Tommy sits between the pillars of the open-aired hallway that connects the west and north wings of the palace, his back against a pillar and one leg hanging off the side to dangle towards the ground. He wears appropriately thick clothing and a fuzzy cloak around his shoulders, burrowing his face in the fur lining when a sharp wind blows through the breezeway. Although it is bitterly cold, it is still pleasant weather for the empire. It is warm enough for him to spend a few hours outside under the watchful eyes of his minder. Tommy firmly believes that he should be outside as much as possible. He has a distaste for the empire's winters. He's always hated cold weather, but he prefers being in than being cooped up outside. His parents are not of the same opinion as him, unfortunately.

Tubbo sits on the edge of the breezeway with Tommy. He is hunched over a mechanical machine. Tommy does not know what it is exactly, and when he asked Tubbo, the boy admitted he didn't know yet either. Tubbo uses any spare parts he can find to create these machines, and he never knows what he's going to accomplish until after he's finished. His mind creates a path for him, and he cares little for the destination as long as the journey is sufficiently challenging to him. Tommy does not bother trying to understand the complexities of his friend's engineering process. He merely listens to Tubbo's rambling, congratulates the boy when he succeeds at something, and basks in his friend's joy.

Tommy looks down from his friend back to the book in his lap. It was assigned to him by Kara for his language class. It is a book of translated poems from all over the continent. Tommy doesn't know much about poetry. He vaguely remembers his English teacher talking about it once, and he's fairly certain they had a whole section of their textbooks dedicated to it. Tommy doesn't remember the specifics. He does remember failing poetry. He isn't good at the analyzing part. He can never figure out what complex ideas the author is trying to describe. His teacher told him to think of everything like a metaphor, but that advice did very little to help Tommy. Thankfully, Kara just wants him to read the poems. She hasn't implied they would be analyzing them. At least, not yet. Tommy still has much to learn about reading before he can move on to analyzing.

"Whoa!" Tubbo startles. Tommy looks up from his book. The machine made from gears and a few wires that had been resting in Tubbo's lap is now floating, lifted up by a spinning blade along its top. The box-like construct wobbles in the air, but it stays skybound. Tubbo's face lights up with a brilliant smile. Tommy is unable to stop one of his own from forming. He watches the metal components of the machine reflect sunlight onto Tubbo's face. It makes it look like Tubbo is literally glowing from happiness.

Then, the machine starts floating away. It gradually gets faster as it vacates the breezeway. Tubbo's face morphs into confusion as he hops down from the edge of the breezeway. He lands into the permafrost below, the icy grass crunching under his boots. The machine continues flying away. Tubbo runs after it, shouting commands as if his machine were a misbehaving pet. Tommy laughs at the scene of Tubbo chasing a flying metal machine. Tubbo huffs, leaping into the air to catch his machine. He barely misses it, and his jump resembles a leaping dolphin as he crashes back into the ground. Tubbo groans, rolling onto his back. He scrambles to his feet once more, deciding not to give up.

Tommy sets his book aside. He swings his other leg along the side of the breezeway. He is about to jump down when he notices moving colors in the corner of his eye. He looks up sharply, a dry breath sticking in his throat. Diplomat Sam is wearing a black jacket with golden threads creating patterns along the bottom that resemble the twisting sands of the Badlands. He wears a red scarf around his throat, and he is currently holding the scarf up over the lower half of his face. His ears are burning scarlet underneath the curls of his green hair. His attention is entirely focused on the man beside him.

Ponk wears a red cloak over his clothes. When he shifts as he walks, Tommy can see a saturated dark yellow color coming from his shirt. He is speaking with his hands about something. He points towards the garden area beside the breezeway. He hesitates when he notices Tubbo chasing his mechanical machine. Ponk looks around, and his eyes do not flinch as they meet Tommy's eyes. Since Ponk stopped walking, Sam looks around to find the reason. Sam lowers the red scarf when he notices that someone other than Ponk is there to notice how the cold weather has been treating him.

"Your highness," Ponk says, bowing with one arm folded in front of his chest and the other bended around his back.

Sam puts his arms in the same places Ponk did, but he does not bow as lowly nor does he remain in that position for long. As a diplomat, Sam must pay a certain amount of respect to the imperial family, but he is not a servant of the empire and therefore does not need to hold a bow for long. Ponk, on the other hand, is directly employed by the imperial family. It is common for him to bow this low until the highest ranking member of the family verbally allows him to rise. Ponk normally doesn't follow this custom, so he must be doing it now because they are in the presence of a foreign diplomat. They cannot risk the Badlands thinking the imperial family does not command respect.

"You may rise, Imperial Physician," Tommy states quickly. He moves both of his legs back onto the breezeway. He pushes his body upward with the heels of his hands. When he is back on his feet, he gives them both the appropriate nod. He lifts his head back up to see them both looking at him. He swallows thickly, but he cannot afford to falter now. "Might I know what brings you both here?"

"Physician Ponk was giving me a tour of the palace," Sam explains. Tommy nods slowly. He should have expected that much. Sam and Ponk need multiple occasions to get to know each other naturally if their love is going to eventually bloom. Tommy considers how intently Sam was staring at Ponk earlier. There was nothing particularly romantic about his expression, but lasting relationships are formed on trust and respect.

"You have my gratitude, Physician Ponk, for assisting our guest," Tommy tells Ponk, giving him a smile. Kara would be very proud of his diction. Under her tutelage, he has gotten so much better at speaking like the people of this era.

Tommy looks over at Tubbo. The brunette has finally caught his mechanical machine. He holds it under his arm, intently staring at the innards with a determined expression on his face. He seems to be using his multi-tool to fix the machine's natural navigation system. He doesn't look up even when Tommy stares at him. Although Tommy would like some help speaking with Sam and Ponk, he cannot bring himself to call Tubbo over. He seems to be enjoying himself, and he'll wander here soon to show Tommy his machine once it stops trying to fly away from them.

"Your friend is very intelligent. That machine he is working on is impressive," Sam notes. Tommy startles, looking away from Tubbo at the diplomat. Tubbo was geeking out about Sam the other day. Consider what Tubbo said about Sam, a compliment like this must be a wondrous thing.

"He certainly is amazing," Tommy agrees.

"Will Tubbo be the apprentice for the Imperial Artificer?" Ponk asks. Tommy blinks, staring at Ponk. The Physician seems to understand Tommy's confusion as he begins explaining. "The Imperial Ministers are allowed to take on apprentices whenever we desire. Lady Shelby Grace is the apprentice of Gem... the Imperial Mage. Since you helped her get that position, I thought your highness would encourage Tubbo to try."

"Tubbo has never talked about it," Tommy admits softly, glancing back over at his friend. Tubbo is still concentrated on the machine. Did Tubbo know about the apprenticeship? Did he want to try for the position? If he did, why wouldn't he tell Tommy? He thought he had been accommodating towards all of Tubbo's desires. There should be no reason why Tubbo would not tell him about it. He should know that Tommy will support him regardless of what he wants to do.

"Well... being an apprentice does take up a lot of time. Perhaps Tubbo did not want to upset your highness," Ponk offers an explanation. Tommy frowns. He enjoys spending time with Tubbo, but if there was something else Tubbo wanted to do, Tommy wouldn't interfere. He will always find time to waste with Tubbo at his side. He could make time, working around Tubbo's new schedule.

"Your highness has a very loyal friend. Loyalty is a good trait to have," Sam commends Tubbo again, but it doesn't make Tommy feel as good as the original compliment did. Tommy doesn't want Tubbo to be loyal; he wants Tubbo to be happy. If those two conflict, Tommy would rather Tubbo betray him than choose an upsetting fate for himself.

"How is your tour going?" Tommy asks instead of continuing on the subject of his friend. He will directly talk to Tubbo about this later.

"It is going quite well. I have been treated graciously by the workers of the palace. They are all very kind and accommodating towards me," Sam explains, nodding his head as he looks out across the gardens around the breezeway. There are a few gardeners huddled together near a bush that is almost ready to begin blooming. "I am also learning quite a lot. The empire is jarringly different from my homeland. It is not a bad thing, though. I am enjoying the architecture. I have definitely taken inspiration from some of your designers' clever ideas. The weather, for instance, is the exact opposite. I am used to the sun being overbearing and sandy winds clinging to my clothes. The empire, in contrast, is extremely cold, and the air always contains a faint note of water upon it. I suppose this is the result of the abundance of elementals in the air. Or should I say, an overwhelming amount of water and air elementals."

"I can only imagine how you must feel. You're in a land mostly untouched by the Fire and Earth Elemental Kings. Not to mention, we don't have any jinn," Tommy notes. The Antarctic Empire is inhabited by humans, elementals (mostly water and air), and elves. In contrast, the Badlands are populated by the jinn. The Ender Prince described them when Ranboo went to the Badlands. They were creatures of the earth, similar to the Fae in Essempei. What makes them different from Fae, is that jinn are also said to have been born of the fire. The Overlord of the Badlands is a jinn, meaning that SapNap was half-jinn. Hannah, Sam's daughter, was also half-jinn, but the story behind her and her twin's birth was not as straightforward as the two princes of the Overlord were.

"You know about the jinn?" Sam asks, and even Ponk looks curious. Tommy blinks. He probably shouldn't have revealed that he knows about that. He hasn't technically covered it in his class with Kara yet. She's currently been feeding him snippets about the elves in between their lessons. Tommy has been satisfied with that since Ranboo never encountered an elf, but he's starting to regret his choice.

"Marchioness Kara Corvus is a gifted teacher," Tommy decides, hoping that Kara and Sam never have a one-on-one chat about his academic career's timeline. If he must, he will tell them both that he read it in a book. He doesn't do that now because he doesn't want anyone thinking he actually likes reading. He doesn't, not really, though he will do it for the sake of his classes and progressing in life.

"Was that book recommended by her?" Sam asks, pointing at the book Tommy left on the ground. Tommy looks down at it. He gently picks it up, pressing the cover against his chest.

"I enjoy it," Tommy admits softly. He does like parts of it. Some of the lines the poets come up with are interesting. Others are tedious, using far too many classically defined bathos in Tommy's opinion. Alas, he doesn't get to choose what poems are in this book. He will read them and complain about them to Kara the next session.

"Crimson against the greenery, / Plucked from the drudgery / Oh, flower known by no other name, / Do you not find it such a shame, / To live and die by a mortal's inconstant love?" Sam professes, his voice lifting up. Tommy hesitates, his eyes filling with recognition. Sam quoted one of the poems from the beginning of the book. It is one of the shorter poems and right to the point, making it one of Tommy's favorites. Ponk stares at Tommy, and the blonde thinks he finally sees the beginnings of romance. Sam does not seem to notice either of their light expressions. "My children had to read that book for their studies, too. That poem was one of my daughter's favorites."

"Your daughter has good taste," Tommy says, pointedly looking away from Sam's eyes. The sheer adoration for his children makes Tommy feel strangely guilty. The heavy weight coils in his stomach. Tommy wonders if he would be forgiven if he puked in front of the diplomat. He is a child, so they might give him some leeway. "You two should get back to your tour. I'll go help Tubbo."

Tommy hugs the book to his chest, hopping off the breezeway. He runs over to Tubbo, trying not to think about Hannah and her fate.

—

"Don't touch those!" SapNap snaps. Beau stops, drawing her hand back to her chest. She looks back at SapNap. The prince breathes out slowly. He gestures towards the ebony roses. "These are Wither roses. Highly poisonous. Being near them is enough to make most people sick."

"Why would High Lord Sam have a whole garden of them then?" Tubbo asks, squatting down to look at one of the bigger buds. Ranboo takes another step away from the roses. Now he knows why he doesn't like them. If they are Wither roses, they came from the Nether. Creatures from the End and Nether do not naturally mix. Those roses probably hate Ranboo as much as he despises them.

"He didn't. These used to be normal roses. Hannah... his daughter loved them," SapNap murmurs, looking over at the gardens with a mournful expression.

"What is that?" Eryn says slowly, looking up. Ranboo glances up with him. A woman with translucent pink-red wasp wings stands on the walls surrounding the gardens. She wears shaded teal armor that seems to move and pulsate with light. Her redwood brown hair blows away from her face as a hot wind snakes through the overgrown gardens. She holds a spear in her hand. Although it is the color of rust, it seems to be a viable weapon.

"Hannah..." SapNap whispers. He looks around with a panicked expression. "You three need to get out of here... now!"

"We need to fight her!" Beau exclaims. SapNap launches himself forward, drawing out his sword. He throws Beau back. Her wings expand as she tries catching herself. Before she can yell at SapNap, metal clashes with metal and an explosion of wind blows a cloud of sand up around SapNap. When the dust settles, he is holding back Hannah's spear with his sword. He pushes forward, a flare of fire whooshing from the edge of his blade. Hannah gracefully dodges out of the way, twisting her body to land on her feet in a crouch with her spear positioned at her side. She looks up at the group, and her glowing eyes shine out from the shadows of her helmet.

"Get out of here. There is no way you guys can fight a jinn, even a half-blood like her. Especially not when she's wearing the armor of the Earth Elemental King," SapNap yells over his shoulder. He summons a flame in his hand, and it expands to cover his entire body. The flames die out, leaving behind black-and-white armor and horns coming from his ebony hair.

"We can't leave you behind!" Ranboo tries to argue. SapNap doesn't seem to be listening. He launches himself at Hannah, and their blades clash together once more. With each hit, the ground around them begins to crack. Beau cries out as lava sputters forth from one of the fissures.

"Come on, if they keep fighting like this, the entire garden will sink in the lava," Eryn commands Beau and Ranboo. He grabs their hands as he passes them, running away.

"Is this something jinn can do?" Ranboo asks as he ducks his head. A ball of lava shoots right over him, landing on the sandy ground. Ranboo thinks he can see pieces of glass already forming.

"Not jinn. Contractors of the Fire and Earth Elemental Kings. The kings don't normally fight, though, so I have no idea what is going to happen," Eryn states. Ranboo looks over his shoulder. He stumbles when he sees a giant wave of lava starting to form. Hannah and SapNap stand in the brilliant glow of it, their blades crossed and eyes shining.