"No…it…it can't be." Mercer Frey mumbled, his eyes wide with worry.

"Gulum-Ei also told me she was a murderer." Sarila added, referencing Karliah. "This is grave news indeed. Karliah destroyed everything this Guild stood for. She murdered my predecessor in cold blood and betrayed the Guild. After we discovered what she'd done, we spent months trying to track her down, but she just vanished." Mercer continued. "Why has she returned?" "Karliah and I were like partners. I went with her on every heist. We watched each other's backs. I know her techniques, her skills. If she kills me, there'll be no one left that could possibly catch her. If only we knew where she was…" Mercer trailed off.

"Where the end began." Sarila repeated Gulum-Ei's words, and Mercer looked up at her. "Gulum-Ei told me she said, 'Where the end began'." Sarila clarified, fear no longer rattling her voice when she spoke to the bitter Mercer Frey. Mercer stroked his bearded chin for a moment before speaking. "There's only one place that could be." He clenched his fists. "The place where she murdered Gallus…a ruin called Snow Veil Sanctum."

Sarila fell silent. She knew exactly where Mercer was heading with their conversation. "We have to go out there before she disappears again." The words Sarila had predicted left Mercer's lips. "I see. What, exactly, will we be doing once we find her?" Sarila inquired. Mercer gave Sarila a cold glare. Even if she didn't tremble when talking to him, his trademark glare would never stop frightening her. "Did you think we were going to invite her to the Flagon to enjoy a nice, three course meal, or maybe a bottle of Black-Briar Mead? No. We'll be going into Snow Veil Sanctum, and together, we're going to kill her."

Sarila lost any composure she had right as the words left Mercer's lips. "KILL?! I have to KILL someone?!" Mercer's glare answered her question. Sarila thought of sinking her dagger into Karliah—a living being's—flesh. The thought of it made bile rise to her throat. She imagined the life fading from someone's eyes, blood leaking from their throat, all because of her. Sarila began to hyperventilate. "I…I…I don't know if I can!" She cried, tears threatening to spill out onto her cheeks.

Mercer scoffed distastefully. "I suspected as much, which is why I've decided to bring someone else along on our little adventure. It will be the final test of our newest recruit. Maybe she will have the backbone to make the kill." Sarila stopped panicking for a moment and eagerly listened to Mercer. "A new recruit? Who is she? Where is she now?" Sarila asked. Mercer suddenly looked up, not removing his scowl. "Ah, there you are, Sharp-Sun. I was beginning to wonder." Mercer mumbled.

Sarila turned around and was greeted by the familiar auburn braids of her extraordinary friend, Valelia Sharp-Sun. Sarila gasped in joyful surprise and opened her arms. "Valie!" Valie turned to Sarila and immediately recognized her. "Ah! I knew I'd find you here, Sarila-lass!" She greeted, accepting Sarila's warm embrace. The two separated when Mercer cleared his throat. "If you two foolish girls are quite finished here, I'd like you two to meet me at the ruins as soon as you possibly can. We can't let her slip through our fingers." The two women nodded and began to walk away. "Oh, Saleela, here's your payment for Solitude." Sarila turned back around and accepted an upgraded version of her guild armor. "And…well, with all due respect, sir, my name is Sarila." Sarila politely corrected.

Mercer began to glare, but instead rolled his eyes. He instead cleared his throat and decided to press Sarila for details regarding Solitude and Gulum-Ei. "How did things go with Gulum-Ei? Not too tricky for you, I hope?" Mercer mockingly sneered. "Gulum-Ei? His tongue was rather easy to loosen up. I just did some talking, and he did the rest. He almost immediately gave the information. He's also offered to fence for us if we happen to be in Solitude, so that's always a plus." Sarila's specific answer had caught Mercer off-guard. He'd expected her to hit him with a whiny, sappy story of how he had hurt her, lied to her, cheated her, or even tried to kill her, but instead, Sarila was going on about how easy he was to convince.

Mercer made a mental note of Sarila's knack for persuasion and dismissed her with a wave of his gloved hand. He stood over his desk and began to flip through the yellow business ledger that had made its home there.

Sarila wanted to catch up with Valelia, but instead decided to get some jobs done for Vex and Delvin. "Got any jobs in Riften?" She'd asked Delvin, who was enjoying a loaf of bread. "Ah, good timing. Brynjolf wants this mark's head on a pike, but we'll settle for what's in his pockets instead." Delvin chuckled along with Sarila. "That bad, huh? Well, I'll get the job done, just give me the information, and I'll do the best I can." Sarila smiled.

Sarila continued to take jobs from Delvin and Vex for two more weeks. Ysgrig had gone back and forth from Riften to the Home. Mercer had eventually set out to see if Snow Veil Sanctum had any sign of Karliah. Sarila continued to rack up gold from the sweep, shill, fishing, and numbers jobs she took in Riften. Guards began to grow suspicious of Sarila, but were eventually convinced otherwise by her innocent appearance and pure personality.

Lyvette seemed to grow lonely at the Bee and Barb. She had Kharjo to talk to her, but it wasn't the same as having Sarila, or better yet, another kid, play with her. She sighed wistfully when she remembered playing with the girl next door back when her parents were still alive. The girl's name had escaped her mind, but Lyvette knew she'd never see her again.

The little girl's day brightened when Sarila came back from the guild. "You're back!" Lyvette ran to Sarila and crushed her legs in a hug. Sarila smiled at the little girl she had come to see as her own daughter. "I sure am! And, look what I've got!" Sarila grinned, pulling a bag from her backpack. Lyvette gasped with surprise. "It's a bag!" She beamed. Sarila laughed at Lyvette's silliness. "No, no! It's what's in the bag!" She giggled.

Lyvette's mouth formed an "O" and she looked in the bag. She pulled out a beautiful purple and blue dress. "A new dress! A new dress! It's so beautiful!" She squealed, hopping up and down with her brand-new garment. Sarila felt a warmness in her heart at the child's euphoria. "I thought you might like it." Sarila softly told her, smiling. "Like it? I love it! It's so beautiful, it's the best thing ever!" Lyvette held the dress tightly to her heart. "Can I put it on? Can I?! Can I!?" Sarila laughed again at Lyvette's enthusiasm. "Of course you can, sweetie! It's your dress now, isn't it?"

Lyvette zipped up to their room at the speed of light, and a minute later, she returned wearing her gorgeous new dress. She walked around and flashed several poses. "I feel like a princess! Thank you so much, Sarila!" Lyvette gave Sarila another big hug. "You're very welcome, Lyvette. I'm so glad you like it."

Lyvette was able to sleep easily that night. She had dreams of dancing around in her dress, butterflies surrounding her, birds chirping in delight.

Sarila went to bed only after Ysgrig entered the inn. She and Ysgrig planned to visit the Home again before Sarila met up with Valie and Mercer for the confrontation of Karliah.

What Sarila didn't know was that Marcurio's jealousy only grew from his suspicions of Sarila's romance with Gulum-Ei. At one point, Marcurio thought he was being silly, but shook the thoughts away and continued his pointless sulking over a non-existent love between the Nord woman and the Argonian.