Hello. This is RobotToxic speaking...and I am here to apologize for the giant delay. It's hard to write for a story that you have no interest in anymore but I had to remind myself of all the people who reads this story and I had to update me. This chapter took me four months to write, it basically cost me an arm and a leg to update it. But...I don't want to disappoint you guys. So. Without further a due, here's the next chapter of "The Big Four: The Rise of the Darkness".

Jamie led Merida into the dark woods, the frozen pale moonlight casting dark shadows on the beaten path. Jamie looked up when a shadow loomed over him, seeing Hiccup and Toothless high in the sky, still trying to spot Rapunzel in the air. Toothless made a sharp turn and headed west, Jamie it as a sign that something was happening over there. He saw that where the dragon was heading, it was off the concrete trail and into the snaring and gnarled woods. It made sense to Jamie that Gothel wouldn't use the trail and weave through the trees but that still didn't make him happy about it. He gripped onto the metal shield that once belonged to his best friend tighter and took a deep breath. "This way, Merida."

Merida followed Jamie closely, her bow in hand and a drawn arrow resting on its string. Her hair was like fire in the moon's gleaming light as the wild curls bounced softly at each movement she made. Her fierce blue eyes showed concern. "Wherever Rapunzel is, I hope that she is alright."

"Me too," Jamie agreed. He paused before he said under his breath, "I also hope that Pitch's Night Mares don't find us."

"They won't."

"You don't sound so sure."

"That's because I'm not," Merida sighed. "Look, I'm tryin' ta keep yer hopes up, Jamie, but I'm not the best. What we are in is a battle, a final battle as me da would put it. Yes, I have fought, but I've never been in a war before." Merida's eyes drifted to the ground, watching where to place her feet so she wouldn't trip. "But we need ta win this and bring things ta normal again." Jamie nodded in agreement but didn't say anything. Merida took her eyes off from the ground and said in a quiet voice, "I'm…sorry for wha' happened to Birna."

Jamie tensed a little at the mention of Birna's name. He looked over his shoulder to stare at Merida with wide brown eyes. Behind them showed pain, grief. He let out a shaky breath before mumbling, "Me too…" In his mind, he was screaming, crying. The grief weighed heavy on him, especially his heart. He couldn't believe that she was gone. That he will never see her again…or hear her unique Nordic-Scottish accent of hers that he loved so much. When this is all over, how was he going to tell her parents that their daughter, their only child, was gone? He shook his head hard, blinking his eyes rapidly to prevent the tears that were threatening to escape. No. He couldn't think of her now. He can't think of how she was taken away. He needed to focus. He gripped onto the shield even tighter. Pitch will pay for what he has done. "Let's just find Rapunzel."

Merida could tell that she struck a nerve in Jamie and simply dipped her head in understanding. Her eyes went back to the ground and her eyes narrowed suddenly. She reached over to Jamie and tapped him on the shoulder, making him stop. Merida kneeled down to the ground, picking up a piece of red cloth that was caught on a twig. "Wasn't Gothel wearin' red?" she asked over her shoulder. She glanced up and analyzed the ground ahead of her. She titled her head to see that there was a stripe of green grass surrounded by yellow dead grass. " 'Blood of Spring'…" she stood up and pointed down the path of green grass. "They went that way."

"How do you know?"

"I-I don't know how but I think the green grass is caused by Rapunzel. Chronos said something about her having the blood of spring. Follow the path, and it'll take us to Rapunzel."

Jamie stared at her with a confused look and scratched his head. "Um…okay…that doesn't make any sense but…it's the only lead we got." He followed the path that Merida pointed out, noticing how the greenery was more alive there. He thought it was weird. As he went on, he suddenly stopped, holding his hand up to signal Merida to stop as well. He rushed to a nearby tree and hid behind it. He glanced over to Merida and motioned her to do the same. He glanced around the tree to get a quick look at Rapunzel, who was being held tightly by the arm and dragged along by a woman in red. Her black hair seemed to turn more grey with each passing minute. Gothel.

Jamie's head shot back into hiding when Gothel's head snapped towards his general direction. Jamie let out a long, quiet breath of air to calm his pounding heart. His eyes drifted to the side to see Merida reach to her quiver and rested an arrow on her bow, pulling the drawstring slightly, ready to fire if she had to. She looked around her hiding spot as well before looking at Jamie. She mouthed: "Stay here." She crouched down to the ground and snuck into the dense, dead shrubbery.

Jamie watched her leave and shook his head hard. He went back to look at Gothel. His eyes widened when he saw her look over to where Merida was heading. Could she hear her moving? His eyes widened when she forcefully made Rapunzel sit on the ground. Now Jamie could see the bindings on Rapunzel now, her hands were tied behind her back with rope. Gothel rolled a large rock on the end she was holding with the other hand and reached for her belt. The glint of a long dagger shined in the frozen moonlight. She slowly made her way to where Merida was going.

Thinking fast, Jamie got out from his hiding spot, making his way through the maze of trees and shrubbery to the other side, seeing that Gothel's attention was still towards Merida. Her back was facing him now. 'I need to hurry,' he thought. He came out from the trees and into the small clearing. Quickly, he made his way to Rapunzel, who was unaware of his presence, his eyes fixated on Gothel. Rapunzel jumped a little when Jamie came into her view and her eyes filled with relief. She jerked her head towards the rock, knowing that Jamie would have anything to cut the rope with. Jamie nodded and got to the rock, getting on his knees to get a better angle. He grunted when he gave it a push. The rock was medium in size and was about as big as his head. He got it to wobble but it fell back to the ground. How was that old lady able to move this so easily?

Rapunzel suddenly started to talk to Jamie, frantically. But her white gag was muffling her words. Jamie stared at her, wondering what she was trying to say. She started to shake her head frantically to get the gag out of her mouth. Jamie reached over and pulled it out. "What—?" He swallowed gasp when a sharp pain exploded in his back. A gurgling noise followed afterword's. He slowly looked down to see a red dot grow rapidly on his hoodie. He placed a shaky hand on the spot before he looked slowly to a horrified Rapunzel. He felt something warm flood out of his mouth as he slowly tumbled down to his side.

"JAMIE!" Rapunzel screamed in horror as she watched the young teenager fall onto the ground. Gothel stood above the boy, the bloodied dagger held tightly in her hand. The whites of Rapunzel's eyes turned a light pick, irritated from the tears that started to well. "You…you…monster!" Rapunzel yelled at Gothel.

"Now, that's not a nice thing to say to your mother, Rapunzel…" Gothel said in a low, dark voice.

"You…are not my mother!" Rapunzel spat.

Gothel's eyes darkened. She threw the dagger to the ground, having it pierce the ground near Jamie's head. She stepped over him to get to Rapunzel. She kicked the rock away from the rope, grabbing it tightly and wrapping it around one of her wrists before Rapunzel had a chance to escape. "You…are coming with me and we will talk about your behavior. These people you've been with have polluted your mind." She yanked Rapunzel to her feet. "So…stop struggling!"

"No!"

"Rapunzel!" Gothel's voice rang through the dead night. "You are coming with me where no one can find you again. Not even those blasted Guardians!" She tugged at the rope. "Now, come on!"

"No—!" Rapunzel heard a high-pitched whose of air and heard a rip close to her ears. She looked behind her to see her hair split apart and fall to the ground. A twang was heard on the other side. She looked over to see an arrow impaled in a tree. Her eyes darted to Gothel, who darted down to the pick up the long locks that was cut off. The golden hair started to turn brown.

"No…no!" Gothel screeched as she gathered the browning hair. She watched her skin turn grey and wrinkly; she could see every bone in her hands. "What…have you done? What have you done?!" She shouted.

In the distance was a battle cry. Gothel spun around to see an enraged Merida emerge from the tree line, an iron great sword in her hands. She charged towards her and swung the blade above her head. Merida swiped the sword down but all it met was a cloud of dust and earth. Bellow her sword was Gothel's clothing in a heap. Gothel was no dead, after all these years of cheating death.

Merida rushed to Rapunzel and cut her free from her bindings with one quick jerk of her blade. Rapunzel bolted for Jamie.

"Jamie!" She cried, falling down to her knees. She turned him onto his back. She covered her mouth with her hand when she was only greeted with glassed-over brown eyes looking up towards the sky. Her hand parted away from her mouth and it shook as it made its way down to Jamie's face. It was cold to the touch. "No…no, no, no! Jamie!" She started signing her song under her breath. "I can't…heal him…" Her eyes snapped up to Merida, who had tears streaming down her cheeks. "Why did you cut my hair?! I could…I could save him!"

"I had no choice!" Merida said between hicks. "Gothel was goin' ta take ya away!"

The girls heads went up to the sky when they heard the familiar roar of Toothless. They watched as Hiccup landed near them. He quickly got off of Toothless. "Rapunzel! You're alright—" He stopped when he saw their tears. "What's…wrong…?" He approached them and he gasped. "Oh…gods…" He looked at Merida. "Wh…what happened?"

Merida flinched when he heard Jack's voice calling Rapunzel's voice in the distance.

Jack bolted out of the trees, floating above the ground, looking around frantically. His eyes fixed on the rest of the Big Four. "Guys, I heard Rapunzel scream and—" His voice stopped and there was a light thud, Jack falling down to his knees when he realized who was on the ground. His mouth moved but no words came out. Silent sobs shook his shoulders as he curled into himself. Rapunzel got up slowly and the rest of the Four took a step back. Jack brought himself closer to his first Believer and took him into his arms. Small teardrop-shaped pieces of ice fell onto Jamie's face and Jack hugged him close to his body. He stayed like this for a long time.

Rapunzel approached Jack slowly, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Jack…"

"Stop." Jack's voice shook. "Just…just…stop…" His voice was quiet when he asked after a long pause, "Why…? Why didn't you save him?"

"Jack…my magic is gone—"

"Did you even try?!" Jack yelled, facing Rapunzel.

"Y-Yes—"

"You didn't try hard enough!" Jack exclaimed. "How could you let him die?!"

Hiccup took a step forward. "Jack, it isn't Rapunzel's—"

"Shut up."

"Jack…"

"I said shut up!" Jack screamed on the top of his lungs. "You…all of you…you did nothing! You could save him, all of you! Now…n-now, he's dead! You watched him die! You could…you should've saved him!" He stood up slowly, grabbing his staff. "YOU LET HIM DIE!"

"Jack, no, we—"

"Stop!" Jack screamed. "The only person I cared about, my best friend…" White frost started to form underneath his feet. "I knew I should have sent him home! I knew he shouldn't have been a part of this!" His eyes snapped over to Rapunzel and pointed at her with his staff. "Try again."

Rapunzel shook her head. "Jack—"

"DO IT!" The others jumped at that. Rage and grief filled Jack's eyes. His voice broke when he whispered, "Please…"

Rapunzel sniffed and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "Okay…okay…I'll…I'll try again…" She made her way to Jamie and took him in her arms as she sat down. She looked up to Jack when she felt his gaze burn through her. She was scared to tell him that her magic was gone. With that look in his eyes…she…couldn't. Her focus went back to Jamie. She sniffed loudly before she sang quietly, "Flower, gleam and glow…let your power shine. Make the clock reverse, b-bring back what once was mine…" She took a deep breath when tears threatened to fall. "Heal…what has b-been hurt…" She hicked back her tears. "Ch-ch-change the…the Fates design…bring…bring b-back what once was mine…" Nothing happened, just as she feared. She whispered the last line, "What once was mine…" Her stored tears broke free when she closed her eyes, unable to hold back her crying anymore.

Jack shook his head in disbelief when nothing happened. "No, no that was…th-th-th-that was supposed to work…" He ran his fingers through his hair. "It-it was supposed to—!"

Merida gripped onto Jack's shoulder. "I'm…I'm sorry, Jack…"

Jack jerked his shoulder out of Merida's grip. He knelt down in front of Rapunzel. "Do it again."

"Jack…" Hiccup said under his breath.

"Rapunzel, try it again!"

Rapunzel shook her head slowly as sobs rocked her body. A lone tear splashed onto Jamie's face.

Hiccup wiped his nose with sleeve and rubbed his eyes with his palms. When he pulled his hand away, he saw a faint glow coming Jamie's abdomen. "U-Uh…guys…?"

Merida looked up from her hands and gasped.

Jack and Rapunzel looked down and their eyes widened. A golden light grew in intensity on Jamie's stomach, taking over the entire blood stain. A flower made of light bloomed from the wound and when the light disappeared, so did the red stain.

Jack gasped when Jamie's eyes fluttered open. Jamie's eyes drifted over to Jack and said in a weak voice, "Jack…?"

Jack mouth curled up to a smile and a relieved laugh erupted from him. He took Jamie into his arms and squeezed him tightly. "You're…you're okay…" Jack stated quickly.

Rapunzel couldn't help but hug Jamie as well. Jamie found the weight on him added on, seeing that all the Big Four were hugging him. When they all pulled away, he asked, "Wh…what happened…?"

Jack chuckled lightly, "It doesn't matter."

The joy left the group when the moon's light disappeared. They all looked up to see the moon getting engulfed by crackling black sand. An evil laugh filled the air.

Pitch.

This chapter to everyone who takes time out of their day to read and comment on my story...and my girlfriend, who helped me get back on my feet again and back into the habit of writing. I hope I get to see you guys again soon.