A/N: I actually did it! Here's the companion-piece to "Vivec", that I threatened to write. Reading "Vivec" propably helps, as does having played "Morrowind" and its extensions "Tribunal" and "Bloodmoon". There will be SPOILERS in this fic, consider yourself warned.
Not betaed yet. If you'd like to, please contact me.
Disclaimer: Morrowind and everything in it (and surrounding it) belongs to Bethesda Softworks.
I think I'll be mentioning quite a few mods, if I do expand it. You wonderful writers of them: Please don't think of it as stealing ideas; it's more meant as an homage. If you'd like to be credited, please contact me and I will do so.
Ethne
by owlet
"You came back."
"Er, yes. I'm just curious what you'll do now that Lorkhan's Heart is destroyed. You're going to lose your power, right?"
I hadn't expected to see her again. When she came to see me for the first time, I was quite surprised. How had this frail-looking Breton woman managed to rally Morrowind's Great Houses and the tribes of the Ashlanders? I hadn't thought her special, just given her Wraithguard and all the knowledge she'd need and sent her off to her doom. I had cared much about the outcome, but I hadn't cared about her; I had been too caught up in my divinity to notice her as a person. Common occurrence with gods, really. Their one big fault; Almalexia, Sotha-Sil and I would have never gotten this far, if the Daedra hadn't disregarded us. It had been, ironically, the reason why we had decided to become gods – because the Daedra were so distant and didn't care about the people of Tamriel. We wanted to be different, we wanted not to rule, but to serve.
But the destruction of Lorkhan's heart caused a shift in my perception; I was suddenly so much more aware of the world around me; more aware of her.
"Eventually, yes, I will lose my power; at least a very big part of it. But I don't think I'll miss it. I never took it very seriously – I'm not serious by nature. I'm looking forward to being a mortal again; being able to do as I please."
To my surprise I found that to be the truth, it was a relief to me to return to my natural state.
"And that means?"
I focussed more closely on her. She wore an enchanted robe that had seen better days, was covered in red dust and gave the impression of general disarray. Not exactly how one appears before of a god. She was a surprise, and I found not an entirely unpleasant one.
On the contrary. I caught myself thinking that she was quite lovely despite (or because) of her dishevelled appearance. She questioned me, something that nobody had dared to do in my presence, but I didn't mind. She deserved to know everything, it was her who had cleaned up our collective mess after all.
"I'll retire. But before I can do that I need to reorganize the Temple while I still can. We of the Tribunal mustn't be worshipped as gods any longer; we should be counted among the saints and heroes. We need more healers and teachers and less Ordinators. It's going to be a tedious business, but I don't think it will take long to accomplish. And what are your plans, Protector of Morrowind?"
She looked a little stupefied.
"Protector of Morrowind?"
I sighed. Did she really think that this would be it? No. She just hoped it would be. Poor girl.
"There's still a lot to do. Many evil creatures continue to roam Vvardenfell."
She shrugged.
"Perhaps. It's not as if I've got any choice anyway. Somebody set the Dark Brotherhood on my trail – I need to sort that out first."
The Dark Brotherhood? What a miserable timing. They were Mephala's domain and now I had no influence on him any more. I could very well lose her through this – and I didn't like that thought at all.
"This sounds like a serious matter; take care of it as soon as possible. I have already started with my work on the Temple doctrines, and we have a young and able king whose mother is a very experienced and wise woman. We'll muddle through without you for a while."
I gave her a smile that was meant to be encouraging, but it ended up disturbing her.
"Er, good. I'll be back, I suppose. No rest for the wicked."
"Why was she suddenly so flustered?
"Indeed."
"Farewell, then."
"Yes, farewell."
It was hard for me to tell because of all that red dust, but was she blushing?
What an interesting development.
oooOooo
"I killed Almalexia. She had gone mad and had already murdered Sotha Sil. Then she lured me into the Clockwork-City and tried to kill me as well. You would have been next. I'm sorry, but I had no choice."
I closed my eyes. Oh the folly – we should never have become gods. Nerevar had been right, we should have simply destroyed Kagrenac's tools and the Heart of Lorkhan, given a clean ending to this whole unfortunate episode. But no... it was to be expected really.
I noticed that Ethne was waiting for an answer.
"That are sad news. How could something that begun so glorious and good end in evil and madness? I suspected she'd try to kill me. But death will come to us all now, and mine might be even by your hand."
She recoiled at those words. I admit that they were a little morbid; but I wanted her to know that I didn't hold her responsible for the foolish deeds of three deluded Chimer and their consequences. We deserved everything and perhaps more; poor Almalexia, she had always cared too much – and that had driven her insane in the end. I had seen it coming, yet I had done nothing to keep those terrible events from unfolding. I had done nothing to save my old friend and mentor Sotha-Sil, just as I had done nothing to save my friend Nerevar more than one millennium ago; I had doomed them all with my passivity.
And now I was the only one left; I was alone.
"I'm sorry. I'll leave you to your thoughts," Ethne mumbled and hurried out.
No, don't leave, I wanted to say, please stay, you are the only one who cares.
But my tongue was tied and so my inability to take action doomed me again. I prayed that one day she'd find her way back to me again, yes, for the first time in centuries I actually prayed.
And I made a promise to myself: I would stay here until she came, no matter how long it took. I withdrew my hand from the neat hole in the wall that I'd bashed into it in frustration, settled down again in the middle of my self-imposed prison and did what I did best: I waited.
oooOooo
The door to my abode opened abruptly only a few months later and Ethne strode in, wearing a resplendent white fur-armour and a wide grin. Something followed her about and entered the room in her wake; the smell of fresh snow and glowing embers, the howl of wolves and the murmur of old tales told in great wooden halls.
The sight of her so full of life, so carefree, lifted my mood immediately and made me return her grin.
"It seems like you can't leave me for long, hm," I quipped by way of greeting.
Ethne halted and gave me a sheepish smile.
"Seems so, yes. I just wanted to check how your Temple is doing. Since that pesky Daedra-Prince has gone back to Oblivion, I find myself with too much time at my hands."
I blinked.
"A Daedra-Prince? Please do start at the beginning."
S she started to tell me about Solstheim, how she gained the trust of the Nord living there and how she overcame one terrible foe after another.
Leaving Vvardenfell had been good for her, and it warmed my heart that she'd come back at all. I was so intent on listening to her tale, that I'd almost missed her asking about my Temple again. I took a deep breath of air (that still smelt like winter to me) and answered.
"Ah yes, the Temple. I'm quite finished with everything. I had to push a few things into certain directions, the rest is just falling into place. I can't get too involved obviously, the priests need to learn to stand on their own feet and think for themselves. So, surprisingly, I find myself with too much time at my hands as well."
I had done a lot of thinking as I was waiting for her to return and had decided that I didn't want to be alone any more. Wherever life would take her, I wanted to tag along. My people called her Nerevarine, and only Azura knew if she was Nerevar reborn; but if she was – and sometimes I thought I'd caught a glimpse of my old friend's soul within her – it would only be fitting that I'd join her. So I'd dropped the hint and waited to see if she took it.
She hesitated for a moment and looked at me speculatively.
"Well, you know, I'm Archmagister of House Telvanni. I thought I'd try to get slavery abolished. If I manage to do that in my House, the rest of Morrowind will be child's play."
That made me laugh; trust her to come up with something like that – and it was the perfect opening for me.
"That would certainly be an interesting project. But you'll have to be sneaky about it; the direct approach will fail miserably, I'm afraid."
Her shoulders drooped a little and her smile faded.
"Yes, that's right. And I'm not good at sneaking."
Don't give up, I silently begged her, the solution to that problem is sitting right in front of you, all you need to do is ask. I needed her to ask me, because I didn't want her to accept my company out of obligation; only out of the genuine desire to have me along.
"Would you help me? You can be very sneaky, that's at least what the books say. Would you come with me?"
She looked as if she was ready to bolt, so I didn't waste any time, came down from my pedestal (literally and figuratively) and went over to her grinning like a fool.
"I thought you'd never ask."
THE END
(again: or not)