A considerable amount of time had passed since they left the island of Terre Sapphique, and the nine girls were making their way around Hyrule towards the north, only for more difficulties to lie ahead, when they realised that it was simply getting too difficult to navigate, to the point where the boat couldn't keep going in the midst of so many glaciers, especially as the winter was getting intense, they would need to stop somewhere for a while, but what they found was an immense expanse of ocean and ice, But soon they saw an island nearby, and they approached it so that they could somehow stop for a while, since even though they had plenty of resources, they couldn't risk taking the boat through all that ice, they moored the boat near the glacier, anchoring it right where the water was shallow, and they went on with the boats until they set foot on the mysterious island, all nine girls were observing the surroundings well and soon saw that there was a house there, which they walked carefully, a very considerable house.
The nine girls got close and saw that there was nothing reminiscent of the kingdom of Appleton. They even saw that there was a more familiar flag, just one of the symbols of Wedinburgh, so Queen Diana took the lead and soon knocked on the door of that very large house, where she was answered by a grey-haired girl.
"Who are you... Wait a minute, I know the hair... I'm going to ask my mum here, I've got something to check" said the girl, who then closed the door and went to call her mum.
"And we're going to stay out here waiting in the cold, what a thing..." Amanda said, rubbing her hands together in the cold.
"She said she knew me and look, it's rare to have a remnant of the Wedinburgh kingdom, we have to take advantage of it" Cavendish said and soon an older lady appeared.
"Oh, it's been a long time since I've seen that familiar face, I was still quite young when I saw the majesty, you really haven't aged at all, you can come in, sorry for the delay" said the woman who also has grey hair.
The nine girls entered the house, which was much warmer and of a considerable size, and soon the matriarch of the family called out to everyone in the house, and all the people in the family appeared, all of them incredibly grey-haired and blue-eyed, who ended up bowing to the girls; only one had red hair, which was different from all the rest.
"What an honour to have the Queen here, it's been 35 years since you've visited us Queen Clarie, I remember well that it was to give you the news about your husband's departure?" said the lady.
"Madam, I don't mean to interrupt you, but my grandmother died 30 years ago, she's no longer queen of Wedinburgh and neither are the lands there ours, we're trying to win them back to bring peace to Hyrule, I'm her granddaughter, Diana and... Unfortunately I'm the queen... They also killed my mum six years ago" said the platinum blonde-haired woman, which caused the older woman to be shocked.
"What? Tell me more, this seems like a long story, by the way welcome Queen Diana, I'm sorry for confusing me, you really do look a lot alike, I remember she had a daughter called Bernadette and another called Daryl, they were very peculiar, I even got a few extra looks for the older one, but I decided to stop here, by the way... How rude of me, please, I'm Willow, these are my daughters, Hiver is the eldest, Geal is my middle girl and Bianca is the youngest, this red-haired girl is Hiver's girlfriend, her name is Pendina, she's an excellent builder, anyway, make yourselves at home, I imagine you must have had a long journey" said Willow.
"Oh what an honour, but we're really only here to stay for a while and then continue our journey, we have to get to the island of Edo" said Akko.
"Tell me more about what happened in the lands of Hyrule, I want to know in more detail" said the older woman.
And with that, the girls began to summarise the history of Hyrule, especially Diana, who went on to detail exactly what the years before Clarie's death were like, what the wars were like and all the battles between Appleton and Wedinburgh, right up to the most recent moments with the defeat of her kingdom by Lord Andrew, who ended up simply conquering everything and causing terror in those lands, forcing everyone to flee and spend years in seclusion until they had a hope of being able to defeat the boy with Ganondorf's spirit.
The whole thing came as a shock to all the inhabitants of Schnee Island, who were surprised to see that things had been so eventful for so many years - after all, they hadn't heard anything about what had happened in 35 years
"My husband William has been missing since he left 3 years ago for Hyrule, now it makes sense what must have happened, what a thing, I hope he's okay... Or I don't know... Anyway, it's quite something, now it all makes sense, I remember the queen mentioning that the kingdom of Appleton had desires to conquer the entire land of Hyrule, even talking about marrying Bernadette to the then lord of the lands there, anyway... I wish you luck on your journey" said Willow.
"Now all we want is to be able to go to the nine witches, find the seven words, have the power in our hands to defeat that bastard who did this to Hyrule" said Cavendish with her fists clenched.
"Unfortunately you won't be able to get out of here to Edo like this, the glaciers are very thick and will get thicker, I could see your boat from afar, but I can help by building something that goes on the hull of the boat that will break the ice until you make way, but for that we'll need to mine some things, at least enough to have the front of the boat pointed enough to make way for the ice or else you'll have to wait three months until spring" Pendina said.
"So let's do it, we'll collect these things, mine them to get what we need, we can't wait too long, after all it's only a matter of time before a war breaks out and the people revolt against Appleton's tyranny, I've seen it with my own eyes, it's Andrew's own intention, so he can start the next part of the plan to cause chaos" said Atsuko.
"You must have been through a lot, girls, you can feel at home in our house, we have plenty of food, we've stored a lot of things to get through this winter, we'll do everything to help you, my majesties" said Willow.
"Thank you very much, how soon do you think we can get to Edo?" asks Kagari.
"In a couple of weeks, if you leave from here, you'll be very close to getting round the whole of Hyrule, but now let's start assembling the boat, come with me and I'll help you with the planning" said the redhead.
"I can also help with more things, did you know that around here there is a legendary rapier where one of our ancestors used to use it, she was able to perform magic, it's in the caves" Geal said.
"Interesting, but I already have the master sword, it's my wife who likes that kind of sword" said the crimson-eyed one.
"Well, I'll tell you more about this legend, it may be that the queen has an interest in this rapier to defeat this guy" said the same girl.
Soon they were getting organised in the living room where Pendina and Hiver were showing the girls the plan to build the boat, which is something that the ships on the island already had, except that the last one left without a return, at the hands of Willow's husband who is missing.
Building the thing would involve a bit of iron, which can be found in a cave on Schnee Island, as well as all the construction work, which could take a few days, with the boat needing to be brought closer in order to be safe enough to push through the ice.
"So that's it, it's quite simple, we're going to mine the iron, it may rust after a while, but it's enough to last a considerable time until you cross the ice, then just keep travelling to Edo" said the redhead.
"You can leave it to us, we'll do everything together to build it as detailed" said Hellene with her hand on her chin.
"Who's going out to mine from us?" The brown haired one asks.
"The strongest of us, i.e. you, me, Hellene, Jasminka and Diana, will have more than enough strength to make our way into this cave and mine enough iron to build this thing in front of the boat" said Amanda.
"You're the strongest, interesting to know, who would be the strongest of you, just out of curiosity?" Bianca asks.
"Amanda, she's a Gerudo, she's stronger than a Hyllian" said the warrior from Luna Nova.
"I very much doubt it, Akko is stronger than she thinks she is, she has power gloves that make her able to lift heavier things and still have light movements with her hand, even with the strength of a Gerudo I still think she's stronger, which surprises me that this skinny girl turned out like this" said O'Neill.
"Well then, back to the plan, we have to describe each step well, you're going to the cave to mine the iron, we have to get enough, but first, we're going to take the measurements of the boat, you're going to bring it back to the surface, we're going to have to do that, but it's okay, there's a shipyard nearby that's good for that, we've looked after boats like this before" Pendina said.
"So let's start on that step now" said the eager Akko.
"Calm down, we're still going to need to plan everything properly, after taking the boat to the shipyard on the island, we're going to go mining, and we need some help from some of you, who know how to work with forges and iron? Just turn up and we'll be able to set everything up in a few days, then we'll leave it to you to set up the boat" said Hiver.
"They mustn't forget that there's a legendary Rapiera here, maybe that will help them in some way" said Geal.
"Geal, tell them about the legend of the Rapier of Weiss" said Willow.
"So let's go" said Pendina.
Together the girls went to where the sailboat is and took it to the boatyard, where the water isn't very shallow and so some hooks were already placed on the boat to lift it enough to get out of the water, so much so that later the boatyard closed and some of the water was taken out, leaving an open space for them to work on assembling the boat, which already had a hull full of many barnacles and oysters attached to it.
"You've sailed a long way, you've enjoyed your boat, but unfortunately these things are going to have to go, find another host to stay in, the wall wood is appetising, but there are more appetising things in the sea" Pendina said, handing the girls some shovels to pull the barnacles out of the boat's hull.
"Well, that's going to be the priority before we go mining, so let's get our arms ready" said Atsuko.
The girls began to sit down on some scaffolding that was near the boat and began to remove the barnacles with their shovels, having difficulties, but surprisingly the only ones who didn't were the gerudo and Kagari. What amazed them the most was the speed and ease with which the girl with the crimson eyes removed the animals that were stuck practically like cement to the boat's hull.
"I think that's your answer as to who's the strongest" said Amanda, who was even pushing harder to get the barnacles off.
"Guys, they come off really easily, don't they?" said the brownish girl, taking them off one by one as if they were nothing.
"No!" they all said.
"These things stick like cement, it takes a lot of strength and skill to remove them one by one, you're removing them as if they were nothing, there's no doubt that this boat will be cleaned faster than we thought" said a shocked Pendina.
"It's good that you don't have to push so hard, the gloves really help, soon this hoof will be clean" said the warrior from Luna Nova.
And it really was fast, the cleaning of the hull was carried out with tremendous speed, much of it on the part of a certain Hyllian from Luna Nova who, with power gloves in hand, was able to make her way through the hull of the boat and leave everything clean, a good part of the barnacles being pulled off by her and then the creatures were taken out to sea where they could stick to other things.
"Wow, I'm dying, I think I've removed everything, what annoying little things, but look, the boat looks beautiful like this, all new, I didn't even realise that these things stuck to the path, good that at least everything is nice" Akko said, scratching the back of her head.
"I'm surprised we were quick, it should have taken us a good few hours to remove the barnacles, well now we'll take a break to eat and then we'll think about going out to mine" Pendina said and they all nodded in agreement.
The girls made their way to the Schnee's house, where they stopped for a while to rest, while Willow and Geal prepared the food. Soon Diana's bracelet beeped, another call from Croix, who wanted to know about the girls.
"Winter is here, girls, watch out for the glaciers, any one of them could sink our boat and you'll end your journey early" said Meridies.
"We're making a stop on Schnee Island, the family here is helping us to set up some equipment that will help us cross the glaciers" said Cavendish.
"Oh interesting, I forgot to add such a thing to the boat, I'm relieved that you managed to get it added, well then I can say that you're safe here, since you have somewhere to stay and spend your time resting before you get to Edo, well at least here things are pretty quiet, we're missing you, we hope you make it soon" said the one with the lilac hair.
"We're working on it, it seems that the Schnees have a history with the royal crown, they know my grandmother and my mother, they said they came here 35 years ago, can you believe it Croix? Ahhhh, I'm so happy to know that there are places like this that have a little remnant of Wedinburgh" said the smiling blue-eyed girl.
"I believe so, girl, it's good to know, this story is even older than me and Chariot, it's really surprising, anyway, girl, I hope everything is going well, anything, I'll call you and take care" said Croix, ending the conversation.
"This Croix, always wanting to know about us, she's been helping us a lot..." Akko said.
"She was like a mother figure, just like Chariot, while we were in Triskellion, even though we were older, they still treated us with all the attention and affection that a mother would, now I understand more why, it was like a mother figure that we missed, now it really makes sense?" Said the one with the platinum blonde hair.
"I know what it's like, my love... I know... Unfortunately, I know what it's like not to have my parents... Always alone in the world, the only mother figure I had was my hope that one day I would meet Chariot and when I did it was wonderful, she looked after me, those times when we were just teenagers in the castle... Ahhhh, there's no forgetting" said the crimson-eyed woman, caressing her wife.
"I'll remember with fondness how much mischief we got up to, all the wonderful moments we spent together, and after a while I realised that my mothers were treating us with all the affection in the world... In reality, they were just trying to tell us that these could be our last days, they already knew everything... I'll never forget what it was like... How, until the very last moments, my mothers always made a point of showing how much they loved us, even you Akko, they knew you would be part of the family" said the Queen and Wedinburgh, hugging her wife.
They continued to have a romantic moment there, reminiscing about the past, but soon the food arrived and that totally changed the subject and the moment, which they gave that good food to rest, since they didn't have much to do besides going out to mine next.
They went into the caves already carrying what they needed to get the ores they needed to build a glacier pusher so that the boat could cross during the winter that was about to get harsher and harsher, to the point that the meat didn't even need to be frozen with magic, inside there was already an opening to let in the cold from outside and serve as a natural refrigerator for the stored meat.
In the cave, they explored and reached the place where iron is usually found, and once again Akko surprised them by simply demonstrating why she can dig so hard.
"Woah, look how much Akko can open, are you going to tell me she's not the strongest of us?" Diana said, shocked.
"You're exaggerating, but it looks like there's a lot of iron around here, I think it'll be enough" said Atsuko, who simply continued to clear the way with her pickaxe.
"We should even tell Constanze to get the forge warmed up, because wow, it's not for nothing that Akko is the fastest" said the impressed Pendina.
"I'm surprised too, but believe it or not, it's nothing, Andrew has such immense strength and power that it won't do me any good, I'd be crushed like an ant" said Kagari.
She was mining and even went so far as to pull up her sleeves where it was possible to see that her arms had a definition, something that Cavendish had already noticed before, but the girls realised later when she moved to use the pickaxe, even Hellene looking at her own arm in shock.
"She has a slightly less defined arm than mine and yet she still manages to have so much strength, that glove works miracles" said the impressed McLaren.
"It's all because of the glove, I'm not the strongest at all, but anyway, we're succeeding girls, soon there'll be enough iron for the boat, let's go and mine these things" said the crimson-eyed girl, concentrating.
The ores were being taken back to the house to be forged later, they were very large pieces that could be used to assemble the boat, and soon they were being taken even more than necessary, much to the strength of the warrior from Luna Nova who was already exhausted from mining so much, which ended the activities that day, since although it was not possible to realise it, it was already night, since it was always dark due to the position of the sun.
Inside, the girls were chatting to each other, with Geal telling them about the legend of the rapier in the cave that belongs to one of her ancestors.
"Weiss Rose, she was one of the first to set foot on the island, she possessed a beautiful rapier that was also capable of serving as an elemental staff, she also had a mastery of the Schnee magic of using glyphs of ice, she was one of the most talented, she came from the distant lands of Atlas and settled here with her wife, they lived here for a long time and settled here, continuing the family having a peaceful life, But little is known of her past, only that she left her legacy with this Rapier, we don't even know the name of the wife, we only know that they had very legendary weapons, her wife's is not here in Schnee, but Weiss's rapier is in another cave, but we were never able to get it because it was inside an ice skiff" Geal said, explaining the legend of the sword.
"Oh interesting, a Rapier like that could be very useful to me, since I'm the one in the group who uses this type of weapon the most, but anyway, interesting, we could break this type of skiff perhaps" said Diana.
"Well, only with a very strong weapon that can open that and..." Said the girl until they all pointed at Akko.
"Akko's master sword is perfect for this, she can open the skiff with all her strength, or we can even find one for her, the strong one we already have, now we just need the perfect weapon, so let's think of a way here" said the blue-eyed one.
"Treat Weiss's rapier with care, it's a legendary weapon and use it for good, I hope you really manage to defeat that bloodyAndrew, he sounds like a terrible bloke from what you've described" said Geal.
"Only those who have lived with him a lot know how much worse he is, unfortunately we only have a short time, we can't sit and wait, he could bring blood and destruction to Hyrule and it could be the end of everything, after all that's what Ganondorf wants, to bring destruction to everyone" said Kagari.
"I really hope you can defeat him, I trust that you have more than enough power, I'm sure of it, he can have anything, you have unity, you have all of Hyrule, you have hope, one thing I've always learnt over the years is that hope can't die, we have to believe in ourselves" said Willow.
"It's hard to achieve this when you see your queens, who were the pinnacle of strong and powerful people, being killed in front of your eyes, unfortunately, and there was nothing I could do about it, this memory always haunts my mind" said Atsuko, who received affection from her wife and friends.
"I'd be the same way, that bastard really did a lot of damage, I remember you used to be the hopeful one that everything was possible love, I think that part has to come back, remember Chariot, her magic is believing in herself" Cavendish said.
"Maybe one day I'll believe it, but I have to be careful, it's not like it's a battle I can let myself win, if I lose it'll be the end of Hyrule, I'll be kept forever as a prisoner and comrade of that creep, I'll have to stay the rest of my life like that... Ahhhh, I wanted that motivation back" said the crimson-eyed girl.
"Come on, tomorrow you're going to help your wife get a legendary sword, one more weapon against Andrew, he'll have nothing to hold against you, not to mention the next dungeons, show that you're all that" said the platinum blonde haired girl.
And off the girls went to motivate their friend about getting on with her life. She even flashed a few mischievous smiles, but every time the memory of that fateful day came back to her, she felt all sentimental.
But as soon as she had the right motivations, a smile appeared on her face after all, this was her final hope, she had to keep her spirits up and they went off to have a few more jokes with each other to lighten the mood, before taking a final rest for the next day, which would hold more adventures.
Far away in the kingdom of Appleton, more news is arriving, some of it simply involving the island of Hyllia, which ended up resisting, as well as the possible presence of Akko, who could be a suspect. The messenger soon reaches the lord on his knees, begging for mercy as this could be bad news.
"My lord, the island of Hyllia, it resisted our taxation and even attacked our troops, when we set foot there came a heavy defence, it seems that they are resisting our attacks, what are we doing my lord, they are talking about being fed up with this tyranny" said the messenger.
"What? How dare you resist our imposition, tell me straight what happened, for the sake of one of your fingers" Hanbridge said, already getting angry.
"My sovereign lord of all the lands of Hyrule, our troops have gone to collect their due tributes, the village all armed went on the attack and didn't leave a gap, many of our men died, others were taken prisoner, I had to leave with a few fugitives, others were killed, there were many boats, we even sent some defence, but it seems that some of our troops also got involved with the influence of Hyllia to resist us" said the messenger and soon Andrew stood up.
"Oh now I know what this is all about, we're going to pay a visit to Hyllia, it seems she's fled to a faraway island, but she won't be getting away any time soon, now we know where this cursed woman is hiding, quickly send all my best troops to follow me, we'll make a motorcade to Hyllia island" said the lord with a sadistic smile.
(She didn't run away to Edo then, that could only be it, she was clever enough to run away to another island knowing that I might suspect her, Hyllia Island, that's a long way away, I wonder where she thought and discovered that there are still remnants of Wedinburgh there, well I don't know, but I'm going to capture her and teach the locals a lesson, so that they never challenge me, that's if there's anyone left on that island, because it's very likely that there won't be a single one left alive).
And soon it was the lord outside his city gates with a heavy troop following him, marching towards Hyllia Island, accompanied by the elite soldiers who were confused about the whole thing, going to a place as sparsely inhabited and unimportant as that island.
"My lord, why are we going to Hyllia, there's nothing there, they've just forgotten to pay tribute, soon our troops will be able to come back heavier against them and they'll be under our dominion, it's just a lousy island" said the general.
"General, it's about showing who has authority here, everyone will know that as lord of these lands, I don't get carried away by what's important or not, a lord has to show who's in charge everywhere, regardless of the size of the lands and Hyllia has committed a disrespect of the highest order, they are holding a royal treasure in his hands, we can't let her escape" Andrew said.
"Oh so that's it my lord, you're still looking for that girl, it's been at least two months since she ran away? That's where she went, I swore it was Edo, anyway my intuition was right, let's capture her soon" said the general.
Some time ago, just as he had been told he was leaving, the general was talking to his son Louis Blackwell about a possible betrayal he intended to make of the lord so that he wouldn't carry out the search.
The son was currently carrying out espionage missions around the city of Wedinburgh trying to find any trace of Akko, but a carrier pigeon was soon sent from there that General Blackwell himself had written to ensure that the king's mission would not be a success.
"Louis, Andrew is probably leaving for Hyllia, that's where his target is, don't hesitate to find and collect some information where she might be, and if you find her, kill her, do it for us, we can't let him get his hands on that girl and ruin our kingdom because of this woman, it could cause even more revolt among the people and cause the whole kingdom to enter a civil war, well, do it for Appleton, for our dominion."
As the general marched back to Hyllia, he was soon interrupted by the lord about what he was thinking in the message he had written to his son to prevent any chance of Andrew getting anything.
"So Blackwell, do you understand now? You're a bit travelled" said Hanbridge.
"I understand, my lord, we're marching, I hope we make it" said the general.
And so they continued for a long time, with a heavy march, while Louis had a five-day head start on Andrew as the carrier pigeon would soon arrive in Wedinburgh with the message for the boy to find out what to do, yet another risk that Akko would have to deal with on this long journey to Edo, a chase that would begin.
Akko and her friends had to dock on an island in the middle of so many glaciers so as not to risk the boat sinking, but they were well received by the Schnee, who were very attentive people, showing enormous affection for them because they had a connection with the ancient crown of Hyrule, helping them with anything that might be useful to get them across the ice in the middle of a journey that is already full of events this winter.
See you, white witches...