Becoming a Guardian Chapter 14

Darkness. Emptiness. Evil.

That's all that Melody felt now as she fell back from Jack's arms. In front of her very eyes she changed. Her pale pink dress was now a deep blood red, silk, and long like a victorian era dress. It's hem was faded with black seeming to reach up with long fading arms. Her hair lost it's last hope of blonde, and became a deep brown. The scariest part was her eyes. They changed from a green, to a amber, to a yellow, to red. Deep blood red like the deepest cut. She felt her heart beginning to submerge in a pool of dark.

"No." she whispered. Suddenly Pitch appeared in her sea of darkness, his face sympathetic but excited.

"Oh but yes my dear. Now you won't even remember who you are." with that he placed a dark hand over her heart and everything disappeared from her. She grasped onto one last feeling though, one last shrine of faith.

Hope.

And then her spirit was gone.

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Pitch stared above Melody, and he smiled with pure joy. He felt a part of him spark, and power regained his spirit. Melody's eyes flickered open, but her joy, her goodness, was gone in the blink of an eye. Her dress fell over legs, making her look almost vulnerable. She wore long brown victorian boots that held a spear in the side of one unknowingly. Her hair drifted out dark and malevolent. She stood and when her eyes caught Pitch's she looked slightly alarmed, until she ran forward.

She threw her arms around him and squeezed him tightly. He hugged back and patted her head as if she was a child and when she began to cry Pitch felt his emotions sway. This creation had taken him years, lots of time to do, and finally he had suceeded. He'd created his own daughter of the dark, and he would use her until he was powerful enough, and then she would wither and die like a rose.

"Father.." she whispered into his arm as if she'd said it a million times, but something inside of Pitch snapped. A part of him remembered something, and he stumbled back in memory. A little girl with delicate brown hair much like Melody's, with beautiful green eyes, and little white daisies in her hair. She laughed and the memory was gone, leaving Pitch dazed.

That laugh, he thought, I've-I've heard that laugh before.

Melody didn't release her grip though and Pitch stood grounded again, coughing inwardly.

"Now, now my dear," he said the word "dear" like poison on his tongue. He felt almost ashamed for some reason. "Let's do what we've been needing to do. Come." he said as if she was a young child. She looked up at him with admiration and again the little girl seemed to take her place and Pitch shook his head.

They walked down to the globe and an evil smile spread across Melody's new pale face. Pitch noticed now that her lips were a deep red like a permanent lipstick, and her cheeks were red also.

"What shall we do father? Which Guardian first?" she whispered looking back up at Pitch. When he looked at her he smiled in a fatherly way and whispered back,

"I say, the rabbit." and off they went.


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Bunnymund had hopped around until his large feet ached painfully and still couldn't find Melody. Fear began to swell up in his throat, causing him to stumble a bit.

What if she's hurt? he thought.

"Stupid Jack Frost. We never should 'ave trusted someone as ridiculous as him to help us." he looked up at the moon and asked it quietly. Wisely. "Mate how're we supposed to find them? Can you just help me old friend?" The moon didn't answer and Bunny remembered the times before with Nightlight, and the younger North. How strong they had been, how great a friend to each other...

Lost in thought Bunny didn't realize until a split second that Melody was standing before him, but he could see the difference. Her hair, her dress, but mostly her eyes. He felt bewildered seeing her like this.

"M-Melody! What happened to you?" he asked. A small smirk arose on her lips, and Bunny felt a small chill creep up his back. She shook her head and began to step forward, causing Bunny to step back.

"Silly rabbit," she started her voice quiet and like silk, "you should've known better." she finished. Bunny realized this couldn't be Melody and reached for his boomerang only to meet cool air. Panic filled Bunny to his foot long ears and he looked around to see nothing there. A foreboding mood settled over the area and Bunny felt unsafe.

"Melody? Or whatever you are, I don't want to hurt you." but before he could say more Melody opened her lips an inch and a small song escaped her lips.

"Laaaaaaaaa." she hissed into the air. Excruciating pain met with Bunny's ears although the rhythm was elegant, the effect was painful, and he hunched over in deep pain. He covered his ears but the flow of the music seemed to instill itself in him causing him to cry. His emerald green eyes begged Melody, or this demon that had taken over, to stop.

She closed her lips, and Bunny felt himself falling. He'd known it was too good to be true and he fell back into a void of darkness.

"One down father," Melody whispered and Pitch disappeared with the large Bunny on his way into a nightmare filled hole.

"3 more to go my lovely, I shall take care of the golden imp." he said touching her chin, and disappeared into the darkness. She soon followed after her next mission being the gift-maker.

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North was troubled, very very troubled. Tooth was zipping around her small duplicated following close after. They were all worried about Melody, and knew that Jack was missing also. Sandy had needed to go into the night to do his job instilling good dreams into the children in case of Pitch, leaving a busy fairy and a troubled gift-maker. Tooth had been calling orders to the buzzing duplicates and North spoke to her gently.

"Tooth, vwhy can't you see I am trying to worry here?" he asked her raising his head from a large hand that had been placed worriedly over his head. Tooth laughed hoarsely and tight and responded saying,

"Sorry it's just, you know," she said gesturing to her buzzing duplicates, "just trying to do my job here!" North smiled and looked up at the moon. He remembered his brave old friend Nightlight, and wished the small boy was there now. The boy had always made North feel strong and able to do anything for a teenage swordsman, and he respected Nightlight greatly for that. Suddenly Tooth's voice was gone, and when he turned around, Tooth was staring at something ahead of her. When North followed her magenta eyes he saw Melody.

He saw as well that she was different and he knew the reason.

"We were to late." he whispered. All of his troubles, all of his worrying, confirmed by this sway of truth. Melody's blood red eyes seemed to sear through the fairy, and Tooth held her gaze firmly.

"It's so nice to see the gift-maker and the fairy working together." she laughed, the small chuckle causing Tooth's feathers to ruffle. Tooth landed on the ground and North would've been shocked to see the fairy even touching the ground. She began to walk with her small feet towards the old friend, only now she was just a stranger.

"Who are you?" Tooth asked her voice strong and unaltered. Tooth had always been good at being brave, and usually held her ground better then the others. Melody looked down with a small laugh, her brown hair falling down her shoulders, and when she looked up her red eyes gleamed with joy.

"Your worst nightmare Toothiana." She shoved up her hands and some unseen force seemed to pick the elegant fairy off the ground and throw her back. She landed roughly on the railing before the Globe of Belief, and a small black hole formed below her, and she drifted into it slowly as if she was sleeping. A small "North." had escaped he lips before her small body went into the black void, and then sealed up again. North's eyes were wide with disbelief.

"You should really listen to me when I say gift-maker, follow her now. I really don't want to get my hands dirty." she said maliciously. North pulled out his long sharp swords, the silver glinting like a distorted mirror. He furrowed his eyebrows and held one arm back and one forward as if he were holding a bow and arrow. Melody laughed.

"Petulant Guardian. You will not defeat me." She held up her hands and began to move them around viciously until North had the swords pointing at himself. The fear in North's eyes made Melody smile and finally she shoved the man into the air.

"Me-Melody Stop!" he shouted holding his palms out and shaking them. He was at least 10 feet from the ground and Melody laughed so hard her head fell back. When she looked back at him she shrugged pouting her lips and said,

"Okay." she dropped her hands and North fell with loud thud like thunder. The elves and yetis all left afraid of this new demon that had entered the North Pole. The man grunted in pain and in an attempt to get up he fell on his arms again, and darkness began to eat at his vision. The last thing North was the depiction of beauty and evil, and that was Melody.

The black void suddenly sucked the large man away and Melody was left in the room standing before the Globe. Her "father" appeared beside her placing a proud hand on her shoulder.

"One more father, did you take care of the dream maker?" she asked looking up at the tall man.

"Yes my dear, done and done. Now go make father proud, and have a little fun with mister Jack Frost." he whispered into her ear, and Melody dispersed excitedly into the shadows to meet her only old friend, Jackson Overland Frost.