probably. For now she seems to be in a forgiving mood." I felt him start to swing our arms back and forth. It made me realize just how young he really was. I felt a surge of sadness pass through me as I remembered the days my daughter would do the same thing when I would return from battles. It was a shame Drago would probably never know he had a half-sister in the world.
"I'm happy for you, Dad. And proud."
I looked at him curiously. "Why say that?"
"Well, think of it. You are what people fear most, and yet you were able to admit you made a mistake to the woman you love and apologized for hurting her. You, the Boogeyman."
"What about it?"
"The fact that you can make human kids wet the bed with just a mean face, and that you were terrified of hurting her, well, it's nice. I'm proud that you can be fear, and yet still have someone you can be weak around."
I almost couldn't believe how mature he sounded. I was always amazed by the gems of wisdom I would get from him. It made me regret nothing in my past, if everything I ever did was to lead me to this moment in time. I held on to his smaller hand tighter. "That means a lot to me, Drago."
He gave me a grin, full of jagged teeth. "And how cool is it that I get to say my parents are the Boogeyman and the Spirit of Halloween?"
I returned his grin. "It's a privilege to live the life you live. None are more worthy to terrify the humans than us." A close-by siren made me go quiet and slow down, holding Drago back. I watched as an ambulance barreled past. Something about the call was sending the paramedics into a panic.
"Something to do with a murder," Drago said, and I looked to see him frown. "Two victims, chopped to pieces with an axe, and the axe was still on the scene." He glanced at me. "What does it mean?"
"An axe…" I mouthed the words on the second round, testing the words in my head. It hit me all at once. "Of course. That's the weapon Jamie said the man pulled on him." I whistled for Onyx and Bellini and the horses appeared under us. "Follow the sirens and keep out of sight of anyone that may see us."

We managed to keep up with the ambulance with the help of the night. We were able to slip into the house once we left the horses. In hindsight, I should have looked at the scene first. When I heard Drago say chopped to pieces, I hadn't registered… hadn't registered actual pieces. He wasn't ready to see this. I wasn't ready to let him see this. I felt him grip my coat as he stumbled back, almost falling through the shadows as he lost control over his powers temporarily. I gripped on to his arm hard, making him focus on staying solid.
I looked around the room, seeing carnage I hadn't seen in a very long time. Swing patterns marked the walls. Drips lined the floor where the axe had been carried to the other side of the room and left there. "Are you alright?"
I felt him nod and looked down, seeing him gripping my coat still. "I-I can do this."
We remained invisible to the investigators as we looked over the carnage. Now I was glad I had told Hana to remain behind. I don't think she could have tolerated seeing how these people died. I doubt I could have. Some things even I say shouldn't be done. "What the hell are we dealing with?" I muttered.
"I'd like to know too."
My blood froze. I'd recognize that voice anywhere. "I see we meet again, Death," I said, keeping a grip on Drago's shoulder.
A woman in a long black dress hovered in front of us, her black hair held up in a high tail. "Ah, Pitch, it's been too long. I see your… son… is doing well."
I kept my temper neutral. "Yes. We all are doing well. What do you want?"
"I'm here officially, my dear. These souls haven't been reaped yet."
I rolled my eyes. "And you just happened to want to reap these particular souls."
Her bright smile was almost repulsive. "Exactly that. Coincidence, right?" Her smile fell and she bent over the woman, summoning her scythe. "I'm on the trail of something too."
I frowned. "What could you be after? Souls practically come to you."
She tapped the scythe to the woman's heart and started extracting her soul. "Unless they're being stolen. And I don't mean good ones."
"Wait, do you know anything about what did this?"
"Oh I know." She smirked. "But it'll cost you."
I was out of patience and my form slipped. A shadow tendril escaped from my chest and wrapped around her thin throat. "I'm in no mood for your games!" I tightened my grip before I let her fall to the floor. "What did this?"
She held her throat. "The Axeman of New Orleans. Someone has been in my vaults, stealing souls of some of the most dangerous killers in history."
"How many?"
"Seven now. The Axeman, the Frankford Slasher, The Zodiac, Grim Sleeper, Gary Ridgway, Ted Bundy, and John Wayne Gacy." She stood again, straightening out her dress. "I looked. The graves were empty."
I frowned again. "Bundy was cremated."
"Regardless, his soul is missing with the others. I'm finding it logical to assume whatever took the other five took him as well." She gestured to us. "And what are you doing? Some family outing? Where's Hana then?"
"Home. We're mutual in what we're looking for, it would seem. I'm looking in to revenants. Know anything about them?"
Her expression grew to one of sudden realization. "That's bad, Pitch. That means you're dealing with a very powerful necromancer."
"And you're not?"
She grinned. "The more that die, the more I profit. I have no incentive to stop it if that is its goal."
I curled my lip at her. "Is that right? A moment ago you were ready to destroy what stole from you. Now you are supporting it?"
"If the unfinished business of those men is the death of as many victims as they can get, then by all means, the necromancer can keep 'em for all I care." She floated onto her back, balancing on the scythe. "Why would you care about their lives? Wouldn't this be good news for your wife?"
"She's not my wife. And you know that isn't how she wants her souls."
Death merely shrugged and leaned off the scythe. "Not my problem anymore. Have fun." Her giggle outlasted her form, making me angrier. I noticed a growing fear around me, and I realized the paramedics and investigators must have heard her.
I let go of Drago's shoulder and stalked to one of the larger shadows. "We're leaving."
"But Dad, the revenants—"
"Are none of your concern."
"Why are you so scared right now? What is so terrifying about those names?"
I balled my hand into a fist, almost regretting the fact he could pinpoint a person's fear. "Those men were mass murderers, feared for the sheer amount of people of all ages they killed. Now that they're back like this…" I shook my head. "No. You're not getting involved in this."
"But we can't leave Jack."
Damn. I had forgotten about Frost. I had sort of hoped the Axeman had found him. Lingering hatred and all. "Fine." I ushered him out of the house, taking one last gruesome sight back to the scene. A shiver went up my spine. "This is not going to be easy…"
- 9
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- 11
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Church of Bones