"It's about time you showed up." I say without turning around.

"Were you expecting me?"

I fold my arms. "I looked for you, but you never came. I went to sleep because I knew you would not be able to resist haunting my dreams. I was right."

"Why so eager to talk to me?" Pitch asks.

Wind beats against my bare arms. Snow covers the mountains below the star-laden sky.

I cannot escape the cold, not even in my dreams.

"I had an interesting conversation today. I met a woman named Gothel. I assume you locked her in that tower."

"Why are you telling me this?"

I grit my teeth. "She disappeared after our little talk. In fact, the entire tower disappeared."

"And...? Your point is?"

"Pitch!" I stomp around until I am facing him. "I told you to leave me alone-"

His low, dark laughter rings through the mountain range. "And yet you chase me down."

"Only because I need to know what you are doing. Who was that woman? Was her story about the needle real?"

"Before I tell you about this woman you met, I have a different story for you. A story about a boy named Jack."

"Jack?" I hold out my hands. "I don't know a Jack! And how can this possibly connect to the woman in the tower?"

"You may not know him, but he did know you. You are a queen, Elsa. But before that, you were a princess and you met many commoners. He was one of them."

I shrug. "Do you honestly expect me to remember every peasant that I come in contact with?"

Pitch's golden eyes burn into me. "You may not remember him, but do you remember the conversation I showed you between the troll and your sister?"

"How could I forget?" I wish that I could erase Anna's words. But I did hurt her time and time again. That guilt shall be burned into my heart until the day I pass from this world.

"The troll said that your storm had created another guardian, one with ice powers."

I do recall him saying something like that, but I was too busy falling apart to care.

"That person is Jack."

"I thought that he was just a commoner. How can he have ice powers?"

Pitch looks down at me. "He fell through the ice-your ice-in order to save his little sister. The moon-" He spits out the word as if it were a personal insult. "-saved him and replaced his memories with powers."

"Do you think the moon was the one who gave me my powers?" I ask.

Pitch laughs again. "No, your powers came from someone much younger than the moon, although not by much. You must find these guardians and bring Jack back here for me."

"Why do you want him? And why would I ever help you?"

"Because you will do whatever you can to return to your sister. Your snow still covers Arendelle. It is a constant reminder of your betrayal. Every day, Arendelle freezes more. I have the power to lift the curse of winter. Everything can go back to the way it was before."

Even without the evidence of my betrayal, I know that no one, especially not my sister, will be able to forget that I have done. But at least when summer returns we might be able to move forward.

I fold my arms. "Do you promise to bring back summer if I deliver this Jack to you?"

"Yes. He is dangerous, so be careful."

"Why? What has he done?"

Pitch shakes his head. "It's not what he has done. It is what he will do. A great prophecy foretold that my end would come because of snow and ice. This young guardian was created to destroy me. For now, he's weak, but soon the others will find him."

"How am I supposed to convince him to come with me? Why would he even listen to me?"

"Like I said, he knows you. He'll trust you. You are his queen after all."

"But he doesn't remember me." I frown.

Pitch's eyes trail past me. His voice is deep and ancient. I wonder how old he truly is. "There are things that the mind might forget, but the heart never will."

"I doubt you would know anything about that." I scoff. This monster in front of me might look like a man. But the darkness inside him is transparent. It reflects in his gray skin and golden eyes.

Slowly, Pitch turns his head toward me. "Little queen, do not think that you know everything or everyone. People are made up of many layers. You cannot judge by looking only at the first ."

I shrug, "I have no desire to discover any more of your layers. I have despised you from the moment you knocked on my castle door."

"I have hated you much longer than that." He chants the words, as if we are children in the village throwing rocks at each other, our anger harmless and petty. "Now, these guardians may seem kind, but they are not. I am merely warning you. They want to destroy me...and you. They fear power."

"Most people do." I shrug. Snow begins to swirl in the air around me. Our conversation-and my dream is coming to an end.

"Yes, but these guardians take what is not theirs. They say that the moon chose them, but that means nothing. Even the moon can make mistakes." Pitch grits his teeth. He blinks and his focus turns back to me. "Our time is over. They are coming, just as I said they would."

The snowflakes beat through the air until I can no longer see the King of Nightmares. "Who's coming?" I cry, my voice lost in the storm.

A thought brushes through my mind and somehow I know that it is from him. "Remember...I am giving you summer. If you do not bring Jack to me, then your storm will not only return, but will destroy your entire kingdom."

And then my eyes open.