A/N: I know it's been long but just bear with me, college life has been stressful, but I won't give up on this story. I'll see it through if you will.
Muffled, frantic inquiries were travelling to my ears; yet I couldn't comprehend the words being spoken. The numbness that had enveloped my body sluggishly began to cease, and I realized my eyelids were shut; then they twitched. My skin; I could feel a small hand cup the back of my skull gently while another poked, prodded, and shook my arms. The hands were soft and tiny, almost child-like, yet I felt that they held such knowledge and experience. As my senses returned to my frozen body, the words grew clearer and I felt as if I had known these voices…
Open your eyes, a voice commanded in my head, only I was overwhelmed in discovering that it was my own voice. I obeyed the demand and my eyelids fluttered slightly open, yet my vision was distorted; blurry.
"Look!" a voice that seemed to belong to a young girl vociferated, "She's waking up!" Another blurred figure came into my view at the response; it appeared to be a dark-skinned, enormous man, whose voice could only be compared to thunder that roared in the most audacious storms.
"Listener?" the burly man questioned worriedly, yet I couldn't bring myself to respond to him; it appeared that I had forgotten to even speak. I tried desperately to open my mouth, to move the strained muscles in my face in an attempt to communicate, but I was petrified and couldn't do so; however, determined to respond, I felt a slight tug at my lips. The blurred figures within my vision soon began to clear up and I could finally identify the two people deeply concerned with my well-being. It was Nazir and Babette, attempting to revive me after my horrifying tantrum, which ended with a sudden loss of consciousness and forced me to harshly meet the limestone floor. I suddenly felt the result of that tumble on my skull, which ached severely; I was certain I would receive quite a large bump from it. After a few more moments, I seemed to regain control of my body and I finally opened my mouth, albeit clumsily, to speak.
"Babette…Nazir?" I said quietly, my voice was horrid; it was like I hadn't used it in so long.
"Listener," Nazir continued, "thank Sithis you're all right, but what just happened?" He assisted me while I attempted to stand, yet I stumbled slightly; my legs shaking furiously. I took deep breaths, trying to get used to moving again, yet when I started to reply to his inquiry, my mind froze and a cryptic, yet calming voice filled my thoughts.
"I have heard the pleas of another child," she cooed softly, "find Astrid, here in the Sanctuary. Speak with her within her chambers…" The familiar voice ceased and the grip it had on my mind dissipated with it. I realized quickly that it was the Night Mother who had spoken to me, and when the contents of her message flooded my thoughts, my posture straightened, moving away from Nazir while narrowing my eyes in contempt.
"Astrid…" I hissed venomously, grinding my teeth together in anger. The Redguard next to me stiffened and my sudden sensations of rage left me in concern for him. "What's wrong?" He stared at me in disbelief, moving closer to me and looking deeply at me with his dark, almost black, eyes.
"I must be going mad, it's just not possible." He stated in astonishment, moving back from my person once again.
"What is it Nazir?" Babette probed inquisitively, grasping my hand and turning my body towards her, forcing me down lower so that she could stare at my eyes with incredulity.
"Her eyes, I thought they had…but that's—" His sudden concern for my eyes made me take a sudden intake of breath; I had an insuppressible urge to inspect my eyes, it was a nagging impulse that scratched the inside of my mind and I scoped my vision around the Night Mother's chambers frantically. A sense of urgency drowned any other thoughts and I finally spotted an iron dagger glistening in a pile of rubble. Removing myself briskly from the small vampire, I ran toward the weapon with celerity, hoping to end this feeling of dread that seemed to flow within me. I tossed a few stones away briskly in order to free the dagger from its confines. Reaching my right hand around the hilt, I inspected the steel carefully, noticing it was scratched and quite filthy. I spat on it and fervently wiped the grime away from the blade on my leg before angling the weapon in order to study my features. Staring into the reflection on the dagger, I found irises of emerald gazing back at me attentively; curious as to what caused such a dissonant reaction in the redguard, I began to recall the thoughts and emotions that had just occurred, and when those petulant reminders of Astrid surfaced forth from my subconscious, I could only watch in bewilderment as those soft green irises swirled, becoming darker; the hues flowing freely into a new spectrum as my rage boiled for that pugnacious woman. Finally the changed ceased, and staring back at me were two crimson orbs, completely glazed in animosity. A quick flick of my tongue around my teeth indicated that they had undergone a transformation a well; they were pointed, not painfully so, more like a blunted blade, but still were quite fearsome.
I turned my head to my two companions, to which a gasp escaped the vampire child's throat while the redguard stiffened; both revealing wide, astounded eyes.
"I'm not really sure I can explain this eloquently in this moment in time." I stated calmly, feeling the aggressive tendencies leave my body, allowing my eyes to flutter back to the original green hues; my teeth smoothing out. With an understanding nod of her head, Babette treaded cautiously to my person before she used her hands and fingers to softly move down my right arm in slow, delicate movements. I watched her, completely puzzled by this sudden and obscure action. The child-like vampire's brow furrowed and she looked up at me with a questioning glance.
"You must have some kind of magic within you for such a reaction to occur…" she said, letting my arm fall again to my side and although it appeared she had something on her mind, she said no more on the matter.
"We may discuss everything about this, about what has happened to me later; for now, I must speak with Astrid." At my words, both assassins looked at me in alarm.
"Astrid? She is here?" Nazir queried in a hasty tone, turning his body in order to survey the area. "We must find her, she could be injured!"
"I hope she is…" I muttered silently, my irises reclaiming their fiendish red. I gritted my sharpened teeth in contempt before abruptly rushing towards Astrid's bedchambers, leaving the two assassins to curiously follow behind me in a similar fashion. Pushing rubble aside and carefully making my trek towards that vicious little serpent's lair, I could only look around our demolished sanctuary and hold back the raw emotions of pure despondence that seemed to tug at my heart incessantly. Grand memories began to flood through my conscious of the family I had found and had come to love here within these stone walls. I had once found comfort among the thick limestone that surrounded me, feeling secure and protected within the confines of this domain; feelings I had not come into contact before when I lived with my parents. I had not known such kindness of familial love until I had stumbled upon these mischievous misfits; they had been my true family. I had loved them, all of them, and chest clenched and ached whilst my mind drifted to a man who prided himself with loyalty beyond all measure, a twisted man with a mind tainted with madness whom decided to take refuge within my heart; yet they were all taken away from me. I could feel tears fill emerald eyes, yet soon the irises turned crimson as tears of hate flowed down my cheeks.
Coming upon her room and peering inside I did not once pause in my stride. My eyes had flicked onto her once I had entered her dominion, her flesh was raw and singed, the rotten smell of burning flesh permeated throughout the entire room, but I did not flinch, nor took my eyes of the mangled flesh beneath my gaze. Her body was surrounded by candles, nightshade and a small dagger resided next to her charred body. Her skin had been completely burned through; her dark red muscles were tensed in what I could only assume to be horrifying pain. Blood excreted from her muscles in tiny bubbles, and her desiccated body resembled that of a corpse, and with her eyes closed, one would have considered her a corpse, yet I knew better.
My two companions walked in with me and quickly took in the scene within their vision and they reacted to the horror in front of them. I watched the strained muscles of Astrid's face move grotesquely as she responded to the commotion within the room. He eyes slowly opened at she was met with my disgusted and spiteful visage. Her breath seemed to catch in her throat and she sputtered a harsh groan in pain as she stared into fire-like eyes. I clenched the fists at my sides as I continued to glare venomously at the living cadaver in front of me and she dared to part her scorched lips to speak. Although she attempted to make her voice known, a wild cough racked her damaged body, making her convulse in pain. Once her fitful cough subsided, she took a ragged breath and tried to speak once more.
"There is much I have to say…and not much time." Astrid said weakly, her voice was raspy from all the smoke that had infiltrated her lungs. After this, another fit of coughs expelled from her damaged throat, making her wince. "I'm so very sorry…Maro…h-he told me that if I gave him to you that he'd leave the Dark Brotherhood alone, but I was such a fool." She paused, her body tensing from the unspeakable torment that she was experiencing. "This, all of this, is my fault; I almost killed you, as I have killed everyone else…"
As she spoke, I wanted to reply, I wanted to object to her worthless apology and voice the desolate emotions that were swimming within me. She had done this to us; she had to hear how much she had destroyed my world, eradicated the Dark Brotherhood, yet my tongue was tied; I couldn't formulate any words that would articulately detail the extent of loathing that I was holding towards her in that moment and I remained silent.
"I betrayed you and Maro had betrayed me. I beg of you…forgive me. I just wanted everything to be as it was, before Cicero, before the Night Mother, before…you." Her eyes closed softly in remorse before opening once more. "I-I thought I could save us, but I was wrong and yet you are alive, so there is a chance for the Dark Brotherhood to live on, through you. That's why I have decided to do this; to become the black sacrament." Her words seemed to affect the two assassins behind me, for I heard slight gasps coming from them. Withdrawing from responding once more, she continued, "I was foolish in opposing the Night Mother and the old ways, so to prove my sincerity, I have prayed to the Night Mother for a contract. You must lead this family now." She slowly turned her head to her side, searching for an object next to her. Her arm shook fervently as she pushed a weapon towards my feet. I peered down at the dagger in interest before returning my gaze to her decimated form. "I bequeath to you the Blade of Woe, so that you may see this contact through," she stated as I picked up the blade at my feet observing its expertly crafted steel. It was slightly curved blade with jagged edges along the hilt, and I admired the beauty of the murderous tool. My eyes went back to Astrid after I fondled the weapon, and after another cough she bid, "You must kill…me."
A part of me wanted to walk away and let her continue to die an excruciating and painful death; to make her suffer and leave her cursing and pleading to be put out of her misery. I wanted her to have this intangible anguish ingrained into every fiber of her being so that she may continue feeling it in the afterlife, but the other part of me knew that a contact had been struck with the Night Mother and she wouldn't tolerate failure. So I squeezed the weapon in my right hand and knelt down beside her appalling frame, staring ferociously into her eyes before slamming my opened hand roughly only her shoulder, forcing her to gasp in absolute pain, and plunged the Blade of Woe directly through her chest; I felt no remorse. She trembled violently as she reached up her scorched hand to mine that was clenched tightly around the hilt of the blade.
"Thank you…" she whimpered quietly before releasing her last breath. Once she faded into Sithis's domain, I unceremoniously tore the blade from her visage, but didn't bother to wipe the blood away. I rose from the ground, my face unreadable as I turned toward my shocked cohorts, who simply stared at the lifeless form beneath me with pity. I felt no pity for the woman who had betrayed me, nor did I feel rage or hatred, I felt nothing towards her now that she was gone. Moments ago I believed that ending her life would be spiteful and full of loathing, yet I had completed the act out of duty rather than odium. After killing her, she no longer was my concern, and her fate was now in the hands of Sithis. I sheathed the bloody weapon, and my mind froze as the Night Mother entered my thoughts.
"Astrid is dead," her gruff and breathy voice proclaimed, "it is as it should be, but while you live, the Dark Brotherhood lives and we must fulfill the contact; Emperor Titus Meade the second must be eliminated. Speak with Amaund Motierre at the Bannered Mare in Whiterun; he knows where the true emperor is hiding." I registered her words in my mind, but she wasn't ready to surrender my attention. "You must confide in Nazir of your plans; you are the Listener and now bind this family together…" She emphasized my significance to the family and a great sense of responsibility filled me for the first time. I realized that I had a duty not only to the Night Mother, but the family as well, for they were my family. I had a great impulse and need to protect them; preserve them so that we may continue to live. The notion that my actions held the balance of the Dark Brotherhood's fate, and that I couldn't let down those around me. With newfound determination, I approached Nazir.
"I would have never believed it if I hadn't just seen it with my own eyes…Astrid, I can't believe she would commit such atrocities…"
"Think nothing of it," I replied, "we have more imperative tasks to see to at the moment. I am going to Whiterun, I must speak with that rat Motierre to see where our emperor has scurried off to."
"You mean we're still taking up the contract?" he questioned in disbelief. I curtly nodded at him. "But our plans…the family…"
"We live on," I assured, "so our family continues to live on; we will finish what we started and come out unscathed." I smiled at him, and he returned the gesture before shrugging his bulky shoulders.
"Fine," he chuckled, "go see Motierre, find that elusive emperor and send his soul to Sithis, but there is something else to discuss…" I looked at him expectantly, "There isn't much use in returning here after the contract, so I was thinking…what about the Dawnstar Sanctuary?" Sweet and luscious memories stirred in the back of my mind and I tensed, but soon returned to the conversation. I nodded in approval and made my way past him so as to exit the chambers. Behind me I could hear Babette voice her excitement about moving into a new sanctuary, but the only thing on my mind was the emperor, and how I would lead this family to glory as a spilled his blood all over his fine clothing.