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Hey Guys! I'm really sorry for the extremely late chapter, but I've had family business, school work and freaking NAPLAN all through the past few weeks (not to mention a HORRIBLE case of writer's block for this chapter). I'm highly exhausted and haven't been able to get a good night sleep in FOREVER so after I update this I'm probably going to collapse on my bed ;) I know I've taken forever to get this chapter out and I've spend about fours hours on it trying to complete it. I'm really sorry if it's not good but I wanted to give SOMETHING to you guys after a long and torturous wait provided by yours truly. Also, hopefully if I get enough time and inspiration, I MIGHT be able to write the next chapter and get it out on Monday, unfortunately no promises. I've still got a lot of work I have to juggle, but hopefully I can get it out :) Thanks for being so patient with this chapter and I hope you all enjoy it! :)

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Rise of The Guardians (*gasp!* No way...)

Chapter 20 – Gathering the Believers
(Atheia's POV)

I let out whoops of joy, feeling the frigid ice sliding on my feet as I skated down the road. I took a quick glance behind me, smirking as Pitch wiped the cold substance from his face, looking on to the rest of us with a gaze of anger and shock. I whipped my head back to the front, grinning at the others as they slid along the ice on handmade sleds, thrown-out bowls and metal cutlery. I could hear Jamie's giggles of joy from in front of me, followed behind by Tooth, North and Bunny who had abandoned himself into the Guardian of Wonder's arms.

Jack spared a quick glance from his position in the air in front of us while I smirked at him, giving him a thumbs up. His laughs echoed in the quiet neighbourhood, failing to disturb any of the citizens. Using his staff, trails of blue frost spilled from the end, icing the roads in front of us as we slid along them. I took a running leap on the ice and jumped in the air, twirling in excitement before skimming close to the brunette believer, resting my back on the air as I zipped through the wind.

"Anyone live close?" I shouted over the wind as it whipped along on both my sides.

Jamie looked at me startled, haven't realising I had glided up next to him before he shook the surprised look off. He squinted at the houses that flew by, trying to decipher them as he skidded along the ice. His expression brightened up as we slid around the corner, closing in on a two-storey, white building. Jamie hesitantly pointed a finger to the house, keeping his hand tightly gripped onto the edge of the makeshift sled in case he was to fall off.

"There! That's Pippa's house!" Jamie cried.

I twisted around to my stomach again, looking up to Jack, who I noticed was too engaged with icing the roads to have heard Jamie's words. "Jack!"

He turned to me as I grinned smugly at him, picking up Jamie under the arms despite his alarmed cries and persistent squirming. "We got a soon-to-be believer in that house!"

Jack grinned at me for a second, before turning back and frosting the roads in a circular pattern, sending the Guardians on a circuit of ice. North bellowed out laughs as he spun around repeatedly, whereas Bunny didn't look too pleased. Grumbling, he buried himself further in North's arms, assumingly to attempt to ignore the fact that he was spinning around in sickening circles.

Jack laughed at the three, before speeding off towards the house, Jamie and I trailing behind him. Morphing a ball of snow in his palms, Jack hurled the ball at the window, letting a loud bang ripple throughout the house. Seeing a figure stir from a bed, a head with reddish-brown hair poked out of the mass of blankets. Brown eyes widened at the sight of Jamie, who waved towards the girl from outside the window. She scrambled out of bed, tripping over her way to the window and hauling it up.

"Jamie, how are you doing that?" She cried, looking around the boy for an explanation of why he was floating above her two-storey window with absolutely nothing upholding him.

"Jack Frost and the Nature Goddess!" Jamie cried, pointing at the direction of both of us, while Pippa just gaped in his direction disbelieving.

I glanced towards Jack, who only replied with a shrug, sending a snowflake the girl's way and dashing back down to the road where the other Guardians were still spinning around on the circular sheet of ice. I turned back to Pippa, who was blinking away blue wisps of light as the snowflake melted on her nose. I grinned at her smugly, shifting Jamie to my left arm despite his complaints, while I watched Pippa as she blinked towards me repeatedly in shock.

"Are…are you…?"

"Atheia," I said, holding out my now free arm. "Goddess of Nature; nice to meet you."

Pippa blinked at me, before hesitantly reaching out and taking my hand, gasping under her breath in disbelief as she shook it. I grinned at her excitement, while Jamie beamed at her from my side.

"Pippa," Jamie called to her, shaking her slightly out of her stunned form. "We need you're help; all the Guardians do."

The girl nodded absently, her arm reaching out to the side. "I'll grab my coat."

After Pippa, I took great joy in gathering the other children of Burgess, with Jamie literally under my arm the whole time. Monty had come out with Pippa; being her next door neighbour he had heard the commotion at his friend's house. After that, Jamie and I zipped down the streets, leading Jack, the Guardians and two out of the five of Jamie's friends throughout the streets of the neighbourhood. The young brunette pointed towards houses that lined the streets that branched off the roads as we spiralled down them.

Cupcake's house was next. I had thrown a snowball to the window, and, even though it didn't possess the magical qualities of Jack's snowballs, it got the girl's attention. She had rushed to the window, wide-eyed at the sight of Jamie hovering in the air. When the sight of the Guardians, Pippa and Monty grinning and waving down from her drive-way caught her eye, it was only a matter of seconds before the pink-loving girl emerged from her house, a unicorn-decorated sled slung under her arm.

That only left the twins. Jamie and I zipped through the air, ducking into streets and whipping around corners at the kid's call. The other's laughs of joy echoed from behind us, causing a grin of my own to etch itself across my face.

At Jamie's word, we all skidded to a stop in front of a dark, two-storey house. Curtains were drawn and lights were shut off, giving the house an eerie appearance. Jamie, squirming out of my arm, padded up to the driveway, a grim look visible on his face as he looked up to the silent house. Jack sent a confused look my way at the sight of Jamie's troubled expression, to which I replied with a shrug and an equal look of puzzlement.

"V'at is wrong, child?" North asked, struggling with exhaustion to walk up next to the boy. Despite the few believers in their presents, it was obvious the Guardians were weak with fatigue. Even so, the Guardian of Wonder still strived to cheer up the last light.

Jamie turned to North, pursing his lips together in worry. "It's just that Caleb and Claude were already loosing belief before all of this," Jamie gestured wildly with his hands, "happened."

At his words, the curtains on one of the higher windows of the house cracked open slightly, exposing two brown eyes that widened at the sight of the individuals that stood on the driveway. The curtain was pulled open fully then, revealing the shocked expression of one of the twins. Jamie looked around at all of us, before bringing his eyes back up to the window to lock with the person behind it.

He gave a sheepish chuckle, waving hesitantly up to the boy at the window. "Hey Claude."

Claude then disappeared from the window, causing my heart to sink in my chest and Jamie to facepalm himself.

"Well," Cupcake muttered under her breath. "That was fantastic."

Claude then reappeared at the window, a sleepy-eyed Caleb trudging up next to him. The boy then pushed open the window slowly, letting a dull creaking sound echo throughout the quiet air of the night.

"Guys, what are you doing here?" Claude hissed, not bothering to take notice of Caleb as yawned non-to-loudly and rested his head on his brother's shoulder. "My mum's gonna kill me for being up this late."

Jamie turned to me, a quizzical expression on his face. I shrugged dejectedly in response. His shoulders slumping only for a moment, the young brunette turned back to the twins.

"Guys, we need your help. The Tooth Fairy, Santa, The Easter Bunny, Jack Frost and Atheia are all fighting the Boogeyman, but they need our belief to help them." Jamie said, a look of determination and hope blossoming on his face.

For a second, I thought the twins actually believed him. Claude blinked repeatedly in shock, as if he was not expecting this answer when he asked his friends why they were hanging out on his driveway in the dead, quiet night. He opened his mouth to speak, but his brother beat him to it.

"Jamie, we're too tired for your childish games," Caleb said, rubbing at his eyes as if to prove his point. "Just go home; all of you." And with that, the twin pulled the window shut with a quiet bang and closed the curtains, cutting off any protests from the others and letting the house fall back into its eerie, quiet aura.

Jamie's shoulders slumped with defeat as he sighed, absentmindedly rubbing at his arms. Tooth frowned sympathetically, walking over to the young boy while her wings twitched with the eagerness to move.

"Sweetie," she said, laying a hand on Jamie's shoulder. "You can't force belief."

"Maybe…" I murmured to myself, almost hearing my mind as it ticked over with possibilities. My eyes widened and I clicked my fingers as an idea swirled itself together in my head. "But you can question reality."

At my statement, Jack's crystal eyes brightened, Jamie broke out into a grin and everyone else looked at me in utter confusion. I smirked towards Jack, who grabbed Jamie under the arms and lifted him into the air, me following closely behind him while the others looked on with shocked puzzlement.

We floated up to the window, Jamie trying to suppress a laugh while Jack tried not to drop him. I chuckled lowly under my breath as I trailed my staff along the window sill. Thin, forest-green vines snaked out from the crook of my staff, sliding along the window sill and underneath the locked window. Jack and Jamie watched in awe as one of the vines stretched up to the lock, wrapped itself around it and pulled it up, letting the window freely swing open with the wind. The vines, now spouting several sized and coloured flowers, climbed through the window and snaked along the floor of the boys' room. I peeled away the curtain enough so the three of us could watch as the vines slithered up the walls and pooled around on the roof. Yellow pollen fell in clumps and floated down from the flowers, dusting onto the heads of the twins that laid in the beds below them.

Jack suppressed a laugh as Claude's nose starting twitching from the pollen. The boy, after a few groans of complaint, drew the covers up over his head to avoid the yellow powder. It was only when a lone, thin vine snaked up along the bed and starting prodding at the lump underneath the covers that Jack burst out laughing. Jamie was going red from trying to suppress his giggles, as he was the only one that could be heard. I chuckled smugly, watching with amusement as the figure under the blanket when rigid, before slowly peeling the covers away from his head. Brown eyes widened in terrified shock at the sight of the vines that snaked along his roof and spouted various flowers that dusted him in pollen. He muffled a scream into his blanket at the sight, before his eyes locked with the isolated vine at the edge of his bed and he let out another muffled scream of horror.

It was at that point Jamie burst. His laughs echoed loudly into the night as Claude whipped his head to the side, his eyes widening even further at the sight of his friend flying outside his bedroom window that was two storeys above the ground. Jamie's sniggers also alerted Caleb into an awakened upright position, gaping at both the sight of Jamie and the signs of nature that crept into his room as he pushed the covers off him in awe.

A few moments after Jamie had settled he gave a wave to his friends, similar to the one he gave on the driveway but with much more self-satisfied amusement. "Hey guys."

While Caleb gaped in awe and shock-horror, Claude ripped the rest of the covers off him and outwardly flung himself to the other side of the room towards Jamie.

"Jamie! What the hell are you doing man?" The boy said, sticking his head out the window and looking around. Monty, Pippa and Cupcake snickered as their friend looked at them in shock, confusion and mild betrayal.

"I told you; we need your help." Jamie said in a serious tone.

At Claude's look of bewilderment, Jack spun a snowflake around in the air and sent it towards him. The snowflake landed on the boy's nose, emitting blue swirls as it melted away. The boy idly smiled, before shaking his head and locking his eyes with Jack. Claude jerked back in shock, blinking at Jack in disbelief.

"You're…you're Jack Frost!" He cried, pointing a finger towards the white-haired teen.

Caleb's cries of confusion were ignored as Jack smirked, passing Jamie to me and taking a self-righteous bow. "The one and only."

Claude then turned to me, much to my astonishment. "And you," he said, a pondering look etching itself across his face as he struggled to remember something. He brightened up and clicked his fingers, turning back to me. "You're Atheia!"

I smiled fondly to the boy, my heart leaping from excitement from gaining another believer.

"You're like Mother Nature, right?"

The feeling went away instantly as I frowned at the words. Deciding against the snappy comment that formed at the back of my mind, I only muttered under my breath, "I'm actually a Nature Goddess."

Caleb, by then, had walked up to stand next to his brother, a look of bewilderment visible on his face. "Claude, what on earth are you looking at?"

"Jack Frost and Atheia!" Claude replied, gesturing wildly to what Caleb saw was empty space.

"Dude, there's nothing there; besides Jamie that is."

"I'm serious!" The boy cried, desperately trying to get his brother to see what he could. "Jamie was right; everyone he was talking about is real. Please," he begged, brown eyes locking with his brother's. "You have to believe me."

I watched as Caleb looked into his brother's eyes, as if to find the source of a lie in his puppy-dog orbs. He then sighed in defeat, scrunching his eyes together and taking a deep breath. Jack, Jamie, Claude and I leaned in towards the other twin in anticipation as he slowly opened his eyes. As soon as they focused on me, the young twin fell back onto the floor with a cry of alarm. Jack, Jamie and I peered at him from over the window sill, while Claude bent down to his brother.

"You alright?" The boy whispered, his eyes wide with worry.

"Fine, fine," The other boy muttered tensely, pulling himself up from the floor and dusting himself off. Spotting a vine he had almost tripped over, the boy inched away from it before straightening up. "This is just…a lot to take in."

Jamie grinned, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to where the others were crowded awkwardly. "Everyone else is down there."

The boys rushed to look out the window, and sure enough, the other three Guardians stood down on the driveway. At the sight of the boys' astonishment, North chuckled and waved at them.

"No way…" Claude muttered in disbelief, before grabbing his coat that rested on the desk next to his bed and rushing out the door.

Meanwhile Caleb stood dazedly for a few moments, before slowly turning around and following his brother out the door. "Santa just waved at me…" He muttered, before he disappeared through the bedroom door.

The few moments of silence were broken as the three of us exploded into a fit of chuckles at Caleb's inattentiveness. At the sight of the nature-decorated bedroom, I tapped my staff against the window sill, causing the flowers and vines to retreat away from the walls and ceiling and shrink away. Jack and Jamie stared at the act wide-eyed, before Jack broke out into a grin.

"You still need to teach me how to do that," He said as we both turned away from the house and floated down towards the others.

"Remind me when this is all over," I chuckled as my feet grazed the cold stones of the driveway.

Landing on the ground, I looked up to North, a wide grin etched across my face as I placed Jamie on the ground. "Mission accomplished."

North let out a laugh, giving me a pat on the back that sent me stumbling forward. I recovered just as Caleb and Claude emerged from the house, grinning ecstatically as they raced towards the others. Gasps of shock and handshakes were exchanged as the twins met each of the Guardians, a look of disbelieving amazement present on both of their expressions.

A loud crack of thunder that sent me jumping into the air broke the otherwise joyous mood. My body visibly tensed up as a streetlight bulb closest to me exploded and an eerie chuckle echoed in the air. Defensive stances up, the Guardians, Jack and I formed a barrier in front of the children of Burgess as the source of the dark chuckle seemed to inch closer.

I looked up to the rooftop to see Pitch glowering down at us. His hands were fisted into the mane of the nightmare he rode upon, the golden eyes of both the horse and the Boogeyman himself glowing with taunting and glowering gazes. My eyes widened in terror as I noticed that the source of thunder wasn't from the sky, but rather the hoofs of the uncountable nightmares that rolled down the streets in a wave, knocking out streetlights and consuming cars that were in their path.

Monty, unaware of the situation and still ecstatic about the twins believing, let out a cry of joy as he ran around in front of us, which then turned into a strangled cry of fear as he ducked back behind the Guardians.

"You think a few children can help you?" Pitch scowled in disgust, throwing a hand back to gesture to the wave of nightmares racing towards us from all sides. "Against this?"

The nightmares crackled from all around me, blowing out the lights and darkening the streets around us. I ignored the worm of fear that was struggling to slither its way through my chest as I held up my glowing staff threateningly. North held up his sword in defence against Pitch with a determined expression, before his arm visibly shook and he brought the sword back down to the ground, leaning on it reliantly. Jamie took a sharp intake of breath as Tooth, Jack and I franticly rushed to North's side, making sure he didn't fall over from exhaustion.

"They're just bad dreams Jamie," Jack said, turning his head to give a quick glance towards the boy.

"We'll protect you, mate," Bunny said, backing the winter spirit up.

"Awww," Pitch cooed mockingly. "You'll protect them but who will protect you?"

I faltered at the question, allowing the worm of fear to snake throughout my body. Pitch was right, whether we believed it or not, the Guardians, Jack and I were alone. Even if Manny wanted to help us, the nightmare sand had blocked the moon's rays. If we couldn't see Tsar, then Tsar couldn't see us. We were all truly alone.

I was so caught up in my thoughts, however, that I didn't see Jamie as he pushed past the Guardians to stand in front of Jack. "I will." He said, sending a smile up to the dumbfounded winter spirit.

"I will," Cupcake growled, pushing through both her friends and the Guardians to stand in front of me as I stared at her in shock.

"I will!"

"I will!"

Both the twins cried out at the same time, both pushing past each other to stand in front of North, who still struggled to stand upright.

"And me," Pippa voiced, pushing past the others to stand in front of Tooth, who looked taken aback.

"I'll…I'll try…?" Monty stuttered, side-stepping in front of Bunny, who looked like he'd rather someone else.

Pitch, however, looked merely amused. "Still think there's no such thing as the Boogeyman?"

The wave of nightmares rolled down the streets, mere seconds from approaching us. My eyes widened in fear as the sand wave rolled up high over our heads, ready to crash down to the ground.

Jamie reached out his palm to the nightmare wave as it came hurtling down towards us.

I swear...I am a bitch.

I leave for three weeks, then pop out of no where, give you this shitty chapter with a horrible cliff-hanger and then leave again for who knows how long. *sigh* This must get really annoying for you guys :( I'm sorry! Please forgive me!
I'm serious with the fact that I'm juggling work though; I've just finished NAPLAN and now I've got dance assessments, science prac reports and two hard math exams I've got to study for, not to mention loads of homework. :( It might not seem like much, but its putting a lot of stress on me that I rather not voice out. :(

But anyway, enough about me, on with the responses! :D

Review Responses:

booklover1598: OH! I forgot to mention those too! I do like Jack/Oc's, but as long as the OC's not like a Mary Sue...those things are just too cliche and get annoying at times :/ Though, there are some good ones out there :D Hehe, glad you liked the chapter though. Thanks for the review! You make me smile! :D Have a cookie! (::)

storygirl99210: Yes! Atheia IS okay! :D It's time to kick some Pitch-butt! Here's a cookie! Enjoy the show! :D

MidnightWolf191: Hahahaha, I did make her name a bit complicated yes, but for future reference its Atheia :D Thanks for your review, and I DO like your idea, but unfortunately I already have an epilogue idea in mind. However, I AM writing a drabble series on this story about the before and after of this story, if you want I could put it there? :D It seems like a great idea! I'll be sure to give credit :D Thanks again for your review! Here's a cookie! :D (::)

JustPlainOldMe: Hahahaha, thanks :) After going through a lot of school work and ESPECIALLY through NAPLAN, its nice to be reminded of the reviews I get. This is why I LOVE replying to reviews, not only because I get to talk to my reviewers, but I am always re-reading the reviews and finding they always bring a smile to my face :) It's nice...you know? Thanks for the compliments, and I'm only slightly hinting at Atheia's creativeness (though making Caleb and Claude's room a jungle was kinda creative XD), I'm probably gonna put a bit more in the drabble series :D Personally, I also think Persistance suits her more (it can be her main centre :D), while Creativity, though it was a strong point in her past life, it was more enhanced by her powers...if you know what I mean? Hahahaha, thankyou, I enjoyed the cake...BUT DON'T BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN! :0 QUICK! I'LL GET THE HOSE! *grabs hose and puts out fire* There! :D *looks at half-burnt down house* Yeah...I hope you have insurance...but what are you going to do to Bunny? *bursts into tears* If anything, threaten a duck, those bloodthirsty beasts...never trust a duck XD *secretly hoping you get the reference so I don't look like a crazy psychopath* :D Thankyou so much for another HEART WARMING review! :D I love em! :D Here's a bunch of cookies because you're so amazing and inspiring! (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(: :)(::)(::)(::)

Well, that's it guys. I hope you liked the chapter PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave a review telling me how I did! :D
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Updates are soon (hopefully sooner than this was) to come, and I only own what you don't recognise in the movie!

*waves farewell*

CrystalxRose