Oscar trailed a path through the blanket of snow on the terrace, a great tower from where the once brightly-lit and grand busy city was covered in snow, the great roaring fires and countless lanterns all waned away throughout the night. The simple crunches of his feet ignited small flames, melting away the chill that tried to worm its way through the soles of his shoes. As the snow around him melted, Oscar picked up a bundle and rubbed the snowflakes around his palm. The same unnatural feeling lingered on his skin as if the snow was alive and biting into his flesh, leaving blue spots wherever it stayed.

Rousing his Ein, Oscar forced the icy poison of the snow to withdraw and cleared his skin of all blue spots. The effects of the snow here were very similar, if not the same as the snow in the Tundra Realm he entered for his Inner Hall Promotion. Before more blue spots could spread, he skillfully created a thin layer of Ein, efficient enough for him to recover the losses quickly and powerful enough to stave off the frosty poison. Back then, the snow in the Tundra Realm was a natural occurrence from the laws governing the realm, but it defied the laws here.

"Morning. You're up early as always." Someone hollered to him. Fred stretched his arms and yawned, a shroud of Ein coating him.

"I'm surprised you're awake," Oscar responded, wiping his hands and wearing his gloves.

"Now that a certain someone is back, I have to wake up early to accompany him. Pity, I missed sleeping in." Fred summoned his hawk anima, and it flew to the other side in a single beat of its wings, the air kicking off the snow from the terrace, allowing the fine stone underneath to enjoy a respite and a shower of sunlight. It perched on Fred's shoulder, and he rubbed its head tenderly. "Since your wife isn't here, and you and Celestina are no longer in the running, I have to step up."

Fred rummaged in his space pocket and grinned, pulling out a bottle of wine and two cups. "This wine will warm us up nicely." Without waiting for his response, Fred poured and placed a cup before him, raising a cup. "Bottoms up!"

Oscar didn't touch his cup, keeping an eye on Fred, who licked his lips in satisfaction. Snow gathered on the surface of the wine, melting and turning the deep purple slightly blue. His wine was ruined. He felt sorry for ruining Fred's gesture, but he had no wish to drink this early. Oscar returned the cup to Fred and asked, "Why aren't you accompanying Emily?"

A jolt accompanied by several coughs came in response to Oscar's inquiry, and Fred grumbled, "Do you think she wants to be with me? I royally screwed up."

"Is that any excuse?" Erden's muffled voice scolded from inside his coat, and then the beast squirmed his way out, carrying a soft flame that enveloped them and the area around in a soothing warmth. In his small form, he snorted at Fred, tapping his stubby legs around. "Part of Oscar's wishes was to see you and Emily happily married and maybe with children when he returned. What a shame it might never come true."

"Erden, isn't that going too far?" Oscar knocked Erden's head scoldingly. The downside to sharing his mind with Erden was that at any time, Erden could reveal any secrets or thoughts he had. However, he couldn't deny what was said since they were his thoughts. "He isn't wrong, though. I thought I'd be able to enjoy being called an uncle when I returned."

"Well, sorry for dashing your hopes. There hasn't been any progress at all. She won't even talk to me." Fred deflated and rested his head on the castle railings, seemingly depressed.

Oscar cocked his head to the side, staring confusedly at Fred. "Huh? You never noticed?" Despite being a good scout with keen eyesight, Fred seemed oblivious to the small smiles Emily put on next to him. Seeing Fred's similarly confused gaze, Oscar was in disbelief and opened his mouth to explain.

"Thought the two of you might be out here. And drinking?" Emily's sharp and clear voice resounded behind them, and they pivoted around, her orange eyes piercing into them, but mostly Fred. Still, while focusing on Fred, she spoke to Oscar instead, "I knew you would be awake. I brought some hot tea, much better than wine."

Oscar gratefully accepted a warm cup from her and felt better from the leafy, bitter taste of the tea contrasting against the lifeless snow falling on him. An awkward air rose on the terrace, the source being Fred and Emily, who went silent next to each other. Sighing heavily, Oscar looked to Erden for guidance, but his beast companion shrugged as if to say to leave him out of it. Demon was no help here, either. The indifferent alter ego could never communicate in anything other than emotionless and callous words, even if his life were in danger.

The rest of the time on the terrace was spent in awkward conversations. Oscar communicated with Emily, then Fred, never catching a break to stop because they spoke not one word to each other, only to him. Tired, Oscar found his only source of respite, the tea, was drunk to the last drop, completely empty.

"Hello, Captain Oscar. The rest of our order is assembled inside, waiting for you. What is going on?" Oscar's former cellmate, Alec, came as the lifeline for Oscar to escape from Fred and Emily's cold war. He possessed the qualities of a great support Exalt, using his waters to trap and block enemies, and was a great logistics and communications officer, handling much of the inventory of supplies and talks. Emily was a fine warrior, and Fred was a great scout, but Alec proved to be better in the finer details, prompting him to elect Alec as his lieutenant and second-in-command.

"Nothing. Thanks for reporting in, Alec. I'll head down right away." Relieved by Alec's good timing, Oscar left the terrace and basked in the warmth of the burning braziers, filled to the brim with white, ashy coal. Emily, Fred, and Alec followed from behind as he navigated down the winding stairs, a torch lighting the path every few steps, and faced his newborn order. They all stood at attention and saluted him.

Among them were Uren and Susan, whom he fought together with in Drakken Port and Garantulem, and Esther, Uren's wife and someone he saved long ago in Ashen Grove. The other four were selected by the Pavilion Master, Draven, Aunt Ward, and Aunt Rosett, fine Exalts that had their trust and skills to back it up. It also helped him to be a hero, garnering their respect and immediate loyalty.

"Good morning, everyone. I have some good news. The princess has seen it fit to name our order personally. From now on, we shall bear the name with pride, for we are the Black Aegis, and like our namesake, it is our duty to be the shield to protect and endure for the sake of our homes and families." Oscar threw several medallions, one for each person, a badge depicting a fine black shield with the emblem of a dragon coiling around a trident. He had crafted these after Celestina gave them a name. He attached one to his chest, flickers of golden radiance shining as it caught the light. "Wear these with pride, my fellow Exalts, and rise to your calling."

"Yes, Captain!" Everyone saluted, even his friends, wearing the badges proudly on their chests, a pleasing sight to behold.

Timidly, Susan raised her hand and asked in a meek voice, "Excuse me, Captain. What is our first mission?" Everyone turned to her, causing her to blush and stare down, and then they pivoted back to Oscar, eagerness blatant on their faces.

Oscar smiled. This was no different from when he first started out in the Burning Valley with Desmond's small ragtag group of marauders. With a snap of his fingers, his lieutenant, Alec, laid out a map of Frostveil City and its surroundings. Oscar crouched and traced his finger along the mountainous regions, explaining, "Nearly all of our forces are concentrated on the borders, primarily along the mountains. The rest are stationed here in Frostveil City or placed back to watch for any enemies attempting to slip through our net."

"The concern right now is this snow. I'm sure everyone has noticed the odd and dangerous effects the snow contains. We suspect it's an enemy tactic to wear us down. Barriers can't be wasting precious Ein for the snow and be caught off-guard by the enemy. It's also draining to use our Ein to warm up everything around us. From the information given, the snow is being carried by the winds coming from the mountains here." Oscar pointed to a long trail of mountains.

"Aren't our forces stationed there?" Emily frowned.

"Not really. It's a no man's land where our ground forces fight and die daily. Common sense would say there's no way the enemy would have any presence there other than dead corpses after a battle, but our job is to go in and find any probable causes. They've canvased the area several times and found nothing. The princess believes we might have better luck." Oscar stood up as Alec rolled the map up. "Pack up and reconvene outside the city in thirty minutes. We set out for the Bellariach Mountains."