Jack hesitantly knocked on Jamie's window, the boy looked up and smiled brightly, thinking that his wish had been granted. He opened the window and hugged Jack as soon as he was inside.

"Jack!" He smiled, a little uneasy because he wasn't used to apologizing.

"Hey. Look, um... about-" Before Jack could finish Jamie cut him off.

"Jack, listen... um... it's okay to be afraid of losing a believer or two, but you know you'll get new ones and I promised didn't I?" Jack nodded as Jamie hugged him again.

"Why don't I get Sophie and we have a snow day?" He asked as he drew back again and Jack couldn't help but smirk.

"Last one's out a rotten egg!" Jack chuckled at the boy's phrasing, feeling like his old self again; he couldn't help thinking that Mysterie was right, he needed to trust Jamie and the Guardians more, he trusted her... Why had he said those hurtful things to her? While Jack was summoning snow for the snow day, Mysterie sat cross legged in the black cage, not even grumbling about the "accommodation" of her "host." She simply sat silently, waiting for him to return. She sighed a bit unhappily, wondering how to get out of this mess as much as getting control of the Darkness that murmurs to her of how hopeless she is. Howe everything she does doesn't matter and try as she might to ignore the hissing voice of Jakul, a part of her seems to whisper that he's right and her will slowly withers beneath the on slaughter of the dark words and the hurt of her broken heart.

Jack returned to the pole, looking for Mysterie and hoping that she wasn't mad at him as he carried a bag full of a few things he knew she liked, it was some things that Jamie had suggested he pick up when he'd mentioned to the teen near the end of his visit that he needed to apologize. The bag included some maraschino cherries, which Jamie had happily supplied him with despite his protests, and a manga novel that he'd heard her talk about that she hadn't read but that he'd been able to nip from a box that had stuff that would have gotten thrown out. He was hoping it would help smooth things over between them. When he got back to his room he found that Sandy was napping on the bed and Tooth was seated in a chair with her nose deep in a book on the highlands. Where could she be other than here? He wondered, wincing a little as the memory of what he'd said to her repeated in his head. Her expression had been enough to tell him that he'd crossed a line he shouldn't have. Jack poked Sandy with his staff.

"Sandy. Hey, wake up." The smaller Guardian opened his eyes.

"Have you seen Mysterie? Has she come back or do you know where she is?" Jack asked rapidly, much like Tooth on a sugar high; he knew about that as he'd once given a pixie stick to Baby Tooth and she'd become nothing more than a feathery blur. Jack didn't think about the hilarity of that now - or how Tooth had scolded him later - as he was feeling guilt eat him up from the inside from what he'd said. Sandy yawned, shaking his head in silent answer.

"One of my fairies said they saw her flying off toward the sunflower state... Maybe she's there." Tooth piped up, glancing up from her book as Sandy frowned at Jack, the words floating over his head:

She didn't seem herself earlier... What happened?

Instead of answering, Jack began to shake from his guilt as he stowed the bag in his hoodie, heading off for said state like a rocket.

"Sandy, what's their deal?" Tooth asked, the little man shrugged and went to get some eggnog since he knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep for a while, especially since now he'd been reminded of the look he'd seen on the young spirit's face from earlier. It troubled him, she had seemed... out of it.

"Wonder what got into him..." Tooth muttered as she watched Jack's retreating form before going back to her book.

A familiar voice seemed to bounce around Mysterie from the darkness.

"You know, this really wouldn't be necessary if you would just join me... We could be great together you know and it's been so long since I've had someone by my side whom I could trust..." She didn't respond.

"Come now... surely you can't think he didn't mean what he said. After all... that boy does speak his mind without any thought to what others think. I offered him friendship and he shoved it away like it was nothing... Why would you be anything more to him... ?" Mysterie trembled slightly, she wanted to wail in pain, but she couldn't manage a sound or even a single tear for her pain as it ripped through her. No... he... he wouldn't do that... H-he couldn't... She trembled all the more, thinking that perhaps Pitch was right... Jack had been alone for 300 years and she had been the first person to be more than a friend for him... including in his mortal life... What did Jack know of love? Hadn't he proved that he still was a child in that regard? That no amount of anything she had spoken to him about over the past years had really been understood; she'd been patient with him and had let him lead most times in terms of the relationship because of this but now...

Jack flew over the sunflower state looking for Mysterie, he found that he was blind to anything she might be feeling; he couldn't sense anything in the bond, as if it was severed and he wondered at that and what it could mean even as the wind blew down the tunnels of Pitch's lair to ruffle Mysterie's hair in a ghost of comfort, whispering softly 'don't give up' followed by 'he's near...' Even with the block on her sense, she could sense Jack as if he were really far away; he seemed to be feeling something of worry and regret to an extent that even the block couldn't fully keep from her, but as Pitch emerged from the shadows into the cage, his words were louder than the wind.

"I promise you I won't be like that boy... He doesn't know what you offered him. Oh, but I do... and you've done so much for him... but he doesn't seem to know it does he? Yes... I know about your little... encounters shall we call them? Why waste your time with him?"

"You only want me because of the darkness in me." Mysterie said quietly. Pitch was quiet for a moment.

"I admit, yes, that is what drew me. That and the fact that my Nightmares could never touch you since you were very young. Frost doesn't understand the darkness like we do. He had only a taste of it, but I understand..." He crouched near her, threading a hand through her hair; ignoring how she flinched at the touch as he lightly slid one hand along her cheek and wiped away a tear that had slipped past her closed eyes.

"You are so lovely my dear... and in many ways... We could be so good together..." She didn't respond and he stayed with her for a long while, brushing away any tears as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to do; when she fell into an exhausted sleep he left, but the Nightmares kept their distance, only the odd Fearling ventured close to the cage to look at her, but nothing more.

"This is hopeless! Where could she be?!" Jack growled, the wind caressed his hair and Jack sighed a little. Before he could move though a Nightmare snagged his foot in its mouth.

"AHH!" He cried as much in pain as shock as he was dragged through the air. Jack swung his staff to freeze it, but the Nightmare didn't freeze as many before it had.

'WHAT THE?!" Jack struggled as a second Nightmare soared over to him and knocked the staff from his hands, grabbing it while the first zipped over to a pitch black alleyway. A sliver of fear entered Jack as he saw a familiar pair of amber flecked silver eyes looking at him with a predatory glare.

"P-Pitch?"