I don't think I can write answers to questions in the review, so I'll just write them here. xD Yes, there will be some Lucien x male OC. Also, this takes place around ten years before the events of Oblivion, so it will not follow the DB storyline.
The market was unusually busy that day, mostly due to the large influx of vendors that had arrived from various locations around Tamriel to sell their goods. There were candied fruits and bright fabrics and all manner of exotic wares from the various parts of Thedas. The majority of the buyers seemed to be the wealthy nobles, although a several middle and lower class citizens had also stopped by to take a look at the goods. Nisei happened to be one of those people. He walked down the aisle of stalls, examining all the goods he couldn't afford. He wished he could buy some candied grapes to bring back to Aylian, but he had already spent all their food money and he didn't want to cut into their savings just for treats. No matter—after he got Camael's item, he could just use some of the reward money to buy something nice for his half-sister.
Camael had mentioned that the vendor with her item would be a Khajit. Now, Nisei was wishing he had been more specific, as there was definitely more than one stall with a Khajit behind it. One was selling hand-made toys and another seemed to be selling various types of rings. The boy was trying to decide between which of these two could have Camael's requested item when third, rather unnoticeable Khajit vendor caught his eye. Unlike the rest of the vendors in the market, who wore extravagant high-class clothes, this one was very simply dressed. His wares—a collection of weapons—also did not look any more exotic than what as normally found in the market. Nisei got the feeling that this might be the particular Khajit that he was looking for.
The causually walked up to the merchant's stand, pretending to look at his wares. He thought about exactly how to approach this. What was he supposed to say? 'My friend asked my to pick something up from you, but I have no idea what it is.' Yes, that would definitely work. Fortunately, Nisei was saved when the Khajit merchant asked him, "Does the prey be needing anything?"
Nisei noticed that the man had a very distinct accent, much different from the rest of the Khajits he'd met before. Now that he took a closer look, Nisei also noticed that this Khajit's colouring was very different than what he was used to. He's bigger too, the boy thought. "Yes, my uh, friend says you have an item for me?" Nisei answered.
"Ahh," the vendor replied, nodding knowingly. He kneeled down and searched for something that had been placed behind his stall. He eventually brought up a sheath and the sword that went with it, placing both in front of Nisei to examine. The wood elf raised an eyebrow. Was this what Camael had wanted? It looked like an ordinary silver sword; hell, even the sheath was just a plain black. It was likely expensive, but not special enough to warrant as much secrecy as Camael had about it. Not to mention, there was no reason why he couldn't show this to Madame Esperon. Most of the prostitutes owned daggers and shortswords, just in case an unruly customer decided he was not going to follow the rules.
The vendor was now looking at Nisei for approval. "Uh, yeah, I guess this is it," the boy replied. If it was the wrong item, he could just ask Camael for a better description and come back again. After all, it was still morning and she had said she did not need it until this afternoon. The vendor had placed the sword back into its sheath and was holding it out to Nisei. The young Bosmer took the sword and placed it into the belt around his waist. Out of the corner of his eye, Nisei suddenly spotted a figure standing a few feet away who had not been there before. He turned to see a figure in darkly coloured light armor standing several feet away from the stand. The figure had a hood on that obscured its features, and Nisei could tell neither its race nor whether it was a man or woman. He had the eerie feeling that it was watching him, but he could not be sure since he could not see its eyes.
Nisei decided it was best to head back to the brothel now. He thanked the merchant and began walking towards the street leading out of the Market District. As he headed out of the row of stalls, another chill ran up his spine. He turned around and saw the same hooded figure accompanied by two others. They were at a distance, but seemed to be walking in the same direction as him. Were the following him? Nisei shook the thought from his head and decided he was just being paranoid. Nevertheless, his pace quickened. He could see the large door leading out of the district now, but instead of heading towards it, he abruptly turned a corner and headed into an alleyway. Nisei looked behind him. The hooded figures were still following, and they seemed to be walking faster now. Fuck, Nisei thought to himself. He did know who these men—women—whatever they were, but he knew were definitely following him and it was definitely not a good idea to let them catch him.
His mind quickly searched for a way to escape them. Nisei had grown up in the Imperial City, and knew all its streets by heart. Not to mention, he was a wood elf, and thus naturally very quick and nimble. He would not be able to fight these people if they attacked, but he might be able to outwit them. The boy sped up even more, now doing a slow jog. He zigzagged into several different alleyways—left, right, right, left, right—until he thought he had lost them. Nisei turned around; the hooded figures were nowhere to be seen. The Bosmer grinned triumphantly and slowed his walk. Whoever these people were, they could not keep up with him.
"Not so fast little one," a sinister voice made him stop in his tracks. Nisei whirled around, looking for the source, but there seemed to be no one. Suddenly, he noticed something moving at his side. As he turned, the invisibility spell wore off and he was surrounded by three of the hooded figures. Up close, he could determine that there were two men and one woman, all of them armed with dual blades. Nisei's breath caught in his throat.
"Hand us the sword," hissed the figure in front of him. Nisei stumbled back a few steps. Just do what they say, and maybe they'll let you go. You can always explain to Camael what happened, he thought to himself. But for some reason, he could not just bring himself to hand the sword to them. There was some sort of compulsion—some desire—inside him that said he could not give away the sword.
"No," Nisei answered, to his own disbelief.
The figure before him snarled. "That was not a request," she hissed as her hands went towards the twin blades strapped to her belt. Nisei's hands slowly traveled to the sword at his waist. He had no idea why he was doing this. He had no training in combat. He didn't even know any offensive spells apart from a weak lightning shock. As his hands closed around the sword's hilt, he noticed the figures around him tense.
"Don't do that," the one to the side commanded. Were they afraid of him taking out the sword? It's not like he could have done anything other than swish it around and hope it hit one of them. Still, if him handling the sword made them nervous…Nisei withdrew the sword from its sheath, then stopped.
"You have nowhere to hide, little boy," one of men said. His voice was scratchy and ominous. I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead, Nisei thought. Then, The blade. Without another thought, he pulled the silver sword out of its sheath.
"No!" one of the figures shouted. But Nisei barely heard him. He suddenly felt a strange, warm sensation and watched as the blade slowly transformed in his hands. The handle turned from silver to a deep black, and Nisei saw had a pair of serpents with ruby eyes were now entwined around it. Had those been there before? he wondered. The blade was now glowing with deep red markings which seemed to be in some sort of ancient language that the wood elf had never seen before. Suddenly, a strange sensation came over him. He felt as if his body no longer belonged to him, as if some other spirit inhabited it. Without warning, he thrust the blade forward. The sickening sound of flesh and bone tearing resounded through the alley.
For second, Nisei had no idea what happened. Then his eyes focused, and he realized he had thrust the sword through the stomach of the figure who was standing in front of him. In a panic, he drew the blade back and blood gushed out of the figure, staining both their clothes. The figure crumpled to the ground. Her other hooded companions stood there in disbelief. Nisei panicked, and ran.
He ran faster than ever had in his life, through alleyways and streets. He clutched the sword tightly in his hands, the blade still glowing with markings. He had no idea who saw if or even if the cloaked figures were still following him. All he knew was that he had to get as far away from the inner city as possible. Nisei burst out of one last door, stumbling down towards the banks of the lake. He was somewhere in the Waterfront District. His heart was hammering and his legs burning from his continuous sprinting. Had he lost them yet? He heard a thud, and then a sharp, crippling pain hit him the side and traveled up his body. The Bosmer looked down to see an arrow embedded into the left side of his body, just underneath his ribcage. He turned and saw the two surviving hooded figures running towards him, one of them already loading another arrow into his bow.
Nisei had to think fast. There were no guards around, and even if one heard his cries, Nisei would be dead by the time they got here. He could swim across the lake, but the figures would probably follow him. Not only that, but he had no idea what race either of them were, and there was a good chance one of them was an Argonian who could easily catch up and drown him. Then, and idea hit him. It would be a gamble, but Nisei was running out of options. He put the blade back into its sheath and took a fighting possible. He waited as the figures were just the right distance and…bam! Nisei released a lightning spell that knocked back both the men. It was a weak spell, and not enough to kill them, but it did stupefy the men and buy Nisei a few seconds.
Taking his chance, he dived into the water and swam furiously towards the other bank. A sharp pain in his side alerted the mer that the arrow was still gouged in there, but for now he would have to ignore the pain. When he had made it to shore, he crawled out and ran towards what seemed to be an Ayelid ruin.
Nisei ran behind one of the great white pillars and sank to the ground. Was he safe? He had no idea. It was likely there were bandits nearby, but for now they were not making their presence known. There was also a possibility that the figures had seen where he had run off to. But it didn't matter; Nisei was too tired to run anymore. Another sharp pain wracked his body, and the boy realized that arrow was still there. He grabbed one end and, clenching his teeth, wrenched it out of his body. The young man let out a cry as waves of pain washed over him. For a second he thought he might faint. Then, regaining his composure, he placed a hand over the cut and a warm blue light emanated from his palm. Although his true skill was in alchemy, the Doctor had taught Nisei several small healing spells. The one he was currently using would not heal his wound, but was enough to stem the bleeding. When he took his hand away, the pain had dulled and there was a large crimson stain on his side that stood out against the blue of his tunic.
Fuck shit stupid! his mind screamed. How could he have gotten himself into such trouble. I knew it was a bad idea. Fucking Camael. At least now he could see why she wanted the sword. Nisei closed his eyes. There was still daylight, and there was a high probability that some bandit would find him out here and kill him. But fuck it. He was injured, drenched, and tired as hell. And there was no way he could go back into the Imperial City now. How did I get myself into this mess? His body slumped against the pillar as fatigue from both running and blood loss took over and he slowly fell asleep.