"We were all someone before we became a guardian. In a way, we are that person still."

I sit alone in my childhood bedroom. Ice encases the window pane.

But this time it is not my ice that keeps me locked in here.

"Elsa." Anna knocks on my door. "Elsa, please, I know you're in there."

I bury my face in my hands. It is only a dream. I remind myself. But I know it is a memory too.

"Can't that girl take a hint? She never leaves you alone." A dark, quiet voice separates from the shadows.

I sit up. "Who's there?"

There is no answer. I hear Anna's shoes click across the floor as she slowly walks away from my door.

"Who are you?" I ask again.

The shadows shift slightly. "I am no one at all."

I stand up. I have no power to protect me, no strength to fight back. But I do not fear the voice in the darkness.

For this is a dream and nothing more. No one can harm me here.

I pick up the flickering candle from the table next to my bed. I walk over to the corner, my nightgown fluttering around my ankles.

Light spills from my candle and scatters the shadows.

A dark form crouches in the corner, his head turned away from me.

"Pitch?"

**

Pitch rubs his gray hands together. His eyes are empty-as if the fire that burned inside them has been put out.

The strangest thing is that I no longer fear him.

He almost looks like a child with his knees tucked under his chin.

"Why did you call me the Snow Queen?" It is the only thing I can think to say. I am not sure what he is doing in my dream.

Pitch shrugs. "She told me that you were the Snow Queen. I knew she was going to take your powers but I thought that it was just so that she could curse your kingdom. I had to make sure that Jack Frost wouldn't destroy me."

Silence beats between us.

Finally, Pitch says, "There are many guardians. You've already met the North who is the Guardian of Wonder. Sandy is the Guardian of Dreams. Tooth is the Guardian of Memories and Bunnymund is the Guardian of hope. Frost is the Guardian of fun."

Why is he telling me this? Does he have a point?

"There is one more guardian."

"There is?" I ask.

"Yes. He's not the oldest, but he is the most powerful. The Guardian of Fear. I am a guardian too, Elsa. I am the Guardian of Fear. Children believe in the other guardians because of me. Without my darkness and nightmares, they would have no need for a Sandman to watch over their dreams. Or a Santa Claus to give them presents or a Tooth Fairy to keeps their memories. I am the reason why there are even guardians." Pitch meets my gaze. "The moon didn't just call them, he called me too."

"Perhaps the moon did call you. But why would you want to be feared? I am feared and I hate it."

Pitch covers his face with his hands. "I would rather be feared than forgotten."

I stare at him.

Is this some sort of trick? Does Pitch have another scheme up his sleeve?

I don't know what to believe.

I don't trust him, I never will, but I do pity him. I know what it is to be alone. Sometimes I felt invisible and forgotten.

If it had not been for Anna's endless love, I don't know what would have become of me.

I sit down next to Pitch. I lean my head against the wall and tuck the nightgown around my legs. I set my candle next to me. The light flickers against the darkness of my bedroom.

"Pitch, before you became the King of Nightmares, before the moon chose you, who were you?"

"I've already told you." He lifts his head. His dim yellow eyes stare across my room. "I was no one."

I frown. "But North said that every guardian was someone before they were chosen."

"Why does it matter?" Pitch glares at me. "Why are you even talking to me?"

I fold my arms. "You are the one in my dream."

He doesn't move, but says, "I will leave then."

"No!" I reach for his arm, but jerk my hand back before I can touch him. He's right-why am I talking to him? I should despise him, hate him.

He has taken everything away from me.

But I don't want to be alone-even if just in a dream. I want someone to stay and he is the only one around.

And maybe I am curious. I want to know why he did what he did.

"Tell me who Gothel really is. Why did you want me to bring Jack to you? I just want answers."

Pitch shrugs. "I suppose you do have a right to know. Nothing matters anymore." He sighs. "I needed Jack because she could not make the sleep curse without his staff. I never thought that she would use it on me too."

"Why would you help her in the first place?" I ask. I have a feeling that this story is much longer than I thought. The deceit reaches far beyond my view.

"If you really want to know, then don't interrupt me again. Long ago, a young woman came to me. She wanted to stay young forever and was willing to give up anything in order to do so. I told her of a flower, a special flower that would give her what she wanted. And in return, she promised me one thing. She told me that she knew about the prophecy that said, "Darkness will meet its death because of snow and ice." She said that it was coming soon. She offered me a weapon. She said that I could only survive if I fought ice with ice. She promised to give me a Snow Queen who would destroy the Spirit of Winter."

I gape at him. "But I thought that she was the Snow Queen."

"Now you understand why I was caught off guard. For over two decades I was led to believe that you were the Snow Queen. For every king, a queen. The King of Nightmares and the Queen of Snow. I thought that together we would be invincible."

"I don't understand."

Pitch rubs his hand over his face. "Perhaps it would be easier if I showed you what happened."

Before I can protest, his cold, long fingers press against my head. My eyes close, ushering me into a dream within a dream.