Authors Pre notes: Welcome to the GPG sequel! I'm so excited for this to start, there's so many interesting things that will keep all my amazing readers entertained! We'll see more characters, and even more of Hiccups elusive powers. I'm super sorry about the time difference, but as promised, August 14th is FINALLY here! Thank you for all the love and support all! It is very appreciated!

Also, a HUGE thank you to Merwild, they let me borrow a piece of work from her deviantart for this cover! Please, go and check out her stuff, it is absolutely beautiful

As always, please review, comment and enjoy!

..::Song of Inspiration: Linkin Park - Bleed it out::..

Sometimes, to love someone, you have to hurt them. That was the premise of love, it seemed - to be the ultimate kind of hurt. Maybe a couple of months ago, if you had told me I would find love, I would have scoffed. I had no plans after high school, other than maybe go into some program to make my parents happy. High school was a means to an end for me. I had no real plans, other than the plans already made for me.

Until I met Jack, the boss of a paranormal company near my home town, Berk. After an accident that left one of his expensive cameras in rubble, the young, handsome boss and I made a deal that I would work off the difference. It turns out, I had quite the affinity for the paranormal.

I am what's known as the anchor. Through the power of a God, Erebus - a Death God - I have the magic to access the Dark Lands, where spirits lay waiting to crossover. I am also the Gatekeeper who allows the spirits to crossover, where I relive their last moments of death. Being the anchor has given me an gift for darkness, such as controlling it in different ways.

Erebus, who I call Pitch Black, once told me there are different types of darkness, and it was my choice if it should be used for good, or for bad. This dark power has allowed me to manifest a beast of protection, a dragon I've named Toothless.

While using my powers, I've met Jack's dead twin brother, Oliver, on the other side who has helped me on most of our cases. When he was alive, Jack and Oliver shared a special bond of power, making the twins a target for a cruel man known as Dr. Mengele. He conducted human experiments on the twins, before they escaped. As punishment, Mengele hunted Oliver down and killed him.

The magic that flowed between the twins was split, leaving Jack with an endless pit of power that he couldn't access. He searched for a solution to repair his cleaved power, plus to avenge his brother, by contracting a Goddess named Eris to act as a conduit for his magic. However, Jack only had a year from their contract date to find - and kill - Mengele, before the Goddess consumed his soul.

That's where I come in. Eris sought me out, to help find her freedom, in exchange she would free Jack from his contract.

I loved Jack, and in the beginning it was hard for me to express that. I may be the anchor for death, but he was my anchor to life. He was passionate, kind, and gave me a reason to want to see a future. I wanted to have a future with Jack, and maybe that's why I made such an impossible deal to begin with, something I wasn't entirely ready for. Now, Jack and I were about to embark on a journey we might have never been ready for.

^.^

A weight had been lifted. At least, some of it had been. I had to give Jack credit for his calm demeanor, as I explained as much of what I could. We talked in hushed voices, and I was grateful for the private booth we took at the diner near the train station.

I explained to Jack the bargain I made with Eris, to which she would free him if I could find a way to free her. It was a simple bargain, if you took out the fact that I was going to unleash a monster on earth. What I didn't tell him was the deal I made with Pitch, whom was the real person that wanted the Lasser Glass, in exchange he would help me find a way to defeat Eris, and if he kept his word, free Jack from his contract with her.

But, I needed to explain the Lasser Glass somehow, to make it seem like it was for her benefit, which was why we were looking for it. So, I told him that it was the cure he needed, that was what would free Eris.

With as much information as I could manage, I also explained Anya's cryptic message with locations we needed to go to before finding the Lasser Glass. The first I had figured out fairly quickly, which was still in Saint Petersburg, but in a smaller town over. The other two were still a mystery for me, for now.

Jack was rational as he listened, even though I could tell by the hardness of his blue eyes, he was a mixture of sad, betrayal and shocked.

When I finished, he let out a low sigh, "can I see the note?" He said in a hard voice. I nodded, pulling it out of my black slacks.

He smoothed out the crinkled note, reading it carefully, his eyes scanning the paper for any other form of a message Anya could have left. When he was through, he placed the note face up on the table, pointing to the first coordinates. I had quickly scribbled 'Saint P' beside it, the ink now faded and smudged.

"You think this is around here?" He looked at me, his face slipping on his favorite mask. It bothered me that he wasn't going to tell me how he was feeling, but I held my tongue and nodded.

"Then, these others are much further away from us," Jack mused, taking in the coordinates. He pointed to the last one, "look at the latitude on this one, compared to the first, it's a completely different continent."

"Well, she didn't really leave a whole lot of instructions," I rebuked. It was true though, that last coordinate confused me, as it wouldn't be anywhere in Russia.

Jack's eyes flickered up, beyond me, then back down at the note. I knew he would stay on this, to try and dance around his feelings.

Quickly, I yanked the note back. "Jack," I breathed, staring at him. He clenched his jaw, turning his gaze away. "Jack, I need you to tell me what's going through your head."

Silence. I tried again, changing my tone. "Please, I know this is a lot to take in. I just want to make sure that you're okay." I choked on my next words, not because I didn't mean them, but because they were so true. "I care about you, Jack. So much that the thought of you hating me hurts. I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you, I thought it was safer, but I see now that it wasn't."

"You care about me?" He said, slowly - testing his own tone. "If you cared, then why keep all of these secrets? I may have kept the conditions of my deal a secret from you, because it was my burden to bear." He jutted his finger into his chest, his face red with frustration.

"I know," I cut in, feeling the color rush from my face. "I had no right, but I couldn't just let you die when I could have done something."

His eyebrows shot up, "yeah, and you're going to unleash that witch on this world, when I could have been the end of her."

"You don't know that," I said carefully. "Someone else could have awakened her for the same deal."

"Then let them, I could have got what I wanted and have been done with it."

If Jack could wield ice and snow, he was the master of them. Ice flowed in my veins as I leaned back, staring at him, finally connecting the pieces.

Jack wasn't just looking to avenge Oliver, he truly intended to die.

"You want to die, don't you?"

The small diner felt hollow, dark and completely cold. I didn't know if I wanted to cry, or to scream at him that he was a coward. I carefully tried to recall memories of us, when I realized none of them included a future with him. Not because he didn't want to, or so I hoped, instead, it was him knowing he wasn't going to be here. Jack didn't plan a future with me, I had done that all on my own, creating something bigger and better for myself, with him in the picture.

Suddenly, I was sad - so sad, for Jack. How much agony and pain was he in, what demons had chased him from bed, to make him hate life so much he wanted to die. Or, an even sadder thought, how much he missed his brother, he wanted to be united with him again. No matter the cost.

Tears pricked at my eyes, and I blinked them away. Jack tried speaking to me, but I was somewhere far away.

"I still want to help you," he said. "It's my fault you're in this mess to begin with, so I'll help you look for the mirror."

I breathed in deeply, "but you -"

"There's other things worth living for," Jack leaned across the table, his hand opening, waiting, for mine. "We still don't know if this will work. Eris is a Goddess after all, she could have ulterior motives."

He never answers my damn questions. I breathed in again, a little quicker than my last breath, "did you truly intend on dying?"

I counted in my head, five long seconds of silence before he nodded slowly. He withdrew his hand, running it through his hair, sighing. "I miss Ollie, that's the only way I can explain how I feel. He always protected me, always forced me to do good. Ollie was the good one, the one that should have lived -"

"Jack you are good," I leaned forward. Damn this table for separating us, I wanted to hold him. "You're full of goodness. You came here to help people -"

"I came here to kill Mengele," Jack hissed, then pressed his back firmly into the seat. "How is that something the good guy would do?" I glanced around to see if anyone could tell we had been arguing. Aside from an older couple, no one else really bothered with us.

Jack stayed silent, breathing deeply, calming himself down. I also stayed quiet, intently watching him. I had never seen Jack so worked up, so emotional, and it felt like walking on eggshells, I wasn't sure how much further he could be pushed before he broke. Something deep in our bond was beginning to snap, and I didn't want to feel the reverb.

"I'm not mad at you, Hic," he said slowly, opening his eyes. "I'm mad at myself, that I got us into this situation. I know I should have told you about Eris the moment I courted you." I felt the blush flare at my cheeks, heat rising as his stare pinned me down. "I want to be with you, want to help you find this cure."

It might not work, I wanted to say, but instead reached across the table. I wanted, so badly, for this to work, for us to find the Lasser Glass, and have Pitch hold up his end of the bargain. I knew he would be the one to stop Eris, not me.

So I let Jack intertwined his fingers between mine, clasping them within his own as I silently prayed to whatever good God could be out there.

Please, let this work.

^.^

With the help of a map (that had actual coordinates on it) we departed to Veliky, Novgorod, a three hour train ride that departed the next morning. Which was fine, since it gave us more time to look into the coordinates, plus it gave me more time to rest while Jack planned our trip across Russia. Which, by the looks of it, the next place we would be destined for was Norway.

I sat up from laying on the bed, Jack was wearing a loose shirt and slacks while he sat at the desk, studying the map, when he made the announcement of the next location.

"Are you sure?" Norway was not where I was expecting to go. Jack looked towards his computer screen, typing something into the device.

"Yeah, positive. It looks like we can take a cross country train to Denmark, then sail to Norway."

I considered, "who knows how long we'll be in Norgorod. It could take days to find these artifacts, plus we don't even know what they look like."

Jack looked back at me, "I have a feeling you'll be able to tell, if they are dark artifacts, they may exert the same energy that you can track."

I hadn't thought about that, forgetting that technically, I could be a search hound for these objects. Jack continued looking into the final coordinate, our conversation was over. Jack and I were going to share a bed, but somehow, it felt forced. Like he was doing it because he thought he had to. I didn't mind, I enjoyed the physical contact, had started getting use to it. But, he kept his distance, so I kept mine.

Further into the night, Jack found the last location - Berk. It was shocking, yet, mildly expected. How come everything eventually lead back to home?

The next day - or night I should say - we had first class train accommodations, which turned out to be a lot smaller than I expected. There was a combination of bed/sitting space on each side, a table, window and a t.v. screen mounted on the far wall. I had quickly gotten bored of the t.v., not being able to follow any of the Russian language that filled most of the channels here. That, and some of the shows were downright bizarre. Still, Jack lounged as he watched, to which I wasn't surprised he knew some Russian.

Our plush cushions were comfier than the accommodations we had at the Inn, so settling in for the ride was easy. It was still dark out when we departed, I slept most of the way, nodding off easily as I sat across from Jack, who watched most of the t.v. shows the entire trip. I awoke, groggy eyed when we arrived in Norgorod a couple hours later.

Not sure how long we would be here, Jack booked us a couple nights at a nearby Inn, which was complete with a restaurant. Elegant, burgundy linens lined the tables, brass, dark wood and a splash of color on the mosaic windows gave the place an antique feel.

I ordered something that vaguely reminded me of french toast, listening to the intense conversation Jack was having with the older waitress in Russian. I didn't understand most of the words, but Jack had pulled out the map, pointing to it while he listened to her explain something to him, to which I didn't understand.

When they were finished, he turned to me. "She says the area has been closed to the public for years. But, she thinks the grounds keeper of the Inn may know more about the property."

I groaned, "how're we supposed to find an object if it's off limits?"

Jack shrugged, his mischievous eyes lighting up at the challenge, "I guess we'll have to get creative." When he noticed the look I was giving him, his grin widened. "Don't worry, Hic. We'll hear what the grounds keeper says, then go from there."

I didn't like the thought of us having to get into trouble for this, seeing as we were risking our lives already. But, he was right, if anyone would know it would be a local. However, it turned out that the local groundskeeper, happens to be a teenager.

He was wearing a brown jacket over a dirty, white shirt and matching brown pants with large boots. He had brown, long hair, most of it was in a thin braid tied to his nape. His bangs framed his youthful face, a single gold-hoop earring glistening in his left ear, offsetting his blue-gray eyes. The boy seemed bored when he approached us, hands in his pockets and a permanent shrug that had a cocky air about him.

"Are you the ones looking into the old property on the hill?" The young man said in perfect english, looking rather bored. Jack and I glanced at each other, before he nodded, acknowledging him.

"We are, do you know anything about it?" Jack kept his voice low, "we're looking for something important there."

The teenager grinned, "there's no getting into that place, it's been locked up for years, with constant security."

It felt compelling to think that a high security property was possibly holding what we were looking for. I took that as a good sign as Jack glanced at me, thinking the same thing, when the teen spoke again. "You two must have come along ways for whatever it is you're looking for." He leaned in closer to us, placing a hand on the table. "You may not be able to get past the security, but I sure can."

"For what price?" I growled, I didn't want to be blackmailed by some kid in a country we were barely familiar with. He shrugged, nonchalantly, "nothing much, I just want a ticket out of here."

I was about to ask 'why', as he leaned back, "I don't need to explain myself to you, and I definitely don't need your explanation. If you want my help getting whatever it is you're looking for, that's my price. Take it, or leave it."

Husler, I wanted to bark, but Jack stood up so abruptly, even the teen stepped back with wide eyes. Jack didn't tower over him, but he was significantly taller than the other male. He stuck out his hand, standing close to the stranger, in a voice so low, I hardly heard him say "deal."

The teen grinned, "you can call me Jim. Meet me back here tonight at midnight with a one-way ticket to Finland, and I'll get you past the gates."

I pressed my back into the seat, watching Jim saunter away as Jack sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I can't tell if we just got swindled by a kid, or if he is telling the truth," Jack confessed.

I continued watching Jim from across the room, "me either, let's just keep our wits about us. The less people we can rely on, the better."

The wait for midnight was filled with an anxious rush. The rest of the night passed by uneventfully, Things between Jack and I were still... tense, to say the least. We hadn't had the chance (or time) to completely mull things over, and there was a lot of things between us that left our relationship a little rocky. As much as I wanted to be physical, he just wasn't into it. I had lied, I understand, that he was stressed too. I knew I shouldn't take it personally, but I did. He stayed with me, I reminded myself. Somehow, it just didn't feel right.

When midnight arrived, we met Jim outside the Inn. He was dressed in the same clothes, but had thrown on a black leather jacket to fight the chill of the night, and was carrying a dark duffle bag.

"You showed up," his voice was a mixture of amusement and surprise. "I hope you brought me what I wanted."

"Of course we did, now hold up your end of the bargain," I said, watching Jack hand over the ticket we bought this afternoon, the earliest available to Finland was in a couple of days.

Jim eyed it, "you couldn't have gotten any earlier train?"

"This was the only one available," Jack said, stepping back, he added with a grin. "Take it, or leave it."

"I'll take it," the teen abruptly, sticking the ticket in this pocket, then, lifting his duffle bag he turned and began walking into the night.

We followed Jim quietly, and I opened my darkness out towards the parameter around us. I also sent Toothless out a couple years behind us, to keep watch. I didn't sense anything malicious, or paranormal around the area, but just in case, I snapped in place a veil of blackness as a shield around the three of us.

The property was about a half an hour hike through an unlit trail in the woods, then up a hill.

"The electrical box for the fence is about a 5 minute trek from the actual property. That's what we want to deactivate," Jim explained in a hush voice as we continued up the hill. Jack was having a hard time looking at his GPS, which he purchased earlier in the day while I napped.

We had reached a grey box, when Jim looked in his bag, holding a small flashlight up and using tools to open the box. Jack and I kept a lookout, but with Toothless and my darkness around us, I could sense if anything passed that threshold.

"I can deactivate the actual alarms on the property, but as for the security guards we'll have to work fast. The backup alarms will reboot in about twenty minutes," Jim said, as he worked quickly.

I watched him, carefully, "why help us? We're complete strangers to you."

It had made me curious from the moment he struck that deal with us. For a second, Jim pulled away from the box, his face a mixture of grief and disdain. "I want out of here, I hate it here and if helping you guys is my ticket out, then so be it."

I certainly wasn't one to judge, but I felt sad for Jim. He was so young, and somehow he seemed to be stuck. I wondered if he even went to school here, or if his life had went down a very different path.

When he was done, he shut the box, then set his alarm on his watch. "We have twenty minutes. Find what you need, and let's get out of here."

Jack lead the way, using his memory of the coordinates and the GPS. I navigated us in the night, keeping a strong awareness on the location of the security guards. They were more concerned about the front of the property, which worked in our favour as we had to go towards the back, towards an old, forgotten warehouse no bigger than the size of a single car garage.

"It's in there," Jack nodded at the building. There was no time to feel fear, no time to think about the consequences as we slowly trekked around it, night gobbling up any last moonlight around us when we reached the shadows of the building, that faced the woods.

"I see a window," Jim gazed into the night, looking at the side of the warehouse. Indeed, there was window there, and it looked big enough for us to squeeze through. Just as Jim went to grab a rock to smash through it, Jack held out his hand.

"I got this," he said, closing his eyes. I felt his power then, radiating around him. It was a small amount, so well concentrated, I almost didn't see him send a frequency wave towards the glass. It felt effortless, because within a heartbeat, the glass shattered with hardly a sound. It was a clean break too, I could tell there were no splintered pieces left in the sill of the window.

Jim looked stunned, "how'd you do that?"

"Just an old parlor trick," Jack said, there was a small amount of exhaustion in his voice. "Let's keep going."

We pressed forward, using only the dimmest setting on Jim's flashlight to weave our way through the window. At first, we had to contort our bodies to squeeze through the tight parts, but eventually we had all gotten through, surprised to find the ground was soft dirt. We walked around the interior for bit, when Jack halted.

"I don't understand," he paused, "it should be right here."

"Maybe it's buried?" Jim suggested, he walked to the corner of the large structure, grabbed a pair of shovels, and handed one to Jack. Both of them started digging.

"If you don't mind," Jim said a couple of minutes into it, "what are you looking for?"

"We don't really know," I said truthfully. "We'll know when we find it."

It was cryptic, but Jim didn't ask anything else. After a couple more strokes into the dirt, I felt it. A dizziness washed over me, so faint, yet so familiar, I felt the pull of that shimmering dark world. It was Jack that hit something hard in the dirt and we all stopped when he dropped to his knees, digging in the ground with his bare hands before he pulled out a clothed object.

He looked at me, slowly unsheathing it.

Then I really felt it.

As if the earth had broken open, nausea hit me so hard, I dropped to my hands and knees. The dizziness, making me see doubles, the small room was suddenly too small and I had no air to breath as it began to spin around and around, and around…

Then, it stopped, or dulled at least, to a soft pounding in my skull. I vomited from the sudden change, when Jim scurried across the dirt, shouting.

"T-there's something here!" his shaky hands used the flashlight to light the area. Indeed, towards the back of the structure, a dark shadow lurked.

I knew that entity, how could I forget? The one that was skulking around Zel, when it attached itself to her. It was one of Mengele's demons.

I tried to stand, to summon Toothless, who was outside watching the parameter, but nausea overtook and I relieved myself again, hurling from the intense power of the artifact.

My vision began flashing between the real world and the Dark Lands, where Oliver stood in front of me. He glanced back, blue eyes alive, "get out of here, I'll hold it off."

A bright light flashed before my eyes, when in the real world a cruel growl shook the inside of the warehouse. I pivoted to Jack, who stated helping me up. "We need to get out of here." I ground out, forcing the sickness down, down, into my lower gut.

Our escape was a blur, I only remember my basic survival skills kicking in. We ran out, hardly wasting anytime as we crossed the border and Jim's alarm went off. We all continued to run down the trail, Jack holding the artifact, which I had yet to see, close to him. His face was pale after he saw it, as if he was the one who might get sick.

We didn't stop until we were on the main path, beyond the hill. All of us were out of breathe, Jim had lain on the ground, as we gulped down air.

"I sure hope you found what you were looking for." Jim said in-between breathes.

Jack slowly unraveled the object, his face grim. "We did."

Through the headache, I forced myself to look at the artifact.

Yes, indeed it emitted the same dark powers I would, as I gazed at it. A dark black-purple aura thickly clung to it, the energy buzzing with darkness.

Jack was holding half a human skull.

^.^