Anna let her eyes trail over the intricate detailing of the castle. It seemed that there was a definitive theme- snowflakes. Every surface was covered with faint snowflake patterns, each one different then the next. Jack himself was impressed, watching as he himself created patches of ice over her creation with each step he took, his designs nowhere near as symmetrical or delicate as the Queen's. Every great the two took escaped in a thick cloud, the air slightly opaque before it disappeared in a thin mist.

"Your sister made this?" Jack asked Anna out of the side of his mouth, blue eyes trailing the rails on the staircase that was on the opposite side of the room. Anna nodded.

"Yup," she gulped, "that's my sister alright, building castles on mountains." Clutching her arms, she shivered, and she swore she could hear her own teeth chatter, it was so cold. Jack noticed, a look of concern flashing in his kind blue eyes.

"Anna, are you sure you want to do this?" he asked, watching as she began to tremble violently.

"She's my si-sister, J-Jack," she stuttered, "of course…. of course I want to do this!" Jack bit his lip- he was fine in these conditions because he and been accustomed to it all his life, having spent three hundred years beneath an ice covered lake. But Anna will surely freeze to death, he thought, letting himself catch a glimpse of their reflection in the wall as they walked further into the castle.

"Ah, Jack!" Pitch's voice boomed suddenly, making the two freeze on the spot.

"Pitch?" Jack called, hatred creeping into his voice. The boogeyman was nowhere to be seen, his voice the only clearance that he was with them. Watching. Waiting deep in the shadows to grab them when they least expected it. Pitch's laugh rumbled, making Anna flinch. Just the mere sound of it sounded…. dark. As if this Pitch Black was going to rip everything away from her in a single heartbeat, a single blink of her blue eyes. And he probably already has, she thought as Jack suddenly pushed her behind him, staff at the ready. Clearing her throat, she let out a wet cough, mucus sticking to her mittens.

"No need to yell, Jack," Pitch said, and the two found the familiar golden eyes peek out from the rarest corner of the room. A creepy black mist seeped int the room, flowing like a river along the floor. Anna let out a faint yelp, her fingers grabbing for Jack's blue sweatshirt as she shuffled backwards, nearly falling over in the process. Catching her, Jack whispered, "Anna, it will be okay, everything's gonna be fine!" The words were meant to comfort her, she knew, but there was no comfort in her eyes when she looked at Jack. What Jack saw…. he could only describe it as sadness. And fear. And longing. But most of all there was loneliness. A loneliness that rivaled his own after his three hundred years of sleep. But there was something different about her loneliness, he thought, there was that feeling of remorse, deep in the pit of her being and his mind was suddenly racing. Thoughts of who he was before he became a Guardian flooded his brain. She just wants to protect the one she loves most, he thought.

"Promise, Jack?" Anna asked, her voice taking on a quaint, child-like quality, as if she were a little girl instead of a grown woman. Hesitantly, Jack snuck a quick look at Pitch, who was waiting silently for them, then back at Anna, tears in her eyes.

"I promise, Anna," he said soothingly, "with all my heart, I promise you that you will get your sister back…. You just have to believe in me." Taking hold of her fingers, he undid them from their grip one by one, until she let her hand fall idly at her side. Sighing, Jack faced Pitch, who now had a smirk on his face.

"Now that we're done with the pity party," he said mockingly, "why don't we just skip the formalities and get on with it, eh?" Jack narrowed his eyes at Pitch, gripping his staff so hard his knuckles turned white.

"What is it you want, Pitch?" Jack demanded, his void echoing with triumph. Pitch rolled his eyes.

"What is it you think i want?" he teased.

"I-is my sister here?!" Anna suddenly shouted, her face red with a new bout of anger.

"Hello, Your Majesty," Pitch snarled with an over exaggerated bow.

"Anna!" Jack hissed at the rincess- there was no way Anna would survive in a stand off against the boogeyman! Anna ignored the Guardian, wiping away snot as it dripped from her nose.

"Where. Is. My. Sister." Anna stressed each word carefully, her voice getting louder as she said each word.

"My my, aren't we greedy today?" Pitch asked, "sweet sweet Anna. Don't you realize? Your sister is here. Where she's always been. Where she belongs-"

"No!" Anna barked, stomping her feet, "Elsa does not belong here! She belongs at home with her people! Where she can live peacefully without anyone freaking out over her powers!" Pitch laughed, throwing his head back for emphasis.

"You are a riot, let me tell you," Pitch's laughter died down, "Anna, last time I checked, the kingdom want dyer for sorcery, no?" Anna opened her mouth, but she couldn't speak, her breath caught in her throat. He was right- guests at the coronation and screamed and run away in fear, the Duke of Wesleton sending guards after her.

"But-"

"But nothing, princess," Pitch spit at her, "there is nowhere but here for her. No one but me to guide her, watch her learn and grow!"

"No…." Anna protested, her voice faltering with a cough, "no! Elsa wouldn't collaborate with the likes of you!" Pitch raised an eyebrow, his long face looking somewhat longer, almost horse-like.

"You doubt me?" he asked, his tone light hearted, but Jack could hear the hint of malice underneath the mockery. With a cry of frustration, Anna suddenly pushed past Jack, eye shooting daggers at Pitch as she raced past him as well, trying her best to swerve around the strange darkness that surrounded him, the long shadow that stretched behind him.

"Princess Anna!" Jack called after her, running in a wild panic, then suddenly springing back as Pitch sent a wall of black ice at him, the shards coming close to slicing his ankles, severing his feet clean from their members.

"Let her go, Jack," Pitch warned. Jack pouted his staff defensively at Pitch, who rolled his eyes.

"What did you do with Elsa?!" Jack commanded.

"Are we still focused on that pitiable excuse of a Queen?" Pitch changed the subject, inspecting his nails as if they were the most interesting things in the world, something exotic and exciting.

"She isn't some bad excuse!" Jack shouted.

"And how would you know that, Jack Frost? How would you know that after spending three hundred something years under a sheet of ice?" His words stung, knifes digging into him, twisting deeper and deeper until he couldn't stand it, screaming with rage.

"How would you know?" Jack countered, drawing himself up to his full height, "you don't even know her!" Pitch shrugged, sweeping his robes forward as he approached the teenager, the black mist creating a thick fog until Jack couldn't see where he was standing, just his ankles disappearing into rotted sand.

"And neither do you," Pitch pointed out. Jack was taken aback. He did not now Elsa, as a friend, nor a family member. The Queen was just an idea in his head, having never actually seen her in person. But Anna knows her, Jack thought, gritting his teeth, and Elsa means the world to her- just like my sister did to me!

"And what will you do to help her, hmm?" Pitch asked, clasping his hands in front of him calmly.

"I- I…." Jack began, trailing off. He actually had no idea how to help her. Which was a very big problem. Pitch grinned, his golden eyes looking like an eclipse, the pupils so large it looked as if they would swallow the irises whole.

"How's about I show you what you can do to help?" Pitch suggested, beckoning him to follow as he waltzed away, following the path Anna had taken only moments before.