So the second installment of Visions is here, and I hope ya'll enjoy it!

"Jack," North called a grin full of glee on his face "Jack you must see this!"

The large man had been working in his office, and combating against boredom, when Rex had wandered in giving him an idea. Now three hours later, Santa had not only taught Rex many different types of tricks, but had also trained him in fetching him various tools from his toolbox. The fact that Rex now knew the difference between a monkey wrench and needle nose pliers only made the accomplishment seem sweeter. The large dog pranced after North, his mouth a happy grin as he followed the large man to Jack's room.

"Jack?" North queried knocking on the door.

Receiving no response, North cast a worried and confused glance down at Rex and tried the door, but found it locked. Santa felt his brow furrow in concern "Strange," he murmured as he walked away.

He could have sworn that Jack was here because he had popped into his office asking if he could use the library, and so since he was no longer in the library North could only assume he was reading the books he had borrowed in his room. But the door was locked, and Jack rarely locked the door due to his severe claustrophobia, plus it was odd that Jack would ignore North and not answer his door. The whole situation made North's stomach churn in discomfort, and a palpable fear stabbed his heart and made the hair rise on the back of his neck. Something was wrong, and North feared that Jack was involved and was choosing not to ask the Guardians for help. That thought only made North's anxiety worse, and soon the man was sitting in his chair gazing miserably at the globe, one hand absently stroking Rex's fur.

"What is going on with Jack?" North wondered aloud.

"I was about ta ask ya the same thing," a voice cut in.

North whirled around to face Bunny, and a relieved smile cut across his features "You feel it too?"

"Yeah," Bunny nodded "somethin's up, and I think I only have a small piece o' the puzzle."

"You know something?" North asked.

The rabbit moved his head back and forth, unsure of how to answer "…Maybe…" he replied slowly "but I'm not spillin' until we got Tooth and Sandy here ta listen, I have a feelin' that this is just the beginnin' of somethin' bad."

North nodded then strode over to the lever to turn on the Northern lights "Let's just hope that Jack is fine and he comes at the summons," the large man sighed "if he is truly avoiding us, then I fear something bad is taking place."

Bunny nodded, but his eyes were already distant as he became immersed in thoughts and memories of the night just little over a week ago. Jack had woken up from what Aster later found out was a vision, and not a very pleasant one at that, and since then he had been avoiding the Guardians at all costs unless it was absolutely unavoidable. Bunny was worried about their youngest member, not just because of the vision and what it could mean, but also because the Pooka could practically smell Jack's anxiety over the whole thing. No doubt the boy was driving himself crazy with worry, and will end up sick, hurt, or an emotional mess, things that Aster wanted to keep from happening.

For now though, both he and North could only wait for the other Guardians, and pray that the churning in their guts were wrong.

….

Jack looked toward the Northern Lights dancing in the sky, snowy white teeth catching his bottom lip in indecision before turning around again, and pulling his hood up over his head. Jack was on a mission tonight, and he didn't want to become distracted, or let the Guardians know about what he was doing. With a sigh Jack shoved his hand in his hoodie pouch, readjusted his grip on his staff, and then continued his lonely trek towards the one person he hoped and prayed had the answer to his problem. Pitch Black.

The winter child paused when he came in view of the hole leading down to Pitch's lair, his brain buzzing with paranoia over whether he could really trust Pitch. In the past few years since their little adventure watching Broadway shows together, Pitch and the Guardians had come to a strange yet peaceful truce, and so Jack had no fear of the dark man hurting him, but rather he was afraid that Pitch would get in touch with his adult sensibilities and go tattle to the Guardians. Jack knew that keeping this a secret was going to be hard, unhealthy, and extremely cruel to him and his new family, but secrecy was vital. Jack couldn't chance telling them and have North end up dying because he had told, or worse, mass genocide of believers due to North not knowing how to follow the rules and changing the prophecy.

Taking a deep breath as if to combat the worry and fear threatening to drown him, Jack jumped into the hole, his blue eyes blinking against the darkness. Skidding to a stop, the winter child gave another shaky breath, his heart hammering in his chest as he felt his vision tilt.

"You don't look well Jack," a familiar voice whispered from the darkness "in fact I would say that you are looking even more pale than usual."

"Pitch," the boy mumbled "just come out, I don't feel like talking."

The dark man melted from the shadows, his face screwed in a look of confused concern "Jack Frost doesn't feel like…talking?" he grumbled "If that's not a dead giveaway of your feeling unwell or upset, I don't know what is."

"I need your help," Jack sighed "help that I hope is within your power to give."

Pitch leaned against the wall of his cavern, one nonexistent eyebrow raised as he gave an incredulous snort "That's even harder to believe," he said with a dark chuckle "you rarely ask the Guardians for personal help, so it must be something truly horrible if you're coming to me."

"Will you just shut up and listen," the boy snapped as his face peeking out from under the hood to reveal blood shot eyes with dark bags underneath "this isn't some game, and I'm not interested in trading witty banter!"

The boogeyman jerked back almost like he had been slapped, he had already known that Jack wasn't doing well that much was obvious, but now that he had gotten a proper look at the boy Pitch could not deny the bubble of concern growing in his chest.

"Alright Jack," the specter said in seeming nonchalance as he tried to placate the boy into calming down "what is it you wish to discuss?"

Pitch gestured with his hand and a table and chairs was molded from nightmare sand in front of them. Jack plopped down in the chair, immediately crossing his arms on the table, and resting his head on them. His hood hid his eyes from view, something Pitch was relieved for, he was finding the sight of those sleep deprived eyes, something he used to gain pleasure from, mildly disturbing. Taking a seat, the boogeyman crossed his legs and placed his hands in his lap, patiently waiting for Jack to begin.

"You know why I haven't been sleeping," Jack muttered in a tone that was more a statement more than a question.

"Yes," Pitch answered slowly "I am the Nightmare King, and so when someone receives a nightmare that is not of my making, it tends to attract my notice."

"You know they aren't nightmares," Jack whispered in a voice that echoed of torment and anger.

"No," Pitch sighed "no, they're not."

"You've seen them," the boy continued solemnly.

"Yes," the dark man nodded "not the prettiest future we have to look forward to, do we?"

"No kidding," the boy groaned before giving a bitter laugh "the funny thing is, according to my visions, it says darkness will fall…but we're not enemies anymore, so what does it mean?"

"Wonder will die," Pitch shrugged "there is a spirit stronger than me that wants to destroy North and take over the world, and according to your vision it is a very evil spirit that has an excellent chance of winning."

"But what does it mean?" Jack reiterated more forcefully.

Pitch pursed his lips, before heaving a sigh "My best guess…?" he said quietly "the one thing that kills any kind of good force within a person is bitterness. You can have the most loving, kind person in the entire world, but if they are hurt, and they allow those negative feelings to twist into hate and then take root as a deep bitterness, they will become the most evil form of themselves with almost no hope of recovery."

"So…?" Jack pouted, quickly tiring of Pitch's long drawn out explanation.

"Let's just say," the dark man continued "that there may be a spirit that was once inherently good, but was hurt by something or even someone that has turned them into a monster because they weren't willing to get over that hurt and move on with their lives. Somehow that spirit has set their sights on North, for reasons we have yet to understand, and you have a very slim chance of saving him should you be able to do so without changing the prophecy. Bitterness and hate is darkness Jack, and anyone who has given themselves over to it has lost all reason or ability to think clearly, all they are focused on is the revenge that is supposedly going to bring them closure."

"You…used to be like that," Jack whispered.

"Yes," the boogeyman murmured "but strangely enough it was you and the Guardians that broke me out of it, a thought that is both horrifying and gratifying in the same moment."

Jack allowed a ghost of a smile quirk his mouth before returning to the previous thought "I need to save him Pitch, he's like my dad, and I can't lose my dad…again."

"I know," Pitch nodded as he struggled to find the right words "but the chances of you doing so are…extremely…small."

"Has anyone defied death before?"

The question caught the boogeyman off guard sending him into a mild panic "Well," he said uncomfortably "not in the way you're thinking."

"What happened?" Jack persisted.

"You don't want to know." Pitch shook his head firmly.

A stubborn pout appeared on the winter child's face and he clenched his fists "I need you to be honest with me Pitch."

Pitch blinked slowly at the boy his brain backpedaling as he raced to find some way to derail this conversation "Honesty is not my strong suit."

"Too bad," Jack growled "I want to know, now tell me!"

The dark man groaned as he rubbed his face with both hands "Why do you insist on me doing things that pain you Jack?" he snarled "You would be better off not knowing!"

"No," Jack practically shouted "now tell me, what happened?!"

"Millions died, Jack!" Pitch finally bellowed "I saw the whole thing! It was during the reign of Justinian I over the Byzantine Empire! He became ill with a horrible illness, and his chamberlain was so desperate to save the life of a bloodthirsty tyrant, he sought the help of the spirits. We don't know the rules like you do Jack, we never had to learn them, and so one of the spirits in our realm gave the chamberlain a special medicine that saved Justinian's life, defying fate and death. And because of that, at least fifty million people died of a certain disease…the black death. Justinian was cruel, but he was still the emperor, and so his value was spread all across the Roman Empire, every person whose life he had ever affected was touched in some form or fashion by the bubonic plague."

"…No…" Jack murmured as he fell against the back of his seat, head bowing from the gravity of what would happen should he fail in saving North without changing the prophecy.

Pitch crossed his arms with a huff as he too leaned back in anger and dissatisfaction "Yes," he growled "look Jack, despite our history and the former hate I used to hold for you and the other Guardians, I do want to help you. But you must look at the facts, the chances of you succeeding are slim at best! Fifty million people died just from one human emperor, can you imagine the devastation should we defy fate over someone with the value of Santa Clause? Can you?"

Jack pulled his knees against his chest as pale hands tugged his hood down over his face "What do I do?" he asked in a broken sob.

"Honestly Jack," Pitch sighed bracing his elbows on the table and burying his face in his hands "I don't know, I just don't know."

Jack melted into uncontrollable weeping as he considered the repercussions should he fail, and Pitch could only sit in his own silent grief, unable to offer comfort for a cause he knew was next to impossible to achieve.

…

"So you're saying that Sweet Tooth has visions of the future?" Tooth asked in a quavering voice.

"Yeah," Bunny murmured "I didn't know till about a week ago when he woke up screamin' from one, and he told me the rules and such. I don't know what the prophecy means, but I think it has somethin' ta do with why Snowflake ain't stickin' around us much anymore."

"You think he is making himself worried sick?" North stated.

Aster nodded before giving a heavy sigh "I know he doesn't want ta tell us what he dreamed, because him tellin' us may make it come true, but at the same time…"

"You hate not being allowed to support him." Tooth finished with a smile.

"Yeah," the rabbit nodded.

"We will find a way to help," North said in a firm voice of decision "even if it means that staying out of his way and giving space is how."

"I don't like it," the Pooka groaned "but I guess that it's the only way ta go, isn't it?"

Tooth sighed as she nodded her head yes before perking up with what she hoped was a convincing smile "I think that everything will turn out fine," she said with muted brightness "I mean, we even have Pitch as an ally, so if something bad happens, we can handle it, right?"

"That's right Sheila," Aster smiled softly though his look of hope didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Indeed," North clapped his hands together and rubbing them vigorously "we just need to keep being optimistic, yeah?"

Sandy grinned, giving two thumbs up, and soon the Guardians were talking of other things, distracting themselves from the dark shadow of worry that was looming in the back of their minds.

How was that? I told you guys that Visions was going to be angsty, is it angst enough for ya sadistic pain addicts? LOL

Once again you guys, REVIEW!