Chapter Ten - Fixer-Upper

The four came into a large clearing after walking for some time. Krista had noticed that Aaron's demeanour had changed since his brother had chased them away. No longer was he the hopeful, happy, up-beat optimist with a clear goal in mind, but was now reserved and quiet, and from the looks of it; freezing. Krista noticed the Prince's body language, his arms brought into himself to keep out the harsh weather around them.

"Are you cold?" she asked.

Aaron's teeth could be heard chattering. "A little…" he replied.

Krista led the red-head to a nearby steam vent, its natural gas sending shoots of volcanic, warm mist up through holes in the ground. "Here, here," she gestured, and Aaron held out his hands. The relief form the small amount of heat was pleasant and soothing, and he breathed a small sigh. "Also, are you..." Krista began, not wanting to over-step her boundaries with personal questions, "Are you okay? I mean, when I brought up the white hair thing back there, you seemed to be kind of uncomfortable..."

Aaron sighed. "It's just... I was told that I was born with that other white streak. But, when Erik hit me just then, my hair turned even whiter. What if... what if I wasn't born with the white streak? What if Erik hurt me when I was young? What if he really is dangerous, and if he did do something before, why do I have no memory of it?" he ranted.

Krista cringed at the mention of memory. She remembered Grand-Papi taking his memories away as a kid, and she wasn't sure if he should hear it from her. "Boy, I don't know, Aaron," she said. "But what I do know is that you're probably hurt, and I know my family can help."

Aaron smiled. "If you say so." he said.

"I gotta warn you," Krista began, "My family is… weird. They're also a little… unkempt… uncouth… and… loud, like, really, really lou-"

"Krista," Aaron cut her off, "They sound wonderful." Aaron knew that any family would have been better than being shut out behind a closed door all your life. If they were loud and proud, Aaron wouldn't mind in the slightest.

Krista rubbed the back of her neck nervously and chuckled. "Alright… meet my family!" she said, and spread her arms. Aaron and Olga looked on in confusion, as the only thing that stood in this dark clearing were dozens and dozens of smooth, round, mossy boulders. "Hey, guys! I'm home for a little bit!" Krista spoke to her 'family' as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"They're… rocks…" Aaron breathed. Olga leaned up to Aaron and whispered slowly.

"She's coo-coo… I'll distract them while you run and never look behind you, embrace your future while you still can…. HI SVEN'S FAMILY! IT'S SO NICE TO MEET YOU!" she exclaimed in a patronising voice, tapping the head of one rock. "I UNDERSTAND YOU'RE EXPERTS ON ALL THINGS LOVE! Because I love you Aaron and because you contributed to making me therefore leading me to view you as a father/brother figure, I insist you run! Why aren't you running?!" she whispered.

"No no no, Olga, she's not coo-coo..." Aaron said, observing the rocks around him as he walked through the clearing, "These are... Krista, are these what I think they are?" he questioned, and Krista nodded.

"So the Northuldra magic is real?" Aaron said, and if his brother hadn't shot pure ice out of his hands the previous day, his mouth would have dropped open in awe.

Suddenly, the rocks started to roll, then moved as one to the centre of the clearing. In unison, they sprang up into lively forms, which were tiny troll creatures, each one with grassy hair, a potato nose and glowing crystal necklace.

"KRISTA'S HOME!" one of them cried when they saw the female ice harvester.

'Wait, Krista?" Olga breathed.

Krista immediately knelt down to embrace several of them at once, as they clambered over her with hugs and questions.

"Have you eaten? You look so thin! I make you food."

"Look, look, I earnt my fire crystal!"

"Krista, did you miss me?"

"Yes, yes, I missed all of you! But seriously, there's something important going on," Krista said as she placed down the last troll who had been clinging around her neck. "Where's Grand-Papi?" she asked.

"He's napping again. But look, I grew a mushroom!" a small troll said and displayed its hip, where a pudgy mushroom now protruded from.

Aaron chuckled in joyous disbelief. "The trolls are real! It wasn't just a dream!" he exclaimed.

Unanimously, every troll turned to face who had just spoken. One from the centre of the crowd sprang up and cried, "She's brought home a boy!"

The entire crowd cheered and picked up Aaron, despite his protests, and carried him to Krista on a crowd wave, where they dumped him right in front of the blonde girl. The two sheepishly took a step back, their cheeks blushing.

"Let's take a look…" one of the head trolls, clearly a mother of the pack, jumped up onto a rock and took Aaron's face in her hands. "Dreamy eyes, good nose, strong teeth… yes! What a healthy specimen!" she praised.

"Woah, Bulda, he's a boy, not a horse!" Krista exclaimed.

"Either way, he'll do nicely for our Krista! We always knew you'd do well for yourself, honey," said Bulda. The two eighteen year olds just shook their heads.

"Woah, woah, woah. I'm not…" Aaron began.

"Yeah, we're not…" Krista stammered, to which the motherly troll only smirked, an eyebrow raised.

"What's the problem, honey?" she began, turning to the red-head, "Is it the sheer lack of femininity? The body odour? The back-chat and sass mouthing? The criminal record? Because from besides being a bit of a fixer-upper, she is the sweetest gal you're ever gonna meet." Krista blushed, and Aaron let out an 'awwww'.

He was amazed at the way Krista came alive when the trolls were with her. It was like a whole new part of her was unlocked; a warm, loving side that prevailed from under her hardened heart.

"I mean, we're not saying you can change her or anything, because let me tell you sweetie, people don't change the way they live their lives," Bulda continued, "But love is a strange feeling." Aaron knelt down to look the troll in the eye. Maybe there was something to this 'experts on all things love' title. "It's painful, embarrassing, ugly, but also the best thing in the world! When people are mad, scared, stressed, you name it, they make bad choices and assumptions about people. But just throw some love their way, and you can't go wrong! Krista's the most huggable person ever deep down, I promise ya!" she said, and the crowd cheered in response.

Everyone here seemed to really love each other, maybe their words were worth listening too. Aaron considered what the troll had said. When he agreed to marry Harmony, the decision had been so rash, so quick, that the pure adrenaline rush had clouded his judgement. Did he really love her? But before he could properly think about it, the troll spoke again.

"In fact, let's seal the deal right now. Whadd'ya say, folks?" Bulda gestured to the crowd, and they cheered in response. Before Aaron and Krista could ask what she meant, a new troll came walking down the aisle, an official looking book in his hands, talking as he cleared the distance between himself and the humans.

"Do you, Krista, take this man, to be your lawfully wedded-"

"Wait, what is happening?" Krista asked.

"You're getting married." the ice harvester and the Prince's eyes widened, before Aaron tumbled forward, a small cry of pain escaping his lips. More white streaks grew in his hair, and he suddenly felt so weak.

"Aaron? Are you okay?" asked Krista, who held the smaller human in her arms. But before he could answer, a pathway formed in the crowd and a new troll rolled down it, springing up when it came to the red-head.

"There is strange magic here," he said. "Krista, bring Aaron closer."

As Aaron struggled over to take the outstretched hands of this new, kingly looking troll, a thought crossed his mind. "How do you know my name?" he croaked through his weakened state.

"You have been here before, my boy. For once there was ice in your head put there by your brother, now there is ice in your heart."

Aaron's eyes widened. "Wait. My brother?"

The troll sighed. "When you were young, your brother accidentally struck you with his powers, freezing over your brain entirely. I was able to remove it with ease, but I also removed all memory of Erik's magic from your mind as well, to keep you safe from something like that happening again… or worse."

Aaron held back tears. So that was what his brother had meant by keeping him safe. So that was why his memories never truly felt right. So that was why his hair was streaked with white. His suspicions were confirmed.

"But you can fix it though, right?" Krista asked, kneeling down to Papi's level.

"I cannot, Krista, I'm sorry. If only it were his head again. But now, my fear from all those years ago has come true. If this ice is not removed, then, Aaron, you will turn to solid ice," the crowd gasped. "Only and act of pure love will thaw a frozen heart."

"Oooooh, a loving kiss, perhaps? There's no purer love than that!" cried the motherly troll who drew her husband in closer and gave him a big smooch. Something in Aaron and Krista's mind clicked.

"Aaron, we have to get you to Harmony!" Krista exclaimed.

Aaron managed to nod. "H-Harmony… right…" he muttered. Although, after all he'd been through recently, Harmony had been the farthest thing from his mind up until now. Krista loaded Aaron and Olga onto Sven, waved goodbye to the crowd and galloped off, the crowd cheering and wishing them luck as they road away.

"Let's go kiss Harmony!" Olga cried as they rode away, a finger pointed to the sky in a heroic stance. "…Who is this Harmony?"