Disclaimer - I do not own Warcraft
"I will finally have my revenge." Azshara hissed as she slammed the hammer right on the Old God, releasing huge amounts of energy. As the energy slowly began brightening up the dark skies, the Old God's body was slowly being consumed and disintegrated. However, it did come at a cost as Azshara's body too suffered the same effects. Everyone, especially Illidan and Vashj, were surprised that Azshara, of all people, was willing to sacrifice herself to destroy an Old God
"Azhsara!" Illidan yelled even though they were only in the palace area, which was nowhere near where N'zoth was. He was slightly disturbed at the thought of her dying as there was still a lot of questions he had for her mentor such as how did she come to know about the Old Gods in the first place
In a matter of seconds, the power eventually grew to the point where N'zoth, Azshara, and both Pillars of Creation were completely destroyed, releasing a huge explosion into the surroundings. That same explosion also destroyed a large part of the altered landscape and caused the waters to flow into the seafloor once again as it began to return to normal. This left no time for further words as if they didn't get out of there, they would all drown
"It won't be too long before the water fills this place again." Illysanna said worriedly
"Illidan, get your army back to the ships you used to come here." Vashj said before she gathered her magics at each of her hands. At the edge of the city, she tried to recreate the barrier spell Azshara had used to protect them from drowning so long ago but unlike that one, it had a large opening to allow them passage. "Can't hold this long." she grunted as Illidan supported her
'Everyone get to the ships and pull back. Also, have one of the necropolises pick up any naga you might find and keep them on board.' Kor'vas ordered
'Kor'vas, are you sure about that?' Malygos asked
'We could always just destroy the necropolis if they pose a problem.' Kor'vas said nonchalantly as both Illidan and Illysanna looked at her curiously. Kor'vas had taken the opportunity to give the order to retreat after Illidan was distracted at the reunion and Illysanna concerned about him
The blue dragons and the other aerial Scourge forces in the sky then began to pick up any naga they could find
Out of nowhere, Vashj suddenly began to drop to the floor and gripped her head as if she was in pain. What they didn't know is that all of the naga also went through what was happening to her right now
"Vashj! What's wrong?" Illidan asked in concern but a few second later, she suddenly collapsed. Knowing that he couldn't do anything at the moment and that they would drown, he picked her up. "Let's get out of here." he said and looked at the barrier, which still held
"Alright. This way." Illysanna said as she took flight, the other two following her lead
'What's is going on now? N'zoth should be dead so there is no reason for her to lose consciousness.' Illidan thought as they flew to where the Scourge's necropolis were. 'She's still alive and the magic around her is acting wierdly. Did Azshara do something to her? he thought. While in flight, he noticed the necropolises taking flight already. All of the blue dragons and frost wyrm appeared to head to the same necropolis. A few minutes later, they finally made it back. "Is everything ready?"
"Indeed, my king. All that remains is us." Kel'thuzad answered, who was waiting for the both of them outside. He then noticed that his master was carrying a naga woman with him and he finally realized the real reason why Illidan was fighting the Old Gods. The barrier created by Vashj soon cracked so the archlich created a very thick sheet of ice above the necropolis to hold the waters. All of them then entered the necropolis and in less than ten minutes, the barrier created by Vashj finally collapsed and Nazjatar, and N'zoth's prison, were covered by the waters
"I guess Azshara wasn't lying when she told you she would fight the Old Gods on her own terms." Illysanna said as she and Kor'vas checked up on Vashj in the upper levels of one of the necropolis
"How is she?" Kor'vas asked worriedly, for both Illidan and Vashj
Illidan remained silent as he truly did not know what was going on and his own injuries haven't fully healed yet. Eventually, he finally spoke. "Illysanna, Kor'vas." he said, getting their attention. "Thank you." he said and like before, Illysanna didn't know how to respond while Kor'vas was straight up speechless
"Illidan, listen. Vashj isn't the only one who is unconscious." Illysanna said, causing said person to turn around. "We've just checked with the other necropolis. All of the naga who weren't killed are also unconscious. Every single one of them."
"Drak'thul had already tried to see what was going on but he has no clue. He doubts he will be able to find out anything since he's not familiar with the Old Gods' magic." Illysanna said
"Agatha also checked but she said that the only thing that's certain is that they are alive." Kor'vas added
"I see." Illidan sighed as he got up. "Illysanna, I need you to take my place in leading the Scourge. I am not retiring or anything like that but I just want you to make the big decisions." he said and confused them both. "All this time, I thought that Vashj was dead so I really had nothing to lose. Of course, I never revealed this to anyone and that is why I was able to remain calm most of the time. However, now that I see Vashj again, I am not certain I will be able to keep my emotions in check with her especially since the reason I wanted to fight these things was because I once promised her to rid this world of its enemies. When she was gone, I only wanted revenge." his words rendered both girls speechless as he finally came clean with everything he has done
"I'm sorry, Illidan. I just don't think I'm ready for that kind of role. You are far more perceptive than me and you aren't as prone to making mistakes as I am." Illysanna said in an apologizing tone
"Illidan, there's no need for you to be worried about that." Kor'vas said. "You're not alone in this and we're not your slaves, we're your allies. If we find something that you're not certain about, we are going to point it out. We're not just going to let you do something without clearly thinking about it." she said reassuringly before looking at the unconscious naga. "Besides, I don't think Vashj would give you too much trouble in that regard. When we were captured by her warriors, it felt almost as if she didn't want to fight and when you think about how she let Arthas handle you on his own, it makes you wonder if she just left him to die." she explained and he looked at her in surprise
"Kor'vas has a point, Illidan. You are not alone in this and when she wakes up..." Illysanna trailed off, now she was the one looking at the naga. "I doubt Vashj would complain too much since she experienced the Old Gods first hand. Just trust in yourself, Illidan. No one here is going to give you a hard time about keeping this a secret."
Theramore Isle
After Illidan purged Y'Shaarj from Arthas' body, the draenei ship quickly took into the sky, leaving the entire battle in the Scourge's hands. Everyone on board bore witness to a real Old God. They have seen the Old Gods' minions firsthand in the form of the Emerald Nightmare and the Shas but seeing the real thing was an entirely different matter. They all bore witness to the release of one of them and its destruction
While the others only watched in horror at the destruction in the distance, Velen and Jaina had been busy with healing Arthas' body until the prophet eventually stopped
"Velen, how is he?" Jaina asked worriedly
"I am not certain." Velen answered hesitantly. "The Old God did so much damage to his body and I only managed to heal the worst ones. If I do anymore right now, I might only worsen the injuries. There is no guarantee that Prince Arthas would wake up."
Jaina looked to the ground sadly. "At least even that would be preferable than being the Old Gods' slaves." she said, trying to keep herself from breaking down
"Do not be too hard on yourself, Jaina." Thrall said, approaching them. "This is not your fault. The Old Gods are creatures unlike anything we have ever seen."
"Agreed. Their minions were one thing but that thing we saw. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself." Sylvanas said as she put a hand on the female archmage's shoulder. "Just stay strong, Jaina, and fight, for Arthas' sake." she said and Jaina looked at her gratefully
"If we could take our minds off this..." Khadgar finally spoke up. "We still have to prepare for what is to come. According to the Scourge, this battle could have happened on Kalimdor as well. This implies that there is an Old God on Kalimdor. We have guarded all routes to the temple where it is most likely to be in but given what we have witnessed, I doubt it will be enough, even if we have the rest of the dragonflights with us."
"I don't think that the dragonflights would be of that much help. The green dragons are almost extinct and the red dragons haven't fully recovered since their losses in Northrend. Only the bronze are in a position to do anything significant." Sylvanas pointed out
"Regardless, we will have to be ready for the Old God. We may have to stop everything we are doing and focus all our attention otherwise it will simply turn us into its slaves." Thrall said
"You're right." Jaina said as she stood up. "That has to be our top priority or we will suffer the same fate as Arthas did." she said as she let go of his unconscious hand
Silvermoon, Three Days Later
Illidan was at the peak courtyard of the fortress. As much as he would have liked to watch over Vashj himself, there were still somethings he needed to find out such as how Dusksoul was able to directly harm an Old God. He was curious as he never even considered the possibility that the waters of the Well could ever be solidified not to mention Azshara had never mentioned it. There was also the issue of the seals in the Tomb of Sargeras and what Azshara had used to destroy N'zoth. Vashj was also in safe hands and the rest of the naga were sealed in a specially designed magical enclosure where they would be watched at all times. While he was occupied studying the sword, he suddenly felt someone come up. He turned around and was surprised at the ones he saw
Along with Illysanna and Kor'vas was Vashj, but rather than her serpetine appearance, she now sported one that looked similar to Azshara but had only two arms instead of four. Her overall appearance was very similar to how she appeared when she was still a night elf but instead of skin, she had scales similar to her naga form. Unlike Azshara, Vashj didn't have tails so she looked like a hybrid of an elf and a naga
"Vashj? You're awake? For how long?" Illidan asked in both surprise and relief as he let the sword settle on the floor
"Just a few minutes earlier. Your army had allowed me to meet with you but only if Illysanna and Kor'vas were with me." Vashj answered honestly
"I see." Illidan said, relief reflected in his eyes. "What happened to your appearance?"
"He's in for a surprise, isn't he?" Kor'vas whispered to her friend
"Shush. I wanna see his reaction." Illysanna whispered back
Vashj just rolled her eyes as she heard their little chat. To Illidan's further surprise, she began to morph her body to look like her appearance as a naga. "I still have my naga form but ever since I woke up, I was already in my hybrid form. It was tricky to adjust but I soon learned that I can freely transform." she said as she turned back to her hybrid form. "When I lost consciousness after Azshara killed N'zoth, I felt most of its power leave my body. I never realized it but I think that was what kept us in our serpentine forms but with N'zoth gone, we were no longer restricted to it. I think that Azshara didn't just kill N'zoth but also allowed us to freely transform whenever we please." she finished while the two other demon hunters were trying to stifle their laughter at seeing Illidan's surprise expression
"That makes sense. That's also how Azshara changed her appearance." Illidan said, confusing Vashj and Kor'vas but he didn't continue. "I'm glad you're finally back, Vashj. It's been too long."
"It really has." Vashj said and after a while, the two of them finally hugged each other. They stayed that way for a few minutes until they finally broke apart. The naga then turned her head to the two other demon hunters. "Illysanna, Kor'vas, may I ask you two something?"
"Sure. What is it?" Illysanna responded
"How come you are not upset with me and Illidan?" Vashj asked but the two of them did not understand. "Throughout all this time, Illidan and I were aware that Azshara allowed the Burning Legion to invade our world and you lost your families to them while we didn't do anything to stop her. I would have thought that you would be furious with him yet you helped him save me. Why is that?"
"We did know about it and we were furious for a time." Illysanna answered without hesitation. There wasn't even any time for them to think hard about it yet she gave her answer that quickly, much to Vashj's surprise. "At first, I was furious and before I could lash out or something, I decided to think about it. In the end, I realized that whether or not Azhsara had let them enter our world, Sargeras would have found and attacked us no matter what we do. While Zin Azshari was large, we didn't control the entire world so the Legion could have simply contacted anyone. It wouldn't be exactly the same as the War of the Ancients but the Legion would have still come."
"What she said." Kor'vas added. "This was proven that when the Legion had no way to manipulate the night elves, they instead used the mortals who once lived in this part of the world. One way or the other, there is no way to permanently stop the Legion, at least, from this world. The only thing that we would have been able to do is delay them for a few years. That was the reason why I decided to join up with Illidan in the first place. Unlike the rest of the night elves and even the mortals, I didn't think he would just sit around and wait for the Legion to come back. While it may be possible that my family would have survived the Legion invasion, in the end, we wouldn't bother to gather information about them if we win which means that sooner or later, the Legion might still take their lives. Besides, I may have lost one family, but I did find comfort among people where I am free to do what I want."
"Exactly. The War of the Ancients may have been Azshara's fault but not doing anything to prepare for the Legion afterwards was on us. No matter how you look at it, all of us were, in one way or another, responsible for it." Illysanna added her own reasonings. "Besides, even if you were against Azshara's idea to let the Legion in, would you have actually been able to change anything? Illidan did not have the kind of power he has now ten thousand years ago so there's always the possibility that Azshara could have had you both killed, or at the very least, ensured that you were kept quiet."
"I've also heard that many of the Highborne were zealots when it comes to Azshara so even if she let you two live, no one inside the palace would have believed you." Kor'vas said with a shrug. Both Illidan and Vashj released a chuckle at that as she wasn't wrong about it. "Also, if we were the ones asking Illidan that, he would have done the same. As willing as we are to kill innocents, we choose not to unless there is no other choice, sometimes anyway."
After hearing their words, Vashj was truly moved. Her curse of being an Old God's slave was finally over. "Thank you, all of you." she said gratefully and looked at her lover. "Listen, Illidan, when the next fight happens, don't worry about me."
"What?" Illidan asked curiously
"Look, I know I have to earn the trust of the rest of your army first. I'm not just going to assume you would let me fight just because we're close. However, once you do trust me, don't worry about me too much. I can take care of myself and I am not going to just let you fight them if you're too preoccupied. Before, I may have been next to helpless but like you, Azshara taught me a lot over the last ten thousand years." Vashj said seriously. As much as she was glad to be reunited with Illidan, she needed to get this clear as soon as possible since the war was still not over
Illidan was silent at this for obvious reasons. He just stared at Vashj trying to take in what she had said. "Alright Vashj, but you're not fighting until the rest of the Scourge are fine with it." he said and she nodded in understanding. Just like so long ago, she was still a very understanding person towards him, which was one of the reasons they got along so well
"Also, I'm not sure about the rest of the naga." Vashj said, surprising the three. "Many of the naga were actually loyal to the Old Gods. I haven't seen the rest of the naga yet so those who are loyal might be there and they are very good at deception as well. Most of the ones who despises the Old Gods are the Highborne who were transformed while those who were born as naga are the loyal ones, most of them anyway. Over the years, Azshara and the rest of us who had no loyalty to the Old Gods have gathered information on who were loyal. I know most of them so if they are among those you have saved, kill them." she said seriously
"I never would have thought that you would have a similar mindset with Illidan, Vashj." Illysanna commented
"I suppose that's the reason why you two get along very well?" Kor'vas asked with a raised eyebrow
"Part of it at least." Vashj corrected and leaned her head on Illidan's shoulder
As a moment of silence took over, the necklace that Vashj was wearing suddenly began to glow. None of them knew what was going on but the answer soon revealed itself when Dusksoul also began to glow
'Could it be?' Illidan wondered to himself
"What's going on? And what is that sword, Illidan?" Vashj asked curiously
'Azshara sure is clever, isn't she?' Illidan thought to himself as he examined the necklace. "Vashj, is that necklace the one I gave you?"
"Yes, it is. Why?" Vashj responded but soon got the message. She took off the necklace and wrapped it around the blade while the other three observed. "Now what?" she asked but after a few seconds, energies gathered around the necklace as a part of it broke off. Vashj was surprised and angry as the necklace was a gift from Illidan but he held her from checking out what had happened. With his spectral sight, he saw that the part that broke off was something magically attached to the necklace
The broken part soon attached itself to the small empty space in the middle of the blade. A bright light soon took over the space. Like with when Illidan first took the blade, the light was so bright that it blinded even the spectral sight. When it cleared, they found themselves in a different place. Only Kor'vas was not familiar with the place as it was none other than Zin Azshari
"Where are we? I don't recognize this place." Kor'vas asked. Even though she could not see with regular sight, she knew that this place was not Silvermoon
"Zin Azshari. This was the capital so long ago." Vashj said after taking a good look around. "How did we even get here?"
"We didn't." Illidan answered. "This was the same when I found that sword. Azshara had left a message within the blade and transported my mind to this place. I imagine this is the same." and soon enough, he was proven right when footsteps were heard from behind them
"Azshara?!" Vashj asked in surprise. "How?"
"I thought she died when she killed N'zoth?" Illysanna added
"She did. That's not Azshara. Take a good look, she doesn't have any tails. It's just an image of her." Illidan explained
"Illidan." the image of Azshara spoke. "If you are hearing this message then that means I am no longer alive and it also means that the naga is finally free from N'zoth and you are reunited with Vashj." she continued. "When you gave Vashj that necklace so long ago, I secretly slipped in a small piece of the sword on it while using the same illusion spell to hide it even from her. As I promised you, I will tell you everything." the image then casted a spell which showed the image of a young night elf boy
"You must be wondering how I knew about the Old Gods and why I am going through all these lengths to get rid of them. Well, this boy you see now is actually my son, Kelthannius." the image introduce the kid she had made. "All this began two hundred years before the Burning Legion ever made contact with Xavius. I was already the queen of the Elven Empire at this point however, I kept the existence of my son a secret. Although no one knew about him, he was able to visit me frequently as he also served as my personal executioner." Azshara said before she warped the surroundings from Zin Azshari to instead show a night elf village. "In the villages near the northeastern borders of the empire, there began reports of people mysteriously disappearing. The army began their investigations and even stationed more guards but before long, they too began to disappear. I wanted to investigate this in secret personally but Kelthannius offered to do this himself. Naturally I didn't allow it because every instinct in my body knew that this was something beyond him. However, despite everything saying I shouldn't allow it, I let Kelthannius investigate this himself. As you might imagine, my son too has went missing."
As soon as she said the last part, all four of the listeners were surprised. They never imagined that the reason Azshara knows about the Old Gods was something so personal
"When I heard that Kelthannius went missing, I immediately went to the borders myself. I ignored all the attempts of other officials to leave this to the army. He was my son. I had to do this myself." Azshara had explained before making the illusion that the forest was moving to a specific area
From there, the four of them watched as the image lead them into a place where there was another Azshara
"Two Azsharas?" Kor'vas asked, confused
"This must not be an ordinary message. This is probably Azshara's very memory. Rather than tell us what happened, she wants us to see it for ourselves." Illidan mused as one of the Azsharas was just standing still beside them while the other was conducting some sort of spell
The second Azshara was in the middle of conducting a spell that would locate her son. The spell she was casting was not known to many and was one of the few secrets that she knew. After a while, she found a lead and quickly followed it, all the while making sure she wasn't followed. Hours later, the second Azshara made her way into the mountain ranges and when she heard voices, she quickly hid among the trees. She then saw, to her horror, a large group of night elves and other creatures that live on Azeroth gathered in a nearby clearing. What really horrified her was that her son was among them and they seemed to be worshipping an image painted on a wall of what appeared to be a large mass that didn't have a humanoid shape. Their leader was a creature that didn't have a face and looked like a tentacle creature. It was a Faceless One but Azshara did not know that
Moving out of the cover, Azshara made her presence known. "Kelthannius. What is the meaning of this?" she demanded to know
All of the ones gathered turned her sights to her. The Faceless One then gave an order in an unknown language and caused everyone to attack the newcomer
Azshara wasn't concerned about this as she was well aware that she was way more powerful than these creatures."If you want to fight, then so be it." she said and quickly bound her own son in chains before gathering a large amount of arcane energies around her and quickly put the rest in a condition that was near death. "Now, tell me what the hell this is? What is going on?" she asked after defeating her enemies
"That's an Old God, isn't it?" Kor'vas asked, completely surprised at what she was witnessing
"It is. I believe that is Y'Shaarj before it was killed by the Titans." Vashj mused, recalling the time when Azshara had told her about the beings that saved them from being drowned
"Take a good look at their eyes and the magics on their body." the image of Azshara beside them spoke. "If you can see their eyes, you will notice it is nothing but black. I wonder if you ever managed to see with regular sight again, Illidan, but regardless, your spectral sight is a dead giveaway that the powers of an Old God is surrounding them." she pointed out before they continued to observe
To Azshara's surprise, black colored energies surrounded her son and he broke free from the chains he bound him in. The very same energies also gathered around those she had knocked out appeared and they all rose as if they weren't injured. For the first time in her life, Azshara was actually and genuinely afraid. Her enemies noticed this and her son quickly tackled her to the ground, intending to release more of the black energies and consume her
Azshara knew that she should fight back but it was her own son. She just couldn't bring herself to do so. 'Damn it.' was all she could think as she began to close her eyes and cry, accepting that this is the end for her. However, instead of her dying, she suddenly heard noises and the sound of a sword cutting through flesh including the one of her son's. The queen opened her eyes and saw a pandaren and a creature she had never seen before fight her surroundings. Getting up, she quickly shot a powerful arcane bolt, one that dwarfed everyone who had used a similar spell in the present time, and completely destroyed the Faceless One. However, even that did not cause her son to be free from whatever state he was in. Kelthannius then tried to attack her before he was killed by the pandaren
"Kelthannius!" Azshara yelled as she cradled her son. "You!" she growled and prepared to kill the pandaren before her son suddenly spoke
"Mother, don't." Kelthannius spoke weakly. "They saved me. What I was put through... I'm free." he said before he finally died
"Kelthannius! No!" Azshara yelled desperately while shaking him. "Stay with me!" she continued to shake him out of desparation for him to stay alive
The pandaren moved to her and put his hand on her shoulder as she mourned her son. "I'm sorry about your son." he said but got no response. "You are Queen Azshara, are you not? The supreme ruler of the Elven Empire?" he asked and she merely nodded, not taking her eyes of her son. "Queen Azshara, we have to talk."
Everyone was horrified at what they had just witnessed, especially Illidan, who had experienced something similar to what Azshara did. This was not what they expected to see
"I imagine you will be able to figure out the rest. The three of us had hunted down the whatever influence the Old Gods might have in our world and destroying it but there weren't many because their prisons were barely weakened at all. We succeeded and once every month I would take my leave from the palace just so I can travel the world and see if more of their minions are active. Being able to so easily teleport made this a very easy task." the image of Azshara spoke
"That other creature with the Pandaren was a Titanforged, the last of its kind. They told me everything, from the history of the Black Empire to when the Old Gods were imprisoned. That Pandaren with them was their emperor, Daohao. He was the one who trained me on how to fight in hand to hand combat. Daohao only taught me the important parts. The rest, I had to figure out on my own, including how I prefer to fight, which is what I taught you." Azshara then returned them to Zin Azshari. "Over the years, I wanted nothing more than revenge against the Old Gods. It was also around this time that I truly began to study the Well of Eternity and soon, I made Dusksoul when I learned how to solidify its energies. As time went by, I soon realized that when the time comes, I might not be able to kill the Old Gods not because I was afraid but because I felt guilty about Kelthannius. I knew that fighting the Old Gods would require a lot of sacrifices but I didn't want to betray his memory. He would never approve of me killing my own people just to kill those creatures. That was when I decided that if I ever found anyone with a similar mindset to my own, I would train that person to do what I could not."
Azshara then looked at Illidan. "When I finally met you in person, Illidan, I chose to train you so that one day, you will fight the Old Gods. It was very selfish of me and at the time, you were nothing more than the one who would destroy the Old Gods in my place." she continued while the four just continued to listen. "However, as I was training you, I grew attached to you. Something about you just reminded me about Kelthannius. When I learned about your attraction with Vashj, I knew that I just couldn't take that away from you. At this point, I'm sure I don't have to explain that it won't make that much of a difference if whether or not Sargeras attacked when he did. Aside from my own fear of dying, I just had to find a way to reunite you and Vashj. It took me ten thousand years before I found the opening but since you're hearing this message, that can only mean you are with Vashj right now. That is why I chose to hide the missing piece in the necklace you gave her. It allowed me to alter the message if I need to." she said before she began to prepare to return them. "Illidan, Vashj, and to anyone you two brought to see this message, I do not expect your forgiveness. I ruined your lives because of my own selfishness and no amount of apologies can change that. Whether you believe me or not, I truly did see you as my second son, Illidan. Perhaps things could have been different if I wasn't too blinded by revenge but as I told you before, you are far stronger than I am, Illidan. Now, at least I can die in peace knowing I have corrected the mistake I did to you and Vashj. Illidan, please, stop the Old Gods and the Burning Legion." Azshara begged in a tone filled with nothing but sadness and regret. "For the sake of all of creation."
"Before I go, there is one other thing you need to know, Illidan. In the Tomb of Sargeras there are magical seals that would open a gateway for the Legion. During the war, the Legion wanted to use the Temple of Elune as a secondary gateway but I secretly aided the Temple's inhabitants in sabotaging it and caused it to close. The energies used to try and open this gateway is of the Pillars of Creation, the artifacts the Titanforged used to shape this world. The seals in the Tomb contains the power of the Pillars but only for as long as the Pillars themselves are still intact. By the time you are receiving this message, I imagine that at least one of them would be destroyed when I use it to kill one of the Old Gods. I do not know the details about the seals as I've never examined them firsthand but I do know that the Pillars themselves can close the gateway in the event that it is ever opened."
The surroundings then finally grew bright as Azshara transported them back. Before it happened, the queen spoke again. "Farewell, Illidan, Vashj."
"Holy hell. Did that actually happen to Azshara?" Kor'vas asked in surprise. "Illidan, what do you think?" she asked, looking at him
"I believe her." Illidan answered after a few minutes of processing what he had witnessed. "I am not certain about the last part but I don't think she was lying about Kelthannius being controlled by the Old Gods otherwise she wouldn't have said 'I will have my revenge' in the first place."
"You have a good point. I never would have thought Azshara was in so much pain." Illysanna said, despite her own loss, she felt sorry for Azshara
"The wound that cuts the deepest are those that are never caused by any weapon or magic." Vashj said, causing the three demon hunters to look at her questioningly. "Just something Azshara told me after we were transformed. At the time, I never understood that but now, I know what her words meant. She wasn't someone who just wanted attention nor was she someone who was a powerful mage and skilled fighter. Azshara was just a broken woman whose world turned around when her son died in her very own arms." she finshed. Like with the others, she felt very sorry for the queen. While it may seem that Azshara was weak, they were all aware that they could have just as easily fallen into despair as she had so they weren't too hard on her
"But what now?" Illysanna asked curiously and they all looked to Illidan
"We finish what we started, what Azshara started." Illidan said without hesitation. "As skeptical as I am with Azshara's true feelings, there is still the fact that the Legion and the Old Gods are still out there. We have to destroy them if we ever want to ensure Azeroth's safety."
"One question, Illidan." Kor'vas said before anything else. "I can tell for a fact that you knew that battle in Nazjatar was coming. Were you so willing to trust Azshara to destroy the Old God or did you have something else ready?"
In response, Illidan then picked up Dusksoul. "As you heard earlier, this sword was created from the waters of the Well. It was made for the sole purpose of destroying an Old God." he said, completely shocking the three. "Besides, as much as I didn't want to, a part of me just felt that Azshara was hiding something and that if she really was with the Old Gods, we would all be dead by now. Despite everything she has done, I still have some measure of trust in her."
While Illidan made a good point, Azshara crucially left missing pieces of the information, the location of the Pillars. Before anyone could point that out, the sword began glowing again and this time, five parts of the handle broke off and fell to the floor. After a few seconds, the parts transformed into what appeared to be scrolls
Since she was the only one that can actually read, Vashj went to pick it up and inspected them, not knowing that Illidan can shift between regular and spectral sight. As she was reading, she was amazed at how thorough the queen has been. "These scrolls contain the details of the the Pillars." she said before looking at the back at one of them. "Strange. This is a different one. 'These scrolls are the only written records about the Pillars of Creation. I made them after the Legion's gateway in the Temple of Elune was closed. They might not be that accurate anymore by the time you read this but it contains the general locations of where the priestesses have hidden them and some of them are disguising themselves as another object so you'll have to break the spell.'" Vashj said what was written as Illidan took another of the notes
"She's right. These are exactly what we needed to know. However, this one does not say how to deal with the seals in the Tomb." Illidan said, surprising the naga. "Vashj, does that say anything about it?" he asked and she merely looked at him in shock
After a while, Vashj finally found her voice. "No, it doesn't." she answered and was irritated at the mocking smirk on Illidan's face
Illysanna decided to enlighten her. "He can see normally, Vashj." she said as she put a hand on the naga's shoulder. "He's had his spectral sight far longer than we had and has found out how to shift between regular and spectral vision at will."
"Which reminds me." Kor'vas added in. "You've got to teach us how to do it."
"If we have some extended free, maybe." Illidan said as he motioned for them to go down to the lower levels. "But for now, let's inform the others of what we discovered. N'zoth may be gone but there is still C'thun. Once we get rid of it, only the Legion stands in our way."
At long last, it's finally here. Azshara's backstory. I hope that wasn't too disappointing. When I was figuring out what kind of backstory to give her, I knew it had to be something that would scar her for life. The only one I can think of that would hurt one harder than killing someone close to them in front of their eyes is if that someone close died in their hands and being completely helpless to do anything. That might seem harsh but I really wanted her backstory to be a really sad one that would affect her deeply. It's also the point of what Vashj said. Azshara's emotional scars from killing her son have never healed. It's also a classic move of the Old Gods. Turn someone against those they care about like with Neltharion and Malfurion. When I was writing her backstory, I didn't want it to be anything too fancy. i just wanted it to be direct to the point which is why it isn't really that long or detailed
In this chapter, I also made Illidan slightly unsure of himself, which is different from how he is thus far. When I wrote this, I didn't think it was too unreasonable since if you get blinded by your own emotions against these kinds of enemies, who knows what will happen. Another reason I added this was simply to show the bond between him and Illysanna and as included in the chapter, that also extends to Kor'vas given that along with Drak'thul, they are the ones who have been with him the longest
Concerning the Pillars of Creation, I had them be in a way that if an ordinary creature uses its full power, it would also destroy that creature. This is to prevent just about anyone from using it for their purposes and that includes Azshara. She may be powerful but she is still just a mortal after all. This is another thing I made up myself and I also changed up where the Pillars are scattered on Azeroth. Daohao is also another character I made up. Basically, he's Shaohao's father in this story. In previous chapters, it was mentioned that Shaohao heard about Illidan so that would mean he was born before then. And about how Azshara knows about the Tomb of Sargeras, I can't see her not knowing about it even in the canon. If she didn't know about it in the canon, then she's probably stupid but since she's anything but that in this story, I don't think it is unreasonable
Go ahead and flame me about how much the reunion between Illidan and Vashj sucked. All it was was just a hug and nothing too much. Well, I suck at these kinds of things and I just wanted to give this a try and yes, I suck