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What Is Your Center?	By : LuciferDragon Category: +M through R > Rise of the Guardians Views: 1676 -:- 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.

Chapter List
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Unable to stand by and watch any longer, I gave a sharp whistle, calling for my steed. He responded immediately, materializing from the shadows beneath me. My destination in mind, we slipped into the Void.
The Void is how I was taught to travel when I was first turned. I could travel short distances through connected shadows, however traveling across the globe required me to go a little deeper into the surface. This was the only way to travel quickly. It was a very cold realm of solid darkness. There was no up or down, left or right. There was only a sense of direction. I had to know where I was going to not end up lost. Sight was limited, even for me.
We emerged from the Void into an unfamiliar patch of woods. My horse snorted and tossed his head, shifting uneasily. I patted his neck, looking around. “Easy Hessian…” I led him around the woods, using the early morning light to search for anything out of the ordinary.
Hessian stopped at an open patch of dirt, tossing his head. Bits of old wood were scattered around, and the dirt looked as if it had been an open pit up until recently. Far off cheers led my gaze upward. I saw North’s sleigh take off, followed closely by Sandy’s golden sands. I nodded. “Below.”
We used the nearby cast shadows from the trees and slipped below the surface, coming out in familiar tunnels. I spurred Hessian on until we reached the main chamber.
Inside I could only see Nightmares surrounding something, closing in on it. Instinctively I drove Hessian through the Nightmares, leaping off in the middle of them, my twin scythes drawn. I stared down the ones that tried to advance, showing no fear. I knew how they reacted to anyone’s fear, and would show them no openings. Eventually they lost interest and backed off, giving a few indignant snorts as they left.
Only when I was sure they wouldn’t come back, I banished my scythes to shadows once more. I looked to the mass lying on the ground, knocked unconscious by his creatures no doubt. I bit my lip, unsure of what to do. While I wasn’t sure why I was even there in the first place, I knew I didn’t want him dead.
I turned and took a step away from him, about ready to call for Hessian again. A soft groan of pain made me stop in my tracks.
“Hana?”
My heart skipped a beat. My legs refused to move. He sounded so weak…
“It is you.”
I turned to face him. Despite the situation, I let a small smile slip. “Nice so see you again, Pitch.”
He seemed to quickly regain his senses. He shuffled back into a wall, his eyes darting about. “The Nightmares—“
“—won’t bother you for awhile,” I interrupted, standing before him. I kept my ruined vocal cords low. “You went too far, Oogie.”
He flinched at the nickname, but seemed to calm slightly. “You don’t understand what it’s like. I had to. I had no other choice.”
“You are succumbing to your own fears. You can’t do that with your pets around.” I helped him to his feet, trying to ignore the feeling of his own ashen skin. Trying to forget the true talents he held in those strong fingers.
“The children do not fear me. The Guardians destroyed my hold on a small lot of them. Turned the Nightmares against me. I have nothing to draw upon.” His gaze grew frantic once more. “I cannot be a mere fairy tale! I need the fear to survive!” He seemed to catch himself. He growled and stalked away down one of the dark corridors. “I’ve lost what control I had over my mind.”
I slipped through the shadows to catch up to him. I stood in front of him, my hands held up to stop him. I repressed a shiver as they ended up under his coat. “Fear can never be destroyed. Darkness can never be snuffed out. Everyone fears something.”
He curled his lip. “Really now? Then what is it you fear?”
“You know exactly what it is.”
This seemed to distract him enough for him to calm down. “If it is the same as it was a century ago. In that case, whose fault is that?”
“This isn’t the time.” My voice was quieter than I wanted. Barely more than a whisper, making my rasp worse. The man in front of me had been the first to accept me in my new life, to teach me how to use the new abilities that developed as I grew in power. I didn’t need the Chosen. I had had him. And, after the first year, he had me, in his own way. “You’ve lost sight of your center.
He looked confused and swept an arm out over the expanse of his lair. “This is my center. Darkness, shadows, fear, and terror.”
I brought his arm down and gently took hold of his hand. “That is not your center.” I put a hand over his heart. “Who are you, Pitch Black? What is your true purpose in this world?”
“To bring nightmares and desolation to the children, of course,” he said, his gaze growing angrier. If it weren’t for our past, I doubt I would still have had an arm attached to my body.
“Your center,” I corrected, “is chaos. Total disruption of all things good-natured.” I grinned. “It’s what enchanted me all those years ago.”
That seemed to throw him for a loop, considering how long it had been. “Dreams are a source of terror. Dreams so real they wake up in a panic. Dreams that, if done right, can leave them scarred for their lives.”
“You think so small, for someone of your prowess.” I took my hands back, catching my mind starting to wander. “Dreams are the subconscious mind telling someone what needs to be told. To remember things from the past, or wonder about the future. To live out fantasies that can never be.”
He let out a chuckle. “There seems to be something else on your mind than helping me.”
I turned my back on him, realizing what I had said. “Your center is chaos,” I continued, “and chaos does not branch from dreams. You can do real damage in the outside world. Exploit their darkest fears in reality, not dreams. Children are malleable, yes. Use that fact outside of hiding under their beds.”
“Or in closets,” I heard him mutter bitterly.
I couldn’t stop the grin that cracked on my face. “You come out of the closet often?”
“Stow it.”
I jumped as I felt hands on the skin of my arms. I hadn’t even heard him move.
“You know my tastes run in females.”
I cleared my throat and stepped out of his grasp, still keeping my back to him. “You need a fresh start. If the Nightmares return and you have not regained your powers, you will be in trouble.”
“Hana.”
I flinched at his commanding tone, cursing how weak in the knees it always made me. To add insult to injury, he chuckled, sending a shiver up my spine. “You need to focus, Oogie.”
“You’re the only one to ever call me that.”
“Some habits die hard.”
“Like the one where you cross your arms and rub your skin when you’re hiding from something.”
I paused in doing just that and forced my arms at my sides, eliciting the chuckle from him again. He was still infuriating, but charming all the same. I rolled my glowing eyes and glanced at him. “So what if I am? I at least know my place in this world.” My eyes widened and I clapped a hand over my mouth as I saw his lightened expression grow dark. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Of course you did. You were the only one left. Why wouldn’t you take a stab yourself?” He turned to stalk away.
“No, Pitch don’t—” I sank into the shadows and appeared in front of him, placing both hands to his chest again, more aware than before of the heat of his skin. Of his heartbeat racing beneath the hard flesh. “I didn’t mean it. I only want to help you find your center again.” I attempted a smile. “So it can be like it was when we met.”
He stared at me, studying my intentions. A sinister smile encased his lips. “Would you really lie with a monster again? One who tried to annihilate the Guardians single-handedly and failed?”
I scoffed. “You know I care for those goody-goodies as much as you do. However, if the balance is to remain intact, we need them.”
“But not me.”
“I never said that.” Once sure I had his attention again, I tried taking my hands back. I felt a shock run up my arms as he held them in place. “Light needs shadows. Good needs evil. Hope needs despair. Without a touch of fear, the children will never be prepared for the world of adulthood. True terror would eat them alive.”
“You can still do something about their purity.”
“I can only do so much. I only hold true power on one day. The others I leave to you. I pick up what you leave behind.” I shrugged, pretending to not notice his hold. “That power doesn’t compare to Sandy, Jack, and Tooth’s three-hundred-and-sixty-five days. Bunny and North have their big days, and even Groundhog has one. And the leprechaun…”
“Is a blithering drunk.”
“True, but he still has a day, though he targets the adults more often than anything.” His grasp slackened and I took the opportunity to pull back. “The fear of a child is a fitting meal. However, it is not rewarding.”
He frowned. “How so?”
“Children are fairly easy to scare. A few cheap tricks can make them sleep with their parents for awhile. Thing is, the fear isn’t as sweet as it was centuries ago. These children have been desensitized by their movies and video games. There is sweeter prey out there.”
He seemed to catch on. “However they are harder to scare for someone like me. They need to see to believe. With the way the world is right now, none would see me.”
“Due to my day, being a spirit linked to All Hallows, I can be seen by anyone I wish to see me.” I kept him on the right track. “I can be heard by all ages, so long as they celebrate my day. People can interact with me as if I were human again.”
“That helps me how? The worst I can do is make it seem like a place is haunted. That is a sign of ghosts, not the Boogeyman.”
I arched a brow. “It’s a start. And, with my help, we can have your power back in no time. On top of that, you can receive the sweetest fear you’ve ever tasted.” I held up a finger. “There is a catch.”
“Which is?”
“You will need to find your center again first.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Why are you doing this for me?”
That caught me off-guard. I cast my gaze away. There was no point keeping anything from him. Not at that point. “You’re all I have left. If you were to completely lose sight of yourself, I really would be alone.”
He didn’t answer and I didn’t push it. I knew it was best to let him decide what to do from there. I couldn’t tell how long we stood in silence, but I didn’t dare look at him. “How do you plan on finding my center?”
It wasn’t a refusal. “Is there a Nightmare that hasn’t turned on you?”
“Yes.”
“Mount up then.” I called for Hessian and swung up into the saddle as a Nightmare materialized below him. “Keep up.”
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What Is Your Center?