Chapter 24 - Deal With The Daedra


"Hermaeus Mora... will betray you... as he has me." Miraak warned, the First Dragonborn trying to shake the Last Dragonborn's resolve, even as he desperately squirmed in her grasp.

Yang showed no expression, showed no sign of being swayed, as she held on to his head. As she squeezed, and Miraak's mask began to crack, she emotionlessly answered: "I don't care."

"Foolish Miraak! Did you think you could escape me?" Hermaeus Mora boomed, his voice echoing from a thousand tears in space, as eyeballs and tentacles floated just above the duelling Dragonborns, like stars in the dark green sky. "You can hide nothing from me here. No matter. I have found a new Dragonborn to serve me."

"May she... be rewarded... as I am!" Miraak spat back defiantly.

With one final effort, Yang crushed Miraak's head like a melon, before letting go, allowing his headless body to collapse to the floor. She didn't feel anything about his death; he had tried to kill her before, even before she'd stepped foot on Solstheim.

If his death was required for getting Jaune back, she'd have paid the price a thousand times over without blinking.

"Well done, my new champion." Hermaeus Mora congratulated Yang, as Miraak's body began smoldering away, his soul already being consumed by Yang's.

"I've done what you wanted. Now tell me how to get Jaune back." Yang demanded impatiently, folding her arms.

"Of course." Hermaeus Mora replied patiently. "I do not lie; my word is as true as fate, as inevitable as destiny. You have done what I wanted, and now I shall give you what you seek.

"The vampire, Serana. Her spell to locate Jaune Arc will require a focus, something to connect it to him." Hermaeus Mora explained.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Jaune Arc's... "Aura", should suffice."

"If I had Jaune's Aura, I wouldn't be coming to you for help." Yang snarled. "But guess what? Jaune's not here."

"No, he is not." Hermaeus Mora rumbled, overlooking the slight for the time being. "But his Aura is still within our reach."

"Explain." It wasn't a polite request.

"Your journey to the Soul Cairn. Jaune Arc channeled his Aura into a soul gem, and traded it for safe passage." Hermaeus Mora complied. "The soul gem still exists, in the possession of the Ideal Masters, in the Soul Cairn-"

"So that's the missing piece of the puzzle!" A new voice interrupted Hermaeus Mora.

The eyes in the sky blinked in surprise, before they turned to focus on the intruder.

The white-haired man looked completely unfazed, pausing only to brush off some imaginary dust from his immaculate green suit. He leaned forward onto his cane, and laughed jovially, insanely: "Long time no see, Miss Xiao-Long! You've certainly been keeping worse company these days! I much preferred the other one, you know."

"Sheogorath?!" Yang couldn't help but stare at the sudden appearance of the Daedric Prince of Madness.

"You." Hermaeus Mora's voice was full of venom.

"Oh, lighten up, Hermy! Always so serious!" Sheogorath chastised, before holding out a hand. As a cup of an unknown liquid suddenly materialized in it, he sipped it appreciatively, and commented: "I do always say books should be complimented with a nice hot cup of-"

"This is my realm, False Prince!" Hermaeus Mora roared. "What are you doing here?!"

"Why, where else would I be?" Sheogorath chuckled. "What Miss Xiao-Long is about to do is madness, and thus, here I am!"

Yang blinked, before her fist clenched in anger. Before she could defend her actions, however, Hermaeus Mora lost his patience, and tears suddenly appeared all around Sheogorath, through which tentacles shot out.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Sheogorath warned, still in a jovial tone, not bothering to try and protect himself. "Remember what happened to old Jyggalag, two hundred years ago?"

The tentacles froze before they could reach him, before slinking back into the void.

"What do you want, Madgod?" Hermaeus Mora sighed.

"I think I'll be taking Miss Xiao-Long and leaving." Sheogorath answered pleasantly. "And in exchange, I'll give you a piece of information that nobody else knows; I'll tell you who the Grey Fox was."

"You will pay for this." Hermaeus Mora vowed, as Sheogorath tossed a scrap of paper out of his pocket, before the paper and the eyes all disappeared.

"Come along, Miss Xiao-Long, I think we've overstayed our welcome." Sheogorath said cordially, turning to Yang, before tilting his head to the side, dodging a punch.

"You!" Yang was furious! Thanks to the Mad God, she'd lost her chance to get Jaune back! She knew she was going up against a Daedric Prince, but at the moment, she didn't care.

Sheogorath merely sighed, shook his head, and snapped his fingers.

The next thing Yang knew, just before she could leap at his throat, was a sudden sensation of weightlessness. Then she was on the ground, on a cobblestone road, in some unknown location.

"Welcome to New Sheoth! Strawberry torte?" Sheogorath offered, standing over Yang, holding out a pastry.

"Why did you stop me?!" Yang demanded, jumping to her feet, smacking the torte out of his hand. "I was this close, this close to getting Jaune back!"

"Because the price wouldn't have been worth it, Miss Xiao-Long." Sheogorath explained kindly. "It wouldn't have been what Jaune would have wanted."

"What in Oblivion would you know?!" Yang shouted, challenging the Mad God in his own realm. "How could you possibly know how I feel?! You're a daedra, for Akatosh's sake! What would you know of pain, of loss, of grief?!"

"You're feeling lost, confused, scared, alone. You're feeling guilty, that you could have, should have, done more. That maybe, just maybe, if you'd done something differently, things would've been different, and your best friend would still be alive." Sheogorath replied, a hint of sadness coloring his tone.

Yang blinked, completely taken aback. Those... were definitely not emotions she'd have associated with a daedra, let alone the Daedric Prince of Madness. It sounded almost human, in fact. "Wha... how?"

"Because I've been in your position before, Miss Xiao-Long, when Martin Septim died." Sheogorath answered, sounding saner than she'd ever heard him. "I was once mortal, too. My name was Ozpin, and I was the Hero of Kvatch. Now, I've got a message from Martin, so I hope you're paying attention..."

-AURIEL'S CHANTRY, NOON, THREE DAYS LATER-

Knight-Paladin Gelebor, last of the snow elves, looked at Auriel's Bow in his hand, and hummed thoughtfully.

Even for one as high up in the religious order as he was (not that it mattered, when he was the only one left), it wasn't exactly common to receive visions directly from Auriel, let alone one with such clarity and specificity.

But still, he was faithful, and so he would do as had been instructed.

The sun reached it's zenith, above him.

Narrowing his eyes, Gelebor pulled out a Sunhallowed Arrow, and notched it onto the bow of his god.

He aimed for the sun, and pulled the string back.

He let the arrow loose.

He watched as the arrow travelled towards the sun.

The next thing he knew, an explosion of light occurred, and wild colors cascaded across the midday sky.

-COLLEGE OF WINTERHOLD, AT THE SAME TIME-

Serana looked at the Eye of Magnus, as the orb hovered in place in the Hall of the Elements, with a mild degree of apprehension.

To be fair, though, it had almost destroyed the world.

Also to be fair, this was Yang's ideas, to use the Staff on the soul gem, before channeling Jaune's Aura into the Eye of Magnus. Seeing as how Yang knew next to nothing about magic, she felt that she could be forgiven for having some doubts in the Arch-Mage.

Sighing, she recalled the conversation they'd had, when she'd suddenly returned after being missing for a week...

"Serana, I've got it! I know how to get to Remnant!" Yang had excitedly burst through the doors of the College.

"Yang?!" Serana had been more surprised by her appearance, initially. "Where have you been?! You suddenly disappeared a week ago!"

"Never mind that." Yang had waved her off, holding out a black soul gem. "I'll need you to use the Staff on this soul gem, channel it's energies into Aetherius."

"O...kay?" Serana had blinked, accepting the crystal. "What is it?"

"Jaune's Aura."

"What? How did you even get your hands on this?!"

"The Ideal Masters." Yang had shrugged, and Serana slowly began to notice that Yang looked like she'd just fought a very rough battle or ten. "Akatosh pointed me in the right direction?"

"Akatosh?" Serana had repeated, now very confused. "He's helping you again?"

"He wasn't allowed to interfere too much, up until now. The past few times were an exception, since it involved his bow and his Firstborn."

Serana had nodded in understanding. "So, why channel Jaune's Aura into Aetherius?"

"He says he'll need it to reverse the flow of energy from the Sun, when he uses your spell to open a portal to Remnant."

"... wait, what?"

As the sun reached it'a highest point in the sky, she shook the idle thoughts from her head.

it was time.

She prayed, to both the Aedra and Daedra, that Yang knew what she was doing.

Even as she pointed the Staff at the soul gem, her mind raced, as she considered all the outcomes.

It didn't matter.

If anything went wrong... well, she still had her spell, and Jaune's Aura to power it.

-AKATOSH, AT THE SAME TIME-

"Are you sure you're ready?" Martin asked Yang, offering her one last chance to back out from their wild plan. Holding Serana's spell scroll in one hand, he emphasized: "While I can send you there, returning to Skyrim will be up to you."

"I'm ready." Yang nodded at the Avatar of Akatosh, without any hesitation whatsoever.

After all, he hadn't been the only one to challenge her resolve

"What will you do, when you get to Remnant?" Serana had asked, just before Yang had left.

"What do you mean?"

"Yang... what if he's happier, back in Remnant? What if he's settled down, in the time you've been gone?"

Yang's eyes had flashed dangerously red, as she considered the possibility, but she forced to calm down.

After all, she'd always been the one, chiding Jaune on only seeing what was in front of him.

"If... if he's happier there..." Yang had finally forced out. "If he is, then I won't force him back. Then I'll stay with him, there."

"You're sure?"

"Tamriel, Remnant, what difference does it make, where my adventure leads?"

"... what about your family, here?"

"My father would understand, and I don't care about my mother anymore. She's not worth it."

"... if you say so..."

Martin studied her face for a moment, before finally acquiescing. As the clock hit noon in Nirn, the God of Time and the Sun felt two things happen.

A surge of energy hit the Sun, the hole in reality to Aetherius drilled by Magnus, and for the briefest of moments, the flow of energy was reversed, magicka no longer flowing through from it.

An arrow, full of his power, fired from his bow, then his the Sun, embuing it with his power, his will.

Martin didn't waste any time, and searched through the memories of Alduin, the World Eater, another aspect of Akatosh. One of the reasons they'd permitted his continued existence, when they'd removed him from Sovngarde; he still had purposes to fulfill.

With Alduin's memory of Remnant, Martin had a mental image to focus on, and he cast the vampire's spell, momentarily linking Aetherius to the void beyond it, to Remnant.

"It is done. Good luck, Yang Xiao-Long."

Sheogorath didn't miss his old friend's cue, and he picked up Yang in the palm of his hand.

"If you and Mr Arc ever return, feel free to pay old Ozpin a visit in New Sheoth!" Sheogorath laughed, before he carried out his part of the plan.

As Yang flew towards the Sun, now a portal to Aetherius, and Remnant beyond it, as the light grew brighter, bigger, she grinned, only one thought in mind.

Wait for me, Vomit Boy. I'm coming for you. And this time, it'll be your turn to show me your world.


Author's Note: And thus ends the adventures of the Lost Dragonborn in Skyrim, and in general the Elder Scrolls arc of this story. Time to disappear while I figure out how to start the next one... also, how to catalogue this story in general.

Hermaeus Mora isn't exactly evil (since he's a daedra and, thus, doesn't really abide by our standards of morality), but he's definitely not good or altruistic. He also isn't stupid. His plan was brutally simple: remove an unreliable and disloyal pawn (Miraak) before he escapes his sphere of influence and can betray him, and actually help Yang get to Remnant. And in return, he gets a new Dragonborn ingratiated to him, and most importantly, access to Remnant itself. Yang can keep Jaune; Hermaeus Mora is making a play for the whole world itself. It's thusly in his best interest to actually help Yang succeed.

As for why Hermaeus Mora backs down so easily in the face of Sheogorath... as the Hero of Kvatch, he already defeated a Daedric Prince, Jyggalag (who all the other daedra feared), back when he was just a mortal. More to the point, though, he has both Jyggalag's support, and Akatosh's support. Hermaeus Mora, meanwhile, relies more on subterfuge and deceit than direct confrontation. There will be other opportunities; in the face of such a hand, it's better to fold first, so that you can stay in the game.

Also, remember how I said, if I did actually use RWBY characters in the Elder Scrolls universe, I'd have probably set it during the events of Oblivion? Did anybody not see this coming, what with Sheogorath's white hair and green suit?

Gods, this was a pain in the ass to write, trying to remember every plot device I'd conveniently stashed away for a later date, before tying it all together in a way that doesn't just go against everything established in the lore.

Also, a note on Elder Scrolls cosmology: the Divines are both planets and gods. That's not to say Akatosh the planet is named after the god Akatosh, but that the planet is literally the physical representation of the god.

Also, Sheogorath teleports people by tossing them through space.

Now, the question for Yang isn't just where she ends up, but when. Someone's already guessed what happens to her, but I won't say more on the matter.

Don't expect updates for a few weeks... I need to actually refresh myself on what actually happens in the next universe I choose.