The Winter Servant

by Elphaba818

Jackson Overland was born a servant in the Arendelle castle, and he does a good job. The only problem? His uncontrollabe ice and snow powers. On the night of Queen Elsa's coronation, he accidentally sets off an eternal winter throughout the kingdom and runs away. But his little sister, the new queen, and some new royal friends are on a mission to bring him back home. RotBTFD story.

2. The Years of Isolation

Here it is everyone! Chapter two of my new story! This chapter literally wrote itself what with how fast I managed to carve it out, and I sincerely hope that you all enjoy it! And I'm also shocked by how long it is. When I outlined the entire story, I never anticipated that this chapter would end up being as long it turned out to be. It just goes to show just descriptive I am when I write, I suppose. Well either way, I hope that all of you, my dear readers, will still keep reading this story.

This chapter was half done already when I posted chapter one, as I was waiting for Silken Danser to beta chapter one before I posted it. However, I am waiting for Silken to get back to me about betaing chapter two, but I am posting chapter ahead anyway without it being critiqued. Once she gives me her revisions, I'll upload this chapter again.

Also, I have not even started on chapter three yet, and since college starts up for me again next week... I'm going to be honest here and say that all of you might be waiting for awhile to read chapter three. As for how long you will be waiting... I don't know. But I'll try not to forget about this story as I juggle it alongside college!

In other news, I'm so happy to have received four reviews for chapter one! Positive reviews keep me motivated to write after all! I'd like to take this time to thank all those who took the time to review chapter one of The Winter Servant:

- ZabuzasGirl

- Guest (In the future, please leave a name so I can properly acknowledge you in any future AU notes)

- Cloud4012

- XYZArtemis

Thank you all so much for your kind thoughts and statements saying that my prompt for the story is interesting! I hope you will all keep reading! ;)

Please note: I do not own the movies Frozen, Rise of the Guardians, Brave, Tangled, or How to Train Your Dragon. Frozen, Brave, and Tangled belong to Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Rise of the Guardians and How To Train Your Dragon both belong to Dreamworks Animation. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit!

Don't forget to leave a nice review when you're done reading! Reviews keep my creative juices flowing for this story! :)

EDIT:

As of 1/18/17, this chapter has been edited by my beta reader Silken Danser. Other than a few tweaks here and there with grammar mistakes, pretty much everything is still the same.

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Chapter Two: The Years of Isolation

There was a loud thump from the sound of a knuckle rapping repeatedly on the wood that made up the bedroom door of the two princesses of Arendelle.

"Princess Elsa? Princess Anna? It is time to get up!"

Elsa's eyelids fluttered a bit as she turned over in her bed to avoid the harsh sunlight pouring in from hers and Anna's large bedroom window, and also tried to ignore the knocks on the door that were undoubtedly from the castle servant, Gerda. While the Crown Princess of Arendelle was much more ladylike than her younger sister, and did everything she could to be a good heir to the throne one day for her parents King Agnar and Queen Idun, the one thing that Elsa hated more than anything were the early morning wake up calls her mother scheduled every day with the servants. And for some strange reason, Elsa felt even more tired than she usually did whenever she first awoke. It was rather odd that she felt so tired. She and Anna had been sent to bed by their parents at their normal bedtime of eight o'clock and they both fell right asleep, and stayed that way all night… didn't they?

Elsa felt drained. She felt almost like how she usually did whenever she and Anna snuck out of bed some nights when Jack invited them to come and play with him. Those days had been rather few lately, ever since their friend had become a big brother, but still, why did she feel so tired it was as though she had been awake for over half the night?

Jack didn't come to play with them last night… right?

Her mind felt fuzzy. Part of her was absolutely certain that she and Anna had stayed in their bedroom all night last night, but another small part of her couldn't help but feel as though she was forgetting something. Something very important. But what was it?

Another knock on the door interrupted her internal musing.

"Princess Elsa? Princess Anna? Are you both awake yet?"

Elsa yawned and rubbed her eyes with her small hand as she slowly sat up in bed. "I'm awake, Gerda. I'll wake up Anna, don't worry," she called out sleepily.

"Very good, Princess. Your parents are expecting you both in the dining room for breakfast."

"Thank you, Gerda. We'll be out soon."

Upon hearing the sound of light footfalls strolling down the hall away from the door, Elsa tiredly ran her fingers through her hair as she swung her legs out of her enormous bed and stood up. But then, the little princess felt a small shock run through her body as she happened to catch sight of a few strands of her hair still tangled in between her fingers.

Platinum blonde hair.

Blonde hair.

Not chestnut brown hair.

Wasn't her hair supposed to be brown? Just like Elsa's internal confliction over wondering whether or not she and Anna had been up all night, she was now completely befuddled by something that shouldn't ever be such a confusing thing for her. The color of her hair. Her very appearance. Hair was such a natural part of her body that other than combing and styling it into her signature French braid, Elsa never really thought twice about her hair. She was still too young to truly appreciate various hairstyles, after all. But still, she didn't understand why she could be confused as to why her hair was one color and not another. She was a platinum blonde rather than a brunette. She still felt a little muddled, as though something in her mind was fighting against the memories of herself growing up with blonde hair, but then she shook her head to brush those ideas aside. It didn't really matter in the end whether or not she was a platinum blonde or a brunette. She was still Elsa at the end of the day. Crown Princess of Arendelle and older sister to the second-born princess, Princess Anna. She was still herself in the end.

And besides, even if she had been momentarily confused as to something as simple as the color of her hair, it wasn't like she had forgotten anything truly important.

Resolving herself to forget all about her sleepy confusion, Elsa padded her way up to her younger sister's bed and stared at the small body sprawled out across the covers, only to start quietly giggling as she noticed her sister's appearance.

Anna's appearance every morning while still asleep was a constant source of amusement for Elsa. Just like always, Anna's entire body was spread out on the bedspread with her limbs in every direction as she lay on her stomach. A thick trail of drool dribbled out of her mouth and onto her satin pillow, and her hair was in a complete disarray. Her sister's beautiful strawberry-blonde hair seemed to form that of one huge mop of tangled knots gathered near the very top of her head, making her look all the more silly and absurd.

Elsa giggled a bit before leaning over her younger sister's body to try and shake her awake. It would take long enough to get Anna's hair untangled from that great big mess. The sooner she woke her sister up and brushed out the huge knots in her hair, the sooner they could both join their parents for breakfast.

"C'mon, Anna! Wake up!"

Anna groaned a bit before groggily turning over and opening her small blue eyes.

"Hmm…? Yeah, Elsa?" she groaned tiredly.

Elsa stifled a giggle when she finally got a good look at her little sister. Her thick mop of hair was more tangled up than usual this morning, looking more like a wild bird's nest rather than hair at the moment. Elsa thought that she had seen the worst case of Anna's bedhead a year ago, when the small girl once decided to sneak inside the royal vault to steal a crown and play dress up in the middle of the night without telling either her big sister or their mutual servant friend, and then fell asleep while wearing the small tiara. When she woke up the next day, her strands of hair had been horribly tangled into the intricately detailed gold headpiece, and although she had been scolded by their parents, it took hours for Gerda and Jack's mother Kirsten to carefully untangle the mess, occasionally snipping away the worst of the knots of hair that were too painful for Anna to bear while they worked on getting the crown out. Jack had found the entire situation to be downright hilarious and had playfully teased Anna about the incident for at least a month afterwards, and though Elsa hadn't been pleased with him for making fun of her only little sister, even she had to admit that Anna's predicament had been rather funny.

Now though, seeing Anna's hair look so unruly after a natural sleep, Elsa had trouble keeping a neutral composure.

But then, Elsa noticed that Anna's eyes were starting to droop again, and she hurriedly shook her shoulder to keep the girl awake.

"Don't fall back asleep, Anna. Gerda came. She says Mama and Papa are expecting us for breakfast."

"Oh, okay…" the little five-year-old mumbled. But then she sunk back down onto the pillows and closed her eyes again. "Tell me later…"

Elsa sighed. Waking up Anna in the morning was like trying to talk to a wall. All but impossible. Anna could sleep like the dead, and anything said to her would go in one ear and out the other. Well, all but one thing, that is. And that was really the only thing that could get her awake most mornings.

"Well, okay then, Anna. I suppose I'll just have to ask Papa if he doesn't mind just the two of us going to the village to get some delicious chocolates…"

For good measure, Elsa casually strolled away from Anna's bed to go over to her dresser and get ready for the day.

Three…

Two…

One…

"Chocolate?!"

Bingo.

Within seconds, the youngest Arendelle princess was sitting upright in her bed, her eyes wide and awake as she gazed excitedly at her big sister and an eager smile on her small round face.

Elsa giggled. The promise of chocolate could bribe Anna to do anything. It even worked on her whenever her parents needed her to work harder in her princess lessons.

"Well, no guarantees, Anna, because Papa never promised to take us with him into town today, but we can try begging him later! The chocolates that that vendor gets imported from the other kingdoms are so good!"

"Yeah! Let's ask Mama and Papa if we can all go together at breakfast! We can even invite Jack, and he can bring Emma, too!"

"Sounds good. Let's get dressed, 'kay?"

"Yep! Oh, but could you brush my hair? I love it when you brush it!"

"Of course, Anna. Go get the hairbrush."

Anna hurriedly scrambled out of her bed and all but dashed across the expanse of their enormously large bedroom to go and get the hairbrush off the dark wooded surface of the small, child-sized vanity table against one wall, and then planted herself down in the small cushioned seat in front of it before looking pleadingly back over to Elsa as she stuck out her lower lip, silently begging her to come over and brush her hair like she promised.

Elsa just shook her head a bit in amusement as she stepped over to the vanity table, took the brush from Anna's hand, and began running the semi-soft bristles through her sister's messy hair. "You're so silly, Anna."

"Maybe. But I'm still your silly little sister!"

Elsa initially laughed at that, but then she caught sight of something in her sister's hair that she nearly overlooked because of how hidden away it was in the tangled knots of strawberry-blonde locks.

A single streak of white-blonde tresses.

Just like her own hair.

"What's this?" she questioned, her unease and confusion mounting upon seeing this unknown strand of hair on her little sister's head.

"What's what, Elsa?"

"This. These strands of white hair," she explained, even managing to separate the few locks of white tresses away from the rest of the mops of tangled red to hold it up so Anna could get a clear look in the round mirror in front of them. "I don't remember this being here before…"

Immediately, Anna turned around in her seat to give her a quizzical look. "What are you talking about, Elsa? I've always had this in my hair!"

"What? What are you talking about? I… I'm pretty sure I've never seen this white hair on you before, Anna. Just like I don't really remember being a blonde before now…"

Now the five-year-old looked at her older sister like she was crazy. "Are you still half asleep, Elsa? I've had this white strand in my hair for as long as I can remember! And you've always been a blonde! I wish I had your blonde hair! You've always looked so pretty!"

Elsa's head was reeling. Was she going crazy? Anna claimed that the streak of white in her hair was something she had always had and that she, the big sister, had been a platinum blonde all her life. Part of her was telling her that something was seriously wrong, but the other part of her was saying that everything was perfectly fine as she dug through the memories of the two of them growing up. Elsa's mind buzzed as she thought about herself and Anna, and the more she thought of it, the more she felt both confused, but still eased at the same time. There were indeed many memories of looking at her sister and seeing that one white streak amongst the rest of her strawberry-blonde tresses, and even when she recalled instances when she looked at her reflection in a mirror, she really did always have platinum blonde hair of her own.

But still, why did all this seem so terribly wrong?

---

As soon as Elsa and Anna had finished brushing each other's hair and had dressed in their favorite dresses of blue and green with rosemaling embroidery on the skirts and bodices, they both hurried out of their bedroom and laughed as they raced each other down the many halls of the Arendelle castle.

It was another beautiful, perfect day in the Norwegian castle.

As soon as they were done with breakfast, the two of them would beg their parents to take them out to the village for one of their family outings.

With permission, they would invite Jack to come along as well and even bring sweet little Emma.

They would eat chocolates and pastries, have their parents buy them new books or toys from the local street vendors, and play tag, hopscotch, or hide and seek with Jack and the other village children.

It was going to be a great day!

…Or at least, that was what the girls thought.

The little princesses had just gone down the grand staircase to reach the second floor, where the private dining room used the by the royal family whenever they didn't have castle guests was located, when they came across a strange sight. Many of the castle servants were plodding out of the corridor off to the side that led to the servants' quarters, and they had their few or many possessions packed up in large bundles which they were either dragging behind them or had slung over their shoulders as they too headed towards the grand staircase. They were all going down to the first floor.

Quite a few of these castle servants turned to nod and smile sadly at Elsa and Anna as they walked past, but had to stop themselves from doing a double-take when they got a good look at the royal princesses. They had been given strict orders from the king and queen themselves not to gawk at Elsa or Anna should they happen across them, and under no circumstances were they allowed to ask either of the girls about the change in their hair colors. They were to ignore any changes to either of the girls' hair and in fact act as though there was no change at all. Should any servant in the castle make so much as the smallest inquiry about the silver streak in Anna's hair or ask why all of Elsa's hair was now platinum blonde, there would be dire consequences.

Elsa and Anna were all but oblivious to the looks that the servants were shooting each other in regards to seeing their hair, however.

No, they were too preoccupied with the fact that over half the servants in the castle looked as though they had all seemingly decided to go on a trip together.

"Hey! What's going on?" Anna called out curiously to a lady in her mid to late forties. "Where are you all going? Why do you have all your stuff with you?"

The woman paused in mid-step upon hearing Anna's words, and then reluctantly turned to give both her and Elsa a sorrowful smile.

"We've all been dismissed from the palace staff, Princess," she explained. "As we are all no longer employed here, we are required to leave."

Elsa's eyes went wide. "Mama and Papa fired all of you?" she gasped. "But why?"

"No one really knows," she replied. "We all just woke up this morning ready to work as usual when your parents came before us saying that they had decided to reduce the staff. We all must be gone by lunchtime, before they lock the gates."

"Gates? What gates?" Anna asked curiously.

"The castle gates, Princess Anna. Your parents declared that they've decided to essentially isolate the castle from the general public until further notice."

This time, Elsa and Anna stood there in shock for a short time. Then they both exchanged looks of complete incredulity before snapping their heads back to the woman.

"What?! Why?!"

"This doesn't make any sense! Mama and Papa… they love the common people!"

The woman nodded sadly. "I know. It's quite a mystery, I suppose. No one knows why they have suddenly decided to do this. I best suggest you go and ask your parents yourselves, Princess Elsa, Princess Anna. I'm sure they must have a good reason."

Anna nodded sadly, but Elsa's attention had shifted to that of the faces of the servants that were still filing down the stairs.

"You wouldn't happen to know if the Overlands were fired, too?" she asked. "We don't want Jack to go! He's our friend!"

"The Overlands? Can't say I know if they were lucky enough to stay. They've all been keeping to themselves all morning. Acting pretty quiet…"

Anna gasped fearfully, but Elsa quickly grabbed her hand and gave her a hopeful smile.

"Don't worry, Anna. We'll go and ask Mama and Papa about all this. Especially about Jack! They wouldn't dare send away our only friend here in the castle!"

Anna nodded. "Okay, Elsa. Goodbye, ma'am! Thank you for your help!"

And with that, the Arendelle princesses waved goodbye to the nice woman and continued down the hall to find their parents. As they walked, they noticed more strange happenings going on with the servants that had been lucky enough to still stay employed. Most of them were closing off any open window and were making sure that they remained securely shut, while others were firmly closing and even locking the doors that led off to small verandas that overlooked the village and the fjord.

But the strangest occurrence was the fact that Kai and a few other strong male servants were hurrying to cover up the beautiful painting that depicted the two of them with their parents and carefully remove it from the wall.

Elsa and Anna's mouths both dropped.

They were removing the official painting of the current royal family.

For the longest time, neither Elsa nor Anna could find the words to speak. They just stared in complete shock as they watched Kai and the other men struggle to deal with the enormous oil painting in the heavy gold frame, and carry it away down the hall. To where, neither of the girls knew, but both Elsa and Anna realized that something big had to be happening if the painting of their family was being removed from its rightful place on the castle walls.

"Elsa…"

"S-Stay calm, Anna. I'm… I'm sure there's a good reason for all this. Let's go and talk to Mama and Papa. They're still waiting for us in the dining room."

Sure enough, Agnar and Idun were both sitting at the table as they waited for them to arrive, talking in hushed, nervous whispers about something as though afraid that someone might overhear them, but their heads snapped up the moment Elsa and Anna appeared in the room.

"Elsa! Anna! My darlings!" the queen exclaimed with joy. Before Elsa or Anna could blink, their mother had risen from her chair and hurried across the room to engulf the two of them in a warm, but still strong hug that expressed all the love that Idun felt for the two of them.

She was quickly joined by her husband, the king. Agnar crossed the room in lengthy strides, and didn't hesitate for even an instant to bend down to his two daughters' level near the ground to join their mother in hugging them tightly.

"My sweet little girls…" he whispered.

Both girls were rather taken aback by this sudden, unexpected display of affection. It wasn't as though they were starved for love. Their parents showered them with hugs and kisses and promises of how much they loved them at every opportunity and never once in the past had Elsa or Anna doubted their affections, but this had never happened before, them hugging them both so tight with looks of such relief and love on their faces. They hadn't even had breakfast yet and still their small heads were reeling. What other strange occurrences were going to happen to them before they left the room?

"Mama…? Papa…?" Elsa whispered, still feeling completely bewildered.

Upon hearing the confusion in their eldest daughter's voice, the king and queen reluctantly relinquished their holds on their two perfect little girls and instead looked them both right in the eye, making sure to keep their happy smiles plastered to their faces.

"What? Can't parents be happy to see their children?" Agnar asked, his lips still beaming, but his eyes betraying nothing as to what he might be thinking.

"We love you girls more than life itself! Now, come, come! Breakfast awaits!" said Idun, making sure to only tighten the grips she had around both of her sweet little girls.

Elsa and Anna were still thoroughly baffled, but they allowed themselves to be led over to the long, beautifully crafted mahogany table and ushered into their usual seats beside their parents, with their father sitting at the head of the table with their mother to his left, and Elsa and Anna sitting next to each other on Agnar's other side. As soon as they were all settled, their father raised his hand, signaling for the servants to finally come in. The servants did so with their trays laden with dishes that gave off delicious aromas, and each of them set the food down in the center of the table for the small family of four to help themselves to, and after pausing for a moment to fill their cups with coffee for the parents and orange juice for the girls, they bowed respectfully to the monarchs of their small kingdom before quietly taking their leave from the room.

Idun helped Anna to gather hearty helpings of food from the dishes presented before all of them before following Agnar's and Elsa's example of serving herself, but as soon as they all started eating, the princesses began jabbering away their questions.

"Mama, Papa? Why are most of the servants leaving?"

"And one of the servants mentioned that you're locking the castle gates! Why're you doing that?"

"Does that mean we can't go with you into the village today to play and have sweets?"

Agnar and Idun both made sure to eat a few more helpings of the food on their plates and swallow some of the coffee in each of their cups before answering their daughters. The king and queen had rehearsed what they intended to tell their daughters about all the unexpected overnight changes in the castle for several hours before they finally managed to fall asleep last night, and the sooner that they told the girls that things would be changing in the palace from now on, the sooner they could all go about their lives pretending that the horrifying reality of their two sweet daughters almost being lost to them last night had never in fact happened.

"Sweethearts, the gates are being closed because you girls are getting older," Queen Idun explained. "Your father and I have decided that it's in the best interest of both of you to limit your public exposure to both the village and other neighboring countries, at least until you've both grown up a bit and are respectable young ladies. I doubt either of you fully understand this, but neither of you realize just how judgmental other nations can be towards the children of country leaders, and you girls are the future of Arendelle."

Elsa was thoroughly confused, and judging by the face that Anna was making, she could rightfully assume that she was, too.

"What?"

"Elsa, I'm sure this must be confusing for you and Anna, but trust me. This is for the best," Agnar said kindly. "By closing off the castle, you girls will be able to grow up in a stable family environment and with privacy from the nobility of other countries that might want to try and cause problems for any of us. You in particular, Elsa, are going to be queen one day if your mother and I never end up having a son. And Anna? You might never rule, but second-born princesses are just as important to the country as any Crown Prince or Princess."

Idun nodded as she smiled sweetly at her youngest daughter. "Your father's right, Anna. Why, you could end up marrying another prince from another country one day! Or perhaps a duke or a high-born lord! Maybe even a count! Your education for when that happens will be just as important as Elsa's is. With the gates closed, you girls can learn all the skills you will need to serve the country without having your actions scrutinized so carefully by the public eye."

Anna scrunched up her little nose. "What does 'screwy nize' mean?" she piped.

"It's pronounced, 'scru-ti-nize,' Anna, and it means that people won't be watching you girls so carefully," said their father.

"Oh… but we can still go and play every once in a while in the village, right? We love to go with you to get pastries and toys from the vendors!"

There was a pause, but their parents just gave Anna a strained smile.

"I'm sorry, Anna… but we aren't even intending to go down to the village during this time, which means that you and Elsa won't be going, either," Idun told her.

A look of pure devastation rapidly spread across Anna's face. "Oh, please, Mama, Papa?" she begged. "We'll be good girls! Right, Elsa?"

"Yes, we promise we'll be good!" Elsa said pleadingly. "We love playing in the village with the other children! Can't we go down just one last time and have one last pastry or chocolate?"

"That's out of the question, Elsa," said Agnar sadly, but still rather firmly. "The gates being closed today would mean nothing if we all went down to the village one last time. But I promise you girls that this doesn't mean that you won't get chocolates or pastries anymore. We can have the servants go and get some for all of us to enjoy every now and then, or even have them baked here in the castle every once in a while. Homemade treats are always the best, after all!"

Anna pouted her lower lip and looked depressed, but Elsa was still very confused. Something just wasn't adding up in all of this…

"But what about all the servants, Mama, Papa? You never answered me about that. Why are so many of them leaving?" she asked.

"And why are Kai and the others taking down the painting of all of us? I like that painting!"

"Well, with the gates being closed, we won't be needing as many servants in the castle from now on," their mother explained. "It's for the best that they go and look for fulfilling jobs elsewhere."

"As for our family painting… that was accidentally damaged by some servants preparing to leave the castle," their father readily stated. "They knocked into it by mistake and ended up ripping the canvas. We'll have to have a new one commissioned of the four of us soon as a replacement."

Anna immediately looked annoyed. "Do we have to, Papa? I hated sitting still for so long when that stuffy old man painted us!"

Idun laughed. "It's important for there to be a reference of you girls with us at a young age, Anna. We're sorry to make you girls sit or stand still for so long, but it's necessary."

Anna pouted, but Elsa just continued to question their parents.

"Please tell me you didn't send away Jack and his family with the servants you fired! Jack's our friend, Mama, Papa! He and Emma! She's gonna be a great friend when she gets bigger! They're still here, right?"

Almost at once, Agnar and Idun's warm, genuine smiles became very rigid and fixed. Anna didn't notice, but Elsa certainly did.

"No, Elsa. Jack and his family are still here," said Idun, turning away from her eldest daughter so as to daintily cut up the food on her plate. "I wouldn't recommend going to see him today, though."

"How come?"

"The Overlands are moving to another servant's quarter today," said Agnar. "With half of the staff gone, there's more than enough room for those still employed to have their own private living space, especially for those in families. He'll be very busy today moving spaces and getting settled in, so I suggest you girls leave him be for now."

Anna shrugged at their explanation, but Elsa felt rather uneasy. Her parents were acting too dismissive in regards to Jack and his family. He and his family might only be castle servants, but they were still some of the most loyal servants in the entire castle, excluding Gerda and Kai. Jack was one of her and Anna's very best friends, and his mother Kirsten was one of her mother's most trusted ladies in waiting.

No, something very strange had to be going on.

It would only alert her parents as to what she was thinking if she said any of this though, so she dropped the issue, secretly vowing to herself to drag Anna with her when she went to go and see Jack later. She would get to the bottom of this if it was the very last thing she did.

Instead, she asked the last prominent question that was rattling around inside her head.

"Just one last question, Mama, Papa. This might sound silly, but… but do you think it's odd that I have blonde hair?"

Anna was too busy shoveling food in her mouth with her silver fork to notice how their parents all but froze at her innocent question.

"Beg your pardon, Sweetheart?" said Idun slowly, struggling to keep a neutral expression on her face.

"My hair. I don't know why but… but I woke up this morning and felt like I was supposed to have brown hair just like you, Mama. Instead, I have blonde hair. And Anna has that white streak in hers. Is that weird?"

Anna giggled as she swallowed the food in her mouth. "Elsa's acting silly! I told her that she's always had that hair color and I had this white bit, but she doesn't believe me! Isn't that silly?"

For the longest time, neither Agnar nor Idun answered their daughters. They just stared at one another silently and with unreadable expressions on their faces. Anna paid no mind to any of this, but Elsa did. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but that was when her father turned to her.

"Anna's right, Elsa. That's very silly. You must have had a very vivid dream last night."

"Indeed! You being a brunette like me? That would be a dream! But no matter. You were born with your beautiful white-blonde hair. It makes you unique, Elsa. Never doubt that! You are perfect just the way you are! And Anna's little tuft of white makes her just as special!"

"But Mama—"

"Your food will get cold, Elsa. Eat up," Agnar said shortly.

It was clear to the eldest of the Arendelle princesses that the discussion was obviously over. She knew better than to argue, though, and slowly picked up her fork and began to eat, doing her best to ignore the nagging sensation in her heart that told her to try and press her parents for details as to why they didn't seem to want to talk about her hair or Anna's.

There was a little more chatter at the table as Anna prattled on about the imaginary stories she sometimes made up with her toy puppets that had been designed to look just like herself and Elsa, to which Elsa, Idun, and Agnar listened to and made comments about as they ate breakfast. Their parents seemed to encourage the topic to continue at points when it seemed like Anna was winding down from telling them all about her stories. It seemed to be a safe topic for them, Elsa realized. Jack and their hair were obviously worrisome points for them, even if Anna thought nothing of it, but other things that seemed perfectly normal meant nothing to her mother and father.

There only could be two logical explanations.

One, she had suddenly gone crazy since everyone else at the table said she was overthinking things.

Or two, her parents were hiding something and although Anna was gullible enough to believe them, she was older and therefore smarter and could tell that something was wrong.

When their plates were finally cleared and the servants had taken away the empty dishes, Elsa climbed down from her chair first and then moved to help Anna climb down as well.

"We're going to go play now, Mama, Papa," she said politely.

"All right, have fun, girls," said their mother kindly.

"Meet us back here for lunch later," their father ordered, nodding in accordance to his eldest child's words.

The girls left the dining room, but as soon as the door closed, Elsa motioned for Anna to follow her before setting off down the hall with great purpose in each of her steps.

Anna obediently trailed after her big sister, but that didn't stop the words from pouring out of her mouth. Words of great puzzlement indeed.

"In something wrong, Elsa? Where are we going?"

"To go find Jack."

Anna blinked at her. "But didn't Mama and Papa say that we ought to leave Jack alone today?"

"If he's really busy, we'll leave him be for today. But maybe Mama and Papa were exaggerating. He and his parents might be finished moving or could be done soon. We'll just ask him if he wants to play later, okay?"

"'Kay!" said the strawberry-blonde with an excited smile.

They turned the corner together and strolled up to the door that led to the servants' bunks that they knew Jack and the rest of his family had occupied before, but as neither of them knew where their friend and his family might be living now, they needed some directions to his new room in order to find him. Anna knocked politely, and she and Elsa smiled brightly when they saw Gerda open the door.

"Oh, Princess Elsa! Princess Anna! How lovely to see you girls again this morning!"

"Hi, Gerda! Can you tell us where Jack's family is moving?" asked Anna.

"The Overland family? Hm, let's see… Ah! If I remember correctly, I believe they're all moving to a room at the other end of the hall. Rather isolated from the rest of the servants, in my opinion, but I guess your parents gave them that room because of the new baby. Now they can all have their own room."

Elsa blinked, surprised to hear that last bit. "There's more than just one room for all of them to share?" she asked. Servants that had their own personal rooms with families usually used up a single, small suite that had only one or two bedrooms. The fact Gerda had revealed to them that there would be a bedroom for Kirsten and Tobias to share in addition to Jack and Emma getting rooms of their own was very unexpected.

Gerda nodded. "Yes, but if you ask me, their larger and somewhat secluded apartments are the least strange thing going on in this castle today. The King and Queen suddenly deciding to close off the castle and fire most of the staff? It's all very mysterious…"

Both girls nodded. The loyal castle staff member was right about that. Jack's family moving to a larger, more out-of-the-way room was probably the least extraordinary thing happening this morning compared to everything else that was going on right now.

Elsa and Anna politely thanked Gerda for the directions and bade her farewell before departing down the hall again.

"Hey, Elsa? I know we're princesses and all, but do you think that if we help Jack's family move their stuff, they'll get done sooner and Jack can play with us?"

"Maybe. We can try offering our help, if nothing more. Jack's mama and papa may not let us help because we're royal, but we can at least stay and chat with him. I'm sure he'll be busy setting up his toys and keeping Emma entertained. He'll be happy to see us! I'm sure of it!"

Anna giggled, and started to skip happily upon hearing her big sister say that. Elsa smiled. Her little sister was so happy-go-lucky all the time that it in turn made her smile, too.

They eventually spied Jack's parents at the end of the hall near a wide open, plain white-painted door. Their few bundles of personal items and clothing were lying neatly beside the open door, but neither Kirsten nor Tobias was paying them any attention at this time. Their focus was solely on how much the two of them were struggling to carry little Emma's baby crib through the door and into the living space, presumably to set it up in her new room. Speaking of Emma, she was safely wrapped up in some clean blankets beside the piles of bundles, but the little baby was struggling to free herself from her confines so she could crawl over to Jack, who was standing a few feet off to the right of her. He was dressed in a simple long-sleeved blue shirt and black pants, as he was not yet of proper age to start training to be one of the loyal servants in the castle like that of his parents, and surprisingly enough, he was actually wearing a pair of shoes for once and not shuffling his feet around in an obvious sign of trying to kick them off. He simply stood there and waited patiently for their parents to finish bringing in their stuff so he could go inside and claim his new bedroom.

Normally, if Jack saw that his little sister wanted to come to him, he wouldn't have hesitated for even a second to scoop her up and tickle her tummy so she would smile and laugh.

But not right now.

No, if anything, Jack seemed to be ignoring his infant baby sister.

Despite little Emma's baby squealing and cheerful giggling as she waved her tiny fists in Jack's general direction, Jack didn't so much as look at the happy little girl. He had his eyes firmly planted at some unknown point on the wall opposite him, and he kept his lips tightly pressed together to keep a rather forced, neutral expression on his face. His hands were scrunched up into shaking balls, and he kept them fixed resolutely at his sides as he stood there, looking almost as rigid as one of the many suits of armor that lined the numerous hallways in the grand castle.

Jack's all but cold and stoic behavior was so out of character that Elsa and Anna stopped short as they stared at him from a distance. He hadn't noticed them yet and neither had his parents, so the princesses had a few precious seconds to try and gather their thoughts as to what could have happened to their friend to make him ignore his little sister like this.

"Why's Jack ignoring Emma, Elsa?" Anna whispered.

Elsa just shook her head disbelievingly in reply. "I… I don't know, Anna," she whispered back. "Maybe he's in a bad mood?"

"Ah! That's probably it! Jack's probably mad that he doesn't get to sleep right next to Emma anymore! C'mon! Let's go cheer him up!"

"Sure, that sounds like a good idea."

And with that, the princesses smiled happily as they crossed the last bits of the hallway to reach their unusually quiet friend.

---

Don't look at Emma.

Don't look at Emma.

Don't look at Emma.

These four simple words were mentally being repeated over and over again in young Jackson Overland's mind. He struggled to listen to his little mantra as he did his best to resist the urge to sneak a peek out of the corner of his eye to gaze over at his sweet little sister while his parents moved all their stuff into their new compartments. To do so much as look at Emma would make his resolve waver though, and he wouldn't be able to stop himself from going over to scoop her up in his arms and tickle her little tummy until she giggled and smiled.

He couldn't do that anymore.

Not until he got his ice powers under control.

It took everything in the small boy's power to hold back his tears and keep his hands safely clenched up into tight fists as he avoided looking at Emma. Not even the fact his toes were being forcefully pinched together in the terrible shoes he was wearing at his parent's demand made him forget about his important mantra: Don't look at Emma. For how long would he have to be kept as isolated as possible from his adorable little sister? Until he learned to keep the ice and snow contained? That could take years! Emma meant the world to him. He didn't want to be kept separated from her, but he knew that he had to.

It was for her own safety.

The safety of everyone in the castle!

And that list definitely included—

"Jack! Hi!"

Oh, no.

Jack's head snapped around. Elsa and Anna were bounding down the hall toward him with cheerful smiles on their faces, obviously happy to see him.

Just seeing the two royal princesses, in particular Elsa, made Jack's heart literally start pounding frantically in his ribcage as a wave of anxiety and fear rushed through his body. He had almost killed them last night because of his carelessness with his powers, and yet, thanks to the magic that Pabbie the rock troll healer had used on them, neither of them remembered anything from last night. They didn't even remember that he had ice and snow magic. They assumed that he was an ordinary boy, just like them.

But he hadn't forgotten all that had happened.

Jack hadn't forgotten how he had accidentally struck their heads with his powers and how they were knocked out cold. That new white streak in Anna's hair and all of Elsa's hair being platinum blonde now would forever act as a reminder of his careless misuse of his powers. Not to mention all the changes that were happening in the castle because of what he'd done. He was responsible for over half of the staff losing their jobs just so that there was less of a chance of him either hurting someone by accident or someone finding out about his icy magic. Plus, thanks to Elsa's new hair color, the king and queen had to take down the portrait of the royal family to hide the fact that her hair was originally chestnut brown, and a new one had to be commissioned so that it would look like Elsa had always been a blonde. He alone was responsible for so many unnecessary things that would have never happened if only he didn't have his stupid powers.

The king and queen had been kind enough to give him a second chance living here in the palace so he could learn to control his ice and snow magic.

But until he learned how to use his powers properly, he couldn't be with Elsa or Anna.

Just like he couldn't be with Emma.

He couldn't be with his friends.

As the girls ran toward him, Jack completely froze up – figuratively, that is, as no ice appeared around him. He just stood there for several seconds as he struggled to think up something to say as they both skidded to a halt right in front of him, still smiling happily.

"Elsa. Anna," he breathed, fighting the urge to try and scoot away from the girls lest he hurt their feelings.

"Hi, Jack!" chirped Anna, her small pigtails bouncing a bit as she hopped in place with pure joy. "Elsa and I heard about all the servants being sacked! We were worried that you were going, too! But you're just moving rooms! That's a relief!"

"You must be excited! We heard that you get your own bedroom now! That'll be fun, huh?" chimed Elsa, her bright blue eyes twinkling as she gazed at her longtime friend.

Jack didn't reply right away, as he was struggling to keep his emotions in check. Truth be told, having his own room now rather than sharing a cot in the corner of the main servants' quarters with his parents and Emma wasn't all that appealing to the little boy. At least in the primary servants' quarters he got to be with his family all the time, even if his father wasn't all that nice to him. Having his own room now meant the beginning of his precautionary isolation.

When he finally found his words, he fought against the urge to thickly gulp as he looked away from Elsa and Anna to stare at a random spot on the hallway wall in front of him.

"I guess," he quietly muttered, not allowing himself to say anything further.

Elsa and Anna were taken aback. What was going on with Jack? They had been expecting him to say something along the lines of it was going to be awesome to have his own bedroom all to himself from now on, or to start whining as having his own room meant he couldn't be with Emma anymore. They had at least anticipated that he would wave enthusiastically to them with his happy-go-lucky smile when he saw them approaching. Instead, their dark-haired friend seemed to be all but indifferent to not only the new room assignments and Emma, but to them as well.

That didn't stop Elsa, though. She just kept trying to be hopeful. "Well… I'm sure you must be busy right now, but if you have time later, Jack, do you wanna play with me and Anna?"

Anna eagerly nodded. "Yeah! It's summertime! Let's go play! We should play hide and seek in the gardens!"

Jack tensed. He wanted so badly to say yes. Going out to play outside with Elsa and Anna sounded like so much fun! He wanted to go play with them. He wanted to cheat at hide and seek by sneaking around from hiding spot to hiding spot behind tall leafy trees or in the shrubbery of some bushes, occasionally throwing a few fistfuls of dirt at one of the girls for good measure just to see their reactions and make them laugh…

But it didn't matter what he wanted.

He had to tell them no.

"No thanks," he mumbled shortly, clenching his fists up even tighter to try and suppress his powers. "I don't wanna…"

Elsa and Anna stared. In their entire life, never had they known Jackson Overland to ever say 'no' to an opportunity to play and have fun with them.

Anna opened her mouth to ask why he was telling them that he didn't want to play, but that was when Kirsten poked her head out into the hall.

"Jack? We got your room set up, so you can go right in and – Oh! Your highnesses!"

Elsa and Anna smiled kindly to Jack's mom.

"Good morning, Mrs. Overland."

"Hi, Mrs. Overland!"

Kirsten struggled to smile pleasantly in return. Until her son learned how to control his powers, she couldn't allow Jack to be around the princesses.

"Yes, good morning, Princess Elsa, Princess Anna… Jack? Time to come in, now. Get your things set up in your room."

Jack started to nod and head inside, but Elsa's voice cut in.

"Can we help at all? We know we're princesses, but we don't mind! We'd like to help Jack! Right, Anna?"

"Yeah! We wanna help!"

Jack's hands were clenched up so tight by this point, they looked almost white compared to their normal peachy color, but he didn't dare make eye contact with either of the girls. Instead, he was gazing worriedly up at his mother, not quite sure what to say or do about this.

Kirsten seemed to be at a total loss for words herself for a few moments. "Oh… well… I—"

"What's taking so long? Kirsten, get Jack and Emma and come back in!"

Tobias Overland's face appeared behind his wife, but then he caught sight of Elsa and Anna standing in front of Jack, and his face morphed into a very fixed smile.

"Princess Elsa, Princess Anna," he said with forced civility. "My apologies for this, but Jack won't be playing today."

And then, before Elsa and Anna could beg the Overland patriarch to let Jack play with them for just a few minutes or Kirsten could gently coax her husband to keep a hold on his temper, Tobias emerged fully from the apartment and lunged forward to seize hold of his son's elbow. Jack yelped a bit from both surprise and the fact that his father was grabbing his arm so hard that his fingers were causing him pain, but Tobias ignored him and everyone else's stares as he hauled Jack behind him so that he could get him inside the room.

Kirsten smiled apologetically to the little girls as she gathered Emma up in one arm, and collected the last of the bundles of possessions with the other.

"I'm sorry, girls, but I'm afraid Jack can't play. Really, I'm truly sorry."

Then she followed her husband and son inside the small apartment. Jack lingered in the doorway for a moment as his parents ventured further into their new quarters, and he stared sadly at Elsa and Anna. For a moment, it seemed as though he might say something to them, as he opened his mouth to speak but then stopped himself. He gave them a sad look, and then quietly shut the door on them, disappearing fully into the room.

For the longest time, Elsa and Anna stood there in utter disbelief. Jack had barely said anything to them at all, and his parents had been oh so quick to drag him away from the two of them when they saw him talking to them.

What was going on?

---

Tobias made sure to listen for the sound of footfalls beyond the door to indicate that Elsa and Anna had left and that Kirsten had safely put Emma down in her crib before rounding on Jack, who was busily rubbing his elbow where he had been grabbed before.

"What was that out there?" he asked pointedly, an angry scowl on his face as he glared down at his small son.

Jack averted his eyes and stared sadly at some bundles in a corner of the room that had yet to be unpacked. "They came up and started talking to me, Daddy… I didn't start it…"

Tobias's features only became twice as furious. "Doesn't matter, Jack. You don't talk to the princesses anymore, got it?! You don't look at them! You don't talk to them! You don't spend any time with them! And that goes double with Emma!"

Jack's eyes widened, and he felt his heart break in two at hearing this. "But… But Daddy—"

"No 'buts' Jack! It's a miracle that the king and queen didn't have all of us thrown out of the castle last night with nothing but the clothes on our backs! I have too much riding on staying in this castle, and I won't have you jeopardize it by using those cursed powers of yours to accidentally kill the princesses of Arendelle, and should you use them when near Emma, a mere infant, I don't even want to think of what might happen!"

Jack flinched, and thick and heavy tears started rolling down his cheeks, but Tobias was not moved at all by his son's distress.

That was when Kirsten stepped in.

"That's enough, Tobias! You're being too harsh on him!"

"Harsh?! You think it's harsh to want to make sure that we all stay in the castle?! I think I'm being perfectly reasonable!"

"Regardless, Jack is just a little boy, Tobias! And he's your son! Show some compassion!"

Tobias glared at his wife, but Kirsten shot him back a cold look of her own before bending down on one knee so she could put her hands on her son's small shoulders and look him right in the eye.

"Listen to me, Jack, I know last night was just an accident and that what your father is saying right now is really scary, but he does have a point. It's not safe for you to be around Elsa, Anna, or Emma right now, so you can't play with them anymore. At least not until you learn to control your powers. After you learn how to use them properly, you can play and have fun with your friends and Emma as much as you want. But not now, okay?"

"Okay…" Jack whimpered, wiping away the tears from his eyes.

Jack didn't like it, but he knew his parents were right.

Until he could control his ice and snow magic, it wasn't safe for him to be around Elsa, Anna, and Emma.

No more playtime with any of them anymore.

No more fun.

---

Summer days bled away into autumn foliage, and falling leaves soon died to make room for winter snow, and all too soon, December came upon the castle of Arendelle.

"Elsa! Elsa! Look! Look! Snow!"

Elsa lightly laughed as she allowed herself to be dragged by Anna to one of the many windows in the palace, and they both excitedly peered out. Like all the windows in the palace since the castle had been put into a state of isolation, the locks on the window remained shut, but the girls could still easily look outside. There had apparently been a snowfall last night after they both went to bed, and the two little princesses had been pleasantly surprised when they woke up this morning to discover a fresh blanket of snow covering the ground outside. In the distance, they could see the snowy mountainsides and forests looking picturesque in the fresh coat of ice and frost, and the roofs of the houses in the village right outside the castle seemed almost like gingerbread houses with white icing on them, they looked so cute.

It was such a lovely wintry morning.

Elsa pressed her hands against the glass of the window as she peered outside. "What a perfect morning!" she exclaimed.

"Best morning ever!" Anna agreed. "It snowed last night! We gotta go play in it! Let's go build a snowman!"

Elsa eagerly nodded. "Yes! It's the perfect day to build a snowman!"

"A snowman just like Olaf!"

Anna had added that last bit without thinking, but the moment she brought up Olaf, the snowman that they had built with their old friend Jackson Overland this time last winter, both girls suddenly grew very quiet, and they gazed down sadly at their feet.

Ever since his family had changed room apartments in the servants' quarters back in summer, they rarely ever saw Jack anymore. He was almost always locked up in his bedroom and didn't run around the castle anymore, nor did he try to sneak into their bedroom in the middle of the night and ask them to play. It was so strange. Jack was not the type of boy that enjoyed being shut away in his room. He had to run wild and cause good-natured havoc everywhere he went in the castle as he whooped and cheered at the top of his lungs.

Especially in the winter.

Winter was his all-time favorite season of the year.

When the first snowfall came down in Arendelle last year, Jack had been the first person to spring the news on the princesses. Literally. Ignoring all rules about servant-propriety, the boy had dashed into their bedroom first thing that morning and had started jumping and down on their beds to wake them up as he cheered loudly about the snow outside. Needless to say, the wild child had been scolded harshly by his parents, but that didn't deter the Overland boy from his mission of dragging Elsa and Anna outside the first chance he had so they could all play.

That had been such a fun day and held many good memories for the two girls.

Now, it seemed as though memories were the only good things that they could hold on to in regards to their friend.

During the rare instances that Jack emerged from his bedroom in his family's compartments, Jack stuck close to his mother. He never dared to venture far from her side as she did her duties throughout the castle, and he always kept his hands in tights fists at his sides, unwilling to let them uncurl or to let his arms move about. In the few instances that Jack had come face-to-face with either Elsa or Anna, or met them together, Jack would say very little to them. He would immediately hide himself behind his mother and let her gently steer him away from the princesses and back to their apartments so he could hide himself away in his bedroom.

It was so strange, everything that was going on with Jack.

But the strangest thing of all had to be that Jack never so much as looked at Emma anymore, let alone touched her.

Before he had shut himself away, Jack had been all but a perfect big brother to Emma despite her being only a few months old and he being eight, almost nine now in a couple weeks just like Elsa would be soon. He would drag Emma around with him everywhere and make her laugh and smile as he made silly faces to keep her entertained and showed her all the various paintings on the walls and in the royal art gallery and the occasional secret passageways in the castle, not there were all that many to begin with.

But that wasn't the point.

The point was that everyone saw how much Jackson Overland loved his little sister and gladly showed her off to everyone he met as he gave Emma private tours of the palace. But now, from what Elsa and Anna had seen during the rare instances when Kirsten carried her daughter in her arms as she went about the palace and Jack joined her so as to have a bit of fresh air from his stuffy bedroom, Jack never looked twice at Emma, even though she would often laugh and smile at him while waving her little hands in his general direction. Her baby gurgles and gestures were a clear indication that she wanted him to pay attention to her and show her love.

But he never once did anything.

Elsa sighed as she thought about her absentee friend. She would never admit it out loud, but she missed playing with Jack so much even though in the past she had often pretended to be annoyed by his fun-loving nature. Just what was going on with him?

"I'm sorry, Elsa. I didn't mean to make you sad…"

Elsa's head whipped around. Anna was giving her a genuinely apologetic look as she timidly shuffled her feet a bit, looking very guilty for making her big sister obviously upset.

With a small smile, Elsa patted Anna's shoulder to express that it was okay. "It's not your fault, Anna. Jack's just been acting strange lately, that's all. Really though, I wonder why we barely see him anymore these days?"

"I saw his papa working with the other servants the other day and asked about it. His papa just told me that Jack's not gonna be playing with us anymore. I got upset and asked why, but he didn't tell me."

"You talked to Jack's papa without me?"

"I didn't mean to! You just happened to be talking to Mama and Papa at the time and I saw him by chance! I didn't mean to exclude you! Don't be mad at me!"

"I'm not mad at you, Anna! I could never be mad!"

"Oh, good! That's a relief!"

The exaggerated breath of relief Anna made while puffing out her chubby cheeks made her elder sister laugh hard. Anna could be so funny sometimes, no doubt about it.

"Why don't we go ask Jack if he wants to come play in the snow with us?" she suggested. "We could build a new snowman with Jack, and he can bring Emma with him, too!"

"Okay!"

And with that, the royal princesses set off down the hall together in search of the Overland family apartments.

The girls easily found the room and went inside after knocking politely and announcing their entry. They didn't have to worry about offending anyone. Elsa and Anna both knew that Kirsten and Tobias were both working right now, and because Emma was still only a baby and was resting in her cradle in her own room, the only person in the family unit that understood that someone had entered the main room of the living space would be Jack. They knew he hadn't accompanied either of his parents when they left to do their duties around the palace earlier, so he had to be in his bedroom right now.

The girls popped into Emma's nursery for a moment to check in on the seven-month-old baby and tickle her tummy, but then they both approached Jack's closed bedroom door.

"Jack?" Elsa called out rather cheerfully, knocking a few times on the wood for good measure as she did. "Do you wanna build a snowman?"

All was silent from beyond the door.

Anna huffed. She didn't like being ignored. "Come on, Jack! Let's go and play!" she added to her sister's words.

There was still no response from the little boy they both knew was in the room.

"It'd be fun, Jack! I promise!" Elsa went on. "You always love to have fun! We never see you anymore! So, come out and come play with us!"

"It's almost like you've gone away! We all used to be best buddies!" Anna exclaimed. "But now we're not… Can't you at least tell us why?"

"Or if you don't want to tell us, that's fine!" Elsa said. "Just come on out and build another Frosty or Olaf the Snowman with us! Or, you know, it doesn't have to be a snowman! You could bring Emma along and we could all go sledding or ice skating or… or we could talk about what presents we might get from our parents for our birthdays or from Santa Claus on Christmas! I'm hoping I get a—"

"Go away, Elsa, Anna!"

There was a long silence as Elsa and Anna simply stared at the white wood of the closed bedroom door in utter disbelief. While they had been half expecting for Jack to refuse their offer to come play, they certainly hadn't been expecting him to harshly snap at them to leave him be. He had certainly changed, and not for the better.

In the opposite room, tiny little Emma had heard her big brother's shout, and started crying a bit in her crib.

Elsa and Anna worriedly turned to face the open door that led to Emma's room, and then they looked back over at Jack's door, expecting him to leave the sanctuary of his bedroom and come running to check in on and calm down his little sister who he accidentally scared. But there was no movement from beyond the door. They neither heard the sound of Jack's footfalls or saw his shadow underneath the door showing any sign that he was approaching the door to open it and go see Emma.

"Jack? Aren't you going to calm down Emma?" Elsa called out.

Jack didn't respond from within.

Anna huffed as she rapped repeatedly on the door. "Jack, didn't you hear Elsa?! Emma's crying! You should go calm her—"

"Go find my mommy or daddy. They'll deal with her. Now please leave."

Anna gaped, but Elsa just stared at Jack's bedroom door blankly, not even processing what she was hearing. Was this really Jack? How could he ever be so cold and indifferent to not only the two of them, but also to his new sister who he adored?

"Jack—"

"Okay, bye! Good riddance, Jack! Have fun being all alone!"

Elsa jumped at hearing Anna's furious shout, but before she could say anything to try and scold Anna for yelling at Jack, Anna was seizing hold of her hand and dragging her behind her as she deliberately stomped loudly away from Jack's door and out of the family unit, mumbling under her breath about how cruel Jack had just been to the two of them.

"Man, he's such a big meanie! I can't believe we were ever friends with such a jerk! Who needs him, right, Elsa?! You and me can have all the fun we want on our own!"

"But… But Anna—"

"C'mon, Elsa! Let's go build our own snowman!"

Elsa was powerless to resist against her little sister as she was dragged to the grand staircase and pulled down the stairs. While she too was hurt by how Jack had told them to go away and then ignored their insistence that he go and check on his screaming baby sister, Elsa didn't understand what she or Anna could have done that had seemingly made Jack so mad at them. She had initially thought that his avoiding them for the past few months was because he was going through some type of phase, but now she wasn't so sure. All she and Anna had done was ask him if he wanted to come play with them, and he had yelled at them to make them leave him be.

What had happened to her happy, fun loving friend?

And more importantly, what had happened to the little boy she used to know that adored his new little sister?

---

Jack sat on the edge of his bed and waited until he was positive that Elsa and Anna were gone before he dared to let his tears slide down his face. He let them silently fall for a few moments, and then he hunched over until his face was cradled in his hands and he started full out sobbing.

He hated himself for yelling at his friends like that. Especially Elsa. While he considered both girls to be his friends, Jack considered Elsa to be an even more important friend to him than Anna was. She might have always considered him to be a nuisance in the past when it was still okay for him to play with her and tease her to his heart's content, but still, she was so interesting that he couldn't help but take an interest in her. Now though, it didn't matter how much she continued to intrigue him. For her safety as well as Anna's and everyone else in this castle, he had to maintain minimum contact with her or else people could get hurt again.

But what he hated himself even more for was ignoring Emma when she desperately needed him.

Pushing away a friend?

That was one thing.

But ignoring his screaming infant sister?

That was something unforgivable.

Emma was such a sweet baby that should always have a smile on her face as she laughed. She should never be screaming at the top of her little lungs in terror from having witnessed her older brother's cursed powers hurt people, or from listening to her brother yell at people to leave him alone. He was a true monster. Granted, she had calmed down on her own accord a few minutes after Elsa and Anna had wandered off and she had presumably fallen back asleep again, but it was still so messed up that he wasn't even allowed to hold her and comfort her when she was upset.

There wasn't anything Jack wouldn't do right now just to be given one moment where he could hold his sweet little sister on his lap one last time so he could get her to calm down from her screams and gently soothe her back to sleep.

He wanted to act like a big brother again to Emma.

Just one last time.

That's all he wanted.

Suddenly, the sound of gleeful screaming and cheering from somewhere outside caught his attention, and he lifted his head out of his hands to reveal wet and curious red-rimmed eyes. Sniffling a bit for good measure as he wiped his eyes dry with the blue sleeve of his shirt, Jack forced himself to forget all about Emma for a minute as he approached the one tiny window in his isolated bedroom and peered curiously outside. It looked as though despite his yelling at the two of them, Elsa and Anna had decided to go and play outside in the snow without him. The two of them were running around and laughing as they rolled up several balls of snow to make a snowman and occasionally chucked snowballs at one another for good measure.

Jack's heart ached enviously as he watched the two princesses have fun – fun that he so desperately wanted to be a part of. Why did he have to be born with these stupid powers? He just wanted to be a normal little boy that could not only safely play with Elsa and Anna in the snow outside all he wanted, but could also safely allow himself to hug and tickle his sweet little sister. More sad tears leaked from his dark brown eyes as he pressed his hands against the glass of the window and continued to watch the princesses, but the moment he touched the glass with his bare fingers, great amounts of ice and frost shot out from his fingertips, and he shrieked and recoiled in horror as they rapidly spread across the window pane.

After a few moments of disbelief that he had, without conscious command, made the ice appear on the window without even trying to make it, Jack started crying again as the tiny fragments that made up what was left of his small heart shattered even further.

Even without trying to do anything at all with his powers, he was still a monster.

How was he ever supposed to learn how to control them properly when it was apparent that his powers didn't exactly have an off switch to them?

There was a sudden, unexpected knock on the door, and Jack whipped around in complete alarm, only to gasp a bit when a lot more ice accidentally shot out from his hands and hit one of the bare walls. The wall glossed over with a thick amount of ice in the area where it struck, effectively creating a coating of dense iciness.

A loud shriek escaped his lips when the ice appeared, and the second he tried to step back away from the icy glaze, snow and frost popped out from his bare feet on the wooden floorboards of the room, and spread everywhere in a three-foot radius.

Jack gulped when he gazed at all the various icy patches. He hadn't been planning to even open the door to whoever had knocked, but whoever it was, he definitely couldn't let them in now. The ice on the window could be explained through pretending he had accidentally left the window open last night and some ice formed when the snow fell. But the ice on the wall and floor? Those he couldn't think up a reasonable lie for.

"D-Don't come in!" he yelled out, doing his best to keep the tremor of fear out of his voice. "I'm busy!"

"Jack? Sweetie? It's Mommy," called out his mother's voice gently. "Daddy's here, too. And so are King Agnar and Queen Idun. We all want to talk to you. Can you please let us in?"

Upon hearing who it was, a great sigh of relief escaped from Jack's lips. "Y-Yeah, come on in," he quietly mumbled.

The doorknob turned, and the door opened to reveal his nervously smiling mother, his stern-faced father, and the gentle faces of the king and queen of Arendelle. Kirsten looked rather anxious about something as she carried something hidden behind her back, and Tobias was doing the same by hiding something behind his own back, but unlike Kirsten who was smiling, Tobias had a monotone expression on his face. It was clear he was neither happy nor mad to be talking to his only son right now.

While Jack would have just normally smiled and nodded if it was only Kirsten and Tobias who had entered his room, for King Agnar and Queen Idun, the monarchs of the realm, he hastily bowed down as low as he could while clenching his hands back up into tight fists. He had already hurt the two royal princesses and scared his own little sister. He would not risk injuring or possibly making his own parents and the king and queen afraid of him, too.

The adults were rather surprised when they saw all the ice on the floor, on one of the walls, and even on part of the miniscule window, but the one who was the most annoyed by it was undoubtedly Tobias.

"Jack! What happened in here?!" he demanded.

Kirsten shot her husband a pointed look. "Tobias…" she said gently, but still firmly in a warning tone.

But Tobias was not at all intimidated. "He is staying in here as often as he can so he can learn control, Kirsten! Not to experiment with that magic of his!"

"I-It was an accident, Daddy! I didn't mean to!" Jack insisted. "I just… I just touched the window when I was looking outside and it came out by accident! And I got startled when Mommy knocked, and it shot out of my hands and feet! I didn't mean to make more ice!"

"It's all right, Jackson," Queen Idun cut in, her face displaying nothing but genuine kindness as she bent down a bit so that she was at Jack's level. "We know that you don't mean any ill will. You're a good boy, never forget that. But your father is right about one thing, and that is that you do have to learn to control your powers, that way you can leave this room more often unchaperoned by your parents."

"I can't be unchaperoned, your majesty!" Jack gasped in horror. "I don't want to cause any more accidents around the palace! I don't want anyone else to get hurt! I'm fine being with Mommy or Daddy!"

"Be that as it may, your parents have their servant's duties that they must attend to around the palace, and in a few years, you will be ten, and you will start your own servant's training," King Agnar explained. "You won't always be around your parents, so you need to learn how to keep your powers contained when you leave this room."

"But… But how, King Agnar? The ice comes out randomly! Out of my hands and feet!"

"Actually Jack, we think we might have a solution for that," Kirsten chimed in. "Though, it was really King Agnar who came up with the idea. May we tell him, your majesty?" she politely asked, turning her head to look over at King Agnar.

The king nodded. "By all means! Go right ahead," he assured her.

With a smile, Jack's mother brought her hands out from behind her back, revealing a set of small, white silk gloves, and then his father brought forth his hands to expose what he had been hiding behind him, a thick pair of somewhat dressy black lace up boots.

Jack blinked when he saw the presents. He was beyond puzzled. "Gloves? And boots?" he asked in obvious confusion.

Tobias glared at his son. "What?! Are you saying you won't wear them?!" he growled.

The other adults stared at him while Jack jumped and frantically shook his head. "N-No, Daddy! I'll wear them! I just don't understand why!" he hastily explained.

"Tobias! Stop snapping at him!" Kirsten hissed. "He's just a little boy! Be gentle with him for once!"

"No, he needs to understand how serious this situation is if he doesn't wear these!" Tobias insisted. "Every time he leaves this bedroom, he has to conceal and not feel those powers of his if he's to do his duties around this castle when he's older!"

Jack's ears perked up a bit at that. "What do you mean?" he asked.

King Agnar and Queen Idun had wisely chosen to stay out of the parenting disputes the Overlands had over raising Jack with his strange ice and snow powers, but that didn't mean that they didn't have their own private opinions about how Tobias treated his son. He really was a terrible father, and secretly, they couldn't help but wonder if he might one day snap when it came to being horrible to Jack. Still though, it was none of their business so they never brought it up with Kirsten. And right now, they had to keep the focus on why they had all come here with the gloves and boots they had presented to Jack. They had to teach the small boy the mantra they had also come up with so he could remind himself to keep his magic in check in the future.

"Jack, the gloves and the boots will help you," said Queen Idun kindly. "They can keep your powers contained and not shoot out unintentionally. But… But we all think you should try not to get so… emotional."

Jack stared. "Emotional, your majesty?" he repeated, not understanding her.

Kirsten bit her lower lip, clearly apprehensive about whatever it was she was about to say, but then nodded in agreement to the queen's words. "What she means, Jack, is that you should try to… well… try not to feel anything."

Jack became very quiet when he heard this. He just stared at all of them with wide, shocked eyes.

"Feel… nothing?" he whispered in disbelief.

"That's right! Suppress all emotions!" Tobias barked. "Your powers seem to go all over the place when you feel emotions, so you have to try to be emotionless all together! Feel nothing from now on!"

As Jack's head reeled from hearing this, Kirsten shot her husband another dirty look. "Must you be that way, Tobias?!" she snapped. "He is your son! This is hard enough to tell him what he must be like from now on! Don't be so unnecessarily cruel!"

Tobias glared at his wife, but before he could snap out a retort of some kind, Kirsten's hand shot out and snatched the kid-sized boots out of his grip, and then marched forward so that she was standing right before her precious little boy.

"Go on, Jack. Sit on the edge of the bed. I'll lace up your boots for you," she said sweetly.

Jack's eyes brimmed with tears and he sat down on the edge of the bed as his mother instructed, but he refused to let them fall and let her, his father, and the king and queen see that he was already struggling to maintain a stoic demeanor. He wanted his mother and the king and queen to see that he was trying to follow their instructions when it came to controlling his powers and for them to be proud of him. As for his father… if he could just have one day of having his father smiling at him and telling him how much he loved him, he would be the happiest boy in the whole world.

He just wanted his father to love him.

Was that such a crime?

He tried his best to keep a level expression on his face as his mother smiled at him encouragingly and neatly laced each up of his tiny black boots onto his bare feet, but when it came time for her to slip the gloves on his small hands, Jack hesitated, curling his closed hands up to his chest. He knew that this was for the best and that his mother, father, and the king and queen were only trying to help him, but still… this felt wrong. Something deep inside his subconscious was screaming at him not to put on those gloves – that putting them on would only make things a hundred times worse for him when it came to controlling his powers…

But then again, what other choice did he have?

The adults in front of him had given him an idea for keeping his powers from hurting other people.

And he couldn't think up a better idea than theirs…

"Jack? What's wrong?" Kirsten asked him gently, bringing the boy back to the present. "Are you afraid?"

Was he afraid of putting on the gloves?

That was a stupid question.

Yes. A thousand times over, yes.

But at the same time, he was more afraid of what he might end up doing one day should he not put them on.

"No, Mommy," he said with a thick voice, reluctantly uncurling one of his hands and allowing her to slip the soft material onto his palm before consenting to her doing the same with his other hand. "No, I'm… I'm fine…"

Kirsten could see right through her son's sad lie, though, and as soon as she finished putting the gloves on him, she cupped his tiny cheek in her hand and softly kissed his forehead.

"I know this is all very scary for you, Jack, but this will help you! I promise!" she said lovingly. "Have I ever lied to you?"

Jack immediately shook his head no.

"Good. Now, I want you to repeat this phrase after me, okay? 'Conceal it, don't feel it.'"

"'C-Conceal it, don't feel it…'"

"'Don't let it show.'"

"'Don't let it show…'"

"All together now, Jackie."

"Conceal it, don't feel it… Don't… Don't let it show!"

Kirsten smiled, and then swept a few strands of her son's wild brown hair out of his eyes before hugging him tightly.

"That's right, Jack. So long as you play the part, you will become the part. Don't let anyone else know!"

---

Time ticked past in the kingdom of Arendelle in the blink of an eye, and before long, four long years had gone by. Winter weather had once again descended upon the Norwegian castle, and the two princesses of the country were once again wandering through the many winding corridors of the palace, both exhausted from enduring grinding princess lessons that day.

"Yeesh! Who knew that there were certain rules involved just when greeting other people!" whined the nine-year-old Princess Anna. The years had been good to the younger of the two princesses, and instead of wearing her pretty red hair in simple pigtails these days, she elected to instead tie it back into two utterly adorable red braids. Braids were the fashion in Norway, after all, and the little princess actually liked the way that her two new braids of hair bounced about now on her shoulders whenever she walked. "I mean, having to say stuff like, 'It's a pleasure to meet you, your excellency,' just when meeting a duke, and knowing that you're never supposed to call a prince or princess 'your majesty,' because that's reserved for kings and queens, but you're supposed to call them 'your highness!' Oh, it's all so confusing!"

Elsa, almost thirteen, did her best to remember what she learned in her lesson that day to attempt a dainty giggle behind her hand as she listened to Anna's angry rambling. "I'll admit that etiquette lessons can be tiring, but it's still necessary. Imagine what would happen should either of us one day insult a noble by accident! We might cause a war to break out!"

"What? Just from forgetting to let some wrinkly-faced count kiss my hand when he first meets me? If that's the case, he's a stuffy old fool who's far too uptight and should be replaced pronto! And I'll tell him that right then and there to his face!"

"Careful, Anna. Say that to a Viking from the Barbaric Archipelago or to one of those noble lords from the kingdom of Dunbroch, and there will for sure be a war. I heard that nobles from that Scottish kingdom value tradition above anything, and those Vikings love warfare! We must maintain a good front should we ever talk to someone from the Barbaric Archipelago. They'll look for any excuse to invade us if given the opportunity!"

"What? You mean that kingdom that marries people off at… what, fifteen? And those people who live on all those tiny islands that deal with so-called dragon attacks on a daily basis? Their customs are both so weird!"

Elsa laughed as the two of them paused when they came across the same large window that they had peered out of a few years ago, during the first snowfall of the same year that their old friend had started shutting out everyone else in the world. Truth be told, Elsa was still hoping that a day would come when Jackson Overland would let other people enter his cold and lonely world and would welcome her as a friend once again. But in the meantime, she was so glad that she had such a good relationship with her little sister. She had no idea what she would do if she didn't. There weren't many other children in the castle among the servants, or at least none that were around their age. Jack's little sister Emma had turned four this year, and although she and Anna still liked to visit the Overland family apartments to play peek-a-boo and hide-and-seek with the cute little doll of the servant family, Elsa still longed to have the companionship of someone around the same age as her.

She wanted to be Jack's friend once again.

"Look, Elsa! It snowed during our lessons!" Anna exclaimed.

Elsa snapped out of her train of thought and paid attention to the view beyond the castle window. Sure enough, a fresh blanket of snow was covering the scenery outside, and fat round flakes were still descending lazily from the grayish clouds high above.

"Beautiful…" she whispered, pressing her hand against the glass pane and then quickly removing it so as to see the outline of the handprint left behind in the frost.

Anna squealed with joy as she jumped up and down while clapping her hands. "We should go invite Emma and the other kids to come play out in the snow with us now that classes are done! It'd be a lot of fun!"

Elsa nodded at the suggestion. While the two princesses were the oldest kids in the castle other than Jack, there were now a few more kids in the palace around the same age as Jack's sister. During the past few years that little Emma had been born, a massive baby boom took place in the castle among the servants, and there were a couple of other kids all around the little four-year-old's age range that were running about the castle now. Most of the castle mothers often left all the young ones in the servant common room where they could all play together under the watchful eye of any other servants that were off duty at the time. All the kids were good friends with each other, but the friendship that meant the world to all the poor children of the castle employees was that Princess Elsa and Princess Anna loved to play and spend time with all of them.

"That's a good idea, Anna. Let's go and check the servants' quarters and see if any of them want to play with us."

"Okay!"

The girls headed down the hall to the common room for the servants and knocked on the door politely before opening the door and entering. Sure enough, Emma and the rest of the servant children were playing with their various toys on the carpeted flooring of the room. They were making up some type of adventure story with some stuffed animals, rag dolls, and a few wooden toy boats and pull carts with tiny figurine horses attached. Kirsten and another dark-haired servant mother were busy watching over all the kids playing as they chatted animatedly with one another to pass the time.

The moment that Elsa and Anna entered the room, however, the children stopped playing all at once. They immediately dropped their toys as they scrambled to their feet, and began circling around Elsa and Anna while cheering excitedly.

"It's the princesses!"

"They came to play with us!"

"Play! Play! Play!"

Elsa and Anna both smiled as they hugged each one of the little kids. They were all so sweet, and they seemed to completely idolize the two of them even though all that the princesses did was occasionally pop their heads into the servants' area to occasionally ask Jack if he would like to hang out with the two of them and to see a certain little sister of his.

And speaking of which—

"Princess Elsa! Princess Anna!" shouted one particular little girl. "You're here! You're here!"

Four-year-old Emma Overland came bounding out of the crowd of kids and tackled both girls in a strong hug that nearly made Elsa and Anna lose their balance when she grabbed hold of them. She had grown over the past few years from a lovable and snuggly baby to an utterly adorable little girl. With her straight brown hair and big brown eyes and little gap-toothed smile, she was undoubtedly as cute as a button. Nothing could be bad in little Emma's eyes. The world was one great big game and was a wonderful and happy place where absolutely nothing could go wrong. She was the sweetest little girl that ever existed, that was for certain.

Elsa smiled as she hugged Emma back. "Hi, Emma! Are you all having fun?"

Emma giggled as she eagerly nodded. "Uh-huh! I was just playing with Jamie and his friends! We're playing Rescue the Princess!"

Anna's eyes lit up. "Rescue the Princess? Are Elsa and I in trouble?" she asked playfully.

Emma's smile only grew as she shook her head. "No! We're pretending to rescue the Lost Princess of Corona! We're saving her! Jamie's leading the army to the dark dungeon she's been kept in all this time! Right, Jamie?"

Emma's best friend, fellow four-year-old Jamie Bennett, was a little dark-haired boy who was often mistaken to be her twin whenever others saw them together. They did look very similar to one another, after all. Untidy dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, and he had a kind and adventurous personality. It was a well-known fact around those that hung out in the servant quarters that the little Bennett boy had a tendency to explore everywhere in the castle, often getting in trouble when his games caused him and his friends to get into mischief. Still, he was a nice boy, and not only did Emma get along well with him, Kirsten thought that his mother, Olivia, was just as wonderful and considered her to be one of her closest friends among the castle employees.

Jamie smiled a wide, toothy smile. "Yeah! We found the Lost Princess! We're about to storm the dungeon to rescue her! Caleb and Claude? Prepare the cannons! Monty? Assemble the troops!"

A pair of dark-haired, dark-skinned twin boys brought forward the wooden toy boats and little pull carts and horses, and a little blonde boy with a pair of thick red glasses grabbed the stuffed animals.

"Troops in position!"

"Cannons ready?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Aye, aye, Captain!"

"Steady now… Take aim… Fire!"

The kids all made sounds reminiscent to cannons firing, and then they all began knocking down a number of stacked building blocks in pantomime of knocking down a stone wall.

Emma clapped excitedly as she darted away from Elsa and Anna to join the other two girls among her age range friend group in collecting the rag dolls.

"Yay! We broke the dungeon walls! Pippa! Cupcake! Let's search for the princess!"

"Yeah!"

"We'll save you, Lost Princess!"

Emma and the other two servant girls, one with short reddish-brown hair and the other a bit larger with pixie-cut brown hair, made the rag dolls run past the knocked over blocks and find a small, well-crafted nesting doll of a pretty baby girl with lovely blonde hair.

"Lost Princess! We found you!"

"We're your rescuers! We're here to bring you back to Corona!"

"We saved the princess!"

The younger kids all laughed and cheered as their chaperone mothers smiled at the sight, and even Elsa and Anna were amused as they crept closer to join in on the game. Their cousin may still be missing even after twelve years, but it was still nice to see that she wasn't being forgotten by the younger generation.

"Lost Cousin! We're so happy to finally meet you!" Anna chirped, patting the nesting doll's tiny head to go along with the game.

"You all found our lost cousin, little adventurers?" Elsa teased. "Well, as the future queen of the country, I hereby declare all of you great heroes to the realm! Congratulations, little warriors!"

The kids all cheered.

"Yay!"

"We're heroes!"

"Thank you, Princess Elsa!"

Elsa and Anna smiled. It was always a delight for them to see the children happy. There was nothing better in this world than a happy child.

"We're glad you had fun saving our cousin, but do any of you want to come and play outside with us? It snowed earlier!" Anna said happily.

Within seconds, all the children's faces lit up.

"It snowed?!"

"I wanna play in the snow!"

"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!"

"Let's have a snowball fight!"

"No, let's go sledding!"

The children immediately started running for the door, but Kirsten and Olivia's voices quickly stopped them.

"Hold it, children! You can't go outside! At least not like that!"

"Get your cloaks and hats on! It's cold out there!"

The kids all grumbled, but listened to the two mothers as they quietly exited the room to go back to their living quarters and get their warmer clothes. Kirsten started to take Emma back to their own small servant apartment to get her dressed, but then the twins Caleb and Claude started running at top speed down the hall.

"Caleb! Claude! Walk, don't run!" the Overland matriarch called out.

The twins ignored her, though. Kirsten wasn't their mother, so they honestly didn't care what she said to them.

Kirsten bit her lower lip, and then glanced back down at Emma. "Sweetie? Mommy has to go and take care of the twins. Can you go get your hat and winter cloak on? I'll meet you by the grand staircase."

"'Kay, Mommy!"

"I'll take her, Mrs. Overland," Elsa offered. "I don't mind. Anna can go and get our own warmer clothes. Right, Anna?"

"Sure, Elsa! I'll bring them to the entrance to the back gardens!"

"Oh, thank you, your highness! I'm very grateful!"

"It's really no trouble, Mrs. Overland. Come along, Emma! I'll help you find your winter cloak!"

"Yay! I'm going with Princess Elsa!"

And with that, the twelve-year-old crown princess gently took hold of the little four-year-old girl's hand, and started to lead her back down the hall to her family's compartments.

---

"Jack? Did you call the livestock in from the pastures?"

"Yes, Dad."

"Every last sheep?"

"Yes."

"Then why do I only count twenty-four as opposed to twenty-five?"

Jackson Overland's eyes widened at his father's words before hanging his head shamefully and his white gloved hands nervously clung onto the oversized shepherd's crook that he had been using to tend the sheep. He had been learning to muck out the stalls in the castle stables and tend to the castle livestock in the privately-owned fields for a little over two months now, but he was really struggling to be a good stable hand and shepherd.

But failure for him was not an option.

Being a shepherd or stable hand were two of the most isolated jobs for servants living in the castle.

And considering how dangerous his powers still were even four years after his major accident with Elsa, Anna, and Emma, it was imperative that he still stayed as secluded as possible while performing his duties around the castle.

The idea to make Jack a shepherd and stable hand to keep his powers a secret had been proposed by King Agnar a little over a year ago as the time drew nearer for Jack to start learning the ropes of being a helper in the castle. Kirsten had been entirely against the idea of Jack going outside, as although she knew it was important for Jack to not let his ice and snow magic be known to anyone else, she also didn't want him to be any more isolated than he already was. She had wanted him to be trained as a butler like Tobias, where at least one of them could always be around to monitor him and keep him company whenever he was out of the room. When the king and queen heard her reasoning, they slowly began to reconsider Agnar's initial decision to keep Jack in total isolation from others even whenever he left his family unit, but that was when Tobias stepped in and put his foot down on the matter. Jack had to be kept completely alone. So long as there was one other person around him, there might be another accident, or at the very least his cursed magic might be exposed. Jack's loneliness meant nothing compared to the safety of everyone else living in the castle. Kirsten was still against it, but Agnar and Idun realized that the man did make a valid point, so Kirsten's wishes were ignored. Tobias's duties were changed from being a normal castle servant to being a stable worker and sheep herder, so that when it finally came time to train Jack, Tobias would be the only one needed to train his son on his duties in the care and keeping of the castle animals.

Of course, what none of the adults had remembered when deciding to have Tobias train his son in complete solitude was how much Tobias hated his son for what he could do, and with every training session Jack screwed up and made mistakes in, Tobias's rage knew no end.

"Dad… I'm sorry. I miscounted. I'll… I'll go back out and—"

The dark-haired boy was cut off when his father grabbed hold of his upper arm so tight, he was forced to let out an unintended yelp of pain.

"Argh!"

"Shut up! I've told you at least a thousand times to double check that you've brought in every last one of the damn sheep before you call them in! Get back out there this instant! We can't let wolves find it first!"

Jack didn't hesitate to comply. He quickly wrenched his arm out of his father's firm grip and made his way back outside the castle barn as fast as he dared to go without running. Should he run, he'd be drawing attention to himself from the few other isolated stable workers moving about here and there as they fed the sheep he had just brought back in from the cold weather outside. Not only did he not want any of them to know about his powers, but he also didn't want any of them suspecting that his father was abusing him.

Not even Kirsten or King Agnar and Queen Idun knew the full extent of Tobias Overland's cruelty towards his only son, and Jack intended to keep it that way.

He already caused enough trouble for his mother and the monarchs on a daily basis by causing them concern over his stupid magic.

The last thing he wanted was to cause them more grief from knowing how his father squeezed his arm so tight he left bruises most days and even occasionally shoved him into the walls of the castle barn when he failed in his training.

As soon as he was out the barn doors and out of sight of his cruel father, Jack leaned up against the outer walls of the barn and sadly sighed. The once happy little boy had not aged well these past few years. He had grown a few inches taller and his facial features were beginning to lose their childhood baby fat, but instead of smiling all the time like he did when he was little, a careful monotone expression was always on his face whenever he left the safety of his small bedroom, and whenever he was inside his precious sanctuary, he was almost always frowning, as he couldn't stop the feelings of sadness and loneliness from washing over his body. He watched every day as his sweet little sister played and had fun with her friends and even occasionally with Elsa and Anna outside in the gardens from his bedroom window, wishing more than anything to be able to spend just one day out there with them like he had before his accident.

But that was an impossible dream.

He knew that if he dared get close to anyone else again, another accident might occur and someone could get hurt.

He had to stay locked away behind his bedroom door, only daring to leave whenever he had his servant duties to attend to, and never allowing himself to spend any time with other people while he was outside.

He also had dark shadows underneath his eyes from years of both lack of sleep and pent up stress. The lack of sleep was due to all the nightmares he suffered from almost every night. Ever since he accidentally injured Elsa and Anna and caused Emma to be afraid of him four years ago, Jack had had terrifying nightmares of unintentionally causing another incident with his powers. The nightmares would always start out the same, with him as a little boy playing with the girls in the Great Hall of the castle as he made it snow all around them, but then the outcome of the night would end with him hurting Elsa and Anna all over again with Emma screaming in horror.

Ironically enough, those were the good nights.

The bad nights ended with him hurting the princesses so badly, they would end up with sharp and pointy icicles sticking out of their chests and blood dripping around them, and Emma, a little baby, would be crushed to death under thick and heavy mounds of ice and snow.

Jack would end up bolting awake with sweat dripping down his face after he had those nightmares, and would gradually end up crying himself to sleep afterwards, all the while praying to whatever gods and spirits were out there that they make sure he never did anything to cause harm to those he cared about. Especially Elsa and Emma. They were the two most important people in his life other than his mother and the king and queen. As for his father… given how Tobias treated him, Jack still respected him, but he wasn't sure if he still loved him anymore after all the times the man had beaten him for using his magic and for screwing up in his servant duties. That being said, he still didn't wish to hurt him with his powers, either.

The stress, on the other hand, was due to numerous reasons. His father's beatings and his loneliness upon being separated from his precious little sister and his friends being the top two reasons, but the third reason for his stress was because of his powers.

Not from trying to make sure that his gloves and boots always remained on and that no one ever found out about them.

But from how hard his magic was always struggling against his desire to keep it bottled up inside him.

Jack never dared to tell his parents or the king and queen this, but within hours of all of them giving him his silk gloves and thick leather boots and told him to start learning to conceal all emotion, the magic inside him started trying to get loose. There was no real way to describe what happened, but… but the more he tried to keep the ice and snow within him and not let it loose, the more he felt that it wanted to get out. Not using his powers caused a great deal of stress on his physical health, and there were some days back when Jack was getting used to his new mantra of 'conceal, don't feel,' that he couldn't even find the energy to climb out of bed unless he needed to use the bathroom. Those days had been the worst. He felt so lethargic and drained, like he would never be cheerful again even if he tried.

You would think that people would have noticed this new behavior from the little boy, how he was so sapped of energy, but because he had been completely isolated in those first days when he was still struggling keep his powers inside him, no one ever noticed, as they never entered his bedroom in those instances. Jack had gotten used to the sensation though as days of feeling like that gradually turned into months, and then months became four long years. He wasn't exactly one hundred percent fine as he still felt so physically removed from his body from keeping his magic sealed up tight inside him, but he was good enough to do his work and be able to safely leave his bedroom without fear of hurting others.

He still hadn't mastered keeping his powers contained and therefore his solitude from others still had to continue, but it was a start at least. And that was good enough for his mother and the king and queen.

But evidently, not for his father. And speaking of his father, if he didn't hurry up and find that sheep soon, he was definitely going to get at least a good whack to his ribcage later. His entire upper body, arms, and legs were the only places Tobias dared to hit or kick him. Anywhere else on the body risked bruises being discovered by other people.

With a sigh, Jack ran his fingers through his messy brown hair, brushed some dust and snow off his warm brown poncho, and began trudging through the snow in the direction of the castle pastures. Out of all the horrible things he had endured with his father since beginning his training as an animal caretaker, just being outside in the snow had to be the worst. He was still completely immune to the cold, so that was no problem, but just being in the white powdery substance he loved to play in and create when he was a child… it was torture. Tending to the animals hadn't been so hard in the spring and summer when it was warmer out and he could ignore the frost that would occasionally coat the interior of his gloves whenever he became anxious, but autumn's approach with cooler weather started making the frost form inside his gloves even more often, and then with today's first snowfall in winter, Jack wanted nothing more than to rip off his stupid gloves and just let his magic be free. The ice and snow inside of him was straining to get loose today more than ever considering that there was even snow already outside. It wanted so badly for Jack to let down his barriers and just make a few more snow flurries to let people have fun in.

But most importantly, Jack suspected that his magic wanted to make sure that he himself had fun.

That was something he had been completely deprived of ever since he had hurt Elsa and Anna and scared Emma.

And it was impossible for him to have.

Should he dare to allow himself to forget about the past and have fun with his magic again, another accident might happen. Not necessarily with any of them, but to someone else he cared about or just to a random person.

No one else was going to get hurt from his stupid, uncontrollable powers.

He eventually forced himself to push all thoughts about his ice and snow powers out of his mind as he continued searching for the lost sheep. It was difficult to find it, considering that the white wool on the small creature blended right in with snowy terrain, but he soon located it trying to hoof the ground underneath a cluster of frozen evergreen trees to try and stay out of the ice cold, blustery winds, and trying to kick away the snow to reach the green grass hidden underneath to munch on. Jack quickly used his staff to gently coax it away from the area and began leading it back to the warmth of the palace barn.

And that's when he heard it.

Jack…

Jack nearly tripped over himself from hearing his name, and the sheep beside him 'baaed' in fear when he instinctively grabbed hold of its back to stay standing. As soon as he righted himself, his head quickly turned every which way imaginable as his eyes darted about, trying to figure out who had called out to him, speaking in such a soft whisper.

But there was no one else to be seen anywhere near him. All the other stable hands were a good distance away and were corralling the animals back into the barn. There was no way any of them could have whispered to him and for him to have heard it considering how far away they all were.

The only thing near him other than the sheep by his side was the wind, and it was gently tousling his locks of messy brown hair.

After another momentary pause, the boy lightly shook his head and then continued guiding the sheep along. He was obviously hearing things from being so lonely and sad. He would have to stay at the dinner table for a few extra minutes after he was done eating tonight before he slipped back into his bedroom of solitude. So long as he didn't give Emma the impression that he was being more open from now on as he talked to all of them while they ate, a onetime leisurely meal with her and his parents surely couldn't hurt.

Jack…

Jack nearly tripped over himself again. This time, he knew for a fact that he heard a voice.

With a nervous gulp, Jack clutched his shepherd staff tightly in his hand as he glanced around warily. "Hello…?" he said slowly. "Is there someone out here…?"

For a long moment, all was silent except for the breath of the wind.

Jack bit his lower lip. He was pretty sure he was being stupid. He was standing in the middle of the castle pastures talking to no one. Yeah, he was definitely losing it…

He was about to continue on with the sheep to the barn, but then he heard it again.

Jack…

Jack's hairs were standing up on the back of his neck at this point. Someone or something was trying to communicate with him. He started walking as fast as he could back to the barn. He already had enough problems on his plate dealing with his ice and snow magic. He didn't want to get involved with any supernatural spirits or ghosts.

All of the sudden, the wind which had been oh so calm a few moments ago suddenly began whipping around him, preventing Jack from going anywhere. The sheep at his side 'baaed' again rather fearfully, but Jack was completely bewildered as he struggled to remain standing upright due to the force of the whistling wind. What on earth was going on?

And then, just as quickly as the wind had whipped up, it died away again, and instead of moving about freely through the field, it seemed to circle directly around the scared and confused twelve-year-old boy.

Jack…

And then it all made sense.

Jack felt a panic course through his body that he had not experienced since his incident with his powers four years ago.

The wind was trying to talk to him.

For the longest time, Jack didn't dare to move. He was beyond terrified. It was bad enough he couldn't control his ice and snow magic, but how could he explain to his parents and the king and queen that now there was an additional problem to add onto the plate because the wind seemed to like him? This was one thing he was positive that they would not believe him about. The wind was talking to him now? The adults would either write him off as either being crazy, or they would take to putting him into permanent solitary confinement, locking him into a new bedroom where there wasn't even a window for him to look outside.

Gripping the shepherd staff even tighter in his hand and fixing a rather straight expression on his face, Jack forced himself to ignore the voice in the breeze and continued walking to the barn at a respectable pace, guiding the dumb sheep along beside him.

Jack, don't go back there… Stay… Stay and have fun with your ice and snow…

Jack didn't dare listen to the wind's words. He was beyond scared about what was happening to him, but he wasn't stupid. This was one thing he could never tell anyone about. The wind whispering to him would have to be kept a secret from everyone. This was to be something he would take with him to his grave.

He would never ever dare to tell anyone that the wind was telling him to go ahead and use his powers.

Ignoring the words the wind continued to whisper to him, begging him to stay outside here in the snow and play and have fun with his magic, Jack half led, half dragged the sheep back inside the barn. He was quickly confronted by his enraged father.

"Did you drag your feet while you were out there, boy?!" Tobias snapped, harshly shoving his son aside to lead the last sheep back into its proper pen. Jack groaned as he rubbed the spot on his side where his father had pushed him, but Tobias ignored his pain. "That should have been a two second, easy job!"

Jack flinched, but didn't dare to break character with his dad around. "Sorry, Dad," he faintly whispered.

Tobias fumed. "Just get back in the castle and straight back to your room! You'll cause more problems than you'll fix should you stay and help get them cleaned up. I'll be up in a few minutes."

"All right, Dad. See you back upstairs."

With another sad sigh, Jack turned and shuffled miserably out of the barn and through the snow to make it back to the castle. Being locked away in his room all the time with no one else for company was horrible, but he would take forced isolation over spending time with his cruel father any day. As long as he was alone in his room, Tobias would be satisfied and he wouldn't yell or hit him. It was a thousand times better to be alone than enduring his father's violence.

He entered the castle through the kitchen back doors, and quietly dodged around the cooks and servants as he navigated through the kitchens and servant staircases to get back to his family's living quarters. Should he make eye contact with anyone by accident, he didn't dare stop to make chit chat. He would just nod politely, but kept a monotone expression on his face as he walked past. He couldn't afford to make conversation with anyone. He had to get back to the safety of the four walls of his bedroom. Only then could he afford to relax.

He managed to make it to the door of the Overland family apartment with little to no difficulty whatsoever, and he was just breathing a deep sigh of relief and giving himself a mental pat on the back for arousing no suspicion from anyone in the castle as he turned the doorknob and entered the living space.

Only to come across a sight he definitely hadn't been expecting to see.

"Are you done yet, Princess Elsa? I wanna go out and play!"

"Just one last button, Emma, then you'll be all set. And… done! You're ready!"

"Yay!"

It took all the willpower that Jack possessed to remain calm and not allow the shock of what he was seeing appear on his face. His little sister being in the family unit was to be expected. What he had not been expecting to see was Elsa on her knees in front of Emma as she buttoned up his sister's winter cloak.

Jack was definitely taken aback, but then, as he stood there in the doorway to his family unit and watched Emma smile happily up at Elsa as she got his little sister dressed to go play outside in the snow, a wave of sadness and even tad bit amount of annoyance and anger washed over Jack, and he couldn't help but frown as he gritted his teeth together and hung his head.

This whole scene was messed up.

Elsa should not be the one Emma was smiling cheerfully at as she got her dressed so they could both go and play together outside.

It should be him.

He was the big brother.

He was supposed to be the one who should be getting Emma into her winter cloak as she chatted happily to him.

This was all just so wrong.

And it was all because of his stupid, cursed powers that prevented him from jumping right in and correcting this messed up scenario he was witnessing.

But Jack stood there watching them for a moment too long, because Emma suddenly turned her head, and her whole face lit up when she spied him.

"Big Brother!"

Within seconds, the tiny four-year-old was waddling away from Elsa on her pudgy little legs to try and give Jack a big hug, but Jack quickly sidestepped off to the right to make sure that Emma didn't touch him. He was panicking inside from the very thought that both his little sister who he loved and Elsa who he still considered to be… a very dear friend despite years of forced separation were together in the same room as him, but he had to act cool and rational. One wrong move and he could accidentally cause something to turn to ice around him despite the safety precaution of his special gloves.

"Elsa, Emma," he said in a level tone, betraying neither happiness nor worry in his voice so as to hide what he was truly thinking. "I wasn't expecting to see either of you right now."

Emma blinked up at him with curious eyes, not fully understanding why her big brother had rejected her plea for physical affection, but Elsa forced a smile on her face as she stood up from where she had been kneeling on the ground to get Emma ready. In Elsa's eyes, this was as good a chance as any to try and mend the bridge between herself and her old childhood friend again.

"Hi, Jack! It's been awhile, hasn't it?" she asked kindly.

Jack fought the urge to thickly gulp as he nodded. He couldn't afford to start a full-blown conversation. He had to get back inside his bedroom before he caused a possible accident and hurt one of them.

"Yes, yes it has... If you'll both excuse me, now, I have stuff I need to do."

And without waiting for any type of reply from either his sister or his old friend, Jack turned, walked as fast as he dared across the room so as to not arouse suspicion from either his little sister or the crown princess, and quickly entered his bedroom, making sure to shut the door firmly behind him.

For a long moment, both Elsa and Emma were stunned by how Jack had all but darted back into his bedroom to try and seemingly get away from the two of them. Elsa in particular couldn't stop herself from feeling incredibly hurt and rejected. What exactly was she doing wrong? She was being kind, wasn't she? Why wouldn't Jack take two seconds just to talk to her?

Her musing was interrupted when Emma suddenly toddled her way up to the door and knocked politely, a happy smile still on her sweet face.

"Jackie! Don't go into your bedroom again!" the little brunette begged. "Come outside and play! We're going to play in the snow!"

Elsa crossed the room and joined Emma in knocking on Jack's door. She had to keep trying to get Jack to open up to her again. If Emma, a young four-year-old girl who didn't even remember the time when Jack was still a sweet and lovable goofball to all he met and always doted on her, his cute little baby sister, still cared enough to try and beg Jack to come out the door and play with them and the other kids that were waiting for them by now, then she had to keep trying, too. A little bit of faith was all it would take.

"Jack?" Elsa called out, rapping her knuckles a few times on the white painted wood. "Won't you join us? Don't you wanna build a snowman again? Or… you know if you don't, we could always do something else!"

"Princess Elsa and Princess Anna have bikes!" Emma chirped with a toothy smile. "We could all go ride them through the halls! I want your company, Big Brother! I want to talk to you! Not to Jamie and the other kids! You!"

"Emma's right, Jack. It gets a little lonely here in the castle without you. There's so many empty rooms. Some days, I just watch the hours tick by," said Elsa. "So please! Come play with us! It doesn't even have to be for a long time! Just a little while!"

"Please, Big Brother! Plea—"

Emma was cut off when the door leading back out to the hallway opened again, revealing the snow-covered body of Tobias.

The moment Emma saw him, she smiled brightly and went bounding towards quickly.

"Daddy!"

She clung to his leg as hard as she could. Tobias was surprised to see his small daughter here, but as he patted her head, he caught sight of Elsa standing in front of Jack's door, and he hurriedly bowed.

"Your royal highness! I wasn't expecting you to be here in my family apartment."

"Hello, Mr. Overland! I was just getting ready to take Emma to play outside! Your wife said it was okay! And we were just inviting Jack to come play with us!"

The moment Elsa mentioned Jack's name, Tobias's curious facial expression became very rigid.

"I'm sorry, Princess Elsa, but Jack going out to play is out of the question."

"But Sir—"

"You and your younger sister may play with Emma as much as you want, but Jack is too busy training now to play. Now, please run along girls. There's important work to be done around the castle."

"Oh please, Daddy? Please? I want to play with Jackie!"

"No, Emma. Now, you and the princess go play. I need to have a serious word with your brother."

Emma looked so dejected at her father's response, but Elsa couldn't help but feel somewhat offended as she and the little girl were all but shoved back out into the hall and the door slammed shut behind them without another word. It was one thing for Jack to be cold and distant to all who he met, but now his father, too?

Just what was going on in the Overland family?

Finally, Elsa sighed, and then took Emma's small hand back into her own.

"Come on, Emma. Let's go and meet up with the others, okay?"

"'Kay…" the little girl mumbled, her voice filled with hurt from being rejected by both Jack and Tobias.

And so, Elsa led Emma down the hall, far away from her father and older brother.

---

The moment Tobias was certain that Elsa and Emma had walked far enough down the hallway to be out of earshot, he plastered an ugly scowl onto his face before storming his way across the main room to fling open Jack's bedroom door.

Jack had been lying down on his side on his small bed, fighting the urge to cry, but the moment that Tobias came waltzing inside his room looking ready to skin him alive, the poor boy shot straight up in bed and tried to stop himself from feeling terrified. Feeling emotions led to accidents with his powers, after all. He had to do all he could to repress his fear.

"Dad…?" he softly croaked.

"You were talking to them!" Tobias yelled, stomping forward to drag his son off the bed so that he was cowering before him on his feet. "Your sister and the crown princess! Does learning to maintain control of those god damned powers mean nothing to you, Boy?!"

"Of course it does!" Jack quickly replied, resisting the urge to try backing fearfully away. "I don't want to hurt anyone else! I didn't mean to talk to them, honest! They… They just—"

"No excuses, Jack!" his father thundered. "They were inviting you to play! You have to always refuse them!"

Tears sprung forth from Jack's eyes. He tried to prevent them from falling, but his efforts were in vain, and fat droplets of salty water began running down his face.

"I was trying to, Dad! Really, I was!"

As Jack cried, his ice and snow magic spun out of control. His powers fought their way through the thick leather barricade the boots on his feet provided, and light amounts of ice began to spread across the floor. Jack's fear spiked majorly when he saw the ice, but Tobias's rage increased tenfold. His fist slammed into Jack's cheek, and Jack had to bite down so hard on his tongue he could taste blood in order to hold in a yell.

"You're using that witchcraft now?! Stop it at once! Control it!"

Jack gulped, but didn't even hesitate to do as his father asked as he tried to stop his tears and become an emotionless body once again. Feel nothing. Have no emotions. Be a blank slate. But it was no use. His ice refused to stop spreading around the room, and seeing that only made Jack's anxiety skyrocket. He sobbed with fear and worry as the ice thickened, and even a light amount of snow began to fall directly above his head, landing softly on his head and shoulders.

Jack whimpered when he saw all the ice and snow. "Dad… I'm sorry! I don't mean to make all this—"

He was cut off by Tobias grabbing his arm, and shoving him hard into the small dresser in the corner.

Jack's whole body shouted out in pain as he whacked into the corner of the piece of furniture, but when he slipped and landed hard on his arm as he fell down on the wooden floorboards, pain shot through his entire limb near his elbow and Jack was unable to muffle his agonized yell.

"Dad! My arm!" he sobbed through his new, pain-filled tears.

But Tobias just shook his head in disgust at his son cowering down at his feet. There was a long pause as he simply glared at Jack, but then a strange look came across his face. It seemed as though he had finally come to some sort of decision.

"I've had enough of this nonsense," he muttered.

And then, with one last furious shake of his head, Tobias spun around on his heel, and left Jack sobbing on the floor as he marched right out of the room, slamming the bedroom door shut behind him.

For the longest time after his father had abandoned him there on the floor, Jack didn't dare to move. He just stayed curled up there on the floor in a tiny ball, cradling his injured elbow to his chest as more ice and snow continued materializing around him. He fought the urge to cry so as to make the ice and snow stop, but the pain in his arm was so intense it was impossible to stop the tears. He was pretty sure his arm wasn't broken badly at least, because the bones weren't jutting out at weird angles, but he was still quite certain that there was something seriously wrong, because this pain went beyond the pain that a typical bruise would generally leave behind. Common sense told Jack that he ought to go and find help, but from beyond the door, he could hear his father thumping about through the apartment and what sounded like furniture being shifted around. After everything that had happened just now, Jack wasn't willing to risk Tobias's wrath again by opening the door.

Trying to muffle his tears, Jack reluctantly pulled off one of his gloves with his teeth, made his hand icy cold, and then sucked in a small hiss as he put his hand on his elbow for a little while before taking a few moments to ice his bruised cheek.

His mother would be back soon hopefully.

When she did, she would go and get him a doctor.

He just had to sit tight and wait patiently until then.

---

It was many hours before Jack heard the apartment door open, and the sound of two pairs of footsteps entering the narrow living space.

"Mommy! Can we go ice skating with Princess Elsa, Princess Anna, and Jamie and the others again tomorrow?"

There was a hearty laugh from Kirsten. "That depends, Sweetheart. I'm sure Jamie and the rest of your friends would love to go play in the snow with you tomorrow, but the princesses might be busy. They have very important duties to attend to, you know."

"Oh, okay…"

It sounded like Emma and their mother had a fun afternoon playing outside today with Emma's friends and Elsa and Anna. Despite the pain still coursing through his elbow and cheek, Jack couldn't help but feel a tad bit jealous. He wanted to be out there playing and having fun with his sister and her friends, all the while being chaperoned by their loving mother. It wasn't fair. Why did he have to have these horrible powers?

His musings were cut off when a choked shout of horror erupted from his mother's throat. "Tobias! What is going on?!"

Jack dried his tears with the sleeve of his good arm, did his best to slide his white silk glove back onto his exposed hand again with his teeth, and struggled to get to his feet. He had felt so blue and sorry for himself for the past few hours since his father had hurt him, he hadn't paid all that much attention to all the thumping sounds Tobias had been making outside in the living room. What had he been up to all this time?

With a small nervous gulp at the prospect of being either yelled at again or of what he might see on the other side of the door, Jack sucked up his courage and opened his bedroom door wide enough to poke his head outside and see what was going on.

Emma was clutching onto their mother's hand as she stared in obvious confusion before her.

Kirsten had a look of complete disbelief and shock on her face as one hand slowly rose upwards to cover her mouth.

Tobias was sitting on the small couch with at least two sacks filled with unknown items at his feet, and he was glaring hatefully at a spot on the wall with all his might, as though if he scowled at it long enough, he would drill a hole through it with his hatred alone.

After a long pause, Tobias finally turned his head to shift his glare to his wife.

"I've put up with this nonsense with Jack long enough, Kirsten," he said in a cruel tone. "I've had enough of it!"

For the longest time, Kirsten didn't speak. She seemed to be in a state of shock, but then she seemed to remember the fact that Emma was standing right beside her, and she slowly turned her head towards Jack's door. Her eyes widened a bit when she saw her son's teary face leaning out of his bedroom, but she tried to collect herself so as to remain calm.

"Jack? Take Emma into your room for a little while," she said, trying to keep her voice at a level tone. If not for her sake, then for her children's sake.

With a thick gulp, Jack shook his head. "I… I can't, Mom…"

"Jack, this is important. I have full confidence that nothing will happen. Please come and take Emma. Your father and I have to—"

"I need a doctor, Mom!"

Those words halted Kirsten right in her tracks, and she quickly focused all her attention on her eldest child, trying to hide himself as best as he could in the crack of the doorway.

Tobias's glare increased tenfold upon hearing what Jack had just said, and his sharp gaze zeroed in on his son, making Jack flinch away from him and shut the crack in the doorway slightly so as to avoid his father's furious gaze.

"You shut up, Jack! You stay in there and keep that god damned mouth of yours shut!" Tobias ordered. "I've had enough of your nonsense and if you know what's good for you, you stay in there—"

"Jack, come out here where I can get a good look at you," Kirsten interrupted. Her words were strong, but it was impossible to miss the slight tremor in her voice. She was clearly terrified of what she might see once she fully examined her only son.

Tobias fumed. "Stay in that room if you know what's good for you, Boy!" he warned.

"No, Jack. Come out here and look at me," Kirsten pleaded.

Tiny Emma had no idea what was going on exactly, but she clung to the skirts of her mother's green servant dress tightly as she gazed back and forth between her furious father and her terrified big brother. She didn't understand what was happening, but she wanted the tension in the room to go away. She didn't like the way her mother was gripping her small hand so tight, it felt like she was going to break her fingers.

Jack hesitated for several moments as he debated about which parent he should listen to. His mother who had always done right by him, or his father who would undoubtedly beat him senseless later should he dare to disobey him? Finally, he opened his bedroom door wider and stepped fully out of his room so his mother could get a good look at his bruised face and see the way he was still cradling the arm with the injured elbow.

Kirsten's eyes became wide saucers as she stared in horror of what her husband had done to their son, but then her eyes became stony cold.

"Jack? Take Emma and go to the doctor's apartment. His quarters are right down the hall. Tell him to have his wife go fetch King Agnar and Queen Idun."

But Jack's heart missed a beat out of fear of being around anyone else for a long period of time. "But… Mom, I—"

"Jack, do as you're told! Take Emma and go have the doctor fix you up!"

Jack jumped. His mother generally never yelled, but this time she did. But even as she spoke to him, Kirsten's attention was not focused on him, but rather on Tobias. She was turning red in the face as she glowered at her husband. Before now, Jack never knew his mother could be so angry, but her expression was of absolute loathing as she glared at his father. And Jack knew that despite his lack of control over his cursed magic, she was not in the mood to dispute with him over going to find the doctor himself and taking Emma along with him out of the apartment.

He finally forced himself to nod. "Okay, Mom," he said quietly.

He started to shuffle forward to gesture to Emma to follow him back out into the hall again, but Tobias's shouts quickly forced him to a halt.

"Don't go out there, Jack! Get back into your room this second and—"

"You do not speak to my son that way, Tobias!" Kirsten quickly shouted, crossing the room to shield Jack from Tobias's line of sight. "You do not talk to him! You do not look at him! You are to never come near him or my daughter again!"

"Come again, Kirsten?!" Tobias growled.

Emma still wasn't a hundred percent sure what was happening, but she shrank back against the back wall anyway, clearly scared of all the shouting voices. Jack was scared himself and still in pain from his injuries, but his thoughts were preoccupied on trying to keep the frost and ice coating the interior of his gloves from soaking through the cloth barrier and start shooting out all over the room.

He had to be emotionless.

Conceal, don't feel…

Conceal, don't feel…

Conceal, don't feel…

Kirsten's eyes quickly zeroed back in on him, and he snapped out of his train of thought. "Jack, take Emma and go. Now," she ordered.

Jack jumped a bit again, but then hastily nodded and crossed the rest of the expanse of the room and gestured for Emma to follow him.

"Come on, Emma," he whispered.

He didn't dare take Emma's hand in his out of fear of losing control, but he did the best to fight through the pain he was experiencing to give his little sister the nicest, friendliest smile he could muster. Emma didn't hesitate to follow him, she was so scared and confused. She gazed fearfully at her parents one last time, and then scrambled after Jack into the hall.

Jack said nothing to Emma as he led her to the apartment of the only doctor in the castle. The faster the doctor fixed his elbow and did something about the bruise on his cheek, the sooner he could return to the safety of his bedroom. He couldn't afford to lose his focus. Losing control of his emotions for even a second could put Emma and everyone else in this castle in mortal peril. He had to ignore the anxious feelings rising in his chest from the thought of leaving his mother alone to deal with his abusive father and take carefully planned steps to the doctor's apartment.

When Jack knocked on the physician's door and did his best to explain what had happened to the doctor and his wife, the couple hastily ushered him and Emma in before splitting up, the doctor tending to Jack's injuries while the wife went to relay what had happened to the king and queen. Emma sat off to the side and watched with wide eyes as the fellow castle employee poked and prodded at her big brother's elbow with gentle fingers, but that didn't stop Jack from wincing with pain after every other nudge the doctor made. Finally, the physician concluded that while Jack's arm wasn't broken, he had definitely sprained his elbow when he fell, and he had to put Jack's arm into a sling to make sure he didn't move the arm for a while. He tried to convince the twelve-year-old to take off his glove on his injured arm, claiming it would make his hand sweat while being in the sling with his arm, but Jack stubbornly refused. He would take no chances at all with his secret powers, not even if keeping his hands covered meant that he would be uncomfortable for the next week and a half while his elbow healed.

By the time his elbow was suspended with the soft cloth brace and the physician had provided him with some ice out of his ice box to deal with the swelling on his cheek, Kirsten Overland still hadn't shown up, and neither had King Agnar and Queen Idun.

"Where's Mommy?" Emma piped up after the doctor had handed Jack the ice. "Why isn't she here? And why was she so mad at Daddy?"

It took all the willpower Jack possessed not to freeze up. Literally. He did not want to be the one to explain to his sweet and innocent little sister what their father had been doing to him for the past four years ever since his accident with his powers, and that their mother had just found out about it.

The physician seemed to read his thoughts. "Why don't I go and find out?" he suggested.

Jack's head whipped around. He couldn't be left alone with Emma. So long as there was one other person in the room, he wouldn't be quite so anxious being in this close proximity to his sister.

"You… You don't have to go…" he whimpered out, his own words sounding rather pathetic to his ears.

"It's no trouble at all, really. You kids sit tight. I'll be back soon."

And just like that, before Jack could say anything further in protest, the doctor upped and left the room, leaving him and Emma completely alone.

For a long time, Jack didn't anything, nor did he give into the urge to just glance over at Emma sitting on a chair off to the side. He had to stay absolutely focused on his mantra.

Conceal, don't feel.

Conceal, don't feel.

Be the good boy you always have to be.

Don't let anyone know.

"Big Brother? Why was Daddy so mad at you and Mommy?"

Jack nearly jumped up out of his seat on the couch as he spun around. Emma was looking at him with big, curious eyes as she swung her dangling legs back and forth on her chair. She looked so innocently confused by all that was going on, that Jack knew he couldn't tell her the truth. He might be a failure of a big brother when it came to all the extremes he went to in avoiding Emma just to keep her safe from his horrible powers, but he could be a good older sibling to her with this and not mentally scar her the way that he was already forever scarred.

"I… I did something bad, Emma, that's all," he said, doing his best to sound dismissive just so she wouldn't continue trying to talk to him. "Mom and Dad were just arguing over whether or not to punish me."

"Oh."

There was another stretch of uncomfortable silence between the two of them. Emma was clearly at a loss for words, but Jack just felt grateful for the lack of conversation. He hated seeming mean by constantly pushing away his only sibling whenever she tried to open up to him, but he had no choice. Emma had to be protected.

The silence was soon broken by a small, tired yawn.

Jack was genuinely surprised to hear the sound, and glanced back over at the small girl. Emma was fighting back another yawn by struggling to clamp her lips together as she rubbed her brown eyes with her tiny fist. It had been such a long day for the little girl, and she was clearly wiped out.

"Tired?" he reluctantly asked.

Emma's head drooped a bit as she nodded. "Mm-hmm," she groaned.

"Trade places with me. You can sleep a bit on the couch."

Jack did his best to avoid making eye contact with Emma as she slowly slid off her chair and dragged her feet over to the small loveseat that he had been sitting on all this time. As soon as Emma had settled herself down on the plush couch and was stretching out so she could close her eyes and get some rest, Jack scrambled to his feet and hastily made his way across the room to sit on the chair that she had just vacated.

Despite how tired his four-year-old sister was, Emma frowned when she saw him move away from her. "Can't I lay with my head on your lap, Jackie?" she sleepily mumbled.

Jack clenched his thankfully gloved hands as he shook his head. "No, Emma," he said rather simply. He wasn't going to make any excuses as to why he was denying her this. He couldn't let his sister touch him. He didn't trust himself.

Emma frowned at him. She didn't understand why her big brother always avoided her so much. Why did he never want to spend any time with her? Princess Elsa and Princess Anna were siblings, but they were so much closer than she and Jack were. Sometimes, the little girl had to wonder if she and Jack would ever have a close relationship like the princesses did.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell me a story?"

Jack blinked. He hadn't been expecting her to ask him that. He was quiet for a few moments as he weighed the pros and cons of obliging her simple request in his head. Telling Emma a simple bedtime story was certainly not harmful to her. He could remain sitting here in this chair all the way on the other side of the room and she would not be in any danger from his powers. Plus, it would be the least he could do for his little sister. Since he had to maintain minimal contact with Emma just to ensure her safety from his wretched ice and snow powers, there was very little he could do for her to let her know how much he honestly loved her. But on the other hand, doing a small gesture such as this might give her the wrong idea. He didn't want to get her hopes up that he was coming out of his shell and that he would always be around to give her hugs and kisses…

What should he do?

After a few seconds of weighing the dilemma, he finally came to a decision. He would break his rules for one night and tell his sister a bedtime story. It would just be a one-time deal, but still he would go against his instincts and do something nice for Emma. If it turned out that he would never be able to control his powers and took the secret that he could conjure ice and snow out of thin air to his grave, let his little sister have one good memory of him where he actually acted like a big brother to her. Just for once, Jack wanted Emma to know that he really did care about her at the end of the day.

"Yeah, sure. All right," he told her.

Emma's little face promptly lit up. "Yay! What story will you tell me, Jack?" she whispered eagerly through her drowsiness.

Jack didn't respond right away, as he had to think up a good story to be able to tell her. He glanced out the window at the nighttime sky outside, but then his eyes fell upon the round, silver orb of the full moon hanging in the black, starry night sky. And then, almost like magic, a silly little story came to his mind. He didn't know what made him think up such a story, but he did, and Jack knew that it was the perfect story to tell his little sister.

"Well, did you ever hear the story about the boy who fell from the sky?" he asked.

Emma blinked, but then promptly shook her head.

"Well, a long time ago, there was a boy who fell right out of the sky and landed on earth. He had no memory of who he was or where he came from or why he fell from the sky in the first place. His only clue to his past was that he had the power of moonbeams at his disposal."

"Moonbeams?"

"He could control moonlight."

"Oh!"

"Well anyway, the Moonbeam Boy wandered the earth for years and years, never aging, but also never being seen, as humans never believed in him, and the only way people could see him was if they believed in him. He longed to find someone who could believe in him so he could be seen by someone. Anyone. But then one day, he did find someone!"

"He did? Really?"

"Uh-huh. He met a girl named Katherine. Katherine and the Moonbeam Boy spent all their time together, playing and having loads and loads of fun! But one day, another supernatural person came to earth."

"Did Katherine and the Moonbeam Boy become friends with them?"

Jack shook his head. "No, this person wasn't the friendly sort. He was intent on destroying it and ridding the world of fun and games forever. The Moonbeam Boy knew that the only way to protect Katherine as well as the rest of the people on earth was if he fought the evil being."

"He won, didn't he?! The Moonbeam Boy won, right?"

"Yeah, he won. The evil man was defeated, but at a heavy price. The Moonbeam Boy lost his human body over the course of the battle."

Emma gasped, and then her eyes started watering. She was clearly horrified to hear this.

"Hey, Emma! Don't be upset! It's just a story!"

"But… it's so sad! The Moonbeam Boy should have lived happily ever after with Katherine! That's how stories are supposed to end!"

Hearing those few short sentences brought a bittersweet smile to Jack's face. Yeah, his sister was probably right about that, but unfortunately, life was not a fairy tale. There was no such thing as happily ever after. Especially not for him. He was the monster that everyone fears in the children's stories. He shouldn't even exist.

But it's not like he could tell his four-year-old sister any of that. He was doomed to live a life of complete isolation from others, but she still had a chance of being happy someday. Let her enjoy the wonder and dreams of an idealistic world made up in fairy tales for a few more years before reality caught up to her the way that it had already caught up to him.

Let her believe that happily ever after's do exist in this world.

Even if they don't exist for him.

"Well, don't get too upset, Emma. The Moonbeam Boy isn't gone. I mean, not really…"

"Hmm?"

"His body might be gone, but his spirit still lives. It's always searching for another good human soul to join with his own, that way he can try and find Katherine again. Because only when the two of them are together will the Moonbeam Boy ever truly be happy and have fun again."

"Is there any way I can help him, Jackie? I want to help the Moonbeam be happy again! I want to help him find Katherine!"

"Well… he has to find people who believe in him first. Because he'll never find another good soul to bind to his own if he doesn't find another believer first. If you believe in him, Emma, I'm sure you can help him. Do you believe in him?"

"I do! I do! I do believe in the Moonbeam Boy! I do!"

Jack smiled. His sister was so sweet. She deserved to have a brother who could safely hug her and kiss her without fear of hurting her. She deserved someone ten times better than him.

"That's good to hear… Now, go to sleep, okay? Time for bed."

"'Kay, good night, Big Brother…"

Emma smiled at him one last time, but then she slowly shut her eyes as she laid her head on one of the couch pillows. Within minutes, she was out like a light.

Jack wanted so badly to get up off his chair and move to sit next to her on the couch, letting her use his lap as a pillow as she had initially proposed, or at the very least be able to drape a small blanket over her sleeping body, but he didn't dare move.

He could feel his fingers turning to ice inside his gloves.

He had allowed himself to feel happy for a few minutes while he told Emma the story, and now his ice was trying to resurface again.

He couldn't afford to be happy.

He had to remain emotionless.

He had to be a blank slate.

Be the good boy he always had to be.

Conceal, don't feel.

Put on a show.

Let no one know.

Because one wrong move, and everyone will know.

---

After several hours of waiting around for someone to come for them, the door to the apartment finally opened.

Jack jolted awake from the restless nap he had been taking over the course of waiting, and was surprised when he saw the doctor and his wife coming back into the room, followed closely behind by his mother, and the king and queen.

"Jack!" Kirsten cried. She crossed the room in a few frantic strides and moved to hug him, but Jack quickly leaned away from her touch. Between everything that happened to him today with his abusive father and his fear of hurting his mother with his ice and snow, he automatically shied away from her touch. He was not going to risk hurting the one parent he had that had always loved him unconditionally, not hating him the slightest because of his powers.

Kirsten was taken aback by how her son shied away from her embrace, but she shook it aside after a moment. Considering what her horrible husband had done to him, she couldn't blame Jack for resisting physical contact right now. He still had to be in shock over what happened!

"Jack, look at me! Look at me, Sweetie!" his mother begged. "Are you okay?!"

Jack listlessly nodded. "My arm still hurts, but I'm okay…" he mumbled. "Keep your voice down. Emma's asleep."

He nodded in the direction of Emma's sleeping form huddled up on the couch, and the adults all glanced at her momentarily before turning their attention back to Jack.

"Jack?" said King Agnar, he and Queen Idun stepping further into the room so as to see Jack better. "I'm so sorry that that happened to you. Really, if we'd known—"

"I'm okay, honest," said Jack shortly, doing his best to fight the tears that were threatening to cloud his vision. He couldn't afford to become a weeping mess and cling onto his mother as he sobbed over how his father had sprained his elbow. He had to stay cool. Emotionless. He couldn't afford to let his powers go haywire.

Queen Idun seemed to be able to guess what he was thinking, because she quickly turned to address the physician. "Can he return to his room?" she politely inquired. "I think we should get him to bed."

"He'll be fine. Just have him avoid doing any two-handed jobs for the next week or two. That elbow of his needs time to heal. And just be sure to ice it."

Jack and the other three adults fought the urge to exchange awkward glances from hearing that last comment. Icing his sprained elbow wouldn't be a problem at all. Not in the slightest.

Kirsten gathered her sleeping four-year-old daughter in her arms, and then motioned for Jack to come along as King Agnar and Queen Idun led the way out of the physician's apartment. They all made it back to the Overland family compartment without any problems, but when Kirsten unlocked the door and kindly gestured for Agnar and Idun to go in first and then Jack, Jack refused to go inside.

"I… I don't want to go back in," he said slowly. "I don't want to see Dad…"

The adults all blinked, and then exchanged unreadable expressions.

Jack didn't understand what their expressions meant, but before he could question them, Kirsten was bending down to his level as best as she could while still carrying Emma.

"Jack… you don't have to worry about that, okay? He won't hurt you anymore. He will never hurt you again!"

"W-What?"

"Your father had been preparing to leave all of you earlier when your mother came back with your sister," King Agnar cut in. "But after your mother saw what he had done to you… she had you tell the doctor's wife to come and get me and Idun so that we could have him lawfully banished. He's currently on a boat being sent away from Arendelle. He'll never hurt you again."

For the longest time, Jack simply stared at all of them in disbelief, not processing what he had just been told.

His father was gone…

Banished from the kingdom…

And all because of him…

It was too much for Jack, and within seconds he was bolting through the door to get back to his bedroom and slam the door shut behind him. His magic was bursting to get free again, and this time, he knew for a fact he couldn't hold it back.

The adults quickly ran through the apartment after him, Kirsten pausing only for a moment to deposit the still peacefully sleeping Emma down on the couch before continuing after her poor son. Together, she and the monarchs all politely knocked on the wood of the door before letting themselves right into Jack's bedroom.

Kirsten, King Agnar, and Queen Idun were in for quite a shock when they saw just how bad Jack's reaction was to finding out about Tobias's fate.

Jack had planted himself into a back corner of the room and was full out sobbing as snow appeared on the floor near his feet, and the entire back walls that he was leaning up against became coated in thick amounts of crystal clear ice. For the longest time, Jack ignored his mother and the monarchs as he continued to cry. He just couldn't stop the tears. Tobias had never been the father of the year to him, but to Jack, he was still his father. And now, just because he had to be born with his horrible powers, his father was forever banished from Arendelle. He had ruined not only his father's life, but his mother's and Emma's, too. His mother would be forever separated from her husband now, and Emma would grow up never knowing her father. He truly was a monster…

"Jack!" Kirsten cried out in alarm, she and the king and queen finally overcoming their initial shock and moving closer into the room to be face to face with the distressed boy. "Jack, it's all right!"

Jack ignored her as he wiped his runny nose on the sleeve of his only working arm. "I'm… I'm sorry, Mom…" he whimpered out. "I ruined everything!"

Within seconds, Kirsten was on her knees on the floor to look her son right in the eye.

"Jack, look at me… Look at me!" she demanded.

Reluctantly, Jack forced his eyes to meet his mother's, and she looked at him with such desperation on her face, it was impossible for the boy to assume that she was speaking anything but the truth.

"You are not to blame for what your father did, do you understand me?" she spoke desperately. "That… That was not your fault! It will never be considered your fault! It's my fault for not realizing that Tobias was a violent man and that I should have left him ages ago! Blame me if you want to blame someone, but not yourself! Never yourself! You are not to blame!"

Queen Idun nodded in agreement. "Your mother is right, Jack," she said kindly. "You did nothing wrong. Your father was in the wrong to hurt you like that, not you. Do not think for even a second that you deserved what happened."

"But you need to calm down, Jack," King Agnar politely reminded him, gesturing to the ice on the walls and the snow that was on the floor. "Your powers are going haywire again."

It was so hard to get Jack to calm down from his small emotional breakdown and get all the ice and snow to stop forming, but after several minutes Jack finally managed to seal off all his emotions again and feel completely numb once again. The ice and snow didn't exactly melt, but no more appeared either. Given the situation, that was the best that the three adults could hope for.

Jack fought the urge to start full out sobbing again when he realized just how much ice and snow had appeared during his few minutes' worth of crying. "I'm… I'm scared!" he gasped out. "It's getting stronger! It's so hard to keep it in!"

A few stray tears slid down his cheeks before he could stop them. King Agnar quickly stepped forward, his hands held out in front of him as though he was trying to approach a frightened or injured animal.

"Jack, listen to us. Getting upset only makes it worse."

Kirsten nodded as she reached out to try and give him a loving hug. "That's right. Just calm down…"

Just as she was about to wrap her arms around him, Jack's eyes went wide.

"No! Don't touch me!" he nearly shouted, immediately recoiling as far back as he could and bumping backwards into the ice-covered wall.

His mother and the king and queen definitely hadn't been expecting him to react that way, because his shout made all three of them hastily back away a bit.

Seeing the hurt look in all three of their faces, Jack stared up at them rather apologetically, but couldn't keep his fear completely out of his voice as he explained himself.

"Please, I… I've already hurt Elsa and Anna and scared Emma… I don't want to hurt you or make you scared of me!"

Kirsten, King Agnar, and Queen Idun all gazed sadly at Jack. They wanted to comfort him. They truly did, but how could they when it was clear that Jack didn't want to be given any type of physical comfort from now on out of fear of what he could do?

It was truly a no win situation.

When they finally told him to try and get some sleep and left him for the night, Jack climbed into bed as more tears sprung forth from the corners of his eyes.

Part of him wanted the silly little story that he told Emma to be real.

He wished he could be the Moonbeam Boy.

Because maybe if he was, he could safely be with his sister and friends again.

---

But unfortunately, life was no fairy tale.

Time continued to tick past for Jackson Overland, with no change whatsoever in finding a way to have complete control over his powers, and before he knew it, three more years had gone by. Despite having unexplainable ice and snow powers and still being able to occasionally talk to the wind, he was now a perfectly healthy fifteen-year-old boy, if still lonely and desperate for a connection with those he cared about.

Ever since Tobias had been banished from the castle, he had taken it upon himself to try and step up in his duties around the castle. Even though the adults always told him that Tobias beating him had not been his fault, Jack couldn't help but blame himself. After all, if he had never existed, the Overland family would still have their main source of income. Kirsten had tried to explain to Jack repeatedly that his taking up more servant duties wasn't necessary, but Jack had been very insistent. He wanted to help her bring more money into the household so that she wouldn't have to work so hard. Eventually, Kirsten conceded, but only on the condition that he learn regular servant work in the castle so that he wasn't completely alone anymore while working in the stables.

Polishing fine silver.

Dusting off expensive furniture in the various rooms of the castle.

Bringing food to the royal family at meal times.

That sort of thing.

Jack had been initially unwilling to agree to her one request to his offer to help out more, as he truly feared the possibility of losing control of his magic at some point while working in the castle, but Kirsten and even the king and queen had assured him that they truly believed in his ability to control himself and that nothing would go wrong. And so, with great reluctance, Jack agreed to his mother's wish and alternated his days between working in the stables and tending to the animals with days where he was beginning his training as a castle butler.

Being a butler was very difficult to the poor boy. A butler had to be always in sight, but still never seen. Always waiting in the wing to be given orders from their employer, but never looming right over people's heads. Being able to anticipate people's needs before they thought of them, but never trying to seem like a know-it-all.

Calm and reserved.

Polite and well mannered.

Dressed to the nines at every occasion.

Diligent and responsible.

If there was ever a job that Jack truly hated, it was being a butler.

There wasn't much left of the carefree little boy that had, in another lifetime, thought that his magic was the greatest thing in the world and would play and run around the castle in the middle of the night alongside the royal princesses for fun and games, but the little that remained of the eight-year-old Jackson Overland hated all the rules and manners he had to learn to maintain good etiquette in his new secondary position. Plus, the way he now had to present himself around the castle while in his new role was stifling. The traditional green Arendelle servant uniform jacket, the white button shirt underneath, and the white ruffled neckerchief must always be wrinkle-free and spotless, and the itchy black pants must be freshly pressed with an iron every morning or else creases would appear in them. Plus, instead of wearing his hair the way he wanted to, messy and wild, his mother now insisted that he comb it back neatly in a rather reserved appearance.

Add his usual white gloves into the look, and he looked like a well-groomed and well-mannered castle servant.

And his powers hated it.

The more Jack went against his own instincts to have fun and play games, the more his magic fought against the natural barriers of woven silk and well-made leather to shoot out of his hands and feet and materialize in every direction. The older he became, the stronger the ice and snow became. It didn't want to stay concealed, hidden away from the world, but Jack refused to let it be free. No one else was going to be hurt because of him. Not again. Never again. He had to ignore the ice and frost that formed inside his gloves every time his emotions spiked and he forgot to be emotionless and force himself back into his usual mantra: Conceal, don't feel. Don't let them know.

But what was even stranger to Jack than the fact that his ice and snow was constantly fighting against his resistance to be allowed to roam free was his connection to the wind.

Ever since he heard the wind seemingly whisper to him that day when Tobias finally took his violence against him too far, Jack had always been able to talk to the wind. He could hear its voice whispering to him every time he stepped outside the palace to do his work out in the stables and the pastures. Truth be told, the wind was really the only thing that Jack felt safe around these days. The wind was a nonliving creature, and therefore it could not be harmed by him. While working out in the fields tending to the castle livestock, he would often talk to the gentle breeze in the air. Sometimes he would just vent out his frustrations about what a mess his life was thanks to both his powers and the fact that he secretly believed himself to be somewhat insane in the head because he was actually talking to seemingly no one but the air as he told the wind his innermost secrets, but other times, he would stay silent and just listen to whatever the wind wanted to tell him.

The wind was quite possibly the closest thing that Jack had to an actual friend anymore due to his need for complete isolation, but if there was one thing that the fifteen-year-old boy disliked about his crazy imaginary friend – that he admitted to himself was quite possibly the living proof that he was not right in the head after so many years of being forced to live in isolation – it was the fact that it was always trying to convince him to leave the castle.

It was always telling him that staying in the castle was dangerous for him, that something evil was coming for him, and that if he ran now, there might be a chance that he could outrun it. Not to mention that staying in the palace was dangerous for his magic. If he continued to live in the castle while suppressing his natural affinity to the ice and snow, then there was a chance that he would never learn to use them to his full potential.

But Jack never listened to the wind when it told him that. For one, what were the odds that there was indeed something evil stalking him? He, Jackson Overland, was already the evilest person he knew thanks to his stupid powers – excluding his long gone father, of course. And two, Jack had no interest in learning how to fully tap into his powers unless that meant learning how to thaw out his ice, which he had yet to figure out how to do. But since that wasn't exactly possible for him, Jack knew he had to stay here in his sanctuary in the castle and remain hidden away from the rest of the world.

He was a strong boy. He could keep his powers a secret.

He could keep them a secret forever.

"Jack? I'm running a little slow today. Can you help me bring these dinner trays to the dining room?"

"Yes, Mom. No trouble at all."

He gathered one of the two dinner trays that the castle chef presented him and his mother, and followed her out of the palace kitchens and up a flight of servant stairs to find the royal family's private dining room. Today was one such day that he had been acting as a traditional servant around the castle rather than a stable hand. He hated the days when he was forced to be around other people in the castle when he performed his butler duties, and there was only one thing that made the many hours of worrying about staying an emotionless body all worthwhile in the end.

Elsa.

Although Jack was forbidden to spend time with Elsa or Anna out of fear of what he could do to them, that didn't stop Jack from noticing her as he grew older. Especially after he turned fourteen. Even before he had accidentally hurt her and Anna during the incident with his powers back when he was eight-years-old, he had always been curious about her, but now, as a boy going through his teenage years, he noticed her in a different way. He was always trying to find excuses to watch her without her or anyone else knowing it. Peering at her from around corners or behind castle pillars, gazing at her outside from behind the thick glass that made up his bedroom window, lingering behind for a few extra moments whenever he was cleaning something in a room and she happened to come in.

He had a crush on her.

Still though, his feelings had to be kept to himself.

Not only was revealing what he felt for Elsa dangerous for her, but it was also a rather silly dream.

Princesses don't marry the castle servants, after all.

He and Kirsten continued their way down the halls to reach the private dining room, but then a high-pitched, happy voice shouted out to them from down the hall.

"Big Brother! Mommy!"

Kirsten and Jack stopped and turned. Emma was running up to the two of them with Jamie and their circle of friends hurrying after her. She had turned seven not too long ago, but she was still just as sweet as she been when she was four. Her pretty brown hair had grown a bit longer and she had definitely become taller, but other than that, she still looked the same.

And her happy-go-lucky personality hadn't changed either.

She was still such a sweet child.

But that cheerfulness made it even more painful for Jack whenever he had to reject her when she asked him to come play with her.

Jack became as rigid as a statue as Kirsten quickly set her tray of food down on a side table to give her daughter a hug. "Hi, Sweetpea. Are you having fun playing with your friends?"

Emma enthusiastically nodded. "Yep! We were just giving little Sophie the grand tour of the castle! Right, Jamie?"

Jamie nodded as he held up the small bundle of blankets he had been cradling to his chest, revealing a sweet little face with a mop of bright blonde hair on top of its tiny head.

Jamie had become a big brother to a cute little sister a few weeks back, and already he was a doting big brother to her.

Jack had nothing against Jamie. If anything, he thought it was nice that Emma had a friend her own age that she could play and spend time with since he could fill that playmate role for her. But still… ever since little Sophie Bennett had been born, Jack couldn't help but be somewhat envious of the little kid.

Jamie Bennett would grow up to be a good brother to his little sister, the kind that would tell her stories and play games with her every day.

Whereas he, Jackson Overland, the boy cursed to hurt anyone and everyone with his wretched icy magic, had to stay away from his own little sister just to make sure she lived to see another day.

It was all so fucked up.

"Sophie's having a lot of fun! We just came back from touring the art gallery!" Jamie explained. "She and Emma actually have something in common now!"

"They do? Really?" Kirsten inquired. "What is it?"

"They both like the painting of Joan of Arc!" said Monty, his bright red glasses sliding a bit off the end of his nose as he waved his arms around with enthusiasm. "Sophie started giggling when she saw the painting, and then Emma started saying that one day, she was going to go on epic adventures and be a great hero when she's bigger!"

Jack fought the urge to chuckle when he heard that, but Kirsten let out a genuine laugh of amusement.

"Ah, is that so?" she asked Emma, tickling her nose a bit as she did.

Emma giggled. "Uh-huh! We all had a lot of fun! We're going to show little Sophie the gardens next! Come with us, Mommy! Jackie! Come with us! Come with us!"

Kirsten smiled at her daughter's infectious, cheerful smile, but she was forced to shake her head as she reached over to collect the tray she had set off to the side.

"I'm sorry, Emma, but Jack and I have to go and deliver this food to the royal family. They're waiting for dinner, after all!"

Emma's whole face became even brighter if that was possible, considering that she already appeared to be oh so happy. "Oh! Can I go with you and Jack, Mommy? Please? I wanna see Princess Elsa and Princess Anna!"

"Well…"

"I'll be good! I promise! No one will know I was there! Not even you!"

There was a long pause as Kirsten considered allowing her youngest child to tag along just so she could catch sight of the royals for a few minutes, but Jack secretly wished that his mother would tell her no. He didn't want to spend any more time with Emma than he needed to. In addition to not wanting to hurt her, he didn't want to give her any false hope that he was coming out of his shell and was willing to be the big brother she always dreamed of having. He made a mistake three years ago when he decided to tell her that stupid bedtime story about the Moonbeam Boy, because for at least two weeks after that fateful night, Emma had knocked on his bedroom door every night begging him to tell her the story again before she went to bed. It broke his heart to refuse her, but he had no choice but to do so. It was the only way to keep her safe. Giving Emma false hope was something that would wind up only hurting her in the end.

Unfortunately, Kirsten didn't share Jack's thought process, and she eventually nodded.

"All right. You may come."

"Yay! Here, Jackie! I'll carry the tray for you!"

Emma lunged forward to seize the tray of food from Jack's hands, but Jack nearly leaped backward several feet when her small hands came too close to brushing up against his white gloved ones.

"No! I… I can carry it myself, Emma," he said nervously, too afraid of what might happen should she touch one of his hands to remember to sound nice in his refusal to let her help him. He only realized just how rude and dismissive he must have sounded when his mother, Jamie, and the rest of the kids stared at him incredulously while Emma instantly flinched backwards, her face clearly showing just how hurt she was from how he had so cruelly rejected her.

Jack wanted so badly to tell her that he was sorry for snapping at her the way he did. He hated it whenever he was forced to act so cruel to Emma that she was brought close to tears. But still, the distance between them was a good thing. Although he didn't like the way he had to treat his only sister, if he snapped at her every now and then instead of just plain ignoring her the way he tried to in the past, perhaps it would give Emma more of an incentive to stop trying to connect with him the way she did. Her feelings as well as his own meant nothing to Jack so long as it meant she was still alive and kicking.

With a sigh, he averted his eyes from both Emma's and everyone else's dumbstruck faces, and then slowly continued on down the hall. The sooner he helped his mother to deliver this food to the dining room, the better. He needed to return to his bedroom again and cool down. It was becoming harder and harder to stay out of his bedroom for a full day without returning in the middle of his shifts around the castle to let out streams of ice in relative safety without anyone nearby to get hurt or find out about his powers.

Vaguely, Jack was aware that Kirsten was mumbling an apology on his behalf to Emma and the other kids before directing her to go ahead and take the second dinner tray from her and then follow his lead down the hall. He didn't hear Emma make any type of a reply to her though, and that made his heart twist up into painful knots. But still, he didn't stop and shoot Emma an apologetic look over his shoulder to silently tell her how sorry he was for hurting her feelings. He just gripped the tray tightly with his thankfully gloved hands and kept walking until he came to the door that led to the royal family's private dining hall.

Jack made sure to wait a few seconds to ensure that Emma and Kirsten had caught up with him, and then he knocked politely on the door before calmly turning the doorknob and showing himself in, making sure to keep the door propped for a few additional seconds as his sister and mother followed him inside.

While they had been waiting for dinner to arrive, Elsa and Anna had been chatting away happily with their parents about something funny that happened earlier during the girls' princess lessons, but the family of four quickly quieted down when they saw the Overlands enter.

Jack forced himself to keep a neutral expression on his face as he walked directly over to Elsa so as to gently place her plate of food down in front of her before moving to set Anna's food in front of her as well. His crush had bloomed into a beautiful teenager over the past few years. Elsa was fifteen like him, and her womanly curves had appeared not too long ago. She still chose to wear pretty blue dresses with rosemaling on the embroidery and her blonde hair pulled back in its usual windswept French braid, but her face had lost the last of its baby fat over the past year. She was a beautiful crown princess, but her beauty was secondary to the real reason why Jack liked her.

The first and foremost reason was all too simple.

She was there for Emma where he could not be.

She was acting as an older sibling to his sister in his place.

He was so grateful to Elsa and even Anna for taking his kid sister under their wings and showing her the love and affection he was forbidden to provide her with, even if neither of them understood why he denied his only sister the love and friendship with him that she so desperately wanted. Elsa stood up to the plate to care for Emma whenever she saw that Emma felt sad, and Anna, now a spritely twelve-year-old, eagerly tagged along to play whenever she had the opportunity.

But Jack could never properly thank either of them for what they did for Emma in his place.

To do so meant revealing why he had to keep his distance from everyone in this world.

And revealing his powers to anyone was completely out of the question.

"Your highnesses," he said respectfully and with a bowed head, ensuring that he avoided eye contact with Elsa and Anna.

Elsa stared at Jack as he served her and Anna without so much as looking at either of them. What had possessed her old friend to become like this? So emotionless and cold? What had happened to the wild and friendly little boy who would occasionally sneak into her and Anna's bedroom after dark to ask them to come and play? Granted, she and Anna had decided to have separate bedrooms not long after she had turned thirteen and Anna had long since come to the realization that Jack had absolutely no intention of being their friend again, but that didn't stop Elsa from hoping that Jack would open up to them again one day. She missed talking to him.

"Princess Elsa! Princess Anna! Hi!" chirped Emma, her face broken out into a beaming smile as she assisted her mother in setting the dinner plates down in front of King Agnar and Queen Idun.

Elsa's attention quickly shifted over to Emma, and she couldn't help but smile. Whatever the reason was for Jack closing himself off from all human interaction, at least that didn't stop Emma from being a sweet little girl.

"Good evening, Emma. How are you today?" Elsa asked with a smile.

"I'm good, Princess Elsa! I was just playing with Jamie and the others, but then I saw Mommy and Big Brother bringing your dinner, and I wanted to help!"

Anna giggled behind her hand. "You mean you came along just to see us?" she asked.

"Uh-huh! I like seeing both of you, Princess Elsa, Princess Anna!"

"Emma!" Kirsten hissed, seizing hold of her daughter's shoulder and pulling her back a few steps. "First rule of serving dinner! Never talk to those you are serving at a personal level! You have to be respectful!"

Queen Idun lightly laughed as she lightly waved away her loyal servant friend's words. "It's quite all right, Kirsten. None of us mind. In all honesty, it's refreshing to see that your daughter likes our daughters so much."

King Agnar heartily laughed while nodding at his wife's words. "Idun is right, Kirsten. Don't worry about Emma. We like her just the way she is."

"Just wish Jack would act the same way…"

All heads turned at once toward Anna. Anna seemed to have only just realized how loudly she had muttered those words, and she immediately looked apologetic as she locked eyes with Jack.

"I mean… I…"

"Anna!" Queen Idun snapped, her generally warm and caring eyes flashing furiously at her youngest child. "You apologize to Jackson!"

"Jack, I… I didn't mean to—"

"Please, enjoy your meal, your majesties, your highnesses," Jack interrupted, his face completely stoic as he bowed respectfully to the royals. "I'm sure you all will. The chef always prepares the best for the four of you."

And with that having been said, Jack turned on his heel and started heading back to the dining room doors, ignoring the bewildered stares from Elsa, Anna, and Emma, and the sad and apologetic looks from Kirsten, King Agnar, and Queen Idun. He had to get out of here. He was not only highly offended by Anna's snide remark, but he could feel his hands growing progressively colder inside his gloves. He needed some time back in his room again to get himself back into his usual numb, emotionless state.

Just as he was about to turn the doorknob to show himself out, the door suddenly opened, and the oversized body of the fellow servant Kai came hurrying inside. Jack quickly sidestepped out of the large man's way. He didn't want to risk the chance of the portly gentlemen possibly bumping into him and getting frostbite.

But Jack wasn't the only one there who was surprised by Kai's unexpected appearance. Kirsten quickly took Emma's hand in her own as she stared quizzically at the redhead hurrying to approach the king, and King Agnar and Queen Idun exchanged puzzled looks of their own before glancing back at Kai with obvious confusion. Elsa and Anna were entirely silent, but judging by their expressions, they too had no clue as to what was going on either.

"Kai?" questioned King Agnar. "Is something the matter?"

Kai merely held up a small envelope which he passed to his head employer. "We just received word from Corona, your majesty. From your sister to be exact."

Upon hearing about his younger sister, the Coronan queen, King Agnar's expression swiftly changed from confusion to undeniable worry.

"From Arianna?!" he gasped, quickly tearing open the envelope and fishing out the letter inside. Ever since the gates had been closed in an effort to try and protect Jack, Agnar had had very little contact with his younger sister, something that he sorely regretted. She was his only sibling, after all. But if Arianna was in some type of political trouble, like Corona was possibly on the brink of a war, Agnar would not hesitate to help her however he could. He would have the entire Arendelle military on ships bound for his sister's country by dawn tomorrow.

The Overlands all knew that they ought to politely excuse themselves so that the king could relate to his wife and daughters whatever news he had received from their extended family in Corona, but Jack was too nervous about the prospect of having almost bumped into someone to move, and Kirsten was frozen to her spot on the floor, still holding Emma's hand in her own. Just what was going on?

After a few tense minutes of absolute silence while King Agnar's eyes zoomed across the page, he finally set down the letter with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Agnar? Is everything all right?" Queen Idun asked with obvious worry.

When the king finally turned to look at his wife, a happy smile appeared on his face.

"Everything is wonderful, Idun! Everything is perfect! My sister is finally able to smile once again!"

There was a long pause as everyone absorbed his words. Then realization dawned them.

"Father? You're not saying that…?"

The king turned towards his eldest daughter and nodded with happy tears trickling down his cheeks. "Yes, Elsa. After fifteen years, your Aunt Arianna has finally been reunited with her lost daughter, yours and Anna's cousin."

Within seconds of hearing the wonderful news, Queen Idun's eyes filled with happy tears of her own, and Elsa and Anna exchanged wonderstruck expressions before staring eagerly at King Agnar. Even Emma looked excited as she gazed up at Kirsten, who absent-mindedly patted her daughter's small head as smiled happily toward her friend. She was beyond pleased to see Idun look so happy.

Jack said and did nothing from where he was still standing near the doors, but it would have been a lie to say that he did not share in everyone else's joy and surprise at hearing this news. It wasn't everyday after all that one learns that a princess who had been kidnapped and missing for the past fifteen years had finally been found, rescued, and had been reunited with her parents as well as restored to her throne.

"Our cousin the Lost Princess has been found?! Really, Father?!" Anna asked in obvious delight. "What's her name?!"

"It's Rapunzel, and in addition to the good news, your aunt and Uncle Frederic have invited the four of us to Corona to attend a special ceremony, as your cousin needs to be properly introduced to the other members of high society now that she's been returned to her kingdom."

Elsa quirked a brow at that. "I don't remember much about Uncle Frederic and Aunt Arianna before the gates were closed, Father, but I never took either of them for the sort to immediately marry off their daughter to the first suitor that takes an interest right after they found her again."

"Actually Elsa, your cousin only managed to be returned home because of the man that helped her, and according to this letter, she is very much in love with him. This really is just an introductory ceremony for her to meet other members of royalty, not a way for your aunt and uncle to play matchmaker."

Elsa's cheeks tinted pink. "Oh…"

"How soon can we leave, Father? I wanna meet our long lost cousin!" Anna exclaimed.

"Actually girls, I think it would be better if you stayed behind," Queen Idun cut in.

Dejected looks spread across Elsa and Anna's faces.

"What?! But why, Mother?!" Anna squealed.

"Because unless I'm mistaken, you girls have taken the liberty to skip quite a few princess lessons the past few weeks," their mother said pointedly. "If you girls had gone to those lessons, you would have learned the necessary etiquette skills required to attend such an event. But because you didn't…"

"Mother, can't we please go?" Elsa begged. "Anna and I will take extra lessons to make up for what we missed! We'll start right after dinner!"

"I'm sorry, girls, but your mother is right," King Agnar agreed. "Consider your missing this opportunity to meet your cousin a lesson as to what happens when you girls decide to skip your required princess lessons."

Jack had been watching this conversation commence rather mutely as he stood by the doors, but upon catching sight of his mother discretely motioning to Emma to follow her toward the doors, he snapped out of his thoughts and quietly opened the dining room door a crack. The three of them shouldn't just stand here listening to this. This was a private discussion between the king, the queen, and the princesses. The three of them had to leave.

Just as the Overlands were about to stealthily slip right out of the room, Queen Idun's voice halted the three of them right in their tracks.

"Wait! Just a moment, Kirsten!"

Kirsten, Jack, and Emma all turned. Queen Idun was smiling warmly at the Overland family matriarch as she politely waved her over. Kirsten obediently stepped forward as requested.

"Yes, Queen Idun?"

"I was simply wondering because you were already in the room… would you be interested in being one of the handmaidens to come along for Agnar's and my voyage to Corona for the event? If it's not too much trouble, that is?"

Although everyone else in the room saw no harm in the simple question, Jack felt nothing but absolute dread fill his chest when he heard the queen utter those words. He knew that Queen Idun meant no harm in simply asking his mother if she would be good enough to accompany her and her husband on the journey to their neighboring country and that they all had full faith in him that he could keep his powers safely contained after all these years, but Jack also knew for a fact that none of them were fully aware of how much willpower and concentration it was taking him these days to keep himself emotionless.

Please, if there were any types of gods or spirits out there, let his mother say no! Please let her say no!

Finally, Kirsten came to a decision over her reply to the queen, but unfortunately, it was not the reply that Jack had been silently begging to the heavens to hear.

"Of course, my queen. I would be delighted to accompany you both to Corona."

---

The king and queen wished to leave for Corona to witness their niece's official introduction to high society as soon as possible, and before the week was over, they had ordered for a ship prepared with several trunks filled with their provisions and gifts for their lost family member, and had a select number of guards and servants ready to accompany them across the sea to the German country.

Elsa and Anna both flew down the halls to their parent's grand bedroom, and hugged their mother and father tightly.

"We'll miss you, Mother, Father," Elsa said kindly. "You'll both be sure to tell Rapunzel that we wanted to meet her, right? And you'll give her the presents we had commissioned for her?"

"Of course, Elsa. I'm sure she'll love them," said Idun with a smile.

"And you'll both be back in two weeks, right?" Anna asked, her two red braids bouncing around a bit as she gazed up at her parents' faces. "You won't stay longer, will you? I'll miss you too much!"

Agnar laughed. "It's only a short trip, Anna. We'll be back before you know it!"

"Okay!"

"Can we at least walk with you both to the docks?" Elsa asked. "We haven't been outside the castle in so long! Please can we go?"

King Agnar and Queen Idun shared an unreadable look, but then shook their heads in unison.

"Normally, we'd say yes, Elsa, but it's already past time for you girls to be in class," said the king. "Remember, you girls lost the chance to go to Corona because you skipped too many of your princess lessons. You don't want to miss another opportunity to go and meet your cousin, do you?"

Anna made a pouty face. "And when will we get another chance to meet Rapunzel if the gates are always shut, huh?" she moped.

Idun laughed. "Well, nothing is set in stone yet, Anna, but if you girls work hard and things go well with your father and I during this trip, the four of us just may go and pay another visit to Corona over Christmas, or even have them come here for a visit."

Elsa's entire face glowed when she heard that. "Really, Mother? We might see Uncle Frederic and Aunt Arianna again and finally meet Rapunzel over Christmas?!" she asked eagerly.

"If things go well, maybe. And if you girls work harder in your lessons," Agnar said sharply. "Do you both promise to work hard while we're gone?"

"Yes! We'll work very hard, Father!"

"We promise! We promise!"

"Good, good," said Idun, reaching forward and hugging her daughters one last time. "We love you both, Elsa, Anna,"

"We love you, too, Mother, Father," said Elsa, hugging her back warmly.

"To infinity and beyond!" chirped Anna, hugging their father as she spoke.

Agnar laughed. "See you in two weeks, girls," he said finally.

Elsa and Anna nodded with bittersweet smiles, and waved sadly as their parents signaled to Kai and Gerda to collect the last of their luggage before leading the way out of the bedroom. Now left alone in their parents' bedroom, Elsa and Anna hugged each other for comfort before making their way down the hall together for their long overdue princess lessons.

King Agnar and Queen Idun continued through the many winding hallways of the palace and down the grand staircase, smiling kindly to all the servants who took the time to stop and wish them safe travels for their journey. They were the beloved monarchs of their kingdom, and they would be sorely missed for the next two weeks while they were gone.

When they at last reached the main castle foyer, they spotted the select number of guards and servants that they appointed to accompany them also preparing the last of their luggage to leave. Near the main doors that led out to the castle's front courtyard, the monarchs briefly took notice of the father of another servant family, Erik Bennett, lovingly kissing his wife goodbye before hugging his son and patting his infant daughter's head.

"Can't I go with you to Corona, Dad? I wanna be an adventurer on a great ship!"

"That does sound like fun, Jamie, but if you came along, who would protect your mother and your little sister in my place? Who else would be the man of the house while I'm away?"

"I can do it! I'll take care of Mom and Sophie while you're gone! I'll do a good job!"

"I know you will, Sport. You be good, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Be safe, will you, Erik?"

"Of course, Olivia. I'll be sure to bring presents for all three of you."

"You'll bring back a toy for me, right, Dad?"

"'Course, Sport. Toys for both you and Sophie. Sophie? You be Mommy's little princess, okay? Okay."

"Bye, Dad!"

"I love you, Erik!"

Agnar and Idun both smiled as they saw the family say their goodbyes to one another. All across the foyer, similar goodbyes were being made between the servants and guards going on the trip that had families. But there was one servant family in particular that the king and queen paid special attention to that were busy saying their goodbyes.

The Overlands.

"I don't want you to go, Mommy! I want you to stay!"

"Now Emma, I know you're sad that I'm leaving, but I'll be back very soon!"

"I don't care! I don't want you to go!"

Little Emma Overland was clinging with all her might to her mother's green servant dress tightly with her tiny hands as she gazed up desperately at Kirsten's face, begging her not to leave. Jack stood rather rigidly off to the side as he avoided making eye contact with anyone at all by simply staring down at the one bag of luggage his mother had packed for the short trip. His gloved hands were clenched up into somewhat shaking fists, but other than that, he seemed to show no emotion whatsoever as to everything that was happening around him.

He was a wreck of emotions inside though, but the stoic mask that he had worn ever since he was eight-years-old hid his true feelings well.

"Mommy, can't I at least go with you?"

Kirsten laughed as she stroked her darling daughter's dark brown hair. "Emma! If I took you along, you'd be away from Jamie and the rest of your friends! They'd miss you! You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"Well… no."

"Good. Oh, look there! Jamie seems to be looking down since his father just left. Why don't you go and cheer him up, okay?"

"Okay…"

Emma started to turn, but then spun back around and hugged Kirsten one last time.

"I love you, Mommy!"

"I love you, too, Emma. With all my heart!"

Emma clung to Kirsten's modest servant dress a few seconds longer, and then quietly shuffled away to go and talk to her fellow child servant friend Jamie.

As soon as the little girl was gone, the two monarchs approached the middle-aged mother and ever so silent son. Jack and Kirsten quickly noticed their approach, and nodded politely in accordance.

"Your majesties," said Kirsten with a smile, being sure to curtsy. "I'm rather looking forward to this trip. And I'd like to thank you personally, Queen Idun, for inviting me!"

Idun smiled at her friend. "It was no trouble at all, Kirsten. You're my dear friend. Of course I would invite you to accompany us."

Jack merely bowed to Agnar and Idun, not saying anything at all, keeping his eyes downcast to stare at the floor. His head was still swimming because of his mother's departure. It wouldn't be good if he forgot himself for even a moment while he was down here around everyone and he accidentally caused the beautiful tiled flooring to be covered in a thick sheet of ice.

Despite his carefully solemn expression on his face, Agnar seemed to sense what Jack was thinking, and turned to face him. "Is everything all right, Jack?" he inquired. "You are allowed to speak your mind. Idun and I won't mind."

Jack bit his lower lip, and then glanced bravely back up at his mother and the king and queen. "Do you all have to go?" he asked nervously. "I mean… I understand why the two of you must go, your majesties, but Mom? I… I'm scared to be here without you. You three are the only ones here in the castle who know about… well, you know… And if I'm being completely honest, your majesties, I consider the two of you to be more like family to me than my Dad ever was. I apologize if I spoke out of turn, but that's how feel…"

Upon hearing what her son just said, a loving smile spread across Kirsten's face. "You'll be fine, Jack. I have complete confidence in you. And we will be back very soon."

King Agnar nodded in accordance to Kirsten's words. "Your mother is right, Jackson. Despite everything, you're a good boy. You may not believe it, but the three of us know that all you've ever wanted is to keep people safe and make them happy."

"Don't be afraid of everything while we're gone, all right?" Queen Idun added. "So long as you believe in yourself that nothing will happen, we believe it too. Just have a bit of courage, all right?"

Jack slowly nodded. "Yes, thank you, Mom, your majesties," he said.

Agnar and Idun nodded back, but Kirsten reached out to try and hug her son goodbye. Upon seeing his mother try to initiate a form of physical affection with him, Jack automatically stepped back out of her reach. Just because the three of them had managed to boost his self-confidence for a few minutes didn't mean that he was still willing to compromise their safety.

Kirsten initially frowned when her son denied her hug, but she forced a smile on her face regardless. "I love you, Jack, no matter what! Remember that, okay?"

"I will, Mom. And I love you, too."

"Be sure to look after your sister, all right? Heaven knows she just adores you!"

"I promise I will."

"That's the Jack I know and love!"

Kirsten tried one last time to connect with her son and reached out to pat his cheek, but again, Jack flinched away from her loving touch. He stared apologetically at her and the king and queen, and made a good pretense of pretending not to notice how his mother smiled sadly back at him afterwards and how the monarchs exchanged pitying looks at one another.

"Take care of yourself, Mom," he said finally.

"I will, Jack. And you take care of Emma and yourself!"

And with that, Kirsten Overland obediently followed King Agnar, Queen Idun, and the rest of the departing servants and guards out the doors of the castle to go to the city docks.

---

No one knew it at the time, but that was the last time anyone in the castle saw the people they loved that boarded the ship bound for Corona.

Because not long after the ship departed, a great thunderstorm blew through Arendelle, and out at sea, thunder boomed and lightning lit up the sky as the waves crashed unforgivingly against the wooden boat. The boat was lost at sea during the storm, and to the dismay of everyone in the small Norwegian kingdom, there were no survivors of the unfortunate shipwreck.

None of the servants or guards, and not even the king and queen.

The kingdom wept for their beloved monarchs as funerary arrangements were made for regal memorial stones to be put up for not only the king and queen, but for all those who had perished at sea. Within two weeks, everything was prepared, and everyone who lived in the capitol city were invited to attend the somber event that took place on a cloudy gray afternoon in the front courtyard of the palace.

Of course, the gates being open like that was only temporary. In the last will and testament that King Agnar and Queen Idun left behind, should they both unfortunately pass on before their eldest daughter Elsa turned eighteen and could be crowned as the new queen, the gates were to only open for a few hours for the funeral and then remain shut again until Elsa's coronation. At no time were they to be opened permanently before then.

As the funeral commenced and the bishop spoke in Latin passages from the bible, Elsa stood beside Anna as she did her best to stop the tears flowing down her face. She was stronger than this. She was the Crown Princess of all Arendelle. She could be a good role model to her people for one day and try to maintain a dignified appearance throughout this gloomy ceremony. Anna leaning on her shoulder and crying over their deceased parents? That was acceptable because she was only twelve. But she on the other hand was fifteen-years-old. She had to be the face of the royal family.

She had to appear strong today.

Even if she didn't truly feel that way deep down inside.

In an effort to try and tune out what the bishop was saying and to forget about her own grief for at least a few seconds, Elsa looked away from the bishop and discretely scanned the faces of those in the crowd. She saw so many servants who had lost family members in the shipwreck quietly blowing their noses in small handkerchiefs and wiping away their tears, but then Elsa's eyes fell upon tiny Emma as she full out sobbed into the dress of the widowed Olivia Bennett, who was doing her best to try and alternate between comforting Emma who was so distraught, comforting Jamie as he stared with dead eyes at his father's name on one of the two memorial stones that had been set up, and trying to quiet down her crying daughter. Little Sophie Bennett was too young to fully understand what was going on, but she was still crying and screaming at the top of her tiny baby lungs, and the widowed mother was trying to do everything in her power to try and comfort all three children at once.

For the longest time, Elsa forgot all about listening to the bishop as she stared at little Emma standing by the Bennett family. Where was Jack? Despite being an extremely private person, Jack should be here, comforting Emma as well as paying his respects to his mother and her own parents – the king and queen.

It took all the willpower that Elsa possessed to focus back on the bishop and to ignore Emma for now while the memorial service went on. As much as she wanted to comfort the sweet little girl and find out why Jack wasn't here, Elsa couldn't go talk to her. She had to be a pillar of support for Anna right now.

It seemed to take hours, but at long last, the bishop quoted the end of the final bible verse, and the ceremony was finally over. People slowly began to disperse from the courtyard, but Anna clung desperately to Elsa as they stood in front of the memorial stones for a few extra seconds.

"Mother and Father…" Anna whispered. "We're never going to see them again…!"

"There still with us, Anna," Elsa said in a strained, cracking voice. "They will always be with us…"

Anna looked as though she wanted to say more, but full out bawling cut through the air, and the princesses turned their heads in time to see Emma being forcibly dragged away from the memorial stones and back towards the castle by Olivia Bennett.

"Come now, Emma. I'll take you back upstairs."

"No! I wanna stay! I wanna be with Mommy!"

"Emma—"

"She's my Mommy! I want my Mommy!"

Jamie and the rest of the group of Emma's friends tried to gather around her and offer hugs of condolences, but Emma fought her way out of their grasps and did her best to yank her wrist free from Mrs. Bennett's grasp so she could stay out here in the courtyard and keep crying. Emma was truly hurting.

"Emma…" Anna whispered, sounding slightly thunderstruck. "Why is she alone? Where's… Where's Jack?"

"I don't know," Elsa whispered back. "But I intend to find out."

Motioning for Anna to follow her, Elsa made her way toward the screaming little girl surrounded by her friends as she was forcibly dragged back to the main entrance of the castle by one of the servant mothers. Seeing that nothing was going to stop her elder sister from finding out what was going on, Anna hurried along at Elsa's heels as directed, she too wondering why Jack was nowhere to be seen.

Olivia quickly took note of the fact that Elsa and Anna were approaching them, and let go of Emma momentarily so that she could support baby Sophie in both arms as she dutifully curtsied. "Princess Elsa, Princess Anna," she murmured sadly, but still respectfully.

The children all politely bowed or curtsied to show their respect as well. Most days, Elsa and Anna didn't mind if the children forgot to bow to the two of them as they were all still young, but today, it was nice for the princesses that the children remembered their manners. Apart from Emma who they'd been acquainted with since the day she was born, they preferred not to be all hugs and kisses with the children today with false smiles. It was far too hard for the princesses to pretend to be strong in front of those in the castle that had always expected the two of them to smile no matter what happened.

"Our condolences for your loss, your highnesses," said Olivia with genuine remorse in her voice. "Your parents… they did this country proud. We are all so sincerely sorry for what happened."

Anna's eyes blinked away more tears as she nodded accordingly to the Bennett matriarch's kind words. "Thank you," she quietly murmured.

Elsa also nodded thankfully to Olivia's words, but then her focus shifted downwards toward the still sobbing Emma. "We're sorry for your losses as well. Especially you, Emma," she said kindly. "Your mother was very kind. We're sorry that she's gone."

Emma's tears refused to stop streaming down her cheeks, but upon hearing what Elsa said to her, she finally yanked her wrist free from Olivia Bennett's grasp and rushed forward to bury her face into Elsa's black dress as she continued to wail at the top of her lungs. Olivia looked downright horrified by how Emma was technically breaking servant protocol by hugging the crown princess like this, but Elsa merely waved her hand to the woman with a look on her face that assured her that it was all right. Emma was merely acting how any child would be when mourning his or her recently deceased mother. It was completely fine.

Elsa gently hugged Emma back until Emma finally found the strength to let go of her dress, and when she did, Elsa forced a comforting smile on her face as she gazed down at her.

"By the way, Emma, I was wondering where Jack is. I don't see him anywhere. Did he leave early?" she asked.

Within seconds, a fresh wave of tears burst forth out of Emma's eyes as she started full out sobbing again.

Elsa and Anna exchanged looks of confusion at Emma's sudden distress, not understanding what happened.

"Emma…?" Anna questioned, not even bothering to hide her confusion.

"Jackie wouldn't come!" the little girl howled through her loud sobs. "He hasn't left his bedroom in days! I begged Big Brother to come! I begged him! But he wouldn't! He wouldn't come! He… He won't even talk to me!"

Elsa stared at Emma in complete disbelief for the longest time, but then she took Emma's hand in her own before looking up at Olivia Bennett.

"I'll take her back to her room for you," Elsa offered. "You can go and be a comfort for your own children."

"Are you sure, Princess?" Olivia asked worriedly. "I… I don't want to trouble you or Princess Anna…"

"No, it's fine. I insist, actually," Elsa replied. "If you would just escort the other children back to their parents first before you take your son and daughter back to your family unit, it would be a big help."

"Of course, your highness."

Olivia gestured for Jamie and the other kids to follow her away from the princesses and the orphaned Overland daughter. As soon as they were all gone, Anna turned to face Elsa with a frown on her face.

"Are you going to confront Jack?" she whispered.

Elsa nodded. "I'm going to try, at least. It was wrong of him to abandon Emma today. I know he doesn't like to open up to anyone, but he should have tried to comfort her today. And he should have paid his respects to his mother and our parents!"

"Good luck. It's been so long since we were friends with him, Elsa. I don't think he's ever going to thaw his frozen heart."

"I'll meet you back upstairs afterwards. Wait for me in my bedroom."

"All right."

Elsa smiled softly at her dear little sister, and then glanced down at where Emma was clinging to her hand as though it was the safest thing in the world.

"Come along, Emma. Let's go and have a chat with that brother of yours."

"'Kay…"

Taking a moment to wipe her runny nose on the sleeve of her dress, Emma continued to cry as Elsa led her back inside the castle and back up the grand staircase to the servants' corridors. Emma was still crying, but Elsa's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. For all his faults of being an absentee big brother to Emma and choosing to up and end his friendship between herself and Anna, Elsa knew for a fact that Jack was not heartless. He had loved his mother with all his heart, especially after his father had seemingly abandoned the family, and he had been rather fond of her parents as well, as they had always been good to him.

What on earth could have possessed him to not come to the memorial service?

When they reached the Overland family apartment, Elsa opened the door and allowed Emma to enter first, but when the princess entered the living space, she initially shivered at the surprisingly bitter cold temperature throughout the tiny apartment.

"Goodness me! It's freezing in here!" she exclaimed.

Emma sniffled from her runny nose as she shrugged. "It's been like that for days. Jack won't come out to get a fire going…" she murmured.

"I'll have someone come and set a fire in the fireplace in a few minutes," Elsa assured her. Truth be told, Elsa was surprised that Emma wasn't sick from how cold it was here in the apartment, but what surprised her even more was that Jack wouldn't even come out of his room to light a fire so that Emma wouldn't become ill in the first place. Did he not care about Emma's well-being at all?

With a sigh, Elsa approached Jack's bedroom door with Emma right at her heels. She politely knocked on the wood of the door, but quickly recoiled her hand back upon touching it. She had thought that the apartment itself was rather chilly, but the door? The door was as cold as ice. She had barely even touched it with her knuckles as she knocked, but her fingers were now shaking a bit from the cold. She quickly rubbed her hands together to warm them back up as she hesitantly called out to the boy she knew was listening on the other side.

"Jack? It's me, Elsa. I know you're in there. I have Emma with me…"

There was no reply from beyond the door.

"Jack, people have been asking where you were today at the memorial. Why didn't you come?"

There was still no answer from the teenage boy on the other side.

Emma wept, and then moved around Elsa to knock on the door herself. Just like the crown princess, the seven-year-old was taken aback when she felt how cold the wood of the door was, but she ignored it after a second and began to talk.

"Big Brother? Please come out! I… I want a hug!" she begged. "I want you to tell me to have courage and be brave! Please!"

There was nothing to be heard from inside the bedroom.

"Jack, we're right out here for you," Elsa pressed. "Just let us in."

"We only have each other, Jackie! Come on!" Emma sobbed, even going so far as to ignore the iciness of the door and bang her fists repeatedly against it to get some form of recognition from the only family member that she had left. "It's just you and me! I… I want you to tell me what we're going to do now without Mommy or Daddy!"

It was no use. Jack still refused to grant them any form of acknowledgement.

But Elsa still wouldn't give up that easily. She had to try at least one more time.

"Do you… Do you wanna build a snowman, Jack? I know it's technically summer but… but we could all try to do something fun…" she pitifully offered.

Jack had nothing to say to her question.

Elsa sighed in defeat, and then turned to look down at Emma. "Do you want to spend the night in my bedroom, Emma? Or with the Bennett family?" she asked. "I know Anna wouldn't mind, and I'm sure your friend Jamie and his mother wouldn't care either."

Emma immediately shook her head as she sunk down onto the floorboards, and leaned up against the cold door. "I… I wanna stay…" she murmured. "I wanna be here when Jack comes out…"

Elsa didn't like that idea though. She didn't want to just abandon the mourning girl here in this frigid apartment with an older brother who – she was forced to admit to herself – didn't care one way or another about her.

"Emma—"

"I'm not leaving! I'm staying right here!" she snipped.

There was a long pause, but Elsa sighed. She couldn't force the little girl to go if she didn't want to.

"I'll have someone come up to set a fire in the fireplace. Try and keep warm in the meantime, okay?"

"'Kay…"

"If you need anything, Emma, don't hesitate to ask me or Anna, all right?"

Emma nodded, but didn't say anything further as Elsa quietly left the room. The Overland girl adored the princesses of the castle, but it wasn't Elsa or even Anna that Emma wanted.

She wanted her family right now.

She wanted her big brother.

She wanted Jack.

She sniffled at that thought, and then let her head flop backwards against the cold door as she timidly called out to the one person she so desperately wanted comfort and affection from on the other side.

"Jack? Please come out…" she whimpered. "I want you… I want you to be my big brother again! I want you to tell me a story… Just like you did the last time we saw Daddy…!"

But her pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears. There was nothing to be heard on the other end of the door.

It was all too much for Emma, and she started full out crying again as she hugged her knees to her chest.

"You… You told me before that I have to believe in the Moonbeam Boy with all my heart…" she wept. "I do believe in him… But I believe in you, too! I believe in you! Please, just for once come out here and hug me! Tell me that I'm right to believe in you the way I do…!"

But the door still didn't open.

It remained firmly shut.

Just the way that it always was.

Emma sobbed with all her heart and soul as it became clear to her that Jack wouldn't come out no matter what she did. Why? Why did Jack have to be like this? Why did he refuse to love her?

"I… I believe in you, Jackie…" she faintly whispered one last time as she sat there against the frigid cold door. "I believe in you…!"

---

Unbeknownst to both Elsa and Emma, Jack wasn't oblivious to their pleading as he sat on the floor on opposite side of the door. He heard their sad words and he was hurting just as much as they were. He was crying for his mother and the king and queen, too. His mother had loved him despite all his faults, and the king and queen had treated him as if he was their own son. He wanted nothing more than to open the door and tell his crush before she left the apartment and his little sister who was still waiting for him on the opposite side of the wood all this.

But he didn't dare to let them in.

He was a danger to them.

Especially right now when his room was a frozen mess.

The minute Jack had learned of the deaths of his beloved mother and the good king and queen, he had locked himself in the bedroom and refused any visitors, opening it only for food and bathroom breaks. His powers had gone completely out of control due to his emotional distress, and everything in his bedroom was covered in thick amounts ice, snow and frost. He knew he had to be the good boy that Kirsten, King Agnar, and Queen Idun had always taught him to be and be numb and emotionless despite their apparent deaths, but he just couldn't control it this time. Every time he thought about them, his powers would instinctively react and cause more snow to cover the floor and more icicles to appear on the ceiling.

If it weren't for the fact that his bedroom was literally a winter hazard, this would be one of the rare times that Jack would risk breaking the rule of keeping everyone at arm's length to try and comfort Elsa and Emma. It wouldn't be for himself that he would do such a thing. It would be entirely for them. His pain meant nothing compared to theirs, the girl he was only starting to realize he felt more than a small crush for, and his sweet and precious little sister.

Elsa and Emma meant everything to him.

Which is why he could never let them get past the barriers he placed around his heart.

Silent tears flowed down his face as he came to this realization, but they literally froze within seconds on his cheeks. It wasn't surprising, considering that his entire bedroom was below freezing temperatures, but because Jack never actually felt cold thanks to his powers, he didn't even realize how cold it actually was. It was a miracle that he could limit the accidental blizzard to be just inside his bedroom and not carry out throughout the entire small apartment. But this mess of ice and snow just proved his point that he could never let Elsa, Emma, or indeed anyone at all be close to him.

He refused to hurt them with his stupid, horrible powers.

If he could wreck his bedroom accidentally just because he was mourning his mother and the king and queen, who knew how badly he could hurt others by a simple mistake?

As Emma continued murmuring her words of "I believe… I believe…" over and over again so much it was almost like a prayer or chant, Jack buried his face in his knees as more snowflakes appeared above his head and danced about lightly in the completely still air.

He would not be selfish.

He would not indulge in his want to only talk and have fun with Elsa and Emma.

He would not risk them getting hurt because of him.

He would live in fear of possibly hurting others forever.

---

Jack didn't know it, but there was indeed someone who was aware of his secret distress as he sat there on the floor in the middle of the arctic snow as he silently grieved over his mother and the king and queen.

And they were watching from his bedroom window.

Pitch Black grinned as he stood atop his hovering cloud of black sand as he watched more of Jack's ice and snow materialize as he cried and silently feared for the safety of everyone else in this world, but primarily for the crown princess and his little sister.

Seven years. He had been secretly haunting this boy's worst nightmares and feeding off his fear for the past seven years. That was less than an instant in immortal time, but for a fifteen-year-old human boy, that was almost half of his life. It was incredible to the Nightmare King how much fear he had siphoned off the young Jackson Overland as the years had passed by. His powers grew stronger every day, and his army of black Nightmares was almost back to full strength.

Truth be told, Pitch really ought to thank Jack for what he had unknowingly done for him, restoring him to his former glory, but Pitch was far too malicious and evil for that.

Especially because the immortal spirit was now one hundred percent convinced that this boy was somehow connected to his former fallen adversary. In what way, he wasn't sure, but as the years had gone by and the boy continued to grow older, he had only continued to resemble his old foe more and more with each passing day.

Part of Pitch wanted to do away with Jackson Overland right now and rid himself of a possible nuisance and enemy in the future if it turned out that Jack one day ended up being a threat to him and that he was somehow linked to that pest from the past.

It was the smart thing to do, after all.

But Pitch was a greedy creature. He wanted his Nightmare army to keep growing. When the day finally came when Jack finally snapped from the pressure of repressing his magic – it would happen one day, he knew, because magic of this caliber was impossible to keep suppressed forever – Pitch would have the perfect army to finally use against both the ignorant human population, who would undoubtedly be terrified by the strange ice-wielding boy, and to strike back against those wretched Guardians, who would for sure come to fight him when they sensed the massive rise of fear from the children in the land.

Yes, Pitch would continue to wait.

Wait and influence Jack to stay afraid of himself.

The more that he was afraid of himself, the stronger he, the Nightmare King, would become.

And so long as he was afraid, the less chance there was that anything would become of the fact that Jackson Overland could be somehow linked to the former Guardian of Courage.