Remy's POV:

The tent was on fire. I sat up immediately, sticky with sweat. The fire was just in front of my bed. I wait in terror for the flames to absorb me, but they don't. Instead, they encircle the bed, leaving a space beside me open. They seemed to be dancing. I got out of bed, wincing as I passed the hot orange flames and ran towards Aaya's bed. She wasn't there and suddenly I became aware of shouts and screams outside. As soon as I register the noise the flames change to a startling dark blue, before shrinking and melting into the floor, leaving me in a dark place. I then followed the noise from outside and found myself at the tent flaps. They were slightly parted, and I could see, even though it was dark as night in the tent, the outside was light. I pushed them aside, and for a moment the sun blinded my eyes. But it wasn't enough to block out the fact that I had walked into a place of bleeding men and guns. People were screaming, running, killing, dying. There were women and children who I vaguely recognized running in every direction. Beside me, there was a woman kneeling in the grass. I was about to ask her what was going on when I realized she was kneeling over a man. A dead man…

I woke with a distressed mind and a heavy heart, just as I had left them. I rolled on my back and stared at the ceiling, even though it was pitch black and appeared as though there wasn't one. It was early morning, that was for sure. Above Aaya's snores, I thought about the dream. What was that all about?

Probably an episode of my overactive imagination. I noticed I was still sticky with sweat, like I was back in the fire. It felt so real, it was hard to believe it was a dream. But it was, I told myself. It was only a dream.

To distract myself, I ran through the events of the past few hours.

We had taken the sword to Raybha, and she was overjoyed. She checked it over, examining it, and confirmed it was real. She hadn't even asked us where we found it, and I didn't tell her. Peter was happy, but I still felt funny about it.

When we left, Raybha called me back when Peter was out of earshot. I went back in, knowing what she was going to say.

"Remy, it is important you come to me tomorrow. You know what we have to do. Be here by dawn, and no later."

I nodded and left without a word. I knew what she was talking about. The bonds were to be broken, that was obvious. But I still didn't know what that meant, but it felt like something bad. I wondered what it would involve. How would I do it? It felt as though Raybha knew more about it than she was letting on. My mind drifted back to the finding of the sword, and I got a serious case of suspicion again.

Surely, the friends of Chief Udayan weren't so reckless as to leave it where anybody could find it. Then, that brought me back to the suspicion that it had been moved. I gritted my teeth.

Who would move the sword? Hook? I didn't know. What would he do that for? And how would he have found it in the first place? And why would he move it to such an easy place to find? Maybe he was messing with us. Maybe he didn't know what I could do with it. Maybe he didn't know what I would do to him once I had broken our bond. And I was sure to do it this time. Without regret.

Tadhg was a totally different matter altogether. Our 'friendship' was so messed up, it was hard to even think about it. What were we? Awkward people who didn't seem to know what we wanted? That about summed us up.

Well. It summed me up. I didn't know what I wanted. And after what nearly happened on the beach, it was clear how he felt.

I was sure he was going to kiss me. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I wondered what it felt like to be kissed. I had heard conversations between girls in school, who talked about it as though it were a laugh. But I had always felt it was an important thing, an important sign.

With Tadhg, it would've definitely been important.

And then, I thought about when we heard Sean and Curly's conversation, and almost groaned in frustration.

He still likes her. Loves her even. Haven't you seen the way he looks at her?

Resisting the urge to scream, I stuffed my fist into my mouth. If I felt so frustrated by the fact that Peter liked me, then why was I having such a hard time trying to tell myself I didn't like him? Trying to protect him from what was happening between Tadhg and me? And yet, I didn't even know what was happening.

Boys were terribly confusing. Or maybe I was just being too difficult. Yes, that sounded right.

Something at the tent flaps caught my eye, but I realised it was just sunlight. Raybha had told me to come at dawn. Wondering vaguely why it had to be dawn, I got out of bed, fully dressed, and pulled on my shoes. With one last look at an unconscious Aaya, I slipped out of the tent.

It was cold, and although the sun was appearing, I could still hardly see where I was going. But soon enough, I made it to Raybha's tent without any total difficulties. I was surprised to see she was standing outside it, fidgeting, clearly uncomfortable. She was wearing a brown dress, with a brown shawl over it, a thousand strings hanging off of it. Indian trademark. In one hand, she held the sword, still wrapped in the dirty rag. In the other, she held a piece of parchment, and a bunch of small bottles under her arm. As soon as she saw me, she started walking toward me.

"You are late!" she snapped, the bottles clinking every time she moved.

I was about to say that no, I wasn't, actually, but decided not to. She didn't stop when she reached me, but headed on into the camp.

"Wait, Raybha!" I hissed, trying to be quiet. "Where are we going?"

"Cliff," she snapped again, quieter this time.

I followed her without a moment's hesitation, although my legs were starting to shake and my stomach was starting to ache. As she trudged through tall grass, I noticed she was panting a little. She had a slightly large build, but she was shorter than me. I offered to carry her bottles, and she dumped them into my arms without a word of thanks. Not expecting much more, I followed her, wondering why we were doing this on the clifftop. And at dawn.

Seconds later, we were on the clifftop. It was lit up already by the break of dawn, and Raybha knelt on the grass, instructing me to carefully put the bottles beside her. I did as she asked, and she began dumping some colourful liquids from some of them into one empty bottle. I folded my arms, trying to hide my shaking hands. I needed answers.

"Raybha," I said, my voice suddenly starting to wobble, making me sound like I was crying.

She looked up at me in surprise.

"What's going to happen? How is it going to work? Will anyone get hurt? Raybha, what do I have to do?"

My voice was wobbling harshly, and to my wonder Raybha suddenly dumped the bottles and stood up, placing her hands on my shoulders and looking at me directly in the eyes.

"Remy," she said sternly, sounding almost, but not quite, like a mother. "I know this is scary, but I need you to be calm. The concoction I am making will send you to a place while you are still awake. Every action you make there you will make here, which is why we are doing this here, because we need space." She looked around her, as if someone would be listening, and then squeezed my shoulders, looking back at me.

"I don't know what you will have to do," she whispered. "This has never happened before. But I need you to be brave, Remy. I need you to get through this, and to do whatever you have to do."

A tear escaped my eye. Whatever was going to happen, it would be bad. And judging by the graveness of Raybha's face, it would certainly change a lot. I nodded quickly, unwrapping my arms to brush away the tear. She squeezed my shoulders one last time before releasing me, stepping away and picking up the bottle with the mixed liquids and the sword. She handed them to me, and I took them, my freezing hands making an imprint on the bottle and fixing on the handle of the sword.

"I would have made it in the tent," she said. "But it has to be fresh, and made in front of fresh sunlight. Stand back, Remy. Face out towards the sea. Don't worry, I will be here."

I stood back, and turned away from her.

"Will you be there?" I barely whispered.

She could still hear me. "No. You will be alone, Remy. Stay calm. Please."

To hear Raybha vaguely pleading definitely meant this was serious. So I stayed as calm as I could possibly manage. I stared at the shimmering the sun was making on the waters, focusing on my breathing.

"Drink," Raybha said, sounding calm. Calmer than me, anyway.

I lifted the bottle to my lips, and tilted my head back. I drank and drank, ignoring its vile taste. When I opened my eyes again, I could see the sun was perfectly in the centre of the bottom of the bottle, which was still tilted upright. I blinked again, and dropped the bottle. I expected it to drop without a sound onto the soft ground, but it didn't. It clinked loudly off of something. I looked down, and saw ice. I looked up, and saw nothing but white.

The ice seemed pretty strong, and I found it was hardly even slippy. I walked on it as though it were tiles, and scanned my surroundings.

I was in some sort of fantastical winter wonderland. At least, that was what it looked like. To quickly describe it, I might have used a word like 'beautiful', but that just didn't seem to fit. Like it was nearly beautiful, but just not quite. It seemed more…complicated. That fitted it better.

The ice spread out around me, seeming to go on and on, forever and forever.

"Raybha," I whispered. "I don't get it. I don't understand."

I turned, seeing only more ice and no Raybha. I remembered how she told me I wouldn't be able to see her, but she could see and hear me, which was strangely comforting.

I decided to explain, not sure if it was for me, or her. "It's…it's just ice. Why is it ice? It's not cold here. There's just ice…everywhere. What's this got to do with breaking the bonds?"

When I said the word 'bonds', the ice shuddered. I whimpered, terrified of what might lie beneath.

"Remy."

I gasped and swung around. Peter stood there.

"Peter? What are you doing here?" I asked as I hurried towards him. "What's going – "

As I got closer, I shut up abruptly. It wasn't really Peter. This Peter was shimmering, like he was a ghost. When I was only inches away from him, I slowed, stopped, and reached out a hand. My fingers went straight through his brown coat. I pulled them back, almost disgusted. He was a hologram.

"Raybha," I said, voice clearer now. "I don't know what to do."

I turned away from Peter, and almost screamed out of fright, but managed to keep it down to a moan. Everyone I held dear surrounded me in a circle, all with the same plastic smile Peter had. Curly, Aaya, Raybha, a young girl I didn't recognize, Tootles, the Indian Chief, several Indians from camp…Hook.

My heart jumped at the sight of his hologram. I decided the best thing to do would be to distance myself equally from them all. Suddenly remembering the sword in my hand, I clutched it tightly while I made my way back to the middle of the circle.

Then, the ice began to crack.

A/N : I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long! I got really sick and then I had to study for exams and yeah…I'm back now! Apologies! Enjoy