Intermission
World of Remnant:
The Great War
The Great War.
(Once again, a map of Remnant is shown that the camera slowly zoomed in on)
What a terrible name for such a horrible time in history. Though the war itself lasted around ten years, the century leading up to it was filled with so much tension, you might as well lump 'em together. And most of that tension was coming from Mistral.
(The emblem of Mistral is shown over the Kingdom as the camera focuses on it)
Territories rich with resources and safe from Grimm have always been in high demand.
(A man in blue robes and a golden necklace is shown over the emblem of Mistral now. He waves his hands and the rest of Anima is highlighted)
But the emperor of Mistral had managed to conquer nearly all that Anima had to offer, thanks in part to an unlikely friend - Mantle.
(The camera moves up and the Emperor is moved to the snowy top of Anima as the continent of Solitas where a muscular white colored man is shown.)
The two Kingdoms had formed an alliance. Mistral provided the small Kingdom with goods unavailable in the frozen tundra. In return, Mantle introduced technological innovation, as well as guidance in the settlement of Anima's cold northern territory.
(Blue and white ships travel between Mantle and Mistral to show the trade alliance)
It was good... until it wasn't.
(The camera focuses on Mantle now as darkness surrounds it and red eyes appear, glaring at Mantle and its ruler)
An incident in Mantle led to a strange and unexpected decree - the abolishment of the arts and the repression of self-expression.
(The Mistral ships turn grey)
The people of Mantle had come to believe that they would be much safer from the Grimm if they could simply keep the emotions of the masses in check.
(The darkness and the red eyes recede and the camera moves back down to Mistral where a female dancer, a male artist and musician are shown with the Emperor back at the Mistral emblem, glaring at the screen.)
Given Mistral's strong artistic culture, many assumed this would be the end of their alliance. But they were wrong.
(The dancer, musician and the artist turn grey)
Mistral complied... selectively, enforcing Mantle's wishes only in the outer territories, allowing the central powers to continue to live as they pleased. If you haven't caught on yet, Mistral's full of jerks.
(The Emperor grins to showcase the narrator's perspective.)
The people of Vale had a problem with this. Well, they had a problem with a lot of things Mistral and Mantle had been up to - treatment of their citizens, use of slave labor and their constant insistence that their way of life was what was best for everyone.
(The camera moves away from Mistral and focuses on Sanus where the emblem of Vale is shown. Ships are shown coming from mistral and settling on the eastern coast of Sanus.)
Eventually, Mistral made the jump across the sea to the eastern coast of Sanus. The small islands and peninsulas in the area were perfect to establish a settlement. They were so perfect, in fact, that Vale had just begun settling the area themselves.
(Green humanoid figures emerged from Vale and met the Mistralian ships)
I think we can all guess what happened next.
(The camera zoomed in on Vale where a green colored muscular humanoid is shown, wearing a golden crown and a green cape)
The King of Vale did everything he could to avoid armed conflict.
(More Vale citizens appear around the King, shouting at him)
Despite cries from his people, he insisted on sharing the land with the settlers from Mistral. But... (sigh) To this day, no one knows who shot first, but what began as a riot between two bands of settlers...
(The camera moved from the King and focused on the Vale and Mistralians facing off. The Vale citizens had swords while the Mistralians had bow and arrows ready to fire)
…would suddenly become the first battle of the Great War.
(There was a white flash followed by war cries. White Mantle soldiers carrying rifles were shown fighting alongside the Mistralians against the Vale soldiers who wielded swords and shields.)
Mantle quickly came to Mistral's side. Battles were fought on both Sanus and Anima soil. Villages were lost to both combat and Grimm. And it wasn't long before Vacuo decided to join the party.
(The map then switches to Vacuo, which is highlighted by its own emblem.)
Up to this point, Vacuo had done its best to stay out of the fight.
(Blue and white colored castles are shown next to the Vacuo emblem, showing Mistral and Mantle's presence)
Mantle and Mistral, having both already established a small presence in Vacuo territory years before promised to leave them, provided they didn't interfere. Soon, those talks evolved. It went from 'Don't side with them' to 'Side with us and you'll be safe'.
(The blue and white castles push against Vacuo and are then repelled by Vacuo's own orange warriors holding spears with the Queen of Vacuo rising from the Vacuo emblem)
Vacuo did not much care for that, and they came to the conclusion that if Vale were to fall, there'd be no one left to stop Mistral and Mantle from conquering them next. So they did what they considered to be the logical thing. They drove Mantle and Mistral out of Vacuo and told Vale they had their backs.
(Vacuo's warriors push the white and blue castles away from Vacuo and set them on fire)
(chuckles) I love their style.
(Four warriors: each representing the color of their kingdoms meet in battle)
So the war raged on. Grimm attacks increased worldwide.
(Grimm then appear to attack the warriors who turn and fight them off before going back to fighting each other)
On the battlefield, this meant a temporary ceasefire in order to deal with the monsters before returning to the fight at hand. Those left miserable back at home, however, were often helpless with their best warriors away fighting the 'good' fight.
(The camera zooms out, showing fires all over the map of Remnant)
A lot of settlements were lost during these years, and most were never reclaimed. Rations on food and Dust were put into effect, development of technology accelerated, Humans and Faunus who fought alongside one another became closer and every day, mankind grew more and more efficient at destroying itself.
But it all ended in the Vacuo campaign.
(The camera then zoomed back in on Vacuo whose soldiers were ready to face the Mistral and Mantle soldiers approaching them…)
Mistral and Mantle knew that if they could take the Dust mines of Vacuo, they would effectively cut off the supply of Dust to their enemy. It was to be a final devastating blow to Vale and Vacuo. They were only half right.
(Only for the King of Vale to appear between them, holding a golden sword)
The King of Vale personally led his army into battle alongside the soldiers of Vacuo and decimated the enemy forces. Crown atop his head and armed only with a sword and his scepter, he laid waste to countless men.
(The King swings his sword and releases a wave of fire that burns everything in sight. When the image cleared, the land was devastated with bodies and weapons everywhere, all of them burning)
As the sand was soaked red with blood, the Grimm came in droves. It was the single deadliest battle of the war, and legends of the greatness and terror of the Warrior King were born that day.
Along with his equal.
(A woman in blue armor appears and challenges the King of Vale and they meet in battle, her blue key shaped sword meeting his golden one and causing the screen once again to be engulfed in white)
You see, over the years Mistral had a secret weapon lying in wait for the right chance. A woman whose power and skills matched that of the King of Vale himself.
(The woman is shown again wearing blue robes and a golden crown on her head)
This woman was so dangerous that the Emperor made her the new Empress of Mistral…Well, actually she was made the Empress of the Mantle/Mistral alliance but her influence was only meant to cover Mistral. Her skills along with many attributes made her very popular in Anima, so popular that the Emperor feared she would take power from him. Rather than kill her though, he placed her in a position where he could exploit her power for his own ambitions.
(The Emperor appeared behind the woman, showing his sinister grin from before)
Too dangerous to be left alone but too valuable to kill. He made sure she was kept in check until he was sure she was his pawn, grooming her to be the representative of both Mistral and Mantle and using her influence to get the people of all four Kingdoms to comply with her wishes and it seemed to work…
(The King of Vale and the Empress of Mistral continue clashing their weapons, before they suddenly stopped)
(chuckles)….And then it didn't.
The Empress managed to break free of the Emperor's control before the Last Battle began and removed him and the General of Mantle from power.
(The former Emperor of Mistral and the General of Mantle are shown kneeling to the Empress of Mistral and the King of Vale. The Empress then lowers her weapon, seemingly allowing the King to strike her down)
The problem was that it was too late to stop the battle that was about to happen. Rather than sit back and watch the people she had forcefully sworn to rule, she took off and led them into battle, willing to let herself die and with her death break the moral of Mantle and Mistral.
(The King of Vale then lowers his sword, placing it on the ground)
Only he refused to kill her, recognizing that she was not fighting for the same reasons as her predecessor was. Luckily their battle was so terrifying that both sides were too scared to fight and were very relieved when a truce was made.
(The King of Vale and the Empress of Mistral are shown standing victoriously as the former rulers of Mantle, Mistral and even the Queen of Vacuo bow to them)
Historians will tell you that most of these stories are nothing but grandiose hyperbole. Unusually violent weather conditions, combined with Mantle's unfamiliarity with desert combat, are likely what led to such a high death count. But whatever the reasoning, everyone bowed to the King of Vale and the Empress of Mistral by the time it was over. The Great War had ended.
The world was ready to live under the rule of Vale. But the King refused.
(The map of Remnant is shown again with the emblems of the kingdoms appearing and coming together on a single island, spinning together in a single white light before scattering and returning to their respective lands)
The leaders of the four Kingdoms met on the island of Vytal, and it was there that they worked together to form a treaty and establish the future of Remnant. Territories were redistributed, slavery was abolished, governments were restructured, and the Warrior King and Wise Empress, founded the Huntsman Academies and placed his most trusted followers in command of each Kingdom's school. He would teach the world to fight, so long as we promised to fight for ourselves and never against ourselves.
(The screen fades to pitch black)
Seems we haven't kept our end of the bargain.
Xxx
Time Among Friends
It was a beautiful sight, even though he knew it was anything but peaceful at the moment.
The Great King of Vale Oswald stood in his Tower of the Kingdom of Vale looking over the glorious side of the Kingdom he ruled. Decked out in his signature green armor over black clothes with his golden crown atop his head and his sword sheathed at his side, one would think the King was still preparing for war, even though that wasn't the case.
The Great War is finally over.
After ten years of brutal fighting, the most bloody conflict in Remnant's most recent history had finally ended but not without great cost.
"Excuse me, your Majesty." One of his subjects' knights came to talk to him and kneeled before him as he turned around.
"What is wrong, Reginald?" King Oswald speaks to him.
Reginald lifted his head and spoke. "It is nothing wrong, Your Majesty. You have a guest: the Empress of Mistral has appeared to meet you."
The King was surprised but then smiled at this news. "Set up the meeting area for our guests. I really want to speak with her it's been far too long after that final battle ending this war for good."
Reginald, one of his finest knights did as he was told and left to tell the others to set up the meeting room.
Xxx
His majesty was outside his garden which will soon enough be the courtyard to establish his very castle as an academy. He was contemplating his next move, when one of his subjects again spoke to him.
This man was known only as the Bronze Knight and had stood by his side as his loyal guard but the truth of his reason was obvious. "Your majesty she has arrived."
Oswald turned to the entrance of the garden and smiled as she arrived, presenting herself as the empress of Mistral especially as the representative for Atlas as well. He saw her blue hair and ocean-blue eyes were still the same as he remembered. Although her hair has grown a little bit longer and was presented in a hair bun. Her royal robes were like an ocean, light on top of her form and dark blue down below the end with light of silver.
Inside her buns were silver ornate hair pins showing her radiance along with her gloves which were primarily black but also a possessing of silver ornate. On the sleeves covering her arms were swerving and curved patterns resembling the ocean. She still possessed her shoulder guards of silver that allows her to summon her armor.
Even during our battle, you'll always have to remain on guard against unknown attacks.
She was not wearing her silver armor shoes but she is wearing quite more graceful ones to travel yet presentable.
Both the king and bronze knight were amazed at her appearance, looking truly like an Empress but they needed to concentrate of the matter at hand while she's here.
"It's been too long Empress Aqua." The king said to her with a smile.
"Please Your Majesty, we're friends here you don't have to call me by that title. Aqua will just do fine." She said to him with her own smile.
"All right then just call me Oswald." He replied with a smile. "Besides we are among friends and I couldn't be more grateful to you for what you have done not just from my kingdom and Vacuo. But I do believe the rest of the other two kingdoms of Atlas and Mistral will accept you more than ever before."
She accepted the compliment and she appreciated seeing her friends once again.
"Come on Aqua let's take a seat and enjoy the peace while we can." Terra said to her.
A cup of tea was placed in front of Aqua who graciously accepted it. "Thank you. I haven't had much time to sit down and try to relax, even with the fighting over."
"I believe you have some certain news to explain to me what happened after the war." Oswald said to her.
"Yes I do. The golden weapon that the emperor had in his possession was stolen before I could retrieve it, probably on its way back to Salem. Alexander has agreed to accept exile with his daughters and told me everything he knew about Salem's plans. Despite his depravity, he doesn't come close to the Atlas general with how he was treating his citizens and his soldiers." Aqua crossed her arms, quite displeased about the people who thought they knew what was best for the people. "To believe those tyrants claimed they knew what is right when in reality they couldn't handle the responsibility for their kingdoms and people."
Without any of their supporting members and armies those that had followed them were eradicated during the final Battle of the Great War. Both of her other friends had agreed on that one.
"So Salem was behind the incident in Mantle and she manipulated the Emperor into agreeing with Mantle's terms." Terra said as the three sat down. "But what did they do to you, Aqua? I don't believe they could have captured you without a fight."
"Alexander used the scythe to rise the Great Wall of Mistral. I was in the swamps, defending the city that I helped Hunter and his children defend when it happened so I was pretty much cut off from the rest of the world. After that, Alexander threatened to use his stone warriors to wipe out the city and the other outer villages if I didn't surrender myself." Aqua shifted a bit with an uncomfortable look on her face. "I honestly thought I was going to be executed, especially when he revealed he was working for Salem."
Terra and Oswald were silent with Terra reaching and placing a hand over Aqua's. "What did they do? Did they torture you? Brainwash you?"
"A little bit of both." Aqua admitted, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. "Though Salem had something special for me. She said she came up with the idea after I imprisoned her in that crystal for over a century. She and Alexander had been setting up a special program to deal with people who were not happy with the abolishment of self-expression but could be controlled to serve 'a greater purpose' as Salem put it. With Mantle, it was their special emotion suppressing drugs which they used on me too but Alexander preferred keeping his subjects obedient but still capable of serving him.
"They placed me and other political protestors into special cells under the Emperor's castle."
Aqua rubbed her arm as she took another deep breath.
"These weren't your typical prisons. It was complete sensory deprivation, no sound, no light. Salem considered this a special lesson I taught to her that night, saying she learned the best kind of torture was the kind when one didn't feel pain but after spending an eternity feeling nothing you would eventually beg to feel anything, even the worse kind of pain. Completely isolated from everything, the ability to speak and be heard, to even feel the slightest sensation." Aqua explained slowly, remaining calm through it all but both could hear a slight tremor in her voice. "It was like being in the Realm of Darkness for me. They made sure I was bound tight enough I couldn't move and couldn't summon my Keyblade to get out."
Terra clenched a fist at hearing what Salem had done to Aqua while Oswald closed his eyes, feeling guilty for what Aqua had to go through.
"I honestly thought Salem was going to let me starve to death in that cell but she wanted to know how I keep on reappearing on Remnant, seemingly reversing my age." Aqua continued. "She used a special Grimm that kept me unconscious for a good while but I managed to fight against it. This Grimm, it built a dream world out of my own heart and would have killed me by draining my Aura and magic if I hadn't had the help I needed in time."
"A Grimm that can imprison people in dreams?" Oswald questioned, alarmed at Salem having such a Grimm in her possession.
"Yes. She took direct control of the Grimm and used it to fight me while trying to probe my memories." Aqua nodded and continued. "I did my best to keep her out but I don't know how much she might have learned. Alexander wanted to use me to keep the outer villages of Mistral in line and he convinced Salem I was too valuable to be killed."
"So they just made you Empress?" Terra asked.
"After they tried brainwashing me, using a combination of their drugs to suppress my emotions and then a special new brainwashing technique." Aqua scowled. "It involved using Lightning Dust to send shocks through the victim. The scientist behind it said they were altering their victim's brainwaves with magnetic waves."
"Monstrous." Oswald muttered.
Both of Terra's hands were now clenched, the animated knight beyond furious at what Salem had done to his best friend.
"They used it on me to try and make me forget who I was as Aqua and make me believe I was the leader of the alliance between Mantle and Mistral, their spokesperson but at the same time, proclaiming me as the future Empress of Remnant. Salem considered this to be ironic considering I told her I thought thrones were overrated. No offence, Oz." Aqua quickly said to Oswald who simply smiled.
"None taken."
"I guess she wanted to turn me against you and Terra. I…lost my memories for some time." Aqua took another deep breath. "I can barely even remember how it happened. The next thing I knew, I was waking up as the soon to be Empress Izanami with barely any memories of my past. Alexander spent the next few years having his servants teaching me how to be a ruler, specifically in Mistral since I was caught on Mistral ground, grooming me to be Empress in all but name since it was only going to be a puppet's role with him, Bergan and Salem whispering in my ears. It wasn't until the final battle at Vacuo did Alexander and Bergan believe it was time to send me out onto the frontlines, hoping I would kill the both of you and single handedly win the war for them."
"But you managed to break free." Terra pointed out. "You took control out from under their very noses."
Aqua nodded and smiled at Terra. "Thanks to all of you…Salem may believe she can divide humanity but she still doesn't understand how strong the bonds between hearts can be."
"I agree." Oswald nodded in sad agreement. "At the very least, all of her supporters are gone. It will take some time before she is able to gather any useful pawns again."
"So what do we do now?" Terra asked. "Rebuilding the kingdoms is one thing but how do we make sure Salem can't take advantage of the kingdoms like this again."
"We start by making sure the ability to brainwash a person is lost forever." Oswald replied.
"Already beat you to that, Oz. I made a decree that the drug Bergan had made for suppressing emotions and the brainwashing technology Alexander developed were to be destroyed with no evidence of their existence." Aqua cut in. "I checked and made sure there was nothing left behind for Salem to use. The problem right now though is trying to reverse the process. I wasn't the only they used this method on."
"So Alexander was using this on anyone who spoke out against him." Oswald frowned.
"From political dissidents to outright rebels. Many of them were brainwashed into serving in Mistral's army." Aqua looked out across the garden. "While others were…They brainwashed into becoming consorts to many war generals and politicians."
Both Terra and Oswald stiffened at what Aqua had said with Terra speaking up a second later. "They were turned into breading stock?"
"That's one word for it. People, women especially who believed in the rights of freedom and self-expression were allowed to do after they were taken to Mistral's capital and brainwashed, their identities changed like mine was and becoming more less members of the high class where they could continue their self-expression and arts to their hearts' content, only after their free will was taken from them." Aqua explained, a sad look appearing on her face. "It's hard to know if they will ever recover if the process is reversed."
There was a moment of silence as the three considered their next topic of discussion.
Aqua finished her tea and placed it on the table. "For now though, I think we focus on the more present problem. Like how this treaty will change things here on Remnant."
"Good." Oswald nodded. "And now we discuss how to rebuild the kingdoms and how to hide the Relics."