Hey, everyone! Here's the next chapter for you since you were all really awesome again! I really appreciate all the reviews. And Painapple, you were hilarious and awesome. Thank you for your long review, haha.

Anyway, this chapter's shorter than most of them, which I apologize for, but it has some really key hints in it about what's going on. Maybe some of you will figure it out from this? *chuckles* If you don't figure it out though, don't fret. Everything gets revealed in chapter 14, which is the last chapter. The end of the story's coming up quick, guys!

Disclaimer: I ain't be ownin' nothing. At least nothing related to ROTG, anyway.

It seemed to rub Brent the wrong way when he noticed I was walking in the direction away from the town. Apparently that was the wrong thing for Jack Frost to do when he was suddenly positioned in this setting and in these clothes. He ran up and stopped right in front of me, effectively blocking my path.

"Wait, aren't we supposed to be going and finding that hot chick of yours in town or something? Isn't that why we're here?"

I raised my eyes slowly to meet his, then dropped my gaze to the ground. "I think it best not to seek out Elisa. It wouldn't even be the real girl, just a figment." I then wrapped my arms around myself as though shielding myself from the cold and brushed past Brent. He watched me go with a stunned expression on his face.

After a moment, he recovered and ran up to keep pace with me. "Whoa, hang on," he said. "I thought you had the hots for that chick. Even if she's a figment, wouldn't you want to at least look at her?"

I stopped and glared at Brent. He should really know better than to ask questions like this. "Did you enjoy looking at Gabrielle when Chaos graciously showed her to you?"

Brent gulped, having a wide eyed look cross his features. His hands fidgeted for something to do. "B-But, that was different. I would never have wanted to rewatch how she died!"

I snorted. "And how are you so sure I wouldn't be experiencing the same thing?"

"The movie had nothing of the sort in it!"

I crossed my arms again, but stared at the ground, remorseful. "There are a few things I didn't tell the movie makers, Brent."

I then turned and started walking again. Brent called after me with, "What did you not tell them? Jack? Jack! What didn't you tell them?" But I couldn't bring myself to answer. Instead I just started whistling, and the snow began to fall.

Curious little Brent couldn't seem to leave well enough alone. He allowed me to stew in my own musings for a little while, but all these details I was telling him that he'd never suspected seemed to be so intriguing to him that he hungered for more, despite how much pain they caused either one of us. As soon as he decided it was safe, he approached me again. "So… Jack? If you actually, you know, had this phase," he waved to my clothes to clarify the meaning of his wording, "why aren't you still working with Holly and Snip and all those other guys like in the movie? Why would you ever want to work alone?"

I rounded on Brent, peeved with all his constant poking at my tender soul. Curiosity or not, there comes a point when you should just shy away and avoid crossing the line. "Whoever said I wanted to work alone? Huh?! What would ever make you think I would want that?"

He finally jumped backward and began to cower slightly like he should have long ago. My eyes burned with age old hurts that had never been rectified, and I think he was finally beginning to see that. But even age old hurts can't quence a burning curiosity. "But-But—if you don't want to be alone—why did you leave them?"

I'd had quite enough of this, and I threw my arms into the air in exasperation. "I didn't!" Then I kicked off the ground and flew as fast as I could to a quiet place where I could soothe my wounds in solitude for a while. I hoped Chaos would at least allow me that.

It was difficult to tell how much time had passed. Granted, I always struggle to keep track of time, since immortality tends to mess with one's internal clock a bit, but it was even harder in Chaos's realm. Still, it felt like I had been alone for several hours, just chilling out on a branch of a favorite old tree, when I heard the crunch of snow at the base of the tree.

"You know, if you're trying to hide, you might want to consider pulling your feet up so no one sees those crazy clothes of yours. That purple kind of stands out."

I rolled my eyes and then pulled my feet up into the branches as Brent had suggested. I didn't really want to talk to him just yet, but I was glad that Chaos had left the both of us alone. And I assumed he had been kind to Amanda too. Chaos seemed to have a soft spot for her.

Brent plopped down with a sigh into the snow at the base of the tree. It seemed he wasn't going to just leave me here to be alone. Pity. Oh well, I wasn't going to run off again unless he pushed my buttons.

After a few minutes of us just sitting there in silence, Brent spoke up. "Jack, I—I'm sorry. I shouldn't have—I mean—I'm sorry I keep flipping back and forth on whether I believe in you or not. I know it's not fair to you, but I just—you gotta understand that I've spent my entire life believing that everything in life can be explained. But all this…" He shook his head sadly. "I swear my mind is crumbling around me, Jack. Can you blame me for being a little scared of accepting that maybe, just maybe, you might actually exist?"

I sighed, then turned over on the branch so I could see him sitting there below me, looking subdued. "No," I said. "I can't blame you. I might have reacted similarly if I had been thrust into a situation like this when I was human. This ordeal is just hard on all of us."

Brent nodded silently, and I turned back over to rest on my back, satisfied that he at least knew I didn't hate him for his lack of belief. I understood. I really did. Sometimes belief is exactly what a person needs to get through hard times, and sometimes it's just the opposite. Brent just happened to be one of those who relied on the powers of his mind to get him through everything he'd experienced up until now, but it looked like he'd finally run into a challenge that his mind couldn't handle. Perhaps he needed to finally find something to believe in.

"What happened?" said Brent after a moment of silence.

"Hmm?" I turned my face to see him out of the corner of my eye.

"Y-You said you didn't leave your winter people, that you wouldn't want to work alone. What happened?"

I closed my eyes, unsure of whether to just give in and answer this question or to just leave it unspoken. Brent would understand if I couldn't bring myself to talk about it, I was sure. But at the same time, it might do me some good to actually share it with somebody. I'd kept everything cooped up inside long enough.

"We were attacked," I said as my eyes started to sting. I blinked hard to keep the stinging from forming into tears. Having to put up with tears frozen onto my face wasn't something I wanted to deal with at the moment. "Or rather, they were. I was away delivering snow at the time, and when I went back to report on my progress—" My voice caught and I choked. Brent remained silent, I assume out of pity. Or perhaps sympathy. He did know what it was like to lose a loved one, after all. I'm not sure if he'd ever lost his entire family though, or what he considered to be his family.

When I started to calm down a little, he pushed another question at me. "How are you able to bring winter everywhere when you were only bringing snow, not making it? I don't underst—"

"I've always had all the power I needed," I interrupted. There was no point in making him struggle to word the concept when I knew exactly what he was trying to say anyway. "A bunch of us winter sprites got together and formed a team to make winter more efficient, so I became the distributor rather than the—the everythinger. I guess someone didn't like our efficient little team and—and—" My voice cracked up again and I hid my face in my hands. I thought I would have been able to handle this by now, but it seemed I'd been wrong. Even after a few hundred years, it was still too soon.

Brent got to his feet and reached up to grasp my arm and give it a reassuring squeeze. "I don't know why I ever thought I'd conjured you up. Regardless of whether you're deluded or telling the truth about your identity, I would never have conjured up a story like that."

I breathed a sigh of relief just as a tingling spread over my whole body again, and my normal clothes returned to me at last. It seemed that Chaos agreed with me that the purpose of that challenge had been met. I wasn't sure that Brent had concluded he wasn't Chaos yet, but he'd at least decided that I wasn't a figment of his imagination. If nothing else, it meant he wouldn't have to suffer alone.

"Jack."

I startled awake at the sound of the voice intruding into my ears, then was surprised to realize I had fallen asleep. And that Chaos had let me. Maybe he realized how emotionally exhausted that last challenge had left me and actually felt sorry for me. Was he a good guy or a bad guy? I wish I knew.

"Can you hear me?"

I definitely could hear them, and I strained to get to my feet on my branch in the hopes of getting closer to the source of the voice so I could hear them better. But of course, it didn't help. I didn't even know where the voice was coming from, but it sounded familiar. Really familiar.

"Jack, I brought a book. I wanted to read you a story, if that's okay."

I nodded that it was okay, though I was uncertain as to whether the voice could see me or not. Maybe I should have responded audibly. Maybe the voice would have noticed then. But I wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy. Well, no more than usual, at least.

I turned to see Brent and Amanda sitting and chatting with each other on the ground. I pointed to the sky and said, "Hey, do you guys hear the voice?"

Brent raised an eyebrow. "You mean Chaos?"

I shook my head. "No, no, the new voice. The one that's asking me if they can read me a story."

Brent's eyebrow only raised a little higher. "You hearing voices now, Jack?"

I stamped my foot in irritation. I wasn't crazy. I didn't think I was, anyway. I'd honestly heard that voice, and I didn't think it was just something in my head. I had no idea why they couldn't hear the voice themselves, as it really did make me look like I was going insane, but somehow I thought that hearing this voice was the sanest thing I'd done since I'd first come to this strange land.

I looked up at the sky. "Who are you?" I whispered, even though I half knew the answer already. "Could you at least say your name?"

The voice didn't answer my question, although they didn't seem to have a problem with revealing their identity. "Remember this book, Jack? It's the one Sophie always begs me to read to her at bedtime. I thought you'd enjoy hearing it again."

"Jamie…" I whispered, awe filling my voice for a reason I could not explain. Jamie should have been someone I completely expected to have pop up at some point since we were so close. So why were tears suddenly running down my face and stinging my cheeks as they froze in place?

Brent noticed my ordeal and turned his attention to the sobbing clown standing above him, not surprisingly unnerved at having a sobbing clown going insane while standing over him. "What's the matter, Jack?"

"I-I'm just… crazy," I said, and I closed my eyes and hopped down to the ground to join them. Whether I was really hearing Jamie's voice or not, I should have been glad to hear it. Relieved even. The fact that I'd reacted to the contrary clearly just meant I was going insane. It was official now.

Anybody know what's going on yet? Haha, I'm still curious to hear your theories if you have them. I've never held suspense for this long in a story before, so hearing people's guesses is honestly very helpful, but you're free to say whatever you feel like saying in your reviews. I don't really care. I just like hearing from you, haha.

Well, guys, you know the drill. If I get reviews, I'll update quickly as I've been doing. If I don't, I'll update in a week. Heck, if I get reviews REALLY fast I'm happy to even update TODAY. Up to you guys. *chuckles* You can tell me how fast you want these chapters. ;)

Anyway, thanks again for reading. Hope to see you back here again next time!