Jack groaned from the ache in his head and the bright sun on his eyelids as he suddenly became aware of his surroundings. Slowly, he sat up and rubbed his hair that felt smooth and soft- as if it had been washed, which was unusual. Where was he...? He looked around while squinting, still having to try to adjust to the light. There was a tall building, like a house from many years ago except massive, that towered over him to his right, and a single tree to his left. The tree bloomed great white flowers and huge reddish purple fruits that he had never seen before in all of his travels. He stood gently to his feet and wandered towards it, admiring the beauty and age of it. It must have been at least several centuries old- maybe as old as he was. As he looked closer, he saw that the flowers were great lilies.

'Lilies...?' Jack whispered to nothing, questioning everything around him. He tried to focus his eyes on what was beyond the vast tree, what was out in the distance, but his eyes wouldn't let him look there. He tried several times to gaze out into the unknown, but his head drew his eyes back to the tree every time, and it made him dizzy. Maybe there was nothing there, maybe this was just the whole world he was in. No, wait, this wasn't his world... How did he even get here? He struggled to remember, but once again his head fuzzed and turned off at the idea of recalling anything.

After observing the tree for a good few minutes, Jack decided there was nothing more to be done about it. The branches were too high for him to climb, but why would he want to go up there anyway? That was answered by his throat. He was thirsty- more than thirsty- it felt like all he'd been drinking for the last month was sand. The weird fruit glistened in the eery half light, and he watched as a bead of water dripped down the side of one of them. It balanced on the bottom before gravity took it's toll and it came plummeting towards hard ground. It fell heavily, and Jack seemed to be able to feel it come towards him- he didn't want it to touch him for some reason, so he stepped back and away, his head spinning.

He turned on his heels and the tower of a building loomed up ahead of him like the hideout of a villain in an old fairytale. It's shadow fell weightily over him, and every wall seemed to darken. The windows were smashed and broken, every single one, and he saw nothing when he looked into them except a black chasm. It was pitch black in there.

Wait... Pitch? Black? Something about that sounded familiar, and he felt his insides tighten at the thought of the words.

The house was made of wood, a bit like a log cabin, but it had hundreds of windows and reached up to the sky. The further he traced the outline to the top, the further it went into the clouds- up and up beyond the reach of any machine or person. It never stopped growing in height. The sun moved quickly from behind it to in front of it, lighting up the side that had only seconds before seemed scary and unnerving. It now looked much more friendly, every nook and cranny that had been black now illuminated and visible. Something drew him to it. Even the windows and the doorway at the bottom. He could have sworn there hadn't been a door there a few minutes ago?

Intrigued, Jack tiptoed towards the hole in the wall, listening to his own breathing- it was the only sound around. Not even a breeze blew. Everything was still. Unnervingly still.

'So, Bunny, would you mind explaining what you were doing with Jack last night?' North looked down on the Easter Bunny with one eyebrow raised.

'Crikey...' Bunny sighed. 'I knew this was coming.'

'Well, you can't expect us not to ask, not after this.' Tooth pointed towards Jack's side, which she was currently helping North to wrap tightly. To anyone walking in on this scene, it looked like they had been butchering an animal. Jack's blood spattered the floor, spread around from movement of the Guardians and the drips falling from the sheets. He lay as motionless as ever, only ever budging when he was being shoved around by North, who couldn't exactly control how aggressively he held things in his meaty hands. Nothing was looking up, despite the fact that they had managed to patch him up- this was serious. They still didn't know what Pitch was doing to Jack to make him so ill over the past few days, and they imagined it hadn't gone away. Now he simply had another injury to add to his pains. Spots of red peeped through his bandages already, as they hadn't managed to stop him bleeding completely, despite the stitches. That would have to happen naturally.

'In the night, he stilled.' Bunny began dismally, and the others looked up in interest. 'He stopped fighting the fever, and for a moment, I thought we'd lost him. I didn't know what to do, so I sat there thinking, and after a while, I started to think about his believers. Jamie's face flashed into my head, and I was sure that he could help Jack. So I took him to the warren, then went to get Jamie. He tried and tried to help somehow, just by talking to Jack if that did anything. And Jack, he woke- it was looking up. I thought I'd done something right...' Bunny stopped himself, staring blankly at the friend who he had failed to protect. 'Jack said one word to Jamie, and one word alone- believe. So we tried- he believed in Jack with all his might, but nothing happened. I convinced him that he had made Jack a bit better so he wouldn't worry, then I took him home as fast as I could run. When I came back, I saw the knife and the blood and...' he stopped completely to cover his face and hide his eyes he was so ashamed.

'You should have told us first, Bunny,' North glared at him intensely, a hint of anger in his voice, 'but you did a good thing.'

Bunny's eyes widened at the response and he met North's huge blue gaze. 'What...?' he stuttered, barely believing he wasn't being tied down and beaten.

'It was good idea, and you say Jamie woke Jack, yes? That means he must have made some effect. Most important thing to remember now is that this is not your fault, Bunny. You were only doing what you thought was best for Jack, and all of... this,' he glanced down to his hands on Jack's side, 'must have happened within barely minutes. You could not have expected such an attack.' North smiled reassuringly, and Bunny felt slightly better for it.

Sandy came over and patted him on the back softly, smiling too. Tooth was barely aware of anything that was happening- she was in shock and could only focus on helping Jack. Now nearly the whole of his torso was layered tightly in bandages, especially around his waist and shoulder.

Nobody noticed, but Jack's eyes twitched and his face slightly contorted in discomfort. What he was dreaming of, nobody knew, but it certainly wasn't good. Hundreds of miles away, a man dressed all in black robes smiled menacingly and laughed with joy.

'The latest nightmare, and trust me Jack... Not your worst.'