Chapter 8

It was almost three weeks since the Bossgarm was beaten, when a person in a very suspicious outfit entered Irlam village near Roswaal's mansion. He, because it was clear as day to recognize the gender, looked around and tried to walk past some children, but…

"Subaru? Is that you?" one of the kids suddenly asked as his cover was blown by his keen eyes. It was a perfect disguise! He, Natsuki Subaru, lamented in his mind and acted like he didn't hear the kid, only to be soon swarmed by all six brats he saved with Rem and his swordplay sensei, Jon Snow, from the Wolgarm Shaman and its subordinates.

And only then, he gave up and explained why he was there, only to earn a pout from Petra for whatever reason. It is nearly as strange as Rem being impressed with every single thing that I do… he thought, but what he didn't know was the fact that Rem didn't start doing so until a few hours prior to the daytime battle in the forest. And he only noticed that happening later, thanks to Snow's training regime.

And then, he let the brats lead him to whatever location in the now Mabeast-clear forest. And very soon…

They arrived at a small clearing, covered with flowers. Red, white, orange, yellow, blue and purple petals with the occasional leaf or a few inches of grass mixed in, all making together nice patterns. It was simply a breathtaking sight. Emilia will love this place! He cheered in his mind and turned around, happy that he had found the best spot for his date.

But little did he know what was going to happen in the next few days in the mansion he worked at. And that such event would only push away his date with the beautiful half-elf for at least another few days.


Jon sighed as he sheathed Longclaw and put his hand forward to try and cast a [Goa], but something felt a bit… different. Like he could be able to take another step forward, where he wasn't able to a day ago. This might be the moment for trying the next level, he thought with a small smile. But, then he also remembered that there was no [El Goa], according to Roswaal.

"[Ul Goa]," he said and about half a dozen small fireballs showed up next to his hand. Jon quickly aimed the spell into the air and released it, not wanting to drain himself out of mana right away with that spell or burn the flower bed. And as he swallowed a bocco fruit after it, he heard clapping coming from behind him as the fireballs harmlessly exploded in the air.

"Well done, Jon Snow," Puck's voice congratulated, making the soon-to-be knight freeze for a moment, before relaxing. Praises for him were few and far between back at Winterfell and he was sure that maester Luwin and ser Rodrick knew of his true talent that he was trying to hide, so lady Catelyn won't give him another long tirade on how 'bastards weren't supposed to have close, same or better results than their betters'. That, and Puck practically surprised him by appearing out of nowhere.

"Puck, don't scare him like that," Emilia reprimanded and Jon couldn't help but think that something seemed… off with Puck. He was glowing a bit brighter than normally and also looked a bit more tired. It looks like he's dying, Jon thought, but he knew better than to say it out loud. It might sound wrong, if he did so, since he saw Puck running out of mana once in the capital after all.

But then, a white orb with some red spots suddenly collided with Jon's hand and… changed into a familiar old man, he thought that he won't see for quite some time, thanks to his and Subaru's ability. And yet, that wasn't the most surprising part, because…

"Hey, Brynden. Hadn't seen you in quite some time," Puck greeted him, getting a raised eyebrow from Jon and a shocked look from Emilia. "Good to see you too, Puck. How is Beatrice by the way? And Geuse?" the Three-eyed Raven asked and Jon noticed that Puck made a sad expression at the mention of this "Juice" person, while Emilia suddenly held her head in pain as a sudden headache made itself known.

"My lady!" Jon shouted and started using the healing spell on her. "I am sorry for not checking for locked memories," Bloodraven said and Puck, who was preparing to blast the elderly man (or was it spirit now?) with icicles, calmed down a bit, but not much. Jon understood it as a gesture to step aside and let the man examine the half-elf's locked memories.

"Oh dear…" Bloodraven muttered and stood up. "There's nothing I can do. Something alien and your contract mixed together," he explained quietly to Puck and turned to Jon with a sad smile on his lips.

"I have enough mana to last me for a few hours in this state and plane of existence. I'd like to form a contract with you as soon as possible, but first, take her into her room," the elderly man added and Jon nodded, glad that he had at least one ancestor even bothering to look after him in this world.


Beatrice didn't know why she suddenly stopped reading her book, until she felt a familiar presence enter the mansion. Is that… Brynden?! she thought as a few memories entered her mind. Memories of her, Mother, the other Witches and Geuse listening to surprisingly not boring lectures in magic.


"Very good, Beatrice," an old man with only one red eye said as she managed to cast [El Minya]. And she quickly released it, not even bothering to check if there weren't any people - or half-elves - in the direction of her attack.

"Oi, Beako! You almost killed me!" a man in strange clothes shouted and she earned a glare from Satella for it. And she still didn't know what did that half-elf see in that insufferable outworlder…


It can't be! she suddenly realized as something in her mind clicked into place. Pandora! Pleiades! Why?! she thought as a single tear escaped from her eye. The group she called family was ruined by the duo, the latter of which also stole the title of the Great Sage from Flugel's name to serve his own goals.

But Flugel wasn't dead. Only his memories, abilities and deeds were removed as he was misplaced. I think he might be "That Person" , she thought and her Book of Wisdom released a faint glow.


Echidna was shocked. Somehow, her failure of a creation did another step towards finishing the quest she gave her. But, it was impossible, unless…

He came back, she realized and smirked a bit. That would explain Satella's lack of participation in her tea parties most of the time since… about two months ago. It is still strange that only a half of the time passed in Lugnica, she mused, intrigued about it. Whatever the cause of that phenomenon was, she would be thrilled to see it in person.

It would be certainly better than being reincarnated by that fool Roswaal, Echidna thought and sipped some of her tea.


Subaru woke up to a bit colder morning than usual, which was strange in the middle of a summer-like season. What the hell?! he thought as he shivered a bit, only to see…

"Rem? What the hell are you doing here?!" he asked the blue-haired maid with a bit of suspicion in his voice. Seriously, this action of hers was bordering with the Yandere levels of obsession. And the fact that she just smiled at him nearly freaked him out.

"I am just getting my energy revitalized by watching Subaru-kun's sleeping face," she responded and Subaru quickly went for his sword and bolted out of the room as soon as he freed himself from the bedsheets. And he also shouted in her direction that he overslept and needed to be on his swordplay lesson. Which was actually the truth.

He reached the courtyard in record time, only thanks to bumping into Beako, who was very upset by something, by sheer accident and getting thrown out from the window… again.

"Bonjorno!" he said as he fell down on the (luckily) not manured flower bed, even if it was the exact same place he fell onto in his third loop in the mansion. But, instead of Emilia and Puck, he faced Snow, Ghost and a strange old man with a single red eye, the latter smirking about something with a distant look after looking up at the opened window.

"Get up," Snow commanded and Subaru quickly did so, brandishing his sword in the process and attacked the (only a bit) younger man in black clothing before him. But, all of his attacks were blocked easily by Snow. And it was only after Snow made him lose balance, when he pointed his sword at his sensei and whispered "[Shamak]," when something happened.

Suddenly, the black mist erupted from the tip of his sword and enveloped Snow's head, robbing him off his senses. Finally, a chance! He cheered and disarmed the now defenseless Snow, only for the old man to touch his shoulder.

"[Jiwald]," he said in an old, but still powerful voice and the mist disappeared, revealing that Snow was shocked. But instead of getting angry, his sensei just congratulated him for finally managing to disarm him, even if he needed a spell to do it.

"Do you mind escorting me to Beatrice? I'd like to catch up with her," the old man suddenly requested as he faced Subaru, who just nodded and led the newcomer to the mansion.


Brynden smiled, when he saw Beatrice sitting in the giant library and he dismissed the somewhat familiar boy right after stepping inside. But, the small spirit still wasn't paying attention to him, so Brynden did the only thing he could do, without destroying the library that is, and coughed into his hand.

"Brynden?!" Beatrice asked excitedly and jumped at him. "I see that those 400 years really changed you, huh?" he joked and smiled, when the small girl pouted and turned her head to the left. "No, in fact. Betty still has Bubby to keep me company, I suppose," she responded, and this time, Brynden laughed at her antics.

Same old Beatrice, he thought and put her down on the floor, accidentally making one book fall in the process. He picked it up and suddenly felt the urge to burn it as he turned blank page after blank page. Echidna went too far to earn his forgiveness now. Until…

Your contractor is chosen, now form a contract with him to break your current one as the Keeper of the Forbidden Library. And you'll be able to take revenge on Pandora for what she did.

It was on the very last page of the book, but it wasn't Echidna's handwriting. No. That was someone else's. He was so engrossed in thinking about who wrote it, that he didn't notice Beatrice taking the Book of "Wisdom" from his trembling hands.

"'Tella?!" Beatrice suddenly whispered just loud enough for him to hear and Brynden smiled at the ceiling. It seems that she is nearing the point where she will take control from Envy forever, he thought and grabbed some books, before conjuring a chair for himself and tea - high quality one, not Echidna's, mind you - for both of them and sat down.


Roswaal was shocked, when he saw Brynden Rivers - his sensei's sensei - enter the dining room with oddly happy-looking Beatrice behind him. And to further his - and everyone else's - surprise, both sat down near the duo of his most recent employees, Beatrice even going as far as to demand a contract from Natsuki Subaru, while Brynden and Jon Snow chatted about someone named Egg.

But after a while, Brynden looked at him with his single red eye and raised a very pale eyebrow, on his already pale face, in a really? way. How does he know?! Roswaal internally panicked for a second, before calming himself. And then, the old man stood up and respectfully bowed in the half-devil and his maids' way.

"My name is Brynden 'Bloodraven' Rivers, also formerly known as the Three-eyed Raven and I am the contracted spirit of Jon Snow and friend of Puck and Beatrice," he said in a grandfatherly voice and sat back down, but whatever was said next, Roswaal didn't know, because he was busy thinking about how to use this new variable into his advantage.


Jon was walking around the mansion, when he suddenly stumbled. He looked down and saw a trapdoor, similar to the one found by Subaru a few hours prior. So, he carefully opened it and looked down, only to see more alcohol and… some notes?! What?! he thought as he picked them up, deciding to read them later.

"You found another alcohol stash?" Brynden suddenly asked and Jon jumped from the surprise he caused. "Looks like it. Lord Roswaal's grandma would've given king Robert a run for his money in this department," he answered and both men chuckled a bit at the mere thought of seeing the woman in question and Robert Baratheon trying to out drink each other.

"And where is your Direwolf?" the former Three-eyed Raven asked and Jon simply pointed out of the window, where Subaru and Beatrice were playing with said beast. "I am glad that she at last found herself a good contractor," Jon heard the older man mutter and he wasn't surprised that much, after he learned about what she was forced to do for 400 years, the night before.

"Snow-sama? Why aren't you wearing warmer clothes?" Rem's voice suddenly cut into their shared silence and Jon turned to face the maid that he, Ram and Subaru saved from the dogs in the forest. "We from the North region of Westeros are accustomed to this kind of cold," he answered simply and truthfully for what felt like the sixtieth time since the unexpected temperature drop began.

But, he was very sure that before coming to this land… he would've felt at least a bit cold. Must be my Targaryen side awakening or something, he thought and mentally shrugged as Rem walked away with the alcohol in a basket, that much like her Morningstar came out of literal nowhere.

"The knight from the capital will arrive in three days. I allow you to change your name to your given one by birth, Aemon. 'You should kill the boy inside you and let the man be born', as maester Aemon, your namesake, said to Aegon the Unworthy," Brynden added and disappeared in Longclaw's rubies, that served as eyes of the wolf head-shaped pommel, to conserve mana just in case of an attack happening.

After all, the relative peace they have now won't last forever and it was better to be safe than sorry. Jon had learned his lesson back at Castle Black and he won't ever try to repeat the same damn mistake that cost him his life, even if he can't die for longer than a few moments right now, thanks to that curse he and Subaru Natsuki got.

And with a final sigh, Jon walked into his room to finish his personal coat of arms and study a bit on Lugnician etiquette, mixed with playing on the harp that Roswaal gave him from the instrument stash after witnessing his skill with it two weeks ago.


Subaru glared at Snow as he walked into the dining room, seemingly unfazed by the unbearable cold. "How can you survive without warm clothes?!" He demanded to know, but he didn't expect an answer to come from anyone, because he already had a suspicion that he and Emilia shared whatever thermoregulating ability they had.

"I guess that it's the side effect of both my DPs and my parents' lineages," Snow responded, drawing surprised stares from Roswaal and Emilia. "Interesting, in fact," Beako suddenly said as she made her presence on his lap known to everyone, making Snow's own contracted spirit chuckle at something, before confirming the statement as truth.

"I myself was the greatest mage of my world, when I was alive. And I had Targaryen and Blackwood blood, which is close enough to Stark one that my great-grandnephew has, but not as potent," the spirit (or was it ghost?!) of the man once known as 'Bloodraven' added before sitting down next to his contractor, who muttered something about 'True North', 'Free Folk' and 'Others', before turning to him.

"And what about your date with Lady Emilia?" he asked and Subaru paled at the memory.


"You're right! Yes! I think we should postpone it! It's so cold after all! I know you've been excited about it, and I promised, but… Oh, of course, it's not only because I promised. I was looking forward to it myself. But, if it's this cold… Yes! We have no choice!" Emilia said quickly, but to Subaru… it sounded like she listened to way too much Rap God by Eminem.


"It was just postponed," Subaru said and focussed back on eating the warm food before him. He needed something warm in his stomach right now after all. But then, he got an idea. A bit crazy one, but one nonetheless.

"How about we sleep in a tent, until it passes?" he asked and instantly got a glare from Ram who was visibly shaking from the cold around them. "You suggest… camping in the rain?" Snow asked and Subaru noticed that both he and the Bloodraven guy had a raised eyebrow as they looked at him.

"Dooo you think that you'll make meee, the lord of this maaansion, go into the raain?" Roswaal asked after looking out of the window for a moment, noticing the rain outside. "And count the bath out too. Someone put in there a strange goo," Brynden announced before Subaru could even say his next idea, but he still wanted to be sure that it was true.


Jon raised an eyebrow at seeing a few gallons of frozen mayo sauce - as Subaru called it - where the water was supposed to be. And he almost instantly turned his head to the only possible culprit - Rem. She was the only one of the maids that could make it in enough quantity to fill that giant bath like that.

And right now, she was trying her best to look like a cute puppy that wanted to be praised for something. But the only thing she got was scolding by a very angry Subaru. And not only mayo sauce lovers would hate her for that, Jon thought as he turned around and went away to get some wood for the dining hall's fireplace, because he had a feeling that it would be needed very soon.


Reinhard looked curiously at the lack of villagers in Irlam village. He would've thought it was an attack by the Witch cultists, if there was blood and dead bodies. But the lack of both surprised him even more than he'll ever admit.

And so he used one of his magic detecting DPs to find the cause… only to find out that the largest concentration of it was near Margrave Mather's mansion. We're heading there anyway, he thought and opened the small window behind him.

"Felt-sama, stay inside, until I say it's clear," he announced in his "loyal bodyguard" voice that his father and the Royal Knights drilled into him, if he faced situations like this one. And for once, he was glad for at least a part of his harsh training being useful, since that Reinhard law was passed.

"Why, Reinhard?!" she shouted/asked almost immediately and so, Reinhard explained the situation to her, before closing the window, only now noticing the… snow?! around the giant of a mansion.

The villagers are there too! he realized, when he saw a mass of humans gathered around something. That something being Subaru Natsuki with a torch, book and crown made of snow arranged on him to resemble some sort of ruler or something like that from his homeland.

The boy stood there for a moment, before he said something, which made the villagers cheer and then scatter on the giant lawn and… start making sculptures?! Interesting, he mused and stopped the dragon-drawn carriage next to the gate, where two identical maids - minus their hair and eye color - were standing.

"Let us take care of your carriage," they said in unison as they bowed and Reinhard, after hopping off the driver's seat, opened the door and let Felt-sama out, before nodding to the duo.

And after that, he rushed off after Felt-sama, who went straight for a clear spot and started doing her own sculpture, a small smile forming on his lips.


Jon looked at the giant Wolgarm sculpture with appas instead of eyes and felt a shiver go down his spine. It was very lifelike. So much so that he knew Subaru will try to find a reason to detract the points from the final count. Or…

And then, Jon froze in place. What is that thing doing here?! He thought and carefully approached it, his hand ready to unsheath Longclaw at a moment's notice. He wouldn't let it harm innocent people. Not after what he saw at Hardhome and Sam told him about after he returned to warn his brothers about the attack that Mance planned out… just to escape from it with the Free Folk.

He relaxed only after reaching it. It is but a statue, he thought with a final sigh and turned…

Only to see Reinhard from the capital watch over Felt the thief as she built her own ice statue. And an impressive one at that. It was looking as if Old Man Rom was frozen solid mid-swing with his bat. The pose however reminded of his first fight with that crazy woman Elsa and he put his left hand protectively over his midsection just in case.

"Ah, Jon Snow," Reinhard said and Jon turned, before the knight's expression turned sad for a few moments for some reason that Jon didn't know.

"I hope that you're going to apologize for that stunt you did back on my great-grandnephew's first day in this country. That one with making him talk about his past," Brynden stated a bit coldly as he stared down the knight, who turned very nervous at that and explained just how he did what he did.

Jon almost pitied him, the key word being almost. He knew that what Reinhard did was a background check to see if he was a danger to this country… but the explanation how he did it was what angered both him and Brynden.

"I apologize to you, Great spirit and you, Jon Snow, for it," Reinhard repeated for the third time already and Jon suddenly felt cold. It was as if…

Jon blocked the attack with Longclaw and quickly turned to see… that he was somehow awakened with a stronger aura than before surrounding his body.


Ram stared at the ice statue as it suddenly moved and attacked the distracted Snow, only for him to block the attack and engage the unknown enemy with ease.

What it was, she didn't know, but its aura was like the Witch's miasma, but colder, more primal, and far more evil. It was so strong that even Rem rather started slowly backing away than rushing into action. As did Roswaal-sama and Barusu - the latter of which was a craven anyway - but she stood on her spot, mesmerized by the battle unfolding before her eyes.

Snow started on the defensive, trying to find an opening in the… thing's defense, the blades sounding rather like wounded animals than two pieces of metal as they connected with each other. But soon enough, there was one as the thing tried to hit harder with an overhead strike, only for Snow to spin away from the attack and thrust his sword at his enemy's weapon.

The icy blade suddenly broke into thousands of pieces and the thing stared in shock at its empty right hand, before screaming in pain and exploding into a very small pile of snow as Snow's blade cut its hand. And only then did Reinhard van Astrea move, whispering something to the soon-to-be knight and Snow gave him his blade and fell on one knee.

And what happened next, surprised her even more, while she should have expected it.


Subaru knew that he played a meat shield to Emilia-tan as he slowly retreated after the statue showed itself to be a living(?) thing. But the most surprising thing was that it wasn't Reinhard who engaged with it, but Snow. And he actually won against the unknown enemy after a quick struggle.

And then, as the villagers slowly returned to their statues, he noticed that Snow fell on one knee as Reinhard raised the sword that Snow had from the start. And then he spoke.

"In the name of the Father, I charge you to be just," Reinhard began in a booming voice and placed the sword on his right shoulder. A knighting ceremony?! Subaru realized as he saw it and felt a bit jealous. But, at the same time he knew that Snow deserved it more than he did.

Then, the sword touched Snow's left shoulder. "In the name of the Mother, I charge you to defend the young and innocent."

Again, the sword touched his right shoulder. "In the name of the Maiden, I charge you to protect all women."

And left shoulder again. "In the name of the Smith, I charge you to help those in need."

Right again. "In the name of the Warrior, I charge you to be brave."

And left again. "In the name of the Crone, I charge you to offer counsel to your liege."

And then, Reinhard gave Snow his sword back, pommel first. "Rise, ser Aemon Targaryen," he finished and Subaru glared at the duo. How could Snow hide his true name from him for so long?! It was unfair in his opinion to not share that bit of information a bit earlier.

But, he chose rather to not comment on it and go back to judging the statues. After all, there still were several he hadn't checked. One of them being a large statue, covered by a tarp and guarded by Ram of all people.

He swallowed a sigh and walked to it, reaching the statue at the same time as Rem, who suddenly got an excited smile at seeing him, striking a pose as she pulled the tarp off… revealing an abomination of a human being at least two times bigger than the Rom statue.

"What is that? The noble vampire Sage?" Brynden's slightly amused voice asked the duo from behind Subaru, earning a glare from the maid twins and a small chuckle from him, which redirected Ram's glare at him.

"No. This is the epitome of art. Made by Rem and Ram, The Amazing Subawaal," she responded and this time, Brynden laughed out hard at the name, before turning into an orb and flying towards Snow's - no, Aemon's - sword and disappeared in the rubies on the pommel, leaving Suabru alone.

And after a sigh, he gave the statue the few points it deserved in his opinion, before tactically retreating to rate the Rom statue.


Ram stared at the statue that won the competition - an impressive real life-scale battle between Reid van Astrea and Divine dragon Volcanica - with a bit of hate in her eyes. But even if her stare could kill, its recipient would only shrug it off, because he was the invincible Sword saint.

And then, she watched as he simply copied the snack that he won and gave the copies to the village kids, while handing the original to his charge - the thief from the capital. The sight threatened to bring a smile on her face, so she quickly looked away to avoid giving ammo for Barusu to exploit.

This will be a long night, she thought as the villagers slowly walked back to their homes and the residents of Roswaal's mansion - with the two new guests - to the main dining room for a degustation of the found alcohol, dreading how would Rem act, if she drank too much of it.


Subaru didn't know what to say, when he saw drunk Emilia and Rem trying to get his attention, the former also claiming that he was only 12 years old. And Felt found it funny, even though she knows that I am 18! He lamented in his mind, only to feel someone bite his right shoulder.

He turned and saw the culprit - a drunk Rem. "Looks like you have two admirers," Reinhard chuckled and Subaru glared at the knight. Only to notice that both Brynden and Snow - or is it Aemon now? - still hadn't arrived here.

I wonder just where they are, he thought, but the missing duo arrived at that exact moment, both having different attires, even if not by much.

Aemon had his usual black trousers and boots, but his black shirt sported a red three-headed dragon, with white and gray wolf heads, the white one having red eyes, over his heart.

Brynden had his usual black robes, but this time, the three-headed dragon was white with red eyes and a small golden hand on its belly and was sitting on top of a white tree with red leaves and, the strangest thing of all, a face on it.

Both had their hair pulled back with a simple leather headband, but their belts was where the similarities ended, because Aemon had his sword there, while Brynden had none. And Subaru knew that it was intentional, since Brynden was the better mage of the two other foreigners.

"Ser Aemon," Reinhard greeted formally, to which Aemon nodded, before sitting down with his relative/contracted spirit and helped themselves to some mead, which was for some reason the only untouched alcohol from the stash. Even Reinhard rather discreetly took all of Felt's share and gave her appa juice instead.

And he got the answer soon enough, when he saw Aemon drink his cup in one go and then cough in surprise at the strength of the liquor.

"This… is some good stuff…" he said after a few moments of catching his breath and pouring himself some more mead, drinking it without coughing this time.

But, it was at that moment, when Subaru finally noticed that Beako was outside, just staring at the sky. And so, he slowly got up and told Emilia to take care of Rem for now, getting one of the hottest sights in his short life as a reward, lamenting the absence of his phone and thus the inability to save it for reviewing later.

"I'll burn it to my memory," Ram suddenly responded and Subaru noticed that she had a slight blush forming on her face from all the drinking. But he chose rather not to say something on that, knowing that it would bring him more sassy replies and stares.

And after he poured some appa juice for Beako, he walked to her and tried to get her to drink it… without success. And because of that, he tried to get her attention by trying to find his namesake star and making a fool out of himself in the process.

And then, Puck made the snow around the mansion disappear and sent it somewhere else.


Near a certain cave, several hooded figures sat around a man that looked like he should be dead, but wasn't for whatever reason. He was reading from a Gospel, until the snow started falling and then he smiled in a very disturbing way as he finally got information about the Ordeal being set to happen in 10 days.


In the capital, a purple haired merchant girl looked out from the window of a pub, she and her mercenaries stayed at, and smiled at the sight of the cute cat twins playing in the snow that suddenly started falling down, thinking the whole time about what to do, when she will become the ruler of this country


A one-handed knight with a bare chest looked out of the window and sighed. He really really hoped that his lady would win the Royal selection, but her behavior was one of the few factors that wouldn't give them support and he knew it.

This won't be easy, he thought and raised an eyebrow as snow started to fall.


A green haired young woman, dressed in militaristic clothing, was enjoying some tea with her crossdressing knight/healer/friend, when the snow started to fall and she then turned to Wilhelm to tell him to bring her newest two supporters, so they could say their opinion on this unusual event in summer.

And soon enough, both of them entered. One had brown hair and grey eyes, with a recently shaved beard, while the other had auburn hair and blue eyes. If it wasn't for the way the duo carried themselves and their similar style of clothing and she didn't have her DP, she wouldn't believe that the duo was related in any way.

And then, the older one from the duo spoke in his wise and warm voice that carried only a slight coldness to it.

"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives."

And she shivered at the implications hidden in the words, even though it was at least the 100th time she heard it.


A/n:

Hey guys! Sorry for the late update, but fleshing out this chapter proved itself to be a bit harder than expected. But, it is longer than the rest.

Also, those more observant of you should know who the mysterious duo is.

See ya later!