Alright guys, a little bonus chapter for you all. I just want to thank each and every one of you for being so patient, and so amazingly awesome.

I know the last one was a long one, and it got rough near the end. But just stay with me, ok? Anyway, this one's a bit shorter, but still has some huge stuff in it. Enjoy this New Year's gift from me to all of you. :)

Relax, read, and review!

Disclaimer: Jack Frost, the Guardians and Pitch Black belong to DreamWorks

Jack

The other Guardians arrived, ready for war. But there was no war to be fought. The battle was already over.

The battle had already been lost.

Each tried their best, especially Sandy, but none could get Lyra to wake up. Her arm, once tightly wrapped around her chest, hung loose at her side. He eyes remained closed, never to open again.

I'm not really sure what happened after that. I remained on the ground at Lyra's side. The rest of them moved around the two of us, but all I saw were blurred colors and shapes. They spoke, but I might as well have been deaf. I think Tooth tried to comfort me at one point- she might have been crying. I don't know.

Because while my head couldn't process what was happening around me, my heart couldn't process what had already happened.

Lyra was dead.

But she couldn't be.

"Wake up." I whispered to her, more than once. "Wake up!" I yelled in anguish, not even noticing the tears that escaped my eyes.

She couldn't hear me though. She didn't wake up.

We may have been there for hours, or minutes. Maybe days. Time seemed frozen to me.

But in reality, time was frozen. Well, sort of.

(General POV)

North stood off to the side with his hands on his hips, facing the young spirit in front of him at a complete loss of what to do. It was a terrible sight to observe; the awful pain on the boy's face, and the dead girl he held tightly in his arms.

Jack refused to speak to the other Guardians, or react to their presence in any way. North couldn't be sure if Jack even knew they were there at all. All the Guardians were anxious to know what had happened to the young pair. From what they could observe of their surroundings, it was obviously the work of Pitch, evident from the scattered black sand that still remained in various places on the ground. Finding Jack like this had been a shock to them all. And to make it worse, none of them knew how to proceed. What about the winter solstice battle? Would Pitch come back? Or had he already managed to do his dirty work? Were they looking at the results? No one knew for sure, and Jack wasn't responding properly.

Even stranger was the sun. It was still in the early stages of dawn, the fiery ball rising into the sky ever so slowly. But the darkness of night wasn't fading away. The full moon didn't disappear. And because they didn't know what to do, the Guardians didn't have anything else to do but observe their surroundings. And the longer they watched the sun, the sooner they realized the sun had stopped moving. It wasn't rising anymore. It remained its red-orange shade, remained low in the sky, present and bright, but it didn't rise. The moon stayed in the sky as well, trapped in its descent, glowing brightly. It was a strange sight indeed, worsened by the dark sky. Without the fully risen sun, the world was trapped in nighttime. The skies began to grow darker again, until they reached a near-black shade.

It was like time stood still, and darkness was taking over. The new Dark Age was beginning.

And there was nothing that could stop it.

...

Back in his lair, Pitch laughed triumphantly.

This Dark Age will be unlike any that ever came before it- and won't it be glorious! At last it has finally begun, and my victory draws near! Only one piece of my puzzle remains, but it will come soon enough, Pitch thought, rather pleased with himself as he ascended into the world above his lair. He observed his work gleefully- it was a world of darkness and chaos.

He turned to the Moon, suspended, frozen, in the black sky.

"What do you say now, old friend?" he asked. "I know what your next move will be, and I'm not sure there's even a point in trying to stop you. But ironically, your only hope in defeating me is exactly what I need to win, so dare I say, check?"

He chuckled under his breath at his own little joke. How often Pitch felt as if he and the Man in the Moon were playing a grand game of chess. All of Pitch's battles with the Guardians were really battles against Tsar himself; every move Pitch made was carefully calculated and planned, and the same could obviously be said for the old man hiding away on the moon.

"But don't get too hopeful," he continued, smirking at the glowing white sphere. "I am, after all, so very, very close to 'checkmate', and the only move you have available is the exact move that will cost you the game," Pitch sneered. He then turned and called upon his shadowy steed, created from the same black shadows he used to make the arrow that took the girl's life. Pitch was powerful, so powerful now, that he rarely needed to use the Nightmare-sand anymore. His army of Nightmare horses remained, but Pitch had ideas for a new army, the kind of army he hadn't been able to command in so very long a time, one that was sure to make him invincible.

...

The Man in the Moon tiredly turned away from his large golden telescope, rubbing his forehead unhappily. The world was in complete disaster, and although he had a plan, a plan that he had been creating and perfecting for some time now, Tsar was beginning to doubt whether or not it would succeed. Recent events had quite startled him. Pitch was right- there was only one thing he could do if he wanted any hope in saving the world from eternal darkness and nightmares, and while it was something he had planned on doing a very long time ago, it was not something he had intended on doing this soon.

But there was no way around it. It was essential this part of the plan happened, if there was to be any hope for the world at all. But Pitch had played the game well, he had rigged the board himself, so that when Tsar preformed the deed that would set his grand plan in motion, he would really be ensuring Pitch Black's victory.

What a complicated mess to be in, Tsar thought, gazing at his many books and trinkets, inventions and charts, hoping to see something he had missed before, something that could promise him that all was not yet lost.

There was a very tiny flaw in Pitch's plan, he knew. It seemed that all the Man in the Moon had left to rely on was that flaw, and to hope it could be used against the Nightmare King. He believed it was certainly possible. But there was no way to know for sure.

I'll definitely update Saturday :) Promise.

Please share with me any thoughts you may have... I wouldn't be here without you guys, and you've already made me a better writer. So please, anything you can think of or if you just want to chat...

Hope everyone had a terrific day. Happy 2014, and hope everyone's year ahead is beyond amazing.

I'll be off then...

Guest Responses:

Kat:I know the busy feeling, and it's totally cool! I'm just glad you haven't given this crazy story up, and that you're still making an effort to comment! I love you! Thanks for loving this story- I really appreciate your enthusiasm. And who knows who will save the day? Expect the Unexpected! right?! -iceprincess

Jazzy: Awwwww Jazzy don't cry! you'll make me cry! I'm sorry... :( -iceprincess

Guest: haha thanks for the review! No one like Pitch. But he is clever, I'll give him that. And perhaps a bit misunderstood. He just doesn't know how to deal with it though. He still makes a wonderful villain. -iceprincess

Caitielynnlynn: I'M SOOO SORRY! I AM! I AM! Wow thank you soo much for that review, that means soooo much. Reading it made my not-so-good-day become a great day, so thank you. Thank you thank you. I realllyyy hope I don't disappoint you in the rest of the story! - iceprincess

Jodi Blu: haha I don't mind two reviews! You can review as much as you like! And I didn't think you previous review sounded angry at all- no need to apologize! You have a right to think whatever you like, and yeah the sappy romance isn't for everyone. That's soo ok! Everyone likes different things, so I just am trying to write a balanced story that has something for everyone! But you're right, it was a piece of the puzzle that was necessary. It served a purpose. Haha Melanie was fun to write- I hadn't touched her for awhile, so it was good to bring her back! AND I'M SO HAPPY YOU LOVED THE TWIST! But, it's not the last one, I can promise you that. I've got a couple more up my sleeve... Expect the Unexpected, remember? :) And I've started the book series too! I got them for Christmas, and I love them so much! And yes, you're right about both the sunlight and the strength, but I hope this chapter clears that up a teensy bit more. I've had this chapter written for awhile, and it's like you anticipated in your review what was coming next... weird... haha -iceprincess