Evergloom shadowy beauty was always overshadowed by its sister realm, Moonshadow. The same principle applies with the Daedric Princes or rulers of these realms. Azura, the Daedric Prince of Dawn and Dusk, always thought highly of herself as if she shone brighter than the sun. Azura believed, and was very proud of, that her powerful influence and her brilliant glory was better than anyone else. Especially over the one she called Nocturnal, the Daedric Prince of Shadows and Darkness. Though Nocturnal tends to hide herself away and never expresses any concerns or happiness, her sister is the exact opposite. Azura always expressed her opinion and direct feelings on everything said around her, whether for good or bad. She'd highly praise those who agreed with her, saying they're part of her beloved; as for those who didn't or were against her, were the scum of Oblivion to her. What she thought and what principles she believed in were the only things that mattered in any discussion with the Prince of Dawn and Dusk. She never wanted nor attempted to see the other side as simple as it wasn't what she wanted. Especially, if it trashed on how she looked, stature-wise or physically.

Azura thought herself to be so beautiful and mighty that she cast a large shadow on her own sister, showing no remorse whatsoever. It is believed that Nocturnal and Azura are thought to be rivals as Azura tends to bicker with her older sister, more or less because of Azura becoming petty over things Nocturnal does or covers up. Whether it be for small things like the crows leaving droppings on her shrines, or big things like thieves robbing her priests and temples of goods. Oh, how Azura hated being degraded and she always found a way to blame it on her sister. Or at least, this is all what Nocturnal always thought and sternly believed. Nocturnal never saw a different side of her sister as this is all she ever showed to her. It slightly saddened her that they had such a poor relationship, but such is what happens when a socially selfish being meets a reclusive quiet one. Nocturnal didn't exactly hate her sister, but she did get on her nerves and today was no exception.

As Nocturnal stomped through a portal home from a meeting of the princes, she felt anger boiling up in her chest as she clenched her teeth. This meeting was a disaster to Nocturnal as she squeezed her eyes shut, clenching her fists. She stopped and stood there, trying to keep herself from exploding as she took some deep breaths before opening her eyes again. As she breathed, she looked around her prized beauty of a realm Evergloom. She looked up at the sky as it was the most appealing thing this realm offered compared to the rest of its delightful beauties. It was light a black backdrop painted in splatters of pink, violet and blue sprinkled with glittering stars as meters would shoot through the sky with magnificent white fire streaming behind them. The sight was satisfyingly soothing to Nocturnal like a cool drink to a thirsty crow.

Nocturnal took her gaze off the skies and to the rest of her world around her. The purple and blacks hue of her realm always made everything shadowy, just how Nocturnal likes it. The so-called grass beneath her and all over the hillside she was at was a light purple as a treeline of black-barked trees with wicked branches was to the right of her. Ghostly shades and shadows of animals could be seen roaming the grand forest of those woods. To her left was a murky lake with wisps dancing on the surface's silver water. She knew where she was and looking at the middle of the lake confirmed it as the reflection of her own grand castle was seen lurking behind the reflection of hillside that was in front of her. The scenery and her deep breaths started to help her anger boil down a bit before she suddenly caught a glimpse of her own reflection in the lake. Her face is what first caught her eyes. It was very pale with black, sunken eyes with purple iris and long eyelashes. Her blue lips slightly parted as Nocturnal looked away from her 'pretty' face and down at her body. She saw her decorative jet-black overcoat with fur trimmed ends along the bottom, sleeves and hood over the lighter black dress she had on. She slowly pulled down her hood onto the fur shawl on her shoulders held together by a fancy silver crow pin. The silver buttons all fastened down the coat hugged her pudgier features. Nocturnal felt her fists clench up and the anger boil back as she looks down at her actual body.

She started hissing angrily to herself, "Grrr, stupid sister…! Why did she have to go and blabber her mouth off about me…! My looks…! My sphere…! Gah! Doesn't she know that her words hurt?! Especially towards me…!"

Nocturnal sighed, irritated about what transpired moments ago during that meeting. As she sat down by the pool of water and looked into its calm waters to soothe herself, she recalled on the events. To see if showing it again to herself would give her new incite onto why.

The meeting this time around was in Hermaeus Mora's Apocrypha and on the bigger outcrops of metal that popped out of the great ocean of acid and tentacles. Everyone was just arriving and chatting with each other or just standing there by themselves. Nocturnal was the last to arrive but a disheartening feeling came over her when she saw that familiar prince with a glowing of a sun and moon by in front of two other princes as parts of their heads were poking out. Her sister was always so short compared to the others so this came as no surprise. Nocturnal though couldn't make out the others in this new gang Azura had. As Nocturnal passed by, she watched the group from behind with a quiet and slow pace with a little curious hope to see who the other two where. The tall, slender figure of an ashened colored lady dressed in a gown of the starry night sky with a garnished rosy pink crown of flowers on her jet black hair was none other than Azura of the three. No one else shows up to meetings that exaggerate besides the one she called sister.

Though Vaermina in her silver and purple armored robe adorned with golden buttons and chains connecting said buttons was a close runner-up as she came into view, seemingly a bit taller than Azura. Nocturnal kept her gaze from the side, a little bit shocked to see her, as she kept her head facing forward and her hood up to cast a shadow over her face. Seems though Nocturnal wasn't the only one who wanted to cover herself as Vaermina seemed to be the same as well, barely showing any of herself, only showing tiny glimpses of her light purple skin and silver hair. Like Nocturnal as well, her face was covered but instead of shadow, Vaermina had a mask that was very ridged and bat-like that covered her face fully. Something about it was strange and mysterious but also very unsettling. Like there was no eye holes or any that she could see but Nocturnal could feel the presence of those eyes underneath it. Nocturnal shook her head, trying to not focus on Vaermina's mask so much even though it was quite a masterpiece. She had to admit though that she was still a bit surprised to see that prince of nightmares with Azura as her sister seems to hate nightmares. Her sister didn't like to be shown her fears or flaws as it would ruin her own flawless image of herself. Nocturnal hmphed a bit before noticing the other prince that came into view. It was Namira.

Namira was a strange addition to this group as her sphere and looks would definitely not fit Azura's high standards. Her tattered, sloppy stitched together robe seemed to have many layers of different materials and shades of brown were almost beggar-like compared to nobility look the others where. The only 'decorative' ornament she had was that she had a belt around her waist with a copper belt buckle with her own symbol. Namira's two small, curved black horns on her forehead were the only 'alive' thing on her. It's strange as her almost rotting skin, skeletal features and greying hair with the dead look in her eyes would make you believe Azura would repulse her immediately. Or maybe she does and Namira just likes that, causing Azura to feed off that in amusement. Namira was peculiarly puzzling to Nocturnal.

Azura though was babbling on to her 'friends' about something but the moment Nocturnal arrived her attitude changed from boasting about herself to gossiping whispers to her two listeners. As she whispered to them, Namira and those two started giggling but Vaermina kept quiet with a harsh gaze on Nocturnal underneath her mask. All three of there eyes on Nocturnal made her skin crawl with a tingling pain. She could almost feel their judgmental comments and thoughts about her.

"I told you~! Look at her sides…!" Azura whispered to Namira quite loudly as if she wanted Nocturnal to hear what she said.

Nocturnal bite her bottom lip slightly from hearing her sister and pulled her hood over her face more before to hide her face. She adjusted her robe before intertwining her fingers so the sleeves would connect and hide her hands. She didn't like others staring and whispering about her, especially a group of them as it made her feel extremely uncomfortable in her own skin but her sister Azura new that as well. Probably why she was doing it, Nocturnal thought. Shrugging it off and moving away from their prying eyes, she positioned herself to where they couldn't see her but she could see them and the other princes as well. Mostly all of them as her position made the details of the others fuzzy but she could still tell who was who. Most of the princes were conversing with each other like Sanguine and Mephala, though those two always talk to each other during meetings. Nocturnal could tell it was them as both had lighter blackish skin, Mephala's six arms plus her longer webbed dress and Sanguine's green tunic also his two sets of horns was unmistakable.

She looked to the side to Boethiah was sharpening her blade while chatting to Hircine who was just slowly feeling the blade of his spear as if it were just sharpened. It was simple to identify Hircine due to his deer skull head with those large antlers, tan skin and that furred pelt around his waist. Boethiah was a bit harder to recognize as she almost looks like a dremora but her black spiked armor and white hair up in a bun are notable traits. Boethiah also seemed to eyeing someone across the room and as Nocturnal's eye followed who it was, she realized that it was to the one prince that was the nearest to her. The one prince that she didn't want near her at any given point, Molag Bal. He was easy to spot from his distinct lighter blue skin, skeletal features with those spikes lining down his backbone and that long tail that flowed out of his dark grey loincloth. Molag Bal was chatting to Mehrunes Dagon, his red skin with those four arms and that long shredded loincloth are unique only to him Nocturnal thought, but maybe Molag Bal was also glaring back at Boethiah. Nocturnal couldn't tell as both had their backs facing her.

Nocturnal breathed a bit of a sigh of relief as he seemed to not of noticed her and she continued to look around. One was always a no-show this time, understandably, as Nocturnal couldn't see this one's beautiful bright light and that was Meridia but Nocturnal just assumed she was still getting over her demotion from the Magna Ge. Some of them, however, enjoyed to hang out on the outskirts of the others, like Jyggalag in his big shiny armor, but Nocturnal noticed two princes a bit away from the rest and seemingly whispering to each other. Peryite was kneeling down next to the little child prince, Clavicus Vile, who was sitting on a stack of books. The green dragon-like being in a tattered robe and small impish boy could only be them. But it was odd as Peryite hasn't been to a meeting in ages after the accident and Clavicus Vile rarely talks to the others unless he's dealing. They where seemingly staring at the others or someone in particular as Vile gave this devious smirk and Peryite's expression darkened. Nocturnal's eye twitched a bit as she looked more closely at them, but suddenly someone's black hair blocked her view of them. It turned side to side as if looking for someone before turning around and showing that it was Azura. She was looking around, presumingly for Nocturnal, as her gang followed close behind.

"This is just great… Damn sister…! She knows I hate others watching me and yet she makes sure everyone in her damn group does…!" Nocturnal hissed to herself as she watched the other princes talk and make deals during this meeting from afar.

As she settled in her new spot, watching the others, she felt someone or something put a hand on her shoulder. It felt like it had long bony fingers as Nocturnal felt sharp claws dig into her shoulder. Something darker loamed over her and whisper something illegible followed by a high pitched giggle from behind her. She couldn't understand what it said but she could tell it was sinister. When she slowly turned her head slightly behind her to look, it was gone and all she saw was her own shadow cast against the stacks of books standing there. Confused, she looked down at her shoulder and saw claw marks there. Her eyes twitched at the sight but from the corner she could see, and feel, another certain shadow approach her. She turned her head back in front of her and felt a blush streak across her face when she saw that familiar large, thick robe.

It was Hermaeus Mora.

Though his long hood shadowed most of his face, Nocturnal could see in his expression he was slightly worried as he asked, "Are… you alright Nocturnal? You look slightly worried about something…"

Nocturnal smiled a tiny bit before saying, "I'm fine, Herma Mora… I think you're the one worrying here! I'm just… staring at your books! Yeah, that's what I'm doing… nothing to worry your wiggly head about!"

Nocturnal wasn't always the best at reassuring as Hermaeus Mora just raised an eyebrow at her, believing none of what she just said and put his hands on his hips saying, "Nocturnal… you expect me to believe that? I know all, Nocturnal… All. So faking a smile and trying to lie to me won't work!"

"If that's the case then you would've already KNOW what is wrong with me… So, indulge me, what is wrong with me Herma Mora~?" Nocturnal teased the Prince of all-knowing.

Hermaeus Mora frowned before saying, "You worry about how others perceive you, especially your sister. But, I find your worry odd. Is it not in your nature to be misunderstood?"

Nocturnal huffed and looked away from Hermaeus Mora, knowing he was partially right but also wrong. It was true that she did worry and hate that her sister was a snob that'd always mock her. That it was also true that her sphere was of the unknown or things covered by darkness so when something about her is exposed, it hurts Nocturnal. A curse to the Prince of shadows and luck. Nocturnal couldn't help but think that Hermaeus Mora wasn't seeing the bigger picture here. She wanted someone to understand her and not have to feel the pain of it. There was also something else that bothered her but she didn't want to think of it.

She mumbled, "Maybe it is…"

Hermaeus Mora looked at her, raising his head a little and saying with a slightly crooked smirk, "I told you I know everything…!"

Nocturnal rolled her eyes and chuckled teasingly, "If that were completely true… I would've ceased to exist. You don't know everything I hide in my shadows, Mora~! "

Hermaeus Mora did a playful pout before chuckling a bit. "That I can not deny, seeing as you're still here. But I do personally hold myself back when it comes to the insatiable desire to seek out all that tantalizing knowledge you keep hidden in your mischievously blinding shadow…"

"Ummm… Mora, you are kinda, uhh…" Nocturnal whispered, pointing to her own lips.

"Huh..? Oh!" Hermaeus Mora quickly wiped away the drool from his mouth and chuckled nervously, "I'm sorry, let me correct myself… I can PARTIALLY hold myself back, heh..."

Nocturnal chuckled softly as she stared at him with a smile, looking past the shadow Hermaeus Mora cast on his own face. Nocturnal always found his face to be extremely adorable and thought it was weird that Hermaeus Mora wanted to hide it from everyone. His lovable chubby cheeks and rounder eyes coupled with his smaller stature made him seem like one of those little mortals minus the two tentacles protruding from the corners of his forehead. Hermaeus Mora quickly pulled his hood more over his head, seemingly knowing that Nocturnal was staring at his face from under her own shadow. Nocturnal turned her face away with a little giggle as she thought the prince of knowledge would've known all this time that she could see his face under a simple shadow.

"A-Anyway…!" Hermaeus said with a nervous cough before putting a hand on Nocturnal's shoulder, continuing, "I don't you should worry about what your sister says or does. She is what she is and will always be like that, nothing we say or do can change that fact. Besides! What she gossips or think can never fully be true as she can not fully understand… you…! That didn't help, did it?"

Nocturnal was frowning as he chuckled nervously and spoke again, "W-well I wasn't lying but seems this time around I shouldn't have said the truth… ahaha… I'm not really good at social interactions, am I?"

Nocturnal shook her head but sighed out, "No, you are not but I'm the same way with others so… I can't be mad at you! Especially when you have such an adorable baby face~!"

Hermaeus Mora froze as Nocturnal reached a hand up and poked his cheek, squishing it against his face. She smiled slightly under her hood and was slightly amused at Hermaeus Mora's frozen, shocked look. She couldn't help but think that the prince of knowledge was hiding his face because he was embarrassed. Kinda like how Nocturnal is with her body. The more she thought, the more similarities her and Hermaeus Mora have. They are both reclusive and socially awkward with others plus their spheres are just two sides of the same coin. Opposites always attract and that was no different here. Her heart started to pitter patter a bit as she started to pinch his cheek a bit before noticing something. The prince before her had an expression that went from shock to subtle fear.

"Y-you knew this entire time…? You could always see… my face… My I used so much magic just to… hide it… How..." He whispered to her, asking in such a shaky tone.

"Why of course, all-knowing one… what did expect?" She teased as stopped to chuckle a bit and pull her hand away before continuing, "You hid your face underneath the shadow of your hood, so of course the prince of shadows is going to see it! You know, I to hide my face underneath a hood of shadows, just one of the many things we have in common eh-Hey… why such a frightened look?"

Hermaeus Mora backed up a bit before clutching the end of his hood and says, "I-It's nothing Ur-Dra. I just thought...I thought my magic would've hidden it from everyone else, even from you. I underestimated you and your strengths… Just how powerful are your shadows? Does the secrets it hide really give it that much power...?"

Nocturnal was silent. This conversation took a darker turn then what she was expecting or wanting. She didn't know how to respond to Hermaeus Mora. What he was asking and what answer he sought was something very difficult for a mind to even comprehend. Even a daedric prince's mind. Nocturnal could only think of one thing to say without telling the full truth, and without leaving him unsatisfied.

She took a deep breath and in a haunting tone, more serious than what she wanted, she said, "Some things are best left to the shadows than in the light, Mora. Best to keep it that way."

"So that means the secrets you are hiding in those shadows… there is some powerful force in them…right?" Hermaeus Mora muttered to himself.

Nocturnal parted her lips slightly when she realized that the prince before her was getting frightened. Perhaps what she said wasn't the best thing to say after all. This wasn't her intent at all today and especially towards Hermaeus Mora. She slowly started to lift her hand toward him, trying to figure out how to calm him down but he just backed up.

"Hermaeus Mora… I-"

"I s-see...I-I'll be right back! I just… have to do something!" Hermaeus Mora mumbled as he backed away more from Nocturnal's rising hand and turned around.

The prince ran off, pulling his hood over his face as Nocturnal reached her arm out towards him, saying, "Wait…! I didn't mean to… scare you…"

Nocturnal felt a bit of pain in her chest well up as she watched Hermaeus Mora runoff. She couldn't tell if it was the pain of him learning a bit about her shadowy secrets, or that she scared him away. She lowered her hand and went to look down but noticed that someone was watching their encounter from a distance. In that glittering, shining armor was no one else but Jyggalag. He was peeking over his shoulder at them, trying to look inconspicuous as he was seemingly watching Hermaeus Mora. His head slowly seemed to follow the running prince before turning back to notice Nocturnal spotted him. In a bit of a sudden panic, he trotted off from his spot and towards where Hermaeus Mora ran off too. Nocturnal couldn't help but wonder what was truly going on with those two.

A loud, feminine voice rang up from the side of Nocturnal, making her jump as it said, "Well Well~! Look who it is~!"

Nocturnal knew that voice all too well as she sighed and said unamused, "Hello Azura…"

Azura was smirking as she confidently gaited over to Nocturnal who was cornered by the stacks of books she chose to hide by. She stopped in front of her sister, Namira came from behind her and standing a bit back from where Azura was. Nocturnal looked at the two who were sizing her up but also noticed that Vaermina was steadily hanging further behind them. Just watching underneath that eerie mask and making no movements as if studying what is happening. Nocturnal looked back at Azura who got even closer, making Nocturnal back up into the stack of books, knocking them over. The other princes looked up from their conversations and over at them, causing that searing pain to form in Nocturnal's chest again. This didn't look good for the prince of shadows.

"It seems you scared off the meeting's host…! Pfft, how typical of you. What did you scare him with? Your looks? If he were talking to me, The Great Azura, then he would've never been scared~! But you're nowhere near as good as me, especially with those hideous clothes and those chubby thighs…!" Azura sarcastically snickered.

Namira whispered loudly to Azura, "Or maybe she was trying to get promiscuous with him~! She is called the Mistress of the night~!"

"Ha! Unlikely! There is no way she would even be capable of that talent! With that form and her being an amateur!" Azura snorted.

"Oh? She's an amateur, eh?" Namira snickered in a sarcastic tone, looking over at Azura as if this was scripted.

"More like…~!" Azura started as she looked at Nocturnal's face with a devilish smirk as she continues a little louder, "A virgin ~!"

"Ohhh, is that true~? How-" Namira confirmed louder, looking slightly back but stopped as she saw it.

Nocturnal was staring at Azura, her lips slightly parted and her eyes filled with horror as she whispered, "What have you done sister…? Why would you say that…?"

Azura blinked and looked a bit behind her to see the others seemed to have heard the conversation, but more notably Molag Bal, who had turned his head back to them with this big toothy grin as he eyed his newest prey. The only other two who slightly grinned in delight where Mephala and Sanguine while some of the others at least showed a slight sudden interest. Hircine and Boethiah looked at each other, whispering something as others just stared at Nocturnal. All of them, or who Nocturnal could see, had what seemed like a growing, needy hunger as they gazed. She felt the pain grow unbearable in her chest as she stumbled backwards, stepping over the books. As she quickly turned around she saw a glimpse of Azura's face turning back but she couldn't make out her expression as she was trying to fight back the tears of what just happened. This situation just got a hundred times worse for Nocturnal.

"Ok! I'm back! Let's get this…meeting… started?" Hermaeus Mora exclaimed before noticing what was going on and he said, "Nocturnal..? What's… Where are you…?"

Nocturnal couldn't handle this anymore. She didn't want to drag Hermaeus Mora into this mess. As she took a deep breath and low key wiped away the wielding tears at the corners of her eyes, she opened a portal and walked through it home. She didn't want to be there anymore and this was all thanks to her sister.

"Master! Master are you in there?!"

Nocturnal jolted away from her flashback as she immediately looked around in shock and a bit of fear as to who was screaming for her but only to jump once more when a raven jumped into her lap. The raven cawed and rustled its feathers as it nudged Nocturnal's hand, wanting her to pet him. She looked down at him as she complied, a monocle and bowtie decorated this particular bird gave away on who this was. It was her loyal subject and advisor, Nox Eternis.

"Nox Eternis! You scared me…!" Nocturnal whispered to him with a frown.

The raven lowered his head and cawed, "I'm sorry Master… but you were crying as you blankly stared into that pond! Even I was waving my wings in front of you, you didn't break your gaze! I had to make sure you were ok…"

Nocturnal put her fingers up to her eyes and realized he was right. Tears were streaming down her face. She smiled as her raven servant placed his wing on her cheek in concern and wiped her face. She held up her hand as Nox Eternis put down his wing and hopped onto it with delight. Nocturnal then stood up and started walking up the grassy hills towards the direction of her dark castle.

"Nox Eternis… I need you to do something…" Nocturnal said with a calm tone.

"And what is that, my master?" Nox Eternis asked, tilting his head.

Nocturnal took a deep breath and exclaimed, "Something is coming… Something big and I need Evergloom to be prepared. Meaning I need every Shrike I have to be ready to defend my castle a moment's notice, every Wrath of Crows to be on guard here and I need every crow to be cawing if a stranger is here… Got it?"

Nox Eternis bowed and said, "Of course, Master. I shall do this at once!"

Nox Eternis suddenly took off from her hand and flew up into the sky cawing. Nocturnal watched him for a bit before feeling a chill up her spine as if someone let in a cool breeze. She immediately looked around for any signs of a portal opening or something else from another of her fellow prince's realms. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary but could still feel that chill up her spine. Nocturnal slowly hugged herself before she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Her shadow was smiling at her.

"Oh, something is coming indeed~! But it isn't what you think, deary~!"