A/N: This chapter's edits were also relatively minimal, just a few simple tweaks. I'm honestly hoping that these little changes will make the story a bit more cohesive overall. I want to create something I (and the tiny fanbase for this pairing) can be proud of. I don't expect reviews, but I really do appreciate them when they happen. :)

Many long years had passed since Trechtus, the forsaken serf's son had become Vanus Galerion, preternaturally talented student of the Psijic order. He had been eleven then, and he could barely see that young, fresh-faced child in the mirror anymore. It had been nine years, nine years of changing and evolving into what he was now. He had come into his own, features no longer boyish but carelessly attractive, golden-skinned face framed by rich brown hair that always seemed to escape its binds. His cerulean eyes were still wide and bright, but they held an air of understanding and knowledge that he was sure didn't exist when he came to Artaeum for the first time. It was early on a breezy summer morning, and he had been struck by the changes as he passed by the looking glass in his typical rush to get ready. He was so engrossed in his inspection that he didn't notice when a figure came to stand in his doorway, leaning casually on the frame.

"Feeling a bit narcissistic this morning, Vanus?"

Vanus turned around, brilliant red flush coating his refined cheeks.

"No, of course not! I just happened to notice how old I look, that's all."

Mannimarco raised a neatly-groomed eyebrow, walking into the room. He sat down on Vanus's bed, pushing off a random pile of papers to make room.

"You're a strange one, you know. Twenty years is far from being old, especially by our standards."

Vanus hurried about his room, throwing on a pair of well-worn (and noticeably wrinkled) apprentice robes and running a brush through his unruly locks.

"That's not what I meant. I meant that—ow! Sorry, caught a snarl. I meant that I can't even see the desperate child that came here nine years ago. I think he may've died."

Mannimarco laughed heartily, flopping back on the bed. He kicked more papers onto the floor with a flourish, sitting up on his elbow. His peridot eyes looked at Vanus curiously.

"I think he may have, too. After all, that little boy used to glare at me like I was the spawn of Mehrunes Dagon himself!"

Vanus stopped his rushed routine to peg an unused journal at his friend, hitting him in the chest with a thud.

"I still think you're the spawn of Dagon. I just know how to handle your mischief now!"

Mannimarco sat back up, lifting the innocent-book-turned-projectile off of him. Noticing that Vanus had dressed in the white, worn-to-Oblivion robes he wore to classes, he started chuckling.

"Today is Loredas, Vanus Galerion. Unless something has changed, I'm pretty sure we don't participate in any form of structured learning today."

Vanus, who had a stale biscuit he unearthed under the mess on his desktop stuffed into his mouth, halted.

"Ish it?!" he asked, trying to speak around the food.

"Yes," Mannimarco huffed out, still laughing, "You don't have to wear those. As a matter of fact, you shouldn't. They're just going to get dirtier if you do."

"Damph it!" the younger mer exclaimed, quickly undoing the robes. He scrounged around his room for a few minutes searching for his weekend clothes beneath the piles of papers. He finally found them underneath a large wad of alchemy notes and threw them on, simple brown cloth pants and a sky-blue shirt that Mannimarco thought brought out the colour of his eyes. At least they were moderately clean by comparison.

"I swear, Vanus, I don't know how you live in this mess. I'd most certainly die, smothered in the night by a massive, miraculously sentient stack of paper."

Vanus chucked another book at Mannimarco, who was able to dodge.

"That's enough from you! I'm ready, now. Can we go, or are you just going to sit there and whine at me all day?"

Mannimarco stood, gesturing to the door.

"Let's go, then."

Vanus smiled widely at him, heart fluttering pleasantly as he took in the amused expression on his companion's face.

Their initial plan for the day was to practice Destruction spells in the large training cellar and then make their own lunch, but plans were changed when Mannimarco strongly suggested they make a run for alchemical supplies in the tropical woods that surrounded the palace. He had said that they were running low on a few things, but the darker haired mer knew that their stores had been restocked two nights ago. Vanus was skeptical about the sudden shift in their set schedule, but was too curious to insist they follow their first idea. Mannimarco seemed excited, and he wasn't about to ruin his closest friend's typically fragile good mood.

When they neared the border of the forest, Vanus stopped.

"What're we really doing out here, Mannimarco?" he said crossly, hands on his hips, "We have plenty of supplies back in the storeroom. I know you've got something else on your devious mind. What is it?"

The smile on Mannimarco's striking features grew wider. He walked back to Vanus, laying hands on the younger student's shoulders.

"Well," he said, doing his best to appear charming, "I thought we might test what we've learned in the field. After all, a practice dummy cannot attack us, can it? We've done nothing but study lately. I'd like to put my knowledge to the test. Wouldn't you?"

Vanus's stomach knotted, the feeling of imminent peril filling his senses.

"If you're talking about going into the caverns, then the answer is no. I'm not going to let you drag us both into danger."

Mannimarco's face fell a little. He rubbed Vanus's shoulders reassuringly, trying to project his reasoning into his reluctant companion.

"Listen, Vanus. I know you think it is best that we train in a 'safe' environment, but a real battle will not be safe and controlled. Our attackers won't be stationary and will most definitely return fire. How can we expect to survive if the only enemies we've fought are practice dummies?"

Vanus looked everywhere but Mannimarco's face as he considered the logic presented to him. He couldn't deny that he'd longed to test what he'd learned in a real battle, but he felt that the older mer was going about it all wrong. As usual…

"Vanus," Mannimarco said, leaning down to rest his forehead lightly on the brunette's, "I'm not going to let either of us get killed. We can both hold our own, can we not?"

Vanus brought his gaze up to Mannimarco's, shivering involuntarily when his eyes met the bright green of his fellow student. He didn't say anything for a few moments, then bowed his head in resignation.

"Fine, but if Iachesis slaughters us for this, it was entirely your fault!" he answered, punctuating his point with a prod to the taller man's sternum. Mannimarco grinned in obvious triumph, giving Vanus's shoulders a light squeeze before turning around and heading into the forest. Vanus followed behind cautiously, watching every shadow of every tree and plant warily.

"Mannimarco?"

"Yes?"

"I really hope you know what you're doing…"

"For a place that's supposed to be, and I quote, 'brimming with certain death', it's rather beautiful," Vanus remarked as they neared the entrance to the largest cave in the chain of limestone caverns that dotted the forests of Artaeum. A waterfall spilled over the top of the cave's mouth into a crystal clear pool at its base. Vibrant green grass and a smattering of blue flowers surrounded the edge of the pool, light filtering down onto it from between the canopy of leaves above them. His sensitive ears picked up on the light-hearted singing of birds in the distance, soothing him even as chilled wind from the depths curled around his feet. He waited for Mannimarco to comment as well, but received no reply. The platinum blonde's eyes were narrowed, his expression stony.

"Mannimarco," Vanus said, pulling on his friend's dark sleeve to get his attention, "Mannimarco, are you listening to me?"

The older mer appeared to snap out of his reverie, shaking his head quickly as if to clear his thoughts.

"Sorry, Vanus. We should get going."

With that, he set off into the cave's opening. Vanus felt an overwhelming urge to leave flood his entire body, setting off warning bells in his head. He just knew something bad was going to happen down there, in the dark. He knew it, but his feet propelled him on. He wasn't going to leave Mannimarco to face whatever that something was alone. Damned if you do, Vanus, damned if you don't…

Water dripped incessantly around them, echoing loudly off the hole-filled limestone walls of the cave. Mannimarco had summoned a magelight, its blue glow illuminating enough of the area for them to walk. His face looked ghostly in the light, the serious expression having since returned. Vanus's skin was crawling from unspoken nervousness. He didn't like the situation they'd placed themselves in. 'We should leave,' he thought, 'We should leave. Right now…'

Mannimarco, however, seemed undeterred. He traipsed on with a sharp focus, as if on a mission.

"I don't like this place, Mannimarco. Something is off…"

Mannimarco didn't respond.

"I swear, you never listen to me! If you had just—" Vanus was cut off as Mannimarco threw his hand against his companion's chest, halting him. He held a finger to his lips, telling Vanus to be quiet. At first the younger mer felt slighted, but hushed as he saw that Mannimarco's other hand was alight with crackling electricity.

A low, gurgling moan sounded from the pitch dark in the back of the cave. Vanus felt his blood go cold as many horrific cries bubbled up, ringing in his ears like a death knell. Mannimarco's stoic expression warped into an animalistic snarl, his lips curled back. With a yell, he launched a concentrated bolt of electricity into the darkness. It lit up the entire cave in white light, highlighting at least a dozen rotting faces. The lightning ball had managed to slam into the nearest zombie, immolating it instantly. The others, now sensing their prey clearly, rushed the Altmeri pair with frenzied screeches. Vanus had no time to think, only react. He threw ice shards at every enemy he could find, landing near-perfect shots on more than half of them. The now-permanently dead fell to the ground with a sick thud, decaying flesh hitting wet stone. He knew he was succeeding and felt proud of how quickly he'd responded to the threat, but his heart stopped when he saw a purple-blue light surround one of the less marred creatures. It stood slowly on unsteady legs, then sank the remainder of its broken teeth into the nearest of its kind.

Vanus looked to Mannimarco, hoping he was as surprised as he had been. What he saw made him nauseous: that same indigo light was stretching out from the pale mer's fingers, connecting him to the undead. He wore a twisted smile, one of pure thrill. He wasn't shocked at the rising of the dead. He was causing it…

Vanus had little time to consider this new development as he was attacked by two more zombies, both stumbling towards him in a blind rage. He dispatched them quickly with spears of energy, watching with horror as Mannimarco's new pet slaughtered the remaining three creatures. Which one's more terrifying? The undead or the living controlling them?

When every last zombie lay permanently dead and Mannimarco's slave had fizzled into a pile of glowing ash, Vanus summoned another magelight. Mannimarco was looking at him with a smile on his face.

"Haha, we did it, Vanus!" he said, emphasizing his enthusiasm with a clap to the younger Altmer's stiff shoulder, "I told you we wouldn't get eviscerated. These monsters barely put up a fight!" Still laughing amusedly, he gave a defeated zombie a swift kick. It took him a few moments to realize that Vanus didn't share his happiness at their victory. When he looked at his companion's face, he drew back, smile quickly fading. Is that anger?

"What was that?" Vanus asked heatedly, eyes blazing furiously in the sparse light. Mannimarco only looked at him quizzically, eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"What was what?" he returned, honestly curious as to what Vanus was so upset about.

"That!" Vanus replied venomously, pointing at the mystically steaming ash-pile, "What you did to that creature! You…" he stumbled over his words, struggling to find the reality in what he was about to say, "You resurrected it. It was already gone and you brought it back…I know for a fact that you didn't learn that from any of our teachers."

"Oh, that?" Mannimarco said with a slightly cheerful inflection, "It's a technique that I read about in some ancient Dunmeri texts. Apparently, they do this sort of thing in their religious ceremonies. I thought I'd try it out. It's nothing, really…"

"It's nothing? Do you even know what you did? Calling the spirit back after it's passed on is a blatant sin, Mannimarco. What makes you think that it's permissible to do something like that? If the Psijics find out-"

Feeling as if he was being attacked, the pale-haired mer grew frustrated and cut off his friend.

"It wasn't as if I had killed a person in the streets and then resurrected them with the whole damn island watching, Vanus! These mistakes of nature were already undead. I was just making short work of them. Besides, you're over-reacting! The Psijics would have no way of finding out about it unless one of us mentions it to them, which we won't."

He waited eagerly for Vanus's affirmative reply, but got only silence.

"Won't we, Vanus?" he repeated with conviction, looking his younger companion straight in the eye. Vanus sighed heavily and lowered his head, shaking it in resignation.

"You tell me it was nothing, but you refuse to tell anyone about it," he paused, returning his gaze to Mannimarco's, "I won't tell them, Mannimarco, but it can't happen again. If it does…Well, I don't even want to think of what it would mean. Just promise me you won't do it anymore. It was a one-time moment of academic curiosity and now that you've been satisfied, you'll never have to use the spell again…"

He was ready to plead his point to the older male when Mannimarco's defensive posture sagged and he released a sigh of submission.

"Fine," he said, "Let's get out of here, then."

The blonde mer headed towards the exit of the cave, a wary Vanus in tow. As they made their way back to the palace, Vanus replayed the entire skirmish in his head, recalling the sick smile on his companion's face as he resurrected the zombie and the happiness he'd heard in his voice when he explained his accomplishment. It twisted his stomach into knots, making him cringe. If he was honest with himself, Mannimarco had scared him. Had terrified him. There was something lurking beneath the intelligent, refined exterior that had just shown its ugly face to Vanus. For the first time since the day they met, Vanus felt a shiver of foreboding in the back of his mind. He knew it wouldn't be the last he'd see of it.

The rest of the journey back was spent in silence. When they reached the palace, Mannimarco had bid him a clipped goodbye and stalked off to his room without another word. Vanus thought about following him, but held back when he observed the stiffness in the older mer's posture as he walked away. Let him be, Vanus, he thought to himself, it's best if you let him be.

Mannimarco sat in his room, seething. He had nearly thrown his fist into the stone wall as soon as he closed the door, but settled for taking out his anger on the nearest thing he could grab: a large journal of notes from his latest class. He whipped the hefty tome across the otherwise-orderly room with a snarl, relishing the tell-tale thud of it hitting the wall with gusto. Shockingly enough, the random act of violence had calmed his temper enough for him to think.

He sat on the edge of his darkly-covered bed, head in his hands. He had been stupid for thinking that Vanus wouldn't react to his spell. By Oblivion, he had been stupid to even try it in his presence. The blonde mer chastised himself for his lack of consideration. You should've known better…

He had assured Vanus that he was never going to try it again.

He had promised that he was never going to resurrect what was already dead.

He had looked the younger mer in his great, sky-coloured eyes and promised him that he was done with it.

Mannimarco smiled to himself, thinking back on the situation he'd placed himself in. He loved Vanus dearly, but he was in too deep to be drawn out by a promise he'd made to satisfy him.

Essentially, he had assured Vanus Galerion that he would never practice the art of necromancy.

He had lied.