Petra Nullus, who still thought of herself as Pyrrha Nikos, trailed behind her Queen as they made their way down from the Palace to the Wall of Names. She had asked about some of the names in the earliest days of her being here, but had been told to wait for another day.

It appeared, 'another day' was going to be today. It could not have been a coincidence that it was Reaping Day. But what had surprised her most had been that even the Queen called it...

"...Reaping Day, The Feast of Souls, Darkest Night, Hallowed Eve, Wintergeburt….call it whatever you wish, it has had hundreds of names over the millenia. It is a festival of remembrance just before the start of winter." The Queen said, before glancing over her shoulder and shooting the girl a smile. "But I am calling it Reaping Day as it is what you are likely to know it as, my Little Courtier."

Little Courtier. The nickname the Queen had taken to calling her. Never Pyrrha, occasionally Petra, but more often than not her Little Courtier.

They walked to the furthest end of the Wall, to where the newest names were. Tabitha's name was there. Months(?) ago, she had watched as the Queen had solemnly carved the Bat Faunus' name into the inky black stone, followed soon after by the name of the woman in the white cloak, Summer Rose.

She had been a servant of 'the Wizard', according to the Queen. And she and him had been waging war in the forgotten corners of the world since forever. It had been the war that had caused her parents' deaths. The Queen had saved her when the Wizard had been content to leave her to die, just to keep their war secret.

When they reached the end of the Wall, the Queen turned on her heel, and began the slow walk back. Every so often, the Queen would stop, and point out a name.

"Gustavo Abraxis had been the Head of the palace servants, and kept the peace between the various factions and agents of my Court. He served me faithfully for over ninety years, and died peacefully in his bed, holding my hand."

"Antares Fel led an attack on Sanctuary, and died slaying Nova Carpo, the Fall Maiden."

Then came the names from around thirty years ago. And there were many names from thirty years ago. Dozens of names. The Queen explained that the Wizard's champions, Team HaMMeR, had slaughtered most of those that had been at the Palace (even the children). Whilst the courtiers had defended their Queen well enough, they had fallen. The Queen had slain them all herself, even (to Pyrrha's terror) plucking out their leader's eyes before drowning her in the inky black pools of Grimm that surrounded them even now.

And despite the grief and rage they put her through, the Queen still put HMMR's names on the Wall. There are rules that even I am bound by, had been her explanation.

There were other names too. The ones that the Queen made a point to mention.

Robert 'Bobby' Blue had been a near perfect infiltrator before retiring back to the palace to raise a family and act as a teacher of the palace's children. One of whom had been Harley Cairn, who had sparked a Faunus Uprising in Mantle during the Great War (Not just a Faunus Uprising. Salem had corrected her. THE Faunus Uprising.) before becoming Salem's eyes and ears in Menagerie. They were the reason that the Grimm stayed away from mainland Menagerie. Cairn's reward had been a safe haven for their people, one Salem had been happy to grant.

Olaf Gunderson, the reaver King whose repeated attacks on Solitas had led to its complete abandonment until the Kingdom of Mantle was founded. He had been felled by a 'Maiden of Winter', Helga Bjornsdottir, whose name wasn't that far below Olaf's. She apparently died taking down one of the Queen's 'Abominations', Grimm so powerful and individualistic that they became a common part of Remnant's folklore.

Chen Daiyu had left her impact on history by influencing a Mistralli Emperor into introducing anti-Faunus laws and attitudes to his nation, whilst ignoring the day-to-day running of the nation to focus on personal pleasures. She had come close to shattering the Empire into warring states, but had been assassinated by loyalists of the Wizard before she could. But the Emperor's anti-Faunus policies remained..

Oda Cao, the founder of the very first Mistralli Empire. A name that Pyrrha recognised. Salem had told her how he'd been an incarnation of the Wizard, and killed himself before he could be fully consumed into the 'Quagmire of Souls' that was the Wizard's existence. His legacy being an Empire that lasted for one and a half millennia, and even now existed in a fashion.

"Entire family lines have fought and died for me." The Queen told her. "The Blackpool Clan, for instance. For eight centuries, from Ezekiel to Nessa, they fought and bled and died in my name. Amongst those they felled were Silver-Eyed Warriors, Maidens and even incarnations of the Wizard….along with one occasion they accidentally brought down an entire Mistralli Imperial Dynasty whilst on vacation..."

There had been a fondly amused look upon her Queen's face at that last statement, before they continued to walk along the Wall. The Queen wasn't speaking of the names they were now passing, but names they had long since passed. "The Fall Clan too was loyal, right from the day that Ilyanna Volga brought Eliza back. Through her, I gained the loyalty of her daughter Soleil, Soleil's daughter Skye and Skye's daughter Nyx. For a time, even Nyx's daughter was loyal. But that is no longer the case, I'm afraid."

Then there were the older names. Pyrrha had been born and lived in Mistral, and everyone knew that history began with its founding. Yet there were considerably more names that predated Mistral than followed it. It was...it was inconceivable, but that most incontiventable of truths was quite clearly wrong. Even the writing style slowly changed into something utterly alien and incomprehensible, and she had to rely on the Queen to read them for her.

Giric McDoyle had apparently independently discovered her existence and led a band of fellow Huntsmen and Huntresses (or the equivalent of the time) right into the heart of her Palace. The Queen had personally slain him in combat,

-2000AW. Five centuries before history began.

Hehet Mata, who used a snakebite to assassinate Gyasi Sadiki, one of the last 'Pharaohs' (God-Kings of what is now Vacuo, according to the Queen) and a primary ally of the Wizard, before taking her own life by the same snake to avoid capture.

-3500AW. Two thousand years before history began.

Tatiana 'Deathshead', the first 'Right Hand of the Goddess'. The Moth Faunus had died with axes in hand as the Wizard was forced to literally bring down a Mountain upon her to finally kill her. Her skill and dedication was apparently so great, that the Queen decreed that only a fellow Faunus could be one of Tatiana's successors.

-4100AW….

It was only when they reached the column with just four names on that Pyrrha finally plucked up the courage to speak and ask the question she'd wished to ask for months..

"Could…" She paused, falling silent as the Queen came to a stop and turned to face her. "Uhm.."

"You need not fear making requests, Little Courtier." The Queen reassured her. "The worst I shall do is decline."

"..Could we add my parents' names?"

The Queen held her gaze for what felt like forever, before giving a sigh and a single nod. "I suppose if it was not for them, you would not have come to my side, my Little Courtier. I shall grant them the honour you ask. Now go on ahead, I shall not be long."

Pyrrha nodded, and all but skipped ahead, humming a cheerful tune to herself. She wasn't brave enough to ask about the four candles her Queen had lingered behind to light.

Not yet, at least.