Believe

Hey I'm back for another chapter of Rise of the Guardians. Sorry this took so long, school got hectic and yeah, not much time for writing. So I hope you enjoy this chapter of Believe and it'll be a while before I post the next chapter up since I want to finish up my Avengers chapter next.

Thanks for reviewing:

Daisy54154

It really means a lot to me when people review my story. I'll try to continue writing as fast as I can.

Talking; "What the hell Jack?!"

Thoughts:"This can't be real right?"

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the Rise of the Guardians or its story plot. I do own my OC Stephanie.

Last Time

"Pitch!" I shouted only to be muffled by sand as we entered the shadows. I struggled even harder but it seemed the more I struggled the more the sand tightened itself around me.

"It's nothing personal." Pitch muttered before my world went black and we disappeared from the streets leaving a bag and hat as the only evidence that I was ever there. The war against the Boogieman was now coming to a close, but I honestly had no idea who would prevail.

Stephanie's POV

It was dark…and cold…terrifying cold when I regain consciousness. For a moment I had thought I had left the window open in my room before remembering the events from earlier. I shot straight up and tried to adjust my eyes to the darkness only to realize that this wasn't ordinary darkness and…it frightened me. I hugged myself as I turned my head around, trying to find any source of light before whispers began echoing around me.

"Who is it?" I asked, choking back a sob as I could faintly recognize words coming from the whispers. As soon as I spoke up, the whispers grew in volume, nearly blasting my ear drums as the whispers turning into shouting. The voices sneered and taunted me, reminding me of my childhood where children made fun of me, only getting worse as I grew older

"Freak!"

"Loser!"

"Get lost, no one wants you!"

"Just die freak! The world would be better off without you here!"

"Make it stop," I sobbed covering my ears as I tried to drown out the voices, "Please just make it stop."

This wasn't supposed to happen; I wasn't supposed to be dragged into this mess. Why me Pitch? Why? I thought inside my black prison before I felt sand swirling around me.

"It's over Pitch," Jack's voice echoed throughout my pitch black prison. "There's nowhere to run."

"Jack!" I cried as I tried to look for the source of the voice, arms stretching out aimlessly. "Jack! Help me please! Jack!"

"Who said I'm running!" Pitch's voice sneered as the black sand wrapped itself tightly around my arms before the surrounding darkness began clearing up. "After all you don't want any harm to come to dear Stephanie would you?" Pitch laughed as the sand finally cleared up and I could see the shocked faces of the guardians plus Jack as Pitch held me in a firm chokehold.

"Jack." I choked out as Pitch tightened his hold on my throat. "Jack!"

"Let go of Stephanie!" Jack roared, his icy blue eyes flashing angrily as he pointed his staff at Pitch. "Let her go or I swear I'll—"

"You'll what?" Pitch taunted as he pulled me closer to him. "Freeze me? You'll freeze dear Stephanie as well." His voice sent shivers down my spine as he chuckled behind my ear.

"Pitch!" North bellowed, lifting his sword and pointing it at Pitch "You don't have enough power to fight all of us so let go of Stephanie."

"No power?" Pitch chuckled evilly and I got a sinking feeling that it wasn't going to end well for me. "All I need is fear—"

"The kids don't fear ya' " Bunnymund growled, his fingers twitching above his boomerangs. "You don't have any power source."

"Now that's where you're wrong." Pitch smirked before black sand wrapped itself around Pitch and I. "There is still one that is afraid of me, or rather of heights. Shall we go for a ride?" I shook my head furiously, but Pick merely laughed and before any of the Guardians could come to my aid, Pitch's sand shot us into the air. "Scream Stephanie, scream." He whispered into my ear as he forced me to look down as we flew higher and higher into the sky. For a moment, I said nothing, shocked at the sudden and large distance we were from the ground before I released a high pitched scream.

"AHHHHHHHHHH" I screamed bloody murder as my fear of heights peaked. "LET ME DOWN, LET ME DOWN!" I sobbed as I tried to pull away from Pitch. "PLEASE LET ME DOWN. I'M SCARED!"

"Music to my ears." Pitch laughed as more black sand swirled around the dark spirit, feeding off my fear and powering up the spirit. "Now where were we? Ah yes, finishing you off." Pitch snarled as Jack and the Tooth Fairy flew towards us. With a snap of his fingers, several more nightmares formed from the black sand circling around me before charging at the two Guardians, blocking them from helping me.

"Pitch, please, stop this." I sobbed trying very hard not to pass out from my fear. "This isn't you—"

"ISN'T ME!" Pitch roared, flying higher into the sky where I quickly began sobbing once more. "This IS me, Stephanie. This is what I do. And I'll make sure you help me achieve that." Pitch chuckled evilly as his sand loosened its grip on me.

"W-what—what are you doing!" I cried as I furiously tried to grab onto the black sand as I began slipping.

"I'm taking you down, just not the way you expect though." Pitch smirked before commanding his sand to let go of me completely. I said nothing for a moment as I felt myself freefalling before I once again screamed my lungs off.

"AHHHHH!" I screamed as I fell through the many nightmares flying around fighting off Jack and Tooth. I could hear Pitch laughing hysterically as more nightmares arose from the sand that still surrounded me. "STOP PLEASE JUST STOP—UGH!" I grunted as a nightmare knocked me into the stomach before throwing me onto it's back and back up to Pitch. "Why?" I cried as I held onto the nightmare tighter, watching in horror as more nightmares emerged from my fear.

"Because, it's who I am." Pitch growled out before sighing heavily as he heard North's battle cry. From the corner of my eye I could see North and Bunnymund riding in North's sleigh to assist their fellow guardians. "Ah, more uninvited guests. We can fix that easily." With a snap of his fingers, the nightmare I was holding onto suddenly lurched and flew even higher.

"STOP PLEASE NO JUST STOP!" I shouted, hiding my face into the nightmare's mane. "STOP USING ME PLEASE!" I sobbed as I held onto dear life as the nightmare continued to run about in the sky.

"Hold on Stephanie!" I heard Jack yell among the neighing of the nightmares, "We'll save you!"

"Oh really?" Pitch laughed as more nightmares blocked the guardian's path. "I beg to differ." More tears poured out of my eyes as I saw the guardians barely holding off the nightmares. "Now who will you protect more? The children or the grown up?" Pitch laughed once more as he snapped his fingers and at least a dozen nightmares flew past the guardians and headed straight for the streets below. Straining my head, my eyes widen in shock as I saw Jamie and his friends beginning to run away from the nightmares down below.

"Pitch! Stop this! They don't have to be involved in this whatsoever! Please leave them alone!" I cried as I saw North and Bunnymund quickly jump back into North's sleigh to provide aid the kids below. "Leave them out of—THIIISSS! AHHH" I screamed as the nightmare suddenly lurched forward, higher into the sky. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I sobbed, "Just please let me down."

"I'll have to think on it." Pitch chuckled before dodging an Ice beam sent from Jack. "But for now, I have pests to deal with."

I have to stop this, I thought shakily as I saw Pitch engaging a fight with Jack and Tooth. I have to stop feeding his nightmares fear. But how? I'm experiencing what I fear the most. I thought sadly as tears continue to fall through my closed eyes

You have to fall off the nightmare and believe that Jack or the Tooth Fairy will catch you. A feminine voice echoed in my head, surprising me. Believe in them and you'll stop feeding fear to the nightmares.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME! YOU'RE ASKING ME TO LET GO OF MY ONLY LIFELINE IN HOPES THAT EITHER JACK OR TOOTH WILL CATCH ME? THAT'S SCARIER THAN BEING THIS HIGH! I screamed mentally as the nightmare continued to race around the sky, making it impossible for Jack or Tooth to get near me.

Then let the children below get devoured by the nightmares. The voice retaliated, Let the boogie man win. But when he does, know that it could have prevented if you just believed in the guardians. I bit my lip as I thought about what the voice talked about and as I looked down below I could see the frightened faces of Jamie and his friends as Bunnymund and North furiously try to fend off the nightmares.

"Jamie." I whispered, wanting nothing more than to help the children below.

All I have to do is believe right? I asked the voice as I tried to calm down my beating heart as I finally made my decision.

Believe and everything will be fine. The voice reassured me and I closed my eyes one final time before opening them again, ready to let go.

"Here goes nothing." I whispered as I let go of the nightmare and as it lurched to the right, I felt my body go the opposite direction and next thing I knew, I was free falling once again through the night sky. Turning my body around, I furiously tried keeping my fear of heights to a minimum as I tried looking for Jack or Tooth wanting to believe that the voice inside my head wasn't suicidal.

"STEPHANIE!" I heard Jack yell over to my left and as I turned my head, I could see Jack racing straight towards me.

"Jack!" I yelled as I stretched out my arms towards him, praying that he would get to me before the nightmares would.

"Jack watch out!" Tooth shouted as she tried to fly towards Jack only to be stopped by several nightmares. I turned my heard to the direction she pointed at and I could see Pitch aiming a black arrow towards the winter spirit before letting it go. For some reason, as I watched it happen in slow motion, a memory not belonging to me suddenly entered my mind.

Memory

"WATCH OUT!" A blonde haired Greek teen, with several wound decorating his toga and skin, shouted once again forcing her attention away for a moment only to see a man smirking at her darkly aim his black arrow at her before letting go. She stood here, watching as the arrow came closer and closer before she felt a body push her to the side, taking the hit for her.

"No!" She screamed as she saw black sand devouring the blonde's body. "NO!" She could only watch in horror as she saw her friend slowly disappear from this world smiling at her as if saying 'It doesn't matter that I'm dying as long as you're alright.' "CUPID!"

End of Memory

What the hell? I thought as the strange memory suddenly disappeared from her head. What was that? Never mind, I have to do something to help Jack! But what?! Before I could ponder anything further, I felt by body suddenly move on it's own. My arms stretched out in front of me and my legs snapped together and before I knew it, I was racing towards Jack at incredible speeds.

"Watch out!" I shouted as I pushed Jack roughly out of the way only to feel searing pain as something pierced my shoulder. The force of the object was enough to throw me off course and once again I was free falling to my death.

"Stephanie!" Jack shouted once again before I felt an icy hand wrap around my own and began slowing my decent. "Stephanie, are you alright?!" Jack asked as he pulled me into his chest. I groan slightly in pain as he placed pressure on my shoulder.

"I think so. Can we just get to the ground? Please?" I pleaded as I snuggled closer into his chest, feeling much safer than before.

"Sure just hold on—STEPH!" Jack cried as a nightmare plowed into the two of us and Jack lost his grip on me.

"Jack!" I screamed as I barely grabbed his hand before Jack had to dodge another nightmare.

"Well what do we have here? A dear girl hanging for her life?" Pitch chuckled above us before sneering. "Let me help you with that." With a snap of his fingers, more nightmares rushed towards us before Jack could lift me back into the safety of his arms.

"Hold on Stephanie!" Jack cried as he flew past the nightmares, dodging them the best he could while holding onto me.

"Jack I'm scared." I sobbed, clinging tightly to the winter spirit as he held me up in the air, thousands of feet above ground. I heard him grunt as he tried to dodge another nightmare horse, but got knocked in the shoulder. I frantically looked around to see if I could find help but the rest of the guardians were too busy fighting Pitch's minions to even get near us. Not to mention that they were furiously trying to protect Sophie, Jaime, and his friends.

"Don't worry we'll be fine. I promise." Jack whispered through clenched teeth, as he quickly flew up to avoid another nightmare attack. Above us, I heard a sinister chuckle echoing around us before Pitch materialized out of thin air and smirked at us.

"Don't make promises you can't keep Jack" Pitched laughed as Jack used his right arm to point his wooden staff at the dark spirit. Before Jack could even try to attack, Pitch disappeared and the black sand from earlier suddenly began speeding towards the unsuspecting children below.

"Jamie! Sophie!" I cried as I saw Pitch heading straight towards them. "The guardians—"

"Won't make it time." Jack wearily finished, as we saw the rest of the guardians try to make their way closer to the two endangered kids.

"But you can." I said softly as I looked up at Jack's shocked face. "It's ok Jack, the kids are more important." I gave him a weak smile as I loosened my grip on his hand. Jack scrunched his face in frustration before giving me a determined look.

"I'll always come back for you." Jack swore as he looked straight into my eyes. I gave him a small chuckle as tears glittered on my cheeks.

"I know." I whispered. "I believe in you." without another word, Jack threw me high into the air before speeding straight after Pitch, staff at the ready.

I believe you'll save me. I thought as I slowly started to fall. And I believe you'll save us all. I screamed helplessly as I sped towards Earth; while I believed Jack would save me, that didn't mean that I wouldn't be scared of dying.

Watch out! The female voce from earlier cried but before I could ask her why, I felt something smash into my chest hard, taking away my breath.

What the hell was that! I thought as I tried furiously to stop spinning before another force smashed into my left side sending me spiraling towards another direction. That's going to leave a nasty bruise. I thought painfully before I felt something grab my arm painfully.

"Going somewhere?" Pitch sneered as he pulled me up, forcing my eye to look into his golden ones.

"Pitch," I whimpered closing my eyes in pain as his grip tightened on my arm. "Just stop this, please. I know this isn't the same Pitch I met in my bedroom when I was six. Please—"

"ENOUGH!" Pitch growled out; I quickly closed my mouth. "Enough with your naïve thoughts Stephanie. This is who I am and nothing will change that."

"I REFUSE TO BELIVE THAT!" I suddenly shouted, surprising Pitch and myself at the sudden burst of anger. Quickly I continued to speak, fearing I would lose my small confidence I acquired. "Pitch please, stop this. I know you enjoy tormenting others and love outdoing the guardians but this isn't the way to go about it. Just please." I pleaded with the dark spirit, trying anyway to persuade him to stop this battle.

"You know nothing about me, Stephanie Jones." Pitch hissed as he tightened his hand around my arm even more. "Absolutely nothing."

I'm so sorry I let you down Pitch, so sorry. I thought sadly, tears slowly building up in the corner of my eyes. I just wish there was something I can do.

There is something you can do…or rather what I can do. I'm terribly sorry about this, but it must be done. The female voice inside my head sighed unhappily. Before I could ask her what she meant, I could feel myself slipping away into the darkness as if I was going to sleep.

Wait, what are you doing! I thought as Pitch's face started to become blurry and I was losing control of my body. What's going on!

All in due time child, The voice whispered softly But for now this must be done. I wanted to protest more, wanted to fight against whatever was happening but I was losing the battle with the voice. Rest and all will be over by the time you wake up. The voice whispered, hypnotizing me to obey her and before I knew it, I had embraced the darkness.

Third POV

Pitch watched in confusion as Stephanie's eyes suddenly became glassy after her rant. Perhaps she had finally reached her breaking point and was about to pass out from fear. Pitch grinned, if that was the case then he would have an unlimited supply of fear to create more nightmares and finish off the Guardians once and for all. From the corner of his eye he could finally see that Jack had realized that the Pitch that went after the children was a fake and was frantically looking for the real him.

"It's too late." Pitch chuckled as the two spirits made eye contact. Oh how he enjoyed the shocked and scared faces of the guardians and children below. By now they must know that it was over for them, that there was no way they could win. "I've already—"

"Won? I don't think so." Stephanie growled out suddenly, surprising Pitch as he thought that she was still passed out.

No matter, Pitch thought frowning at the girl, I'll just—

"You do realize that Chaos is just using you correct?" Stephanie spoke again but her words had a different effect on the dark spirit. Pitch's eye snapped up to Stephanie's own and he realized that her eyes were different than before. They were still a sky blue that he remembered but they looked much older, holding more knowledge than a seventeen year old should hold.

"Who are you and how do you know that name?" Pitch growled out, tightening his grip on the girl determined to get answers from her.

"Someone that's much older than you Pitchiner." Stephanie spat, her eyes glowing dangerously. "I say it again, stop this nonsense and open your eyes to what Chaos really plans to do to you. He doesn't care about helping you. All he wants is revenge."

"What do you know about Chaos! What if I don't care what he plans to do with me? What if I'm perfectly content to follow his orders if it means to finally be believed in. You know nothing!" Pitch snarled.

"Then I won't be sorry to do this." Stephanie growled out, confusing the dark spirit for a moment before he suddenly felt a rubber sole collide with his face. Surprise at the sudden attack, Pitch let go of Stephanie, nursing his wound before he remembered that she was his bargaining chip.

Damn that girl, she's causing more trouble than I imagined Pitch growled as he speed towards the falling girl trying to reach her before Jack or Tooth did. Noticing that Pitch was slowly catching up to Stephanie, Jack held up his staff and pointed it at the nightmare king.

"Hold on Stephanie!" Jack shouted as he shot a beam of ice at Pitch who dodged effortlessly. He continued to shoot beam after beam careful not to his human friend but every single time Pitch either dodged it or his nightmares took the hit. "STEPHANIE!" Jack shouted as Pitched closed in on the falling girl, grabbing her neck and pulled her close to him. "LET HER GO!" Jack growled as he sped after the dark spirit determined to save her. She was the first person that could see him, wanted to be his friend, and he couldn't lose her. He wouldn't lose her especially after he knew she was the reincarnation of his first friend back when he was human.

Jack's memory

With tattered brown pants, a wool white shirt and a brown vest, Jack walked around the town market, hoping to find some ingredients to help his mother cook dinner. He would have gone with Emma but she had to help Mother with some chores around the house. As Jack was lost in his thoughts he didn't notice he was walking towards another girl around his age until it was too late. Both collided with each other head on and promptly fell to the floor.

"Sorry," Jack apologized profoundly as he helped the young girl up. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"It's quite alright." The girl said with a heavy British accent as she dusted her brown plain dress. "I was not paying either."

"You're not from around here are you."Jack stated as he stared at the girl longer. She had pitch black hair that went past her shoulders and surprisingly blue eyes.

"Correct. My father and I just moved here from London. He wanted a new start here in America."

"That's a really big change." Jack said before realizing that he had yet to introduce himself. "Sorry, I have yet to introduce myself. Jack, well Jackson Overland." Jack smiled as he held out his hand to the girl.

"Pleasure to meet you…Jack," The girl smiled as she took his hand. "I'm Stephanie…Stephanie Jones."

From then on, the two became nearly inseparable. Where one went the other was close behind. Stephanie was a very kind and caring girl that loved to have a little fun, which Jack easily provided. She also made sure the keep Jack in check if his idea of "fun" would get a little bit on the dangerous side. Jack in turn brought out the more adventurous side of Stephanie, and made her feel very welcomed in the village. He would also cheer her up after she got scolded by her father, who everyone thought he could be less harsh on caring Stephanie.

Stephanie's father was a mystery to most of the people and many thought he was very cold. Stephanie always defended him though, saying that despite the cold treatment she would receive along with the others, her father was a loving and caring person and she loved him.

The scene suddenly changed as Jack, Stephanie, and Jack's little sister, Emma, were walking out of Jack's home, each held a pair of skates in their hands.

"Be careful," A female voice called out to Jack and Stephanie while Emma giggled happily, pulling Stephanie's arm.

"We will, don't worry." Jack smiled as Stephanie pulled on Jack's arm laughing.

The scene changed again but this time, both Stephanie and Jack were standing across Emma who was deathly still as the ice cracked beneath her.

"Jack…I'm scared." She cried as Jack tried calming her down.

"It's alright, it's alright." He whispered to her as he tried to inch his way forward towards the younger sibling before Stephanie caught his arm. Her eyes pointed to the ice beneath him and immediately he stopped walking. Jack knew he had to time it perfectly otherwise all three of them would end up in the freezing lake.

"Don't look down sweetie." Stephanie calmly said as she looked around for anything that could help them. "Just look at us alright? Look at Jack and me. Everything is going to fine right Jack?" Stephanie said looking at Jack hoping that he at least had an idea what to do.

"Right," Jack quickly said catching on, "You're not going to fall in, uh we're going to have a little fun instead." Jack smiled trying to look cheerful to get the girl's mind off the impending danger.

"No we're not." Emma cried.

"Would I trick you?" Jack said as he looked around his feet, the cracks were getting bigger. He needed to come up with a plan fast.

"Yes, you always play tricks!"

"Emma, honey I'm here." Stephanie smiled softly at the girl, managing to calm her down a bit. "Jack never plays tricks while I'm around. Believe me, he's not going to trick you. We're going to have fun alright." Emma slowly nodded and Stephanie relaxed considerably. If Emma was calm then it would be easier to get her out of the situation. "Alright just listen to Jack. He's the master of fun…the guardian of fun….believe that he'll…we'll just get out of here just fine." Stephanie looked over to Jack and saw his eyes already forming a plan.

"Stephanie's right. We're going to have fun…you wanna play a game?" Jack smiled as he stood a little straighter confident of what he was doing. "We're going to play…hop scotch. Like we do every day. It'll be easy as one…"Jack took a step to the left where the ice was much thicker and both Stephanie and Jack winced as the ice cracked a bit underneath the weight of Jack's first step. But Jack didn't let that stop him in fact he purposely stood on one leg and exaggerated how difficult it was just to make Emma laugh. "Two." The ice cracked some more but it didn't seem as dangerous as before. "And three." With his final jump, Jack safely made it to the safer ice of the pond. Without taking his eyes off both of the girls, Jack reached for the Sheppard's Crook at his side and reached out to Emma as Stephanie motioned to Jack to save the younger girl first.

"Your turn honey." Stephanie smiled at the girl, encouraging her to go next. "One…" At Stephanie's voice Emma put a foot forward and gasped as the ice cracked even more beneath her but Jack didn't let her dwell on that matter for long.

"Two, come on Emma you don't want to lose to me right?" Emma took another step towards her brother and water began seeping through the ice. Before the ice could completely break Jack reached out towards Emma, with the Sheppard's Crook and pulled her towards him. "Three!" In a matter of seconds Jack switched spots with Emma, and now he stood on the unstable ice as Emma slid to safety. Both looked at each other with a smile on their faces, oblivious to the danger ahead.

"JACK!" Stephanie cried as the ice completely broke underneath Jack's weight and he fell through, dropping the staff on the ice nearby. "JACK! Emma, go get help now!" Stephanie's muffled voice could be barely heard by Jack as the icy water pierced his skin. He tried looking up to see if Stephanie had foolishly dived in after him but all he could see was a blurry figure peering over the edge. In a matter of seconds, he felt something grab onto him and pull him out of the icy cold water. Jack coughed weakly as air finally reached his throat grateful that he wasn't drowning but it was so cold. So cold that he wanted nothing more than to sleep in the warm cocoon he was in.

"Jack come on, come on. Don't you dare die on me." Jack heard Stephanie muttered as he felt her arms wrap around his shivering body. "You promised me you'd take me out of the village, to see Philadelphia. Don't you dare break that promise now!"

"So….cold." Jack muttered as his eyes fluttered for a moment before closing. It was so hard to stay awake.

"Hey Jack, Jackson. Listen to me. You need to stay awake alright? Come on you can do that for me can't you? If you stay awake until Emma comes back with help I'll give you a kiss alright? Just please stay awake."Stephanie cried, and Jack felt warm drops of water falling onto his face. He wanted nothing more than to open his eyes and tell her it was alright but he couldn't despite how much he wanted to respond to her.

"Stephanie!" Jack could feel Stephanie's body move slightly as he heard his sister's voice calling out for her along with other men from the village. Emma must have gone to get help. "Stephanie!"

"Over here father!" Stephanie cried twisting her body just a bit probably just to get a better look. However, the small movement was all the ice needed to crack even further. Jack heard Stephanie cry out in surprise as he was once again welcomed by the icy waters only this time he brought company.

End memory

"Or what?" Pitch growled as he gripped Stephanie's throat even tighter as he landed in the streets. Pitch looked around, frowning as his nightmares he dispatched earlier were nearly gone. The children's belief made the guardians stronger than he expected. No matter, if they see Stephanie now, they would surely start giving into fear especially if they see that none of the guardians can do anything. The nightmare king smirked as he saw the children finally catch up to the guardians and gasp out in fear.

"Stephanie!" Jamie cried as he saw his baby sitter in the clutch of the nightmare king's hand. He raced forward, only to manage a couple of steps before a furry paw stopped him. "Bunny please! We have to help Steph!" He cried as her looked at Stephanie's face as she gasped for air. "Please!"

"J-ja-mie!" "Stephanie" gasped out as she "tried" to pry off the dark spirit's hand from her throat. She could easily get out of the spirit's grasp and finish this battle once and for all, but the other guardians didn't know that the real Stephanie wasn't in control of this body. As much as she wanted to tell them the truth she couldn't, not with Chaos still lurking around trying to find her. She was vulnerable…no Stephanie was still vulnerable to Chaos attack so if he knew that she was inside of Stephanie…she wasn't sure she could stop the dark spirit. She would have to do what she did best then in order to get out of this mess.

"It'll be alright—believe me. Everything will turn out fine. The guardians won't let anything bad happen. Believe in them. Believe." Stephanie choked out as Pitch began closing her airways. If she could get Jamie to believe enough then everything would be alright.

Jamie looked hopelessly at Stephanie's face but despite how hopeless the situation seemed, he choose to listen to her words and believed. After all she was the one who helped him believe in the guardians. She was the one who always did her best trying to look after her, making sure that he and Sophie were happy and she never lied to them ever. If this was the way to save her, then he would believe in the guardians until he died.

"Believe in what Stephanie? The guardians won't save you or anyone else for that matter. They're finished!" Pitch growled but he was surprised as Stephanie gave out a short choked chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"Just a bit of golden sand that's all." She gasped, still smirking as more golden sand appeared around them. The kids all gasped in delight as dolphins, butterflies, and fishes swam around them, forgetting all about their fears. Soon the golden animals quickly attacked the rest of the remaining nightmares and circled around Pitch and Stephanie.

"Golden sand?" Jack muttered as he touched one of the golden creatures as it flew near him. "Sandman?"

"What do you mean—" Out of the blue, a golden sand whip wrapped itself around Pitch's hand, forcing him to let go of Stephanie. Before he could even try to get Stephanie back, the whip pulled on him harder and next thing the nightmare king knew, he was staring right into a golden sand vortex where Sandman calmly stepped out of.

Meanwhile, Jack immediately rushed to Stephanie's side once Pitch released her and carefully helped her stand as she coughed air back into her lungs as the other guardians went for Pitch.

"Stephanie! Are you alright—" Jack paused in mid sentence as he looked into Stephanie's eye realizing they were much different than before. "You're…you're not Stephanie." "Stephanie" smiled softly at Jack as he glared daggers at her.

"At ease young spirit. I have caused no harm to Stephanie, nor do I plan to."

"And why should I believe in you? How do I know that you're not a nightmare in disguised as Stephanie?" Jack growled. "Stephanie" chuckled weakly, her throat rather sore from Pitch's chokehold, before she looked at Jack's eyes.

"Then you would be dead on the spot. Listen my time is short. You must protect Stephanie at all costs." "Stephanie" rasped out, her eyes suddenly hardening as her tone became serious.

"Wait what do you—"

"There is more to this fight young one. A fight between ancient spirits that you cannot hope to fight on your own." "Stephanie" coughed out as Jack held onto her, holding onto her every word. "And sadly Stephanie is in the center of this all. Protect her especially when she turns eighteen, she will be very vulnerable."

"Hold on you haven't told me who you are—"

"Just protect Stephanie…" "Stephanie" muttered slowly as she closed her eyes, surrendering herself to sleep. She had used quite a lot of energy today, bringing back Sandman took her toll on her but it was worth it. Besides, if she was right they would need every single one of the original guardians to help fight one of the oldest and most powerful spirits of all times….Chaos.

I can only hope that Jack will keep his promise¸ She thought as she passed the true Stephanie in the mind set, letting her take back control of her body, She needs protection now more than ever.

Stephanie's POV

"—anie, Stephanie! Wake up! Can you hear me?" Jack's voiced echoed in my ears as I began to regain consciousness. "Steph!"

"Five more minutes." I groaned as I tried making myself comfortable only, to hiss in pain as I twisted my suddenly sore stomach. "Ok that wasn't there yesterday." I groaned as I slowly cracked open my eyes.

"That's because you took several nightmare hits. Which is amazing considering how fragile you humans are." Jack chuckled as he carefully wrapped his arm around my waist careful not to put any pressure. "You ok?"

"I think so…" I groaned as I tried to wake myself up even more, "Wait nightmares? Wasn't I with Pitch…how did I get here?"I asked looking at Jack's eyes tiredly. I honestly couldn't remember anything besides Pitch holding me up high into the air after Jack raced to save Jamie and his friends, it's like I blacked out….wait Jamie!

"Jamie, is he—"

"I'm fine Steph." Jamie giggled as he as the rest of his friends raced towards Jack and I before his face turned somber. "Are you ok? Your neck is turning purple." Unconsciously, I placed a hand on my neck, wincing a bit as I felt my neck throbbing in pain.

That's going to leave a very nasty bruise.

"Steph, Steph, Steph!" Sophie laughed as she raced towards me. "Steph!"

"Hi Sophie, I'm glad—Mother of a half troll!" I hissed as Sophie barreled towards me, hugging my stomach tightly causing me to feel the pain of the nightmare attack. "Ah Sophie can you let go? You're hugging me a bit too hard" I groaned painfully as I carefully peeled the girl's arm off.

"But hugs make feel better."Sophie pouted, I chuckled weakly as Jamie carefully pulled Sophie away.

"They do but I'm a bit sore that's all." I laughed softly before noticing Pitch coming towards us, staggering weakly. Before I could warn Jack about him, one of Jamie's friend's, Claude I believe—I can never really remember them all—suddenly began a snowball fight, and next thing I knew, Jamie ran though Pitch, completely unaware of the dark spirit as he laughed with his friends.

My heart broke as I saw Pitch's shocked face, pained as none of the children who had had seen him minutes ago completely forgot about him. Behind him, I could see the guardians looking at Pitch with sympathy as well.

"Pitch—"

"No…it wasn't supposed to be like this, no!" Pitch growled out weakly as he staggered away and began running away towards the woods. I tried calling out to him again, before wincing in pain once more, gasping for breath this time.

Could I have a punctured a lung? No that's not possible, still it's does hurt a bit. I'll check it after all of this has died down. I thought as I staggered after Pitch, seeing that the guardians plus Jack went after him.

"Are you sure you're fine Steph?" Jamie asked as he jogged alongside me, his friends and Sophie right behind him.

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad." I grunted as I maneuvered myself through the uneven ground. Fallen logs, thick snow, and small pot holes made this trip more troublesome than it normally was.

"It can't be my fear, I'm not afraid." I heard North chuckle lightly up ahead. As the sun began rising I could faintly see the path we were walking on and I smiled softly to myself as I recognized the path. We were heading to the same pond where Jack taught me how to ice skate…and where I nearly died as well.

But what did North mean by fear? Is it the nightmares? I thought as I could faintly see the guardians and Pitch standing out on the frozen pond, several nightmares standing at the edge. I looked back to see if any of the kids could see them, but they seemed oblivious to the pitch black sand creatures.

Then in a blink of an eye the nightmares charged at Pitch, who tried to escape their gasp, and pulled him deeper into the forest. I could faintly hear Pitch's terrified screams and once again my heart ached for the dark and misunderstood spirit. All he wanted was to be seen, to be believed in but…he just didn't know how to go about it or rather people were just too frighten of him. Either way, Pitch….despite all he had done really didn't deserve this ending. It just seemed to cruel.

We finally reached the pond and each of the children ran up to the guardians, smiling happily and laughing, especially Jamie as he ran up to Jack.

"They see you." I whispered happily as I could see Jack's joyful face as each of the children smiled AT him. Just as I was about to join him, I could see from the corner of my eye a stray nightmare standing off in the distance, looking at me with intense red eyes….wait red?

Pitch's nightmares never had red eyes, I thought as I stared at the abnormal nightmare, pulled into its stare, What kind of nightmare is this?

"Steph, you ok?" Jack suddenly asked, pulling my gaze away from the nightmare.

"Huh, yeah I just—" I looked back to where I saw the nightmare and to my surprise, there was no trace of it whatsoever. "…Lost in thought." I whispered in disbelief.

Did I just imagine things or did I really see a darker nightmare?

"Wait Stephanie…is that blood?" Jamie asked suddenly pointing to my arm, his eyes wide and frightened.

"Blood? What do you—" I reached up to my arm where Jamie pointed to and to my surprise I could feel the sleeve of my shirt wet with a thick layer of blood. I pulled my hand away and I nearly fainted at how dark the blood looked on my hand.

Oh yeah…I got hit by Pitch's arrow…..this…could be…..a….problem. I thought as I looked up to Jack's frighten face before I felt a furry set of hands gently lifting me bridal style.

"We should get you fixed up shelia" Bunny, said as he gently hopped to North's sleigh parked in the middle of the pond. How the heck did the pond not crack under this weight?

"I'm fine." I muttered trying to downplay the severity of the wound in order for the kids not to get frighten but I felt too weak to really fight the Easter spirit verbally. With my adrenaline rush finally over, I could finally feel the effects of the fight. My arm was throbbing painfully—not to mention wet with blood—my stomach felt really sore as well as my chest, I was having a hard time breathing and it hurt to move too much.

"Damn it.." I muttered softly as I felt the darkness pulling me in again, "I….missed…..dinner." I moaned, before the darkness embraced me once again.

Third POV

The nightmare, watched the guardians quickly take the human into the sleigh before reassuring the kids that she could be taken care of as the Northern spirit ushered the reindeers to fly off. Said nightmare hissed as the reindeer flew out of sight; he never liked those creatures. However, it was not the time to sit around and hiss at creatures he despised, he had to bring back the important information back to his master.

With a screeching neigh, the nightmare quickly sprung out from its hiding place and galloped further into the forest where no man dared to venture on his own. His master ruled this part of the forest and made sure that no man lived to tell the tale. The nightmare continued to run through the forest, not bothering to stop as it passed several human remains hidden by the thick forest grass or bushes. The trees were huddled closely together causing little sunlight to reach the forest floor and the mysterious fog that master put up made it all the more weary.

The nightmare finally came to a stop as it reached a dark cave that seemingly appeared out of thin air before trotting slowly inside. The cave wasn't that different to the so called nightmare king's layer. There were twists and turns, stairs that disappeared into nothingness, shadows looming in every corner but instead of bird cages, chains hugs from the ceiling, some with bones still attached to them. And the floor, just as the forest were littered with humans remains, so was Master's cave except weapons laid with the remains as well. Shields from just about every country, empire, kingdom, clan laid scattered across the floor along with swords, lances, spears, clubs, spikes, maces, axes. However, there was no bow or arrow in sight, master made sure to burn all of those up.

The nightmare continued to trot through the dark cavern before it reached an alter where a set of chains hung freely above a dark figure.

"I take it you have some information for me then?" The figure asked without turning around and the nightmare neighed loudly before exploding into a trail of dark sand heading straight for the figure. The figure stood there was the black sand swirled in front of him before eventually projecting an image of a girl with croppy pitch black hair and striking blue eyes that looked straight back at him.

"At least Pitch was good for something." The figure chuckled as the sand stopped swirling and reformed back into the nightmare. "He managed to tag her with my sand which will make the progress go much faster. It seems I must repay him for doing his job in the end even though he proved to me that he can't really handle the power of the nightmares. Pity, I really would have liked a second in command." The figure quickly turned around and walked briskly down the steps, his nightmare closely following. "On second thought, no I wouldn't like a second in command, you can never really count on others to do your job."

"Really? They why did you summon us?" A female voice echoed throughout the cave before a feminine figure stepped out in front of the nightmare and his master. The nightmare neighed warningly before the figure placed a hand on the nightmare's snout, calming it.

"Because Lust, you seven are the only ones I CAN trust." The figure shrugged before continuing to walk. "You've been with me since the creation of that damn spirit and I feel it would be fitting if we took her down once and for all….together."

"You men can never lie properly" Lust sneered back as she stepped into the few dim lights in the cave, illuminating her face barely. Her thick wave locks, her bright red lips and seductive gaze could have any men fall for her in an instance and this was only her face. "You just want to us to train the new recruits so you don't have to deal with them."

"That too."

"But where are you going?" Lust asked as the figure walked towards one of the few tunnels that lead up to the world above. "You never leave the cave—"

"Our time is nearing and my part to play has come." The nightmare stepped a couple steps back as his master began changing. He began shrinking before finally settling into a comfortable height of 5 foot 7, his hair changed into a dirty blonde and his eyes turned into an emerald green. His outfit changed as well, he now sported dark blue jeans with red and black skater shoes, a body tight red shirt with the word and symbol chaos in black on the front, and a black jacket.

"How do I look?" The spirit asked as he turned around, modeling to Lust. Lust placed her fingers on her chin and licked her lips.

"Absolutely delicious. Pity you're wasting your looks on the pathetic girl; she won't even know what hit her." Lust chuckled before retreating back to the shadows, "Shall I gather the others then?" Lust asked as the spirit lifted his hood so that it covered his blonde hair.

"Yes, the time is near. I want everything to be ready for her arrival, I plan for….excruciating pain for her." The spirit chuckled evilly as his eyes gazed upon the chains above the alter before entering his tunnel and disappearing from sight.

In less than a second he reappeared only this time he was above ground and in an alley way; the same alley way which Pitch took Stephanie from.

"This time for sure." The dark spirit muttered darkly as black sand rand up his arm and settled down on his jacket, creating a rather unique design. "This time I will have my revenge and nothing will stop me." Said figure looked up into the sky and frowned at the sight of the moon.

"Are you ready Man in Moon for my time has come and there will be nothing your precious guardians can do to stop me. For I go against everything your servants stand for. Where there is peace, I come and destroy; when there is hope, I obliterate it; and when there is war, I am there for I am Chaos, the harbinger of destruction." Chaos chuckled darkly as his eyes momentarily turned blood red before reverting back to the transformed blue color. "And I'm done waiting in the shadows." Without missing a beat Chaos stepped out of the alley, smirking as he saw Stephanie's bag and hat on the floor.

"Stephanie Jones, this time you won't escaped my grasp."

And that's the end of this chapter. Sorry it's so blah, I just tried to make it flow but I felt it didn't do a great job at that. And if you're confused about the memories, sorry but you'll still be more confused well until everything is revealed later. There's gonna be a lost more memories in the next couple of chapters. And sorry it took so long to write this out. I just yeah, OTL.

And sorry if there's grammar mistakes. My beta has more of a life than me and couldn't beta this chapter this time so it was just me this time. Sorry ^^

And please feel free to review, favorite, alert. It really means the world to me and some feedback would be really. Nice. Until next time.

-Midnightmich