It had been three hours and not a single word was heard from Jack. For the past few hours he had been out and the dark sand was beginning to slowly spread again. He had winced in pain several times, but that was all they got from him.
Anna had tried to do the same magic she done before, but this time it wasn't working and she ended up accidentally giving him burns. He was going to have a fit when he wakes up. Providing he would wake up.
How had she done it before? All she wanted to do was get to him and help him, now that she was trying again, she was having no success. If she could do it again than maybe this time she could get rid of the darkness completely.
The red haired girl took hold of his icy hands and her sky blue eyes stared down to his sealed eyelids. His skin against hers made her cool to the point her temperature felt natural and not feel like she had a fever. The heat didn't bother her. She could jump into a volcano and not mind. If Jack even came near a volcano he'd fall weak. He wouldn't die, but he surely would get sick. Same thing would happen to her if she went to extreme colds. Her body could only take in so much, before she couldn't even be able to melt the snow.
The two of them had always made sure to stay away if either of them went over the top with their powers, but then the other would be able to cool them down or warm them up. They balanced each other out.
"Frostbite still out of it?" A familiar Australian accent said.
Anna turned to see Bunny hopping in, she still kept her grasp on his hand and simply nodded at Bunny. "He'll be okay, right?" She chocked.
"If I know Jack. Then I know he'll make it through." Bunny placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. It was a change then when he would end up touching Frost. He did prefer the heat.
"I wish I could help him out. I can't sit here and watch Pitch take over him." Her tears were forcing themselves out now. Bunny noticed and then brought her to face him.
"Oi, Sunshine, you managed to do more than what we could. Look." He pointed to the black sand crawling on Jack. "Before it was spreading like a dingo on his dinner's trail and almost had him. But then, somehow you managed to reverse it and slow it down. You gave us time to save him."
She forced a smile onto her face for him. But it wasn't enough to simply slow it down. He was still being affected by it.
Keep on fighting, Jack.
Darkness. It was all that had seemed to surround him. At first, it was painful and it was literally stabbing into his skin. Screams belonging to people he knew, but couldn't recall who they belonged to, were screaming loudly in pain into his ear and even when he tried to cover his ears, their screams just got louder.
Then, through all the pain and noise, a soothing voice was calling out to him. They sounded as if they were worried, but despite that, it was comforting.
"No! If he's hurt I want to help!" She yelled.
Just when the pain was reaching the point when he could no longer bear it, a warm hand grabbed his and soon light brightened the darkness down and eased the pain.
That was not expected. The girl had managed to temporarily stop his magic. If she could cause that much damage to his plan than she'd have to be removed from the picture. And what better way to do it than have his future little puppet get rid of her.
Soon Jack would have no control of what he could do and he would obey the Nightmare King's every order. His first order would be to kill the girl he had loved for so long and as further torture to the boy, he would temporarily break him free from his trance at the very second he would finish her completely. The look the winter child would have once he realized what he done would be priceless and great amusement for Pitch.
But first, he would have to get the process back on track. Jack was currently in a deep sleep, making him an easy target as he could easily slip into his dreams.
The darkness was still trying to grab onto him. Jack was running away from it and staying in the small bit of light he had. He realized that the voice had belonged to Anna and she had somehow chase the darkness away. As if she was some sort of light. It wasn't enough to get rid of them completely though.
Dark sand was still lurking in the corners of his subconscious. Pitch still had a hold of him and he was still working the darkness on him.
"Jack?" A girl's voice echoed. "Come on Jack!" He was running now and chasing a familiar girl with strawberry blonde hair. She finally turned around and Jack was staring at Anna's smiling face.
"What are you doing here?" He asked.
"I'm trying to help you." She replied. "Fight that." Anna pointed behind him. Her stare was expressionless and when Jack turned around he saw a wave of nightmare sand heading their way. His expression quickly widened and he was ready to attack it. But he didn't have his staff. He was defenseless without it. Anna didn't seem to do anything and keep a blank expression. How was she just staying calm?
"Anna! We have to go!" He said alarmed.
"They can't get to us." She told him. "Darkness can't touch the light."
The sand approached and instead of engulfing them in nightmares, it went around them and continued in its direction. What was that?
Jack faced Anna again. "You're not real, are you?"
"Nope. I'm just part of your subconscious. But that doesn't mean I'm not helping you fight in reality."
"What do you mean?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I'm with you now. You're asleep and I'm sitting next to your bed. Holding your hand and begging you to fight it. To fight Pitch."
"How?" He wanted her to give him an answer. This Anna was a lot wiser than the real Anna, no offense to her, but if he had asked the real Anna, she most likely didn't have an answer.
"Just..." She paused. "Start by waking up." The subconscious Anna said.
"What?" He blinked at her confused and once he opened his eyes again, he was almost blinded by the infirmary light.
All of a sudden he was hurting. Any motion he made would send needles throughout his body, piercing through his skin. Jack blinked several times to clear his vision and get use to the light. He slowly turned his head to his side and like his subconscious Anna said, the real Anna was sitting beside his bed and holding onto his hand. She was asleep, however. Her face looking so peaceful, but had a hint of worry in them. She was worried because of him. Jack frowned at that. He didn't want pity. It was his selflessness talking. He always saw himself as Anna's protector. Yes, he knew very well she could take care of herself, but apart of him didn't want her to worry about him.
Jack sighed. At least he wasn't in that hellish nightmare anymore. He slowly removed his hand from Anna's grasp. She had a tight grip, even if she was asleep. For a moment his hand was warm, but just like that, it was cold again in an instant. He gently stroked her red and gold hair. The strands of gold shining in the light. Most of her hair was strawberry blonde, but bits of it had been made gold. Jack guessed that was curtesy of MiM.
She felt someone's cool fingertips brushing on her hair. Anna slowly opened her eyes and someone was definitely touching her hair. She jerked her head up and almost lit up to see Jack was finally awake. But the state he was in brought back her worry.
"Hey." He gave her a sly smile. His voice sounded hoarse and raspy.
Anna took her gaze away from him. That smile, he just gave her, seemed forced, but she had to stay strong and let him be happy. He needed it. "Hey." She finally looked back at him and gave him a small smile in return. "How are you feeling?" She asked. "And don't say you're fine." She interjected. "Because you're clearly not." She didn't want him to put on a brave face for her. She could see through him if he was lying.
Jack slouched lower onto his bed. "Honestly...I feel like someone just whacked me everywhere and then threw a knife in my head and decided to just leave it there." It probably wasn't that bad, but people were known for over exaggerating when they were in pain. Including him, apparently.
"Sounds painful." Anna said and let out a small and faint giggle. Why was she laughing? This was no laughing matter, but something about the way he said it made her want to laugh.
Jack made the widest smile he could in his state, it seemed small, but it showed he was happy. Happy that he could get Anna to laugh. She clearly needed to let out a laugh. "How long was I out?" He asked casually. He didn't want to sound serious. The word wasn't even in his vocabulary.
His question seemed to put Anna into deep thought. He saw her count on her fingers and stare blankly around the room as she tried figuring out exactly how long he was unconscious.
"Half a day, I guess." She finally said. She sounded unsure, but seeing how it was almost late in the day, it would be safe to assume he was out for that long.
"I don't think I've ever slept that long." He exclaimed.
"I don't recall ever seeing you sleep, period." Anna stated. Between them, she was always the first to fall asleep and the last to wake up. They sometimes fell asleep in a tree, under the stars and sometimes on one of North's couches when he invited the two over.
Jack gave a dry laugh. "Not my fault you're a heavy sleeper." He teased.
Anna frowned at him. "I am not a heavy sleeper." She whined.
Anna was cute when she did that. Jack had always found it adorable when she was mad. To him, she didn't seem threatening. That is, until she sets the room on fire and then we'd have a problem.
"You're cute when you do that." He admitted teasingly.
Anna blinked. She wasn't expecting he'd ever say something like that to her. Still, not seeming affected by his words, although it did have an impact on her, she gave him a straight face. "If you find that cute, just wait till I get adorable." She threatened in a playful manner.
The winter spirit laughed and shook his head. "I'll be ready with a blizzard."
Finally, Anna let out a real laugh. It felt good to finally be laughing after worrying for so long now. Of course he'd cool her down if her anger went over the top. Just like she'd be there to warm him up if he made an unexpected blizzard caused by his enraging emotions.
For a moment they were simply laughing and let it die down. Once they stopped, both found their eyes to be locked onto each other. Ice blue, meeting sky blue. Anna took Jack's hand again and instantly it warmed up, whereas Anna's cooled down. Like both hands had become normal body temperatures.
The girl gave the boy a smile and smiled even wilder when he retuned her one. Anna was seeing the Jack she knew. If it weren't for the black web entangling him, you wouldn't be able to tell he was in any sort of pain.
"Isn't that sweet." A voice that sent shivers down their spines said. Both tore away from their locked gaze and scolded at the man who appeared before them.