Hello! While I take a break from my other stories, I've decided to post this soon-to-be trilogy.

FYI, this fic is AU, and my interpretation of the story line of Oblivion. The hero of Kvatch's name in this trilogy is Aeris. Each part of the trilogy is a new chapter of Aeris's life and a new love interest. While I will be incorporating certain parts of the actual game's story and quest lines, I will not be including most parts - only the necessary ones. I'm terrible at summaries and author notes...don't let it deter you from trying out the story!

Anyway, Enjoy!

..

..

An unwavering hand drew the cord of a large bow taut. The action stretched the weapon's limb, curving it to an almost unnatural bend. Another hand drew an arrow black as night, streaked in silver with a plume of feathers in a deep shade of purple to place it in the void between the bow and cord. The woman holding the two was calm against a stormy night. Though the wind blustered against her body, her arms held true, keeping the weapon steadily pointed at her target. Her eyes glinted in the moon's gaze, bouncing back and forth from each guard positioned around the tower in her sights. She sighed before drawing in a deep breath and pulled the bowstring even further past her ear. She had one shot, and she wasn't about to let the wind ruin the kill.

In a fluid motion, her finger released the cord. As the arrow was sent cutting through the night air like the swipe of a cutlass against grass, her arm fell slowly, bringing the top of the bow to follow in the path of the arrow before it swung limp by her side. In a mere second more the deed was done. The whistling of the arrow's feathers had ceased and the huntress squinted her eyes through the darkened tower window in search of her kill. She replaced the bow in its holster on her back before casting herself invisible. A small smirk appeared on her lips at the thought of her bypassing those dolts standing guard at the tower. She was about to climb right through the window, right in front of their faces.

Her feet pushed off of the tree she was hiding in, tossing her body through the air towards a stone wall not too far below. Not a second after she had landed, she was once more gone from the wall. Her hands were now gripping at the base of the window, pulling her body's weight up towards the opening. Experienced feet padded silently through to the floor of the dark room. She closed her eyes for a moment to revel in the shadows encasing her being. Resuming her pace, she moved towards the bed. Her victim lay motionless before her, eyes wide in the realization of death just before it hit him. The killer poked lightly at the cloth around the arrow in the man's chest. It was still completely dry, the arrow acting as a vacuum plug for the pooling flesh underneath. The corpse's mouth however, told a different story. Gushing blood still in lifelessness, his lips were stretched open in the endings of a silent cry. She grimaced at the sight and removed her arrow while bringing her fingers to his eyes in a motion to close them forever. The woman solemnly placed the arrow back in its quiver and turned on her heel towards the window.

Just as she reached her exit, her eyes widened as she remembered one more thing she needed to do. Chuckling quietly to herself at her absentmindedness, her hand disappeared into a bag at her side, only to resurface with a small flower. She placed the Nightshade gingerly on the corpse, covering the now bloody hole with the delicate object. Its soft, pink petals seemed to glow in the light of the moon, framed by the velveteen liquid flowing from the wound it covered. Satisfied in her funeral, the woman turned once more, this time to leave the corpse behind for good.

The moon shined a bright, almost effervescent ray through clouds of trees to rest on a sulking individual. Sweat on the subject's forehead pooled together in small droplets to rivet slowly down her face. She automatically wiped with her sleeve. Another droplet fell. Another wipe.

She was a mechanical object tonight, set to react only when necessary, while consistently moving step after slow step towards her goal. She had no feeling, no emotion, and no intent other than to lie down and sleep. Her legs creaked one after the other, padding back down to the dirt below in a monotonous, almost lazy fashion. It wasn't without reason, of course. Hers had been a job full of great burden, of which she now carried on her shoulders alone. Three targets in two days. The last one was by far the most challenging, not because of retaliation. In fact, she had been lucky enough to stumble upon a large tree with a clear view into the victim's chambers. No, it was the journey to and from the killing spot that seemed to suck the life right out of her already fatigued body. It had been a stressful process, getting from outside the castle walls to the tower. Being the furthest building inside the walls wasn't enough of a game for fate to play with her. She had encountered many guardsmen along the way, fighting silently and efficiently so as not to arouse suspicion. By the time she had finally completed her vengeful task and left the castle grounds, her body felt near to collapsing. She couldn't stop, however, under any circumstances. The death of a nobleman would soon be made known to any guards that hadn't succumbed to the assassin's prowess. Loitering any longer would only bring her among those whose lives she had taken.

She realized this, and she ran. Ran until her lungs screamed in pain. Ran until her heart pounded in her chest like the rumbling of a stampede. Ran until her feet and legs finally gave way and she fell to the ground, panting and wheezing. She gulped down lumps in her throat and pounded her fist into the dirt, sobbing in angry mourning. The world stopped around her, and the only things she could hear was the repeated mutterings of 'I'm sorry' from her own lips, and the erratic pulse of her aching heart through her temple. She lowered her throbbing head into her arms, and let loose the burden she had been holding for so long in a flurry of tears.

In the shadows of the hauntingly dark trees around the woman, a cloaked figure watched in utter silence.

..

..

"M'lady!"

Tired eyes turned slowly to the source of the caller's voice. It was a young boy, dirty and grimy from standing in the mud all day. He was waiving a paper quite ecstatically while quickening his steps towards his soon-to-be patron.

"M'lady, I've got a paper for you. You look like you could use a few words to cheer you up!" The boy grasped at her limp hand, opening her fingers and placing the paper in her palm. His eyes lit for a moment before he held up a finger, signaling for her patience. The woman waited quietly, grasping just tight enough to barely keep the paper from falling.

Her joints ached and her muscles screamed at her in anguish with each movement. Though her body was tired, her senses were still sharp, and she took in the comforting sight of innocence. Physically tired and mentally exhausted, she watched the youngling and memorized how he looked. Death begat sadness, and all she longed for was even a small bit of happiness. Her gaze found it in the boy, and she wanted to remember it. He was rummaging through a sack, moving tiny fingers through wads of paper. His hair was tousled, in a way that only a boy of his age could manage. His ragged clothes showed the signs of a beggar while his lack of shoes and dirty feet proved to her he was homeless.

Before long he yelped a victorious 'Got it!' as his hands brought up a small, red string. He took the paper from the woman's rough hand and rolled it up, smoothing out the edges before gently tying the string around it. Gripping her hand again as if to teach her how to hold the object, he stamped his foot excitedly and looked up.

"You don't read it until you get home. Take a rest, sleep a little bit, and then read all about how a man and a woman found love by gardening together in the Arboretum! It's a great story." His grin was something from a place far away from the woman, and she curved her mouth in amusement.

"Can you even read, boy? How old are you?" She kneeled in front of him, bringing herself to his eye level. She watched him clasp his hands behind his back and listened with anticipation while he recited for her the alphabet.

"I've lived for 6 years, and that's not all! While I might not be able to read as fast as some, I can still read! It's slow, but I get the job done eventually." The woman shook her head and looked around at the passersby. She opened her mouth to speak, but instead closed it and decided on a different response. She winced a bit as she pulled out a few gold coins from her pocket. Offering them to the boy silently, she watched his face brighten like a Sundas morning, teeth flashing like the stars above Nirn.

"Is this all for me, M'lady?" His voice was fervent, and he started wiggling his arms while he looked on in amazement at what she held. She nodded and patted his head after he had the coins in his possession. She stood up to leave, then paused when she saw his face. Another smile formed on her lips when she noticed a tear drop from his dirt caked cheek. He suddenly hugged her legs, sniffling and snorting back his messy tears. The grip was tight around her and for a moment she didn't know what to do. The sharpness of her senses left her, and the experiences from the days prior were sent miles away as something dim and warm grew stronger in her heart. The tired woman reached her arms down and picked the boy up, cradling him in a motherly embrace. She gently held him, patting and rubbing his back as he cried out pent up anger and loneliness in liquid form into her shoulder. When his sniffling subsided, the woman gently set him back down on the ground and handed him a small pack taken from her belt.

"You take this, boy. Don't open it until you are somewhere safe and alone. When you see what's inside, close it again and think about what you want to do. Don't sell papers anymore. Just go and…live." He nodded obediently and wiped his face with a grimy sleeve. She smiled warmly at him once more before turning away to continue towards the gates of Talos Plaza.

When the city's giant doors closed shut behind the angel, the boy ran into a covered corner, behind a myriad of bushes. He waited for what seemed like an eternity to him, until the sun was almost set. Finally, he deemed it safe to open her present. Upon releasing the string that tied the small sack, he felt his eyes well up once more with tears. Gold coins shined and sparkled amongst every color of the rainbow beneath the canvas cloth. Jewels of all shapes and sizes glistened in the dimming sunlight and into the boy's eyes. It was a small fortune and more than he had ever held or seen before. He couldn't hold his tears back any longer, and he let his eyes flood freely. The boy had been alone, but then he found her, his angel. She helped him when no others would, and he would never forget.

..

..

"You sleep rather soundly for a murderer… Aeris." Eyelids shot open at the sound of her name, only to be met with complete darkness. As her eyes adjusted, she scanned the room with much strain; it appeared her candle had gone out at some point. Her search came up empty as she confirmed that there wasn't anyone else in the room with her.

"Must've been a dream…" She mumbled to herself as she swung her legs out from under the blanket to hang over the edge of the bed. She released a stiff groan when her stretching yielded nothing more than a sore back. Aeris brought herself to stand and walked slowly to a small desk, being careful not to bump into anything on the way. Her hand finally reached a cold, metallic glass and she raised it hungrily to her mouth, quenching her thirst with stale mead.

Something thin and sharp pressed itself against her throat, just before she took another swig of her drink. Her muscles tensed and she froze with eyes wide. A warm body pushed against her back while an arm wrapped menacingly around her waist, holding her tightly.

Aeris felt the body shake as a deep chuckle writhed and curled out of a mouth that was too close to her ear.

"You can finish drinking. A fresh kill often leaves me thirsty as well."

With a sudden bout of anger firing up in her chest, she rebelled against his remark and spat the drink out messily. She felt the stranger sigh. He released her waist and removed the blade from her skin. She watched silently while he took an uncomfortable amount of time cleaning the blade of any mead she had gotten on it.

"Anything that isn't water has a chance of spoiling the life of a good blade if left alone." The man's voice was a soft thunder against the quiet of the small room. Minutes seemed to roll by effortlessly as the two stood in front of each other, watching the being before them. Finally, the man spoke first.

"My name is Lucien. I am from a…brotherhood that is interested in your talents and abilities. We would like to extend you an invitation to join our ranks." Lucien clenched his jaw when Aeris scoffed at his words.

"I'm not interested in working for the Dark Brotherhood."

"I implore you to rethink your brash response. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. Besides, we both have something the other wants."

Aeris narrowed her eyes and answered with a thick layer of skepticism, "What could you possibly have for me that I can't already get on my own?"

"Allies." His arrogance tore through her resolve like a brick through paper, leaving her fragile mind alone to sloppily attempt at patching up the hole it left. She realized with much stubborn struggle that Lucien must have been watching her for quite some time. She knew the Dark Brotherhood was resourceful, but she had never thought about just how good they were.

"Remind me, Aeris, who was your last kill? In fact who were your last three kills?" He waited for a moment to see if she would bother answering his rhetorical questions. When there came not but a breath from her person, he continued.

"I've seen what you've done. Your actions have left you friendless and alone. It wasn't your fault of course; they were all traitors – terrible people. But what do you have to show for your vengeance besides a few marks of their blood staining your clothes? I can offer you a home; a place where each person will never even think of betraying you. And of course, gold."

Confusion tainted the woman's features as she mulled over his words.

"Any questions?" Lucien read her face like an open book, and prompted her to vocalize her thoughts.

"But I…I didn't kill anyone. Anyone innocent. I thought the Brotherhood appears if you've… murdered." Aeris barely choked out the finishing words to her statement. As her voice cracked at the end, realization of a grave mistake washed over her spine, curling and twisting her insides. She vomited the day old mead onto the desk next to her, heaving more from terrible guilt than from the drink.

"I can see you've already answered your own question." He paused as another round of dry heaves escaped her mouth.

"The last man you killed… with that exquisitely beautiful arrow… he was in love with you and coincidentally would have probably never done anything to harm your being. He was merely guilty in your eyes by association. I apologize for not telling you sooner…" Another heave from the now shaking woman, "…but you needed to follow your own path. I could not interfere." Aeris reeled from the desk and cranked her arm back in preparation for a punch. She swung at the man, anger and regret seething and burning inside of her gut. Lucien effortlessly grabbed hold of her wrist and buried his dagger into her arm. With a cry of pain, Aeris pulled away from his grasp, clutching at her bloodied limb in stupefied horror. She fell to the wooden floor beneath her feet, mind moving a mile a minute, yet she was unable to think of anything in particular at all. Her thoughts became blank, slowly being filled with the dark and smoky hues of sheer pain. She hazily felt a warm hand wrap around her chin, pulling her out of her self-induced madness. She focused her eyes on two dark orbs in front of her while her ears defogged themselves to hear what Lucien was saying.

"…a restoration spell. Use your damn magic." His words rang clear as bells toward the end. It was enough to snap her out of her comatose shock. Without a word, Aeris waved a glowing hand over the wound, closing off the open flesh and mending tendons and sinews underneath the new skin. When the soft hum of a magical aura faded, her arm was as perfect is it ever had been. She leaned her back against the side of the bed and rested to rebuild her magicka stores.

Her panting slowed finally and her breathing continued at a normalized pace. She was fine now, voiding herself of any regretful thoughts. She didn't have time to try and repent for her actions. It was too late for that. Resolving to change the course of her life, she cleared her throat softly.

"Is there something I need to do." Lucien rested his eyes on her form. She seemed small now, small and calm and quiet. In a much softer voice, he continued his conversation with her.

"If you would like to join us, you will simply need to kill again." His gloved hand moved into his robe and pulled out a small, sealed envelope. He offered it slowly and gently.

"Your first assignment of many, should you so choose. If you accept my offer, take this virgin dagger to taint its blade with his blood. If you refuse, you need not do anything. Ignore the letter and go on with your life, and I promise I will leave you be in peace."

Aeris closed her eyes in thought, scrunching her brows together in frustration. In her mind, all she could hear was her acceptance to his offer. There was only a small voice that pleaded with her to rethink her options. When her eyes opened again to lay on Lucien's irises, the small voice was gone and replaced with a new fire, stronger than ever. Her hand reached for the parchment and dagger, while her eyes reflected a timid gratitude towards the man. Lucien nodded in approval, and turned invisible, leaving her alone once again.