Skyrim, 4th era, from the 201st year on

Irroknir was a Nord: a man proud of his origins, who had lived a fulfilling life, and who was proud of his achievements. His life was good.

Until he was caught, that is.

You see, Irroknir war part of the Stormcloak army. Of course, that meant that when the Imperial troops ambushed his group, plus one random civilian who was caught in the crossfire, he was immediately sentenced to death.

That's how he was shipped off to Helgen to get his head chopped off.

With a stroke of luck he escaped, and from there things kept spiraling out of control, with him learning he was a Dragonborn, and that his destiny was to defeat Alduin, the World Eater.

His travels to accomplish such a quest were long and arduous. In the end, he managed to defeat Alduin, but a great price came with it.

Although, this is not his story. Instead, we will talk about a young boy who was very close to Irroknir: Galse, his son.

On the day Irroknir entered Sovngarde to never leave it, Galse was only nine years old. Normally, a child would be confused as to why their father had to leave, but not Galse. He had accompanied his father on his adventures a good enough amount of times that he had to grow up faster. So, when Irroknir was leaving his family for the last time, Galse already knew that there was a chance he would lose his father.

When Irroknir wasn't ever heard of again, his mother, Leloe, was distraught. She would often be seen staring at nothing, wallowing in grief. Galse had to step up, and take care of her, as she would barely do anything herself. As the years went by, she slowly snapped out of it, and began to act like a mother again. Meanwhile, thanks to his father's friends, Galse had become a good hunter, and a decent baker, courtesy of Ralof and his sister.

The peace wasn't meant to last, unfortunately. The civil war was still going strong, and another Imperial ambush caught Riverwood unprepared. The village was left in ruins, and Leloe was caught under the burning remains of their house.

Alone, devastated and resentful, Galse resolved to stop the thrice-damned war once and for all, and as such he joined the Stormcloaks, just like his father before him. He was thirteen at the time.

Skyrim, Whiterun Stormcloak camp. 4th era, 209th year

Four years. Four years had he been fighting. Four years since he was truly alone. It was a somber thought, sure, but at least Galse didn't dwell on the past terribly much. He did keep it to heart, to remember why he fought, but the past was just that: the past. Today he turned 17, and due to his excellent track record, he was going to get to lead a squadron by himself.

It seemed that it was not meant to be, as a bright golden light filled his vision, and he felt the world crumble around him. During his years had seen some crazy things, but what was before him stunned him silent. A golden dragon, bigger than Whiterun itself was standing in front of him. Well, more like floating, as there was no ground to speak of around them.

"Drem yol lok, goraam Dovahkiin. Hi mindok zu'u ol Bormahu, rah do tiid. Zu'u mindoraan daar hi los jeydahk, ful vos wah gelaar druv zu'u prel hi." The dragon spoke, in a thundering voice full of power. Galse was shocked at the fact that he recognized what was said perfectly:

"Greetings, young Dragonborn. You know me as Akatosh, god of time. I know that you are confused, so allow me to explain why I called you."

Galse was still stunned into silence, but what he understood sent him in an even bigger loop. "Did you just call me a Dragonborn?"

Akatosh lowered his head until he could stare right at the young man's face. "You heard correctly. You are a Dragonborn, just like your father. Normally, you would have been a normal mortal child, as there may be only one for every era. Unfortunately, I could not allow myself to take any chances with Alduin, so I granted you the same powers your father had, should he have failed."

Galse was having a very hard time trying to wrap his head around that new information. It really wasn't any day that an ancient god revealed something about you that you thought impossible.

It took him a bit, but he managed to collect himself enough to speak up. "While I appreciate that you graced me with your blessing, I must ask, mighty Akatosh. Why tell me? Why not simply replace my soul and be done with it with me none the wiser?"

The great dragon let a slight grimace appear on his muzzle. "That is not something I wish to consider. While giving you a dragon soul at your birth was easy, it cannot be said the same for taking it. In addition, your body had the time to bind with your soul. As such, forcefully removing it would kill you. I do not wish to cause you any more harm than what you already endured."

Galse nodded, internally thanking what luck he still had for that, and considered carefully what to say next. Before he could say anything, Akatosh began talking once more.

"I apologize, but you cannot remain on Nirn anymore. Before you protest, know that I do not want to do this either. Your secret was only known to me, and if any of the other divines came to know of that… You do not want to know the consequences. Please, forgive me, but neither of us has a choice on the matter."

Galse was once more stunned. Everything he had worked so hard for… all the struggles would amount to nothing? That in the end, he couldn't even accomplish his final goal?! HOW WAS THAT FAIR?!

Akatosh could see the frustration grow in Galse, but did nothing. Galse finally exploded, and let out some of the most colorful curses he had learned during his years of war, Akatosh simply let him vent.

Once Galse had spent all of his fury, all that was left was emptiness. Akatosh gave him the most apologetic look he could muster, trying to find a way to make it up to the young Nord. A moment later, he had an idea.

"I cannot say I know what you are going through, but I know something that might help you." With that, he channeled his divine powers, and reached into Sovngarde. Sensing the one he was looking for, he plucked him, and brought him to them. When he opened his eyes once again, the translucent figure of Irroknir was standing between them.

Galse's eyes flickered over the ghost, before his face lit up in recognition and joy. "F-father? Is that really you?" He tried to touch the figure, but found his hand slipping through.

Irroknir was a little confused about the young man calling him father, but then his eyes caught sight of a pendant on his neck, recognizing it as one he had crafted. "Galse? How… how long has it been? But I'm dead… Did you die too?"

Galse shook his head. "No, I'm not dead to my knowledge. It's been eight years, and as you can see, a lot changed." He gestured to his armor, which was obliviously of Stormcloak origin. "After mother's death, four years after you, I joined the Stormcloak cause like you did so long ago. And another four years later, Lord Akatosh revealed to me that like you, I am a Dragonborn.

"Now, he's telling me that I cannot remain in Nirn anymore. I have no idea as to where I'm supposed to go. All I worked so hard for would be turned to nothing once I leave, and… I really don't know what to do, father. I'm more confused now than ever in my life." He hung his head in hopelessness, unwilling to continue anymore.

Irroknir smiled kindly, and replied to his son the best he could. "While I can guess why this is happening, all I can tell you is that you have every right to be confused, but you must remember that you need not lose sight of what is truly important. You must do your best to keep on living.

"I don't think Lord Akatosh wanted to simply kill you, so chances are that you are going to be sent to another realm. Otherwise, we'd be both in Sovngarde right now, wouldn't we?" His attempt to make light of the situation worked a bit, as Galse cracked a smile. "So, I say: you can't change it, so just live with it! Remember that I'm always with you, and so is your mother."

Galse nodded, a spark of hope lighting up within him. "Thank you, father. I'll make sure to live my life as best as I can, for both of you."

Irroknir felt his pride swell, looking upon his son for the last time, and couldn't resist. "Make sure that next time we meet you'll have a pretty woman for me to look at, you hear?"

Galse shook his head lightly in amusement. "Seems even death didn't change this part of you, eh? I'll see what I can do."

Irroknir nodded to his son once more, and then to Akatosh, who was watching silently. The dragon loosened his hold on Irroknir's soul, and let him drift back to Sovngarde. He turned to the young Dovahkiin, and spoke. "Before sending you off, I must warn you: the world you will reach works in a very different way from your own, so be prepared for a big amount of surprises." The god stretched his neck to the sky once again, and focused his power on Galse.

"Oh, and one last thing," he added "please do not spread word too much of your world. You may tell your friends, but keep it secret, understood?" Galse nodded once again, so he focused on finally sending off the young man.

Another bright flash, a cracking thunderclap, and Galse wasn't there anymore. Akatosh was about to leave too, but a small detail he had forgot to mention slapped him metaphorically in the muzzle. "I forgot to tell him how to use any Thu'um… That can wait a bit, I suppose."

Gamindustri, Planeptune.

A young girl was treading carefully through a forest, intent of reaching a certain spot. She had been staring at the night sky until half an hour ago, when she saw someone falling through the sky, followed quickly by a big impact, and a couple seconds later, a big golden flash originating from the same spot.

So, she had taken it upon herself to help whoever had experienced that fall. She was a nurse-in-training, after all! She couldn't just let someone get hurt and do nothing. That conviction didn't help her prepare for the bizarre sight in front of her.

A petite girl was literally speared headfirst into the ground, and a couple feet away from her was lying a young man wearing some weird armor. She couldn't stop herself from marveling at his face for a small while: his messy blonde hair and light beard gave him a roguish charm, and the number of small scars littering his face showed he was quite the seasoned fighter, too.

Shaking her head lightly, Compa got to work on the most problematic of the two. Grabbing the girl's legs, she pulled with all of her might, pulling her out after a couple of tries. Now, there was only one question: how was she going to drag them both to a safe place?

Luckily for her, the universe decided to help her out, in the way of the boy waking up. He let out a groan, and blinked the spots out of his vision. When he got up, he took notice of multiple things: one, he was in a completely unknown forest. Second, there were two girls next to him, one of them looking younger than him by a good amount, while the other was probably his age.

He slowly got up, checking if his body could still work. It was doing well, so that was good. Now, to address the other problem. He turned to the only girl awake. "Would you happen to know the way to the nearest town or city? I'd rather not get caught by something in the middle of the night."

Compa shook herself out of her stupor, and looked up to him. He was actually really tall, bordering around 6 ft. "A-Actually, I was planning to bring you there myself. I found both of you here passed out, and wanted to help." She gave a sheepish smile. "You really saved me a lot of trouble waking up just now. I doubt I could have carried you alone, let alone both of you."

Galse glanced at the young girl in her arms, and then back to the older one. "I appreciate you trying, if anything. Here, let me just…" He picked the younger one up. "Here. Just show me the way."

Compa got up, and dusted her skirt off. She moved back to the path, and turned to Galse. "Oh, by the way. I'm Compa. Nice to meet you!" She finished with a bright smile.

He couldn't avoid smiling a little himself. Compa's happiness was quite infectious. "Likewise, Compa. I am Galse. I'd shake your hand, but I don't have any free arms as it is." He shrugged his arms, jostling the little girl al little to prove his point.

Compa giggled a bit at that. "Alright , now we need to get a move on. Let's go, Ga-… Gal-… Gate-… Ganne-..." She grew visibly more and more flustered at her inability to pronounce his name. "Can I just call you Gal- Gal? Your name is too hard…"

He was just about to shoot her down, but her small pout was too adorable for him. "Normally I'd rather you don't." he let out a small sigh. "But I guess I can let it slide for you."

The two proceeded through the forest without any accident, exchanging some idle chatter, through which Galse managed to learn of his general location. Not much else, but it was a start.

Compa's apartment, afternoon.

While Compa was busying herself with something or the other, Galse was in the living room, reading some books to get more information on the world he was stranded in. Suddenly, a voice perked up from Compa's room. She quickly moved to check up on the young girl, shutting the door behind her. Galse didn't bother looking up, not really caring much. Although, when struggling noises and yells picked up, he couldn't stop himself from wondering just what was happening.

Risking a look in the room, he noticed that Compa was fussing on the young girl, who was trashing around on the bed, lots and lots of bandages being the only thing keeping her decent. Galse decided to leave. He had seen everything.

Noticing his bag in the corner of the living room, he picked it up to see what he had with himself. Nothing too exciting: some random potions, a couple septims, which were pretty much useless at that point, his bow, some steel arrows, and his sword. It wasn't anything extremely fancy, just a steel one-handed sword, but it did bring up a lot of memories, some less pleasant than others.

Tucking everything back, he returned to his book. Just a minute after, the two girls burst out of Compa's room, the still unknown one piping up.

"That was close… I was just an inch away from entering the light…"

Compa looked a bit miffed. "Oh, it wasn't that bad… I just made the wrap a wee bit tight."

The other girl was giving her a disbelieving look. "Really? I was wrapped tighter than some huge fighting mummy…"

Compa shook her head a bit, and chose to forgo that discussion. "So, um, why did Nep-Nep come from the sky and get stuck in the ground?"

The newly dubbed Nep made a thoughtful expression for a couple seconds, before speaking again. "I… don't know… I don't remember anything before coming here…"

Galse had heard enough times that story to be a bit wary. "I severely doubt that." The girls turned to him, just realizing that he had been there the entire time. "I heard this story a lot more times than should be normal. I'm not trusting you."

Nep looked a bit confused, but then a mischievous smirk grew on her face. "Oh, I see how it is. You are trying to keep your girl safe, aren't you?" Hearing that, Compa turned into a stuttering mess, and Galse was too stunned to reply. "I can already see how it works: she has the impulse to help everyone, so you look out for anyone that could take advantage of her! Oh, such a classic!"

Galse had managed to get back control of himself while she was ranting. "Let me stop you right there! She is most definitely NOT my girl, got it?" Once Nep shut her mouth, he continued. "Even then, what gives you the right to spout such absurd claims?"

Nep's smirk didn't waver one bit. It actually became more pronounced. "Why, I'm the great Neptune, the heroine! Of course I can recognize a cliché at first glance!"

Galse looked at her with a look of bewilderment and pity, and then turned to Compa. "I'm starting to believe that she actually has amnesia. She obliviously hit her head quite hard to be saying such idiocy with a straight face."

Neptune deflated immediately hearing that. "Hey, that was meaaaan…" Her stomach piped up immediately, proclaiming its need for tributes with a giant growl. "Um, you know what? I'm a bit hungry. Uh, do you have any food I can eat?"

Compa piped up. "Food? Well, I don't have much, but how about some pudding?"

Neptune looked actually puzzled there. "Pudding? Um, what's a pudding?"

Galse's face immediately lit up, remembering the delicious yellow jelly that Compa had called pudding, which she had offered to him in the morning. "It's the food of the gods, is what it is! You absolutely need to try it!"

Neptune looked a tad put off by his sudden eagerness, but went with it nonetheless. "Alright, I guess… Might as well give it a try."

A couple seconds later, Compa returned from the kitchen holding two yellow puddings. She gave one to Neptune, along with a spoon, and did the same for Galse. He immediately began to dig into the sugary goodness, Neptune hot on his heels after having a small taste herself.

"This is truly the food of the gods!" Neptune yelled after she finished her cup. "This must have been made by the finest chef in the world! Where can I get more?"

Compa was a bit flustered by that. "Well, I actually made it myself."

Neptune looked up at Compa with great amounts of respect and admiration in her eyes. "Amazing.. Compa, you are a genius…"

"I said so myself!" Galse piped up, having watched the whole debate while relaxing on the couch.

Compa blushed lightly, waving at the two embarrassedly. "Oh, stop teasing me, you two. Wait a minute. Let me get some more!"

Once she had disappeared behind the door, Neptune turned to Galse. "Say, are you sure she isn't your girlfriend?"

While he did give her a quizzical look, it didn't stop him from answering. "Yes, I'm quite sure there's nothing between us. Why?"

Neptune's grin turned to a full-blown smile. "Because I'm calling dibs on Compa! No way I'm letting her leave me after I just found her!"

Galse was left baffled at the cheekiness of that child, but instead of continuing that discussion, he simply kept his quiet.

Some pudding-filled time later…

"So, Nep-Nep," Compa began "what are you going to do now?"

Neptune pondered her answer a bit. "Well, I want to know what happened, so I'll go back to where I was found."

Compa got up. "Ooh! Then I can take you there, Nep-Nep!" She then turned to Galse. "Are you coming too, Gal-Gal?"

Galse moved to pick up his pack and sling it upon his back. "I've got no better options, plus I kind of know only you two around here, so there's that."

With that, they all set out of Compa's place.

Another wee bit later…

"Nep-Nep, what are you doing rummaging through the garbage?" Compa asked the small girl, who was sticking her head into a trash can. Galse was standing at her side, trying to comprehend whether he should laugh or be having a migraine at the moment.

In that moment, Neptune jumped out of the can, and came up to the two holding something. "Look what I found! A sword!" She gave it a look before continuing. "Well, it's a wooden sword, but still a sword!"

Galse had had enough of that. "Can we get a move on, please? I'd like to get to where we need to while we're still young, you know?"

A longer wee bit later…

"So, I suppose this is where I was elegantly lodged into the ground, right?" Neptune asked, looking at the surrounding forest.

"Well, not quite." Compa pointed in the direction Galse recognized they had come through the first time. "It's a bit further back, but…"

"…But?"

"There are monsters all over the place now." She finished.

Neptune eyed something coming towards them, and so did Galse. "Monsters? You mean that blue, dog-like, jelly thingy over there?"

Galse felt the need to pitch into the discussion too. "Yeah, it doesn't look intimidating at all. How can you call something like this a monster? I saw chickens scarier than this."

Neptune continued. "Um, this world has monsters all over the place like any RPG, right?" The unknown term made Galse furrow his brows in confusion, and he told himself he'd have to ask about that later.

"Not really." Replied Compa. "They just popped out of nowhere over the last few years."

Neptune seemed reassured by Compa's words. "Oh, ok then. Now let's go and get some XP while we're at it!" And another new word. He was in a new world, so of course he'd need to learn some stuff, but it was getting on his nerves a bit.

"Um, are you sure? I mean, can you really fight?" Considering the context, Galse deduced that 'XP' was connected to fighting. How exactly, he'd probably find out soon.

Neptune pointed her fist towards Compa, holding her thumb up. "Don't worry about me! I have my trusty sword (wood) and skills with me. It'll be a piece of cake!" Due to her words, Galse imagined that the sign she had made was supposed to be reassuring.

"Okay… if you say so. Well, I'll help too, then! Um, let me get this out…" With that, she pulled out a large transparent tube, with some kind of piston on one end, and a long, pointy, smaller tube on the other. The confusing part was that the thing was almost as tall as Compa herself, raising many questions.

"Wha-?! Compa, what's with that huge syringe?! Wait, where did that come from?!" Apparently Galse wasn't the only confused one.

Compa didn't seem to understand what was the problem. "Oh, I use this to fight. Where it came from? Well, that's a Compa secret…" She then remembered a certain detail. "Gal-Gal, do you have a weapon? I don't think I've seen you with one…"

Galse said nothing, but reached back into his sack, and pulled out his own sword, getting ready to fight.

-Battle start-

Galse could have sworn that he had heard a voice in his head just then. Nonetheless, he looked at his enemies: two of the jelly-like things. While he was examining his, admittedly underwhelming, enemies, Compa began talking again.

"Alright, the way fights work is easy. Everyone gets a turn, going from the fastest to the slowest in the battlefield. During your turn you can attack an enemy, use a special skill or an item. If you can't or don't want to do any of those, you can simply keep your guard up, lowering all damage you get until your next turn."

Galse blinked. He blinked again. That sounded extremely stupid! Who would willingly give their enemy a chance to attack them?! When he voiced those complaints, Compa smiled sheepishly.

"I get it sounds kinda weird, but that's the way it works here. We really can't go against it."

That notion gave Galse pause for a second. "Well, then… whose turn is it, again?"

"Mine!" Compa answered.

"Alright… and what if I did this instead?" He tried to get close to one of the jellies, in order to give it a good trashing, but found himself rooted into place. "W- What is going on?! Why can't I move?!"

Compa tried her best to calm him down a bit. "I told you, you can't break the rules. Please, just stop panicking. None of us can do anything about it."

Galse took a deep breath and tried to keep himself steady. "Fine, fine. I'm good now. Let's just get this over with, can we?"

Compa walked up to the closest jelly, and got to stabbing and smacking it, slapping it at the end for good measure. The jelly used its turn slamming itself into her. It didn't hurt her much, just knocking the wind out of her.

Next up was Neptune, who finished the jelly. Then, it came to Galse, and he ran at the further jelly, slashing at it with abandon. In the end, it died before even being able to do anything.

Galse lost control of himself for a moment, and posed with his sword on his shoulder, saying: "Tsk. I was expecting an actual challenge."

-Battle end-

Once Galse could move his body again, the first thing he did was to freak out about the latest oddity. Compa simply calmed him down again, and explained that whoever ended the fight was forced to make a victory pose, and a quote. The quotes were used also for leveling up.

And then he asked what did THAT mean.

"Geez, can you stop asking things every second? You'll probably see it soon enough, anyway." And with that, Neptune had cut the whole discussion.

Realizing that freaking out over every detail wasn't going to help him, he took Neptune's advice and chose to wait. In the meantime, they moved deeper into the forest, being forced to fight also a bunch of oversized sentient flowers, for whatever reason. Further on, they met another enemy, which Compa called a Dogoo-man. It was absolutely disgusting to Galse, and he suspected that the girls were sharing the sentiment.

That's how it went:

-Battle start-

In front of them were one Dogoo-man and one of those flowers, a Tulip, if he understood correctly.

Like always, the first was Compa, who moved to take care of the flower, leaving Galse and Neptune with the disgusting piece of jelly.

After Neptune's attack, the thing was still raring to go, even though her attacks most often than not left the enemy on the verge of death.

Galse simply finished the job, and once again was forced to make his pose. "Victory for us, death for you. That's how it goes."

Suddenly, he felt himself become a bit stronger, and all the damage that the enemies had inflicted to him was undone, returning him to pristine condition. "Is… Is this a level up?"

Apparently also the girls had gone through the same, with Compa confirming his suspicion. "Level up!"

Neptune, on the other hand, sung a little tune for herself. "La la la laaa la la la laa laa!"

-Battle end-

With that said and done, they kept going through the forest, defeating more monsters. By the time they had reached the spot where Neptune and Galse were found, they had reached 'level 3' according to Neptune. He still didn't exactly get it, but power was power, so he wasn't going to complain.

"We're here!" Compa began. "This is where I found you and Gal-Gal, Nep-Nep!"

Neptune took a look around, and her eyes fell immediately on the crater she had made. "Wow… That's a huge hole right there…"

"Nep-Nep, does this make you remember anything?"

Neptune stayed silent, eyes boring into the hole, as if trying to perceive its secrets by simply staring at it.

"Um, Nep-Nep?" Compa was getting a bit worried.

"Mmm…" Neptune didn't answer.

"Mmmmmm…" She continued.

Finally, she snapped out of it. "Ah-! I can't remember a thing! Compa, are you sure I was stuck here?"

"Yes. You fell from the skies like a shooting star and landed right here." She answered, smiling lightly.

Immediately, Galse realized an important fact. "Wait up." The girls turned to him. "If she fell from the sky fast enough to leave a crater, how in Oblivion did she survive?!"

The two exchanged a look, and shrugged. Neptune answered for the both of them. "I guess I'm just very tough, am I right?"

Galse was not amused.

"I'm done here." He turned away. "I'm not listening anymore. Come wake me if something happens." And with that, he moved to a nearby tree and proceeded to nap his woes away.

Or at least he tried, because as he was just about to fall asleep, the ground started shaking under him. He immediately got to his feet, and pulled out his sword just in time to see the ground opening under Compa and Neptune, who were both yelling their lungs out. He jumped to them, trying to get them to safety, but wasn't fast enough.

Thus, all three of them tumbled down the hole, reaching a cave full of glowing blue crystals. The tumble didn't last long, but it was enough to get everyone tangled up, to the point where both the girls fell on him.

"Owww…" moaned Neptune. "Guess the author wants to follow canon for a while more…" She then looked around, looking for us. "Compa? Galse? Where are you two? Are you okay?"

Galse had just about had it. "Can the both of you get off of me already?!"

With a yelp, Neptune hopped to her feet, pulling up Compa with her. Finally righting himself too, Galse took a look at his surroundings, scanning the cave. In the meantime, Compa and Neptune were having their own discussion, which he didn't pay much attention to. He had to listen when they called him, though.

"Hey, Galse, you have any idea what this is?" Neptune showed him a weirdly formed piece of metal. It was kind of shiny, but there wasn't anything of note about it.

He lightly shook his head, and let that be his answer. Turning back to examining the cave for any dangers, he felt the ground shaking slightly. The shaking got more and more intense, to the point where he could hear a multitude of steps. The sound reminded him of a frost spider, but it seemed too heavy for that.

The girls finally noticed the sound, and had brought their weapons to bear, waiting for the attack. A gargantuan monster, easily twice Galse's height charged at them, releasing a roar loud enough to make all three of them stumble back. The monster grabbed the person closest to it, namely Compa, and moved back, shaking its catch like a ragdoll.

-Battle start-

Galse and Neptune had recovered in the meantime, and both rushed the half humanoid/half spider monster during their respective turns, and tried hacking at its legs.

It barely felt that.

Once the Guard Vermin was done laughing at their attempts, it slapped them away halfheartedly. Neptune skidded on the ground, while Galse, who had taken the brunt of the hit, slammed directly into the wall, sliding down in pain. Had he been more coherent, he would have noticed Neptune talking to seemingly nothing.

He rose a hand to the back of his head, trying to massage the pain away. "That will be one tough beast to kill. What can we do..?" He tried to take notice of any weak spot in the enemy, but couldn't find anything. He was starting to lose hope, when a flash of light near him startled him out of his thoughts.

When the light dimmed, an unknown figure stood where Neptune was before. She was much taller than Neptune, but still way shorter than Galse. Her hair was much longer, and split into twintails long enough to reach her ankles, and was garbed into a quite revealing suit, which exposed a fair amount of her… ahem, chest, which had gone through a severe enlargement as well.

She took a second to examine herself, astonished at the sudden change. "Is this… really me?" She clenched her hand, marveling at her newfound strength. "The power… it's flowing from within… There's no way we I can lose with this!"

She then twirled her sword, which had changed just like her becoming as long as she was tall, and donning the same black and purple color scheme, and charged at the monster.

Their fight was turning in their favor, albeit not by too much, as the Guard Vermin was still powerful enough to send both of them back or block Neptune's attacks. Every one of his attacks did barely nothing. Neptune might have gained a boost in power, but he didn't. There wasn't anything he could do.

"You are wrong, Galse."

That voice… it couldn't be…

"Akatosh? Are you with me again?"

"Correct. I am here again to help you awaken as a Dovahkiin. Normally, you would need to absorb the soul of another Dovah, to Shout like us. Fortunately for you, in this world everyone absorbs a bit of the soul of whatever they kill. As such, all you need are the words to use."

Once Akatosh stopped speaking, knowledge rocketed into Galse's mind. He already knew the meaning of the Shouts, as his father had explained them from time to time, but never in this detail. Those were no more words, no more mere concepts…

Krii. Lun. Aus.

Kill. Leech. Suffer.

Everything those words meant, Galse knew. His soul stirred, and pulsed, begging to be released into the world.

Neptune was thrown away once again, leaving Galse with the perfect opening. He breathed air, and exhaled power.

"Krii, lun aus!" He shouted, the strength of his Thu'um shaking the cave, and a violet wave tore through the air, settling on the Guard Vermin, proceeding to weaken it little by little.

Neptune was looking at him, bewildered. He didn't hesitate to rip her out of her trance. "What are you waiting for? It's weakening as we speak! Let's kill that overgrown spider!"

Neptune shook the stupor away, getting her head back in the game. "You owe us an explanation, you know." With that she dashed to the enemy once again, unleashing her special move [Cross combo] on it. The damage it took was significantly higher than before.

The fight kept going strong for around four or five turns, but finally they managed to defeat the monster.

"An obvious result." Was Neptune's victory quote.

-Battle end-

With the fight out of the way, Neptune and Galse extracted Compa from the Guard Vermin's grasp, and she got immediately to work patching them up. In the meantime, Neptune had reverted back to her normal self.

"Whew… that was tiring…" Neptune muttered, exhausted by the fight. Just then, a new voice jumped into everyone's minds.

"Well done, Neptune. And also you, Galse. Compa, are you okay?"The voice asked. She was distinctly female, but Galse couldn't make out much else from that.

"Yessy!" Compa answered happily. "I'm okay! And it's all thanks to Nep-Nep and Gal-Gal!" She then seemed to realize that there was one voice too many around. "…Hm? Nep-Nep? Whose voice is this and where is it coming from?"

"It's Ms. Heavenly Voice, AKA Histoir… What was it again?" She tried to answer.

"Histoire. You were only off by one letter." You could hear Histoire's patience chipping off as she spoke.

"That's right, Histy-Histy!" Neptune said, her usual energetic demeanor back. For a second, Galse was sure to have heard a faint sigh in his head.

"You can call me Histy. Now, nice to meet you Compa and Galse. I am Histoire."

"Can I call you Histy, too?" Compa asked. "It's nice to meet… um, hear you, Histy."

"It is good to meet you for me as well, Histoire. Although, I wish we could speak face to face." Galse piped up too, tired of being silent.

Just then, a low growl came from the downed creature.

The two girls ran for the exit, yelling for all their lungs were worth. Galse was just behind them, trying to avoid the monster's attempts at cleaving him in half.

Some running (and screaming) later…

They had all reached Compa's apartment, and everyone was sprawled out, trying to regain their breath. Galse was still a little better off, considering he was used to straining himself a lot.

"Heh. I remember the last time I ran this fast was when me and my group traveled too close to a Giant's camp. I really was SO close to getting squished that I can still hear its breath behind me, if I think about it." Galse mused to himself.

"I can't believe it was still alive after all the damage it took…" Histoire commented within his mind.

Neptune then remembered the item she had found in the cave. "Oh, Histy? Can you take a look at this? Do you know what it is?" She asked, raising said piece of metal in the air.

Histoire then explained how she was blocked by a seal, and that finding three other of those pieces could free her, even promising to restore Neptune's memories in exchange for her freedom. It was looking like a good idea, if it weren't for one tiny detail.

Galse was always paranoid as fuck.

"You might want to try better than that, if you want to convince me, Histoire." He uttered her name in contempt, as if pondering something extremely important.

"Wha- What are you talking about?" Histoire was justifiably confused. She hadn't been anything but trustworthy the whole time! Why would he doubt her?

"Simple, really. For all we know, you might as well be some ancient evil trying to take advantage of our ingenuity to free you, so that you may destroy this world, or whatever!" Galse replied, vehemently. "You're not the first being I know of that would have tried that. My father fell for this too, in his own time. But is neither here, nor now! I want you to give me a good reason to trust you!"

"I… I don't have anything." The girls were obviously shocked at hearing that. "Nothing I could say will make you trust me, I can see that. I am sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with something that tried this approach, but there is nothing I can say or do that could make you change your mind…

But still, I implore you! Y-You three are my only hope! I just… I just want to be free from this cage!" At that point, Histoire was having a full breakdown, and everyone could hear her sobs. "Please…"

No one was saying anything. Neptune was too shocked to even move, and Compa was trying her best to let loose tears of her own. Galse? He was stuck in his place, a calculative look in his eyes, as he tried to find any trace of deceit in anything he heard.

A full minute passed, before Galse came to a decision. "Alright, I heard enough, quiet down." Histoire was so stunned at hearing speak again, and in such a commanding tone, too, that she couldn't avoid obeying. "I'll tell you right now that I know how to spot a lie easily. I've seen and heard my fair share of people crying, fake and genuine." He sighed, pushing those memories out of the way. "I guess what I'm trying to say is… I'm willing to give you a chance."

Neptune and Compa were overjoyed at hearing that, while Histoire was still dumbstruck by the sudden change in his opinion.

"DO NOT!" Galse yelled, to get everyone's attention again. "Do not think that I'll inherently trust you. I still retain my doubts about you, and if you give me a reason to act on them, know I'll be more than happy to let you rot in that seal for eternity." He took then a small pause, to drive his point home. "So then, do we have a deal?"

It took a few seconds for Histoire to wrap her head about all she had heard. "O-Of course! I'll do my best to make you trust me, I promise!"

Galse couldn't help but let a small smile grow on his face. "Hm. I'll be judge of that. Now, where do we start?"

Aaaand that's a wrap! Whoo, that's one long chapter!

Yes, I know I have also other stories to worry about, but guess what? Y'all ain't my bosses!

I write whatever I want, so here is a new story I want to make!

Now, I know: "Another male OC in Gamindustri? Soooo original!"

Well, guess what? First, this isn't a harem story. Second, It won't be just HDN rebirth 1 + Galse. There will be a lot more extra content, to the point of getting also an arc only dedicated to him! Third, if you don't want to read it, bugger off!

If there's something you want to tell me, please leave a review! I always read them!

Well then, I guess I'll say goodbye now! See you in the next chapter! (whenever that happens)

-Xeno-

P.S. No, Skyrim and HDN aren't mine. I only have Galse.(if you want to use him in one of your stories, please contact me.)