Before Time Runs Out
Authors Note-
I am just showing you guys that this isn't dead, I have just been caught up in life and it made me lag on posting stuff... or rather typing stuff.
Also, Skyrim is amazing. I have a crush on Ulfric Stormcloak and thus made a new fanfiction about my new character and him. So go and read that too please.
Don't hate me, I love you guys. Thanks for reading.
This is going to be the crappiest chapter ever, sorry.
Ch.8
"You've brought it! The holy flame of Agnon, the fire of inspiration and rapture!" Dervenin the priest for Mania smiled with excitement. "If you light the Great Torch on the Mania side of the Sacellum, you will be a hero to the people of Bliss, I assure you!"
"I'll light the Great Torch for you." Gwen didn't really care who got what, she didn't need to win the favor on any side, she just wanted to complete her task.
"I know I saw the glint of true Mania in your eyes, my child. Go now and let the holy flame inspire the people of Bliss to new heights of madness." He grinned like a child.
The Dark Elf walked up to the altar of Arden-Sul, took it's blessing and walked to the fire gate on the Mania side. Once it had opened, Gwen walked inside to release the flames she had held onto during the trip.
Sheogorath sat at one of the pews, clapping his hands with a proud smile on his face. Those golden eyes saw right through her and Gwen willed herself to walk to the Prince.
"Aren't you off to a good start! That's important. For me. Really, your work is going to save me a lot of time.." His eyes drifted off for a moment.
"Save you time, how?" Gwen leaned back against a pew behind her, paying more attention to the mad god now.
"The Greymarch is upon us, and the Ordering begins. Armies of Order sweep My Realm. Death. Destruction. Then I have to pick up the pieces... and there are always lots of pieces. I don't like it, having to rebuild My Realm every era. Sometimes I forget where things go. Like New Sheoth, I can never remember there it belongs... You'll change that. Break the cycle, you'll stop Jyggalag, and I'll have My Realm to come back to, I've never actually tried that before." Sheogorath seemed to get giddy at the idea, Gwen found that mannerism quite cute. Daedae came up and sat next to him, the prince patted the wolfs head and gave Gwen an expecting look.
"I can stop the Greymarch? You've got to be kidding." An invisible lump in her throat began to form.
"Why not? Something has to work. Once, I dug a pit and filled it with clouds. Or was it clowns? Doesn't matter. It didn't slow him down. To be honest, it wasn't the best idea. And it really began to smell. Must have been clowns. Clouds don't smell bad. They taste of butter! And tears. But this is all new! A fresh idea! Something I hadn't thought of, until I did. It's sure to work, even though it might not." Daedea took over the princes lap and begged for attention while he talked, so the madgod strokes his fur while he prattled on.
"What now?" She giggled at his clown incident, the prince's eyes seemed to shine a little more at the sound of her laugh.
"Now? You'll need the respect of my citizens. They'll need a leader, someone to look up to when I'm gone. They're the backbone of any great land. Except where the backbone is an actual backbone. Ever been to Malacath's realm...? Nasty stuff. But, back to the business at hand. You'll need to control one of the courts of Madness. Replace a current Duke. Or Duchess. Whichever. That will command respect! The people will rally around you. You'll have their love, their admiration, their complaints! Whatever. As long as it keeps them on our side." Gwen was sure from staring into the eyes of this man, they had taken a deeper amber color to them from the previous gold, and his pupils had widened.
"Wont the Dukes be displeased? I'm killing one of them..." Gwen felt herself heat up in embarrassment with her stupid question.
"No. No. No. No. Absolutely not. Well... yes. Absolutely. Bit of a shame for them. But sometimes you need to break a few eggs. Or skulls. There are rules, though, even in the Isles. Rituals and rules. You need to follow them. Speak to Arctus and Dervenin, the High Priests at the Sacellum Arden-Sul. They can explain what needs to be done. And you've always got our man Haskill to call on for help. Faithful like a good hound, that one. And he looks better in a suit." The madgod smiled bright, and set Daedae aside to stand up and look at her once over.
Gweneth felt the lump again, rise higher, she tried to swallow it to no avail. Sheogorath leaned in closer and eyed her in detail. Her blue skin had a reddish purple tint to it now, and she couldn't stop blinking her eyes. The mans hand cupped the side of her face softly, a small smirk graced his lips, leaning in close to her ear he mumbled ever so slightly. "You're going to be a great Duchess." With that he walked away with his cane to the altar, nobility and grace seeping out of him it seemed. The dark elf was beyond flustered, but she managed to greet Arctus to get on with her quest. The Madgod eyed her from behind the priest while she tried to converse with the grumpy man.
"Another sheep returns to the flock." Arctus glared at her for not putting the flame in the Dementia side. "What is it you need?"
"I need help replacing the Duchess." Gwen glared back, she didn't pick favorites, if he had walked up to her first she would have given them the flame.
"Interesting, Becoming the Duchess of Dementia requires passage through the Ritual of Accession, specific guidelines set forth by Arden-Sul himself. Seldom is the subject ever bro-.. wait a moment, did you want to hear the history of the Ritual?" Arctus asked a little excited to tell a story.
"Uhmn, no. Please just tell me what to do." Gwen tried to keep her eyes locked to his but she could see a grinning madgod behind his shoulder in the corner of her eye.
"Very well, spoken like a true daughter of the Demented. To become ruler of Dementia, the current leader's heart must be cut out and brought to the Altar of Arden-Sul in the Sacellum. Once this is done, I can pronounce the heart-bearer a Duke or Duchess. Then, all that is required is the blessing of our lord, Sheogorath." Gwen walked away from the man and right back to the madgod.
"You're back! How nice for you. Does that mean you've made a decision? Or are you lost? Suicidal? In love? Just let me know. A friendly word of warning before you choose. Once you have decided which Duke to replace, there's no turning back. One choice. No more. No less. Try not to do something stupid." Sheogorath gave her a warning, his eyes narrowed in a threatening way and then he began to smile like a child again. "So, which is it? What will it be? Mania? Dementia? The suspense is killing me. Or you. If I have to keep waiting.."
"I choose Syl, Duchess of Dementia." Gwen tried to keep eye contact with him, but she often diverted her eyes. For some reason this prince took all the confidence she had from before.
"A dangerous choice. I like it! She's gotten to be a bit much, anyway. Thinks everyone is out to get her. Which they are, in this case. So be it. We will talk again when your task is complete my dear." A grin was all she needed from him to give her the drive to leave the Sacellum. The dark elf nearly sprinted out of there, she was so flustered.
Gweneth strode over the the Duchess's court, looking for Anya Herrick and Kithlan to talk to. Syl wasn't around at the moment, probably hiding in her quarters. The dark elf looked over the Dark Seducers, they almost felt like cousins to her.
"Ahhh, good to see you again." Anya smiled in her seat next to the empty throne.
"Where is Syl?" Gwen looked over to Kithlan, knowing he knew something.
"She is staying well out of sight. No need to take unnecessary risks. I maintain a close watch on her. She fears that Sheogorath no longer favors her presence and wants her replaced." She gave Gwen a glare and looked away.
"Hey Anya, here, take some money. That will make you a little more friendly right?" She threw a coinpurse of gold onto her lap, it weighed a lot and earned a gasp from the woman. "Now, help me find her wont you friend?"
"Perhaps I've misjudged you. Alright. I'll help. Just remember me when you take over her position. What can I do to help you?" She grinned a little at her new found sack of gold.
"I need to get close to her." She eyed Kithlan, he knew to keep quiet and help.
"Well the best I can offer is help with the guards. I can distract at least two of them and get them to leave her wing of the palace. That should help you to get in there a bit easier." Anya went on her way to make sure what she said was true.
"Kithlan, I need you to help me as well. I am going to replace her." Gwen handed him some gold as well.
"Yes, I see you may have what it takes to replace Syl." He pocketed the money.
"Can you get me close to her?" Gwen leaned on one leg and stared at him.
"Hmm. That may be difficult. Syl has been hidden from public sight lately. However, I can give you something that may help. Take this key. It should unlock any door in her wing of the palace. You still need to be wary of her Seducer guards, but it should help." He remained in his seat and watched the Dark Elf get to work.
Anya ran through the garden, darting to the door, the guards followed her, distracting them from Gweneth. The elf snuck past them quickly and slid behind the wooden door quietly as possible. Her chambers were dark just like the court room and a figure lay on her bed, Gwen crawled up next to the bed to notice that it wasn't Syl laying there, but a fake already dead wrapped in her clothing. Just as Gwen turned to glare at an Anya standing by the door, Kithlan ran to her.
"Don't be fooled, the ritual isn't over. The body on the bed isn't Syl, but merely an impersonator. The real Syl uses many such decoys to throw would-be killers off her trail. Syl has made her escape through the hidden tunnel in the gardens outside her quarters! She must not get away! Be wary, I fear that her escape may be a ruse to lure you into an ambush." Kithlan nodded to her before he walked away with Anya, hoping Gwen would succeed or it would be their heads.
"Mhm because I haven't done this before.." Gwen rolled her eyes and ran for the exit and the secret entrance right beside it.
Gwen sprinted down many steps in a dungeon-like area. What looked like a difficult maze proved to be nothing to her. Magic spells her flung at her from statues but it didn't slow her down, a few more staircases and a room of seducers began to attack.
Arrows stuck to her side, and a sword grazed her skin. Gwen took out her blades sword and deflected a mace, she used her other hand to grab her dagger and gut the seducer before her. A fire ball spell took care of the archers, igniting them in flames. Gwen took a little time to pull the arrows out of her armor and areas where uncovered. Blood seeped out of her leather armor. Continuing onto the next room, it was empty until the walls came down to reveal more Seducers. Fire covered them both as Gwen quickly threw the spell at them, tired of seeing the blue women. More cuts were decorated onto her body, as well as blood. It was beginning to darken the already purplish leather to a black.
Running down staircases depleted her energy, but the elf mused it was from the blood loss more than anything. Another room filled with seducers, only two this time. The room looked thrashed, having the furniture thrown everywhere to create a barricade and confuse her to where she should go next. An arrow jutted out of her shoulder from a distraction, it burned where the tip connected, searing the flesh off it felt like ever so slowly. Poison she figured was the cause, her body felt heavier. With a scream and a lunge, she cut the archer in half and slit the others neck with a tackle.
The room gave little to no indication where the next entrance lay, Gwen felt around and laid her hands across almost everything. Luckily she didn't have to roam for long as she pushed on a block, giving the door away as it opened. The elf gulped down a healing potion and climbed through the wall. The structure became too dark for her so she ignited her night eye spell and ran through the dark, coming up on another block that opened a door, Gwen ran quickly through that as well. Another metal door stood in her way, opening it was a large walkway, with more seducers guarding it. Showing of her Dunmer abilities, Gweneth crawled in the corners out of sight until she was close enough to slit the women's necks. They fell silently, not alerting the others, she kept crawling until she took a turn right, no seducers to be seen. Running took more out of her now than earlier, sadly Gwen rarely kept cure disease potions on her so she had to bear the poison and drink another vile of health until the deed was done.
Finally she saw the last of the Seducers on top of the staircase, one at the door and two next to Syl. She gave Gwen a knowing sneer and came at the woman with her warhammer. Four against one didn't discourage the elf, she threw out an ice spell with her left and swung her blades sword with her right, easily the seducers fell but Syl stayed alive like a madwoman, screaming profanities and paranoid ramblings all the while trying to kill her. Gwen swung her foot underneath Syl and froze her arms to the concrete.
"You bitch." Syl spat in her face as she took a moment to breathe.
"Go fuck yourself you stuck up cunt." With that she brought her sword down on Syl, cutting deep into her neck but not far enough to make it clean to the stone. Her face was a look of shock, frozen in time as with the rest of her corpse. She looted her body and took her weapon, finally cutting open her chest cavity for her heart. If there wasn't enough blood dowsed on her form, more was added, making it look like she had swam in blood. The heart went into a piece of cloth into her back back, and she went on her way back to the Sacellum.
Done.
Hope that was enough to keep you interested.
Don't forget to check out "Catching A Cloak In A Storm"
Thank you guys for reading,
Much Love, LadyMarrowind.
