Author's Note:
There were so many ways this chapter could have branched out. Every scene had two to five options.
"Demon!" the red-headed teenager shouted while drawing her sword.
Shit, Andyval thought. He casted Pacify at her, then her knights, then the civilians behind her for good measure. He then said, "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."
"Princess Piña, what's happening? Who's he? Why can't we attack him?" one of her knights, who had short brown hair, asked.
"Princess? Molt's daughter? We need to talk in private. Also, the spell will wear off in a minute," Andyval said. This is going to be fun, he thought with an unseen smirk under his helmet.
"Princess Piña, you can't-," the same knight started, but was interrupted by her liege.
"I need to do this Hamilton. Come, let's talk," she said, quivering in fear and nervousness. They walked away from everyone, but still remained in their line of sight. When out of earshot Andyval asked, "I presume you know who I really am?"
With slight fear, she replied, "An Emperor."
By the Divines what has she heard of me? He thought, then said, "I see the soldier sent my message, I'm the Emperor of Tamriel, Andyval. I'd like to start off with two issues. First, the JSDF don't know I'm an Emperor, so let's keep it that way. Second, how has your father dealt with my proposition?"
"You're not going to kill me?" she asked with surprise.
Andyval shook his head, "No, I only have an issue with your father. If you or your knights attack me, well, it'll be a different story."
She looked down, and said, "He is stubborn, to admit defeat is a sign of weakness. Please, do not act on him yet. I'll try to make him understand peace." She looked back up at him and asked, "Why haven't you told the JSDF of your sovereignty?"
Andyval laughed and jested, "Little girl, can't an Emperor have fun?" When he said that, Piña looked at him with confusion. He continued, "Bandit problems? Do you need help?"
Why do I need to get help from an enemy? She thought, then awkwardly said, "Yes, remnants of my father's army have resorted to banditry after their crushing defeat at Alnus. My knights will arrive soon, but not in time. Could you get the JSDF to help us too?"
"Hah, you don't even need to ask them. Their sense of justice is too great for their own good. We may not even need them, I'm pretty strong alone. I know you've heard," Andyval said.
"How can I thank you for this kindness? I'll do any-" she started, but was cut off.
"I'n currently indebted to a god of death for using his realm for travel, as long as I get to kill something, I'm good," Andyval said, and looked around, "Well, I'm going to defuse this situation you created by assaulting Itami with a door. While I do that, you should calm your knights."
Andyval walked towards Itami, who just woke up, and Piña walked over to her knights. "Are you okay Princess Piña?" Hamilton asked.
"I thought I was going to die," was her only reply.
"Andyval, could you go to the southern wall to help the JSDF defend?" Piña asked the man.
"Nah, I'm staying right here. Can't move that much with this parasite attached to me," he replied, gesturing with his left arm to his right arm, which Rory was currently holding in a death grip. The apostle was smiling and snuggling up against Andyval, who was sitting with his back against the edge of the fountain in Italica's square. "Besides," he said, "I need to get to the action, where ever it may happen, as fast as possible."
"But-," she started.
"Who was the one that demolished a whole detachment of your father's soldiers by himself?" he asked, and Rory perked up when she heard this.
Piña froze for a couple seconds and sighed. "I know," she said. "The survivor you... let go said you could control time? Is that true?" she asked with disbelief.
"Yeah pretty much," Andyval nonchalantly replies.
Before Piña could say anything, Rory stepped in, "Andy, you must tell me of your adventures!"
"No," Andyval sternly replied.
"But Andy, please?" Rory asked.
"Call me Andy one more time, and I'll kill you, turn you into an undead thrall, then kill you again. Princess, I suggest you go back to your post. The people need to see you, I know what it does to morale first-hand."
After hours of pestering from Rory, the fighting began. It was a textbook night attack, Tullius would be proud. The fighting happened at the Eastern gate, the one with Piña, and not the Southern, which the princess had hoped.
A few minutes later, Rory started moaning and grinding up against Andyval's arm. "What in the Nine Divines are you doing?" he asked.
"Ah~, their souls are using my body as- ah!- conduit to go to Emroy, I can't help it!" she replied between moans, her grinding becoming more aggressive. Is she using my arm to- yeah she is, Andyval thought. He reached into his own personal slice of Oblivion, and brought out a bottle of Sleeping Tree Sap mixed with Netch Jelly.
"Rory, this'll help-," he started, but was cut off by her snatching it up and downing the drug. The effects were immediate, her pupils dilated and her grip loosened. Andyval slid his arm out from her grasp, and grimaced at the fluids on his armor. He dunked his arm in the fountain, and headed off to the fighting.
By the time he got there, they had already broken through the walls. A large bandit was attacking civilians with a flail. He would launch the spiked ball at them, then bringing it back with the chain attached. He launched another attack, but it stopped short of his intended target. A man wearing black armor appeared from nothing.
Andyval's invisibility wore off, having taken the flail to the chest. All the bandits stopped and stared at him. He chuckled, and looked into the eyes of the large bandit. "FUS RO DAH" Andyval shouted, sending the bandit flying into the ones flowing through the gate behind him, bowling them over.
He then started his next attack, Fireball. He casted it over and over again, large balls of flame consuming bandits everywhere. On the ramparts, in the gate, on the ground, all over. Explosions where created, leaving only dead bandits in their wake.
Spectating the carnage, Piña thought, This is insane! He is casually slaughtering the enemies! I need to get my father to surrender!
Andyval sighed, Never is there a challenge, he thought. The Adept level spell was barely dipping into his magicka, and it was recharging faster than it was being used. Eventually, it reached the point that he swapped to Wall of Flames, sealing up the gate while also sending Fireballs at those above.
After an hour or two of fighting, dawn approached, and so did the JSDF. Andyval had eradicated every enemy inside the walls and most on the walls. They had stopped just before the wall of fire he had created, shouting insults, and Andyval waited for one of them to make their move. The bandits also stopped going onto the wall because whenever they did, they were met with a giant ball of fire.
Itami approached Andyval from behind and informed him, "Air support is coming in ten minutes. Where's Rory?" he asked.
Andyval shrugged and said, "In the town square enjoying the high of her life. Probably." That bottle was extra refined, and Netch Jelly contains paralytic effects. That paired with her small stature, she's going to be out of it for quite some time, he thought.
Itami stared at him in confusion, then Kuribayashi asked, referring to the charred bodies of the bandits, "Did you do this? What spell?"
"Fireball, it creates a fourty foot wide ball of flames," he replied.
She looked at him and replied with wonder, "Cool."
The three stood there, Andyval occasionally renewing the Wall of Flames, and eventually they heard the music. Andyval looked to the sky and soon appeared the JSDF's flying machines of war. After moving into position, they opened fire on the forces outside the gate, destroying them.
After the fighting, Piña stared in wonder at the dead. Andyval had routed the enemies on the inside, and the JSDF defeated all who remained outside in seconds. She walked up to Andyval, who was currently gathering magic around him. After a couple seconds, he shot a small ball of magic at one of the corpses.
And what she saw would scar he for the rest of her life.
The corpse rose up, a dark blue haze forming around it and on it. He did it again with another one, the same thing happening. "Undead Thrall," he said, sensing her presence, "What is it that you need?"
"I was wondering if you could come and talk with me after the JSDF leave to iron out possible terms for an agreement between our empires," she asked, while shaking from nervousness and fear.
"Okay, give me a second," Andyval replied. He turned to the two undead and ordered, "Search the dead bandits for any valuables. Come back to me once you are finished."
After the undead bowed and started walking away, Andyval turned to Piña and said, "It would be best to negotiate with the JSDF first. Once they're done, we can talk. In the mean time, do you know where the most influential merchant is?" he asked the Princess. She pointed out directions, and Andyval went on his way.
Along the way, Andyval ran into Rory. "Andy!" she shouted, running up to him with anger. With a pout, she asked, "Why did you do that? What if someone took advantage of me?"
"Because you called me Andy," he replied, still walking to his destination.
"Andy? Oh, why does it make you angry? Andy, Andy, And-," she started, but was cut off.
"Because there is a Daedric Prince that always wants me to steal things to feed her hoarding addiction. She gets really annoying when she endlessly pesters me. She's a lot like you in that aspect," Andyval replied, not even turning to look at her.
Rory pouted again, then asked, "Daedric, you've said that before. Is it a kingdom neighboring your homeland?"
"Daedra are demons. Daedric Princes are formless entities that are gods. Now please leave me alone, I have business to conduct," he said, after arriving at the merchant.
"Andy-" Rory said, but was cut off by Andyval closing the door to the merchant in her face.
"Welcome! How may I help you today, sir?" the merchant asked, while walking into the front room of his store.
"I would like to make an investment in your business," Andyval said.
"Really? How much and what for?" the merchant asked.
Andyval reached into Oblivion, and pulled out five bars of gold, one after another. The merchant's mouth dropped, both at the magic and the gold. "There will be trading caravans coming to this city. I would like you to trade with them and give them information. Tell them that the... 'Son of Akatosh' has given them this asset. They'll know who I am," he informed the merchant.
"Information? No, that's not my business perhaps-" the merchant started, but was cut off by Andyval pulling out another five bars of gold. "Final offer," Andyval told him.
The merchant sighed, and said, "Fine, I'll do it."
"Great, I'll know if you follow through or not," Andyval said, and went back outside. Rory was nowhere to be seen, but Hamilton from Piña's knights was there. "Princess Piña has finished negotiating with the JSDF and has sent me to retrieve you," she said, not pleased with having to consort with him.
"Lead the way," Andyval replied.
When Andyval met her next, Piña was in a sitting room with her face buried in her hands. The room was simple, not too large, and had two couches and a table in the middle. She brought her head up when the door opened and said, "Andyval, take a seat, Hamilton, fetch us some wine."
Andyval sat down on the couch across from her and took off his helmet for the first time on the other side of the Gate. Piña was surprised, for someone with such powers he was surprisingly young and human. He looked only a few years older than her, and had close cut black hair, blue eyes, slightly pale skin, and a cleanly shaven face. She wouldn't be lying if she said she liked what she saw.
"So, how are you going to deal with this situation I've created?" Andyval asked.
She jumped a little, and replied sadly, "My empire has no chance. The JSDF are too powerful, and you alone could probably march right into the capital and kill my father."
Hamilton returned with the wine, and set it down on the table. Piña reached forward and took a drink form her cup. Andyval shrugged and said, "You're right, I have some practice, I did kill the last Emperor of Tamriel."
Piña started choking on her wine and Hamilton's jaw dropped. In between coughs, Piña asked, "What?"
"Yeah, I joined a group of assassins and got a job to kill the Emperor. It was pretty easy. I killed his double, then him a couple days later after they heightened security," Andyval replied.
"He can't be serious," Hamilton told her liege.
After finally calming down from her coughing fit, Piña said, "About a little over a month ago, my father sent a detachment to inspect reports of unknown ruins. A week later, only one man returned, raving about a 'demon' that could control nature and slaughtered them all."
Hamilton's eyes widened and she backed up, her hand moving towards the sword at ther hip. Andyval dismissed her action and asked Piña, "So, what will you say to your father?"
Piña thought for a moment, then replied, "We can't even hope to fight you or the JSDF. I'll try to talk him and the senators into peace talks on both fronts. One of my brothers, Zorzal, would not like this."
"Don't worry about him. I can deal with him," Andyval said.
It was silent for a few minutes, and they sipped on their wine occasionally. Piña eventually asked, "Were you really in a group of assassins?"
"Yes," Andyval replied.
"Any other surprises?" she asked.
"Where's the fun in telling?" he replied with a smile.
Piña was about to reply, but was interrupted by the door to the room opening. Another one of her knights, one with blonde hair styled into drills, was dragging in a beaten up Itami. Piña paled, and the knight said, "Princess Piña, I have captured one of the-"
She was interrupted by Piña throwing her cup at her head, causing her to start bleeding were it struck her. "What the hell did you think you were doing, you idiot! Not even a day into it, and we have already broken our side of the agreement!" Piña shouted while shaking with anger.
"Oh, it's not that bad," Andyval said, getting up from the couch, putting his helmet on, and approaching Itami. He waved his hand in front of Itami's eyes, but didn't get a reaction. "Actually, this is pretty bad. I'll heal him, but he'll still be unconscious," he said, while using Grand Heal. Andyval then looked at the knight who dragged Itami in and asked, "Did his men see you attack him?"
She shakenly replied, "Yes."
"Well, you're screwed. You'll probably be able to get out of it though, the JSDF are really understanding," he said. Piña and the knight sighed in relief.
"I need to contact my Elder Council with these developments. I'll see you later Princess," Andyval said while walking out of the room.
Andyval found himself on a balcony overlooking Italica. It had been a long day, he had drugged a priestess, fought in battle, bribed a merchant, and took his first steps in diplomacy. He put magic in his fingers and snapped them. A second later, a portal to Oblivion opened up next to him, and left a finely dressed Daedra in its wake. "What do you need m'lord?" the Daedra asked in a bored tone.
"Take a letter to the Elder Council. Tell them that there is a merchant in the city of Italica that is willing to help the caravans. Also, I've made contact with the Imperial Princess, she wants peace," Andyval told the Daedra. The Daedra nodded, and disappeared in another portal.
After about an hour of watching the sun set, the two undead came back. They handed him a dozen full to bursting coin purses. "You are dismissed," Andyval ordered, and the undead dissolved into ash. Might as well go check up on Itami, I wonder how his squad will react? he thought, and asked a passing maid to direct him to Itami's room.
The sight that met Andyval was a weird one. Itami was being cared for lavishly by maids, but their appearances were strange beyond belief. One had the ears and tail of a bunny, one had the ears and tail of a cat, one had snakes for hair, and one was human.
"So Itami, how do you feel?" Andyval asked.
"Great!" Itami shouted with glee, then asked, "Andyval, your homeland has elves and this world has elves, so are there races like these there?"
Andyval took another look at the maids, then replied, "There's the Khajiit and Argonians, but they are beast than human in appearance."
After talking with Itami and the maids for a bit, the bunny one noticed that Itami's squad was coming to get him and she left to go bring them to the room. When they got into the room, they were shouting in surprise at the maids and Itami's treatment. They gathered together, and used devices that created a flash and made an picture of them.
While this was happening, the blonde knight that hurt Itami opened the door and stood in the doorway. Why is she wearing lingerie- oh, Andyval thought, Piña, you made a mistake.
After talking to herself and getting increasingly frustrated, the knight ran forward and slapped Itami across the face.
"Andyval, General Hazama would like you to participate in the National Diet," Itami said, after getting off the radio. They had left Italica and Piña and the blonde knight, Bozes, had joined them. They were going to talk to Japan's officials about peace with their empire.
"I'll do it, but with one condition. I would like to have a part to discuss Tamriel's position with your world," Andyval replied.
"Okay, I'll talk to him," Itami said, "Also, they said that a trading caravan delivered a shipment of alcohol to Alnus for you."
"Alcohol? I didn't-," Andyval started but stopped, "Tell them, whatever they do, do not open it. If they even happen to drink it... well, let's hope they don't."
Itami stared at him because of his reaction, but eventually turned back to look at the road.
Once they arrived at Alnus, Recon Team Three went to debrief, Tuka went to see her father, Rory and Lelei went their own ways, and Piña and Bozes went to speak to Hazama. Andyval went to where the caravan dropped off the alcohol.
When he saw it, his fears were confirmed. On every bottle in the shipment it said 'Sanguine Ale' on the label, in Daedric script nonetheless. Some of the JSDF members were eyeing it, thirsty for a drink. Andyval stood there, staring at the large amount of alcohol wondering, What the hell am I going to do with this?
Eventually Kuribayashi came by after her debrief and said, "What are you waiting for Andyval? Let's crack them open!"
"Nope," he said, moving to stop her.
"Why? It's just alcohol," she asked.
"It's magical. It was made by the Daedric Prince of Hedonism. The last, and only time I drank it, I woke up days later in temple to one of the Divines. Apparently I had trashed it before I passed out," Andyval replied. He looked at her, and saw that she was shocked.
"That's not even the worse part. I found out I got married to a hagraven while drunk," he continued.
"What's a hagraven?" Kuribayashi asked.
"You don't want to know. Good thing is, I killed it the moment it said, 'welcome home darling'," he said with a shudder. "Could you get me some explosives? I need to dispose of this stuff," he asked.
Kuribayashi left, and Andyval looked around to make sure no one was watching. He then pocketed a half a dozen bottles, shoving them into his part of Oblivion. Kuribayashi returned a few minutes later with a satchel of something called 'C4'.
"How did you get them to give you some?" Andyval asked.
"I told them you needed some for hazardous waste disposal. Apparently, your name carries some weight," She replied, then looked at the shipment and asked, "Hey, aren't there some bottles missing?'
Andyval replied, "Nope. Come on, let's get it to the no man's land outside the base." He then used Telekinesis to lift up the shipment of alcohol.
About half an hour later, Andyval and Kuribayashi were taking cover behind a hill. "You sure this will work?" she asked.
"Yeah, the bottles will break and the alcohol will vaporize before it does any harm. Hopefully. You never know with the Daedra," he replied.
Kurybayashi looked at him with concern, then pressed a switch on detonator. Not even a second later, an explosion rocked the area they were in. "Damn, that's powerful stuff for such a little amount," Andyval said.
When they got back to the base, it was time for lunch. Andyval wasn't hungry and still had his helmet on. Rory was sitting to Andyval's left, and Piña was sitting to his right. Rory was cling to his arm, again, and asked, "Andy, back in Italica the Princess said you could control time. Please tell me of your adventures."
When Recon Team Three heard 'control time' they all stopped eating and stared at him. "No," he replied.
"Please?" almost everyone at the table asked.
"Fine. I'll tell you about the Volkihar Clan," he said.
Everyone perked up when he started talking. "Some vampires wanted to use the power of some magical scrolls to locate a magical bow to turn off the sun. I killed them all except two," was his curt explanation. Everyone looked at him with shock. Itami was the first to react, "Turn off the sun?" he asked.
"Yup. I still have the bow and the needed arrows, do you want me to demonstrate?" Andyval asked.
"No," Itami replied quickly.
Lelei was the next to react, "Magical scrolls?" the little mage asked.
"Yeah, the Elder Scrolls. Don't know how they work, but they can tell you of the past or future. If you read one without preparing, you'll only see gibberish and the Divines will melt your brain but keep you alive for a bit as punishment. Want to try reading one?" he asked.
Lelei shook her head in refusal.
"Well, I'm going to do some light reading," Andyval replied while pulling a highly decorative scroll out of Oblivion. "Is that-," Piña started, but was interrupted.
"Yeah an Elder Scroll. This one is the Dragon scroll, it fortold the apocalypse. A dragon god of destruction was supposed to eat the world, but I killed him," Andyval said.
Everyone was too shocked to reply. Andyval continued, "Maybe it will tell me where that dragon fled to. I really want to kill it. Well, I'm going to commandeer Hazama's office for a private reading area. So, you know, no one looks over my shoulder and gets a mushy brain."
It had been long since the sun had set. Andyval's day of reading only showed him two things, a mountain and a dark elf. Although, it wasn't a Dunmer, she had brown skin, not gray, and also had silver hair.
Andyval was walking down the stairs to head to the rooms that the JSDF constructed for the refugees and him. He was passing by a door leading into an office and saw Itami inside. "Hey Itami, did Hazama accept my terms?" he asked.
"Yeah," Itami said while yawning, "Although, they'll also ask you about some other things. It's mainly about how people died when the dragon attacked. But, they may ask you about some of your magic or your homeland."
Before Andyval could reply, Lelei walked into the room, and said, "Take me back to the camp. I'm tired," then collapsed to her knees, already asleep.
"You've been interpreting this whole time? Good work. Andyval, could you help her? You share the same room," Itami asked.
"What?" Andyval asked back.
"Yeah, Hazama thought she could be someone you could talk to because you both use magic. You're both heading to the same place and I'm still busy, so could you help her?" Itami asked again.
"Alright," Andyval said, and slung her over his shoulder. He made his way out of the office building and over to the camp. When he got to room five, he opened the door and walked in.
The room had two beds, and two chests for storage, one pair was one the left side, and one on the right. One bed showed signs of use, so he laid Lelei down on it. Then he laid down on his bed, not even caring about his armor. I feel like tomorrow is going to be fun, he thought as he was drifting off to sleep.
Author's Note:
Reviews are appreciated.
Like I said, there were multiple ways for this chapter to unfold. I choose the ones I did so everything I have thought of will play together. It would have come out earlier, but it was more difficult to write than the others and I can only write at certain times.
Next chapter WILL have the Diet, I didn't know if I was going to put it in this one because I didn't know how much I was going to put in it. After the next chapter, I will move over to my Halo/Gate crossover until that one gets past the Diet. It won't be that long, only two or three chapters.
