Bah! I'm late! AGAIN! This. Freaking. Sucks.
Trust me guys, I'm just as pissed as you are.

Hello! Your EXTREMELY LATE authoress reporting for a chapter update!
I am SO sorry this took forever to get out! I've had school, last minute work for assignments, not to mention a freaking BIG ASS WRITER'S BLOCK FOR THIS CHAPTER! It seriously DID NOT want to come out. Stupid head. Sometimes I want to take my dumb, dumby head and just...MMMNNNEERR *initiate intense palm punching* Sorry XD I watched Shark's Tale today XD I haven't seen that movie since I was, what, six?
This chapter's not even good anyway! It's a freaking FILLER chapter! A filler chapter! I'm two weeks late and when I DO come back, I shove a filler chapter in your face! God *facepalm* this is so stupid. I'm SOOOO sorry guys!

The main story was that I got writer's block, and I was finishing off my assignments and homework so that didn't help either. So, today I thought I would watch Rise of The Guardians (cause it's Easter ;D) and also because it might jog a few ideas. It did *gestures to chapter* obviously, but funnily I found something out. I FANGIRLED throughout the whole thing. I couldn't stop smiling and my heart was racing and I felt like giggling for joy...is this normal or something? I even quoted some of the words AS THEY WERE SAYING THEM! I didn't think it was possible for me. Sure, I absolutely ADORE the movie, but I didn't really think I adored it THAT much. I wasn't even this fan girlish during my Treasure Planet faze (sorry Jim!). I mean seriously! Jack is reborn: grinning. North talking in his Russian voice: giggling. Tooth's fairies and teeth containers stolen: smiling. I FREAKING SMILED DURING SANDY'S DEATH! WHAT THE HELL?! *bangs head repeatidly against the wall* SOMETHING'S. *bang* WRONG. *bang* WITH. *bang* ME! How could I do something like that? That is soooooooo inhumane! I'M SORRY SANDY! I LOVE YOU!
Was it maybe because I knew he was going to be alright in the end? Was THAT why I was smiling? I god hope that's the reason...actually, never mind, I'll just make that the reason. See? I'm a good person...right?

But anyway! Sorry guys for the super duper late chapter! *crawls on knees* PLEASE FORGIVE ME!
Hopefully I can get these out more quickly since I'm on holidays now! EEEEEP! :D:D:D YAY!
OH! And HAPPY EASTER GUYS! I hope Bunny brought/brings you lots of chocolate! ;)

Disclaimer: Even though it's Easter, Bunny didn't give me ownership of Rise of the Guardians...which, unfortunately, means DreamWorks still owns it. Trust me, I hate it too...

Chapter 15 – A Broken Bond
(3rd POV)

Pitch's golden eyes glowed from the darkness as he watched Jack dart out of the lair, presumably to go find the Guardians. The fear radiating off him was probably the most energizing fear he had ever felt, not just because he was a presumed 'guardian,' but because of the person he was both feared of and feared for.

Atheia.

It was clearly obvious he had opened his memories. The fear Pitch received in waves from him was too strong for it to be for a friend, even if that friend was Atheia. No, this fear was reserved for family; the family Jack just found out had existed.

It was also clear that the Guardians had assumed the worst and pushed the immortal away as soon as they spotted the memories, just as Pitch has predicted. When the Boogeyman spotted Jack in Antarctica, he had been grinning evilly with the satisfied knowledge that everything was going to plan, but when the young immortal refused his offer to join him, Pitch was actually–for the first time in several years–dumbfounded. After everything the King of Nightmares had offered, the promise of belief, friendship and power, Jack simply shook his head and walked away. It completely baffled Pitch to no end why the winter spirit would reject him after everything he had been though: loneliness, confusion, rejection, and when he was offered the medicine to heal the 300 years of pain, he turned it down.

But, despite the fact that Pitch was surprised, it didn't mean he did not have a back-up plan.

It was a mere quick-second decision to capture Atheia; Pitch had only expected Jack to come to his memories' call. It had taken quite a while to sift through the mountains of teeth containers to find Jack's, and when he did, he managed to get a mini tooth to –unwillingly, by the way– open up a small memory that would lure Jack to the lair. But he didn't expect Atheia to come as well.

So, when Jack had flown off to find his memories, the Boogeyman stifled her cries for help and dragged her to the shadows, efficiently locking her up and telling her to stay quiet. It helped even more that Jack had completely forgot about her.

When Pitch had been able to get Jack to leave, he set to work, spinning convincing nightmares up in his hands, boxing them into separate scenes and managing to smuggle them into Atheia's head. As each nightmare played out in her sleep, he could feel her pain and terror, fueling him in surges of power. Each terrifying nightmare made it easier to spin the next one into a more terror-filled, darker one. At first it started out as mere 10 second sensations of pain and anxiety, when then turned into sensations of falling, drowning, burning and suffocating, and then led onto full scenes in which Pitch included other people, such as the Guardians, Jack and even himself, and spun them into a realistic picture.

Even though it didn't take an awful lot of time to create each nightmare, it had exhausted him. He had to think up of several possibilities to terrify her to the breaking point of madness. He couldn't use the same background or theme for a dream; otherwise what he had planned for her wouldn't work. When the same dream is replayed in a person's head, it can cause awareness for the victim –as Pitch had figured out before– and with that awareness courage could be build and fear could be fought. That was not an option. Each and every dream had to be unique, and each and every dream had to be terrifying.

The even bigger risk Pitch had to take is to make sure it worked. He had done it before obviously, conjuring up dreams so cruel and convincing that could sometimes make mortals believe they were real. He had sat back in the shadows several times and grinned evilly at the after-effects of his work as mortals were carried away, screaming in terror and shouting "it was real!" as officers shoved them into cars and drove off. With mortals it was easy, but this time the effects had changed slightly.

Mortals and immortals were a little bit different. Immortals are more aware and cautious of the world around them, and their minds are more strongly warded and protected from dangers such as himself. Where mortals are clueless to what laid ahead, pass both scientific and religious explanations of the world, immortals are the people of the impossible, so there wasn't much he could spin into their dreams to drive them to complete madness.

Atheia was no exception; in fact, she was a powerful example. He wouldn't be able to compel her to madness even if he wanted to because, like Jack, it was obvious she had suffered the same amount of pain and loneliness that he had. Besides, even if it was possible to drive her to madness, the after-effects of the process would be almost completely pointless to Pitch and his determination to bring down the Guardians. Atheia, crying in the corner whispering to herself with wide eyes wouldn't generate the maximum amount of fear from the Guardians. No, he would have to crush any hope that they would have left in their useless souls. Less hope meant more fear, and more fear meant more success in his mission.

Eliminating the Sandman was only to lessen the belief in children with the only option of nightmares hiding behind their eyes when they drifted off to sleep; generating grief in the Guardians was only a bonus. Pitch had looked at the death of Sandy like that until he realised that the grief of the Guardians fueled him with power along with fear; until he realised fear and grief walked hand-in-hand beside each other.

It was only that extra surge of power from the grief of the Guardians that helped him succeed with creating all of the nightmares reserved for Atheia. He had slumped in his chair in exhaustion and relief as he planted every single nightmare in the goddess's head and scheduled them each for a different time. After resting and gathering his thoughts for a while he had gone to visit her where he had captured her. Peering though the shadows that he hid in, he could see some of the early-made visions and feelings had shaken her up slightly, even if she tried to hide them. It was then that he gave her the memory box, which then helped generate the more terror-filled feelings that were visible on her expressions. Then, he had then locked her up in the darkest and most rusted cage he could find, where the real nightmares started to commence.

Even in Antarctica with Jack, he could smell and feel the fear that radiated off her in waves. He could almost hear her crying and feel her shaking under his fingertips; the mere feeling of it was like an addicting drug. It wasn't like Jack's fear; instead, more of a pleasurable one that made him shiver. But then, all of the mind-numbing fear had started to fade. At first, he was bewildered and upset, but then he started to get hopeful at the idea of his plan working. He tried not to, for more reasons than one, but as soon as he ended his 'meeting' with Jack, he had rushed as fast as he could back to the lair, finding something that made him grin at the first sight of it.

Atheia, curled up with her arms wrapped around her legs, a look of not only fear, but a faint sense of hatred scrawled across her expression. Almost all her hair was darkened to a midnight black, with about half of the waist length curls still possessing their original chocolate-brown colour. Her eyes were still green, but not as pure as they originally were as they were flecked with several dark purple specks. After a while of examining her he had gone up to the cage that kept her contained and stared down at her through the bars, a evil smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. She whipped her head to the side and glared at him, but said nothing as he examined her more closely.

"My, my…so I guess my work did pay off…" He had said, causing her eyes to flicker back up to him, causing a look of confusion and more traces of fear to appear in her now purple-flecked orbs.

"W-What do you mean?" She had asked, and he grinned inwardly and the stutter in her voice.

He had gestured his head to the darkening locks of hair, and she had turned in fear to glance at them, only to cry out in shock and attempt to scramble away from them. He had chuckled lightly at her attempts and watched as she tugged on the curls of hair, looking at them in horror. She had turned to look back up at him, terror screaming in her eyes.

"What did you do to me?" She had whispered in disbelief.

He had pulled out a mirror and held it in front of her, enabling her to be able to see her own eyes. Again, she had cried out in horror and panic, causing Pitch to grin in pleasure as the sense of her fear prickled at his skin. She had rubbed her eyes repeatedly and glanced back at the mirror, willing the purple specks in her eyes to fade back to their normal emerald green colour, but the efforts were in vain. Pitch had concealed the mirror once again as Atheia screamed "What is happening to me?!" at the top of her lungs, rubbing her eyes and shocking the mini fairies into a terrified state.

Pitch had only smirked, tossing a black, torn up dress to her as Atheia scratching at the graying skin at her wrists that she had not noticed before. "Put this on," He had said. "It'll look better with the change."

"What change?!" She had cried, now tugging at her darkening locks of hair, but Pitch wasn't listening. Instead, he had been glancing at his grey, rusted globe, grinning as the lights flickered off faster and faster.

Without another word, Pitch had walked out of the lair, North's workshop in mind as he worded his mockery speech for the jolly, fat man. He had barely noticed the look of horror on Atheia's face or the screams for explanations or her attempts to rid the effects of his work as he had faded into the shadows, disappearing from the nature goddess's sight.

Now Pitch stood in front of her, drinking the sight of Atheia in. Her hair had fully darkened to midnight black and her eyes were fully coloured purple, absolutely no trace of the emerald green they once were. Her skin was covered in dark spots that the Boogeyman assumed was nightmare sand. She had put on the dress, before or after the change he wasn't sure, and had tied a scrap of cloth from the dress around her head as a bandana. She stared at him with a blank look and glassy eyes, her position similar to the one when he first came to witness part of her change.

Pitch, both cautious and curious, swung open the cage slowly, savoring the creaking sound of the door as it opened. Still, no movement; she didn't even follow him with her blank eyes.

Pitch was astonished at the results of his spontaneous experiment. It's not that he doubted himself that he could do something similar to this, but the fact it worked on one of the most purest hearts he had met, that was shocking. Pitch didn't even think he knew the limit of his strength anymore; he was so use to being weak and restricted, and with the new surges of power, he felt unstoppable. It all felt like Sandy was playing some cruel trick on him; planting him in a world where everything went his way, and any second he felt that is was going to be ripped right out underneath him and he'll be back in his lair, watching the Guardians grow stronger with more believers and being absolutely helpless to stop it.

No. Pitch gritted his teeth and he scowled himself. The Sandman is dead. This is real.

Straightening up, he regarded the Dark Atheia with a formal look. "Atheia Rose Overland. Listen closely and answer my every question."

It was a few moments before Atheia replied in an almost robotic tone. "Yes master. I am all ears."

"Good," Pitch replied, grasping his hands behind his back as he paced around her. "What do you remember?"

"I remembered the Guardians betray me," Atheia answered, a tinge of loathing visible in her voice. "I remember Jack grab his memories and leave me here to rot. I remember you comforting me and showing care and telling me how the Guardians were only using me. I remember believing you."

Pitch was slightly puzzled at her answer, for he would admit that he did none of those things, but brushed off the thought and continued. "What do you want to do right now?"

"Break the Guardians down to their helpless knees and laugh when they beg for mercy. I want to kill them for what they've done to me." Atheia paused for a second. "And take out the last believer."

Pitch smirked at her answer; this was better than he expected. "And when do you want to do it?"

Atheia gritted her teeth, her fists clenching around her torn dress. "Now."

Pitch's smirk turned to a full-fledged grin as he pulled an elaborately designed knife from behind his back and held it out to Atheia. "Then you'll be needing this."

The knife's blade was curved into what looked like waves, ending at a sharpened point. On the hilt, swirled designs similar to the ones on Atheia's staff were carved into it. When Atheia grasped it, it balanced easily in her hand and the swirls in the hilt glowed a soft purple. The faint moonlight that streamed into the room reflected off the blade, making the blade seem to glimmer with anticipation for contact with its victim. Atheia's black lips upturned into a smile as she gazed back up to Pitch.

"Thank you master."

However, on the inside view, the humanized soul of Atheia banged against the wall of the dark room in which she was held. "Dammit! No!" She cried, banging harder and hearing the echo vibrate around the room.

She sighed, slumping down to the floor in defeat, and looked up in hatred through the only source of light in the room; the large cinema-screen like hole on the opposite wall that showed her the outside of the world beyond the room she was trapped in.

She had tried several times to escape, only rebounding off an invisible shield and back to the floor. She tried screaming for help, she attempted to control her own movements but all were in vain. The only way to describe it was like watching a movie; seeing every detail of the event but not being able to control it or do anything about it. Whenever her shell moved, the room shook like it was in the middle of an earthquake. Whenever her shell spoke, it echoed around the walls, filling her with more dread and helplessness.

And now she was going to kill the guardians, and she couldn't do anything about it. It frustrated her to no end and filled her with fear. She felt like screaming and whacking her-not-so-self in the head. She buried her head in her arms, mentally forcing her breaths to even out. When they did, she looked back up to the cinema-like screen and grimaced at the deadly knife that her outside self held in her hands.

"You stupid idiot," She mumbled to herself, flopping onto the ground. She wasn't giving up per say, just taking a breather, at least, that's what she told herself. She stared up at the black ceiling, letting her mind wander to a specific scene. Her expression scrunched up into one of confusion as her mind flickered over the memory of when Jack had first seen her in her current state. She remembered him holding out her memory box, telling them they would help her.

What did Jack mean when he said my memories would help? Atheia couldn't help but wonder. The look of sheer confidence when he held her memories out to her, it's like he knew they would save her. How would he know?

Unless he already looked at his own…Wait a second…Atheia bolted upright, eyes wide and her breath picking up again. He mind raced with possibilities and hope filled thoughts. She tried to remember every single mini detail of when Jack found her. He had seemed happy, she recalled…and full of purpose.

Open your memories! They'll help…

"Trust me…" Atheia mumbled as she recalled exactly what he had said. She gaped slightly, putting a hand to her forehead. "You've got to be kidding me…"

Memories…my memories…Atheia thought, running a hand through her hair. A thought suddenly clicked in her head, and she swore she could hear a light bulb flick on above her head like they did in movies.

"Oh my god…" She mumbled, putting a hand to her mouth as thoughts raced in her head.

Her memories connected her to her head, and her head connected everything together, right? Therefore, it makes sense that if the connection between her soul and head had been severed by Pitch, she couldn't connect with her movements or voice. But what if her memories could repair that connection?

"Jack…you freaking genius…" Atheia murmured to herself.

Her eyes lifted to the world outside the room she was trapped in. She could see Pitch open the cage door for her and she could feel the vibrations in the room as her shell walked out. Gritting her teeth, Atheia let out a sigh and clenched her fists and eyes closed as she wove a mental message in her head.

"Jack, if you can hear me, this is crucial. Pitch has destroyed my connection with my mind and I can't do anything for myself. What you think is me is not! I believe my memories could help me repair the connection but I can't do it myself. You said it yourself; they'll help, so you have to help me. You have to do this or we might all perish. Please Jack! Please go!"

So...was this chapter boring as hell or what?

Bleeh, I hate the ending to this chapter, but I didn't know how to end it. I kinda wanted to make this filler chapter just to explain Pitch's doing in all of what's been happening here. If you're still confused, basically, Pitch manipulated Atheia's mind and recent memories through nightmares and made her fearful and wary of everything around her. This however, slowly cut the connection between Atheia's soul and mind, and what is left is a creation of fear and darkness made by Pitch. He pretty much build a shell of darkness and hate around the pure soul of Atheia...
Yup...he's an evil bastard. ;)
Don't worry, Jamie and Jack friendship fluffiness will be next! I freaking love this scene...and if I cry while writing it I shall be blaming it on you all! ;) Oh, and just so you know, Atheia still doesn't know that Jack is her brother...mu. ha. ha. ;)

On with the responses! :D

Review Responses:

storygirl99210: Can't give anything away! ;) Though I'm pretty sure you've caught onto Atheia's plan...even though she can't really do much...man, that would really suck...I bet my OC hates me! Hopefully she doesn't hack into my account and change something...*tugs at collar nervously* Thanks for reviewing! :D Cookie for you! (::)

JustPlainOldMe: Really? *gestures to first few sentences of first review* I do ALL of that? *narrows eyes* You're lying...I don't believe you. I find it impossible to do that, despite the fact that I try. Yeah...cliffhangers...Rick Riordan is like, the king of them. Freaking hell, MOA was a complete bitch, that book took some serious abuse when I finished it...I like pulling cliffhangers, but I don't like them pulled on me ;) Lol PJO/HOO are the best man! Right next to TMI! Fictional characters are the bomb! XD Who needs real life and real boyfriends when you got a book in your hands? ;) Pity many my age disagree...:( Thanks for another birthday wish! ;) How many did you send me in the end? 3? You're too kind! :D And yeah, I did turn 14, hope that doesn't ruin your image of me...heh heh. I really don't care that you checked my profile for my age, after all, that's what it's there for, right? Besides, I stalk the profiles of new favouriters or followers...we can be stalking buddies! :D One of the best author's on this site? ...I shall say again...you lie! I'm sorry, but I can't believe it. But I can tell you that you are one of the most awesomemest (is that a word?) reviewers on this site. And that *pulls off random sunglasses* is the shocking truth. ;) Thanks for reviewing! More cookies for you! (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)

dream lighting: Heh. heh. Sorry I took a while...even though you kinda asked not to...:( I can't say what happens, it ruins the point of reading the story ;) But, if you squint (not really as much in this chapter though) you can see blossoming trails of where the story leads ;) Unfortunately, though, that's all i can say...thanks for reviewing!

TenebrisSagittarius: No you're awesome! ;) - I have a feeling that will blossom into something like a 'yes, no' fight. XD I hate when there are several days with no updates, it gives you nothing to do :/ And don't worry, all your questions will be answered when Atheia discovers her memories; they'll be a big chapter dedicated to that part of the story...unfortunately I have no clue of the amount of chapters it'll take to get there. You'll just have to wait ;) Thanks for reviewing! :D Here's another cookie to satisfy any future hunger needs! ;)

booklover1598: Trust me! I hate it too...actually no, I don't. It's freaking hilarious watching you guys go crazy about this ;) But Atheia hates it as well if that makes it any better...she's threatened to blast me down to the centre of the Earth more than once...;) Thanks for reviewing! Here's an apologetic cookie because I'm so late! (::)

9thZFighter: Yeah...sorry about that. :/ I'm glad you liked Jack's memories! I was a bit worried at first with adding extras so that comment has reassured me a lot. :D Thanks for reviewing! A well-deserved cookie to you! (::)

Guesttt: YES! The element of surprise strikes again! ;) Thanks for reviewing! Here's a cookie! (::)

Shewolf-skittles-twist14: Ooooooo yeah! Virtual cookies for the win! ;) Pity my friend doesn't believe in them. I just go "Bitch please" and send her a bunch of them XD You didn't see it coming? Good! It wasn't too obvious then! All though out the story I was carefully structuring it out, so thank god all that work was for nothing! ;) Another virtual cookie to you, my friend, because you are awesome! (::)

epicstory: Hello to you too! :D I'm glad you like it! Ya know, past my crazy A/Ns XD I had to make her evil because I am the author and that's what authors do; they piss the reader off to no end so they'll read more XD Just look at Rick Riordan and Cassandra Clare, they're like, on my torture-til-they-write-something-nice list. ;) A character? A good idea...but I really don't want to favouritise my reviewers, especially in the middle of the story. I could maybe include you in my next ROTG story though? Just send me a description and I'll smuggle you in! :) But, as much as I love you, I can't let you have Jack...*clinges to him*...he's mine...but you can have a cookie? (::)

ParadoxMagic: And more you shall have! *sprinkles magical dust in your face*

That's it for me guys! Now I'm off to attempt to write the next chapter! Cya!
Oh! Before I go, I request that everyone leaves a review! And if you are new to this story I request that you favourite, follow and leave a review if you like it so far! Also, I only own what you don't recognise in this chapter!

Farewell, all you gorgeous people!

*disappears in a magical poof of dust as a piece of paper falls to the ground*

CrystalxRose