A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks for coming back! Thank you also to the lovely reviewiers from the last chapter: AlexatheNerd, Tala White 14, Guest and MysteryGirl7Freak! Seriously guys, yous are all class! It's so great to hear your thoughts on the story! Big Thank You as well to everyone who has added this to their favourites and alerts, always makes me smile to get those e-mails.
This chapter had to be split in two or it would have been way too long for my liking, I'll work away at the next part and should hopefully have it up shortly! :D Advanced warning though, it is proving really difficult to write, but I'll do my best!
**Oh and Nightmares are in Italics, just to stop any confusion :)**
Enjoy!
Jack watched Pitch glide out the door of the room, his eyes never leaving the Nightmare King until the door was once again shut. Jack hung his head with a sigh. The pain he felt in his back was torturous. A few areas, mainly the middle of his back and at the top near his right shoulder were particularly painful where he remembered having had received multiple strikes. He craned his neck around to try and see over his right shoulder to gain some sort of knowledge of the state of his back. His pale skin was covered in his own blood from the array of cuts he had received with darker and deeper marks where he had suspected them.
"Gah!" He gasped in shock, immensely relieved it was on his back and therefore he could not see the full extent of the damage. He had noticed something worrying, well, besides the obvious; there were some streaks of black sand lining some of the gashes on his back, presumably residue from the whip. He grimaced, unsure of what that was going to mean for him in terms of recovery.
He tried pulling at his chains again, attempting to attend to some sort of task to try and keep his mind off the pain he was in. It wasn't that Jack was any stranger to pain, on the contrary, learning to fly had took him a considerable amount of time and a lot of falling off or flying into things. This time however, he didn't have his ice to help numb his injuries and keep his body cool as it worked itself on the healing process. The little strength he was able to muster made no improvements in loosening his hands. He growled in frustration as he fought with them, wishing beyond anything that they would just magically fall off. It was not long before he gave up on them for now, resolving to try them again once his body felt stronger.
He could already feel the small prickles that signalled the start of his recovery. The blood had stopped flowing out of him, a few trickles still leaking out of the worst of the marks. Jack felt himself getting tired. The adrenaline of his situation had left him, this combined with the blood loss he had suffered and the fact he had resisted rest since his capture left Jack feeling exhausted. Still, he fought sleep, more than aware what was most likely to happen if he fell asleep while under the care of the King of Nightmares himself. However, his body cared little for what could happen to his mind; every cell in his being crying out for the escape of sleep and the chance to escape the pain he was in. The injuries he had sustained became dulled as Jack was brought into a dazed state as his eyes led his mind to rest, and Jack was hopeless to resist. Before long, the young boy had dropped off to sleep, head dropping onto his chest as his body went limp.
The instant the head of the young guardian had fallen limp, nightmares began to creep towards him from the shadowed walls of the room. The horse-like beasts approached the spirit, sniffing loudly as they determined what the boy before them feared. Unanimously reaching a decision, their bright eyes met before they took form of a nightmare specifically designed for Jack Frost.
Jack whooped in glee as the wind carried him through the air. He was heading to Burgess to surprise Jamie just as he was coming out of school and time wise, he was cutting it fine. As if having read his mind, the wind spurred him on, allowing the young spirit to go faster.
It was because of the increased speed that Jack made it to Burgess in time, arriving at the school just as the bell rang announcing the end of another day. Jack perched on his upright staff, knowing how Jamie loved to marvel at Jack's show of perfect balance.
Jamie emerged from the doors of the building surrounded by his usual group of friends. He cast no glance in Jack's direction so the spirit formed a snowball in his hand, throwing it with perfect aim at his friend. Once it made contact, instead of turning around and greeting Jack with a smile, he had a frown on his face, raising a hand to angrily dust the wet snow from his hair. He turned his head and continued walking down the path on his way home. It was as if he didn't -Oh no. Jack thought. Not this. Not Jamie.
Without further ado, Jack flew over to the boy, landing beside him and matching his stride.
"Hey Jamie! Who hit you?" Claude questioned his friend.
"I dunno, I didn't see," Jamie replied, annoyance evident in his voice.
"Jamie!" Jack called to no response, "Jamie, it was me! I'm right here!"
"Must've been Jack Frost nipping at your nose!" Pippa teased, nudging Jamie as she did so.
"Pippa! You know there's no such thing as Jack Frost!" Jamie said, laughing at her phrase.
Jack stopped as he felt the sharp pain of lost believers hit his core.
"I know, but it's just a figure of speech!" Pippa laughed in response as the children continued their conversation as they carried on down the street. Jack zoned out, and could only watch as they left. Before he could hear much more, he felt the wind lift him away from the children, taking him to his lake.
Once at his lake, Jack collapsed in the middle. He curls himself into a ball, clutching his staff close to his chest as a source of comfort. He hadn't adopted such a position since he had gained his first few believers, but now, in the aftermath of losing those believers, he found himself once again crippled with grief. He felt the first few tears fall from behind closed eyes. As they hit the ice below him, his surroundings rapidly darkened, and out of nowhere his fellow Guardians appeared.
"Guys?" He greeted, hope and relief tainting his voice as he looked to his friends for comfort.
"Jack." North said simply, his voice sounding odd without it's usual boisterous tone. Jack looked towards him as he stood. The guardian of wonder was usually very easy to read, as he wore his emotions so openly on his face. This time, however, the man's face was blank, offering no comfort or reassurance to the spirit before him. Jack looked to the other Guardians, searching for some sign that someone else realised how odd North was acting. He found no trace of the usual friendliness from any of the other Guardians; Bunny and Tooth greeted him with expressions that were hard and cold and Sandy was not even able to look at him.
"Guys?" He repeated, his voice thick with fear this time, "What's wrong?"
"How could you lose your believers Jack?" Tooth questioned, sounding betrayed.
Sandy symboled North's globe, with the one last light that had been Jamie shining brightly, but then disappearing.
"Not even the last light can believe in you Frostbite!" Bunny snapped.
"You lost us that light Jack!" North accused angrily, folding his arms across his chest.
"I -I..." Jack stammered. For once he was speechless; shocked into silence.
"You have no believers Jack. You cannot be Guardian." North continued, disappointment wracking his voice.
"Wh- What?" Jack began in disbelief, "North!" He called as the man he thought of as a father turned his back on him. "No please! Wait!" The other Guardians were all leaving him alone too. As Jack looked around his empty lake, the full extent of all he had lost hit him; he was back to being a nobody, except now he had felt what it was like to be a somebody, making his returning isolation seem so much worse. Not even the wind could offer up any support.
More tears fell from his eyes as Jack fell to his knees, as he did so his heart shattering. Once impact was made, the ice underneath cracked and came apart under him, and Jack was plunged into the icy depths below.
Jack awoke with a loud gasp, eyes shooting open as he brought himself from the grips of the nightmare, gulping in breath as he did so in an attempt to calm and reassure himself that everything he had just seen was not real.
The pains from his back returned forcefully, his healing now having reached the stage where it was beginning to get a little uncomfortable, the sensation reminiscent of stinging bees on his tender skin as dead cells were removed, damaged cells repaired, and new cells generated. He noticed with a small jolt of surprise that there were tears on his face which must've fallen while he was asleep. Jack closed his eyes as his emotions threatened to overwhelm him; his nerves already feeling frayed as a result of the physical and now psychological tortures he had endured.
Suddenly he heard a chuckle come from the shadows around him. He immediately smoothed his facial expression, refusing to let anyone, especially the Bogeyman, see him in such a state.
"Oh Jack!" He called in a falsely sympathetic tone as he emerged from this shadows. "I tried to protect you from this. I always said they would leave you."
"It was just a stupid nightmare Pitch!" Jack retorted, "it means nothing."
"It was more than a nightmare Jack. It was a vision of things to come!" The young guardian offered no response so Pitch continued, "a child's belief is whimsical - it goes as easy as it comes. And once you lose your believers, you will be nothing again!"
"Stop it!" Jack cried out heatedly, wanting nothing more than for Pitch to shut up. "It won't happen!" He continued, sounding slightly like he was trying to convince himself.
"But fear." Pitch continued, completely ignoring Jack's protests as he rambled on. "Fear is not so easy extinguished. Childhood fears last well into adulthood. That is why I'm going to win. And there is nothing you can do to stop me!"
The two Winchester's entered their rented out motel room both lost within their own thoughts over their current case. Cas had yet to return from wherever it was he had got off to during dinner and since then the brother's had been brainstorming ideas of what the angel was doing and what their next move was to be. They could honestly say they were stuck on this case; all the evidence pointed to legends and folktale characters being the victims and adversary's. For now, however, that was the only lead they had, and Cas certainly thought it was feasible.
"Dean, there's something Jamie said." Sam began, "He mentioned Jack was supposedly took out by 'his lake?' D'you reckon we should try there?"
Dean grimaced thoughtfully, nodding his head in agreement. "Good thinking, we'll head there." He paused for a minute, "Wonder where Cas is."
Sam was never given the opportunity to discuss it further as the angel in question fluttered into the room, appearing directly behind Dean, who then jumped back in surprise at his friend's sudden close proximity.
"Cas! Where the hell have you been?!" Dean questioned.
Cas looked to each Winchester brother, having already decided to not tell his two friends of the Guardians' arrival until they were more prepared to believe. "That is unimportant."
Sam's eyebrows furrowed together as his eyes narrowed at the angel and Dean chose to look affronted at Cas' secrecy. Since he had rebelled, it had been very rare for Cas to keep anything from the brothers but they decided to let it go for the moment, trusting the angel would tell them eventually. "Ok well, we were just saying. That kid Jamie mentioned that Jack was attacked out by his lake? We were just about to head out there now, you coming?"
Cas inwardly cringed; the Guardians would be arriving at the lake very shortly and at this rate, they'd be walking right into the two Winchester's. "That won't be necessary." He replied rather lamely, silently cursing how he was so terrible at lying.
"Won't be necessary?" Sam questioned, "Cas? What's going on with you? If the kid was took there, we'd kinda need to check it out." He continued, stating the obvious.
"Very well." He replied hesitantly.
"No wait man. Answer him, what's going on?" Dean pressed, knowing for sure that whatever secrets Cas was hiding were interfering with the case. "I mean, first you disappear without word of where you're going and then you basically tell us to stay out of the case?"
Cas glared quietly at Dean; he hadn't wanted to have this conversation for a while but resigning himself to the fact that it was going to have to happen sometime.
"I was meeting with the other Guardians." He replied simply.
"The other Guardians?" Sam repeated, a hint of awe evident in his voice. "You mean like the Sandman and all?"
Cas nodded in agreement, "Yes. They needed to know, Jack is one of them; this is an attack against the group."
"What did they say?" Dean pressed. Despite his unwillingness to believe in such myths, the case was still intriguing.
"They are furious at Pitch for trying something like this. However, they also seemed surprised. Something must have happened in the last year or two with Black when Jack would have been initiated into the group." He paused for a moment, reading the Winchester's expressions in response to his explanation. "They are coming here."
"What?!" Dean exclaimed loudly as Sam merely sat looking flabbergasted at the angel's revelation. Hearing stories about legendary characters was one thing, actually having said legendary characters come and rub their noses in everything was an entirely different story.
"They are perfectly entitled to run their own investigations Dean." Cas defended.
Both brothers reluctantly calmed at that, knowing that if one of their own was attacked or captured, they would want to look into it. "What did they say?" Sam questioned quietly.
"They agree that Pitch must be working with demons, from what I can tell, he was left severely weakened from his last battle with the five and should not have regained enough power to attack Jack for at least another century."
Sam and Dean nodded in understanding. "Ok, so are we meeting them?" Sam questioned.
"I am due to meet with them shortly at Jack's lake." Cas hesitated slightly before continuing, gaze flicking between both men. "I don't think it would be wise for you two to accompany me."
"Why?" Sam challenged, "Shouldn't we hear what they have to say?"
"Yeah, and it would be nice to get some proof these things are actually real." Dean agreed, shadowing his brother's argument.
"That's the thing Dean, you can't just get proof; you have to believe in the existence of the Guardians before you can perceive them. I will tell you what they have said." Cas placated.
"Cas, come on. Is there no way you can, I dunno, make us believe." Sam pleaded, not willing to miss out a chance to meet the characters from his childhood if they were actually real; these were the good monsters, the ones he had believed in for a long time, even when his brother had chosen to ignore them. Stories they may have been, but it was the good stories like those of angels, Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy that kept Sam as innocent as possible in the darkest of situations. But even aside from these legends, there was none that Sam believed in more than the Sandman, his desire for the little being to exist encouraging his belief in every good creature; the Sandman brought good dreams, he protected children from the things that go bump in the night that used to have Sam so afraid would get him or his brother. Sam remembered a time he had thought the Sandman was an angel that came in the night, that theory having kept with him until his belief in the little man was distinguished.
Cas bowed his head, knowing of a way to make such a thing more possible but it would be difficult for him to achieve. "There is a way, but it will only broaden your minds, make you more ready to believe, but that final leap of faith will have to be made by you and you alone," he said to each of the brothers. "Otherwise they will still remain invisible."
"Ok, lets try it." Sam said, his voice optimistic. Dean, although less eagerly, also nodded in response.
"I do have to warn you-" Cas began.
"What is it?" Dean interrupted.
"Influencing the belief of a mortal is difficult even with the powers of heaven at my disposal; that's why we encourage faith." He explained in response.
"And you're cut off." Sam finished in understanding, "Can you try it anyway?" He continued after a moments thought, knowing that any help with believing would be needed, especially for Dean.
"I can, just so long as you know it may not work." He explained. Without further ado he moved closer to both the brothers and placed his hands on the top of each of their heads. At his touch, a strong, bright light shone, beaming through their closed eyelids and the faces of both men as the angel crunched his eyes in concentration.
A/N: Let me know what you all thought! I'll be back soon (hopefully) with more but for now, thanks for reading! :D