He never believed it. Not in a million years would he have ever thought that the Nightingales were a thing. Everyone at the guild assumed that it was just a way to keep the young footpads in line. He'd actually been told by Mercer Frey himself when he first joined that if he didn't stop acting up that Nocturnal was going to sneak into his room and snatch him up.

At the time of course, he'd just laughed it off and told Mercer that he'd stop placing Skeever droppings inside of his bed.

But now here he was – side by side with Karliah and Balithus, stepping into Nightingale Hall. Brynjolf was still very hesitant about what Karliah was telling him. After all, being told for twenty years that she murdered the previous guild master would make it difficult for anybody. However, as he rubbed his grizzled hand over the cave walls to make sure this wasn't all a dream, he started to relent. Perhaps all the accusations about her weren't completely true after all.

"You're the first of the uninitiated to set foot in here for over a century…" Karliah informed them as they turned a corner, pointing over to the three altars located over to the side of the hall.

Whistling in astonishment, Brynjolf glanced around at how deserted and dirty the whole place seemed. There were benches toppled over carelessly, and what appeared to have once been a sleeping area was now covered in spider webs. "Nocturnal really let this place go, didn't she?" he quipped.

"Well, as I just said, you're-"

"Yeah, I know, just an observation is all."

Balithus was the first to step up to the stones, swiping a hand over one of them and marvelling as a small, dark wave of energy surged at his touch. "What are these things? Magical rocks? Are we gonna chuck magical rocks at Mercer? 'Cause I get first dibs if we do!"

Brynjolf chuckled and looked over at Karliah, and he could've sworn that she had actually smirked a little bit before shaking her head. It must've been hard living out on her own for so long.

"Place your hand directly on the altar, and your journey will truly begin," she stated, placing her palm gingerly upon the stone figure.

"Did you rehearse that before you came here…" Balithus tried to joke.

"Just put your hand on the damn thing!"

Not wanting to poke the beast that was Karliah Indoril, the two men quickly did the same and felt the shadows overtake them. The armour magically formed around them, consuming them in the coolest-looking armour that either of them had ever seen. But not only was it a unique fashion statement, but Brynjolf could actually feel physically stronger than before.

However, he was just dying to ask her this.

"Does this come in red?" he asked, examining the fabric of the cape.

"What?"

"This is wicked awesome! Hermaeus Mora's got nothing on this!" Balithus exclaimed, completely ignoring their conversation.

"I said does it come in red? I feel like I should be able to choose the colour of this thing."

Karliah face-palmed, and though Brynjolf couldn't see her face through the mask, he could tell she was rolling her eyes. He didn't see what the harm was in making their situation just a little less bleak, and he was always known around the guild for being quite humorous at times.

"Why would you get to choose… you know what, nevermind. Let's just get this pledge over with before I end up shooting an arrow through your groin," she groaned, beckoning for them to follow towards a sealed-off area with what looked to be (what else?) three pillars.

Wait a minute. Pledge? What was she talking about?

"What exactly are we agreeing to here, Karliah? I need to know the terms!"

"The terms are quite simple, Brynjolf," she started turning back to her companions to make sure they were ready to truly become the Nightingale trinity. "In exchange for the powers befitting a Nightingale, you are to serve under Nocturnal, protecting the Hall and serving her in life and death until your oath is complete."

"Well, as long as I can keep the costume, I'm good!" Balithus exclaimed, clearly not turned off by the prospect of serving a Daedric Lord in the afterlife. After a bit more convincing, Brynjolf eventually relented as well, seeing's how it would be the only way to stop Mercer from taking off.

Plus, Balithus did have a point – these fancy getups were pretty awesome indeed.

"Alright then. I'll lower the gate and hopefully Nocturnal won't be too angry to talk to me… What are you two doing now?!" Karliah asked, turning to face the two goofballs.

"Check me out! I'm invisible!" Balithus stated, hiding his body with his cape, even though she could clearly see him hiding in the corner.

"I can see you, Balithus."

"Nope! I'm invisible!"

"No you're not – Bryn! Why did you take off your armour?!"

"It's too cold, lass!" he gestured to the material now resting in his arms, "It's like Nocturnal dumped all our clothes into the Sea of Ghosts!"

Karliah looked back and forth between the two of them, trying to figure out if it was just Sheograth's way of playing tricks on her. They couldn't be this silly, could they? Oh gods above…

"Where'd the lad go?" Brynjolf questioned, noticing that he indeed disappeared in front of their eyes this time.

"Balithus! Come out here at once! We need to get going!" Karliah called, her voice echoing throughout the cave walls. When they got no reply, Karliah folded her arms across her chest and leaned back on the wall.

"Danger lurks in the night!"

Startled, Karliah smacked Balithus right across the face, with Brynjolf laughing hysterically at the scene. The wood elf rubbed his nose in pain, but smiled at the same time – weird combination.

"What the bloody hell are you doing that for?!" Karliah yelled, tapping her foot like a mother scolding her children… which was pretty much what she felt like at this point.

"Well, Miss Bossy-Pants, I was being stealthy! A silent guardian, a watchful protector, a dark kni-"

Smack!

"Are you both quite finished? In case you haven't noticed, the fate of the guild is resting upon our shoulders! In order for us to have any chance against Mercer Frey, we must have Nocturnal at our backs!" she exclaimed, already exhausted at their behaviour.

The two of them nodded slowly, having seemingly regained their composures.

"Finally… alright, let's get to it. What in Azura's name have I agreed to?" she asked rhetorically, pulling the chain and stepping into the room. She was about to take her place on the middle pillar, when all of a sudden…

"We are so scaring the pants off Delvin with these costumes when we get back."

Smack!