Ironwood's return to good health was considered a miracle, and celebrated as such by the inhabitants of Emerald Vale, especially when he repealed most of the laws implemented by Winter, who had forced the city into a lockdown in her grief, influenced into madness by the Enemy.

Ironwood had agreed to conceal his arm from the public, and now hid his iron-side with a long surcoat and gloves. However, his return to health wasn't entirely well-received.

News of rebellion travelled fast. Nicholas Arc was marching on Emerald Vale with a large host, bolstered by newly created marriage alliances. Ironwood had been shocked at the news, not just at his friend's rebellion but at how quickly he had sold off his daughters. According to him, the one thing Nicholas Arc valued more highly than the prosperity and stability of his lands was the happiness of his daughters, who supposedly had the man wrapped around his finger.

Glynda had her suspicions about the man's sudden personality change, especially after the previous fiasco with an Inquisitor trying to murder Winter Schnee and the Enemy Herself stepping in to influence Winter's emotions of grief and loss into madness that the woman was slowly coming to grips with. However, she was needed in Emerald Vale, to offer counsel to Ironwood and train her new ward.

Robin was quickly becoming an adept magic user, capable of using his magic without collapsing. However, he still had far to go.

As for Ironwood…

He was struggling, to say the least. Considering he had awoken from a magic induced coma to find half his body now metal, his wife mad, the lands he had governed peacefully now in turmoil it was perfectly understandable. The man had spent a day locked away in his office after being informed of how many of his children had been murdered by their former midwife.

His martial experience and instincts weren't helping. To him, Nicholas Arc was a threat that needed to be defeated as soon as possible. If he did so however, he'd doom Vale to a civil war at a time the Mistrali were raiding the seas and Vacuo was supposedly building up to invade. The borders had been quiet for some time now, and messengers were being sent alongside scouts to get up to date information from the Marcher Lords.

So Glynda found herself pushing him to try reconciliation, to at least open peace talks with Lord Arc. If they could convince the man to stand down, unnecessary bloodshed could be avoided.

"How many men does Arc have?" Ironwood asked the scout before them, having just arrived from his mission to interrupt the meeting they'd been having over the state of Vale's economy. To put it simply, it was in ruins. Winter's lockdown had shut off Emerald Vale, the beating heart of Vale's domestic trade, at the same time the Winter Maiden's magic had cut Vale's external trade to Atlas, its biggest trade partner. The situation was grim.

"He had at least two dozen banners, all of them major lords from the west and south." The scout replied. "I couldn't put an exact number, but considering the wealth and size of the lands those rebel lords have, it could be anywhere from thirty to forty thousand."

"Thank you." Ironwood nodded. "Go get some well deserved rest soldier, but before you do head to the kitchens and tell the chefs the Lord Protector wants you to have the finest meal they can cook up. You've more than earned it."

"Thank you milord!" The man replied, bowing quickly and bustling from the room, an energy to his step he'd been too tired to display earlier.

"Thirty to forty thousand rebels marching on Emerald Vale." Ironwood said slowly. "Do you still advise caution?"

"I advise negotiation." Glynda replied calmly. "I never said you should not prepare for the possibility we need to fight Arc, just be open to the possibility you could talk to him and convince him to back down."

"He's committed high treason." Ironwood retorted, frowning as he enunciated the crime Nicholas Arc had committed. "I do not have the authority to forgive him for doing so. There's only one way I can respond to what he's done, and that is to put down his rebellion in the name of our true Queen."

"Has she not replied?" Glynda prompted, and Ironwood shook her head.

"I don't think it's even reached her." He sighed. "By the time Queen Weiss has learnt of what is happening in Vale, we'll be under siege. By the time her reply comes back, we'll either be dead or starving."

"You could concede the city." Glynda offered, even if the thought left a bitter taste even in her mouth. "Retreat to Kingsport and fortify there."

"I'd lose all credibility I have." Ironwood said, shaking his head. "Vale is barely holding itself together, the war is giving too many nobles too much ambition. Arc's rebellion will only inflame that. If he has Vale's traditional capital, he has legitimacy. I cannot allow that to happen."

"Just send a messenger to Arc then!" Glynda exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Mistral could invade the coast and Vacuo could flood in from the west at any moment. Surely you can create common ground with the man?"

"He has to be executed for the crime he has committed!" Ironwood retorted, narrowing his eyes. "I do not want to see him killed, but letting him off without the consent of the Queen sets a dangerous precedent for the powers held by the Governor of Vale. I govern, but I do not rule. That is the Queen's job."

"Surely there is a protocol if the Queen is indisposed at the time of a crisis?"

"In that case, the duty falls to either the heir, Regent or Lord Protector of the Kingdom. The last time I knew, that title was held by an Atlesian Chieftain, Stone. He could be dead for all we know."

"Who's next in the line of succession then?"

"The Queen's Council, who would choose a leader amongst them to serve as Lord Protector if the Queen couldn't name one herself."

"And if they can't?"

"The laws didn't think that far ahead." Ironwood shrugged, and she growled angrily, but not at him. "Atlesian lawmakers didn't think that far ahead because it was believed if the monarch couldn't choose a Lord Protector, and neither could the Royal Council, the Kingdom would be either in complete disarray and-slash-or in the process of disintegration, so there would be no point in naming someone this far down the chain of command."

"Wonderful." Glynda sighed. "Bureaucracy at a time of crisis is about as useful as sign asking wolves not to feast on helpless sheep. Surely there is something you can do?"

"The only thing I can do is put down Arc's rebellion." Ironwood replied tiredly. "I have no other choice."

"Then so be it." Glynda said, before pausing. "It is customary for parley before a battle, correct?"

"It can happen." Ironwood replied cautiously. "It isn't part of a defined, rigid protocol however. Why do you ask?"

"Request a parley before you battle Arc." Glynda implored. "Offer him some measure of lenience, at least house arrest until you can receive definitive orders from the Queen."

"He wouldn't agree." Ironwood replied.

"Try at least, he may surprise you." She said, leaning forward and staring at his eyes unflinchingly. "Could you honestly live with yourself if you started a bloody battle with your friend just because you thought he couldn't be reasonable?"

"You have no idea what I have to live with." Ironwood responded coolly, a dangerous glint of glacial fury in his eyes. "So do not act as if I am making these decisions lightly. I know the consequences of battle and war. I have to live with them everyday."

They stared at one another, neither wanting to back down first. Glynda realised she'd crossed a line however, and leaned back with her hands held up.

"I didn't mean to insinuate anything on your part." She said after a few moments of silence. "I only want to ensure you have thought of every possibility beforehand."

"I have." Ironwood sighed. "I dream of the chance things can return to normal. I will request a parley with Lord Arc, but I cannot guarantee he will answer."

"Then the bloodshed will be on his hands, not yours." She replied. "Do you need my assistance with anything else?"

"No, train Robin." He smiled fondly. "The lad's probably running up and down the Palace looking for you and more training. It's rare to see such diligence in someone so young."

"He's a good boy." Glynda grinned proudly. "He's learning quickly too. He'll make a fierce wizard one day."

"Not too soon, hopefully." Ironwood said, smile fading as fast as it had come. For a man who smiled so rarely, he could smile one of the warmest smiles she had ever seen. "Go, I can handle mobilising an army. Gods know I've done it too many times before. Find him, enjoy your time together whilst it lasts."

He trailed off for a moment, a sorrowful look on his face tinged with bitter anger. She nodded, gave him a quick courtesy and left, taking his warning to heart even if she already knew it.

Experience had long since taught her that good things always came to an end too soon.

/#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/

Nicholas Arc could hear the sounds of an army bustling around him. He felt dazed, dizzy. The last thing he could remember was being in Ansel, talking with…with…someone. He'd been talking to someone. Now he was in a tent surrounded by an army.

"I see you need your medicin, Lord Arc." Purred an unfamiliar yet all too familiar voice. "Open wide will ya?"

"Tock?" Nicholas asked, rubbing his eyes and looking around, unable to see the priestess in the flickering shadows. "Priestess?"

"That's me alright." The Priestess laughed, sounding melodic and cruel at the same time. "You need your medicin Lord Arc. Don't make me hafta do something stupid now."

"What are you talking about?" Nicholas snapped, panic bubbling in his chest and fuelling a frantic rage. Something was wrong, something wasn't right. "Where am I?!"

"Where you need to be." The Priestess spoke softly, and suddenly it felt like she was right behind him. "Remember what you saw? We have a mission to do, a duty given by the divine."

Ice and snow, a shrouded figure that looked distinctly feminine, its eyes blazing a cold blue fire. It smiled, mouth nothing but black teeth and red flesh, before its attention went from him, to his children who were visiting the Queen in Atlas, Saphron and Jaune, his eldest and heir respectively. His eyes widened as it raised a crooked, gangly hand, some unseen force knocking his children headfirst into the ground and dragging them through the ground.

"Dad!" Jaune yelled, frantically scrabbling at the ground to find purchase in the snow. "Help us!"

"Please!" Saphron cried, tears falling down her cheeks and making a boiling fire curl in his gut. "I don't want to die!"

He raced forward through the ice and snow like a man possessed. The creature growled and the storm picked up, massive chunks of sharp ice flying through the air towards him like massive arrows. He didn't care, dodging where he could and grunting whenever they cut him. Nothing short of death would stop him saving his children, and he didn't intend to die until his children were safe.

Then two flashes of purple and gold shot out of nowhere and tore off his knees. He screamed as he registered the pain, but the sight of his children nearing the beast's grinning, bestial maw made his eyes widen and his arms sink into the snow as he tried dragging himself forward. They screamed, they pleaded, and when the monster ate them alive chunk by chunk they stared at him with pained, accusing eyes until those eyes, those sweet, innocent eyes that had stared up at him with such innocent curiosity when they were nothing more than slimy newborns in his arms, turned glassy and distant.

The creature howled in triumph and the his world faded as snow and ice crashed around him, maiming his body and breaking it like a toddler throwing a doll against the floor in a tantrum. His eyes closed but his pain followed him as he left his body, floating in nothingness and watching the macabre remains of his corpse with fear. Was this the afterlife? What were Jaune and Saphron witnessing now?

"You failed Arc." A voice intoned, the sheer power radiating from the words it uttered making him cringe as sharp spikes of pain dug into his head. "Now we will return. Now this world will burn."

"It is nothing personal." Said another voice, just as powerful but more calmer, wiser. Detached even. "But we want to be free of this world. To do so, it must be destroyed. I doubt you will, but I hope you find a modicum of peace in the abyss that will follow."

"Why waste your time comforting a dead animal?" Snorted the other. "Hurry up and be done with this so we can forget about this failed experiment.""Very well." Replied the calmer one, before Nicholas felt it turn back to him. "Do not fear, all of Humanity will see what happens next once it comes to pass. It is fated."

He felt his aching, broken body move, shifted by an invisble force. The landscape changed from a hellish snowscape to the familiar coast of Vale, where a fleet of ships blanketed the seas, red sails flying high and sending his heart tumbling down into his pit of a stomach. The coastline burned as the Mistrali armies marched inwards, and he panicked when they reached the borders of Vale, burning and destroying the fields his people had worked so hard to ensure were fertile and flourishing, the fields he and his children had explored as when they were younger and carefree. The flame spread towards Ansel itself, licking at the walls of the fortress.

His men fought valiantly, but they were brought down by agents within, agents belonging to the strange beings who stood on either side of him, silent as they watched the carnage unfold. They pushed him forwards, through the castle walls and into the keep, where he watched in horror as a group of featureless, howling men chased after his screaming daughters, driving them like cattle into the rooms they'd slept in since they were young and grabbing at them like they were meat. His heart shattered and his see-through body felt cold as he saw glimpses of his daughters' tears, of the pained looks on their fears and the sounds of grunting, laughing men drowned out their screams.

"Stop it, make it stop!" He begged beings on either side of him. "I know you can do it, you brought me here! Stop it please!"

"Fool." The purple figure chuckled darkly. "We didn't just bring you here. We caused this. We want this. This is how we get what we want. Why should we care about what happens to a bunch of plucked flowers amidst a field of them?"

"I'm sorry this needs to be done." The other said, the pity in its tone sickening alongside its lack of remorse. "But we must be free of this failed experiment."

He closed his eyes, but that did little to drown out the sounds of his daughter's rape, nor their murder as they were stabbed and made to scream by the featureless figures who drew out their deaths and cackled as they did so. He dared to open his eyes as the sound of tearing flesh echoed in the ears he desperately wished he could cut off, regretting it immeadiately as he saw the Mistrali tear the flesh from his dead daughters, eating it with callous disregard before cackling as they tore open their stomachs, pulling out howling, deformed babies from their wombs.

Nicholas tried to vomit, but his body was incorporal now. Instead he dry heaved as his watery eyes blurred the sight of the Mistrali murdering the babies they had forced into his daughters.

"Enough." The distant one said. "This is not where we need to be."

The world blurred as they dragged him away from his home, away from his hell. He stared blankly at the fires that gripped Emerald Vale, unperturbed by the screaming and laughing and slaughtering unfolding before him. Nothing came close to the sight of his daughter's butchered, half-eaten, violated bodies, the deformed babies still connected to their wombs by the fleshy birth cord all babies had at birth.

The sight of James' dead body, his entrails hanging from his stomach and hands nailed against the gate of the city caused him to feel something resembling the initial horror he had felt earlier, his friends' eyes missing from their sockets and his manhood cut off and forced into his mouth. The sight of Vacuoan tribesmen forcing themselves on a screaming Winter below James made him feel pity, but he felt numb and cold, all emotions and feelings blanket and numb from what he'd witnessed. His babies, his precious babies…

Suddenly he was in a prison of some sort. The two figures who had guided him through this hell stepped forward, morphing into giants with horned heads. The laughed harshly, and Nicholas found his attention brought to a woman who looked eerily similar to his mother, wrapped in a thick layer of snake-like chains.

"Would you like to see your husband one last time Goddess?" Taunted the cruel, purple one.

"Don't…please!" The woman begged, making Nicholas fear what he was about to witness next. "Let him…rest!"

"I believe she does." Smiled the yellow one, a malice overtaking it's previously distant tone. "Let's bring him back to say goodbye brother."

In a flash of blinding light, Nicholas saw a man rise from a pillar of twisted smoke. The man's bones were visible at parts, as if his flesh had been torn out in places. His skin was grey and rotting, filling the room with a fetid stench. A low groan uttered from it's throat, ripped open an empty, before it surged forward, sinking its teeth into the chained woman's face as she screamed for her loved one to stop whilst the brothers laughed, making him watch with them as the woman was devoured by her loved one.

His vision changed, and suddenly he was on Remant's broken moon with the brother's.

"I remember when I destroyed this hunk of rock the first time round." The purple one said amusedly, with a hint of fondness in his tone as he kicked a chunk of white rock off of the moon's flat surface. "Fun times."

"Now you can destroy the planet." The other said. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Why of course." The purple one replied, turning to Nicholas with a cruel sneer. "Enjoy the abyss Arc. Ta-ta."

Then their bodies morphed into something of pure energy, the beams of yellow and purple light surging from the moon and into the Remant's cracking it and causing it to explode in a fiery mess, sending chunks of flaming rock hurtling into the abyss. Nicholas watched it all despondently.

"Help me stop this." Uttered a soft voice, the voice of the woman he'd just seen eaten alive. "We can stop this future coming to pass. Will you help me?"

"Yes." Nicholas growled, clenching his fists as he felt his body heal and reform into one of flesh. "I will."

"What would you give to ensure our victory, to ensure their defeat?" The voice asked, warm and soothing like a mother. He gritted his teeth, forcing every ounce of conviction into his tone so that it was etched into the sky itself from the sheer force of the truth of his words.

"Everything." He swore, watching as Remnant was re-made, brighter and greener, guided by the hand of a Goddess.

"Good." The Goddess smiled, making him feel warm and comforted. "We all have a role to will be greater than others. Secure Vale from the Atlesians and the dragons. Defend it from the Mistrali and Vacuoans. Await my return, and once I am freed from their cheap trickery I will ensure you and your family are duly rewarded."

Nicholas Arc bent his knee before his Goddess, the one true ruler of Remant, his heart burning with a desire to stop what he had seen no matter the cost.

/#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/

"Always so stubborn aren't ya?" Tock sighed, heaving Lord, soon to be King, Arc onto his bed and rolling him on his bed so he didn't suffocate. "I nevah woulda thought I'd have to burn through half of my stock keeping you on the right path, nevah mind havin' to reapply the Goddess potions. You must have a stronger mind than others."

Tock paused, eyes glinting as she remembered the uptight, hoity toity cunt of a wife the man had, always sticking her nose where it didn't belong. Fortunately, the woman was out of sight and out of mind, left behind to tend to the kids whilst Papa Arc went to war and to win a throne. She surveyed the man splayed out before her, eyes shut and chest rising and falling slowly. He looked good, the man was in good shape for his age. The only detracter was the drool dribbling from his lips as the potion kept him sedated.

"Been a while since I took ya for a spin." Tock smirked huskliy, settling onto the unconscious man's lap. If he really was going to be a King soon, then she'd best ensure she was in the best position possible in his court. For the Goddess of course. "Wanna have some fun?"

The man said nothing, snoring lightly as the drool dribbled down his cheek. For all intents and purposes, he was dead to the world.

"Good answer." Tock chuckled, wiping away the drool before going to work undressing herself and the unconscious Lord Arc. "You'll have fun. I think. At least I will."

/#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/

"Remember to breathe." Glynda ordered softly, circling Robin like a bird of prey. The young boy was sat cross-legged in the middle of a mostly empty room she'd been given to use as an office by Ironwood. She had spent most of her time sleeping there, drifting off as she read report after report after report. "You do not need to fear losing your control or your power, but if you lose focus you can let it slip so to speak, and will have to find it again. Breathe. In…and out."

Robin timed his breathing to follow along hers, calm and steady. It was easy to get lost in the moment, to revel in the feeling of magic rather than focus on keeping a steady grip on it. Some ancient magics, complex ones like the power of the Maidens or fertility rites, needed to be coaxed rather than being brute forced into being used by whoever was gifted with said abilities. Fortunately for them both, Robin's magic was the more common, standard kind, even if detection was a rare and useful gift, especially for someone in her line of work.

"What should I do with it?" He asked quietly, tone sharp. He wasn't irritated, but it was clear he was focusing all of his attention on keeping his magic under his control. That was good. It got easier with time and practice, but for one so young and so inexperienced he would need to devote all of his energy into controlling his magic so he could use it without exhausting himself.

"Whatever you wish." Glynda replied, smiling even though he could not see it. He was progressing quite fast for someone his age. Perhaps soon he'd be able to unlock the memories and spells of his ancestors, like she had after mastering the key aspect of using magic that was control. "So long you do not use it to harm innocents or the undeserving, your magic is yours to use as you wish."

Robin swallowed slightly and opened his eyes, raising his hand and letting a small ball of white light manifest there. His eyes went wide with awe as he achieved the simple spell she had instructed him to complete, and she swelled with pride as he was able safely dissipate the light, preventing an explosion of magical energy that could harm himself or others.

The first time he had tried it he had burnt a hole through the Palace walls. Fortunately, Ironwood was more amused than angered at the damage done to his home. The same could not be said of Winter, who had spent the last few weeks confined to select parts of the castle. Ironwood did not trust her anymore after the things she had done whilst he was unconscious, and Winter was too guilt-ridden and angry at her husband's distance to do anything but haunt the halls of the Palace like a ghost.

And hate Glynda for putting her in that position of course.

She sighed, forcing a smile on her face as Robin looked at her. She shouldn't let herself get distracted by petty rivalry when she should be proud of her student's rapid progress.

"Well done Robin." She told him, smiling as she did so. He preened and shifted, face red at the praise. She had quickly learnt he had received very little in the way of positive reinforcement or praise from those who had ensured he survived Emerald Vale's crueller streets and dark alleyways. She would have to make up for lost time. "You've done magnificently, and it is clear you are mastering your magical abilities at a far faster rate than any other young wizard I have seen. Tell the cooks I have given you permission to sample some dessert before dinner, but do not eat too much! I have seen you not eat as much as you should at dinnertime because you gorge yourself on treats!"

"Yes milady!" Robin cheered, racing out of the room quickly, salivating at the thought of the treats the cooks could create. Glynda didn't blame him, they were good at their jobs. Besides, if Emerald Vale was to be put under siege soon, she might as well allow him to eat as much as he could before Ironwood implemented rationing.

She sighed again and left the room, opting to go for a walk in order to clear her mind. She rarely got time to herself these days. Well she did work alone in her office, but that meant doing work and falling asleep in the middle of it. It didn't count.

Glynda found herself at the entrance to the sewer she and Robin had snuck out of before infiltrating the Palace. Ironwood had ordered the sewers be more defended after she explained her infiltration. More traps had been set, more grates had been built and the way into the Palace had been sealed off. She stared for a few moments before something caught her eye. She stepped closer, noticing a small rune at the very top of the grate. It was dull, old even, but it glowed as she neared it.

How had she not noticed it before? Then again, Robin had fallen on top of her before she could really gather her bearings. She paused for a few moments, thinking, before she reached forward and touched the room. Blue light crawled out of it, small tendrils of magical energy wrapping around her arm like blue, glowing vines. Then they froze, and a sharp tingly feeling seeped into her skin and shot up her spine.

"To any wizard or witch finding this rune, you must bring this information to the Old Man, he resides in the ruins of Beacon, to the north of Emerald Vale." Said the place of the rune, his hands connected to it and channelling his thoughts and memories into it. Glynda was him, but he was not her. "If you are already a member of the Circle, then bring my information to the Old Man immediately. The Emerald Palace has been heavily compromised by the Inquisition and the agents of the Enemy and I fear they are sleeper agents, waiting for Arc to be dismissed and replaced by a Schnee. I have been working with a silver-eyed warrior, Summer Rose, for months now to clear the region of a dragon infestation. At one of their nests, I found information suggesting they were ancient beings, far more older than we first assumed, and that they are actually supposed to help Humanity against the Enemy. Silver-eyed warriors are no longer-hurk!"

Glynda cried out as something sharp stabbed into her back, a curved metal sticking out of her chest and bleeding red blood. Her blood. His blood. The metal was yanked out of her chest, making her gasp as she toppled over, and a figure dressed in white stepped over her.

"I told you not to look into it too deeply Theodore." The silver-eyed woman said sadly. "I told you not to believe their lies. Dragons are monsters. They cannot be trusted. You were tainted by their words. I'm so sorry it has come to this, but it has to be done."

Glynda gasped as the vision ended and the tendrils of blue light faded away, the rune disappearing with it.

Theodore…Glynda could remember him. He had been a member of the Old Man's Circle long before she had, and just when she had been initiated he had been killed in action by a dragon.

Or not. She breathed heavily, hurrying back to the Palace. She couldn't abandon Emerald Vale, but she needed to send a messenger to the Old Man. This information was too important not to be spread amongst their own, to be lost again.

And she knew just who to send. Robin would not have to suffer under prolonged siege or have to witness a bloody battle if she could help it. He'd need protection, a guardian, but Glynda was sure Ironwood would spare one of his men if she asked.

The Old Man had to know that silver-eyed warriors were no longer aligned with them. They had been corrupted by the Enemy. Glynda could see the corruption glinting in those eyes, only visible to those on death's door.

Theodore's death would not be in vain.