28th of Sun's Dawn

Everyone else was studying and practicing magic in their dorms while Isobel resided in her own, after trying to rally the other students for a game of spoons to no avail she had given up and taken to aimless contortion.

It was hard exercising discreetly, the drapes blocked anyone from ogling at her acrobatics but it didn't mute the sound of her crashing over as she tried to hold a handstand. Despite Isobel's thievery and magic making leaps and bounds, it was her physical body that was still struggling to do so. Mercer's wound was still healing and gave her grief. If she pushed too hard or didn't stretch enough the same piercing pain would be invited back into her abdomen and she'd have to stop her exercises. She did light training nearly every day, but it still didn't feel like enough by her standards. She apparently couldn't even hold a handstand for more than five seconds, and she had been able to do that for as long as she could remember.

Isobel had to literally bite her tongue to keep from cursing out loud, doubling over she willed the piercing agony in her stomach to ease. And after brushing off the dust from her robes where they had collided with the dirty floor she stubbornly positioned herself for another attempt.

She knew the person behind the footsteps stomping up to her room before he dramatically threw open her curtains and stepped in.

"Gwyndolyn. Got some news for you." Enthir's tone was brisk and irritated, as if he had better things to do.

"Is it good news? You gonna play cards with me?" Isobel continued her handstand, her hands and arms shaky but firm as she put her body weight on them. She knew he was simply keeping up appearances for anyone eavesdropping on their conversation.

"You've got a formal complaint against you, two more and you're out of the college."

"What?! From who?! If it was J'zargo over that thing in Alteration class I swear to-"

"Me. You trimmed your hair in my bed." Enthir glared down at her inverted stance while he offered a sealed note. Isobel didn't know whether to be upset or start laughing. She had trimmed her hair in his bed, right after he started mocking her for inquiring about Brynjolf again. Whether Enthir 's pettiness was quite low enough to actually put in a complaint was unknown.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that Enthir, that wasn't me."

"It sure as Oblivion was, Gwyndolyn. It was as short, black and fucking itchy as a spiderling's. And no one else here has such a daft reputation." Enthir snapped. Isobel lowered her feet and gracefully shifted to a seated position to face the irritated Bosmer with a grin.

"And what if I put in a complaint about a certain tree hugger that marks his stock up forty fold and refuses refunds?" Isobel quipped.

"Oh, please." Enthir scoffed. "There's this thing called tenure, Gwyndolyn. I'd essentially have to irreparably mangle a student before a single formal complaint would be done up on me." He urged her to take the note he was extending towards her, and when she did he winked with the faintest of smiles. "So if you are that driven to damn me let me catch you in my room again, I'm sure the Arch Mage would happily write me up once I'm through with you."

With that Enthir placed a scowl on his face again and stormed out of the room. Isobel could hear a few students snickering and mimicking the way he sneered "Gwyndolyn" as she broke open the sealed note.

"She's back. Meet us in the basement of the Frozen Hearth tonight. Do not be seen."

Isobel jumped up to her feet, her eyes scanning over the sentence several times and getting more and more bright with each rereading.

Karliah was back. Hopefully with the answer for translating Gallus' journal.

Her feet jumped and jigged on the spot and it took all her self control to stop them from running straight out of the College and to the Frozen Hearth immediately. She had to find a way out of the College unseen.

Drevis' Scroll of Invisibility. Isobel went and tore through her disastrous desk rife with half finished assignments and vulgar, unflattering doodles of Ancano. She couldn't cast Invisibility on her own quite yet, but thanks to Drevis she was able to do so with the aid of a scroll.

Once she found what she was looking for she had to keep herself busy for the rest of the evening. And unsurprisingly nothing she did could make the time go by fast enough.

Instead of being productive, Isobel laid on her bed and daydreamed for hours. She thought through multiple scenarios of how her return to Riften could unfold, but none of them seemed to assure her.

The Guild probably thought she was dead, if Mercer had told them so. How would they react to her returning from the grave? Would they be truly happy, or would maybe a few still be angry with her? What would Mercer do? Gods, how could she even begin to expose Mercer's betrayal without him stabbing her again?

When most of the students had blown out their candles Isobel rose and put on her winter cloak. She knew Brelyna was probably still awake, the Dunmer had almost caught her thieving more than once when Isobel thought she was asleep. Isobel knew she'd have to start her Invisibility in her room.

She took a deep breath and reached for her scroll, and unrolling it she read the aged ink. Had Isobel not had Drevis to break down the shitty prose for her she never would have been able to use it. The scroll was not magic or enchanted, it was simply evocative passages that could put even a novice's inexperienced mind in the right space to cast an expert spell. Isobel read the composition over and over again, remembering what Drevis taught her, and by the thirteenth reading she could see the fingers holding the scroll start to fade and feel her body grow cool.

Turning invisible was the easy part, now she had to try and maintain it. Isobel quickly stuffed the scroll inside her now translucent cloak, slipped through her room and out the door.

Once she was outside she felt safe enough to bring the Scroll of Invisibility back out and hold it in front of her. Like a monk she meditated on the mantras and phrases as she slowly made her way from the College's main gate to the town below. She only became briefly visible once when having to cross the treacherous part of the bridge.

She was approaching the main and only street of Winterhold when the scroll was brashly yanked out of her hands. The shock and break of concentration meant she immediately reappeared, her face somewhat stunned as she watched the scroll dance before her in mid air.

Suddenly Enthir materialized before her, holding the scroll in his hands and a smirk on his lips.

"Rookie mistake. Now I know why you couldn't use the scroll in your thieving." Enthir laughed as Isobel snatched the scroll back from him. "Did you honestly think folk would see a floating piece of paper just bobbing along and think: 'Yeah, that's normal. I'm a daft, magic-hating Nord but flying scrolls are like snowflakes around here.' "

"Everyone is in bed." Isobel retorted, gesturing to the deserted street. "You never told me you knew Invisibility, how come you haven't helped me learn?"

"Kid, I am not mentor material. Now let's stop wasting time and get to Karliah."

Isobel couldn't agree more, and she walked slightly ahead of Enthir the whole way to the inn wishing he'd hasten his step. The patrons of the Frozen Hearth didn't so much as give them a second glance when they entered, and Enthir only had to nod sternly to the barkeep in order to continue their way to the cellar.

The basement was dark save for a candle lit desk at the far end, at which a hooded figure ruffled through papers before it turned to see who had entered. Isobel didn't need to guess it was Karliah.

"I suppose it would be inappropriate of me to ask how you obtained this, so I simply won't." Enthir asked once they were close enough.

"It's quite the tale." Karliah said as she turned back to the papers. The entire desk was covered with them, a huge puzzle that Karliah had put together of some bizarre text. It took Isobel a few seconds to realize that this was the information Karliah had stolen, for some reason she had been expecting a book or tome.

"I understand. Now, let me take a good look at this." Enthir threw off his winter cloak and bent over the papers, leaving Isobel feeling utterly useless.

"This is just the Falmer side of a huge stone slab Calcelmo was researching. The reverse on the stone held these Dwemer inscriptions." Karliah reached into a potato sack and pulled out more stacks of papers.

"So there was nothing on how to actually read Falmer?" Enthir asked, his voice audibly losing hope.

"No, not that I could find. Only the stone with Dwemer and Falmer text." Karliah sighed. Enthir frowned at the pages of Falmer rubbings, thinking furiously.

"Can I see Gallus' journal?" Enthir held out his hand, and Karliah immediately provided it. The Bosmer continued to ponder the writings profusely, his frown etched with a type of professional focus Isobel hadn't seen on him before. His intense eyes shifted back and forth from the charcoal rubbings to the journal.

"Arrange the Dwemer text, I've got a hunch." He said finally, and both Karliah and Isobel jumped into action. After a few minutes of piecing together the large slate of writing, the three stepped back and examined the two sides, Enthir still with Gallus' journal.

"I would bet a moderate to large sum on these two passages saying the same thing." Enthir hypothesized. "I know a few colleagues who would kill a priestess of Mara to get their hands on this information, if I bring them in to translate the Dwemer and decode the Falmer we should be able to translate Gallus' journal."

"Can we trust them?" Karliah asked skeptically.

"No, but you can trust in my ability to manipulate." Enthir answered. "Urag gro-Shrub knows Dwemer and has been desperate to learn Falmer for translating purposes. Aside from him being totally peachy with illicit behavior in pursuit of knowledge he also sold me a blacklisted copy of Necromancer's Moon unaware that Savos Aren would have his head on a pike for losing such a notorious tome."

"Anyone else?" Karliah pressed, growing more comfortable with Enthir's plan.

"Arniel Gane. The man is obsessed with Dwemer artifacts and he is as crazy as he is brilliant. His current research involves the age old question of how the Dwemer disappeared, and for one reason or another he wants this one warped soul gem I've got in stock. I'll tell him I'll destroy it and out his research if he doesn't keep his lips shut on this." Enthir paced slightly as his plan unfolded. "I'll supervise every time they work, and they won't get a whiff of Gallus' journal. If my hunch is right and they can decode the Falmer the three of us will translate the journal."

"What can I do until then?" Isobel spoke up. "I've spent enough time twiddling my thumbs at the College."

"You haven't been twiddling your thumbs." Karliah replied firmly. "I barely recognized you when you came in."

"You should see the coin she's raked in for me too." Enthir smiled.

"I don't want to go to class when I can be working on the Guild's future." Isobel held her ground, demanding one more time: "What can I do that will actually help?"

"You're going to help me take care of Gallus' remains." Karliah answered.