Sorry about the massive delay with this chapter. I suffered from a bit of Writer's Block and then after I'd written a good chunk of this chapter, the motherboard in my laptop went, along with all my files and because I hadn't saved it onto my USB stick, I've had to write this chapter from scratch on my iPad whist my laptop goes to be fixed (and I don't know when it's coming back).

So, there you go. But enough of that. Here's the next chapter.

Millions of grains of golden sand scattered across the darkening sky as Sandy's aeroplane disappeared, leaving the Sandman standing alone on one of the balconies of the Tooth Palace. Inside, Sandy could hear the sounds of busy, beating wings and high-pitched squeaks of the mini fairies. The sounds filled Sandy with some relief, since the noises meant that the mini fairies were still hard at work - if anything was wrong with Tooth, he was sure that concern for their queen would take priority over their jobs (whether Tooth liked it or not). But he couldn't hear her voice over the noise inside and a look of worry crossed his face.

Sandy had debated over who to see first - Jack or Tooth - but had decided upon the Tooth Fairy in order to see if she was as dejected and lost as North and Bunny before going on to Jack. Also, there was a possibility that Jack was already at the palace, either having come to the same conclusion as he had - that Pitch had done something to them and was checking to make sure she was alright, or that he had come after Tooth out of concern for her rather then obligation as a Guardian. He guessed that it was more likely to be the latter.

Hovering into the palace, Sandy was instantly faced with a swarm of mini fairies flying across the room, some holding teeth delicately as if they were precious jewels, while others were carrying coins to hide under pillows. Looking around, Sandy's heart sunk. There was no sigh of Tooth. Sandy paused, watching the mini fairies go past. There had to be a reasonable explanation for her not being there. Maybe she had gone out into the field? He remembered both her and Jack saying something about how she missed being out in the world, collecting the teeth herself. Or maybe she was tired. He shook his head. Guardians - and spirits at that - rarely got tired, so it couldn't be that. The only other option (other then the unthinkable and the image of North and Bunny crossed his mind) was that she was just somewhere else in the palace, but he had no idea where. All he knew was that she wasn't in the room. His eyes fixed on the mini fairies. They had to know where she was.

Moving closer to the mass of mini fairies, Sandy raised his arms high , waving up at the mini fairies, but the continued to fly past, oblivious to his presence. He tried again, but still nothing. He frowned, wishing he had had the foresight to bring something noisy along with him. He deflated, letting out a breath as he lowered his arms. How else could he get their attention? He thought about conjuring the image of Tooth or even Jack but that would send them into a massive panicky frenzy which was something he didn't want. But what else did they like? Sandy snapped his fingers together, the image of a lightbulb appearing above his head. He had it!

He closed his eyes, summoning the dream sand between his hands, turning them around the sand, concentrating on the image it was to form. He threw the sand high into the air where it formed the image of an enormous molar. Sandy smiled. If that didn't get their attention then nothing else would. However, his smile quickly faltered as the mini fairies continued to fly around, not taking note of the sudden appearance of the giant, golden tooth floating in front of them. He shook his head and whilst he marvelled at how well Tooth had trained them, at the same time he resented it, especially now when he needed their help.

He sighed. He really didn't want to have to conjure up the image of their queen, but it looked like he would have to. With disgruntlement beginning to bite at him, he began to lift his arms to change the molar into Tooth when he paused. A mini fairy had stopped, her eyes focused solely on the giant tooth in front if her. Sandy smiled. It had worked! But now he needed the mini fairy to see him. Lifting his arms all the way up, he slowly began to lower the molar down towards him and to his delight, the confused and transfixed mini fairy followed it. As the tooth got lower, it became smaller and smaller and as soon as the mini fairy was in eye line with him, it disappeared in a golden cloud of sand.

The mini fairy jumped and blinked several times, darting back a couple of paces as the face of the Sandman came into focus. She cautiously fluttered closer, her head tilted to one side. Sandy smiled at her, giving her a small wave before pointing at the image of Tooth he had conjured above his head, trying to tell her that he needed to talk to her. To his confusion, the mini fairy looked unsure, her eyes darting from side to side. Sandy jabbed his fingers at the image of Tooth once more, trying to get across the urgency in which he needed to see her.

The mini fairy continued to look as if she was unsure as to what to do and Sandy was beginning to doubt whether she knew what he wanted when she suddenly flew off and he breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that she had gone to get Tooth. However, to his dismay, she returned a moments later accompanied, not by Tooth, but by another mini fairy, one he recognised as being the fairy Jack had nicknamed Baby Tooth.

The two mini fairies appeared to be conversing, Sandy assumed, judging from the squeaks going on between the two, and he hoped that Baby Tooth would understand what he was asking and find Tooth. He pointed at the image of the fairy queen above his head, reiterating what he needed but was surprised when he noticed that Baby Tooth also looked unsure as to what to do. Sandy lowered his hands. Could it be possible that they didn't know where she was? He shook his head at that. It couldn't be possible... could it? With another shake of his head, he once more jabbed his hands at the image of Tooth, trying to get across how important it was that he needed to see her.

The two mini fairies began conversing with each other more, though the speed and high-pitchedness of the squeaks made him wondering if they were arguing. But to his relief, Baby Tooth flew over to him, nodding her head and indicating, by turning her body, that he should follow her, though, he noted, she looked as if she weren't happy with the decision. He decided not to worry about that. He was going to be taken to Tooth and was what was important.

#

Deep within the palace, inside the room that contained the teeth of those no longer living, Tooth's eyes snapped open and she pushed herself away from Jack, blushing slightly. Jack stared at her, confused by the sudden movement, especially when he noticed her blush and was ever more confused when her expression turned a look of anger. She shook her head, her hands clasping and unclasping.

"Tooth?"

She continued to shake her head. "They know not to come down here." She spoke more to herself then to him, her eyes focused on the floor beneath their feet.

He look at her quizzically. "Huh? Who?"

She didn't respond. She shook her head again, her body beginning to tremble, a move that didn't go unnoticed by Jack, who held out his hand to comfort her, but she flew further back, away from his touch and a quick flash of hurt covered his face as he lowered his hand. "Tooth," he began once more, but he was stopped by the low, dull sound of someone knocking on the doors into the room.

Tooth's head snapped in the direction of the sound and she flew over to the door, an infuriated look on her face. After what had happened, they knew they weren't allowed down to this room and they knew not to disturb her while she was there, but they had done both.

Jack followed her across the room, clearly worried about her sudden change in attitude. He had never seen her like this. She was usually fun and talkative, but in the last few days, he had seen a change in her. Her usual cheery self had been replaced by one that almost reminded him of himself and he knew that it was all down to Pitch.

Keeping behind her, he watched as she opened the door, revealing Sandy, whose eyes lit up as soon as he saw her and Baby Tooth, who had her head lowered, clearly ashamed by what she had done. In that moment, Jack could guess what had made Tooth angry. She had told him that she needed to be the only one down in the room but there was Baby Tooth with Sandy. He assumed that Tooth felt like Baby Tooth had betrayed her orders, not just by coming down, but by bringing Sandy with her and given Tooth's current volatile attitude, this had irked her even more.

"Sandy?" Tooth's voice conveyed her surprise at seeing the Sandman and her anger abated slightly, though she cast a dark look at Baby Tooth, who kept her head lowered, knowing she had disobeyed her queen.

"Sandy?!" Jack peered around Tooth, casting his eyes on their fellow Guardian. "What are you doing here?"

The Sandman cast him a look that said 'I could ask you the same question' and Jack looked abashed, his eyes darting at Tooth for a brief moment. Sandy nodded, telling Jack that he had come for the same reason.

Tooth shook her head as she telepathically chastised Baby Tooth. While she understood the mini fairies actions, she was still annoyed that she had come down to the room and with Sandy in tow. Baby Tooth apologised, explaining that she didn't know what to do and that Sandy was adamant that he see her. Tooth let out a sigh and nodded her head, understanding her actions and turned to Sandy.

Knowing that she was being dismissed, Baby Tooth chirped at Tooth before her mismatched eyes rested on Jack, making her swoon before disappearing back down the hall. As he watched her leave, the winter spirit hoped that Tooth hadn't been too hard on her.

"Baby Tooth said you wanted to see me." Her voice cutting through his thoughts as she spoke to Sandy.

Sandy turned to her and nodded his head furiously. The image of Pitch along with those of a dejected North and Bunny appeared and he pointed at the illusions of the other two Guardians before pointing at Tooth. He then pointed at the image of Pitch before going back to Tooth, trying to tell her that he was worried that Pitch had done something to her and that she was like North and Bunny.

Tooth's eyes widened as they rested on the sandy forms of their fellow Guardians. She hadn't realised hat there was something wrong with North and Bunny. "What's wrong with them?" she breathed.

"Pitch," Jack replied and Sandy nodded. "When he was at the North Pole, he did something to you guys and it looks like its really gotten to North and Bunny." He looked down at Sandy. "But you seem fine." A look of confusion was evident on his face as he looked him. North, Bunny and Tooth all bore signs of having negative feelings, of being lost and uncertain but Sandy... Sandy appeared to be fine.

In response the small Guardian looked up at he winter spirit and shrugged his shoulders.

"What do we do." Tooth asked, unable to tear her eyes away from the image of the two other Guardians.

"We have to snap them out of it," Jack replied and Sandy raised his hands, as if he were cheering, a look of delight on his face.

"But how?"

Jack thought for a moment. "We need to distract them. Christmas isn't far off. It's a fun, joyous part of the year and they need to be reminded of that. If we can get them to focus on bringing happiness to children all over the world, then it might push all of those other thoughts out of their heads," he said, thinking about how Tooth had opened up when he had distracted her and got her feelings out in the open.

Sandy held two thumbs up, showing his approval.

"Will it work?"

It was Jack's turn to shrug his shoulders. "I don't know," he admitted, " but it's the only plan we've got."

Tooth nodded. "Okay." Though she still looked uncertain. "Let's go."

"What about your fairies?" Jack asked, catching her hesitance, suddenly finding himself unsure as to whether or not he wanted her exposed to despair that currently inhabited the minds of North and Bunny, worrying that it might set her back.

A small smile formed on her lips. She didn't want to go, the thought of leaving her fairies and the room made her worry, but she didn't want to show her reluctance. North and Bunny needed her. "They know what to do," she replied. Her eyes rested on his for a brief moment, detecting the concern. "We should go."

The moment didn't go unnoticed by Sandy, who watched as Jack slung his staff over his shoulders and followed the Tooth Fairy down the passage. There was definitely something going on between the two, but he knew that they were both too young and naive to realise what it was.

"Sandy, you coming?"

Jack's voice tore him out of his thoughts and with a furious nod of his head, he quickly followed the two.

#

The Globe room was pitch black when the three Guardians arrived, the only light coming from the thin sliver of silver from the moon and the millions of glittering lights on the Globe, but the vast majority of the room was covered in darkness. Jack and Tooth flew into the eerie darkness while Sandy was once more in his aeroplane which disintegrated as it touched the ground. The room was silent.

"Where is everyone? Where's North and Bunny?" The darkness of the room was unnatural to Tooth and it deeply unnerved her, her feathers ruffling as a chill spread through her.

"Are you alright?" Jack was right next to her and had felt her shiver.

"Yeah." She nodded, rubbing her small hands up and down her arms. "It's just... I've never seen this place like this. It feels so cold and empty." She shook her head. "It isn't right."

Jack nodded in agreement. The North Pole was the home of joy and wonder and Christmas. It was supposed to be a bright and happy place not... this. He didn't blame Tooth for feeling unnerved, it deeply unsettled him as well. "North? Bunny?"

There was no response.

"We need some light in here," he said, but none of them had anything on them. Jack sighed. "Sandy, can you use your dream sand to make it brighter in here?"

There was silence as Sandy attempted to, but since there was no light source to reflect the golden grains, the dream sand scattered harmlessly into the darkness. Since Sandy couldn't see Jack or Tooth, he had no way of conveying that it had failed. Instead, he pointed at the doors that led to the workshop, the images of the yetis and elves appearing above his head, forgetting that they couldn't see him.

Jack sighed again.

"What about the workshop?" Tooth suggested. "There might be a toy or something in there and that's where the yetis and elves are. They might be able to help."

"Tooth, you're a genius." Jack smiled, while Sandy snapped his fingers, a torn look of disappointment and annoyance on his face. That had been his plan.

The trio headed in the direction of the workshop, Jack pushing the large wooden doors open to reveal a blinding bright light and deafening amount of noise.

The workshop was a bustle of activity with yetis walking from left to right, some carrying toys, others with tools, though most of the large, shaggy creatures were at their individual stations, working hard on finishing their toys. Elves ran between their legs, occasionally making a yeti stumble, laughing manically as it yelled incoherently after them. Others meanwhile sat in random places such as under tables, on top of the banister or just in the middle of the floor sticking fairy lights in their eyes, howling with laughter whenever an elf received an electric shock and others sat making bizarre toys and contraptions, the likes of which were unsuitable in a child's possession.

"Wow." No matter how many times he saw the workshop, it never ceased to amaze Jack.

"At least they're not affected," Tooth mused quietly, as the three Guardians stared at the sight before them with wide eyes.

Sandy nodded in agreement, remembering how the mini fairies also hadn't appeared to be affected either, but then again, he didn't know whether or not Tooth had been, seeing as she seemed fine. But, a thought suddenly came to him, the mini fairies were a part of Tooth, whereas the yetis and elves had been found by North, so it made sense for them not to be affected by his moods. Sandy shook his head. It was starting to get confusing.

Jack walked over to the closest yeti, tapping it on its shoulder with his staff. The yeti let out a gruff yelp as ice spread across a patch of his fun and he turned around, glowering.

"Oops." Jack laughed. "Let me help you with that." He reached up and brushed the ice off of the yeti.

The yeti growled at him, not impressed by the ice or the fact that he had been disturbed from his work.

Jack held up his hands. "I said I was sorry." His expression turned serious as he lowered his hands. "But, look, we need your help. Something's up with North and -" But he was prevented from continuing as the yeti let out a loud sound, the mixture or a cry and roar and the entire workshop came to a standstill, every yeti and elf turning in their direction. The yeti pointed at Jack, who swallowed heavily and tugged at the collar of his sweater.

"Tell them, Jack," Tooth said from behind him, her hands clasped together tightly.

Jack nodded and swallowed, not keen on all of the attention he was getting. He wasn't used to having so many eyes on him, hanging on to his every word. Rather then beat around the bush, he decided to get straight to the point. "We think there's something wrong with North. He hasn't been himself the last couple of days - some of you may have noticed. But we have an idea as to how to help him, but the Globe room is pitch black, we can't see him or Bunny, so if you guys could give us a light or something then that would be really helpful." He stopped to catch his breath, the words having come out quickly and waited as the yetis and elves stared for a moment before there was a rush of activity, North's helpers each pushing themselves forward, wanting to be the one to help.

The tide of yetis and elves was so fierce that it pushed the three Guardians back.

With a sharp, loud slam of his staff against the floor, a wall of ice sprung up, creating a shield between them and the barrage of helpers. The yetis and elves at the front slammed into it as they were pushed by those behind.

"Guys! Guys!" Jack yelled over the noise. "Calm down and listen!"

His shouts went ignored until there was a quick, sharp whistle and the noise instantly ceased. Jack turned to see Tooth looking almost sheepish. Her eyes met his. "Mini fairies," she simply said and he instantly understood as he nodded. Next to them, Sandy clapped his hands, impressed.

Jack turned back to North's helpers. "Look," he began, "we just need some light to see in the Globe room. I'm sure North is fine, but we just need to check. Have any of you got something we can use?"

The yetis looked at each other, mumbling while the elves took turns pushing each other into the ice wall. One of them stuck out his tongue, tentatively about to lick the wall when he was suddenly pushed full force against it. He tried to move back, but his tongue had stuck to the ice. Rather then help their comrade, the elves pointed and laugh hysterically. Jack rolled his eyes. Now really wasn't the time for that. "Guys, really?" he moaned.

There was a knocking sound against the ice, directing back Jack's thoughts and he lifted his head to see a yeti standing directly in front of the wall, a fiery torch in his paws. Jack indirectly took a step back as his eyes rested on the flame.

Sandy looked up at the winter spirit, curious as to his sudden reluctance to be near the wall when he saw the torch in the yeti's paw. Taking a step forward, he tugged on Jack's sleeve, startling him. Jack looked down, trying to make his expression neutral, trying not to think that in front if him was a fire. Sandy pointed at the wall, images appearing above his head, telling Jack that he needed to lower the wall so they could get the torch. He noted how Jack's head involuntarily jerked, a movement so small that the Sandman almost missed it, but he understood Jack's hesitance and reminded the young Guardian that he wouldn't be the one holding it, he or Tooth would. Jack, whose panic was rising, slowly nodded, knowing that the other two Guardians had the sense to keep the flame away from him and he turned back to the wall. With a simple movement of his staff, the wall disappeared. The elf who had his tongue stuck to the ice fell forward as it disappeared, landing in a heap which caused his fellow elves to laugh wildly and point at him.

Stepping past him, Sandy reached up to the enormous yeti, his hand held up for the torch. The yeti hesitated, but Sandy jerked his hand for it, asking for the torch. The yeti handed it over and the three Guardians turned to re-enter the Globe room. The crowd behind moved to follow them but Tooth turned around.

"Sorry," she said to them, "but it's best if you wait here."

The yetis broke out into moans and growls. They wanted to make sure North was alright as well.

Tooth shook her head. "I'm sure North is fine, but just wait here, okay." With that, she followed Sandy and Jack back into the Globe room, the doors closing behind her.

Once more, the trio were encased in an almost darkness. The small flickering flame barely illuminating the area around them.

"They could have at least given us an electrical torch or something," Jack moaned quietly, casting the flaming torch a dark look as he tried to stay as from it as he possibly could.

Ignoring him, Tooth shuddered. "It's really creepy in here," she commented. "It isn't supposed to be like this."

Both Jack and Sandy agreed with her, the lone flame of the torch adding to it. It was enough to send chills down Jack's spine.

Having been at the North Pole countless times over the many centuries, Sandy knew the layout of the Globe room well enough to make his way over to one of the many fireplaces, leaving Jack and Tooth in the darkness. He pointed the flame of the torch into the fireplace where it attached itself to the wood. For a brief moment, there were two small flames illuminating small patches of darkness until the flame in the fireplace spluttered and flickered before engulfing the wood, a roaring flame emerging. This acted like a trigger as suddenly roaring flames appeared in all of the fireplaces around the room. Jack and Tooth stared with wide eyes as each fireplace lit up one at a time, bathing the Globe room in a warm light, the darkness disappearing.

"That's better," Jack commented, glad to be able to see once more, though he wasn't keen on the sudden warmth. He looked across at Sandy. "Good thinking."

Sandy put his thumb up in response before blowing out the flame of the torch seeing as it was no longer needed. He then chucked the wooden stick into the fire where it crackled as it was engulfed by the flames. Looking back at the other two Guardians, the images of Bunny and North appeared above his head.

The trio looked around for any sign of the remaining Guardians. The room looked almost as it had when Sandy had left it, except there was no sign of either Guardian, just a discarded plate covered in cookie crumbs and some half painted eggs strewn across the floor near one of the fireplaces. Tooth suddenly let out a gasp before flying across the room as fast as her delicate wings would let her. Jack and Sandy quickly followed her.

She was hovering in front of an oversized chair, a look of pure shock on her face. In front of her was a man, slumped over and dressed in a baggy white top and red pants, clothes several sizes too big. His white hair and beard hung limply around his face. His skin was sunken, as if he had lost a lot of weight in a short period of time, his bones almost visible though the pasty coloured skin. The chest of the man rose and fell and seeing as he had acknowledged their presence, it looked as if he were sleeping.

"Who is that?" Jack asked, looking at the man curiously.

"N-North," Tooth stammered in response.

Jack looked at her. "What?!" The man in front of them couldn't possibly be North. North was round and jolly, this man... wasn't.

She pointed at his arms. While the sleeves of the shirt almost fell to the man's wrists, two distinctive tattoos could be seen. One arm saying 'Nice', the other 'Naughty'.

Jack shook his head. It couldn't be possible. "What happened?"

"He's lost his centre," Tooth replied, her voice barely above a whisper as she tried to take in the sight before her. "He's lost his wonder."

Sandy stared with eyes wide. It was a very rare occurrence, for a Guardian to lose their centre, but it had happened to Bunny not too long ago though. Bunny... The Sandman looked around for the Guardian of Hope.

"How did this happen?" Tooth's voice shook as she spoke.

"Pitch," Jack said after a couple of moments of silence and Tooth looked at him. "Pitch did this. The dark thoughts he caused you guys to have and feel, it took a hold of North to the point that it caused him to loose his centre. If he's like this, then there's a probability that it happened to Bunny as well." He looked around, half hoping that he was wrong and that the overgrown rabbit would come bounding at him. But, of course, the last Guardian was no where in sight.

Tooth also looked around for him. "But what do we do?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "We've got to find Bunny and if he's in the same state as North, we've got to snap them out of it."

She nodded and fluttered closer to Jack, grasping his arm as her fear began to take hold. Was this what could have happened to her if Jack hadn't been there?

The young Guardian looked at her, taking in her look of unease. He wondered what would she would look like if she lost her centre. Would she revert to being a bird or human or fairy? It then suddenly hit him that he had no idea about her past, about who she was - is. All he saw was a fairy, covered in feathers and with the body of a human, but who was she really?

"Jack?"

Tooth's voice cut through his thoughts and he blinked. Tooth was looking at him quizzically and he suddenly realised that he had been staring at her. A faint blue blush spread across his cheeks and he quickly looked away with a mumble of "sorry", missing the small smile that graced the Tooth Fairy's lips.

Sandy rolled his eyes at the pair. They really could be so oblivious sometimes. Turing away, he focused on looking for Bunny. The fact that they couldn't see him, was a clear indication that he had reverted away from his usual form and was probably the small, cuddly bunny he had become a few months ago. But to him, it wasn't sweet, but scary.

A suddenly flicker of movement across the room caught his eye and he turned, signalling to Jack and Tooth.

"What is it, Sandy?" Jack asked.

Sandy held up his hand before pointing to a dark corner of the room where he had seen the movement. Images appeared above his head, communicating to the other two what he had seen.

Jack nodded and Tooth's grip tightened on his arm. Cautiously, the trio inched closer to the corner, Jack holding out his staff ready, leaving North slumped in his chair. A sudden scrapping noise made them jump, but they continued to edge closer.

"Whose there?" Jack called.

There was another scrapping sound before the sound of a breath could be heard. The three Guardians stopped as they heard something approach them. From the darkness, the small, dark grey ball of fur appeared, hopping towards them. Once in the light, it stopped and looked up at them with large, round eyes.

"Bunny," Tooth breathed, her grip flexing on Jack's arm, feeling relief that they had found Bunny, but also fear because of what she was seeing.

The round eyes narrowed as he sat on his haunches. "What the bloody hell is going on?!"