A/N : Here's the next chapter :) And I'm sorry it's taken so long to write. You guys have been waiting forever, so here you go...

Chapter 20

The sun shifted further down into the sky, and I guessed the time to be around 2:00. I created a sparkling white watch on my wrist to be sure, and read 2:08. I became curious as to exactly where we were heading next. The only thing below us: clouds. No land or water to distinguish our position. But Jack knows were Sandy told us to go, so I trust him. We keep flying over the blanket of white until we see something strange before us. The sun is at our backs, and in front of us is a wall of darkness, inching closer and closer.

"Jack...?"

"Dont worry. It's not Pitch. It's just nighttime in this part of the world. Technically, we're going back a day."

I nod in understanding, glad to not encounter my killer for another day.

"So Sandy told me to meet him at his cloud. See it anywhere, _?"

I scan up and down the edge of black in front of us. Then, to the far left, I see something sparkling.

"Hey. Is that it?"

I point to the golden speck, smaller than my fingernail from our distance. Jack squints in that direction, and nods.

I follow him along the edge of night and day, and we pass over the clouds. I still don't know where we are, because the clouds block our view of what's below us.

"Jack, do you know where we are? Like, where we're over?"

"Um... I think the Pacific is below us."

"Think?"

"Ya, I'm certain. Smell the salt?"

"Jack, every ocean's salty."

He turns to look at me and rolls his eyes, making sure that I notice.

"You know what I mean. I'm sayin that we're definitely not over land."

"How do you know it's the Pacific though?"

"We've been flying west. So it has to be."

"We could be over the Indian-"

"SHHSH! I'm right. No debating it."

"But Jack, you aren't-"

"SHHSH, woman!"

"Did you just call-"

"Yes."

I raise my eyebrows at him, and ram into his side playfully. He cartwheels through the air, plummeting. I squint down at him, laughing, but wonder why he hasn't come back up to get even. His staff is falling with him, but he can't seem to grab it. It's too far from him. A sick feeling takes over my stomach, and I divebomb after him. I catch up, and grab his staff before guiding myself over to his free falling body. His eyes are wide, but he keeps calm. I press the staff into his outreached hands, and he stops falling abruptly. I let my wings out like sails to slow my descent, then head back up to him.

"You ok, Jack?"

He looks at me, eyes still open wide, and nods breathlessly.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to knock your staff away."

"Remind me to never pick a fight with you. At least while we're in the air. On the ground, you're toast."

Was that a compliment? I smile at him, and he flies with me back up towards the golden speck. As we near it, it develops into some sort of castle of golden sand, sitting atop a cloud made of the same stuff. I wonder if we can walk on it, and my question is answered when our feet touch the soft surface.

I relax my wings, and to my surprise, I don't fall through the cloud. Jack is already walking towards the glittering entrance of the castle, but stops when he notices me leaning down to scoop up some of the sand.

"Hey! Careful with that stuff."

"Why? What's it even-"

I sneeze unexpectably, and when I inhale again, some of the cloud goes into my nose. My eyes open wide at the tingling sensation, but then droop a bit as I feel fatigue take over. I blink slowly, and see Jack laughing to himself before walking over to me.

"It's his dream sand, _."

I look at him through sleepy eyes, fighting to keep my balance. The golden cloud I'm standing on looks so soft. Like a mattress. Jack notices my lazy state directed towards my feet, shakes his head and guides me forward by my shoulders. He pushes me along, and we are soon in front of Sandy's doors.

"Good thing you didn't inhale the whole cloud."

He laughs to himself when I let my head droop a bit. With one hand on my shoulder to keep me standing, he reaches forward to knock on the door. He hesitates before touching his knuckles to the cloud, wondering if his hand will go right through, but hits the door anyways. There is a resounding knock to his surprise. I would have been surprised too, if I was paying enough attention. I kept repeating the phrase "Don't go to sleep, don't go to sleep..." in my head.

There is a sweeping noise accompanying the door as it swings open. There, only coming up to my shoulder, stands Sandy. He smiles up at us, then looks closer at my tired expression. He turns to Jack, and raises his eyebrows in question after a couple of z's and sand appear over his head, along with a figure of me.

"Yep. She scooped some up and breathed it in before I could stop her."

Sandy shakes his head and silently laughs. A pocket watch ticking away appears above his head, and he nods at Jack. Jack seems to understand, but I'm still fighting off sleep.

"What's Sandy sayin?"

"Oh, he's telling me that the sand should wear off in a couple of minutes. You only breathed in a little after all."

"Oh. Good."

Sandy leads us down the hallway in his castle, and I notice how decorated it is. There are all kinds of things lining the walls. There are some armored knights, some supersized toy dinosaurs, and even some rocking horses. It reminds me of a toy store. There's even a sports car in one corner, complete with some racing flags. I try to recall what Sandy was going to teach me, but I can't. Maybe something about fears? Soon enough I'd know. We step through an archway, and into a room with a domed roof. There are no decorations here, and the room seems to serve no obvious purpose. It does however, do an excellent job at taking up space. Sandy stops floating, and turns to face us. My clouded head has become slightly less foggy, and I find that I'm able to stand without Jack's help. Sandy holds up a finger, his eyebrows raised, seeming to ask us to wait in the room. Jack confirms it.

"You want us to wait for you to come back?"

Sandy nods, then quickly flies back out the arched doorway. Jack looks up at the ceiling, and speaks to me.

"I think I know what he's getting. He's going to help you get over your fears, but you have to trust him."

Sandy flies over to us again, this time holding a transparent vial of something. It's about as long as my hand, and holds some sort of sand. I recognize it though. It's dark, dark black, and has a purple tint to it when held in the light. It sparkles dangerously, and I recall the knife that was wedged in my stomach. The memory of the burning sensation, like the feeling of a fireant bite multiplied several times, comes back. My hand goes to my stomach reflexively. I don't clutch at it, but I casually rest it in the spot where the knife was. Is there a scar? I haven't had the chance to look, or the need to, but now I'm curious. Jack notices my hand, but quickly looks back towards Sandy. I let my hand drop to my side, and wait for Sandy's message. Images flash over his head, but too fast for me to recognize much. It's clearly directed at Jack, who is nodding in understanding while I stand by. He must be great at charades. I see my figure several times, and the vial. When Sandy is done, Jack turns to me to relay the message.

"Sandy wants to put you under a simulation. A dream really. It's just that... He's incapable of making bad dreams. So he needs Pitch's nightmare sand to do it. That's why he has it. He lifted some off of him when we fought last."

"A simulation, huh."

"Ya, but it's all controlled by Sandy. I'll be standing by to watch your reaction, and to tell Sandy what to do next if he gets lost. He's going to bring me in there with him. You won't see either of us, though."

"So, a bad dream, then?"

"Well, ya. But it's not Pitch trying to scare you. It's us, the good guys. And it's going to train you. You can get over your fears this way. Or at least learn to delay them."

I'm not sure what to think. I should do it though, if I want to beat Pitch, which I do. I nod at both of them, and Sandy raises a little cloud bed up from the fluffy ground in front of us. It's formed from the golden clouds making up his whole castle. I step forward, and lie down on it. It's very comfortable. Sandy steps forward with the vial, and opens the top. Jack comes to stand beside me, and appears to be towering above me. He looks across to Sandy, and smiles weakly. Sandy leans over a bit, and sprinkles some of the violet sand over my face. I breathe it in like it is asbestos, that is, very reluctantly. Then, Sandy drizzles golden sand onto me, to help me fall asleep. I see two faces looking down on me as they fade away.

I wake up, and the room is transformed. The walls, the floor, even the ceiling is made of not gold, but dark violet sand. I step out of the bed, and feel the cold, unforgiving ground with my bare feet. What happened to this place? Where's Jack and Sandy? Something prods at me from the back of my mind, and I try my best to pull it forward, but fail. The archway is boarded up with black sand panels, and I see that there is no way out of the huge room. I flap my wings, expecting to lift several feet into the air, but rise only a couple of inches. I can't fly. Well, not very well. Something still doesn't seem right to me, and the prodding feeling returns. I feel like I'm missing something. I close my eyes and concentrate. Think logically. It's not possible to just lose your ability to fly. Unless you're injured. And you're not. So, what you're experiencing is unexplainable. Try to explain it. I open my eyes, and recall a vial. A vial of the same sand making up this room. Then, I remember. This is just a dream. A simulation. Sandy and Jack are testing my fears. As soon as I realize the truth, in front of me a figure emerges from the wall. Then another. One is taller. They start towards me, and I back up. I peer into their faces, and recognize them. My parents. They walk up to me, and stop. I try to run to them, but can't get any close than about a meter away. I'm so close. There's my dad, holding my mom's hand. They aren't made of the violet sand, they're made of flesh and bone. They're real. They're alive. Then comes Jack, walking up to stand next to them. Didn't he say that I wouldn't be able to see him? I try to speak, but no sound comes out. To my surprise, North, Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy also make an appearance. What does all of this have to do with any of my fears? Then it hits me. I'm afraid of being alone. Pitch said so himself. I know what will happen to them, and I feel fear welling up inside me. It makes me want to turn away, to ignore whatever will happen next. But I strain my neck to keep my eyes on the group of people in front of me.

First, Sandy dissolves away. Black and purple sand creeps it's way up him from the ground, and he is soon covered in it. He falls to the ground and is gone. I feel like gasping, but refuse to. Then Bunny undergoes the same fate. I feel horrible. Tooth, smiling the entire time, falls under the black sand. North is covered next. I'm nearly brought to tears, but I keep calm. Jack stares at me from the 3 feet between us. He has an expression of peace. I want to tell him what will happen, but I can't. I blink back tears as he is enveloped in the sand. It's not real. It's not real. But it feels like it. Then the grand finale. My parents, holding hands smile at me, oblivious. The sand is slower this time. It starts at their toes, then covers their feet. Then it's ankle high. Then it's at their knees. I want to close my eyes, but I keep them open. My mom looks down at her waist, now turning black. She glances at my dad nervously, and they squeeze hands. It's almost too much. Soon enough, the sand is at their necks, and climbing. It covers my mom's chin, and then my dad's nose. To their eyes, then their foreheads. Then they're gone.

I stand alone in the heavy silence of the empty room. I feel a little numb. I'm all alone. Nobody around but me. Except for that horrible noise. I turn around, feeling defeated. The sound of swishing sand catches my attention. And there is Pitch. I can feel my heart pound in my ears, and the coldness taking over my body. I'm not sure if I can move. I feel stuck. I urge my feet to move away from Pitch, who stands a meter away, but I see that they are unresponsive. There is a layer of ice holding them to the ground. Jack's doing I guess. Is he trying to help me face Pitch? Cause this is the wrong way to do it. I jerk away violently as Pitch leans over me. His eyes are burning yellow. I feel like a cobra is looming over me. If I want this to stop, I have to get over him. I direct all of my energy into staring him down. My eyes are unblinking as they bore into his face. I force myself to continue as memories slam into my mind. The cave, the knife, the running, the dying. Then, Pitch starts to fade away. Slowly, but surely. I feel some sort of power, and the ice breaks away from my feet. I take a step back, and smile cautiously.