Asger raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he surveyed the damage to the diner. The whole building had been completely destroyed in an instant, scattering smoke, snow, and debris everywhere in sight.

"Heh heh, this thing certainly packs a punch, too bad it's a little temperamental…"

In his other hand was a double bladed spear with purple sparks coming off one of the heads. The cloth that originally concealed it was blown away by the sudden destruction of the diner. The bald warmonger rubbed his head and started chuckling as he twirled the weapon with one hand.

"So much power yet for the most part uncontrollable unless handled by the right person who exerts the right kind of influence…brings back old memories doesn't it…"

The spear stopped twirling in time to block a blade from impaling Asger's throat. The bald man hadn't moved or seemed surprised by the attack, nor did he struggle in holding the blade at bay as he continued rubbing his head.

"...Walnuts?"

His eyes slid over to Walter who wielded one of his swords with his arm straight and in line with his spine to give him the most power in his piercing attack but was unsuccessful. The man narrowed his eyes in either annoyance or anger at the nonchalant manner the bald man was exhibiting. All the same, he quickly pulled back and got a little distance between the two of them but was close enough that he covered the distance between them quickly.

Asger once again began twirling the weapon in his hand and even started passing it back and forth between his hands. "Why so glum? We should be having fun right now, when's the last time you and I played like this?" The bald warmonger pretended to think about it before snapping his fingers as if the answer magically appeared in his mind.

"Oh that's right! The last time we did this was when you took my eye while I was sleeping and Dad had to separate us or he'd lose his prized weapons." The bald man turned his head to fully face Walter and slowly began to work his other eye open. When the eyelid revealed the clean bisected eyeball that was still in his socket, the warmonger expected some kind of reaction from his little brother but all he got was a focused stare and silence.

Confirming that Walter was not one to lose his concentration over something like this, Asger put on an easy smile to distract his little brother. The other head on his double bladed spear sparked once more as the warmonger tapped it against ground to launch a snake of purple lightning. Instead of jumping back to avoid the hazard, Walter lunged forward and stabbed one of his blades into the snake's head while replacing his hand that gripped the handle with his foot to balance on his weapon. The snake's lightning traveled up the blade but did not get past the wooden hilt and the boot that was on top of it.

Asger chuckled as he twirled his spear again to fend off a sweeping kick aimed for his head, utterly batting it away and allowing Walter to pivot on the hilt like a dancer before changing direction and reaching out with his sword. Once again the warmonger twirled his weapon and blocked the incoming attack, his eyes barely concealing amusement.

"You gotta do bett-'' The younger brother violently dived forward and Asger's eyes widened when he saw the incoming sword held by two boots descending on him. The upper half of Walter was bearing down on his spear so he couldn't twirl it to defend himself and with the lower half carrying out the attack, Asger felt it was time to get a little serious.

Snatching one of his brother's leg with his free arm, halting the attack, he turned and bodily threw Walter into a building's wall. Walter's body sailed straight through the wall before the building became another victim of Asger's lightning as he raised his spear above his head then pointed at his target. The crack of thunder was deafening before a flash and debris flew in all directions.

Typically, Asger would've jumped in to see if he had hit his mark but he knew better than to get into his little brother's range. Because he was smaller than his behemoth of a brother, Walter had become much faster and ferocious in closer combat. Using the fact that if he got in his brother's reach, it'd be harder for Asger to get him with a good windup swing.

So, Asger waited and scanned the cloud of smoke, looking for any sign of movement, his spear already crackling with more lightning as he twirled it in one hand. His eye tracked a shadow moving toward his blindspot and he immediately swung his spear in an arc that unleashed a wave of lightning toward where his blindspot began. His lightning impacted the shadow and a ringing clang could be heard as something hit the recently revealed cobblestone ground thanks to the lightning evaporating the snow.

When the smoke cleared, Asger's expression didn't change at the single sword lying on the ground. He immediately twirled his spear and was about to send a horizontal wave of lightning to his opposite side when his eye met Walter's that was a foot away from his face. The warmonger expected his little brother to play on the common sense of attacking someone's blindside by feinting an attack from that side to get him to leave his other more guarded side open. Truly, most might consider him insane but he was far from stupid and knew the sick twisted mind Walter had.

Which was why he made no move to defend himself as Walter prepared to strike the opening he made…

…only to wrench his back backwards until he was parallel with the ground to avoid Alrick's swing that would've bisected him at the waist.

Walter's eyes slid over to Alrick's and the two shared a long meaningful conversation in that brief instant before Asger adjusted his grip and plunged his lightning spear toward his little brother. Walter had managed to jump back to avoid his chest from being skewered but he still got caught in the side and all the muscles surrounding the cut began to spasm and convulse from the lightning.

Asger plucked his spear out of the ground and eyed the wound but noted Walter's facial expression not changing in the slightest. The wound had taken an inch or two off his brother's side and the lightning flowing through the blade aggravated the wound even more but he could tell that Walter wasn't bothered by it at all. His eyes remained focused, but now they took in Alrick who was frowning as he stood side by side with Asger but said nothing.

The King said nothing as Asger tossed him the spear and he caught it without taking his eyes off Walter. Alrick immediately felt his hand tingle with barely restrained power and could vaguely hear distant wails of anguish. He ignored the fact that it reminded him of an Elemental he had come up against in Elysion, the one that had escaped and killed many of his soldiers.

His first instinct upon grabbing the weapon was to discard it but a more powerful thought echoed in his head to keep hold of the weapon.

Make him submit.

Alrick's frown deepened as he gave the weapon a few test spins before pointing a tip in Walter's direction. The former captain did not move as no lightning traveled along the weapon. The King could hear Asger chuckle next to him as he tightened his grip on the double ended spear despite the tingles and shocks that intensified in his hand. He could feel the wails push against him but he utterly crushed them in his mind and commanded them to bow to his commands.

Walter pivoted to the side as a bolt of lightning struck past him from Alrick's outstretched weapon. If he hadn't seen the spark at the hilt he would've been skewered. The thought did nothing to shake his concentration as Alrick once again twirled the weapon in his hand but this time purple sparks started pulsating the length of his spear.

The former Captain tightened his grip on his swords just as another bolt struck down where he had been a millisecond ago, bringing up another snowcloud that obscured his position. His two opponents didn't look concerned as they searched for any signs of him and weren't surprised when one of his swords zoomed out the cloud aiming for Alrick's head. The King deftly deflected it and before poking at where he thought Walter was but the sword had turned out to be a feint as Walter appeared on his side completely out of range of the spear.

Alrick's eyes instantly zoomed over to Walter rushing forward to take advantage of his overextended position and moved to correct his mistake but found it to be too late. The former Captain's timing was perfect and his blade inched closer to its intended target, the King's exposed neck…

…only to be stepped on by Asger who rushed to Alrick's aid and was lining up a heavy palm strike.

Walter, realizing he had no choice, stood his ground and used his free hand to try and deflect his brother's palm strike by hitting his wrist. When his hand hit Asger's forearm and made the old man's strike fly harmlessly under his, Walter used the extra range he got from his body being extended to one side to launch a kick that had more than enough space to take advantage of his body position.

Unfortunately for him, Alrick was able to catch the kick by raising his spear and blocking it with the long handle. Walter's leg instantly was barraged by shocks and he felt it go numb as Alrick swatted it away before leaping toward him with his spear poised to impale him. With one of his swords knocked out of his reach and his other one under his brother's foot, Walter's frown deepened as he let go of his remaining weapon and pushed off the ground to avoid being impaled.

Leaving him without any weapon, facing down currently the two strongest warriors in Blackdust.

Asger chuckled as he kicked one of the spadroons into his hand and inspected the blade while Alrick had straightened out and kept an eye on Walter. "Gotta say Walnuts, you haven't changed a bit. Always charging, butchering, and exploiting people's mistakes or weaknesses. Even when they don't have one…"

The warmonger lifted his free hand to his scarred eye and used his fingers to open the eyelid. Inside was an empty socket with scars that littered the inside.

"...you always made one."

Asger allowed his eye to close before giving the blade in his hand one last look over and tossing it so it landed in between the three of them.

"Well? Go on, not like you can take us both at once bare handed."

Alrick stood by silently staring intensely at Walter, he knew that the captain wouldn't make a move for the sword because it would leave him open for either of them to strike. But it didn't change the fact that Asger was right in saying Walter couldn't take them both at once. Even if it was just a matter of skill, the two of them had the advantage, but it wasn't just a matter of skill.

Alrick could tell from the moment the two of them made eye contact that something was very different about his friend. While it was unfortunate that he was fighting with Asger against Walter, he knew that Walter wouldn't be too put off by it. That wasn't what was different, what sent an ominous foreboding feeling down his spine was the aura the captain was giving off.

Typically, Walter had a very controlled manner of carrying himself that most couldn't get a read on unless they knew what to look for. Alrick, on the other hand, had known Walter for many years and knew exactly what to look for. First it was eyes, if he concentrated on one person or thing for too long, his eyes would reflect that whatever he focused on had his full undivided attention. After that, it was his hands. Most wouldn't notice but his hands would always relax and tightened in miniscule movements that were almost impossible to perceive.

Finally it was his feet.

Despite what most people thought, you could always tell when your opponent was about to move based on their feet. A seated person can't leap if their legs were stretched out and their full weight wasn't on their feet. It was a hard skill to be able to anticipate attacks based on someone's feet but it was one that had served Alrick well over the years.

He could tell that Walter's weight was shifted to the front half of his feet with his legs slightly leaning forward. To him, he could tell that Walter was preparing to rush them. A part of him remarked that the Captain would be insane to do that and give them an advantage thus declaring this a feint of some kind which wasn't atypical of him.

That was what made Alrick prepare for a forward attack.

There was also one thing that many people didn't know about Walter. Admittedly only someone who had either seen him fight many times or he himself had told them could know that Walter's weapon of choice wasn't two spadroons.

The Captain charged, and the small town that had been assaulted by a nonstop snow storm had been wiped off the face of the Earth.

Estrid rushed down the hallway before urgently knocking on Mr. Jorgen's door and opening it after not hearing an answer. She usually would've waited for him to vocally allow her in but this was far too important.

"Mr. Jorgen, I'm sorry for disturbing…" She stopped speaking when she registered that the old man was out of his desk and looking at some random corner of his office with papers fallen from his hands. He made no move or indication that he had heard her barging in as he continued to stare at the corner of the room.

"Excuse me, sir?"

He once again didn't move as he continued to remain staring at the corner. Following his line of sight with her eyes, she looked at the same corner and couldn't find anything different versus the other ones in the room. In fact, the corner had absolutely nothing in it and was just a regular corner which made her consider for a split second that maybe the old man's age had finally gotten to him.

"Mr. Jorgen, sir Q-"

"You may go, Estrid, I was expecting this meeting for some time" The woman noted his distracted tone but nevertheless moved to the side to allow Queen Elsa and her newly appointed Captain of the Royal Guard, Hector Bowman into his office and closed the door behind them.

Elsa's eyes were regal while Hector's were guarded as they stared at Jorgen who had finally turned with a bored expression before taking a seat at his desk. He clasped his fingers together after gesturing to the empty chairs in front of him which neither of them took.

"Took you long enough, I was beginning to think we'd never have this conversation." It was obvious that he was talking to only Elsa and didn't acknowledge the fact that Hector was in the room. The Captain took a step forward but a hand from the blonde had him halting and taking a less tense but ready posture.

"You knew I'd find out what you were?" It was bait, to allow him to think that he had complete control of the conversation and let him reveal his hand.

The side of Jorgen's mouth twitched at this little girl's attempt to be clever, but ultimately didn't care. "I knew you'd find out when Walter left your service, after all, we've had an accord long before you were even born. At first I thought coming here was a waste of time but when you grew enough to be a footnote, I thought you'd be useful in my plans, at least in buying me some time."

Elsa knew he was amused and didn't take her seriously. When she first became Queen, she would've been racking her brain to think of ways to remind him that he was talking to royalty and he should act accordingly. However, now, she wasn't after respect and demanding it from him would do nothing for her.

"So you bid your time, waiting for what exactly, Walter to grow bored of his position?"

Jorgen's eyes slightly narrowed at the question, the small change had caught the Queen's eye and her sitting in one of the chairs so that they were now eye level. She had poked, then relinquished her higher position to come to his level, a show of respect some would say.

To him, he could discern the meaning of the veiled insult was to get him to react emotionally and give away more than he should.

"I was waiting for him to get rid of that worthless deadweight of his. I expected him to leave after pawning off the brat to a-"

"She's not worthless."

The old man finally shifted his eyes to meet Hector's and he had to stop himself from laughing. The boy was shrewd enough and could mask his intentions fairly well for a child but he obviously lacked the temperament Walter possessed. He could tolerate the girl's attempts to subtly gather as much information as she could using subliminal messages and vocal traps while not giving anything away herself.

However, it amused him to no end that he could see all the thoughts on the boy's face and knew he could play him like a fiddle if he wanted to.

"So Walter chose to stay. He's been in Arendelle's service for more than two decades, what made you wait that long?" His eyes slanted back over to Elsa who barely blinked at her intervention. He might've been annoyed, but he was actually in a good mood.

"You cannot begin to fathom how long I've been waiting for Walter. As long as he stayed alive, he was the best tool I had in my war chest. Him staying in Arendelle though, allowed me to pick up a few more…"

Jorgen smiled darkly. "...his words, I might add."

Elsa's face remained a perfect mask. "Yes and that one pawn that fell into your grasp, what were your plans for that piece?"

"You mean young Edward?"

Her heart skipped a beat hearing his name come out of Jorgen's mouth, and a layer of aggressive jacked ice frosted her hands when she watched him start laughing.

"Don't tell me the real reason you came here was to beg me for that puppet's life. When Walter did it, it was infuriating to say the least but when you two are doing it, forgive me but that's the funniest thing I've heard in a very long time."

He expected her to lash out with her magic, her reaction to his laughter did not escape him but unexpectedly she simply got up and gestured for the boy to follow her as she started walking out of his office. He almost frowned, that was way too easy. Walter was a much better opponent at subterfuge and wordplay, seeing her give up and walk away after one round almost made him want to ask her to stay so he could play with her some more.

Almost being the operative word, as he had long come to the conclusion that she's a little girl and is only human. He could've held her hand and taught her the duration of her entire life and at best she'd last two or three debates against him. Still though, he couldn't stop himself from poking fun at her one last time before she walked out of his office.

"Next time you want to ferret information out of someone a thousand times smarter than you, you should grow thicker skin and know your mark. The first will help prolong the conversation while they insult you while the second will help you pick out what to say to elicit an appropriate response."

The blond stopped just before reaching the door and turned around with the grace of a monarch and met his gaze with so much regal bearing her ancestors would be proud. "I have no need to continue this conversation, you've told me everything I needed to know."

Jorgen blinked and looked curious as he said nothing as he waited for her to continue.

"It's quite obvious that you're hiding from someone or something."

Elsa pretended not to notice that the temperature in the room had plummeted and knew it wasn't from her powers.

"The fact you've been willing to wait this long for one person tells me between the two of you, Walter was the one in control despite whatever power you had over him. Even after waiting twenty years you still bowed to his whims when he decided to take on a protege who he himself confessed would be better than him. There's also the fact you're still here, the fact that Walter is gone and you remained here shows that you're still afraid of leaving this safe haven you found and you don't know if what Walter said was right…"

She took long strides until she was once again in front of his desk and leaned forward, looking down at his still sitting position.

"...that Edward will be better, you're hinging your entire game on this pawn being able transform himself into a stronger chess piece in the event your other one fails. To that end, you know that the wrong move now could destroy your safe haven. Sure you may be a thousand times more powerful than I am but this is my kingdom. I will defend all of my subjects to the best of my ability against any force."

Jorgen briefly considered tearing off one of the hands that had been laid flat down on his desk as she leaned even closer to him. "You said Walter infuriated you when he 'begged' for the puppet's life. I may not know you, but I know Walter and he doesn't beg, he exploits his opponent's weaknesses. I confess that I'm not good at threatening people but I'll try my hand at it anyway."

Her voice grew quieter and her eyes made no attempt to hide the intent and power behind them. "If you make any moves against Edward or Walter's daughter, I will rain down the full weight of all my power upon your head. I don't care if it's nothing more than an annoyance to you, I guarantee that the person you're hiding from like a scared little human will know exactly where you are and that you aren't confident in your chances at winning."

His curious expression had vanished, replaced with a blank one like his focus had stopped making an effort to animate his facial expressions. Instead, he was imagining all the ways he could make her regret her words as she continued, unfazed by the chill he knew she felt.

"From now on, you will assist me, we aren't your pawns, you're mine."

The desk his hands were resting on suddenly cracked in half and would've been thrown across the room if not for it suddenly freezing solid. The two of them had not broken their gaze with each other while Hector's hand had tightly grasped one of his maces.

Jorgen couldn't help comparing the migraine that was currently building in his head to the one he got when Walter had chosen this same asinine action. He tried proving a point back then as well but Walter was smart enough to know he had won and was willing to suffer to prove his point. The harbormaster knew from the brief power struggle they just had, if he had tried to push her now, she would foolishly go through with her threat.

A Queen would be smarter than to risk her kingdom over any one or two people but he could tell looking at her that she wouldn't budge on this. If she couldn't win, she'd damn make sure that he lost as well.

I suppose she has picked up some things from Walter.

The harbormaster reclined back into his chair, falling back from their confrontation and allowing Elsa to conquer the destroyed desk that they had briefly fought over. She rose to her full height and gave him a lasting stare before walking out the room with her guard.

But she was wrong about one thing. I have no doubt that Walter will succeed, I'm just smart enough to learn from my previous mistakes about what happens when you let a beast off his leash to do your dirty work.

Jorgen raised his arm and instead of a human hand there was a thin black arm with long thin sharp fingers that had two figures sitting in its palm. One of them was an exact replica of Edward and the other was a young woman. The fingers curled inward toward the palm until they formed a makeshift cage around the two models.

After all, I'm the one who taught Walter how to use leverage.

Edward had set down another stack of wooden beams for the stairs of the clocktower. His dead expression had somehow become even worse but no one was able to get him to tell why. The sun had long since set and he was working by lantern once again, this time however, Klein hadn't come by to speak with him.

The other workers had once again tried warning him about working in the middle of the night but he continued to ignore them as he continued. Always doing something instead of sitting with a thumb up his ass.

He was on his knees about to hammer in a nail when he heard footsteps behind him. His expression gained a faint glimmer of nonchalance as he turned expecting to see the young guard but was instead facing an older gentleman.

"Good evening, are you Edward?"

The young man's face instantly went back to his dead expression as he turned back to his work without another word. He didn't spare the man a glance the moment he knew it wasn't Klein. He couldn't begin to care that another tourist had come to meet the 'Legendary hero Edward of Arendelle'.

The gentleman had an amused smile on his face as he watched the young man work, intently ignoring his presence. He took in his features as if he was comparing him to someone, studying him from head to toe. The worker's muscles were compact yet he could tell they were thickly layered, the way he swung the hammer while perfectly holding several nails in his fingers showed his dexterity.

Time seemed to pass as he continued to study the young man who he knew was well aware of his presence but still continued to ignore it. However, the gentleman could tell that was about to change.

"I'm not the guy you're looking for. Edward is dead."

Edward expected a question about the validity of his statement but instead, he got something else entirely.

"Mmmm, you're half right. You aren't who I'm looking for, as for Edward being dead…well that's a matter of perspective."

The young man didn't care to entertain the older man's riddles. He could feel another presence with them and knew it was his nightly visitor, which meant that now was a time to get a drink. Edward laid down his tools and made to stroll right past Walter and the older man when the latter spoke.

"You know I've been around for a while but I must say it is amazing that you've managed to hold on this long." The young man ignored him, wholly uninterested in whatever he had to say.

"But like I said, that's a matter of perspective"

Edward scoffed…only to find it came out in a raspy gasp as a blade shot out of his chest. His dead expression turned into one of being dumbfounded as he processed that he had just been impaled. His heart sped up in a futile attempt to keep him alive, the beats roaring in his ears as he tried to take a breath but couldn't hold on to a single wisp of air. His vision began fading in and out as his body started to violently shake.

"It's quite interesting how a simple change in perspective can be so life altering."

Edward dropped to his knees as his symptoms got worse, his heart beating so fast it was likely to burst and his body shaking so violently he could probably dig a hole in the ground just by placing hand against it. He turned around to get a look at the older gentleman to see who he was from his past that came all this way to kill him.

The gentleman was right there staring at him curiously but wasn't holding the sword that was impaling him.

The one who had stabbed him was Walter Stonewell.