Chapter 7: An Old Enemy, a New Secret

There was nothing. Nothing could be seen. Nothing could be heard. Nothing could be felt. It seemed as though he was floating in a big void of nothingness. And he hated it. All he wanted to do was break away from the emptiness and escape somehow. But it was a hopeless struggle. There was nothing he could do; nothing to grab for or run on. He was a prisoner. And he was terrified. Would he ever see the light of day again? Because right now, everything was Pitch Black.

xXx

Jamie sat straight up in his bed with a start. All he could think about was the dream he had just suffered from. After he calmed down a little, he felt his pillow, which was wet from sweat. He flipped it over and lay back down. He looked at his clock. It was about seven in the morning. Jamie moaned. It usually was around that time when he woke up from these weird, reoccurring dreams. Every night for the past few days had been like this. But not the first night. It was different. It had started out like a normal dream: sometimes he was at the North Pole with Santa, or in the Warren with Bunny. But most of the time, he was with Jack; ether sledding, flying, or skating. But the dream then started to flicker in and out of focus, changing his vision from blurry, to clear then blurry again. It was as though someone was fighting to keep it happy, while someone else was trying to invade with darkness. Jamie woke up before there was a clear outcome. But the second night, there was nothing. The happiness had left and nothing seemed to take its place. That was just it: nothing. There were no nightmares at least, but there was no happiness. The nothingness scared him though. It continued on like that for a while. And Jamie would wake up scared every morning. He wanted to scream but he didn't want to worry his mom. Besides, she would probably try to take him to a therapist or something to figure out what was going on in his life that would cause him to have the dreams. And Jamie couldn't say his hunch about why they were happening. They were adults. They wouldn't understand. The only people he could tell were his friends and he hasn't seen them since that Friday Jack had last come.

Come to think about it, the dreams started after Jack had left that day. Jamie started getting worried. Where was Jack? He said he'd come back. He hadn't come back. 'He'll be here,' Jamie told himself. 'He always does.' Jack may promise, but sometimes, to a young, immortal, winter spirit, a few days, would feel like a few minutes or so. Jamie knew Jack was capable of taking care of himself. So, why was Jamie still worried?

He looked at the clock again. It was around nine now, which was about the time he usually got up on the weekends. Jamie sighed and got out of bed. He changed out of his PJs and into his normal clothes and went downstairs to find his mother and his sister waiting for him by the kitchen table.

"Morning, Mom," Jamie said as he sat at the table.

"Morning hon. Hungry?" Mrs. Bennett asked.

"Sure," said Jamie. He grabbed for some cereal and poured it in his bowl. Sophie was already halfway through her bowl.

"Jamie, I'm going to the store with Sophie after breakfast. Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm good. Hey, Mom, can I go visit my friends today?" Jamie asked.

"Why? You go outside almost on a regular basis. Why don't you take a break for this one day?" asked Mrs. Bennett.

"But it's Sunday. Tomorrow's a school day. I won't be able to see my friends as much. I don't even have them in my lunch period," Jamie argued. Mrs. Bennett thought about this.

"Have you done your math homework?" she asked. Jamie became a little red faced.

"Um…no…," he said sheepishly. Mrs. Bennett sighed.

"You can go out, only if you promise to get that homework done before you go to sleep," she said.

"Yes! Thanks Mom!" said Jamie. He quickly finished eating then ran to the door.

"Don't forget your…" the door closed. "…Hat," Mrs. Bennett said smiling at her son's excitement. Then she turned to Sophie. "Go get dressed," she said. Sophie hopped off her chair and walked up to her room.

xXx

Jamie ran toward his friends in the park. When he finally reached them, he was panting.

"Jamie, are you ok?" Avery asked.

"I…need…to…tell you…something," Jamie huffed.

"What?" Claude asked.

When Jamie finally regained his breath, he said, "I think the Guardians are in trouble."

"Trouble? Trouble how?" Billy asked. He sounded scared now.

"I've been having these weird dreams. It's like Sandy's not even there anymore," Jamie said.

"What's the dream?" Claude's twin brother, Caleb, asked. Jamie then went into a full description of his dreams; the dark, empty void of nothingness, the scared feeling he gets every night, everything.

"They started when Jack left," he finished.

"That is kind of weird but it's not out of the ordinary. I mean, people get bad dreams all the time, right?" Avery asked.

"Yeah, but this is worse than a bad dream." said Jamie.

"Jamie, I don't think there is anything to worry about. Besides, if something was wrong, Jack would tell you, right?" Caleb said. Jamie was still unconvinced but nodded anyway. Questions started filling his head. Where were Jack and Sandy? Were the others ok? Why was he the only one getting these dreams? And why was it that no one believed his words? Jamie tried to shrug it off for now. He didn't want to worry his friends either.

"I guess you're right," he lied.

"Great," said Billy with a relieved tone. "So what do you guys want to do? The snow is too squishy for a snowball fight."

"Why not try hide and seek? Or tag?" Avery suggested.

"Let's play hide and seek. This is the perfect place for it," Claude said.

"Who's going to count?" Billy asked.

"I'll do it," Caleb said.

"Good. Remember, count to thirty to give us room to hide," Avery said. Caleb turned and covered his eyes.

"One...two…three…" he said.

Jamie and the others took off for the woods. Jamie was about to hide behind a tree, but he heard someone "Psst" behind him. He turned and saw Cupcake crouched behind a statue of a family. She gestured for him to come to her. Jamie crawled toward her quietly.

"I believe what you said about the Guardians being in trouble," she whispered. "I've been getting the same feeling. Not by dreams though. It's been getting slightly darker every day and the fact that the snow is melting at this time a year says a lot."

"Thanks Cupcake," Jamie said.

Suddenly, they heard Caleb say "Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, THIRTY! Ready or not, here I come!" Jamie crawled back to his hiding spot behind the tree.

After everyone got bored with Hide and Seek, the group played hopscotch, then tag, then a mix of other games. Nobody noticed it when, at noon, Jamie's shadow was darker than ever. And nobody noticed it when Jamie was the only one with a shadow.

xXx

After a while, Jamie realized it was getting dark quickly. "I got to go," he said. The others looked at the sky and agreed. While Jamie was walking home, the sun had gone down completely. Jamie shivered. It started to feel like his dream. The only source of light there was, were the street lamps and the occasional house lights in the windows. Jamie started walking a bit faster. His house was only a block away. He wanted to get there quickly as to get out of the dark night; even if it meant having to do homework sooner.

Then he heard the sound of light horse hooves clopping down the street. Jamie's heart pounded in his chest but he didn't stop or slow his pace. The last time he had heard horse hooves clopping that lightly was when…

Jamie broke into a run. The hooves started galloping. Jamie tried to put as much distance between him and the clopping sound as possible. By now he could see the faint silhouette of his house, which compelled him to run faster. The Nightmare was catching up on him. 'Come on, come on, almost there,' Jamie thought to himself. He was now just feet away from his fence when the black sand engulfed him.

xXx

"Annabeth, what would New York be like in the future?" Maddy asked. The pair of them were flying over New York from Rachel's penthouse. It was dark now, so all they could see were the lights of the city below them.

"How far into the future are we talking about?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know…a billion?" said Maddy. Annabeth shrugged.

"I don't know what kind of technology we'll have then. But I can guess some things that will change if we keep this up," said Annabeth.

"Like what?" asked Maddy.

"Like the name maybe?" Annabeth replied.

"Could be. But what do you think it will be changed to?" Maddy asked.

"Hmm…a billion years you say? By then it'd probably be changed to New, New, New, New, New, New, New, New, New, New, New, New, New, New, New York by then." The two girls laughed. Just then, Maddy heard something that sounded relatively close to a horse's gallop.

"Did you hear that?" she asked Annabeth.

"Hear what?" asked Annabeth.

"It sounded like a horse," said Maddy.

"Maddy, we're on horses," Annabeth said.

"Yeah, but the sound was coming from behind me," the young demigod replied.

"Don't be craz-" Annabeth heard the same thing but this time, louder. The two looked at each other then slowly turned their heads. Behind them was what looked like an entire heard of…horses? It was hard to tell but Annabeth could faintly make out the black hooves galloping through the sky as though the horses were running on an invisible pathway that led straight towards them. Each and every horse had the same pare of gold eyes that glowed through the darkness of the night.

"What the Hades…?" Maddy asked. Although the darkness hid most of the mares, Annabeth could see thousands of their glowing eyes. The herd stretched as far as the eye could see and she figured even more were behind them. They looked more like an army then a herd.

"Hold on!" Annabeth instructed Maddy as she tangled her fingers into Porkpie's mane. "Yeah!" she yelled. The two Pegusi started flying at top speed, trying to get as far away from the mares as possible. When the Pegusi started flying faster though, so did the mares.

"There gaining on us!" Maddy yelled. She was right. Annabeth risked another look behind her and saw that the mares were only about ten feet behind them. Now that they were closer, Annabeth could see more detail of them. She could now see little grains of black sand here and there. Their mane, tails and hooves had little trails of sand that flowed behind them.

'They're made of sand!' Annabeth thought to herself. 'But why are they made of sand?'

"Maddy, Get your dagger! Now!" Maddy did as she was told and took out her weapon immediately. Annabeth did the same.

"What are they?" Maddy asked.

"I have no idea," said Annabeth. "Maybe we could… LOOK OUT!" she said just as one of the mares appeared right beside Maddy and started snapping its teeth at her. Maddy screamed, then jabbed it with her dagger. The horse exploded into thick, black sand and the mare's golden light for eyes, went out. Annabeth expected it to explode into golden sand like the other monsters she had faced, but then again, this wasn't like other monsters she had faced. 'These must belong to the other world; Jack's world.' Annabeth thought.

Maddy shook the sand out of her eyes and looked confusedly at Annabeth. Before she could respond however, another appeared behind Annabeth and whinnied at her. It tried to get closer to her but Annabeth sliced it with her dagger. Luckily, the wind blew the sand the opposite direction from her. The two girls tried to fight them as long as possible, but when one exploded, another would immediately take its place. There was just too many of them. Pretty soon, the mares surrounded them and the fighting the demigods were doing became a useless battle. The horses engulfed Annabeth and within a second, everything disappeared; leaving only the two Pegusi and Maddy behind.

xXx

"Guys, I think I remember where Mother Nature lives," said Tooth. "I just didn't remember which state it was. North, I think she lives at Hamilton Pool Nature Preserve." North did as he was told and threw the portal. Instantly, the swirling vortex of different colors appeared above them.

"How do you know where she lives?" Jack asked.

"She and I used to talk all the time a long time ago," said Tooth said.

"Wow," Jack said and he followed the other Guardians flew through the portal.

When Percy and Blackjack flew out, he was greeted by the sound of water falling. Sure enough, the first thing he saw was a giant waterfall. At the bottom, a beautiful blue river flowed gracefully between two snowcapped mountains that touched the clear, blue sky. Tall pine trees occasionally dotted the grassy area at the bottom of the mountains.

"How come we haven't been here sooner?" Blackjack whispered to Percy.

"I don't know…too far away?" Percy suggested. Everyone looked at him.

"What?" Bunny asked.

"Talking to Blackjack," said Percy. Tooth shook her head, then her eyes fell on something that was oddly familiar to her.

"There," she said as she pointed towards this cave-like structure kinda near the waterfall. Some of the river's aces water flowed into the cave and a little of the waterfall's water fell over its mouth. North snapped his reigns and the reindeer dove towards the cave but Percy blocked their path.

"WHOA!" North yelled, trying not to run into Percy. The sleigh swerved off course and North steered it to fly around the waterfall.

"I think my carrots I ate earlier might make an appearance. What was that for anyway?" he asked.

"We are going to a nature preserve with a natural pool during the spring on a Saturday. Don't you think a giant sleigh is going to draw some attention?" said Percy.

"Good thinking, Percy," said North and Sandy clapped his hands.

"Thanks," Percy said. Instead of landing the sleigh right in the center of attention, the Guardians agreed to land it closer to one of the mountains, as not to be seen. As they walked closer to the cave, Percy noticed a parking lot a few miles away and a trail leading from it to the cave.

"Excuse me sir, the preserve is currently full. You will have to wait for someone to leave if you want to enter," a security guard said to Percy.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Only sixty people allowed in at a time. You are going to have to wait." Percy looked at the Guardians for help but Bunny shook his head. "He doesn't see us. He outgrew us a long time ago. We're invisible," he said.

"I could freeze him. He won't even feel a thing," Jack suggested. North nudged him. "Or not." Percy turned his attention back towards the guard.

"Sir?" the guard asked. Percy turned his attention back to him.

"Look, I know you were just doing your job, but I really need to get in there. My mom's in there and my dad just dropped me off. My parents are divorced, you see, and I'm supposed to meet my mom when I got here," said Percy. The guard looked convinced.

"Do you at least have a ticket?" he asked.

"I didn't know I needed one," said Percy.

"It's ok, I got one. But you're gonna have to buy it," the guard said as he pulled a ticket out of his pocket. "They are thirty dollars."

"I don't have that much money," said Percy.

"Ohh, I do," Tooth said. She fluttered over to Percy and handed him the three tens. Percy grabbed the money quickly and put it in his pocket before the guard could tell that the money was handed to him.

"Never mind. I just remembered that my mom gave me money before I left. Here." Percy handed him the money but the guard didn't take it.

"Your mom gave you money? I thought your mom was in there." He gestured towards the preserve.

"My…step mom gave me the money," said Percy.

"Oh," the guard said perplexed as he took the money. "Enjoy the day."

"Thanks'. You too…" He looked at North for help.

"Fred," North said.

"…Fred," Percy finished.

"How do you know my name?" Fred asked.

"Your name tag," said Percy, then quickly walked past him and the Guardians followed. It took Fred a while to realize his uniform did not contain a name tag.

When the Guardians finally made it into the cave, Percy's first thought was 'it's bigger on the inside.' It took him a while to fully comprehend what he was seeing. As expected, the walls were completely made of rock. In the center was a huge pool of water. There was rock that surrounded the inside edges of the pool so people could sit as well as swim. People climbed to the top of the cave and jumped into the deep water from above.

At first, Percy thought the water was very dirty. Then he realized he was seeing the rocks at the very bottom; the water was crystal clear. It didn't look that deep, but judging by the way people jumped into it from the top of the cave, it had to be deeper then it looked.

"Tooth, do you remember how to get in?" Percy whispered. Considering he was the only one who could see the Guardians (other than a few kids who were too young to know what was going on) Percy didn't want to look like a crazy eighteen year old who still talked to his imaginary friends. It might make people start questioning him if something blew up later.

"Uh…I think there is a hidden door around here somewhere…oh yeah. The door is somewhere underwater," answered Tooth.

"So I need to look for it?" asked Percy.

"Well, this is right up your alley, considering you seem to be the son of water," Bunny pointed out.

"True…but what happens when I find it? Wouldn't it be weird if a giant door appeared out of solid rock?" Percy asked.

"We'll have to wait until it's dark so no one will see," said Jack.

"Alright," said Percy as he dove into the clear water.

xXx

He tried to act like he was mortal; like he couldn't breathe underwater; like he was able to drown like everybody else. He kept near the top as he looked and occasionally came up for air. He examined every inch of solid rock he could touch but so far, he found nada. He was about to give up and enjoy the newfound strength the water gave him, when his eyes fell on something he had never noticed before. Percy swam a little closer to it out of curiosity. It looked like one of those high-tech hand scanners; the kind they usually use when someone is trying to get into some top secret facility or something. Percy reached his hand out to touch it, until he remembered he was not alone. Instead, he swam back to where the Guardians were waiting.

"I think I found it. I saw this hand scanner type-thing. At first I thought it was part of the rock," said Percy as he sat on the ledge.

"That's got to be it. Right Tooth?" Jack asked.

"I honestly don't remember, Jack. All I remember is the underwater door. But comparing the two pieces of information, I'm guessing your right. What do you think, Sandy?" The guardians turned for the Guardian's opinion, but found him hovering a few feet off the ground with his head rested to the side and his eyes closed. He was fast asleep.

"Sandy?" Percy asked.

"It's ok, just let him sleep. All we have to do is wait anyway. We need these people to leave before we can really start," Bunny said.

"In that case, I am going to swim a round until then," said Percy.

xXx

"Is that all of them?" a guard asked. His companion, Fred, nodded.

"I don't see anyone else," he said.

"Good. Let's get out of here. My wife is making fried chicken."

"Hey, the weirdest thing just happened to me today. This kid, who I have never seen in my life, buys a ticket from me then says my name as he leaves," said Fred.

'Really? How did that happen?" the other guard asked.

"I don't know. I asked how he knew my name and he replied with, 'my name tag' as though it were obvious. But then, I looked down and didn't see a name tag anywhere on my uniform. I swear I never said my name."

"Hmm… I guess some things are better left mysteries. I remember one time…" his voice was drowned out by the wind as the two guards left to go home for the night.

"Clear," Jack said when he was sure the guards were gone. Percy came out of the water laughing. When he finally calmed down enough to talk, he said, "That guy will be scratching his head for at least a few months wondering what happened to him." Jack laughed along with him. Pretty soon, the others joined in as well. Even Bunny suppressed a smile. Then his face became serious.

''Can we get on with the quest now? Where is the hand scanner?" he asked Percy.

"It's down there by that big rock," said Percy as he pointed to where he found the scanner. "You don't mind getting wet, do you? If not, I can make an air bubble very easily..."

"Unnecessary, but thanks'," said Bunny. North was the first to get in. His big, round belly caused a loud splash as he sunk into the water. Jack froze the water and Tooth was already above splashing distance. Sandy and Bunny, however, were not as lucky. They were soaked.

"Sorry," North said. Next was Bunny, then Sandy, since they were already wet. The last ones to enter were Tooth and Jack. Jack was not too excited to get fully submerged in water. When he was human, he and his little sister went skating on a winter morning. The ice was thinner then it looked and started to crack around his sister, Pippa. Jack had managed to save her, but he ended up falling into the lake as the ice gave way. He remembered thrashing around, trying to get to the surface until he blacked out. It was the man in the moon who had saved him and turned him into the winter spirit he is today. But still, being underwater scared him a little.

"I-I can't," he said.

"What?" Percy asked confusedly.

"Jack has this fear of water," Tooth explained.

"He's dealt with me, hasn't he?" said Percy.

"No, Mate. It's being fully submerged in water that he doesn't like," Bunny said.

"As I said, I can make an air bubble if it helps," Percy said.

"No, I think I can do it," said Jack. Nervously, he put one foot in the water, then the other until he was standing waist-deep in the water.

"Good job," said Percy even though frost started coating the surface of the water around Jack. Percy had lost track of the hand scanner when he was helping Jack get in so he swam a little ways out looking for it again. But now that he knew what he was looking for, it was much easier to spot. Tooth placed her hand on the scanner. Within a second, they heard a satisfying 'click' and the wall started shaking. Then it started slide upward, sucking the water and the Guardians in through the secret passage.

xXx

The 'passage' was more like a huge, dark, underground waterslide. Percy could see nothing but he was comforted by the water's presence. Occasionally, he could feel himself running into something big and furry which could only be Bunnymund. When this happened, Bunny would push him away scowling. Behind him, he could hear Jack laughing as though it were a rollercoaster. Finally the slide started to even out and he could faintly see a light up ahead. One by one, each of the Guardians flew out of the underground waterslide and landed on something really soft Percy soon found out were pillows. Well, Bunny did. Percy landed on Bunny. Fortunately, Percy was quick enough to get out of the way before North came out. Unfortunately, Bunny wasn't.

"Ouch!" Bunny yelled as Sandy landed on top of North. At this point, Jack was glad he could fly. He and Tooth flew out gracefully. When Jack saw the Guardians' dog pile, Jack could not help but laugh.

"Oh boy. When this is all over, I seriously need to get a camera," he said.

"Where is Percy?" Tooth asked as she studied the Guardians.

"I'm here," said Percy. Tooth spun around and saw Percy sitting on the ground, breathing heavily. But he smiled and joined in on Jack's laughter.

"Now that was fun," Jack said. Sandy looked around and hopped off North. North surveyed the group.

"Where's Bunny?" he asked.

"Uhh…" Percy's voice trailed off.

"Would you be so kind, as to GET OFF ME?! Bunny yelled.

"Oops," said North as he removed himself from Bunny. Percy laughed then looked around to see where he was. Ahead of them was some sort of tunnel that was similar to the waterslide; dark and narrow. There was no hint of sunlight, but the walls were lit by small torches.

"Uhh, guys…?" Percy called. The Guardians looked in the direction Percy was pointing and the humor that hung in the air vanished- replaced by the eerie feeling the tunnel gave off.

"So… what now?" Jack asked.

"We follow the tunnel," said North.

"I was hoping you would say something like 'we go back and forget this ever happened' or something just as ridiculous," said Percy. Jack laughed. North ignored them and led the way down the tunnel. As Percy walked, he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched by a pair of unfriendly eyes. "Does anyone else feel like…"

"We're being watched? Yes," said North.

"It's her," said Tooth. I remember having this feeling back in the old days. It turned out to be her the whole time. Mother Nature is watching us."

"Is that good?" asked Jack.

"Well, she hasn't killed us yet, so that's a plus," said Bunny.

Percy gulped. "How much longer?" he asked.

"It shouldn't be that much longer," replied Tooth. Sure enough, light could soon be seen at the end of the tunnel. When Percy reached it, his jaw hung open. It was the size of ten football fields merged together. The walls looked like a jungle; literally. Thick, green vegetation grew over 50 to 60 feet higher than the Empire State Building. Small green footsteps led through various levels of the vast vegetation. Some stairs led straight up to the different levels of floating floors. The ground in which the Guardians stood was completely made of plant compost. It proved to be compost because little flowers of different colors littered the ground. Standing in the center of it all was a woman in a flowing, green dress. Her long black hair was braided down her back with flowers.

Percy gasped. To everyone else, her earthy-green eyes would have been the most beautiful thing on the planet. But to Percy, they only stirred up anger and resentment. When her eyes landed on his, they flashed with recognition, then pure hatred.

"You," she said, her voice as hard as steel. Percy did not reply; only continued to watch her every move. The others were too surprised to even speak. "You've grown," she said. I would have thought the gods would have granted you immortality for your…victory."

"The time still wasn't right," said Percy. Tooth looked between the two.

"You two… know each other?" she asked.

"Know, loath, despise, yeah. We go way back," said Percy.

"How could you forget the last face you see before being put back to sleep for another thousand years?" said Nature.

"Put to sleep?" Bunny asked and a question mark appeared over Sandy's head.

"Hey, I'm not the one who wanted to destroy the God's with her earthborn Giants. I only defend them," said Percy.

"Oh, you are so lucky. If I were in Gaea's form right now…!"

"That's just it! Your Greek form is asleep! And we ensured that you would stay that way, Gaea!"

"I am not 'Gaea'. I am Mother Nature in this form. Here, I am not evil. That is why I don't like to show my true form. You of all people should understand the God's different forms," she said, then turned her back on Percy. "So what are you here for?" she asked the Guardians. "I assume it is not to bring the boy here to gloat about his victory."

"I wasn't-!" Percy started but North placed a hand on his shoulder to silence him before he could go into further argument with the Earth goddess.

"Look, we need your help," said North.

"What do you need my help for?" Nature asked. Then her eyes widened. "What happened?" she asked. North sighed.

"It has happened again; Pitch has returned," he said. Nature knit her perfect eyebrows.

"I am well aware of Pitch's return. Let me guess, you want me to help me defeat him," Nature said. Tooth and Bunny glanced at each other and Sandy showed a series of images above his head. "'It would be nice,"' Nature translated, then she shook her head with frustration. "Forget it! I'm not going to fight him."

"Maybe you don't have to," said Jack and all eyes were on him. "The Prophecy said 'Mother of all shall lead the way, sending the heroes on their way' meaning she doesn't go with us. She only guides us." His icy blue eyes turned to Nature. "You know something, don't you? Something none of us know. Something you need to tell us."

Nature looked like she would rather be anywhere but here. She looked at North pleadingly but he shook his head. He would be no help here. She would have to tell them. She closed her eyes in defeat. "Ok," she said as she led them to one of the green staircases that led up to one of the floating lofts. On the top was a table with seven teacups in position. Everyone sat-everyone except Percy, that is.

"We will start with the beginning," she said. When I was born, my mother died, leaving me to live and grow with my father. He was a great man, and he was a great Protector. His occupation was keeping evil spirits from escaping there eternal prison. As a matter of fact, he was the best Protector there was. He devoted his life to protecting those he loved and those around him." Nature closed her eyes and breathed heavily as she recalled a painful memory.

"What does this have to do with Pitch?" Jack asked. Sandy nudged him and Nature continued.

""One day, while my father was guarding, he took his shift alone. I don't know why, maybe he didn't want anyone else to get hurt in case something went wrong. But while he was on duty, the spirits tried to tempt him to open the door and free them. They said they were tired of the darkness and just wanted to at least have a glimpse of sunlight. But he turned deaf to all their temptations. He pulled out a locket and opened it. The locket contained a picture of me as a young child. The spirits saw this and the girl's voice- my voice- spoke to him. I begged him to set me free even though I was nowhere near the cell.

'"Daddy, help me. I got trapped in here with these spirits and I can't get out. Daddy, let me out! I'm scared."' He could bear it no longer. He stepped over to the cell, took out the key and unlocked the door. A fraction of a second is all it took. The spirits escaped and surrounded him. They were so fast that running was not an option he had. Soon, there were so many that he could not even be seen in the darkness. They corrupted not only his appearance, but also his heart and soul with evil." She opened her eyes and looked around at all the Guardians. "I just told you Pitch's story," she said.

A.N.

A'M ALIVE! Don't worry, I didn't die.

That's one more chapter done. Just a few more to go if the lengths keep up like this. Sorry for the long wait. I promise I will try to update faster then that. I hope this answered any of your questions about the Mother Nature/ Gaea deal. In all honestly, I had forgotten about Gaea when I added MN. I'd just known from the beginning that I wanted to put MN in the story so I did, but I guess I wasn't thinking clearly when I did. Disclaimer: The idea of MN being Pitch's daughter was not mine. The original idea (Along with Mother Nature herself) belongs to William Joyce who is the author of 'the Guardians of Childhood' series. 'The Guardians of Childhood' is the book series that 'Rise of the Guardians' was based off of. Mother Nature is not evil, that's just her other form. Like the differences between Dionysus and his roman form. I guess when the Greeks heard of her, their imagination made her evil. I don't know. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this long chapter.

REPLY TIME! Wow that was loud.

Shalalalalalala: No, Madddy isn't going to be the last believer. That is a really good idea though.

Compliment Giver: Percy's not weary about meeting MN. He's more…upset.

Annabeth Brady: Thanks'!

Turkeyhead987: You have no idea how happy I am when I see you reviewed and when I read your reviews.

binglebop: I always mention all my reviewers in the previous chapter just for that reason. :)

theHuntress101: MN is just a nicer version of Gaea.

Pollex: A little, but she's forgiving. MN, not Gaea

BobbyAwesome: Don't worry. "Count the shadows" is a Doctor Who reference and not just wishful thinking.

JadePixie6565: You have nothing to worry about. I really enjoy writing for this story so I will see to it that it is finished to the very end.

SomeRandomPerson: No! Don't die! I have the next chapter here. Come back! But first, while you are there, could you say hi to Nico and Hades for me? Btw, is that Bunnymund's other cute form? Clever.

Faeriefyre16: I laughed hard with delight when I read your fantastic review! Thanks so much. I love fellow Whovians like you. WHOVIANS UNITE! ALLONS-Y! Dang it. I don't have a sentence for Geronimo. You get the jist though :).

Thanks to: DeathGuardian24, gamelover41592, .kawaii, PurpleGoddess9, RachelXJackFrost, bluefeatherofriverclan, Louisa4533, RandomKid, PJO-Blue-cookies and Clio