Ch. 37 Ready to Strike?

Whelp, I promised I would do longer chapters and I will. Bear in mind that they take more time but they are better quality overall and in this case it's quality over quantity.

I've been playing Andromeda and it kicks ass! Glitchy and buggy but supposedly fixes and patches are coming soon but overall a great addition to the franchise in my opinion. (M-Ryder/Vetra FTW! Yea I have an alien fetish...)

Also saw Wrestlemania 33...I grew up watching Taker and to see the ending brought a crap ton of tears to my eyes. Seriously, I think he was around during the last few days of Hulkamania and lasted through every Generation so to see a mainstay like that go out on his own terms was sad but sweet. RIP Deadman!

Now real quick, to answer a reviewer; no Marius is not Sheogorath as I have pretty much shown in the last few chapters. The Sheogorath in Skyrim is the Champion of Cyrodil from Oblivion which supposedly is canon according to the Lore but some people might not believe that. Still, in this story the Champion is Sheogorath.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, all characters are copyright of Bethesda. Any OC's belong to their respective creators.

"Ah Marius, Dragonborn extraordinaire and...what was that other one?" Sheogorath said as Marius didn't even try to stop the deadpan look from appearing on his face.

"Legate in the Imperial Legion my lord." Haskill replied in an even, if not bored, tone.

"No not that one, I knew that. Let's see...what is it?" Sheogorath said as Marius sighed in resignation. "Ah well, no matter now. I'm sure you're wondering why I called you to my paradise?"

"I was given the gist of it." Marius replied as Sheogorath tilted his head.

"Were you now? No wild guesses as to why or how to pull off the grandest heist in all of Tamriel? A glorious heist to restore the splendor of a city that use to be dreary until Oblivion came?" Sheogorath asked as Marius only shook his head.

"Simple isn't it? Go in, kill anyone there and recover the statue of Akatosh." Marius replied as Sheogorath tapped his cane in thought.

"About as simple as can be I suppose. Unfortunately for you, those pesky elves placed many enchantments upon my friend that would normally prevent it from being moved. A simple step of course to keep it right where it is." Sheogorath said finally with a small grin on his face. "No doubt it would take many years to find and break all the enchantments before you could even move it a foot from it's place."

Marius narrowed his eyes a bit as a thought started to form in his head. Absurd and crazy as it was, he was dealing with the Mad god after all. "Then I will instruct the Spellbreakers to begin their research as soon as I return."

"Foresight, I love it! Instruct them to begin so they will have a slightly easier time when all is said and done!" Sheogorath replied with a hearty chuckle before his face became stony and his voice became cold. "If you returned after this meeting that is."

Now Marius was starting to get a chill down his spine. He knew Sheogorath went through 180's like no tomorrow but they way he spoke...that absurd thought was starting to become something akin to reality. "The sooner I return, the sooner I can start the process of recovering Akatosh's statue from the Thalmor. I know what you want and I will accomplish it but the longer I am here then the longer it will be before we can break any enchantment they have placed on it."

"I never said you would be returning to your Legion right now." Sheogorath said simply as he stood up. "I am commanding you to recover my old friend and you will be doing it now."

And there was the gut punch. It wasn't even out of left field and it still sting internally as Marius audibly gulped as Sheogorath regarded him with a stony expression. "I...must have misheard you; did you just say that-"

"You will be heading out as soon as we are done! A grand time to strike and all. Imagine the fear in your enemies once they realize you got in and out with a 50 foot statue right under their noses!" Sheogorath exclaimed as he clapped merrily. "Of course, it will also do the opposite and rile them up like angry bees but that's neither here nor there."

Marius had to will his brain to function on a coherent level before speaking the next sentence. "No disrespect," he began with a glance at the Saint and Seducer guards on either side of the throne, "but how do you expect me, just me, to get into and out of Skywatch? Not to mention the hundreds upon hundreds of Thalmor soldiers that would want nothing more than to mount my head on a pike? You even said it yourself about the traps and enchantments on the statue, how in Oblivion am I suppose to get those off?" Marius asked as if his world had gone mad. Then again, maybe this place was affecting him already.

"I could've sworn I mentioned that before...Haskil! Did I mention who was going?" Sheogorath asked his manservant who shook his head calmly.

"No my Lord, it slipped your mind when you were thinking on his other title." Haskil replied as Sheogorath wracked his brain before snapping his fingers.

"That's right! You? Solo? Not in a hundred years no, you will be accompanying a selection of my best Aureal and Mazken warriors!" Sheogorath exclaimed with a maniacal gleam in his eyes. "Fearsome warriors that lay waste to anything in their path; you will accompany them and then I will send in my Spellcasters to break the wards and free Martin!"

Now Marius knew he was going insane. Really insane bordering on completely mental at this point as even Sheogorath's guards did a double take. "Say again Mad god?"

"Zuhdeh, Jansa! Step forward!" Sheogorath commanded as the two Commanders of their respective factions stepped forward quickly. "Aurmazl Zudeh and Autkendo Jansa, the Supreme Commanders of their respective guards and two that I personally fought side by side more than two centuries ago. Strong and fierce like their warriors, and did I mention they hate mortal men?" Sheogorath asked as Marius audibly gulped. "Ah no matter, you will be accompanying them as I have commanded."

"Sire, your Aureal stand ready at your command!" Zuhdeh proclaimed loudly as she stepped ahead of Jansa with baring a passing glance.

"Your Mazken are ready to fight, Lord; we only await your command and the streets will run red." Jansa proclaimed just as loud as Zuhdeh and even took the time to nudge Zuhdeh as she stepped forward.

"Splendid! Absolutely splendid! Cheese for everyone in the Realms!" As if on command, it literally started raining cheese outside. "Now what else was I forgetting...ah yes, I may have misspoke when I said you would accompany them." Marius breathed a sigh of relief. "You will actually be commanding them!" And just like that Marius forgot how to breath as his throat tighten to near impossible levels that he began to choke.

The entire throne room actually went completely silent as the guards dropped their shields in shock; even Haskill's jaw was sitting on the floor as he had been Sheogorath's manservant for countless centuries but this was completely unprecedented. "Sire, you will place your warriors in the command of a mortal? No disrespect as he is a rather accomplished Legate but to allow a mortal to command daedra?"

"Your right Haskil! Zuhdeh, Jansa! You will treat our Legate here as if he was an extension of myself! His orders shall be treated as my own! Any attempt to go around them will resort in severe harm, understood?" Sheogorath finished as his face went back to the cold ruler of the Shivering Isles. The room dropped a good 30 degrees as his gaze bore into the two frozen commanders at his stare.

"We will obey Sire, we do so under protest but we will obey." Jansa said quickly to placate the Madgod.

"Yes Lord, we will obey without question." Zuhdeh acknowledged though her tone left a lot of hostility at it.

"Excellent! Now that we have that out of the way, it is time to depart! Time to go out and retrieve a statue from unworthy hands! To rescue the prince from a mantle and place him back on his stand! The dragons would surely love having it back within eyesight too, considering they see him as a father." Sheogorath said merrily before he paused in thought for a moment. "AHA! That was what I was forgetting!" he started as he snapped his fingers in remembrance. "Dragonborn extraordinaire and Layer of the Alduin, the World-Eater! I'm sure daddy would just looooooooove to have a nice long chat with you my dragony friend."

Even the Daedra mocked him it seemed. Now Marius wished he had just let her kill him in Sovngarde and be done with it. "I didn't need to be reminded of that."

"Nonsense! Everyone needs to be told! I might make that my next vacation on Tamriel actually! Just think of the scandal that would erupt!" Sheogorath said as everyone could actually see cogs turning in his head.

"I think...I think I'll just go." Marius said as Sheogorath finally snapped back to reality, or as close to it as possible.

"Of course! Time to be off! Jansa, Zuhdeh; rally the troops!" Sheogorath commanded as the two warriors bowed and walked out of the castle. "Now Legate, commanding my armies are...different compared to yours but I'm sure you'll do fine; just leave a little bit of fun for my own warriors will you? Can't let them expect mortal blood then not get their fill."

"Why do I get a feeling they want my blood as well..." Marius muttered as Sheogorath shook his head.

"They will do no such thing, maybe some act of defiance but they will follow you to the end of Tamriel...or until I recall them back to the Isles." Sheogorath said as he tapped his cane. "Now, time to meet your strike force!"

"I can hardly wait." Marius said sarcastically as Sheogorath led him outside.

-With Alduin-

"You have come like you said, daughter." Mara's smooth voice sounded in Alduin's mind. "I had hoped you would have learned from my lessons but you are your father's daughter it seems."

"I am a Dov, mother; not a princess that needs coddling! I am a mighty Dov that could end the world if I so choose!" Alduin shot back as she could feel the disappointment from Mara course through her body. No doubt she looked weird kneeling before an alter in a full robe but the priests only believed her to be a pilgrim doing her meditations and that's how Alduin wanted it.

If only her wings weren't so constricted in this blasted garment!

"What did you wish to speak about daughter?" Mara asked with a sigh. It seems her daughter still had her father's hot-headedness, regardless of her attempts to stem it.

"The Dovahkiin, he resists my attempts to reconcile and every time he does...I feel pain. Why do I do this? I do not feel pain, not even because of some Joor and yet every word of his hurts. Why?" Alduin asked bluntly. The sooner she got her answer, the sooner she could live this foul-smelling dump and get back to the war.

No one could see it but Mara actually smiled as she processed the question. "Your in love my daughter, you've fallen for the Dovahki-"

"Impossible." Alduin said simply as the smile slipped from Mara's unseen face. "Love is a notion for fools, not proud dov."

"Does it hurt in your heart when he speaks to you wrongly? Does it hurt when he turns away from you when you want his attention? Does it bother you when he gives you nothing but vague and disinterested answers?" Mara asked as Alduin let loose a growl out loud, scaring a few worshippers around her, but said nothing; which spoke volumes to Mara. "You hide it but you can't fool me daughter. I am the Goddess of Love for a reason."

"Then do something! I feel weak like this and I should be strong!" Alduin roared as Mara let her vent. "I am Alduin the World-Eater! Not some lovestruck fool! If you are the one for love then you will fix this!"

"And how do you expect me to do that? I have no more control over feelings than I do mortals." Mara said as Alduin bristled.

"Then change him and make him love me. Then all this will go away!" Alduin said loudly as her mother gave a sigh.

'Talk about in one ear.' Mara thought as Alduin seethed as she heard the comment. "I have just told you that I do not have that ability daughter. I can see love and help cultivate it but that is the extent, nor do I wish to involve myself in affairs of mortals. You will have to earn his love again by being there with him and fighting alongside him."

Alduin grunted in response. "I offer him everything and he gives me nothing. Why should I have to earn anything?"

"It is the only way to heal this void in your my daughter. You want him with you but in order for that, you must be willing to change some of your ways." Mara said soothingly as Alduin snorted. "I can help you but you must be ready to change yourself."

Alduin growled in her throat before she gave a huff and settled down. "I'll listen but if this doesn't work then I am done with it and will force the Dovahkiin to accept me; whether he wants to or not."

"It's that kind of thinking that will destroy everything you want." Mara cautioned as Alduin only growled. "I implore you daughter, if nothing else just take what I will teach you to heart and remember it."

"Only cause you're my mother." Alduin replied as she gave Mara her full attention.

Well, I know it's a filler but next chapter will be devoted completely to to Marius at Skywatch with Daedra...can anyone say bloodied streets?

Jansa and Zuhdeh are the two NPC's you meet in the Shivering Isles depending on what domain you choose, Zuhdeh for Mania or Jansa for Dementia. In this fic though, both were around for the battle against Jyggalag and while it takes a very long time for both Daedra to be recovered from their Wellspring, you would think after 200 years they would be.

I tried to make Sheogorath as close to mad as possible so let me know if he's sufficient or if I need to work on it.

So tell me guys, Wrestlemania 33 and Taker's final match: Did you like that it was Roman Reigns to end it or should it have been someone else abd if so who would you pick?