Hey everyone. Sorry for the long hiatus. Things didn't go according to plan, and then I ended up moving and working on getting myself established. But I'm back now.

I do have some exciting news: I got a short story published in an anthology! If you want to check it out here's the link:

Fellowship-Fairydust-Tales-Chivalry-Medieval-Anthology/dp/B0BQY8C8RL/ref=sr_1_1?crid=371S3MLSC7ISR&keywords=fellowship+and+fairydust&qid=1678728845&sprefix=fellowship+and+fairydust%2Caps%2C230&sr=8-1

Now on to the story.

I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.

Braxton, Eini, Scott, and Ross belong to Flautist4ever.

Special thanks to AquaDestiniesEmbrace, TheGoodandtheBadXBOY, and Flautist4ever for helping me write this.

I also want to give a shoutout to SSL13, whose stories reignited my spark to continue.

Chapter 7: Cold Company

JASON'S POV

Arendelle

Yope 3, 92 KA…

The chill of the winter air couldn't slow us down as we rode through the snow-covered forest and mountainside. The reindeer Sven was pulling a fancy sleigh that carried all of us in it while Kristoff was at the reins. Elsa sat in the back, tending to her sister's comatose form while Aurora kept an eye out for enemies. Everyone was feeling tense as the dark forest seemed to close in all around us. "Keep an eye out for wolves." The blonde man warned as he kept a lantern close.

"Wolves?" The Morugan girl asked as she looked at him.

"Creatures similar to moweets, but not as ferocious," Braxton's brother Ross explained. "They may be smaller, but they travel in larger packs, so in some ways, they can be more dangerous."

That was not an encouraging thought.

Braxton opened his mouth to say something but shut it as he looked away. I still remember how the reunion back at the castle had not been pleasant for him. I couldn't believe how angry his brothers were at him, and I knew it was my fault. If he hadn't taken it upon himself to find Clair and me, he wouldn't have had to keep secrets.

But then, he might've been recruited by Madsane to join his Thirteen chosen. Why was he so eager to repeat the work of the one called Xehanort? What is his endgame? "Heartless!" Aurora cried out as several of the monsters appeared in the snow. I noticed a few of them seemed to resemble purple-colored reindeer.

Summoning her Keyblade, the purple-haired teen charged forward to meet them. However, as the sled was still moving, she stumbled a bit from jumping off it. Once she recovered she rushed at the monsters. The initial force of the Heartless was quickly joined by Soldiers and… were those Big Bodies wearing horned helmets? I had to do a double-take to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks. Sure enough, they were.

One of them charged forward at Aurora, leaving a trail behind in the snow. She moved to counterattack, but her swing hit it on the belly. The blow was deflected and she was sent flying backward when it collided with her. "Their fronts are protected. Aim for the sides and backs," I cautioned. Once Kristoff had stopped the sleigh, I got off and began engaging a Soldier. It reared its fist before charging, but I managed to avoid it. Delivering a couple of quick jabs, I then kicked it before I was attacked by one of the reindeer Heartless. "Eini! You said you wanted to be a monster hunter. Get down here and help!"

I heard a whoop from the girl before she leaped out of the sleigh. "Incoming!" As her weapon halves emerge from her legs, she grabbed them and slammed them together to form her staff. I'm still not used to her being a cyborg now. As soon as she landed in the snow, she charged over to where I was and slammed her weapon into the Heartless that was attacking me. It got a dazed look as she whacked it a few more times before finishing it off. "Ooh, mine!" She grabbed some of the munny that the destroyed Heartless dropped, stuffing it into her pockets before moving on to the next Heartless.

This time it was a Big Body with one of the strange horned helmets. "You must have some heavy loot!" Eini grinned as she prepared to strike.
"Wait! Not from the front!" My warning came too late as she landed a blow on the stomach. The attack literally bounced off, sending vibrations through the staff and Eini's body. She stumbled back, nearly losing her balance from the backfire as the Heartless prepared to swing at her. With a growl, I rushed over and pushed her out of the way. I grunted in pain as I was knocked back, landing in a pile of snow.

As I excavated myself out, I saw Aurora battling a Heartless that looked almost human save for the face. It wore a big fancy dress and carried an umbrella that it used for a weapon. Its appearance took me off guard for a moment, but I regained my focus and pushed myself back up to rejoin the fight. From the umbrella, the Heartless fired some lasers at the purple-haired girl who managed to block them with her Keyblade.

"Somersault!" I called out the attack Tifa taught us as I performed a backflip while kicking the lady Heartless. The monster stumbled back a bit, clearly not expecting that. It then turned its attention to me as it swung its umbrella at me. I managed to evade the incoming attack by jumping backward.

Aurora didn't want to be outdone by me though. "Fire!" The humanoid Heartless was unable to dodge the fireball as it hit the creature head-on. It stumbled a bit, then pointed its umbrella at her to retaliate. A lot of light blasts fired from the tip, but those of us who were fighting at the time managed to dodge. However, my eyes widened as I saw one of the blasts heading for the sleigh and everyone on board! I moved to intercept it but stopped as an ice wall appeared and absorbed the attack.

I looked to see Elsa had her hand out. We were a bit shocked to see what had happened but resumed our fight with the Heartless. The remaining Big Body was still a problem as it charged at us, leaving a trail in the snow as it prepared to ram into anyone who was too close. The closest person was Braxton, who was trying to get out of the way. Without thinking, I grabbed him and pulled him out of the way. The two of us stumbled as the Heartless dashed past us, coming to a halt when it missed.

Aurora didn't waste any time as she took the opportunity to rush over while its back was turned. With a cry, she brought her weapon down onto its back, which did some major damage to the monster. It flinched before it attempted to retaliate. That proved to be a mistake because as it turned to face the Morugan girl Eini slammed her staff into its back. It vanished back into the darkness while the crystalline heart flew up into the sky.

"Yes!" Eini cheered in triumph as she scooped up the munny the creature dropped.

The last of the dressed Heartless was still around as it zeroed on on a target. Oh no! It fired shots at Aurora! Again, I found myself blocking her as I took the hit. I grunted as I felt the kickback, my body going a bit numb from all the attacks I took for the others. Tifa or Scrooge would probably scold me for being reckless, but I couldn't stand by and let the others get hurt.

Time to end this. Focusing on the Heartless, I prepared to cast one of the spells I had been learning. It fired another blast at me, forcing me to leap to the side before I could unleash the magic. "Thunder!" The bolt came down from above and hit the Heartless, making it twitch from the impact. Aurora then leaped into the air and brought her Keyblade down on the monster, destroying it and freeing the crystal heart. We watched as it floated up into the air until it was out of sight.

With all of the monsters defeated, the purple-haired girl turned to face me with a scowl. That's odd. It didn't look as antagonistic as it used to, long before our adventures started. Feeling surprised, I found myself asking her, "What?"

"What's wrong with you?" She asked me. "You're putting yourself in danger, acting like you actually care…" she continued to list things off, but I stopped listening. I didn't want to admit I wanted to keep people from getting hurt unless it was me. The only thing I could expect from her was a nonchalant scoff. But with her current tone, would she do that?

After stashing the last of the drops, the blonde cyborg chimed in, "You almost turned yourself into a goner the way you shielded everyone."

"She's right, Jason. You shouldn't be so reckless in protecting others," Jiminy added from my shoulder. "It's good to watch out for your teammates, but you won't do them much good if you hurt yourself doing it."

I stared down upon hearing his words. He was right as usual. My reckless actions made me think back to when Axel Dixon did the same thing when his genius friend was being bullied. He took the punches from Steven, Alan, and Noah. Sure he managed to knock two of them down, but Steven managed to get the upper hand and beat him to a pulp. And all my younger self did then was watch without a thought of helping. I had still been upset over the betrayal of my friends and found satisfaction in seeing another rival get beaten up.

Or so I thought.

Now I was in a familiar situation and was trying to carry the burden for everyone. This time though I refuse to stand by and do nothing. Even though I can't use my Keyblade, I wasn't going to be a burden. I am going to help stop Madsane and save all the worlds from his plans. Whatever they were.

I then looked up when I heard harsh words being spoken. "We don't want your help!" One of Braxton's younger siblings snapped at him. It sounded like they were ganging up on him, and refusing to listen to his words.

"Please listen–" The model student was cut off when one of his brothers cussed him out again.

"Don't give us that phardu. Not after you threw yourself in with the ones who took our brothers, and then got us separated from everyone else!" Ross snapped. "You have no right to speak to us again. I really wish we didn't have to share any world with you!"

Nodding, the other added, "You ditched our family so you could go into space. And Kenneth and Marcas haven't been dead for that long either. You could've at least waited a month or two. And on top of that, you're working with someone who's a Downtrod agent! As far as I'm concerned you're the one who should be dead, you Downtrod ally."

Okay, that was it. "Hey!" I snapped at them, getting their attention. As they turned to me, I asked them, "What's going on? Why are you doing this to your brother?"

"Butt out!" Ross snapped at me.

"This ain't your concern!" The other one added. I'm certain his name was Scott.

I could feel my old temper rising, and part of me wanted to smack them. No. I mustn't give in to temptation. I looked at the conscience on my shoulder and took some breaths. "Look. We're in this together, like it or not. So whatever has you two going at each other is my concern. I know these circumstances are complicated for you, but right now you need to cut your brother some slack. Give him a chance to explain."

"Why are you giving him a chance? Someone who's worked with the Downtrod?" Ross asked me. "And don't take us for idiots! Or think we trust you either!"

It wasn't a surprise to see them accusing someone of belonging to the Downtrod. They still believe those people were terrorists. Not that it mattered anymore since our world is gone. It felt like I stepped into a sensitive topic. Still, Scott's words stung. Part of me was tempted to knock some of his teeth out. No. Something about that didn't feel right. If I did, it might make things worse.

Instead, I said, "I don't expect you to trust me, but why would I take you for idiots? Also, who said that Braxton was part of the Downtrod?" I already knew the answer, but this seemed like an opportunity to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Because we know Jason Norman is dead," Scott answered. "Professor Anton Yeller said–"

"A bunch of lies. He lied about Clair and me. We're both still alive."

"Then where is she?"

I bowed my head at that. "... he sent her somewhere with a device. I don't know where…"

"And how are we supposed to believe you are who you say you are?" Ross crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "It's not like we really knew Jason and Clair."
He had a point there. How was I supposed to prove my identity?

Braxton then tried to help. "Guys–"

"Zip it! We're waiting for his answer, not yours!" Scott retorted with a frown, waiting for my next words.

My eyes went to Jiminy who was still standing on my shoulder. He then decided to take a stand. "He is who he says he is. He is Jason Norman."

His words caused them to start. "How are we supposed to believe that? And who is that?" Scott asked as he pointed at my shoulder.

"That's Jiminy. He's my conscience." I explained.

"... your conscience." Braxton's brother repeated in a deadpan tone as if he didn't believe me.

"He's a friend too," I added, hoping to salvage the situation. "He's been helping us–"

"And why should we believe a hoskry?" Scott asked, making me cringe. I know that Jiminy, or the people of Arendelle, wouldn't know that a hoskry was a type of bug from our home. But what worried me was-

"Hoskry? Now listen here, you impudent young-" Jiminy's words were lost as I found myself staring at him for losing his cool. That was something I never expected to see him of all people do. Scrooge for sure. Tifa... actually something told me I didn't want to see her get angry. But Jiminy? That was like the sun going dark.

"Come on. You expect us to believe Jason would listen to a bug of all things?" Scott asked. "We all know that Jason Norman takes orders from no one."

"I've changed. I'm not who I used to be." I spoke up. "And Jiminy has been fantastic. I wouldn't be here if I didn't have him. He's already helped me through several things."

That only caused Ross to scoff. "Now I know you're a fake."

"Jason Norman, the troublemaker, just upped and started atoning for his sins? That is the worst joke we've heard since our home was destroyed. You have no idea what we've gone through you fraud! The real Jason would be glad he got to be a weapon to kill all the Morugans he could."

The memory of that night… made me clench my fists. I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold back. They were really asking to get their lights knocked out.

The model student then tried to help. "Scott! Ross! You two are being unfair."

"Stay out of this. You can be devoured by Ryukumo for all we care. You have no place in our family."

That did it. Before I knew it I had seized Ross by his jacket and had him pinned against a rock. "Don't you ever talk that way about him again," I hissed at him. "Or you'll be wishing you were facing Ryukumo."

"Jason!" Jiminy could be heard from my shoulder. I turned to glare at him but stopped myself from saying anything. If I did, it'd probably make things worse.

Suddenly feeling guilty about what I had done, I released my grip on Ross and turned away. "I need some time away from you blockheads," I growled using an insult I heard from Neverland. Turning to Aurora, I said, "Make sure the Heartless don't ambush them." With that, I headed away from the group.

Punching the cliff wall helped ease my anger. With a grunt, I swung another fist. I noticed I was leaving small indentions in the rock wall. It wasn't much, but it was there. That was strange as I hadn't been training under Tifa that long. Or was it something else? I looked at my fist for a moment before clenching it tightly.

I looked over to ask Jiminy about it, but he seemed a little… I wasn't sure. It was like he had something else on his mind. Something told me it had something to do with when he lost it a little while ago. Seeing him not looking at me... hurt. More than what my old man did to me. "Jiminy?" I tried. At first, he didn't acknowledge me. Man, Mortem scarring me hurt less than this.

"Jiminy?" I spoke a bit louder this time. When he didn't answer, I sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for losing it. That guy…" No. I wasn't going to blame others for my shortcomings. "I lost it. Just… the way he kept refusing to listen… and saying those things to Braxton like he could go die for all they cared… I just wanted them to stop. It wasn't like I wanted to hurt them. It's just... Braxton was just trying to help Clair and me. He doesn't deserve to be hated for that. But how can I help them understand when they don't believe I am me?" As I closed my eyes, I shook my head. "I don't know what to do."

I then felt a tiny little hand on my neck. "Sometimes there ain't nothing we can do." I opened my eyes, seeing Jiminy was speaking to me now. "Some people refuse to see or believe anything but what they want to. It will take some time for them to understand and admit they were wrong. You just gotta keep supporting your friend until then."

I looked down at that. Was Braxton my friend? I wasn't sure. I hadn't had any since... those two… "Would he consider me a friend?" I wondered out loud.

"Perhaps you ought to ask him," My conscience replied. "You'll never know until you try it."

I still wasn't sure. What if he said no? Guess there was only one way to find out, and I wouldn't do it here. I was going to have to go and ask him. I took a deep breath and took a step back from the rocky wall I had been punching. I couldn't help but look at all the indentions I had made while here. It was still impressive that I'm seeing signs of progress. Tifa was a good teacher, and I couldn't ask for a better one.

I then turned and began to head back in the direction I came from. Hopefully, things have cooled off between everyone by now, and thankfully my footprints were still in the snow showing me the way to go.

When I made it there, Eini was the first person I saw. She was checking her stash from the battle, and she seemed pretty pleased. "How's everyone doing?" I asked when I approached her. She looked back to where Ross was reassuring Scott while the two of them glared at Braxton.

"Well," she shrugged, "They've moved on to the silent treatment."

"That's not good," I muttered. What was it going to take to convince them? Were they just going to continue to refuse to listen? It didn't matter now. I looked over at Elsa, who was still by her sister's comatose form. "Your Majesty, I think it would be best if we got moving again," I told her. She looked away from her, giving a silent nod.

"I know we've lost time, but what was I supposed to do?" Kristoff was asking his reindeer. "Maybe you could've reminded them we're trying to help Anna." He then answered himself in a higher-pitched voice, to which the animal nodded. Was he speaking for that thing? It was odd, but not the strangest thing I've seen. Whatever.

Turning to the others, I said, "We need to get going. Sitting around isn't going to help Anna." I received a bunch of positive nods in response. The brothers just gave me pure disdainful looks but they didn't spit any words at me or protest. Guess I was going to have to take that as a victory.

We had a few more skirmishes with the Heartless along the way, but we were able to dispatch them relatively easily. Eini seemed to be enjoying raking in the munny the Heartless dropped. Finally, the sleigh stopped. "We're here," Kristoff told us as we got out.

Aurora and I helped lower Anna's body into his arms. "Where's here?" The Morugan girl asked as we began walking down into some sort of gorge. Whoa! Some hot air blew out of a hole in the ground. Come to think of it, this entire place was warm. There were patches of snow along the rock walls, but the grass was growing here.

"This is where we can get help," Elsa said. "Yes, we made it." We had arrived at the end of the gorge thing, but the only thing around us were moss-covered rocks. The two then began going around talking to them like they were people.

Braxton looked around, "What's here?"

Eini sat down on one of the rocks to count her loot. "I just see a bunch of rocks," she remarked.

The purple-haired girl frowned. "You brought us here for a bunch of boulders?"

"They're not- no, don't do that!" Kristoff warned as he noticed people sitting on the rocks, including Aurora.

"Why- hey!" The purple-haired girl got up in a hurry as the rock rolled away on its own. Slowly all the other rocks began to stir and move.

The cyborg looked up from counting her munny, muttering, "What the?" The rock she was sitting on began to move, so she quickly leaped to another. However, that started to move as well, causing her to hop from rock to rock for a bit until she landed on one that didn't move. She managed to take a breath until the 'rock' began to move too, causing her to fall back on her back and drop some of her munny. "Ow," She groaned as she rubbed her back before scooping up the munny.

Once the rocks gathered around Kristoff and Elsa, they changed. They then uncurled to become little people made of stone, and dressed in clothes made of moss. All of them began asking questions once they saw Anna's comatose form and they kind of blurred together. "Jason. What in Gri's name are these things?" Aurora asked me.

I thought for a moment before I remembered. When I was traveling with Clair she showed me some things in her books of magic she got from Merlin. There were passages of other magical beings, and I could recall a faint image of one that resembled these things. "I think they're called trolls."

"Trolls?" The model student also caught my explanation.

"According to Clair, they're ancient beings with deep ties to magic." Then it hit me. "Now I understand why Kristoff and Elsa wanted to come here."

Braxton thought before asking, "You think that they believe the trolls can help Anna?"

"Yeah, I think so."

The trolls were asking so many questions that I couldn't catch what they were saying. They all seemed concerned about what had happened to Anna, though. I also noticed they were really trying to reassure Kristoff like he was especially important to them.

That was when they parted to make way for another troll. He was noticeably larger than the others and seemed to have a beard that resembled grass. He also hunched over a bit, making me think he was more ancient than the others. "Kristoff. Your Majesty. Tell me, what's happened?"

"We were attacked in Arendelle." Elsa began.

The troll's brow, or at least I think that was his brow, furrowed. "Attacked? By what?"

"An oddly dressed man in black with a strange red dog," Olaf added. "He carried a weapon similar to hers," the snowman gestured to Aurora.

"Let me see." The troll commanded her. The Morugan girl looked around and noticed we were all looking at her.

"Why?" "

Aurora," I told her.

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Please. I think we can trust him." And I believed that. I always seemed to tell when someone was lying or not, and right now I didn't sense any ulterior motives from the troll. Aurora stared at me for a long moment, then let out a reluctant sigh before holding out her hand. In a flash, her weapon appeared.

There were several gasps from the trolls, and the elder took a step back. "A Keyblade." Looking at us, he asked, "Did this person take her heart?"

Looking down, Eini said, "I'm afraid so."

"Then it is as I feared."

"But you can help Anna, right?" Kristoff asked him.

Turning to him, the troll explained, "I cannot. Kristoff, Anna received a heart of pure light. Now that it's been removed, she will remain like this until it is returned to her."

"What?" Elsa paled. "She won't wake up?" Shaking his head gave the queen the answer she dreaded. She tried to stay strong, but I could see she was struggling with that realization. She bowed her head as she closed her eyes and a single tear slipped from one of them.

Sadly, things are about to get worse.