The girls have docked on Schnee Island, where they are building an upgrade for the boat so that they can cross the frozen sea without the risk of a glacier hitting them and sinking the vessel; they have already collected the resources, which Constanze, Pendina and Hiver are going to take care of setting up the device, while the other girls are going to wait around and help with other things. The day after they arrive on the island, they already have another mission in mind, which they are going to start doing to make the journey go better.
The day is already beginning, the girls are starting to wake up, eating breakfast and resting, while others are going to do chores related to the ship, some are going on an important mission.
Diana, Akko, Hellene, Marianne and Geal are going together on a mission to find the legendary snipe that had been told the day before. They are already preparing everything to leave, with enough cold clothes to withstand the freezing temperatures that day and a possible blizzard.
"Come on girls, I want to see whose sword it is, Geal told us that she knows where this cave is, I hope she's right about that" said Atsuko euphoric to get the sword even if wasn't for her.
"Look, I confirm that it is, I've been there before and I saw the sword stuck in the ice skiff, I can be sure that it is inside the cave" said the girl from the icy island.
"Let's go anyway, I want to see what it's like outside, yesterday it was freezing, today I imagine it'll be the same, it reminds me of when we went to the Cork dungeon, remember that love? - Cavendish said.
"There's no way I can forget a day like this, my queen," said Kagari with a smile on her face.
The group of girls are leaving the Schnee's house and it really is a freezing day, but they're managing to cope with the temperatures, especially as they're warmly dressed. They follow Geal who shows them the way, a rather long way.
There was a vast expanse of white ahead of them, cold winds, the visibility wasn't much help, especially as there wasn't even any sunlight, even though it was morning, the sunlight was extremely weak for the time of day, further emphasising the winter weather.
They soon manage to spot the entrance to the cave from a distance, which the girl lights a lamp as they enter, so far it's a very quiet place.
"Are you sure there's no danger?" asked the blue-eyed girl already worried if was any danger.
"I can assure you there isn't, I've been in here many times, even in the room where the rapier is there's an eternal torch, it's bizarre how it keeps burning and never stops being consumed, as if there was some magic there" said Geal confidently.
"This smells very much like something dangerous or something with enormous power for us to deal with" said the platinum-blonde haired woman
"I can smell it too, but let's stay calm, we're armed above all else" said the crimson-eyed woman.
Walking through the immensity of the cave, they explore, still following the island girl Schnee, who guides them all the way. Until then, it seemed like just any cave in a hole, but as they entered it, they could already feel something, the four girls in the group could sense that it was a powerful energy as they got closer.
"Did you feel that too?" The brownish hair girl asks feeling the powerful magic power.
"You can't help but feel it, it's an enormous magical power that's flowing here" McLaren said.
"Geal, make sure you're not leading us into something dangerous, the magic here is something not to be trifled with" said Leclerc.
"We're getting close, the sword is around here, I don't understand anything you're talking about feeling, I'm actually feeling a bit cold, even in here, it must be a shivering sensation, but I don't know, you have the manipulation of magic, I haven't learnt it yet like my older sister" said Geal.
"That's right, you can't feel it, but we can and we know that there's danger ahead" said the Queen of Wedinburgh.
Together they continue walking anyway, with the four girls even taking their weapons out of their sheaths and standing guard, but soon they reach the room where the ice skiff with the rapier is, up close they could feel
that there was a lot of magic circulating, that that rapier was no small thing, it seemed that the place was just a closed room, but that there was something else around it since there was a big energy flow around it.
"Look, that's it, I said there's no monster" said the girl from Schnee Island.
"Akko that thing, are you sure you don't want to take it in hand, I think with you in the Edo dungeon it would be very useful" said Diana.
"I'm absolutely sure that I don't want to, you can leave it, love, I can improve the master sword even more, not to mention that I don't know how to handle a rapier like you can" said the warrior from Luna Nova, who was already staring at the ice skiff.
"So how do you intend to open it, you have a lot of strength, but no one has ever broken it, not my sister Hiver, not my mum Willow, none of us have managed it, not even Pendina with her inventions managed to melt the skiff, how are you going to do it?" said Geal curious to wtiness the power of the warriors.
"Leave it to me, I'll give it a try and see if anything comes of it" said Akko, her bones rattling.
With her hands ready, she raised her arm and concentrated all her strength in both hands, going all out to break the ice skiff, which even shook with the impact of Atsuko's sword, which showed just how strong she was, her hands were really going with a lot of power, but after making this movement that even the cave felt, nothing happened, there the ice skiff was in one piece.
"What? I don't think I got it right first time, I'd better try again, I don't think I got it right" said Kagari.
"Woah, you're really strong Akko, I'm impressed that you managed to do all that with one cut" said the girl from Schnee Island.
Once again, the crimson-eyed girl concentrated a little more, preparing to make multiple cuts. A little puzzled that she hadn't succeeded first time round, she tried once more, slashing with all her might, and it was possible to feel the tremor of the impacts and also the master sword itself becoming a little shiny from all the use it had been getting, as the frustrated brownish girl stared at the whole ice skiff, panting after all the shaking.
"My sword is throbbing from hitting this thing, I'm going to have to try another way, apparently the normal way won't stop it, but let's see if this ice opens up with fire, heat and impact always win" said the warrior from Luna Nova already lighting her sword with fire.
"You should have thought of that before Akko, maybe the blade of your sword was damaged by those knocks" said Cavendish.
"Relax, love, it's impossible for that to happen, the master sword is indestructible, I know this because I've tried to break the walls of the castle tower several times, it gets shiny when you use it a lot, but it never breaks, it always stays sharp, now let's go" said Akko, all focused.
Atsuko takes a deep breath with the flaming sword in her hands, concentrates her gaze and gives it a few more tries, much more focussed, but is simply met with the impact of the ice skiff causing her to be thrown back like a kick, it was no use even a flaming sword, it even seemed that it was impenetrable, which the frustrated girl had no idea why it hadn't worked.
"What the hell, this thing won't open, it's not for nothing that its magic is powerful" said the frustrated girl with the crimson eyes.
"Let's try too, maybe together we can get Akko" said Hellene.
"Oh girls, it's not going to work like that" said the platinum blonde with her hand on her face.
"It doesn't hurt to try, Diana" said McLaren.
"Okay, let's try" said the blue-eyed girl already annoyed by the tries.
Together, the four of them were using their strength to try to open the ice skiff: the punches from the redhead's gauntlets, the various slashing attempts from Marianne's katana, which made quick, agile cuts that didn't even scratch the glass, and the fierce fire swords from Luna Nova's warrior, while Wedinburgh's queen calmly took the rapier, trying to find a weak spot and touching the blade, which had a strange effect.
"Damn, that thing's too hard" said the purple-eyed girl tired of punching with her heavy gauntlets.
"I warned you" said Akko.
"What? My rapier goes through the skiff, I stick it in and it only goes through, that's too weird" said Diana and everyone started looking at her strangely.
They even stopped trying to attack the ice skiff when they realised that Cavendish was simply going through the ice with her rapier as if she had no tangibility, which was something Atsuko thought about and soon her wife stopped showing it.
"That's it, how can I be so stupid, just stay intangible and pass by inside the skiff" said Kagari.
"I'm sure that won't work" said the platinum blonde.
"Stop being so pessimistic Diana, just look at me and I'll make it" said the confident girl with the crimson eyes.
And off she went using the staff of intangibility, she used her magic to become completely intangible, but when she got to the skiff, running anxiously to get the sword, she bumped into the ice thing and then fell to the ground in frustration, then got up and touching it with her hand saw that it was like a wall, but on the walls of the cave itself she was able to pass her hand through it a little, which soon deactivated the effect of the magic.
"Shit, what do you mean it didn't work? I was supposed to get through easily, this is shit, we've been here for a while and nothing" said the frustrated brown woman.
"It looks like you won't be able to break it, but it was nice to show you one of those relics of our family, it's a shame you can't, it would be marvellous to get it and have an extra weapon to defeat Andrew," said Geal and they all huffed in frustration.
"It's a tough thing to take, the magic being strong was quite a test, I think we can come back later," said Hellene.
"Surely it must be later, when we have the power of the nine witches we'll be able to get through this barrier, I don't doubt it at all" said Marianne.
"Sorry to waste your time" said Geal.
Four girls were taking the lamp to get out of the cave, but one of them didn't leave and stared at the ice structure head-on, as if she felt something very different and bigger, something that was grandiose, something bigger than the others could think of, which the others did by looking at her and calling her to come back, that it was a waste of time to stay there.
"Come on Diana, you're going to freeze there, there's nothing important here" said Akko.
"Love, stay, I think I've figured out how to get this rapier, look at this" said Diana, putting her hand inside the skiff and just managing to get it in.
"What? Was that all you had to do in every attempt? But why did only your hand get through?" Atsuko said.
"It's not just her, I think I'll have to go all the way in to see, so stay here, if anything happens just pull me back" said Cavendish.
They nodded in agreement and the platinum-blonde haired girl took the magic rope from her sister and tied it round her waist quite firmly, starting to take a few steps, passing the ice skiff, she felt the rope still pulling her with Hellene holding on so that she wouldn't end up trapped inside.
"And it's not like I really had to go in there and be Diana specifically" said Geal.
"I think it must be because she's a master of the rapier, so I think the magic of this place allowed her to enter the ice skiff" said Kagari.
"I hope my little sister comes out of this unscathed" said McLaren.
"She'll come out, my wife is the best I know in rapier, I'm sure she'll come out of this the best" said the one with the crimson eyes.
The blue-eyed girl was taking steps along the ice skiff, but when she touched the rapier, it simply disappeared as if by magic. She vanished and all the girls around her became worried, especially her wife Akko. When she saw this, a generalised despair took hold, especially as Hellene's magic cutter was also expelled from the ice skiff, leaving her unable to pull her sister back.
"Diana!" Everyone screams in despair trying to get on the ice skiff but failing;
"Diana! Love! Love! Don't go away!" Said the desperate Atsuko hitting her hands punching the ice wall;
- Damn it! The rope! It... My little sister's going to get stuck! She's gone! I can't believe she ended up like that" said McLaren, worried to no end about her sister.
But this widespread concern was not around where Diana ended up, she disappeared into a dark room, then appeared again in another place, a lighter room, in which appeared a woman with white hair, holding a rapier in her hands, she was wearing blue and grey robes, which soon Cavendish went to try to find out what happened.
"What is this? Where am I? Who are you?" asks the girl with the platinum blonde hair,
"You must be the girl from the rapier, after 500 years someone finally shows up here to take my legendary weapon from the seal that for so many years I've been keeping locked up so that only one person could get it, I even imagined that it would be a descendant of mine, although I think you have some of my blood, otherwise you wouldn't even get in, I'm Weiss Rose, you must be Diana Cavendish" Weiss said.
"Oh so you're the legendary woman from the legends who stopped off in these lands, what's going to happen to me now?" asks the blue-eyed one worried a bit;
"Well, I'm not going to hand over that rapier so easily and before the ordeal begins I'm going to give you two choices, I'll take you back, but you won't have my rapier in your hands, or you fight me in a deadly battle of rapiers, if you end up dying in that battle, you'll come back, but you'll come back trapped in an ice skiff, waiting for someone to take you out of it, it could take centuries or even millennia, so what do you choose? -Asks Rose, pointing her rapier at the Queen of Wedinburgh, and soon the answer comes with a rapier touching hers.
"I'm in a situation where I have to risk everything for Hyrule, even if I'm defeated here, I have to try, I know that the real warrior isn't me, the person who will save my land is out there waiting for me" said Diana.
"Oh a girl in love, love really can move mountains, a whole motivation, reminds me of my wife Ruby Branwen, anyway, let's get down to business, know that I won't take it easy on you, Touché" said Weiss who soon began to attack and she's not gonna hold back.
(Now it's all or nothing, I hope I don't actually die in this one, you can see in her pose that she's already got a lot of experience, I have to show that I'm good enough, come on Diana Cavendish, for mums, for my little sister, for my friends, for Akko... For Hyrule!).
Soon the whole scene, which had previously been a dark void, gave way to a quiet grassy plain, where the wind was blowing and there was even some heat, which soon Cavendish took a deep breath, seeing that Weiss was also doing the same thing, and soon Rose was on the attack without hesitation, trying to strike the platinum blonde-haired girl in the throat, who quickly defended herself by swiping the side of her rapier, but still felt a sharp blow on her shoulder, which brought both their faces very close together.
"Not bad for a girl your age, you could almost get killed first time round, but it looks like we have a very talented fencer" said the grey-haired girl.
(I'm not going to give in to this provocation, she obviously wanted to hit my shoulder, she knew I was going to defend myself against that attack, she just wanted to immobilise me so she could test me, well I have to think better, anticipate attacks).
The two separate and stand further apart, and this time the queen of Wedinburgh starts to go for it too, with the Schnee ancestor simply defending herself with a single hand and even occasionally hitting a few glancing blows that open wounds, which ends up not working out very well, with the girl coming off worst, already full of cuts.
"Well, you attack well, you have much more delicate movements, but experience takes over, which really must be quite an experience, well I'm honoured that I've been given a worthy opponent, but unfortunately my time here isn't very long and neither is yours, let's get this over with at once" said the white-haired girl, pointing her rapier at the girl and walking slowly towards her.
(For the triforce, it's going to be impossible to beat her in a clean rapier duel, sorry about that Weiss, but I'm going to have to win this in order to save Hyrule, she may know the rapier techniques of a clean fighter, but I think the McLaren Cavendish style has something to surprise her with).
Desperate Diana takes a few steps backwards in fear and soon Weiss is running towards her more quickly, until Cavendish simply stumbles on the ground and she falls with her boot half stuck in the earth, throwing a few grains right into Rose's face, who ends up being a little dazed and sees the blade coming towards her for a strike, but defends herself so as not to be hit, which grazes her hip, giving her a few cuts there and then letting the younger woman fall to the ground.
"Ugh, you're dirty, how can you have so little class, that's the kind of thing Ruby used to do to me, a fight has to be..." Said the grey-haired girl, who soon felt her legs being held by the feet of the platinum blonde-haired girl.
"Defeated, my mum always told me that there's no such thing as a battlefield" said the blue-eyed woman, who was still trying to strike the older woman, but again the blades touched, sparking and passing very close to the woman's chin, who then leaned on the ground to get up.
An impulse from the Queen of Wedinburgh gets her to her feet, rolling to the side and standing up with one leg almost caught by her rival's rapier, which passes underneath her, followed by Diana's attempt at a thrust, which again goes wide, raising sparks, and the two are left staring at each other, already noticing that Cavendish was gasping for breath with some open wounds, while Weiss only had a tiny cut from the first graze.
"It seems that even when you're fighting dirty you know what you're doing, it's surprising, yet it's shameful, a warrior of a class worthy of being monarch of the throne of Hyrule fights as if she were in a tavern brawl, not bad girl, you even manage to survive a little, but your lack of skill is evident" Rose said.
(I know that, but I want to win, I'm not going to let my friends down and neither is Hyrule, I'll do anything to win, I'm not that desperate, I know what to do, I just have to put the strategies on my side, I have to risk everything, she's only seen one of the techniques that my mum Laura taught me, there's still more).
"Maybe I'm just an amateur, I don't even know what I'm doing, but I'm putting up with it" said the platinum blonde, who walked a little closer to the grey-haired woman.
The reaction came quickly with a thrust from the older woman that almost caught the blue-eyed girl, who dodged it as if she were a little dizzy. Then she appeared and simply swiped at Weiss, who fell to the ground and narrowly missed the thrust, using her blade to dodge, but that was the plan on the part of the queen of Wedinburgh.
The rapier's change of course meant that she caught her leg with a well-timed blow, the first blow for both of them, while the younger woman's arm was grazed and she immediately feigned a fall.
"Do you think you can fool me like that? I'm very clever at pretending to be drunk" Rose said as she stood up with her leg already bleeding, seeing that the girl was on the floor.
She stood up and saw that the girl's armpit was bleeding, a little, which could indicate that she was in agony, but Diana's fingertips said something else: she was fiddling with the plants nearby as if she were planning something, but pretending to be in agony, which the older woman clearly wasn't up to.
"Do you really think you're going to take me by surprise like that? You're desperate, it's a shame I had to face such an amateur opponent" said the grey-haired woman.
Weiss gave a final blow, she even predicted that Diana might roll over, but that didn't happen, she simply stayed in place and gave a tremendous kick that caught the injured leg of the woman who ended up feeling pain and falling forwards while the younger woman was getting up to give another blow, but she quickly defended herself, But she wasn't expecting a root to come out of the ground and grab her hand, so the white-haired woman let go of her rapier, dropped it on her foot and, in one swift movement, sent it flying into the air, hitting the Cavendish's blade, which was about to hit Rose's chest. She managed to get the rapier
pushed into her left hand, which diverted the strike's path to hit her shoulder and then she magically got rid of
what was holding her, hitting the platinum blonde-haired woman in the arm, who pulls the blade out of the older woman's shoulder and takes a few steps back.
"Woah, you really are clever, did you think using magic would save you from this? You really risked everything, I'm impressed, the few blows you've given me are enough to make me weaker, which so far hasn't caught up with you, while I've been bleeding a lot, I already understand the plan behind this, but don't think I'm going to let you be defeated so easily," said Weiss, who was already a little wounded.
"Damn, you're really skilful, but I won't give up, this is for Hyrule, for everyone, I have to win this, I won't lose!" Said the blue-eyed girl, feigning a little despair and already panting a little;
"Goodbye Diana Cavendish, I'm sorry you can't make it," said Rose, coming in for a blow to finish already.
But in the process of making a lunge, she realised that it was all an illusion and that it was in fact just a fake copy of Diana, so the white-haired woman quickly turned to attack another Diana who was coming from behind, but the surprise came in the form of a lunge that hit her in the back, going through her chest and then the blade came out like a fountain of blood.
But before she did, the older woman turned to the younger one and gave her a sideways slash that ended up hitting Cavendish in the face, which left her with a diagonal cut that wounded her a little, after which she took a few steps backwards, feeling the blood going to her left eye.
"You tricked me into this Diana Cavendish, I have to give you credit for that, I think I was really defeated, who would have thought that all this time you were pretending to be an amateur just so that you could show off your skills, your magic? That reminds me of my friend Blake Xiao Long, she had this thing about copying herself and creating illusions, you did the same as her... "You can take my rapier, it's all yours" said Weiss, planting the blade in the grass surprised by the smartness of the girl;
"I'm sorry for being so dirty at times during the battle, but I had to so that I could save my land, the people of Hyrule can't suffer at the hands of a tyrannical dictator, goodbye Weiss, thank you for everything" said the platinum blonde haired woman with her left eye closed because her face was bleeding.
"I know that now I'm sure that my rapier is in good hands, goodbye... Diana... Do good for the future of Hyrule" said the grey-haired woman who then knelt on the ground and everything went black.
Diana was about to reappear inside the ice skiff, which emanated a glow around her, then opened up a few times and began to melt, and finally Cavendish appeared, still badly wounded from the battle, with that rapier in her hands, raising it high in the air and celebrating with relief that she had made it.
"I've done it! I've got the rapier in my hands!" Said the blue-eyed girl.
"Diana!" They all celebrate happily and go over to the girl, hugging her.
"Damn it! That damned Weiss didn't even heal me, I'm all bruised from the fight with her, I thought the bruises there wouldn't come here" said the Queen of Wedinburgh.
"Woah, Weiss didn't take it easy on you, that cut's going to give you quite a scar" said Geal.
"It didn't really stick, I thought I was going to die, but it was thanks to the techniques I learnt from my mother Laura that I was able to save myself from this, she always knew the best for every situation" said Diana.
"Well I don't mind a scar on your beautiful face my queen, a good warrior always has a scar and it will show that you are angry" said Akko smiling.
"Let's go home, let's clean this wound, I want to see it with my own eyes" said Cavendish.
Soon they were on their way home and everyone was amazed that Diana simply had a legendary rapier in her hands and was able to take care of the girl's wound, which even with potions was too deep for it to regenerate, resulting in a diagonal scar running from her forehead to her cheek.
"Look, sis, it's all we could do" said Hellene.
"Apparently I've lost some of the beauty... Damn Weiss, I thought I was going to regenerate after the battle, but at least I'm glad I have this rapier in my hands, I'm very powerful, I feel more confident, I can feel that she has magical ability too, she has everything in her hands, enormous power" Said the platinum blonde-haired girl looking at the rapier smiling.
"I'll say it again love, you're still beautiful, this scar is your charm as a warrior, you'll always have a mark that will represent the heroism you've done for Hyrule, for me each of the scars I have represent something, many of them have been recent, with these monsters that appear, this one on your face has given you a charm" Atsuko said, running her hand over her wife's cheek, who even returned the kiss.
"Woah, I'm impressed that you've succeeded, the power of this rapier could be very useful to you to defend yourselves more against Appleton's forces, I hope you manage to fulfil this mission, I'll be putting even more of the Schnee's faith in you" said Willow.
"Thank you very much, we're going to do everything we can to bring peace, come what may, my friends and I are going to go head-to-head with danger in order to make the people of this place live in peace" said Akko, all smiles.
Together they celebrated and after healing from her injuries in the fight against Weiss, Diana soon began to test the weapon's abilities and it was surprisingly stronger and more powerful than the master sword, being able to launch projectile thrusts instead of slashes, which went at very high speed, as well as using magic as a staff, which the Cavendish could easily notice in the snowflake-shaped glyphs that were summoned and could be used for many things, the perfect weapon for the queen of Wedinburgh.
Diana has made a huge improvement, not only has the main warrior been able to improve her equipment, her friends have also been getting better resources, Cavendish after a bloody and deadly battle against the first Schnee ended up defeating her having to use everything to beat a much more skilful warrior, including dirty tricks and psychological tricks of some kind to fool her, which in the end gave her a new rapier and also a scar on her face.
See you, rapier witches...