Hi, Hi, Hi, Lovelies! So, if you read the chapter previous to this one, you'll know that I was at church camp for the past two weeks, and so I basically wrote this entire chapter on my iPhone's Note App and edited it on my laptop when I got home… also I believe, has been the longest chapter in my story so far so I hope you all enjoy it!

WARNING: WILL MOST LIKELY ENDUCE MAJOR FEELS!

*A/N: When words are in Italic Writing, it is a characters inner thought.

Dead.

Jack was dead!

Or, at least he thought he was... His clothes were dry with not a spot of blood on them, even though he had just jumped through a bloody waterfall, and what he just went through had felt eerily similar to the first time he died.

But, if he had truly died, why was he still in so much pain... Wouldn't it have ended by now? Was it even possible for Guardians to die?

Jack could feel the cold, wet ground against his numb back as he looked up at the dark ceiling, dimly illuminated by the crystal stalactites.

The winter spirit was positive he wasn't dead now!

Tooth laid sprawled out on his chest, her feathery hair brushing his neck; she was breathing, thank god!

The waterfall, now bloodless, roared behind Jack as he took in his new surroundings, and what he saw might as well have killed him!

North, Bunnymund, and Sandy were blindfolded and tied to the wall of the new cave room with writhing ropes of nightmare sand cutting into their wrists as Pitch's fearling snapped her jaws at them.

"North? North, Bunny, Sandy!" The winter spirit cried as he forced himself out from under Tooth and began running to their aid though his injured body protested.

"Jack?" The Russian Guardian called to the winter spirit, unable to see him, "Jack, you're alright! We thought Pitch had killed you!"

"He nearly did!" Jack winced as he tugged at the black sand dancing across their hands, "I've got to get you guys out of h-..."

Before Jack could even finish his sentence, a bony hand gripped his shoulders and spun him around; icy blue met piercing gold.

"You're so strong willed Jack, I'm impressed."

Pitch snapped his fingers and the fearling stopped snapping at the guardians and immediately retreated to it's master's shoulder as the nightmare sand disintegrated from the three guardians wrist.

"Congratulations Jack, you found the exit to my palace!"

Jack looked around the small cavernous room confused; he was expecting there to be a wide open hole they could climb out of or a door of some kind, but no, this room looked no different than any of the other palace maze rooms.

"I-I don't... I don't understand," Jack cried, on the verge of tears, "There's nothing here! This is just like every other room in the maze!"

Pitch grabbed the teenagers shoulders and faced him towards a smooth, dark wall opposite of the waterfall, "That is the exit, Jack!"

The winter spirit walked towards the wall, made difficult by his weak and dazed state, and ran a delicate hand over it, trying to find some kind of secret door or way to open it, but to no prevail.

"There's only one way to open it," Pitch said slyly as he made his way towards the fairy struggling to lift herself off the ground. The nightmare king gripped Tooth's throat and hoisted her off her feet to face her fellow guardians.

"Pitch, put her down now," Bunny shouted as he tried to lunge at the nightmare king but was forced back into North's strong arms by Jack. The nightmare king conjured a black sand whip and lashed it at the cavernous ceiling, causing a single, luminous stalactite to shatter and fall into his thin hand.

Bringing the sharp point to Tooth's neck, he dug the tip ever so slightly to her soft skin.

"Wait Pitch, stop! Please, please just stop," Jack begged nearly falling to his knees, "What is it that we need to do? Whatever it is, I'll do it! I'll do it, I promise, just don't, don't hurt her... please!"

Pitch paused for a moment, considering the winter spirits offer, "Jack," the nightmare king said, a small tinge of remorse echoed in his voice, "you don't know what your asking. How much of your own blood are you willing to spill to save the guardians?"

"Every. Last. Drop!" Jack answered with finality.

The nightmare king stood for a moment caught off guard by the teenagers response. Slowly, Pitch lowered the stalactite from the fairies neck and placed her back on the ground as Jack rushed forward to grab a hold of her. Bunny took slow, cautious steps to take the shaken Tooth from Jack as he walked her over to the other guardians that embraced her sadly.

Jack sighed; partially with relief that Tooth was out of danger now and safe with the others, and partially because he knew that what ever was coming next for him would most likely be very painful.

"Alright, I keep my promises... What do I have to do?"

Pitch handed Jack the luminous stalactite, "You must write the answer to the riddle I told you to remember on the wall of the exit; only then will it open..."

Riddle? Jacks mind raced trying to remember; damn his awful memory! Um, it was something like many dangers you'll have to cross to get back the special thing you've lost; close enough! Oh god, what was the second verse? Uh, look hard for what you cannot see, within yourself, you'll find the key... That's it!

"You didn't forget it, did you Jack?" Pitch asked slyly, his lips pulling into a smirk.

"Of course I didn't!" Jack retorted.

"Alright, well if you remember it, what do you think the answer is?"

Jack chewed at his bottom lip nervously. How would he figure the answer out when it seemed like there were two questions? The riddle echoed repeatedly in his head... Many dangers you'll have to cross, to take back the precious thing you've lost; okay, that seemed like a straight forward statement rather than a question. Search hard for what you cannot see within yourself you'll find the key. Search hard for what you cannot see within yourself you'll find the key... Okay, what can't I see that's inside of me...? Um, heart, lungs, brain, stomach, muscles, bone, bloo-...

Jack stomach lurched. The winter spirit looked down at the crystal stalactite griped in his hands, understanding what it was he had to do. He slowly turned to face his fellow guardians, a look of saddening dismay plastered on his face.

"I'm sorry..."

"Jack, don't!" Tooth screamed weakly as she tried to pry herself from Bunny's arms.

But Jack wouldn't listen; couldn't listen! He had to do this, even of it killed him in the process.

The winter spirit slowly rolled the left sleeve of his hoodie up just enough to show his pale, trembling forearm.

Don't shake, his mind screamed, you'll just make the cut deeper!

Jack drew the point of the tip to his wrist. A very hot wave washed over Jack's usually cold skin as he felt the faces of the guardians watching in horror at the act he was about to perform.

The winter spirit dug the stalactite into his wrist with a deafening scream of pain. Dark, fresh blood was already streaming down his wrist as he pushed the tip in deeper, dragging it up his forearm creating a perfect, bloody gash.

Jack stumbled toward the dark wall, already feeling sick from the smell of the fresh blood streaming down his gashed appendage.

He lifted his forearm, now feeling as heavy as lead, and began writing on the wall, the dark blood contrasted nicely against the cool, black stone.

B

Spot began to appear in Jack's eyes, making it harder to write.

L

The smell of his own blood gushing freely now from the wound caused Jack's knees to buckle slightly.

O

O

Oh god, it was really starting to hit Jack now; it wasn't even the smell anymore, but just the fact that he was being completely drained of his vital fluid. He felt sick to his stomach and was ready to empty it of everything left inside him. No not yet... one more letter! The room seemed to spin as everything around Jack felt like it was moving in slow motion... Probably a symptom of blood loss.

D

It was finished. The blood stained wall began to crumble and break away revealing bright light from a full moon.

Suddenly, the winter spirit dropped to his knees clutching his stomach. Tooth rushed to his side followed closely by the other guardians as Jack began vomiting not food, but his own blood; there was honesty nothing left inside of the spirit! The spirit continued to uncontrollably throw up dark liquid until there was a collected pool of crimson beneath his shaking hands. Jack, exhausted and empty, collapsed onto his side in the puddle of blood as Tooth gripped his head in her small hands and placed it softly onto her lap, elevating it.

"Shhh, it's okay now, sweetie! You've been so brave and strong! I'm so proud of you... You saved us, Jack! We're safe because of you..."

Though she was right over him, Tooth's voice seemed so far away. The nightmare king stepped towards the guardians, "Get away from us!" Tooth yelled, holding Jack close to her and shielding his face, "Y-you did this to him... To us!"

"Tooth," Jack coughed, his voice a weak whisper, "It's okay. It doesn't matter now; I'm dying... I can feel it! Death is slowly creeping on me. Everything feels so cold!"

"No, no, no, Jack!" Tooth cried hysterically as she ran her bloody hands through his frosted hair, "P-please, please Jack, you can't leave us; we need you! What about the children... What about Jaime?"

Jack already had his answer ready, in fact, he'd had this answer ready ever since Pitch raped him, "Your lying Tooth... The guardians don't need me. You all did fine before I came along an you will be better off once I'm gone!"

"Jack stop talking like that! We do need you... I NEED YOU," Tooth yelled gripping the fragile spirit even tighter, "Goddammit Jack do you hear me, I need you!"

"As for the kids," the spirit continued, ignoring the fairies pleas, "it won't be any different. They'll go back to exactly the way they were before they could see me and hopefully over time, they will forget about me. I'm sure Jamie will be very sad and want an explanation, so just tell him the truth; tell him that I died so you all could live. It was either I died, or we all did."

"But Jack..."

"Tooth, I've given everything, I've done everything that I can... And now I want to end it. There's no point to try and stop it. Whether it's in here or out there, I'm going to die and...," Jack choked back a sob. He didn't want to finish the sentence; it would break Tooth's heart, "you have to go on without me! This is the only way you can get your memories back!"

"Damn my memories! I don't want them! I would rather have them all taken away from me then have you die!"

"Don't say that, Tooth... Those memories are your life; don't let go of them. Bunny," the spirit called weakly to the guardian as he knelt down beside the spirit, "please take care of Jaime and Sophie, keep their hopes up."

"I'll will, frosthead," Bunny forced himself to smile through his tears.

"Thanks, kangaroo," Jack joked; even if he was dying, he wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to tease Bunny, "North, thank you for being like a father to me and helping me figure out who I truly am."

"It was an honor, Jack," the blind toy maker choked out, gripping Bunnymund for support.

Sandy walked over to Jack and rubbed his head soothingly, unable to conjure up a sand image to console him, "Thanks little man" Jack whispered to the dream spirit.

They all sat there in silence surrounding the fallen spirit. The nightmare king himself loomed over Jack, a look of sadness fell over his face.

"Tooth," Jack whimpered as tears began streaming down his face, his voice smaller than the fairy had ever heard it, "I wanted to die every day since I became a spirit, but now that I'm here... I-I thought I was ready for this, but I'm not... I'm scared; please, help me not to be!"

The fairy wrapped her arms around the spirit and cradled him against her chest, which wasn't hard to do at all considering how thin and light he was, "Jack, don't try to hold on. Just look at me... focus on my voice."

Jack tried his very best to follow her instructions "I don't want you to go, but it kills me seeing you like this."

"Tooth, stay! Stay with me..."

"It's okay, Jack... I'm not going anywhere!"

"Tooth..."

"What do you need, sweetie?"

"Tooth..."

"What do you need?" Tooth asked even softer.

"W-Will you sing to me...? P-Please." A shudder ran through Jack's body.

"Yes, of course I can Jack. What do you want me to sing?" Tooth asked quietly, but the winter spirit had already closed his eyes and nuzzled himself into her feathery chest. Oh, what was the name of that Disney movie Jack liked to watch with Jaime and Sophie? Twisted? No, that wasn't it... Um, Tangled? Yeah, that was the one!

The tooth fairy took a deep breath as she tried to remember the lyrics, and slowly began singing...

"Flower gleam and glow,

Let your power shine,

Save what has been lost,

Bring back what once was mine,

Heal what has been hurt,

Change the fates design,

Save what has been lost,

Being back what once was mine,

What once was mine..."

The tooth fairy looked down to the sickly pale winter spirit curled up against her.

"Jack?" The fairy whispered.

No response.

"Jack!"

She brushed the hair from his pale, bruised neck and felt for a pulse... Nothing.

The fairy unlatched the spirit from her body and laid him on the cold ground. She lifted his hoodie, appalled and disgusted to no end by the amount of bruises and bites she found all over the boy's torso, and laid her head on his chest, listening for a heartbeat... As quiet and still as a broken clock.

Tooth looked up to her fellow guardians, tears streaming down her face, "...He's gone... H-He's gone!"

Bunnymund held back the hysterical Tooth as North took the dead spirits limp body from her and cradled him gently in his strong arms. Without another word, Bunny scooped the inconsolable fairy and followed behind the other guardians leading the way out of the shadow palace, their path lit by the light of the moon they never thought they would see again.

The Mischievous Sprite, The Bad Luck Charm, Troublemaker, Pain in the Ass, The Spirit of Winter... Jack was known by all of these names, but that didn't matter anymore.

Jack Frost, the Guardian of Fun and Innocence, was dead.

DID I NOT WARN YOU?

For all of you freaking out right now because you think it's the end of the story, you're right, but never fear, because you're wrong, even though you are technically right…. You're probably confused right now, but what I'm getting at is that, this is technically the end of the STORY, but this is not the LAST CHAPTER OF THE STORY! But Magenta, How is it possible to have another chapter if the story is over? Great Question and the answer is… I AM WRITING AN ALTERNATE ENDING CHAPTER! That's right, you heard me! It will be the exact same circumstances as this chapter had, but with a totally different ending (a much more disturbing one if you would believe it!) So I can please the two types of fans reading this story… The Sentimental Group and the Smut Group… I'll leave you to your deductions! So what did you all think of this "Final" Chapter? Are you excited for the Alternate Ending? How do you think it will end differently? So many questions, so little time! Please don't forget to review, favorite and follow!