Chapter 29.


"Durnehviir!" I called from the high cliffs along the northern shores of Skyrim. "DURNEHVIIR!" I roared again. But nothing happened. He told me this was all it took to free him.

"Niik, do you think maybe you need to…" Serana looked stuck on her words for a moment, but she quickly came out of it. "Dragon Shout, his name?"

I took heavy breaths as I thought about it. If it's true then getting Helgi out will be harder than I thought. Still, Durnehviir said that being absorbed by him is like being in a soul gem again. So Helgi shouldn't be too aware of where she currently is, or how much time it takes to save her.

"I think Betty's coming" Serana nudged me to make me look. Flying over the seas coming right towards us was her flock of bats which once close enough, clumped together before forming a little girl landing right in front to me.

"Found her" She announced with her hand out. "One hundred, as promised"

I looked at her hand, then at her.
"I don't have it on me, and how did you find her? The soul cairn is huge"

"I'm the best Assassin in Skyrim, I found her" Betty snapped her fingers and again demanded she be paid.

I just rolled my eyes.

"Sorry Niik, I expected we'd be done before they found her. I don't think anything will happen, but don't I like Record being alone with mother so I'm going to head back"

"Agreed" I sighed waving Serana off before she jumped off the cliff to return to her mother's lab.

As I stood at the cliffs considering my next move, I found myself staring at Betty, and her staring back at me.

"I'm sorry" I told her. She held strong for a good minute, but the moment she had to take a breath her composure fell.

"for what?" She demanded.

"Everything" I told her as I knelt while putting a hand on her shoulder. "Alchemy was your talent, not killing, And you'd never have become an assassin if you hadn't run away"

She stormed off on her own, trying to hide how upset she was at me. I often asked myself why she ran away all those years ago, mostly to push the burden from myself as I knew the reason full well. She had to run because I couldn't make her understand the reasons why I did what I did.

"She didn't want to be a vampire…" I called to her as I made gradual attempts to catch up. "I gave her the same choice you had. It was her live to decide what should…"

"No!" Betty screamed turning back to me. "She was mine! My sister, she can't decide to just give up like that… and You! You pretend to be her father for years, but fathers don't k…"

"Bab-"

"Shut Up!" If she were human, her face would be bright red from her screaming. "You wouldn't even let me try to help her before turning the blade on her, why not? Tell me! For the love of Mara father, tell me why!"

I explained back then that there was no cure for her, but she wouldn't listen. And I doubt she'd listen now. I said nothing to her. Instated I just walked over.
She turned her back to walk away, gaining in speed as I did before finally speaking out

"go away… don't touch me..."

"Babette…" I grabbed the scruff of her shoulder.

"Don't Touch Me!" She spun around. Her knife stuck deep into my thigh, taking away my control of the leg. Looking at me with wide eyes but steady hands, Betty backed away.
I grabbed the handle and pulled the knife back out. On closer inspection, the knife was designed off of one of her earlier ideas for a weapon for me. A hollowed out blade with a channel from point to handle that allowed me to store blood from anyone I stab, or just simply drink the blood directly by sucking it from the handle.

"I said don't touch me" Kept a strong expression, but she couldn't hide the fact that her impulsive defence was too much. "have you healed yet?"

"of course" I saw her reaching to take her knife back. "You can have it back after we talk"

"fine, I'll have another made" She sighed walking away again.

"Babette!" I rose back up and grabbed the shoulder of her dress again. "You tried to get my attention in Riften, remember? Why did you try to contact me?"

"Does it matter? You must have known I sent it, but still it didn't look like you cared at all"

"If you wrote saying that you needed me I'd have come immediately. But no, I got a blank sheet of parchment with your hand printed on it. Could have meant anything, and I had other things to do"

Her eyes kept avoiding me as I spoke.

"I didn't know what to say, I was going to speak to you but you were with Her… that, Serana woman. I thought she was someone else you raised and turned… then there was Record"

"You thought… Betty, Helgi didn't replace you when we brought her in. I don't care how many years pass, my door will always be open to you. However, cryptic messages are something I have no time for"

She took a breath before facing up to me with her eyes still staring off from my own.

"I contacted you because I wanted to talk" She sighed. "My matron gave me three contracts to finish so I could buy some time to pursue personal matters. But seeing you with someone else made me want to give up, so I killed my last contract and was about to head back, but then the Night mother told me to be patient, so I had to wait some more"

"Betty, you know my allies, you know the college. If you ever need to talk, just come. The door will always be open if you knock"

She nodded slowly. But still couldn't speak what she wanted to yet.

"I still have a few days before I have to go back, is it okay if I follow you some? I'll help you look for-"

"You don't need to justify yourself to me, if you want to come with me, you're welcome to" I handed her knife back. I had more to say to her, but if she was coming with me there was no need to hold her weapon hostage.

"Should we find shelter for the day first?" She asked gesturing to the lightening morning skies. The clouds were thick enough to shelter us.

"When did you last feed? I'll need you strong first" Betty isn't as tall as Serana, so her speed on foot isn't as good. But the advantage of being able to turn to bats whenever she likes makes up for it.
However, we weren't going to be going fast for a while. To catch animals I'd paralyse them with magic and we'd run up at a human's pace or at least, I would. Betty ran about four times faster than a girl her age should.

"Why are we going so slow?" She finally asked when we left the woods and rejoined the roads. "We have no idea where your friend is, we're wasting time"

"Has your night mother spoken to you yet?"

"N… no.. I was distracted by the dragon wanting to speak to you, so I forgot to arrange the deal"

"Oh" I smirked at her. She looked back at me as if nothing was wrong. But she knew it. "since you didn't make the arrangement, does that not mean the deal is void and I owe you nothing?"

"That's Not Fair-… ugh, okay fine, whatever" She sighed rolling her eyes as she carried on following me.

I was only joking with her and had every intention in paying like I promised. But now I wanted to see if she really would give up that easily or if stubbornness would take control. Until that got settled, I asked her about the three contracts she had to take to buy this time together.
She was most excited about the one in Riften just before catching a ride with Record but after leaving that note for me.

"After everything we went through together, I still ended up in the orphanage" She smirked. "One of the kids had a serious issue with their caretaker. The funny part for me was, the kids actually knew who summoned the brotherhood, and cheered his name after the deed was done. The helper lady was freaked though"

"A bit extreme isn't it? How bad could she be?"

"It's not my place to question the clients, though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious so I spent a few days living there. Humoured them by doing chores and following the strict set of rules. Even tried braking a few to see what happened"

"And how did your target end up dying?" I had an idea where this was going.

"In her sleep" Betty said with a small grin. "…with her beating cain lodged in her neck. Seemed appropriate at the time, maybe I was showing off. The point is no one saw me do it because I slipped something in their hot cabbage water that passes for soup in that place"

"Hmm" I tried to imagine the kids waking up that sight when they finally did. But Betty said they cheered so hopefully the helper learned from the keeper's shortcomings.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Betty asked looking all around for a landmark.

"It's not important. What I'm looking for will find me"

"Ooh, very holistic... and hypocritical, since you mock my methods for being too vague" She sighed walking on a bit faster.

As we walked, I was listening for any sound that seemed important. But all I could hear were our steps through the snow. I lead Betty all over the hillside in seemingly mindless directions, until she finally snapped.

"Okay, what game are you playing?" She demanded. "We're one left turn away from being back where we started an hour ago!"

"I know" I told her without stopping on my way by her.

"what do you mean you know? Why are you wasting our time?"

She caught up to me just at the top of the road up a hill. We took the left and sure enough met out tracks coming out of the woods.

"Come on" I told her as we followed them.

"What are we doing father?" She moaned just tens of feet down from when our tracks joined the road. I found what I was looking for and if I'm right about it, finding Record should be easier. "wait, who's tracks are…mHmm" I covered her mouth and held a finger to my lips. She nodded, and I let her go. I mouthed to her to follow me in bat form, and we both flew the immediate way we just came, and down the path was a man walking with a book in his hand.
Found him.
Dropping out of the sky, I took him completely off guard and knocked him out. I took his scent. He was just as clean as his clothes were, but there was someone unnatural about his scent, certainly not regular soap made from blubber. Record smelt this way too, just a bit fainter since she'd been here longer than him.

"Who's he?" Betty asked arriving at my side.

"Haven't a clue. Let's ask him?" I hoisted him over my shoulder and between the two of us, Betty and I were able to find a nice secluded place to chat when our friend wakes up.

Betty kept an eye on him while I got things to tie him up. Rope procured from a local village isn't as strong as chains, but it'll do.
He didn't take as long as Record to wake up, but he seemed just as fun as her. Another talker.

"What the hell… Urrgh.. Arr!" He grunted as he tried to free himself. "uh, god damn it… Omnico activate!" He ordered.

"How can I assist you, Agent Four Nine Zero?"

"Scan for hostiles, quickly now"

From behind my tree, I glanced over to Betty. If she did see Record's Omnico, it certainly wasn't this close-up. She was just as speechless as I was when it first appeared before my eyes.

"Potential hostiles counted as, One Female approximately fourteen meters South East"

Betty blinked and pulled a face realising it was talking about her.

"just one?… okay, untie me"

We both looked and saw the Omnico's metal shell open for a small arm with a spinning blade and cut through the ropes.

"he's free!" Betty whispered to me.

I didn't expect it to be so easy for him, Record got nothing when she asked.

"Okay, scan for POI while I deal with her… oh, and Weapon"

At his word, the Omnico dispensed a small knife and with it in hand, the man started walking towards us. Rather than Betty reveal her location, I stepped out ready to interrogate this next one just like I did with Record. The moment I stepped from behind my tree, the man stopped with his weapon ready.

"oh shit…"

"POI Detected, approximately fourteen meters South East"

"I can See that!" He yelled over his shoulder before turning back to me and dropping his weapon. "hang on Niik, I'm just here to follow you like, R… like Agent two twenty-two did"

I ignored him and just approached the frightened Agent four nine zero.

"Right young man, start by telling your Omnico stay right where it is" I demanded.

"Uh… sure… Stand by, Omnico"

"Roger"

Without asking, I took the bag from him and flicked thigh his journals. He was going to protest, but Betty held her knife to his neck.
I slammed the journal shut. It only mentioned where he arrived in Skyrim and that he had to wait for me and Serana to return from Harkon's castle. There was a note to excuse the gap between the previous entry on the POI, as visiting the soul cairn would have resulted in losing his soul.

"So, even though her reports were good enough to use and protect everyone else, Record still got mercilessly punished"

"It, it wasn't my decision"

"I know" I pushed him into a sitting position. "Just tell me where she is, and I'll let you go home"

"But, I… you know how this works. I can't just leave, not until you kill Aldu-"

I pulled his face to look me in the eye.

"I'm not playing this game anymore!" Every ounce of power I had to install fear into a person was used. He went from fearful paranoia to hysterics in just a few seconds.
The man was shaking, trying to push me away and screaming for help by the time I let the illusion pass. When I did I also handed him back his book. Told him to write everything I said in his own words that:
Agent 222 does not belong to the academy any longer. If the former Agent's location is not disclosed to the dragon born, the pursuit of Alduin will stop indefinitely.

"Also, make note of that fact that I have Auriel's bow and Two daughters of Coldharbour. I'll put out the sun myself if Record isn't returned to me"

"You'd really do that?" He was a mix of shock and fear, but there was the unmistakable sound of doubt in his voice. "but millions will die, You can't do that!"

I leaned into his face. "Just try to stop me"

"You're meant to be a hero!"

"Record thought of me as a hero too, and saw herself as nothing special. Ironically, she's the only one who can save everyone from my wrath now. A blackened world would serve me well as a vampire, my daughter too" Betty cheered in agreement, gladly taking part in the show.

Lowering his head, the man softly muttered to himself. "This mission is fucked beyond repair"

"Well said. Where's Record?"

He then looked at me with a pleading look in his eyes. "Let me speak to Omnico, I'll try and get her location"

I never thought much of Record when we first met, but this man is more compliant that she originally was. Probably because Record had the idea I was a hero stuck in her head, whereas this guy knows from her stories that I'm a vampire who consults with daedra. But although there was still an inkling that doubts I'd actually follow through with my threats, he probably knows best not to tempt me.

Betty and I let the agent and Omnico talk 'alone'. We were both listening to them talk and send their message to the academy. Although my attention was on him, Betty was making a few sounds and faces at me.

"What is it?" I asked giving in.

"Nothing"

"Well it's clearly something so whats wrong?"

She turned her body to face me. Her arms were crossed under her chest and she tried to proceed the talk as grown up as possible. "I'm just wondering, what makes this girl so special? I mean, I don't recall all this to save Helgi"

"Are you kidding me, Betty?" I looked at her for a moment to see if there was any hint of insincerity to her. "Once able, I plan on summoning a Dragon so he can bring her back. At the time, I didn't see another way"

"You could have Let Me Look!" For a small moment, she lost her composure. "…maybe I could have treated her"

"Nothing in your potion set would have saved her"

"I meant before you stabbed-" She stopped talking to look to her left. I looked too, and standing halfway between us and where he was speaking to Omnico was Record's replacement with a book in his hands writing down our argument.

"sorry" He admitted lowering his head into the book some more.

Betty clicked her tongue at him, then dashed forward delivering a punch to his gut so hard that he fell on the ground. "I'm sick of you nonsense father. Instead of tracking down the nearest dragon to bring my sister back, you're wasting time with his idiot to bring back another idiot. Are you really putting her before your own daughter?… no, are you putting her before the naive kid who saw you as her father?"

"She's dead Betty" I growled. "Record's alive, once she's safe I'll think about making the dead more comfortable"

Betty nodded to me. The need to be grown up was gone and replaced with the same spiteful look on her face that I saw before she disappeared for decades.

"okay, do what you like then" She wandered away from me. I was about to follow her because I don't want to risk losing her again. But she actually sat her self down in the snow not too far from us, and she remained there just sitting content with her head down while I helped the hurt man stand up again.

"Have you spoke to your masters yet?"

"They…ohmygod-" He bucked forward to throw up on the ground. Betty landed a harder hit than I thought. "…they...they said they'd consider letting you keep her, only if you let me follow you too. For the journals"

"No, Record can do it. She's been doing it. If anyone else follows me I'm going to turn them. And that will be the academy's problem not mine"

He looked at me with the same groggy expression before explaining that without her memories she won't be able to do her job.

"I'll worry about that. Just make it clear to your masters that I'll have no one other than her"

He nodded slowly then walked off to reconsult with Omnico about the new terms. While that was going on, I looked over and noticed that Betty had not moved from her spot, but I did hear her mumble words to herself. As I got a little closer, I started to recognise what she was saying, the end of a prayer.

"… for the sins of the unworthy must be baptised in blood and fear… thank you, mother" Her head rose.

"Okay, the academy just spoke to me" The man called running up from behind. "They literally just plucked her from where she was originally banished and sent her somewhere in Skyrim again. Omnico is calculating the location now"

I turned back to Betty with more urgency now that this news was brought to me. She was staring back at me with wild eyes before scattering off in a swarm of bats.

"Get Back here!" I roared jumping above the tree line before scattering off in her direction.

She was ahead of me, but I was faster. I've always been faster. A few decades of assassination practice won't change anything between where we each fall in the scale of things.
My swarm flew up ahead of her's before reforming mid-air.

"Stop now!" I ordered as I began falling. She didn't listen, so I reached out at her to let electric sparks shock her entire flock.
A little jolt doesn't injure her, but the bats don't take much before falling from the sky, so she'd need to reform to land on her own two feet. This was always the method I used when she tried to escape groundings.
This time, however, she evaded the sparks by splitting the bats into two separate flocks going above and below where I was aiming.
"damn it" I cursed before scattering again to regain hight and catch up. This time I prepared two hands to fire, one for the initial jolt and the second for when she tries to dodge. But instead, her flock reformed into her before I was even ready. She was falling upside down when she reeled back her arm and tossed her dagger into me.
It stabbed deep into my chest and I fell from the sky and crashed into a snow-covered hillside. Once settled, I growled loudly as I pulled the blade out and forced myself to stand up. The vacant feeling in my chest soon tightened into being whole again.

"do I have your attention now?" Betty asked standing just behind me.

"Babette… what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking I want to have some fun. It's been a while since we played a game together" With a hand under my arm she raised me to my feet and lead me to the mountain ledge. "So the game is Find her first. If you win… you win. But if I find this Record lady, I'll trade my sister's life for hers"

"I'm not putting Record before Helgi because I care about her more. I'm doing this because she's vulnerable right now and could easily die if we're not quick"

"Hmm. Well let me tell you where to look then" Betty said with a confident smile. "The night mother told me I have to follow the jailer in Markarth to find Record"

"Okay, why him? follow him where?"

She brought her hands up to her shoulders and smiled with glee. "That's all I know, the rest is improvise" She twirled around giving me a mocking wave as she dropped from the edge and broke into bats and flew off towards Markarth on the other side of the mountains.

I knew I'd never beat her with the night mother feeding her suggestions. Instead, I had another idea. Fly back the way I came and speak to Record's folly.

"Right where I left you" I landed right behind of the man still writing his final entry. "Oh, you really are leaving?"

"The academy have basically declared this as a bust, so I'm pulling out"

"Well before you do, where is Record?"

"She was aimed at us, but the… 'thing' that brings us here is always off by some margin of distance. Her immediate location came up as a river going through the city of Markarth… Omnico, show him the map"

"Roger" After rolling over to us, the Omnico shone a light onto the ground, showing a detailed map of the city that was scaled and designed almost like a modal.

I placed my hand through the buildings just to be sure, and my hand went right through. "This sorcery, it's like nothing I've ever seen"

The agent just shrugged and leaned in pointing to a white dot. "That's her. Apparently she's… underground?… do you know where that is?"

Markarth is more or less a city renovated from dwarven ruins. Most of the interior structures are underground by some definition. But when I studied where the buildings were placed, how the river ran, I deduced with some certainty where she'd be.

"Cidna mine" I muttered. It made scenes given the hint Betty was told. "Only two known ways in and out. The first is to commit a crime and start shitting silver bricks to pay for your freedom"

The Agent suddenly looked interested, leaning in closer.

"And the second ways in and out?"

"Murder everyone on your way in, then walk back out"

"oh… yeah that'd work" His Omnico called him over, exclaiming that the academy wanted him back. "dang... for a final note, which are you going to do?"

"Honestly?" I asked raising my brow to him. "I'm just going to improvise this time. Well see how I'm feeling when things happen"

It didn't take me that long to arrive at the city Markarth, but it's not one that I visit often.
The city itself is designed off of the dwarves ruins always gave me bad feelings from my mortal days exploring the underground tunnels. One minute you're picking the lock of an ancient vault, the next you've woken steam powered soldiers who want to fill you with arrows.
While watching the entrance and keeping note of the guards coming in and out of Cidna mine, I also spotted little Betty. She had also perched herself up somewhere and as far as I could tell she too was keeping track of the shift rotation.
Although we were technically meant to be competing to find Record first, I decided to hop over to where she was waiting for a quick chat.

"So whats your plan then?" I asked on my way out of bat form landing swirly at her side on the roof's edge.

"I've identified the several jailers, one, in particular, must be the one I'm to follow"

"Then what? He buys a lass a drink, you start following her and she leads you to Record?"
I spotted one of the guards' exchange keys, but she missed it because she was busy making annoyed eyes at me.

"Make fun of the night mother all you want. With the exception of Valerica, not a single target has eluded me for long when I follow her directions. Right now I'm wondering…"
I watched her think deeply. "It's been a while, do you know the protocol in Markarth when children break the law?"

If she's asking this, then she's already learned Record is in the jail. Then again, maybe it was more obvious than I give credit for. I just couldn't imagine a reason why Record could have gotten herself jailed in that short of time.
But to answer Betty's question. "You're too young for jail time. especially Cidna mines. No, unless you want publicly flogged, don't chance it" I nodded down to the stockades just outside the mines.

"pity…" She sighed as she leaned back on the roof to observe the sliver cracks in the clouds above us. "I'd say it's not fair… but what can I do? go ahead and win the bet"

"You're giving up?" I was actually shocked. All that fire from before was gone and replaced by self-pity.

"I can't blend in with the prisoners, I can't hide in narrow tunnels, I'm beat"

"I thought you always got your targets" I teased playfully pushing her so she knew I wasn't insulting her. I guess this is different because if Record was a target, Betty would be allowed to wait outside the prison for her to be released and then kill her. But this is a race, where the only thing between me and Record is a petty crime and I'll be personally escorted to victory. "Will you still be here when I come back out?"

"sure" She sighed standing back up and looking back to the city wall behind us. "If it's sunny, find me in the shade of that wall"

"Okay" I reached an arm out to hug her, but she dodged away.

"You haven't got time for that. Go save your human" She told me before shoving me off the edge waving to me as I fell.

Just before hitting the water below, grabbed a narrow ledge before kicking myself across the river and landing on the paved walkway. I heard small hands clapping gently from behind me, without even looking I waved back at Betty before approaching the mine.


Author's Note: Spell Check is rubbish!