A/N: I still do not own Skyrim or the Elder Scrolls.

"Since when was the snow so deep out here?" grumbled Minerva as she marched through the deep snow drifts. "I swear it's snowed at least three inches since we were in there!"

Onmund shrugged, lifting his long legs easily to walk through the snow. "I can't tell the difference. Are you okay? Don't you have a Shout to get through snow or something?"

Minerva sighed. "No, I don't...actually..." Minerva grinned mischievously. "Actually, there is one..." She took a deep breath. "WULD!"

Quicker then Onmund could blink, Minerva was over one of the hills, waving and laughing breathily.

Onmund jogged up. "That was so cool!" he said, grinning. "Can you go further?"

Minerva took a few deep breaths, then shook her head. "Nah," she said. "It's only good for short distances. Or jumping."

Onmund thought. "Well, I don't want to wear out your throat..."

Minerva pouted. "I'm not gonna wear it out! I'm getting better! I'm fine!"

She really was cute when she did that. Focus, Onmund!

Minerva yelped as Onmund scooped her up in his arms. "Nothing for it. I'll just carry you so we can go quicker."

Minerva looked up at Onmund, and she suddenly felt the strong urge to kiss him. Not a good time, Min! Plus your lips would freeze to his skin out here. Since when was Whiterun so cold anyways?

That's right…when they were in this area last time, it had been much warmer. It had been the end of summer. Last Seed.

"Four months," muttered Minerva. "Has it been that long?" Onmunds body heat was making her kind of sleepy.

Onmund looked down. "Hm?"

Minerva smiled. "Just remembering the last time we were in the area. That was before...well...everything."

Onmund nodded. "Yeah...all the dragon stuff and...er, Ancano." Onmund was silent for a bit. "And before you had to leave. I've missed you, you know?"

Minerva's heart skipped a beat. "I...you did? I mean..." She felt her face heat up.

When Minerva looked up at Onmund, she saw he was blushing as well. "Hey...uh, there's the stables there. Come on, let's catch a cart."

Things looked even worse than when they left, if that was possible. There were swirling storms throughout the streets of Winterhold. Some looked like regular snowstorms, but others were obviously magical, spawning magical anomalies like the ones they had fought before, and some anomalies that were even bigger. Several of the college mages and a few of the townspeople were fighting them, but they were definitely struggling.

"Come on!" yelled Minerva, hopping off the cart and running. Onmund was right behind her, slightly slower due to the heaviness of the staff.

The two wove through the anomalies and the fighting until they reached the college bridge. Colette and Faralda were both guarding the entrance, wards up and staves at the ready. Faralda looked over as the two ran up. "You have it?" she asked. "You have the Staff?"

Onmund held it out. "We do. Is Ancano still in there?"

Faralda nodded. "Everyone else is inside! Hurry!"

The two did so, all but sprinting to the Hall of the Elements. Inside, Tolfdir, J'zargo, and Brelyna stood in front of the ward, still spinning around the Eye. Tolfdir and Brelyna were still in robes, while J'zargo had changed into a suit of armor that appeared to be made of Dwemer metal. All of them looked exhausted.

As the two walked up, J'zargo and Brelyna both perked up. "You're alright!" gasped Brelyna. She ran forward and enveloped the two in a hug. "We were starting to get worried!"

"Do you have the Staff?" asked Tolfdir. Onmund held it out. "Excellent. Let's finish this, then."

Onmund looked around. "Hang on...where's Miss Mirabelle? I didn't see her outside."

Tolfdier shook his head. "She became too injured to fight, so we moved her to safety. Hopefully she'll live."

Onmund swallowed. First the Archmage, now Mirabelle. "Okay, what should I do?"

"You need to use the Staff to bring down the ward first," said a new, but familiar voice.

Everyone turned around to see two High Elves in tan robes had suddenly appeared. Tolfdir's eyes widened. "Y...you're-!"

"Quarinir, right?" asked Onmund.

Quarinir nodded. "I apologize for the delay, but it took some time to persuade my colleagues to come."

He gave a hard look to the Psijic beside him, who crossed their arms. "You know we are not supposed to interfere with these matters."

"Not supposed to interfere?" snapped Minerva. "With what, the literal end of the world?"

The other Psijic startled, then shook their head. "We never thought it would come this far. The Eye clouded our vision."

"What is the Eye, anyways?" asked Tolfdir. "You know, right?"

"Questions later," said Quarinir. "For now, we must stop this madness."

Onmund nodded. "Right. So I just use the staff on the ward?"

Quarinir nodded. "It should drain the magicka from it. Just concentrate."

Onmund nodded and took a deep breath. He pointed the staff at the ward and it shot a beam of light, connecting it to the ward. The ward started to flicker, and within a few seconds it had disappeared.

As soon as it did, everyone ran into the lecture hall. Ancano was still standing in front of the orb, waving his hands and muttering under his breath. His hair was disheveled and he had a crazed smile on his face. As the group came in, he turned to face them, his eyes glowing the same colors as the Eye. "You've come for me, have you?" he cackled, his voice slightly echoing. Whether it was from the power of the Eye or the large lecture chamber was hard to tell. "The power to unmake the world at my fingertips, and you think you can stop me? Fools!"

Saying that, Ancano unleashed a blast of energy. Onmund threw up a ward, and so did Brelyna. After the wave of energy passed, Onmund looked around. "Is everyone okay?"

Brelyna nodded, lowering her ward. "I'm fine! I think J'zargo and Master Tolfdir got caught though."

Onmund looked behind him, and sure enough J'zargo and Tolfdir were lying paralyzed on the floor.

The Psijics lowered their own wards, then looked over at Minerva, who hadn't even bothered putting up a ward but seemed fine. Minerva just shrugged. "Bretons have magic resistance, remember?"

"I...don't think you're supposed to have that much..." muttered Quarinir.

"Don't question it," said the other Psijic. "Let's just get this over with."

The non-incapacitated group members advanced on Ancano, who waved his hands again. Suddenly, ghostly versions of him appeared around the room, along with more of the magical anomalies. "For fuck's sake!" yelled Minerva. "These things again?"

"We'll get these!" yelled Brelyna. "Just try to stop Ancano!"

"Try the staff on the Eye!" yelled Quarinir, conjuring a ward while he threw fireballs at the anomalies.

Onmund nodded and raised the staff again. Ancano cackled. "Are you mad! You cannot hope to defeat me! You cannot conceive of the power I wield!"

"Would you shut up?" grumbled Onmund, letting loose a blast from the staff. As he did, the Eye shifted, and the outer shell began swirling in a different manner.

Ancano stopped waving his hands. "What..." He looked at Onmund. "You! I should have known you would be trouble when that damned Psijic showed up!" He summoned a spell in both hands. "You will not deny me this! This power is mine!"

Ancano released the spell, and suddenly there was a swirling tornado of fire around Onmund. Onmund yelped, trying to put it out. But he was having a hard time concentrating enough to summon ice or anything. "Shit! Shit!"

Ancano sneered and began another spell, but there was a scream. "You! Don't touch him! WULD!"

A brown and brass blur slammed into Ancano, throwing him away and making him lose concentration. The fire on Onmund sputtered and lost some of its strength.

Minerva stood in front of Ancano, breathing heavily, murder on her face. Ancano stumbled backwards. There was genuine fear in his eyes. "You...what are you?" he gasped, looking at Minerva.

Minerva raised her sword and snarled, her eyes dilated and seemingly glowing. In the light of the Eye, there was something different about her. An aura, inhuman and menacing.

But before Minerva got a chance to swing, the Staff of Magnus thudded into the side of Ancano's ribs. He stumbled away again, his hand plunging between the swirling exterior of the eye.

Ancano's hair stood on end and he screamed shrilly. His hair turned white, and his skin wrinkled and took on the look of cracked, tanned leather. His eyes flashed all the colors of the rainbow as he was flung away from the eye. He slammed into one of the pillars, fell to the ground, and lay still.

Behind where Ancano had been standing was Onmund, wielding the staff like a club, breathing heavily with heavy burns on his face and clothes. He looked at Minerva and grinned sheepishly. "I don't think that's how Magnus wanted anyone to use the staff, but..."

Minerva shook her head, her fury towards Ancano gone now that Onmund was upright and talking. "You dork...you made me worried!" She hugged him.

Onmund hugged her back, wincing a bit from the burns. "I'm sorry..."

Brelyna sighed in relief. "Thank the Three, I thought you were in much worse shape!" Then she looked up. "Er...why is the Eye still active?"

Sure enough, the surface of the eye was still swirling, giving off flashes of magicka that were blinding to look at.

Quaranir didn't seem bothered, though, as he and his colleague stepped forward. "We'll take it from here," said the other Psijic. They and Quaranir positioned themselves on opposite sides of the Eye and raised their arms.

"We'll seal this away on Arterium," said Quaranir. "That way, the world will be safe from it." Quaranir turned to look at Onmund and smiled. "I told you you could do it. Good luck, Archmage."

Then they were gone. Onmund was left staring at the now empty spot. "…what did he just call me?"

Minerva let out an excited squeal and hugged Onmund around the shoulders. "Look at you go!"

Onmund blinked, still not processing. "Huh?"

"Well you can't get a much better recommendation then the Psijic Order," said Tolfdir, standing up shakily. Apparently the paralysis had worn off. "And we do have an opening..."

J'zargo dusted himself off. "A shame. J'zargo was hoping to work his way up the ranks."

Brelyna smiled. "Yes, well. I think an Archmage should be able to at least cast a proper ward, don't you?"

J'zargo's mouth fell open in surprise, then his expression turned to a pouting one as Tolfdir, Onmund, and Minerva laughed.

Minerva: Anyways we should probably bury Ancano's body

J'zargo: Do we have to?

And that ends the Winterhold Questline! Luckily for Onmund, Archmage duties can wait for the other world-ending crisis to be resolved. Hope you enjoyed!