Jack returns to the ice cavern, having stopped over Thailand while he was at it.

"Will you shut up Jakul!"

"What? I'm just saying that it'd be nice for us to at least have a house somewhere in the mountains." Jack rubbed his temples as he went to the mouth of the cave.

"Hey Mysterie, I brought back some stuff. I'll just set the Thailand candy on the table." He said, doing just that, but when he turns to her he notices that she's not moving, or breathing. His expression gives way to horror as what he was seeing began to sink into him.

"NO!" He rushed over to her, hugging her lifeless body.

"You said... you..." He began sobbing. Crying out all of his anguish in one single scream that echoed across for miles. Jamie would swear later that he'd never heard anything more heart-breaking than that cry and never would hear anything quite like it again in all of his life. Sandy was nearby, sending out dreams when he heard the cry and he was the first of the Guardians to respond, even as Jamie shook the globe that North had given him as a way to alert the Guardians that he needed them.

"WHY?! WHY DID YOU DO IT?! YOU!" Jack sobbed his heart out for hours, Sandy could only hug him in a vain attempt to comfort the distraught winter spirit. When the others arrived, Jack had passed out from exhaustion and Sandy was carrying him on a sand cloud to keep nightmares away and ensure that he slept peacefully. The Guardians moved Mysterie's body from where it was on the ice chair and carried it back to the pole; giving her a proper burial was the least they could do for her, especially for Jack since they had carelessly given up on trying to help Jack get his friend back. It had never occurred to any of them, until that moment in the infirmary, that Jack would care for the mortal woman as more than just a friend. It weighed heavily on their hearts, but they were Guardians of children, not adults and this woman had passed from the stage of childhood years ago. That she had still been able to see Jack or any of them had been a rare and precious miracle all of its own. Each of them quietly grieved, weighed with the guilt that they should have noticed the signs sooner that this mortal had been more than just a friend to the youngest Guardian; that he'd grown close to her in such a short time. None of them really noticed that Manny (aka Man in the Moon) had taken note of what they all had missed.

An hour after the burial everyone had separated, each had paid their respects to the woman's passing though no one had said a word; North would have spoken if he had been sure of what would have been right to say, but the one who had known her best, Jack, was too stricken to speak and the winter spirit had been too upset to attend or more to the point, he had cried himself into exhaustion a second time. Though the workshop was in full swing as usual now, the usual din was muted and the elves solemn; their bells rarely making noise as they walked quietly about their duties. Such was the feeling of mourning, Sandy had to use an extra dose of dream sand when Jack had exhausted himself just to keep the winter spirit from tossing and turning in his sleep. Since none of them had really known her, or even what she could do, it was no surprise that as they were going about their normal jobs that no one in the workshop noticed the silver strand of sand that slithered through the air, past the workers and into the room where Jack was. It swirled about him to get his attention, having no voice of its own. Jack had been staring into space on the balcony of his room, the doors thrown open behind him when the sand found him. His eyes went wide as he stared at the sand.

"Mysterie!" He reached out to touch the sand before him, it was warm beneath his fingers and was a little like stroking a lizard only less rough. With a soft smile he plays with the sand, fascinated at how it slides through his fingers when he tries to grasp it.

"Insistant lil..." Jakul growls as he appears and catches the sand in a jar.

"JAKUL, LET HER OUT!" Jack shouted, obviously thinking that the strand of sand was more than it was. Jakul pinned him to the wall, Jack struggled against the other's strength.

"And why would I do that Jack? She's just trouble and you know it so forget about her!" Jack ignores the barb and struggles to get to the glass jar. The sand inside the jar dances excitedly, swirling about before forming a hand, for a brief time, and beckons to Jack to follow despite being caught. Jack pushes Jakul off with the strength of a raging rhino, slamming the other into the same wall and shattering the glass. The sand swirls up, now free and dances in front of Jakul just long enough to spell out:

Tsk Tsk Jakul... You assume too much...

It then dances away with Jack following behind with a smile. It zips through his room and out into the hallway, easily avoiding every other living thing as it zips to another room at the far end of the workshop, slipping into a room that has its door half open and towards the balcony; one of the glass doors is open and the sand swirls around the figure in a brown cloak a couple of times before disappearing. Jakul growls and summons the southern wind to blow Jack away from the figure, Jack is slammed into a wall and pinned by ice. Jack lets out a scream as Jakul twists a sharpened blade into one of the unhealed wounds that Jack had never told anyone about.

"Mysterie! Go get the Guardians!" Jack screeched as Jakul twisted one arm and it snaps, Jakul chuckles at the painful cry.

"Now, you gonna be god and let me take over or am I going to have to kill you slowly to do it?" Jack can barely breathe over the pain. The figure on the balcony turns, silver highlights sparkle in chestnut brown hair, her eyes narrow at Jakul.

"Maybe it's time I deal with you myself." Mysterie says, a strand of silver sand shooting off to fetch each of the Guardians, but a second forms into a deadly katana. She strikes over to Jakul and levels the blade at him like a master fencer.

"Unless, of course, you are afraid of begin beaten by a girl..." She smirks a little, emerald green eyes glinting with challenge. Jakul releases Jack, his black blue eyes shining with fear.

"Fine, but know this you can't kill me when Jack's desires win over, I'll always be inside of him; and when he slips up you won't be able to save him." He said before turning into nothing but snow that returned to Jack's body. Mysterie said nothing, there was no point and she knew that Jakul had spoken the truth. Just as Shadow was always with her, waiting for her to slip up so would Jakul be there, waiting for Jack to. Jack gasped, collapsing in pain, he was becoming paler by the second due to the blood that was seeping from his reopened wound. The Guardians burst into the room then and Tooth gasps when she sees Jack while Bunny hops over to Mysterie.

"What the 'ell happened here mate?" He asks, narrowing his eyes a little suspiciously at her despite the fact that there is no evidence of a weapon to cause Jack to be like he is, as Mysterie had let her sand blade disperse once Jakul had disappeared. North looks a little like he's going to have a fit over seeing Jack hurt and Sandy is working on keeping Jack awake. Mysterie moves over to where Jack is, ignoring Bunny's question for the moment as she kneels next to Jack. Sandy looks up at her, a question mark appearing above his head but she shakes her head sadly.

"This isn't over, until Jack can come to terms with his power... with what he's done in the past that created Jakul... it will never be over." Even as she says that, she knows that just coming to terms with the past is only part of what Jack needs to do. That it is much more complicated than that. She doesn't say so; however, and lightly caresses one of his cheeks.

"You better not have called us here for nuthin' those silver snake streams ain't gonna be my alarm bell." Mysterie frowned and turned to Bunny.

"You don't like them then you can shove those bombs of yours up your arse rabbit." She replies tonelessly before going on, before Bunny can think of a retort.

"As for what happened. Jakul did. I doubt I need explain that further."

"That don't explain you." Bunny shot back, narrowing his eyes at her.

"You want an explanation there you can ask the Moon. I haven't the faintest idea really, he didn't exactly tell me anything when I awoke." Even as she replied, a strand of silver sand was sliding from her hand and beneath Jack's clothes to wrap around any wound, knitting them closed so that he cannot lose anymore blood and acts a lot like stitches even for the blood vessels, keeping Jack from losing anymore blood. It moves over his entire body before returning to her hand and dispersing. Jack's breath hitches in pain, as the sand doesn't dull his nerves; unable to provide pain killer even as it takes away most of the source of the pain.

"Myst... I-I... don't think I c-c-can k-keep it up a-anymore." If I give in... maybe they will stop suffering because of me...

"Mysterie, please know one more thing... I love you with all my heart and no matter what happens, I always will." He takes a deep breath as he begins to accept Jakul. Emerald green eyes meet brilliant blue as she speaks quietly, the only one in range to hear her besides Jack is Sandy.

"The secret to overcoming darkness is to accept your past... accept what mistakes you have made. Only then can you control it as I have controlled Shadow. We cannot be rid of them, because they are always a part of us... but it is we who decide who is in control. I love you, Jack. If I have to... I will wait for you." Jack closes his eyes into the unknown void of acceptance. Sandy nods in agreement with what she says, his gaze one of sympathy knowing too well that while knowing is one thing, it is only part of the battle that Jack will need to go through to truly control himself. Mysterie glances over to Sandy and motions for him to get back, knowing too well what Jakul can do and not wanting the golden Guardian to be in the line of fire first. He looks at her uncertainly before drifting towards the other three who were now watching the pair with concern. She merely waits to see what will happen, knowing that in accepting the darkness with in good or bad could emerge... No longer bound by mortality, she didn't have to worry about the risk she was taking as she had when she'd been alive. Pain explodes inside Jack and he screams out, the nearest windows shatter from the sheer power of the outburst as all of Jack's mistakes flash before his mind's eye, the most recent one being about Mysterie and how he had let it happen. The power of winter causing him to glow brightly, but she doesn't move or shield her eyes like three of the other Guardians have to do.

"Myst-terie." Jack's voice is hoarse from screaming, as Jack is crying on the inside, Jakul takes advantage and takes control. Jakul stands.

"Wow, that took forever. Hello Guardians, Mysterie." He spits out her name like it was poison. She stands, but doesn't back down even as the next words cause the Guardians to tense.

"How about we have some fun first before I break in my new control?" He summons the staff to his hands, freezing Bunny in place before the spring spirit can tackle him and slamming the other Guardians into the nearest wall with an icy blast of wind. The force of the blast rendered both Tooth and North unconscious. Sandy just gets back up and looks over towards Mysterie, nodding to her that he's ready to take Jakul down. Jakul chuckles as he looks at his remaining opponents. All the while Jack is screaming and shouting inside, wanting out; there are no words to describe the sickening feeling of being trapped in your own body, to see out of eyes that aren't in your control and not being able to control your body. Mysterie nodded back at Sandy. Twin katanas form from silver sand as she stands ready to defend the other Guardians even as she feels her heart sink a little. As good as she was... She knew that just as Jack was the only one who could keep Shadow from wiping out the Guardians with her sand... So did she not stand a chance against Jakul. The question was... did he know it? Had he figured it out from the time when Shadow had nearly swept the Guardians away only to be stopped by Jack? With grim determination, she faced the enemy in silence; her eyes dulling with the experience of battle, for she was no stranger to combat; even newly immortal she had faced more fights, with the very blades she now wielded, when she had been alive than she had now and she was not one to be taken lightly. Jakul blasted ice at her, freezing her in place before creating a few ice daggers to slice his way through Sandy's sand.

"Hmph, that the best you can do Sandy?" He leaned on the staff, mocking a fake yawn as if bored with you both ready.

"LET ME OUT! I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS! I REALIZE MY MISTAKES, JUST PLEASE LET ME OUT!" Jack screeched, Mysterie nearly winced at the volume of it even as Jack realized that he was in a losing battle. Jakul created ice wolves that he sent after the Guardians who were slowly coming to. Bunny, who had come unstuck, was quick to defend the other two while a couple go over to Mysterie and Sandy. An ice bear snarls at her as it comes into being, its eyes a stormy blue instead of the normal blue Jack's creatures had always had.

"So Mysterie, how does it feel fighting the one you love? Does it tear you apart inside? Are you itching to give Shadow control now?" He smirked, tainting the smirk that she loved so with darkness. When she didn't respond right away.

"Well, I have one thing to say to you and I know Jack means this." He shook his head and she knew what he was going to say. It's not true! Stop! Stop it! Don't listen to him! Jack wants to scream, but the words don't form; they don't need to really because even without the verbal confirmation from Jack, she knows it's a lie even as Jakul speaks.

"Jack never loved you. He's been meaning to tell you because he never liked you. Just like none of the Guardians saw him for 300 years, ignoring him at those times, where were you when that happened? Huh?!" The barb doesn't hit its mark because as much as she wished she could have been there for Jack... she'd been mortal, a human and her parents hadn't even been born when Jack had emerged from his pond all those years ago. That was something Jakul obviously hadn't considered, or perhaps he'd not been paying attention to that one little detail. Sadness flickers in those brilliant blue eyes and it turns to regret; it is then that she realizes that not even Jack had noticed she was human and that he was losing completely to Jakul.

"Where were you?" Mysterie doesn't answer because she's trying to take in how she should answer Jakul if she does at all and is trying to free herself, at the same time, from the ice. A soft goodbye seems to be whispered, though it barely passes Jack's pale lips as Jakul sends a signal to the ice bear. Its claws tear down one arm, digging deep and leaving a trail; she cries out in pain while Sandy and Bunny barely have time to save the others from the wolves before and ice clone of Jack appears, it is a perfect replica, right down to the detail of the staff.

"It's over now Mysterie, Jack's mine!" She levels Jakul with a serious gaze, the wound throbbing, but she barely seems to notice it at the moment as his words dig deeper into her than the wound she had taken from the bear.

"Yes... It does hurt... but you know what? I can deal with that hurt because I suffered at the hands of demons worse than you. You think you know what fear is... what it is to torture someone... Don't make me laugh. What the Guardians did was a mistake... something everyone makes. I made the mistake of letting you live... of letting Shadow out in the first place. I know EVERYTHING Shadow knows Jakul and while it will kill me inside... I won't back down. You will have to kill me because I am not letting her back out again." Even as she spoke, her voice shook and she couldn't stop the tears that slid from her cheeks to the floor even as she faced him, the clone and the ice creatures. Silver sand slid over the four Guardians, covering them from sight and when the sand falls to the floor they are simply gone as she breaks free of the ice. Now it is just her and Jakul, she had given the four time to regroup. Her uninjured arm raises a blade to point at Jakul, it quivers slightly this time, but she still doesn't back down. The ice bear is driven back with a sand whip that snaps at it at her command even as blood stains her cloak. Standing before the "ice demon" is a woman who is a warrior through and through.

Jakul's eyes widen in sudden pain. Growling from inside, Jack manages to break some of the hold.

"Myst I... I..." Jack hissed in pain as he forced himself to try and melt more of the ice around her, he curled into a ball as Jakul struck mental daggers at Jack, trying to regain control.

"I-I... I'm so sorry... he's just so strong!" Tears think and clink to the floor as Jack cries, pulling at his hair to try and rip the mental pain away.

"MYSTRIE GET OUT OF HERE NOW! I WON'T HAVE YOU DIE BY MY HANDS!" Jack yells, there is so much emotional pain in his cry that Mysterie winces a little, reminded of a time in her past when she had once spoken similar words to another.

"Jakul get out now before I kill myself to get rid of you!" Jakul chuckles in his head.

"I doubt she'll let you do it."

"Really? Watch me." Jack winces in pain as more flashes of the past appear in his mind, causing him to shiver at the mental pain. Instead of doing what was expected, Mysterie merely watched what was happening before her, as if somehow not really seeing or hearing anything around her. Silent, she waits and watches Jack. Not moving, not making a single sound outside her soft breathing and the soft "thunk" now made by the trail of blood that is dripping to the floor from the cloak, though the wound has mostly stopped bleeding; what blood that has saturated the cloak makes a long streak down it from the wound itself to the bottom. She had heard it all before... but not from someone else... Not from someone she cared about so much and so it was a curiosity... To hear words she knew she'd spoken before herself. She doesn't back down, refuses to be the coward... having sent the Guardians off to regroup in a place that was unknown to Jakul. Jack creates an ice knife, but doesn't have the will to push it into his vein, to push it into him and kill him instantly. Instead he looks at Mysterie. It's gone too far... I can't do it... He stares at her blankly, all the while still trying his hardest to cut the being, but just the feeling of knowing the grief she would be put through keeps him from doing it.

"See! I told you that you wouldn't do it Frost!"

"You know what, you're right; everything you said is right. Yes, I'm afraid, yes I can't beat you and yes I don't want to be alone. All I did... my actions... was out of anger and realization of truths." Mysterie is still silent even as she feels Jakul is fading, faltering as Jack begins to speak of his "sins," his actions, all his mistakes one by one until finally he is able to expel Jakul and he is gone into the wind; screaming curses at Jack and that he'd be back when Jack least expected it. Jack looks up at her then, their eyes meeting and he smiles as he walks over to her and simply collapse into her.

"I'm sorry Mysterie, for all I have done." She simply catches him as he falls towards her, into her arms; the sand swords disappearing before they even hit the ground. She holds him close, closing her eyes.

"Didn't I tell you before that you don't need to apologize to me?" She murmured softly as she held him close, knowing that Jakul might be back someday... Just as Shadow might... that both each have their own demons, that they must face and accept what they have done... What has been done to them and in moving past it can control them rather than the other way around. It was a truth that was hard won for her.