The Guardians soon opened their eyes and noticed that they were in the same exact spot that they had been standing in. They were still in the forest that they had entered earlier, and every little detail was the same. The group glanced to the spot where Innocence was before the memories only to see Jack was standing by himself.

"Where is Innocence?" Tooth asked staring around at the scenery as if the boy would appear from thin air.

"He can't come with us," Jack saw the look of horror on the others' faces and he laughed lightly, "It's not like that, guys! He just has to control the memories from outside of here. That happens with all of the Jacks we will come across."

"Than what are ya doin' here with us?" Bunny asked curiously as Jack lifted a bit into the air.

"I'm your guide, remember?" Jack asked looking back at them with his brown-blue-green eyes, "Besides, I'm pretty sure you guys would be lost in Jack's mind."

"Oh," North stated with spacious eyes as the others raised their eyebrows in bewilderment. With a raised paw, Bunny's ear flicked to the side as he suddenly concentrated on some other noise that no one else could hear. Before anyone could attempt to speak again, they all soon heard the sound of a child's shriek of laughter somewhere to their right. It seemed to get louder as they listened until it was right above them. Peering upwards, they jumped back in surprise when a blur of white, blue, and brown choose to settle where they had just been standing.

"Remember," Jack started when the Guardians finally realized that Innocence was the one who just landed, "This is just a memory. We can't change anything..."

With the others about to protest or speak, the guide went back to watching what was happening. The group returned their attention back to see that the tiny child was playing with some woodland creatures. The whole picture looked much happier than when they had first arrived at the scene to find the poor kid crying. Innocence began to float on the air as a baby fox, sparrow, fawn, and snowshoe hare clustered around him. Looking closer, the white young animals were actually made from snow.

'Why are they made of snow?' Sandy asked with symbols as they watched the child get flung around while still playing with the adorable critters.

"Jack can't just conjure any object in his mind, so almost everything in a mindscape will be made with snow and such," Jack waved his arm at the trees around them, "You did notice the trees are made of frost, right?"

The others just stared at him in shock, and he got his answer.

"Wow," the spirit raised his eyebrow, "You guys are old. No offence."

The Guardians all laughed gently while remembering the first time they had met at North's place. They were about ready to ask him something when they all abruptly twirled upon hearing a shocked cry. Innocence when flying through the air before slamming into a tree as if he had just been flung. A shadow snuck its way towards the defenceless spirit. The black blur somewhat resembled nightmare sand, and the Guardians tensed while getting into battle poses.

"Vhat is Pitch doing here?" North shouted louder than any of the members had ever heard him yell.

"Woah guys!" Jack floated into the air in front of the group before they could jump into action, "First of all, this is just a memory. It has already happened. And second, it isn't-"

He got interrupted when the Guardians gasped. From within the shade came a person. If the Guardians had just seen his backside they would have assumed that it was their Jack. This Jack was a lot like theirs except he seemed quite a bit...darker. Snow-white hair was stone grey, icy azure turned dark, and the blue hoodie became relatively ebony. The thing that stopped them from thinking it was the Jack they knew was his smirk. The ominous grin, unlike any that the fun-loving spirit always wore, found its home on his lips. The teen sauntered up to the fallen boy laying on the ground.

"Silly child," the spirit's harsh chuckle burst forward as Innocence scooted back, "You thought you could escape me?"

"L-leave me a-alone!" The boy stuttered as he tried to bolt, "Y-you'll be in trouble once Jack finds out what you're doing!"

"Oh, I'm so afraid of big bad Jackie," the teen mocked as he threw the child into another tree, "He can't help you! In case you are too naive to notice, he's guiding those incompetent 'watchers of wonder, memories, hope, and dreams.'"

The Guardians flinched at hearing the venom in his voice. They all began to wonder why the teen was showing such hatred to them and the boy.

"W-what do you want!" Innocence demanded when he once again got up, "Why do you always p-pick on me? Why Darkness?"

"You, child?" Darkness inquired almost innocently as he raised his hand to his chest in fake pain, "Why would you think such a disturbing thought of me?"

"B-because you are constantly mean to me!" Innocence said with tearful eyes, "Why do you always bully me? What did I ever do to you?"

"It's nothing personal," the teen guffawed when he saw the expression on the smaller kid's face, "After all, everyone else does it...Including that precious family you claim yourself to have. You know their name; the Guardians."

"No, they-wait, what?" The child asked with a tiny bit of a sob in his throat, "T-that's not true!"

"I think you know it is," a deeper smirk came to his mouth, "They pick on you all the time."

"No, they don't," the child shouted angrily as tears slipped down turning to ice as they left his cheeks, "They're my family. Families don't hurt each other."

"Oh, but surely that's a lie," Darkness raised an eyebrow as he floated near Innocence, "How many families have you seen spending time with each other? All those nights that you were watching them from the windows. To see them huddled together by a warm, comforting fire. To see all that affection, yet your so-called family wasn't around. How about when Easter was ruined?"

"Stop it," Innocence shouted as he held his hands over his ears, "Leave me alone."

"I know you died a little every day because no one would help a little kid like you. How many wars did you witness? How many people-how many children did you see slaughtered? How many times were you wounded and crying like the little child you are after someone beat you? Where was that 'family' of yours?"

"Stop!"

"Where were they when you needed them 300 years ago?" Darkness went on convincingly, "Where were they when you got walked through? Where were they when you begged every single person who you saw to see you? Where were they when you were trying to figure out left from right?"

"Stop it!" The weeping child roared as the teen grinned wickedly. A noise drew his attention away from Innocence long enough for the boy to dart away. With an irritated growl, Darkness flew after him. The two maneuvered through the forest only for a few seconds until Innocence was knocked out of the air with a blast of ice covering his whole arm. He tortuously hurled into the powdery ground where he rolled to a stop. Rolling into a ball, he peeked out to see that Darkness was right above him.

"Just remember that, child," he began to fade into the shadows with a malicious chuckle, "No one will ever care for you!"

As soon as Darkness disappeared completely, Innocence started to cry.

The Guardians seemed torn on what to do. They appeared ready to comfort the child none of them could currently help, and they were also troubled because what had been said.

"It's true," Bunny said with ears pinned back, "Where were we? We cared more about our jobs than the little ankle-biter."

"Oh, Jack!" Tooth cried out as she held her hands worriedly to her face, "We didn't know...we should have been there."

"Guys," their guide waved his hands to get their attention, "We understand why you weren't. Jack understands why you weren't there for him."

"But-"

"No buts," Jack glared at them kindly, "This isn't what Jack would want you to do. He wouldn't want you to regret something you didn't know about!"

Sandy wove some symbols over his head. Jack laughed merrily when he got the meaning of the words the Sandman was saying, "See, Sandy agrees."

The golden man shook his head as the others loosened up some. Soon the scenery changed into a small village. The buildings were not built to last for a long time as seen by the different animal skins and thin poles that made them. The Guardians couldn't help but think that this had happened quite some time ago. Before they could question their guide, noise was hear coming from one building; two adults talking.

"Mary," a man called out to the other, "That boy is going to have to grow up!"

"I know, David!" The other, Mary shouted back calmly, "But not yet. He's only six."

"Well, kids at even that age can get killed." He stated bluntly before a sigh was heard, "Mary, I don't want to make him do it, but he'll have to."

"I know," Mary's voice quivered.

"Mary, I only want to help him," David continued quietly, "As your brother-in-law, I'm supposed to help my brother's family..."

"I know, David," the women stated shortly, "But it's only been a few months since...since..."

"I understand, Mary," his voice saddened, "It was a dark day for all of us."

"Yes, but not as bad as it was for my son!" She yelled at the man, "Jackson watched his own father die! It is one thing to find out he died, but it is another to watch it happen! I don't want to force my son to lose whatever innocence that he has left. He's just a child!"

"Mary," David calmly interrupted her before reassuring her, "I respect what you think. But we both know that if the boy doesn't learn how to defend himself and to hunt, he'll be defenseless."

The Guardians could hear a sob before more crying began as David soothed the upset woman with gentle words. The Guardians turned away from the scene to look back at the Jack that was with them. What they failed to notice was a small brunette rush away from a doorway near where the two people were now quietly talking.

"Vhat was that about?" All of the Guardians tilted their heads.

Jack just gave them a smile that never reached his eyes. Without answering their question, he turned away just as the surroundings started to fade to black.

"You'll find out eventually," He whispered softly before the whole group's senses went blank.