Everything was calm on the Imperial City waterfront. The sky was beginning to turn dark, people were heading home after a hard day's work, and all was quiet. That is, until a scream rent the air, shattering the peace of the evening.
"I just don't get it," Pente wailed, prodding at the book before her, viciously. She was lying on her stomach, the four volumes of the Commentaries spread out on the floor in front of her. "This is stupid. I bet Mankar Camoran wrote all this in... in crazy-speech, in a way that only other crazy people could understand it, so that his crazy cult would only be full of crazies and..."
Pente continued to rant, glaring at the book as though it had personally insulted her. Baurus rolled his eyes good-naturedly. If only madmen could read it and understand the clues, then the Bosmer should be having no trouble at all.
After exiting the sewers earlier, they had decided on using the abandoned shack by the waterfront to get some rest. Pente had flat-out refused to ask her mother if they could stay at her house ("Do you want me to die of shame? Do you? Because it would have been more enjoyable if you'd let Raven Camoran just choke me!"), and Baurus didn't want to stay at an inn - other guests might hear their discussions, and he wasn't sure if Gwinas had reported the theft of the book, yet. If he had, it was best to lie low for a while. At least on the Waterfront, people didn't tend to ask too many questions.
Pente was still scowling at the books, her brown eyes forming angry little slits. "...and I wish he'd stop repeating himself so much. Nu-mantia. Liberty. I got it the first time. Ugh." A little calmer now that she had vented her anger, Pente sighed. "I understand the 'come slow and bring four keys' bit, I think. That part must be referring to the books, right?" She looked at Baurus for confirmation.
Baurus shrugged. "Sounds right to me. Does it say what you should do with them?"
"No... Oh, I give up!" Pente groaned, standing up. "Ow. My back hurts. Um, are you hungry?"
"Only if you're not going to offer me that Rugmeth stuff," Baurus grinned. Pente giggled, and started fishing around in her bag.
"Rotmeth. I wouldn't be that mean! And I think I have enough ingredients to make a cake in here!" she squeaked, excitedly. "I know how to make a really good cake. Did I ever tell you about the one I made in Kvatch? It was so good! It kind of went to waste, though, although I suppose that was the least of what was happening. But still, it was a really nice cake! I made it with chocolate, but I don't actually have any at the moment. But it should be alright without it, of course, I mean..."
Baurus shook his head as Pente chattered away, brightly. Keeping up with the mer's ever-changing moods was proving just as perplexing as those Mythic Dawn books.
The abandoned shack fell silent as Pente examined her creation. "This... isn't what it was supposed to look like," she muttered.
Baurus blinked rapidly, his eyes watering. "Is that what it was supposed to smell like?"
"No." Pente chewed her thumbnail as she stared at the object in front of her. It did not resemble a cake in any possible way. It was charred, mangled, had the consistency of sludge, and it appeared to be tinged slightly green underneath the thick layer of ash that covered it. It could possibly be described as an anti-cake.
"I'm not sure whether that's comforting or not," Baurus said, fascinated. Reaching out a finger, he prodded the strange concoction. It squelched oddly, and he quickly pulled the finger away.
"Argh," Pente scowled. "What happened? I did exactly the same things as last time!" She paused. "Except this time I had to use a bucket and the fire to bake it instead of a baking tin and proper oven, of course."
Baurus stared, incredulously. She had baked a cake in a bucket - a filthy bucket that had been lying around an abandoned house - and had expected it to turn out well?
"What's so funny?!" Pente squeaked, as Baurus burst into laughter. "What?!" She glared as menacingly as she could, which only made Baurus laugh harder. "You're so-- OH!" she gasped, pointing at the floor in shock.
Baurus tried to regain control of himself, and followed where her finger was pointing. "The books? What's wrong?"
"Green."
"I'd say it was more black with green undertones, actually..."
"Not the cake!" Pente scowled, her mouth twitching. "There! The bigger letters!" she ran her finger down the pages of the book, pointing out the elaborate letters that did, indeed, form the word "green". Flicking through the books in turn, reading down the illustrated letters, she smiled, proudly. "Green Emperor Way, Where Tower Touches Midday Sun."
"I guess we know where we'll be tomorrow at midday," Baurus yawned. He wanted to be more enthusiastic, but he was just... so... tired.
"Good morning, Emperor Martin!"
Martin shuffled sleepily into the main hall of Cloud Ruler Temple, and gave a weak smile. "Just Martin, please. I'm not an Emperor yet. Please, just treat me like you would treat anyone else." The Blade who had spoken saluted enthusiastically, and returned to his book. Martin sighed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He had slept terribly last night - he had given way to slumber quickly enough, but had been plagued by the strangest dreams.
Something about... underground tunnels. Men dressed in red, and... Martin struggled to remember, the remains of the dream drifting away from him. Some kind of gelatinous monster, in a bucket...?
The man shuddered. Maybe it was best if he didn't remember the dream fully. Emperor Uriel had believed in the power of dreams, after all, and it apparently didn't do him any good before the end. Then again, at least Martin wasn't having prophetic dreams about big, burly Nords. That was always something to be grateful for.
Another figure entered the hall, rousing Martin from his thoughts. "Ah, you're awake! Good morning..." Jauffre hesitated slightly. "...Martin. Did you sleep well?" He was still having trouble addressing the future Emperor in such a familiar fashion. Martin pretended not to notice.
"Not too badly, considering the circumstances." He paused for a moment, his brow furrowed. "Have you heard anything from Pente, yet?"
Jauffre shook his head. "Nothing. Don't worry too much, Baurus is very capable. I'm sure that together, they'll be able to overcome any problems that they stumble across."
Martin nodded. He wasn't worried - the mer had been to Oblivion and back, after all. A trip to the Imperial City should be no trouble for someone as accomplished as the Hero of Kvatch, even if she did run into trouble. Besides, as Jauffre had said, she was with another Blade. What could possibly go wrong?
"I have to go on m-my own?! B-but why?!" Pente shrieked, her voice resounding shrilly throughout the Green Emperor Way cemetery. Baurus winced slightly and waited for the ringing in his ears to fade. Apparently, the Bosmer was less than happy with his suggestion.
Pente was furious. They had found the next clue in Green Emperor Way easily enough - a glowing map suddenly appearing on a tomb surface was kind of hard to miss, even if you didn't know what you were looking for. Baurus had quickly scribbled a mark on their map to pinpoint the location, and Pente had been ready to leave as soon as was necessary. Yes, it was scary, but Baurus would be with her - and Baurus was, clearly, the ideal person to have on your side if you were going up against an evil Daedric cult.
Except Baurus had just told her that he wouldn't be coming along. Pente squeaked, half out of anger and half from fear. This was most definitely not fair.
"It's not that I don't want to go. If I come too, your cover will be blown right away," Baurus explained. "I've told you before - the Mythic Dawn know me. If we both go, they'll recognise me and we'll end up facing off against all of them at once. I don't think even we could cope with that."
Pente's mouth moved, but no words came out. So you think I can cope better on my OWN? What IS this?!
Baurus continued, apparently not noticing the Wood Elf's mute protest. "So at least if you go alone, you'll be more inconspicuous. The only cultists who've seen you are too dead to pass on a description - so when you get to the shrine, they'll just think you're a new recruit. Give them a false name, act like you love doom, destruction and murdering emperors, and you'll be fine! You might not even have to draw a blade. Unless you want to, of course," he said, grinning devilishly.
"That... m-makes sense," Pente mumbled, feeling slightly better. Slightly. Not having to use her weapon in any way sounded perfect, after all. Going in there undercover and snatching the Amulet of Kings back seemed simple enough... At least, in theory. Pente's experiences so far had taught her that things tended to not go the way that she planned.
"Exactly!" Baurus smiled, patting her on the back. "I'll go report back at Cloud Ruler, then. They must be wondering where we've got to by now... Do you want me to pass on any messages or anything, apart from letting everyone know that you're okay?"
Yes. Tell Jauffre that if he ever sends me on an assignment on my own again, I'm going to kill him. And then tell everyone else that I expect to be welcomed back with cake and soft beds, assuming that I survive. Oh, and if I DON'T survive, please tell them that my ghost will be on its way, and I'll make sure to jump out and make ghostly noises at the most inconvenient moments, and--
"Um, j-just tell them that I'll see them soon," Pente replied, miserably. Hopefully not as one of the undead, of course.
"That's the spirit. You'll be fine. See you back at Cloud Ruler," Baurus said, waving. "I'll try and get my hands on some cake or something for when you return, okay? See you soon!"
Pente watched the Redguard as he walked away, her mouth gaping open. Cake?
Wandering towards the Market District, Pente hummed a happy little tune. It was time to go and buy some supplies for her trip. Baurus may have been leaving her to fend off a psychotic cult all by herself, but she just couldn't stay mad at him. Yet again, her new friend had proven that he really did have the very best ideas.