Author's Note: Headcanoning ahoy, but it's kind of inevitable for this one.

xxxx

History is a funny thing, in a frozen world that's been severed from time.

In the order of causality, there is a de facto past and future. However, they can never lead anywhere, except back to the beginning: the fundamental order of Aionios, as engineered by Moebius, would not allow for it. Until Moebius was defeated, the world would remain trapped within a perpetual stasis.

Even those who existed outside of the cycle of rebirth, such as the Cityfolk, were not free of this intrinsic limit.

Therefore, it is no surprise that history becomes vague, unknowable, and lost with surprising ease: if there is no true time, then is there truly a past to speak of? With the technology at their hands, keeping accurate records should not have been difficult...and yet, the deeds of the Founders were lost to time and myth, with the truth becoming an unintentional casualty along the way.

(Looking upon the ring of statues — gathered around a plinth bearing the Ouroboros Stone's cage — Noah asked who they depicted. Monica's answer was definitive: "The first Ouroboros. The Founders, we call them...long, long ago, they gained the power of Ouroboros. It let them match Moebius blow for blow. The Cityfolk you see here? We're all descended from them...it was the Queens, so they say: Keves and Agnus, their powers united created Ouroboros.")

Yet, we know that's not quite the reality of what happened...and we have eyewitness testimony to that effect.

(Within the ethereal haze between life and death, Noah watched old memories of his past incarnation, looking at the cage of an Ouroboros Stone alongside Mio and other members of the City: "We finally managed to activate the Ouroboros Stone!" Turning towards it with glee, the nameless man remarked, "...though we don't understand it fully: some functions may still remain hidden. But still, even in its current state, the power it's releasing is more than enough. With this in hand, we can fulfill the wish entrusted to us by the Queen!")

Why is this so?

Because the tales of the Founders, inscribed on those plaques? They spoke of those who fought against Consul N, who restored the City after the first one was destroyed...and that memory was unquestionably from a time long before the events described by the memorials.

Were those incarnations of Noah and Mio, long predating the Founders, truly the first Ouroboros? Had there been others before even them?

(Upon Hope's Rest, Mio recounted memories of long ago, even as she and her friends stared at the first City's rusted, waterlogged corpse: "The City's inhabitants...were the descendants of M, N, and others who became Ouroboros in the past. In exchange for the lease on life they would get as Moebius, Z ordered N to kill the City's people.")

It was hard to say: Aionios did its utmost to ensure that the past mattered not, for it could not change an eternal present, nor could it offer insight to reach a future that would never be. (Such was but one version of Moebius's creed.)

Even so...human nature could not be erased completely. The desire to know where you came from, so that you could understand where you were going: it could not be eliminated or repressed in its entirety.

Such was the story of House Vandham.

xxxx

/Time: An Indeterminate Number of Years Prior to the Main Plot/

Before certain incarnations of Noah and Mio became the Moebius known as N and M, there was a boy: a boy who had just watched his father pass away.

Reaching down for the Blade that had been his father's, it vanished before his eyes.

(The Sword of the End was not for him to wield, for Z's intangible hand ever remained upon its hilt. As far as Z was concerned, only Noah would ever possess that sword...and he would do so, as N.)

Even so, the clothes of Noah remained behind: a sad remnant of his father's all too short life.

Wiping at his eyes, the son of Noah and Mio walked through the woods, intent on living up to the ideal of his father's last words.

("...your Daddy's and Mummy's love, our life, will always be within you. You'll never...be alone. Things will get tough...you'll be hurt. You've a whole host of things to go through...as you head into the future. A time might come...when you'll be on the verge of giving up." Taking his tiny hands into his own, his father looked straight into his eyes. "But you have to keep going. Make friends. Keep them close to you always...that's what Daddy and Mummy did." Amidst the starry shower that his father turned into, his dying breath echoed through the night. "We're with you...now and forever...")

He carried on, falling in with Nopon merchants, seeing all of Aionios with unclouded eyes. As an outsider, he watched the eternal war between Keves and Agnus unfold, even as he grew in strength. Though he counted the Nopon as his friends, he knew not of how to approach the warring soldiers of Keves and Agnus. As for the people of the City? Well...there were too many bad memories involved, to return.

By fortunate happenstance, he met a wanderer that had also abandoned the City: a woman, with whom he fell in love. Begetting a son and a daughter, he vowed to be as compassionate a man as his father had been, and often told them stories of how kind he had been: a swordsman without peer, wielding a violet Blade for the sake of others.

Amidst their travels, they finally came across the hiding place of the true Queen of Agnus, atop the trees in the thickest part of Maktha. There, his family learned of her trials; of her constant flight from Moebius; of how Agnus was led by a mere puppet...and tales of lands all too fantastical, fit only for children's stories. (How little they knew, that Nia was speaking of the True History, of the Old Worlds; she was not yet ready to unveil the truth of Aionios's creation, so dim were her hopes in those days.)

The son of Noah and Mio resolved to learn as much as he could...but he was already quite old, by this point.

Heady on the heroism and valor imbibed from the Queen's fairy tales, his two children swore to carry on in his stead.

("I'll fight my own war," his son said, cracking his knuckles in a fashion that evoked someone eager for a scrap. "Not the war that Moebius has decided for everyone else...but a war of my own choosing. Just like the Great Vandham, in the stories Mama Nia always told us of!")

To his dying day, he never understood why, when his children called Nia 'Mama' — just because her hair was silver and gray didn't mean they had to treat her like a grandparent! — that the royal figure smiled with unfathomable melancholy.

His son and daughter were barely out of their teens when they set off to seek the City, to see with their own eyes the place that Noah and Mio had called home.

(Months later, he would pass away in his sleep...alas, shortly before his children returned to Maktha, with grim tidings of how a Golden Moebius had put the City to the torch. What fortune, that he did not live long enough to hear of how a warrior matching Noah's description had laid waste to his homeland.)

xxxx

History no longer knew what names Noah's son had given his children. (Perhaps a tale, for another time?)

Instead, the firstborn was only known by the title he had taken up for himself, as an oath of sorts: Vandham.

The destruction of the City had been too much for his dear mother to bear, so soon after the loss of his father; even if she had abandoned it, it had still been her home as a child. It wouldn't be wrong to say that she died of a broken heart.

But there was no time to mourn: Agnus, building a new Castle to oversee the ruins of the City — a mockery by Moebius, it could be nothing else! — was now in a much stronger position than before. The true Queen, fearing that her 'Key' would fall into the wrong hands, decided to flee from Maktha, to go on the run once more.

Yet, she left behind a gift, for him and his sister.

("Take this Ouroboros Stone with you," she said with a stern expression, even as her eyes evoked a deep and harrowing sorrow. "You both bear the lineage of Keves and Agnus within you...living symbols of the power their union can bring." Her nails traced the edge of the elaborate cage that kept the Stone's power contained. "Find those of like mind and spirit, if you want to live long enough to fight your own war.")

Vandham and his sister agreed, resolving to carry on.

It was a grand story, in and of itself, of how they met the other Founders...but that was a tale for another day.

Of greater importance, was that upon unlocking the power of the Ouroboros Stone, they learned that the Golden Moebius was seeking out the survivors of the City, to finish the job.

The Founders resolved to themselves: never again.

xxxx

N knew not of where these stubborn fools had come from, fighting with reckless abandon.

Yet, the plains of Kana rumbled from the force of their battle, as the Sword of the End clashed against the hardy skin of three brilliant Ouroboros titans.

(This was not the N of the future, who would refine his skill to the point where his grace was both detached and casual, to the point of seeming boredom; this was an N who still carried fresh memories of life as Noah, who still bore the scars of slaughtering his kin, whose psyche was still an open wound that had yet to scab over from the pitiless march of the Endless Now.)

"Why do you still persist?" he snarled, sweat dripping beneath his golden mask. The six warriors had fought ceaselessly, whilst a seventh — beyond sight and sound, yet still somehow signifying their presence: a threat to intervene, should things go awry for their comrades! — remained in the wings, seemingly willing to let these upstarts fight...and why not? They were winning. "Ouroboros...why do you still struggle?" he growled, all but yelling at this point.

"Because we never learned how to give up!" hissed a graceful giant swinging two swords.

"And we're not going to let you turn the City into a memory!" cried a bulky golem whose right arm was a great cannon, and its left an even greater shield.

The third of the trio was smaller than the other two: lithe, bearing a martial artist's physique. However, the titan's feline ears twitched with each movement of the air that they sensed, enabling it to move with an almost preternatural foresight. "The City will rise again," cried the dual voices of brother and sister, as Vandham willed empowered hands to strike. "AND WE WILL LIVE ON!"

N parried the giant's twin swords and reflected the golem's energy shot, yet was unable to get back into position fast enough to block the titan's fists. A pained snarl slipped past his throat as his golden armor cracked, crumbling to pieces as he skidded along the plains. "You...you dare..." His Moebius Core...had been drained so much...how were they fighting so long in their Interlink...?! "YOU..." A flash of purple emerged in front of him; his eyes darted up, seeing the back of his other half. "M..."

"A Silver Moebius...?" hissed the golem, readying their shield.

"I will withdraw with N," calmly said M, looking over her shoulder with golden eyes that pierced him to the spot. 'You are too weak and wounded to continue,' they said without a word. (The truth of it was obvious...yet his weakness still galled.) "In return...we will trouble you no further."

"A likely story, from murderous Moebius wretches," snarled the sword-wielding giant.

The one who had dealt the finishing blows to N calmly split apart, into a young man and woman. The features were oddly familiar, as if looking through a distorted memory at times gone by: but the girl's ears were not the right shape, and her face was different; the boy had many similarities in the hair and chin, yet bore a face and frame which was far hardier than Noah's had ever been. Why...do they seem so familiar? That, more than anything else, ate at him.

M also seemed to recognize the similarities, for she went still. "Hmm...?"

"...what a sad sight," growled the boy, "for my grandfather's sword to have been turned against his own people; I'm glad my father didn't live long enough to see this day!"

"Yeah!" agreed the girl. "Give back Grandpa Noah's sword!"

(At this, M was shocked into silence.)

N's blood went cold; on an animal level, he was glad that his mask was still on, if only to hide himself in the light of day from these whelps, because they COULDN'T be the progeny of his one and only son, they COULDN'T-!

"...what are your names?" hoarsely asked M, almost stilted.

The girl crossed her arms with a scowl. "And let you scheme for ways to find out more information about us? Not a chance."

"Agreed," said the boy. "But you can call me Vandham."

N (and likewise M, little did he know) seared that name into his heart. Still keeping a hold onto the Sword of the End, he did not protest as M helped him to his feet. He wanted to say so many things...but nothing could escape, in the face of those blue eyes, glaring at him with righteous fury.

(It was as though he were looking into a twisted mirror of Noah: judging him, mocking him...!)

(What do you know? WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY KNOW?!)

Then the battlefield of Kana — for it would not be the first time that plain would play host to a titanic clash — faded away; the cooling darkness of Origin's interior soothed the nerves, as M set him down onto the metal. "...thank you," he whispered, grip still tight on the hilt of his Blade.

M quietly knelt down, gently removing his fingers from the sword. "...it's strange." Looking up at her wearily, he noticed tears beading up within the corners of her eyes. She continued, "I still...despise what you did, to the City. But to see those of our lineage...born of our son...I feel elated and terrified in equal measure...and it feels like I'm being ripped in two..."

N quietly removed his mask, looking at M in the dark. "...M...Mio..." (It would be one of the last times her name would escape his lips.)

The mere mention of her name caused the tears to flow. "Noah..." Sobbing quietly, she clutched onto him, embracing him tightly.

Amidst their mutual hurt, they lingered for an unknown amount of time...but their wounds would not heal from this.

(Even now, after all this time, he was too weak; even his progeny had proved to be greater, in the end.)

(Do you not understand? Noah is too weak to save anyone: not Mio, not your family, and certainly not yourself.)

N's bitterness would only grow towards the resurgent City, for they served as an everlasting reminder of what he had sacrificed (what he had been too weak to protect). Future Ouroboros candidates...would be particularly subject to his ire, if he ever came across them. (The new City was lucky, that its location would prove so elusive...) All he could do...was trust in the permanence of Mio's presence, in the eternal reality of M and N. (In that...he would find solace.)

M, meanwhile, would only feel greater anguish as her Noah continued to recede, scarred over by the coldness of N...and for a time, she wondered if even her love would be enough to fight back the monstrous despair clawing at her from within...

(And all the while, the name of 'Vandham' would lurk in the back of their minds like an elusive shadow...)

xxxx

It would be a long time, until N and M showed their faces again.

During this grace period, Ouroboros went about rallying those who had survived the destruction of the City; in addition to their number were numerous cradle-born soldiers that had rallied to the banner of Ortiz and Rhodes, being defectors from Keves and Agnus themselves.

Even if the Sword of the End was still lost to them, the power of Ouroboros was hailed as a great boon, and a peerless trump card against anyone that dared to strike against them. With foresight from Ortiz and some Nopon ingenuity, they had proactively fashioned devices which could block the latent power of Ouroboros that lingered in their blood, still strong in those that could trace their lineage to past incarnations of Noah, Mio, and their comrades. Before Keves and Agnus could master the means of detecting that unique energy, the Ferronis which would become the host of the second City was completed...and just like that, they all but dropped from the face of Aionios. So long as they were careful, Moebius would be blind to their very existence: whole swathes of people, removed from the wretched game.

(Hence did the Lost Numbers gain their moniker, which they would carry on into the future...)

But as for Vandham? Despite avenging the death of many, and resurrecting the childhood home of his parents, a life of peace and security did not suit him...nor did the delicate art of governing.

Thus, after much discussion, he left his share of authority with his sister: the one who would in the future be recognized as the Founder of House Doyle.

Vandham departed the City, for parts unknown; not a few chose to follow him.

In the decades that followed, rumors ran wild of a roving band of warriors, stopping battles between soldiers of Keves and Agnus before they could even begin.

And then...

xxxx

/Brasa Geothermal Belt, Erythia Sea, Cadensia Region/

Nia looked up with surprise at the sounds of footsteps echoing through the cave. Damn it, have I been found again?! Impulsively summoning her swords, she hid behind a stalagmite...only to blink at the sensation of familiar ether. That feeling...it couldn't be. Sure enough, a small squad of five entered the fluorescent cavern; at their head was a an aged man with wrinkled, sunkissed skin that nonetheless rippled with lean muscle. "...Vandham?"

"Ha!" exclaimed the old man. "You haven't aged a day, 'Mama Nia'!"

"H-How did you find me?!"

"Got a tip from a Nopon merchant on a nearby island. Said something about seeing a 'delightful maiden' taking a dip in the natural spas."

"..."

He pulled a collapsed telescope out of his pocket, showing a cracked lens. "I gave the horndog a nice smack as payment for his 'finder's fee'."

"That's a good lad." As the rest of Vandham's squad went to secure the cavern, she asked, "...it's been a long time."

"Aye, it has. A lot has happened. The City's getting back on its feet."

At this, Nia felt a small spring of hope well up within her. "Really? And...you're not there?"

"Eh, that lot will do fine without me. The way I figured it...it wouldn't be right, to leave Your Grace by your lonesome."

"...you rascal." Even after all this time, someone named Vandham was turning things around for her...in more ways than one. "...ah, but you were a handsome lad. I'm sure you must have snared a heart or two along the way?"

"Well..." Whistling, he yelled, "Oi, kids! I want you to come meet Mama Nia!"

To Nia's surprise, the four other soldiers all turned, gathering towards them. One of the girls immediately began haranguing him for treating Her Highness 'so casually', while the only boy criticized his dad for being so 'ungentlemanly'. The other two girls simply asked for stories of their dad as a kid, because he had to have something embarrassing in his past, right?!

Nia couldn't help but smile, feeling lighter than she had in decades.

xxxx

The caverns that would become known as the Malevolent Hollow in future centuries had not yet become a hotbed of monsters; now, it was simply a strange landmark bearing a large concentration of black fog, yet paradoxically free of Annihilation Events; it was due to 'the metaphysical makeup of the cavern hindering opposing elements', or something to that effect...at least, according to the Nopon scientist that had tagged along with Vandham's company.

Nia had simply been using it as a good hideout because it hindered enemy scans from finding her.

In like manner, Vandham decided to set up shop within those caverns and the winding ravines of the Brasa Geothermal Belt; the giant fungi were easy enough to hide underneath whilst outside, and food was never in short supply. Vandham took it upon himself to be the Queen's guard; his family followed suit, along with those that had accompanied him. Stories went back and forth, as the plucky wanderers took it upon themselves to try and ease Nia's loneliness.

(How little did they know that being in the presence of Mio's progeny — and therefore Nia's by proxy — did more to soothe her loneliness than they could have possibly fathomed.)

The diminutive Nopon served as their link to the outside world, bringing valuable goods and information in return for local concoctions and plants that could only be found within the cavern and the natural hot springs. Any Agnian or Kevesi scouts who managed to intrude upon their territory were quickly ambushed, knocked out, intoxicated with a light dose of hallucinogenic mushrooms, and dumped off at a nearby island under cover of night. Thus did Vandham's company keep their presence a secret...for about two years anyway.

Then they were found by Moebius.

So to speak.

xxxx

The presence of the man known as Consul T had initially sent everyone into a panic; the Queen, hiding deeper within the caverns, could not be shown, no matter what!

Vandham exchanged words with the man...and then, without warning, he slugged the Moebius in the face.

Rather than vaporize their proverbial patriarch, the Consul struck back.

After several minutes of a rather messy brawl, the Moebius was laughing. "Aw, ye got yerself a pretty mean punch there, lad! I wasn't expectin' a good ol' bout of fisticuffs in this dump! What say you, up for another go?"

"...nah," grunted Vandham. "Bit of an old-timer, I'm afraid. Don't got many years ahead of me, I think...but my eldest? He'd be glad to fight you."

"I would?!" exclaimed a tall, middle-aged man near the edge of the impromptu arena.

T looked at Vandham's son with discerning hum. "...he's got muscle, but does he got the proper moxie? Guess I'll find out next time I come 'round!"

"On one condition, though," demanded Vandham. "You can't tell anyone we're here. If you do, we'll have to move. Then you'll have to find us all over again."

"...agh, good point. Would be a right shame if ye scallywags slipped away from such a prime place for fightin'! Big caverns, natural lighting, secure from outside observance...that'd be horrible!" With a hearty shake, T added, "Ye can call me Triton!"

Then the burly Moebius strolled outside, came back in minutes later with a giant fish over his shoulder, and demanded a feast be held to celebrate the occasion...which Vandham and company did, because what were they going to say otherwise?

(Nia's reaction after the fact, surprisingly, was rather nonplussed. "Honestly, the rumors I've heard about that particular Moebius? If anyone could've stumbled upon our home...there's certainly worse.")

xxxx

And so, time passed.

Generations, in fact.

Triton's trips were sporadic, yet punctuated by fistfights and feasting. Their duty to protect the Queen — to keep her safe, to keep her company, to keep her sane — allowed them to pass the decades with a sense of purpose, even as the war between Keves and Agnus raged on afar.

Some of Vandham's lineage came and went; all were sworn to secrecy, which they kept with admirable aplomb. If nothing else, it seemed that Vandham's family carried a sort of charisma that drew others to them; they wouldn't have been able to explain it if they were asked.

Yet...all good things come to an end, even amidst the Endless Now.

xxxx

Nia listened quietly as Basque Vandham explained their circumstances. "Triton seems to be slipping as the years have gone by," muttered the husky man, nursing a black eye. "He apparently blabbed to one of his 'colleagues' that he knew of a place that nullified Annihilation Events."

"Has he told them about this cave?"

"Going by what he said after our Duel of Destiny," he remarked, referring to the title that the Vandham Family had come to label Triton's semi-regular visits, "no. But I don't trust in his ability to keep his mouth shut for long. Moebius will doubtless want to know about such a unique place."

(How little did he know: it would be through X's research of the Malevolent Hollow, that Z would gain the power to nullify Interlinks with much greater ease and control than before...but that's a story for another time.)

"...I see." The past centuries had gone by in a proverbial blink: mingling as she did with her extended family, even if they had no clue as to how she was their common ancestor through Noah and Mio's son. (She could have told them...but after so long, it was so easy to just be quiet, to keep secrets in her heart. There was no one who remembered Alrest, no one who remembered the Time Before; why burden those with knowledge they could do nothing with?) "...then I suppose, it's time for me to move on."

"...we've got enough fighters to storm Agnus Castle," muttered Basque. "We could put you back on the throne all proper like, and reinstate you. The City's bound to have regained at least some of its former glory; we could make a formal alliance, and present a united front against Moebius..."

"...that would be committing all of our pieces to a risky gambit." (She couldn't. She couldn't. Not YET.) "...I believe there will be a time in the future, where the world will be ripe for a change. But until that happens...I must remain in hiding. There's one last place I know of that hasn't been discovered..." The Cloudkeep: from there, she would be able to resonate with enough remnants of Origin to create more Ouroboros Stones...and hopefully hide enough of them for the City to keep even with Moebius for the foreseeable future. "It'll be there, where I will go into a period of deep sleep: watching the world all the while, until the right moment arrives."

Basque solemnly nodded. "And what would you have us do, Your Majesty?"

"Eh?"

"Our great ancestor swore his lineage to your protection. If you no longer have need of us...then tell us where we must go, and we will go."

"...I see." No pressure. "If that's the case...I would have your family return to the City. The blood of Ouroboros will doubtless mark you as a target, elsewhere...and I'm sure the people will rejoice at the return of House Vandham."

Basque chuckled anxiously. "You do my family too much credit, Your Highness-"

"The name of Vandham means more to me than you'll ever know, Basque," she sternly interrupted, taking a tone with him that she had not used since he was in diapers. "Those who bear that name...are always marked for greatness, in my eyes...so long as they have the strength to seize their destiny with their own hands."

"...then if that is what the Queen commands, we will obey." Looking about the rusty cavern walls and colorful molds with fondness, the burly patriarch remarked, "I'm gonna miss this dump...mind one last hug for the road?"

Nia arched an eyebrow. "Won't that ruin your 'manly man' image?"

"You've practically hugged every single person who's lived here when we were little. Bit late to worry about propriety for that sorta thing."

Nia couldn't help but giggle. "Well...I'm certainly not complaining." Thus did Nia and Basque embrace: the last she would feel the touch of one of her descendants for a very long time to come.

"Take care of yourself, Mama," whispered Basque.

Nia bit her lip to keep from mewling. That's not fair, ya bastard. But then again, all of Vandham's children, their children's children, and so forth had called her 'Mama Nia' as kids: it was just the way things had been for them. And now...that was all changing. "You as well, ya daft idiot...you take care of yourself and all those knuckleheads."

"Will do." Rising to his feet, Basque turned to leave the cavern, to get the rest of his House up and moving-

"Vandham!"

Turning on his heel, the man stared with stern eyes, ready and willing to die for her.

"...remember to fight your war," she commanded.

Basque solemnly nodded before, with a knowing grin, he said, "Then I'll make sure it's a war worth fighting."

Thus did Basque Vandham walk away, never to see Nia again.

The Queen of Agnus steeled herself, slipping out through a side tunnel; the night was still young when she plunged into the waters of Erythia Sea, swimming with all her might.

(It also had the benefit of hiding her tears; she couldn't be seen crying if she was drenched.)

xxxx

Basque Vandham returned to the City, alongside his whole household; it would not take them long to become inserted into the City's political power structure.

As for Nia? She had one last encounter with Consul M...because despite how long she had lived as Moebius, she was still Mio. Therefore, Nia would trust her to do the right thing.

("We've met before, when you were still human." Oh, if only M knew. If only she knew. Despite the Moebius's shock at her presence, Nia was undeterred. "I will go to sleep, for a good long time indeed. That should keep me out of Z's claws...take this." Handing M the crystalline key to the Cloudkeep, she continued "Whenever it is I wake up again, the world...will be ripe for a change. Until that time, keep it safe. You should give it to those who deserve it." When M, quite reasonably, asked how she would know...Nia spoke from the heart. "They'll come before you. Of that, I have no doubt.")

Really, there was no one but M that she could trust the key to: an eternal Moebius, gripped by suicidal despair, desperate for a way out...what could Nia do, but give her own lineage a way to make it to a better tomorrow?

How ironic, that thoughts of Vandham filled both of their heads, in two entirely different yet equally meaningful ways.

And so, as Nia slept...M waited, until the time was right.

xxxx

/Time: During Chapter 1, shortly after Guernica Vandham's passing/

/The Eagus Wilderness, Fornis Region/

Ghondor Vandham had been in a right proper mood since Shania had sent word about what had happened to Guernica's transport vessel. Stupid bloody old man; bet he died trying to play the hero or some crap. Now instead of rendezvousing with their group in the wilderness, Shania would be staying behind to keep an eye on the the new Ouroboros; they would have to return to the City, to inform the Bitchqueen and her lackeys about what had happened. Stupid bloody Stone; good-for-nothing hunk of junk; so many lives lost, and for what?!

(Anger was good. Anger would keep her from thinking about how her grandpa had died.)

Whilst stewing in bitter thoughts, and watching her comrade's camp from atop a long rocky outcropping...the sound of warping space caught her attention. Turning around, she watched in stunned silence as Agnus's Silver Consul approached. What the bloody hell?! Only her distraught emotions from the news of Guernica's passing prevented her from attacking on impulse.

A good thing too, for the masked woman calmly said, "House Vandham has a longstanding vow to the Queen of Agnus, do they not? The real Queen."

"...what are you on about," she demanded.

"Those new Ouroboros candidates," continued the Consul, as though Ghondor had said nothing. "They are...this world's only hope."

Now she was getting genuinely confused. "You're not making any sense. Why shouldn't I call my boys to bring a Levnis up here to turn ya into a pile of blood and guts?"

"Beyond the fact that it won't accomplish anything against me?" M dryly said (which was annoyingly true, Ghondor had to admit), before doing something the pint-sized brawler would have never expected: she knelt down on her knees and bowed. "It's because the true Queen entrusted something of great importance to me...and I can't give it to Ouroboros myself. It must come from someone else."

...am I having a fever dream? (Had Guernica's death caused her to go temporarily insane?) "You'd best be off asking the Bitchq-er, Monica. She's the Elder of the City. She'd be able to get things done the way you want."

"She is also under many eyes in light of her station. You are not."

A fair enough point, but that still didn't satisfy her. "...but why me, of all people?"

Rising back up, Consul M answered with disarming honesty. "You're a Vandham. That is enough."

"...huh." She didn't know whether to feel complimented or irritated by that. "...well, you've caught my attention, at least."

xxxx

It was all terrifyingly simple, in M's opinion. When D and J had broadcast Moebius's sigil into the sky, it was a sign that Ouroboros had risen once more.

When she realized that another version of Noah and Mio were among the chosen six, an intrinsic part of her knew that the time had come for Queen Nia to awaken...but only once Ouroboros had proven themselves.

Too many eyes would be upon her; it was not her place, to be their guide.

But she knew, in light of who Ghondor Vandham was...in light of what the Vandhams were, period...that their paths would cross.

After all...Ghondor, however distant, was of hers and Noah's blood. Through the line of Vandham — that great and glorious name — the passage of fate had been steered from disaster so many times.

("Though we came from different world, we were able to leave a life behind." As N said these words amidst the climax of Moebius's very existence, the fruit of that life — Monica and Ghondor — were there amongst them all, at Aionios's proverbial curtain call. With melancholy warmth, M added, "It was a hope for the future. Our hearts and our dreams intertwined, and we were given the chance to weave new life. And therefore...it's all good.")

M — Mio — would trust in that name once more, and in the lineage that had arisen from the life she and Noah had brought forth into the world.

xxxx

Author's Note: ...I started this simply wanting to portray a compelling reason as to why M entrusted the Cloudkeep's Key to Ghondor. This turned really super long.

In the event that future DLC goes into prequel territory (which is highly likely, even though my hope is for a 'happily ever after' sequel), a lot of this will probably be Jossed. But I had fun brainstorming this scenario based on what limited info we currently have about the Founders, particularly Vandham.