Disclaimer: I don't own Skyrim or any of the mods mentioned.

The hero who was not

Chapter one: Bored

It all started because of boredom. Yes, boredom. Don't be surprised Hjoromir, your so called teacher always did things as he pleased. He liked being admired so he took you on as an apprentice. When you showed no progress he left you at the Elysium estate.

It was not to keep you safe, in truth he wouldn't have mourned you if the worst has come to pass, and it was very likely that during his darkest moments he might have killed you himself. I know what goes through your head right now: It's not true! Darius is not a thalmor! He was nor a thief nor an assassin. Hi killed Alduin to save us all, not so that he can take over!

The truth is Iwant to believe that Darius is the dragonborn of legend that will save us all too, that he is just under pressure, that he will walk through that door smiling, ready to tell you about his adventure or tell you about a new move he learned before he offers to teach it to you but that isn't going to happen.

Hi is out of control, Hjoromir, and while that makes him feel "alive" his fun is treating to tear skyrim and afterwards tamriel to shreds. He has to be stopped and right now you are the only person he trusts to go near him. He thinks you're harmless and that could work in our favor.

If this letter has reached you, if you're actually interested in hearing what I have to say and helping everyone you care about meet me in Cradlecrush rock. If not enjoy the few days you have of him pretending to be sane before he ends you.

-Ondolemar.

Whit shaking hands Hjoromir put the letter down. It was true that there were rumors going around that his teacher had killed the emperor and that there was something fishy behind the quick ascension to harbinger and the mysterious way the silverhand had snuck in Whiterun undetected but this just couldn't be Darius's doing. He went out of his way to help people! Heck once he used magic to plant an entire forest just because a little girl had said that would make her happy.

He looked behind him to see the bosmer in the kitchen, preparing venison stew and snowberry crostatas for dinner. It was strange to imagine that the mer could be responsible for all the things that have been happening lately. Dressed in an apron, with a chef's hat on his head instead of a helmet and wielding a spoon instead of his favorite daedric bastard sword he looked just like an average elf.

Darius suddenly stopped and looked over his shoulders. Hjoromir could see nothing wrong with him. He was frowning, but then again he almost never smiled these days. His teacher's ears twitched which was a sure sign that he was contemplating something.

"Something on your mind?"

There it was, the question. When they traveled together Darius would ask him that from time to time to help him deal with the stress of adventuring. The bosmer always cared about his wellbeing, always peeked safer places for them to explore, never made him carry heavy stuff, even if the only redeeming point in the young nord's resume was that he was a "pack mule with a sense of humor".

The mer was like the big brother he never had but always wanted. There was no way Darius could be faking his actions, no way was he a thalmor.

"Yes, a great battle! I am cornered in a bear den. The beast knows I am faced with overwhelming odds and takes its time cornering me, almost as if it is gloating. But when it gets close enough I strike! I stab the bear right in the eye with my ebony dagger.

The pain weakens it but its rage gives it strength. At the same time it also dulls the bear's mind. As it clumsily tries to strike me I whirl around it with my dagger. It gleams like moonlight and for a time the sound of it cutting the flesh of the noble beast is the only thing I can hear. And then after what felt like an eternity I felt more than heard the bear exhale its final breath."

As I finish my tale and put the cushion I have been using as a dagger I see that Darius was smiling a little.

"And then you skinned the bear and made a coat out of it that looks just like that annoying noble we met in The Blue palace described just to see how angry he'll get, right?"

"Right!" I said without missing a heartbeat. This was normal for them. He'll start the story and Darius will give it a ridiculous ending. Like that time he had told him of an imaginary battle he had with a spriggan and Darius had finished with him becoming the boss of the spriggan underground and ruling them with a flaming flask.

Darius was laughing and shaking his head now, his teacher was fine, he was normal; there wasn't even a hint of the malice necessary to commit even one of the crimes that had happened since the return of the dragons.

With his fear elevated Hjoromir started setting up the table, mentally berating himself for believing a thalmor justiciar of all things.

After they ate Darius went to the basement, where his workshop and trophy room were, and Hjoromir made himself comfortable in front of the fire place in the living room. This was a nice house, the bosmer had once told him he had stumbled upon it by chance and had to harvest the key from a shrine of Kynareth. Darius had a habit to visit the grave of the Gardener, which was the name of the previous owner, and sometimes planted new flowers over it.

Hjoromir slept in the guest house and Darius in the main one. It was nice having space to himself after he had to live in inns or outside of them, when he couldn't afford a room, after leaving his family, more specifically his abusive father.

It was on a sunny day he had met Darius outside the Sleeping Giant inn in Riverwood. He had been kicked out of another job; he may or may not have dreamed about defeating a vile necromancer while cooking and ended up breaking the pot he was using, and just when Delphine had agreed to give him a second chance too.

Seeing as he had never seen the man before he had hoped no one had told him of his little "work curse". He had startled him with his over eager introduction which led to him being lectured about how desperation around strangers attracts vultures, he had even gotten the talk too and by Talos was it embarrassing.

After his dignity had suffered a deadly blow he had practically been interrogated about his family. He had been amazed when the bosmer had agreed to take him on as an apprentice, even more so when the mer had spend the reminder of the day making him ebony weapons and armor. "No apprentice of mine is going to go in battle dressed like that young man, now change and let's hit the road! And no whining about the cost!"

It was a dream come true, to finally go on a adventure, even if Darius always went in front of him and took the monsters out before he could assists. Sure his teacher had told him to stay at the estate and train, but that was only because he was worried, surely it was not to hide anything from him!

Hjoromir had the feeling that if he didn't go and meet this Ondolemar this was just going to gnaw at him and that would just irritate Darius. Slowly the nord rose from his comfy seat and went to gather supplies. It was time for an adventure.

Author's note:

This is a retailing of my bosmer dovahkiin Darius through the eyes of those who know him. The idea came to me when I installed the dead is dead mod. (No, Darius is not dead yet, I'm really careful to not give in to the habit of jumping from the trough of the world, or whirlwind sprint off cliffs and well the list goes on and on.) I wanted to remember him since he was my first bosmer dovahkiin and I haven't given up on him yet, he has survived 3 months, which makes him my seventh longest surviving characters. (The others were killed by the Ebony warrior, he just shouted them off a cliff and since dead is dead…) Before anyone asks Darius and Hjoromir are just teacher and apprentice, so what you witnessed was bromance. As you might have noticed from the letter Darius is more than a little batty, just how batty you'll find out if you read the story.