To Ally with the Guardians

Chapter 22: Enter

Matt and Angelia brainstormed ways to destroy the Indicator while they waited for Whisper to get her powers back. Duran joined them, mostly back to normal after they told him that they knew what he had done under the influence of the curse wasn't his fault. He apologized to Bunny while the other two went with North to the workshop and tried throwing the Indicator in a fire. It didn't melt, so they eventually took it out (using safe equipment, of course) after sitting around for half an hour.

The L.E.R. also tried bashing it with a hammer, throwing it from a high place again, and running it over with a car they borrowed from Grandpa Sloan. None of these worked, however, and soon it was time to leave for Whisper's plan. The intact Indicator still made Matt anxious, though. What if it really was controlling Haven's destiny, along with everyone else's? What if Whisper wouldn't be able to save her because of it? Everyone else believed the white-haired girl that they didn't need to break it. But it really frayed Matt's nerves, and Angelia and Duran's, too.

"Alright," North said as everyone stood in a circle again. "The Yetis will stay here and defend the children while we're gone." He then went over the plan again: all the Guardians except for Bunny would go in first to cause a distraction. Next, the Pooka and everyone else would enter via portal after a couple of minutes and try to find Haven. Once Whisper had removed everyone's corruption, she would tell the Guardians and everyone would teleport out of there.

"Are we ready?" Tooth asked.

"Could I have something to defend myself with?" Mallory asked.

"You won't need anything with the distraction," Matt said. He didn't want anyone to be armed unless absolutely necessary, for he or she might accidentally kill Haven, Vivian, or a Prophecy Person out of fear if the Fearling attacked. Even the Guardians were going to be using their weapons as little as possible, only targeting Pitch and the Nightmares, of course.

"If you want, you can use mine," Angelia offered, holding out the retracted scythe. "You're taller than I am, so you'd have a better reach. Just promise to not kill any Fearlings."

"I promise." Mallory accepted the weapon.

"Let's go," Jack said. North handed two snowglobes from his pocket to Bunny and took one out for himself, whispering something into it before smashing it on the ground. A portal appeared where it landed, and he, Sandy, Tooth, and Jack stepped through before it closed up behind them.

*/*/*/*

Mallory stared at the space where the portal had just vanished. In a few minutes, it would be his turn to go.

He looked at the people around him. They each wore a different nervous, excited, or restless expression, not to mention their body language. Whisper seemed the least emotionally affected by what was about to happen, but she was good at keeping her feelings hidden, aside from grief. She caught him staring at her.

"Don't worry about me," she said. "I want to do this; it's the right thing to do. Besides, without a Prophecy, my powers have no purpose." Mallory was about to protest, but she continued. "Mainly, though, I feel as if this is something I should do. I don't know why or what from because my Prophecy's over, but I have a feeling that I'm supposed to do this." He couldn't argue with that. He didn't quite understand Prophecy People logic, but Whisper wanted a purpose, and now she had one.

For the rest of the couple minutes, everyone waited in silence. Mallory kept going over his own addition to the plan in his head. He couldn't believe how easy it was to get ahold of a weapon. He had expected more of a fight and to have to use his talent of convincing people, but Angelia had willingly handed over her scythe. Mallory didn't know how difficult it would be to achieve his goal, but he would take all the help he could get.