The sorcerers' building was much more crowded than usual, becoming the main centre for all the sorcerers, both in Team Crafted's army and in the visiting allied armies, to meet and train and exchange information. There were young sorcerers who were just learning their craft as well as old men and women who were not the most agile of people but who watched and helped the younger perfect their skills.

          All this meant that Seto could have a bit more time to himself or, as he often ended up spending it, preparing for the impending war. That meant accounting for the number of sorcerers who had arrived, updating information on spells and knowledge, and working on a project for one of Notch's inventions that, if it worked properly, would combine magic and machinery in a way never done before.

          This was what Seto was working on now, comparing information from one of his many volumes with a book that Notch had loaned him on a complicated branch of theory that Seto couldn't even begin to hope to pronounce, and writing notes in a third book. The building was quite crowded with sorcerers and the chatter was at a moderate level, but Seto had successfully managed to tune all of this out to focus. In fact, he was so focused on his task that he didn't notice when the door of the building opened or realise that someone had entered until they were standing right beside him, peering over his shoulder.

          "I did not take you as one to be interested in these topics, young Seto."

          Seto automaticalled flinched but then turned with a start of surprise. "Master Aramis!" he said, standing up to face the much older sorcerer who hailed from the snow country. Though aged and with short white hair, Aramis stood tall and his eyes were the vibrant blue of a youth. A deep blue cloak fell from his shoulders and in his hand was a large leather suitcase. "I didn't think you'd be coming!" Seto said.

          "Well I had to vacate my usual residence and since there is quite a large gathering of people here, I assumed that there would also be more sorcerers, so I decided to come down and lend you a hand where I could." Aramis looked around the room. "Is this your average number of apprentices?"

          "Definitely not, I'd be grateful for any help," Seto said instantly.

          "Well then, it would seem that my arrival has occurred at an opportune time," Aramis said with a smile. "What may I help you with?"

          Elsewhere in the base, Jerome and Mitch were standing next to Notch and Steve, the four of them watching as a small group of Snow Strikers rode into the base, the rest of their force visible behind them, setting up camp outside of the base. The small group consisted of a few warriors clad in their snowy white gear but without the head coverings riding behind Captain Andreas, whose steady brown eyes looking around and analysing those nearest to them. He didn't have a hand on his sword but he seemed ready to draw it the moment that someone threatened the person who rode slightly ahead of the rest of the group.

          And that final person was, of course, Queen Anne. Her wavy chocolate brown hair was tied back in a ponytail that fell down her back and her brown eyes were also assessing the base, but she had a permanent small smile on her face as if she was thinking of something highly amusing that only she would understand. At her side was a long dagger and another one was strapped to her leg.

          Stablehands came and held their horses to allow them to dismount but Anne's gaze had become fixed on Herobrine, who approached and bowed to her, holding up a hand to help her dismount. Her eyebrows twitched up for a moment and her smile grew a little wider and without a word, she dismounted swiftly and easily and by herself and then gave Herobrine her hand. If he was surprised, he smoothly recovered.

          "I feel like I'm missing something here," Steve said quietly, almost to himself, as Herobrine easily kissed Anne's hand. "I mean, Hero's always been a real charmer (not as charming as me, obviously), but I didn't think that he was that charming."

          "But either way, that's... not how you would treat the leader of an army," Notch added uncertainly as Herobrine and Anne walked side by side towards the castle, their arms around the waist of the other, talking quietly.

          "Well, love does that to you," Jerome said with a shrug. "It turns you weird. And I guess that if you're married, you're allowed to get away with a bit more than usual."

          It took him and Mitch several seconds to realise that both Steve and Notch were staring at them with blank expression. "Sorry, could you repeat that last bit again?" Steve asked.

          "Uhhh love turns you weird-"

          "No no no, the bit after. Something about marriage?"

          "Queen Anne and Herobrine are married," Mitch butted in, peering around Jerome to see the two men. "Have been for a while, apparently."

          They both stared at him for a moment. "I wasn't invited to a wedding, were you invited to a wedding, cause I wasn't," Steve said rapidly, glancing at Notch and not even waiting for an answer as he continued. "I mean, I'd want to go to a wedding but I guess it doesn't matter 'cause it's already happened- Did you say that Hero was married?"

          Jerome and Mitch both nodded and Steve grinned slyly, turning to Notch. "And you thought that I was going to be married first."

          "Well it makes sense," Notch defended. "You're the one who's always travelling and meeting people!"

          "Married to the land Notch," Steve said with a shake of his head, give his brother a pat on the back. "Married to the land. But hey, at least we were right about you being the bachelor." He walked towards Herobrine before the Notch could give an answer. "Hey Hero, were you ever planning on telling me this?" he called, hands held out as if he was offended.

          "No I wasn't, thanks for asking," came the answer.

          After the introductions had gone around and Steve had stopped giving Herobrine constant side eyes and nudges for him being married, the first official meeting of war was called and all of the leaders gathered in a large room, standing around a large circular table. The room had large windows that let in the sunlight but the mood was dark.

          Around the table were Generals Adam, Mitch, Jason, Quentin, Ian, Ty, Jerome and Seto, as well as Herobrine, Steve, Notch, Queen Anne, Captain Andreas and Aramis, and then the Lords Vikk, Rob, David, Gizzy, Dan and Patrick, and also Lords Noah and Ghetto, who had joined soon after with bad news.

          "We passed some of Entity's outposts on the way here," Lord Ghetto was saying, motioning with his finger to a spot on one of Notch's large maps that was spread out on the table. "It's hard to say how many warriors he had, but I wouldn't have liked to meet them in battle with just my army at my back. It would have been close."

          "He's got us surrounded on all sides," Lord Rob said, narrowing his eyes at the map. "Bases to the east, north, and west."

          "But not south, that bit is clear," Ian reminded.

          "I say we split our forces," Steve said, standing with his arms crossed thoughtfully over his chest. "We've got enough numbers here to still be a formidable force even if we split. It's our best chance to whittle down his numbers before things get heated, he won't be able to keep his army separated forever."

          "Steve's right," Herobrine agreed. Both of his hands were resting on the table, one lightly covering Queen Anne's hand, who stood beside him. "If we split our forces, we can cover more ground and be more maneuverable."

          "But we'll also be out of contact with each other," Queen Anne pointed out, "and it will take longer for messages, commands, or words of the battle to get from one group to the next."

          "It's a risk we'll have to take," Jason said.

          "My army has the fastest horses in the land," Lord Rob said, an edge of pride in his voice. "My fathers have been breeding them for generations, they are tireless and can outpace anyone and anything. We can travel between the armies and pass on messages."

          "Our main base will be here, the base of the Team Crafted alliance," Herobrine said. "We'll always keep an army here as a reserve and when the command comes to return home, it means come here."

          "So now that we know what we're doing, what's the plan to win the battles?" Lord Gizzy asked.

          "We'll split up the armies according to whose territory the battle will be fought in," Queen Anne said, drawing a hidden dagger from her boot using the hand that wasn't covered by Herobrine's and gesturing to the map. "That way we'll have the advantage of home ground. The specifics would obviously vary depending on the battle itself-"

          "But we can have a main tactic at least to base everything off of," Mitch continued. "Anyone know anything specific about these weird beasty things?"

          "They move in a military fashion," Lord David said with a shrug. "Apart from that, I guess we're going to find out in the battles."

          "Start with basic head-on attacks before you start trying to use sneak attacks or anything else fancy," Steve said. "Work with each other beforehand to come up with strategies that all the armies know. Our greatest advantage is that we've got the skill set of half a dozen armies here, so we can throw a lot of different curveballs at them.

          "We'll have to send sorcerers with each of the armies," Herobrine added. "If you see Entity, Dreadlord, or Acid, whatever you do, do not attack them one on one. You'll need a group of sorcerers to do that and even then the odds aren't too great. Basically, if you can avoid getting into a fight with those three, do it."

          "There are a few sorcerers who are not ready for battle," Aramis said. He was the only one that was sitting and he did it with his pointer fingers pressed together and elbows resting on the table. "They will have to be trained before going into a fight."

          Herobrine gave a nod. "Then do it. We'll need all the help we can get."