Cearbhail:

I really gave it to you guys today. I am impressed with this one. So many feels! I wanted this chapter to be special.. and it is. Only two chapter left now. Only two left. I'll try to have them done by Monday. It's been fun, everyone. It's been quite the ride.

=^^= Enjoy...

[Meesei]

Meesei,

I have gone to the Imperial City to have my showdown with your father Julanza. Unless Order 13 is established, I will be forced to fight him to near death, possibly even to the death. I know you have unresolved issues with your father, but if you truly wish death upon him, I urge you to reconsider your viewpoint. Just be ready for the news of your father's death. I expect Yuvenni will do whatever she needs to do to protect him, even offer her life for his. I do have orders for you and the remnants of Shadow Squad. The Princess is heading to Lilmoth to take it over and forcibly remove the Queen from her throne. I need you to be cautious. We do not know if the Princess is in the right, or the wrong. Tread carefully but always act like you're against her. Do not let our possible enemies know we're against them.

If at all possible, don't kill Princess Nexauvia, but if you need to protect your identity by killing her allies, go ahead and do so. Once Order 13 is established, I will order Shadow Squad to stand down or kill the Princess. And, I know your face is still tender from the Flames spell you took from that shadowwraith. I know you have a score to settle with her, and if you get the chance to kill her, I know you'll take it. As long as it doesn't interfere with our mission, go right ahead. If Order 13 is established before you can get a chance to kill her, then you will have to accept it. As it stands, this shadowwraith is working with the traitorous princess and is therefore a valid assassination target. If you kill her after it is revealed that the princess is the one in the right… I cannot stop the princess from passing judgment on you.

Be well, daughter…

…

Three days… I spent three days lying in a medic ward, in a magic circle, trying to recover my face from Nakuma's little fire display. All I remember from our fight was me coming out of the shadows to attack her. She was with my boyfriend, trying to chat him up… trying to take him away from me. I always hated her, but now… now I wanted to kill her. But first I wanted to make her hurt, make her cry. Make her see that she'll never be as good as me, never have Ram-ku like I do. Humiliating her in front of him was worth a little scarring on my face. My scales are purple, my feathers are orange. What's a little black char in the right eye area? It just makes me look even more threatening, and in my field, that makes me a better assassin. Lower someone's guard and then use that scar to get them to pause. When they're stunned with the question of how you got your scar, kill them.

Nakuma. I tried to kill her for flirting with my boyfriend, and she did it on numerous accounts, all with me trying to get her to leave him alone too. The worst part was… he didn't even try to fight her off, tell her that he was with me. So, when that moment came and Order 13 was enacted… when Princess Nexa and her comrades became possible enemies of Argonia… possible assassination targets… I knew I was in the gold. And Ram-ku knew it. He tried to warn Nakuma, tell her that she needed to join us… because he knew I would kill her if I found her. He was faster than me, always faster than me. My boyfriend would rather defend a little Shadow pusher than his own girlfriend. Some loyalty. He had to love her. I had to kill her. It's that simple. Get rid of his new affection and he would have no choice but to stay with me. It didn't work out.

I stabbed Nakuma, after making her eat her own affection for Ram-ku. Kissing him in front of her, watching her very soul shatter in front of me, all that pain she felt for him… it was satisfying. It did not change the fact that Ram-ku was still trying to send her away, to keep her away from my blades. I didn't give Ram-ku a chance to save her. I ran right in and stabbed her before he could even stop me. I ran several blades everywhere important, all with the intent that she would slowly watch me make out with Ram-ku, while Ram-ku had to watch her wither away. He would also have to accept her death. If he tried to stop her, tried to save her… by even pulling out one knife, her life would simply vanish. Pull out the knife, and all that blood would just come flying out. And stain Ram-ku for the rest of his life. It was a perfect revenge on both of them. It didn't work.

Nakuma… our little mage… our fucking little mage… made a mockery of my assassination. She pushed out the knives with a flick of her wrist. And when I charged her to kill her completely… she blasted me with a fireball. No warm up, no charge… nothing. Just wham… right in the eye. Blinded me in pain. I crawled around the floor, feeling around for a dagger, something I could kill her with; my face burning like I dipped it in lava or something. I found a puddle of blood instead. Shoved my head right in, cooled off the burning in my face. I couldn't see out of my eye, but that didn't bother me. What did bother me was that she was covered in her own flames, glaring at me with eyes that gleamed with murderous intent. I never saw that look except on my mother's face when she tried to kill my father.

And with Ram-ku just standing there like a moron… I knew I had lost this round. Nakuma wasn't joking around when she said she could pull me apart particle from particle. I was a fool for even giving her a chance to prepare herself, a chance to do something to bring her body back from the edge of destruction. And… Nakuma just let me go, she let me live. I would never forget that. I would kill her, but next time, I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of preparing for it, no epic speech while she bled to death. I would just run in and… kill her. It didn't work. I had my moment just a second ago. I had just been released from the medical ward with Ram-ku for my third checkup. And… I saw her.

There were alarms blazing, reports of Hist attacking the city, shadowwraiths engaging shadowscales. All-out war. And so… I rushed through the hallways with my squad to see what we could do to help kill the shadowwraiths. Why not? And as soon as I rounded the corner, I saw her. She was carrying a baby, a perfect target. And Ram-ku was behind me, right where he couldn't see her. He broke up with me after my killing spree on Nakuma's body, claiming that I had no right to kill her, no right to break her heart the way I did… I had every right. I couldn't get him to see that, and he didn't want to stay with me. And if he saw Nakuma… he might try to defend her. I had to kill her before he could stop me. So… I rushed up to her, tried to kill her before someone interfered. It didn't work.

As I brought my dagger down on her throat, a hand appeared on my wrist. Out of nowhere… seriously, nowhere, a light green-scaled girl comes out of nowhere. "You will not hurt my friend…" The quiet Argonian said as she slashed at me with a serrated katana, the signature sword of the Shadow Corps. She must have been a shadowscale then. Looking at her armor, it looked fresh, not even worn in yet. So… she was a new recruit. Eh, so was I a few months ago. Let's see how much I've learned in the short time I've been a shadowscale. Not to mention, I was specifically trained for the Shadow Squad. She probably was picked up after her first battle. How tough could she possibly be?

I looked over to Nakuma. She looked lost and confused, just like the little idiot she was. I couldn't just let her live. I had to kill her, but… I looked at the green-scale standing in my way with her sword. I had to get rid of her first. I hissed to her as I brought my daggers up. She was just a newbie. Time to put her in her place. As soon as I slashed at her, the girl disappeared into a shadowport, covering my eyes with a cloud of Shadow mist. The sight in my right eye was blurred and I couldn't make out definite shapes with it, so when it came to fighting in Shadow… I have trouble. And with a face full of it, I couldn't see anything on my right side, let alone anything else clearly.

"Get out of here!" Someone screamed. It was then that I noticed two more shadowscales had jumped into the fight, all trying their best to distract me. Vistha and Ram-ku were jumping into the fight now as well, and everyone was shadowporting every which way. And… it was doing nothing but limiting my ability to see what was going on. Somewhere on my back right shoulder plate, I felt a katana land on me, pushing me down like someone had just slashed me. I spun in contact with it, slashing with a dagger. I met only more black mist. Two more scores on the back of my back plate.

I hissed, turning around. I slashed with all I had, and then… focused really hard on vanishing into a portal of my own. I jumped through the Shadows, vanishing into my own portal. When I jumped out, I saw nothing but more smoke. I hopped again. I popped out, bumping into a brown-scale with bright blue feathers. She must be another shadowscale working for Nexa. Time to kill her too.

The girl looked over at me, scoffing. "Um… excuse you." She vanished into a shadowport. Dammit! I can't kill anyone today. Two scores of slashes on the back of my legs, hitting me perfectly on the plates.

I snapped around, trying to kick her. My foot only ended up hitting mist. More mist. "Come on! Afraid of me?"

"No…" Her voice whispered into my right ear hole. I snapped my hand out, only hitting a condensed mist.

"Fight me!" I screamed to her. Her response was a fist contacting with my left cheek. I saw her appear out of nowhere, only to sock me in the face, and then vanish into a shadowport. Two could play at that game. I just needed to calm down. I'm the daughter of two Black Reapers. I can't just be beaten by some nobody. Some girl straight out of the academy. I had special training to join the Shadow Squad… and even when I came home during the weekends, I got even more training from my mother. I knew so many things about fighting that I couldn't be beaten by some… some… I don't even know who she is.

So… I recalled what my mother told me so many times when fighting a shadowscale. She had to kill defectors all the time and she said they all do the same thing… they use shadowports to create illusions and make you angry so that they can kill you easier. That's what this girl was doing. I could hear her popping in and out of her portals, slashing at my armor plates with minimal contact. She was doing it on purpose, trying to lure me out of my guard. I just had to wait for my moment to strike. My moment to do what I do. Mom always taught me to shift my body. As soon as I heard the mist open up… shift my body towards the sound. If they're too close, they'll slam into my body, if they're too far, it will help close the distance to them. It's a crappy strategy, one that could get me closer to my own death, but… it's the only one I had right now. I'm not Mom; I can't just… kill shadowscales as effortlessly as she could.

So… I waited. I listened. I felt more and more slaps on my armor as this girl popped in and out of her mists. My right eye was useless so… I closed it. It was only a distraction anyway. A slap on my left plate; a step into shadows. A slap on my right leg; a step into shadows. Up next was… I snapped my right fist straight out, happy when it met something full force. The girl appeared out of the Shadows just long enough to meet my fist. As quickly as she took my hit, she jumped right back into the shadows. I know I got a good hit on her, but now… time to finish her. From where though? My left side. I stuck my dagger out, slamming it right out. And… someone appeared right in it. It wasn't the girl. It was Ram-ku. I got him right in the ribs.

All the fighting stopped. The shadowports all ceased, and Ram-ku just stood there wide-eyed and looking down at the thing sticking in his ribs. He looked up at me as if he was asking me why. I – I couldn't move. I couldn't believe that I had just done that. The girl jumped out of a shadowport on my right side, which would have made her appear right in front of me. Her nose was bleeding. She looked from me over to Ram-ku. She looked back at me, flipping her black feathers off her shoulder. "You should treat his wounds."

Vistha growled at seeing Ram-ku bleeding. "I'll kill you!" He roared as he started fighting the shadowscales again.

I decided to go the same route. That girl tricked me into stabbing my own. I pulled my knife out, turning to fight her. "You'll pay for that!" I screamed at her as I slashed at her. She stood there patiently for me, not even vanishing into a shadowport like I expected her to. I never got to finish my slash though. Someone grabbed onto my hand, pulling me away from her.

I snapped my head around to see Mom standing right over me, holding me back. Shadowmasters Julanza and Yuvenni were holding the other shadowscales, all of them were knocked out and in their arms.

"Mom?" I asked as she let go of my arm.

She nodded a welcome to me. "Order 13 has been established. Princess Nexauvia is in the right. Now, we have to help kill the imposters." So… the only time I had to find and kill Nakuma had passed then. She was no longer a traitor and killing her would only make me a rogue shadowscale. Dammit! I looked over at Ram-ku. He was falling to the ground, grabbing his side in pain. Oh, crap! I forgot I just stabbed him!

I tore my hand out of Mom's hand and bent down to help Ram-ku. "Ram!" I looked at the blood gushing out of his wound. I couldn't stand to see him like this. He… I… I remember when I first met him. Selected for the Shadow Squad Initiative, we were some of the top students. We worked together on a lot of stuff. He taught me how to run faster, I taught him now to successfully tap into a Hist's vein to draw in the strongest sap for our healing potions. I really liked him, even fell for him during our midterm exam, when he tripped and landed on Vistha, pulling down his pants during our five mile run. It amused me to no end. Vistha had to run the whole thing with no pants. Sure, it was on accident, but it was funny enough to get me to notice him. Ever since then, I've been trying to get closer to him. We did get closer. We did start dating during the second half of our training. Made it easier. Vistha only became angrier after he was humiliated during his exam.

Seeing him cheat on me with Nakuma was the last straw. Spending more time with her, trying to get her attention, and seeing how much she liked him. I had to kill her. I just had to. And now… I couldn't. And to make it worse, I stabbed the first boy I liked. Sure, he broke up with me, but I still like him. And now… looking into his eyes focused on me… I don't think he'll ever forgive me for this. I started this fight, I pursued it… and now… he's here, a hole in his ribs, from a stab that I delivered. He wouldn't forget this, he wouldn't forgive this… and even knowing all that, knowing that if I saved him that he would leave me for good, find Nakuma, and possibly be with her instead… I had to save him. I had to.

I turned to my belt of potions and poisons. I was an alchemist; I made every potion we took with us into battle. I specialized in poisons, but there are some potions here as well. Some poisons can help clog arteries to make people die with blood clots years from now. A little drip of that on his wound and it would seal up. I always had a bottle of sap too. As I struggled to look through my pouch with my trembling fingers, I couldn't focus enough to get what I was looking for. And Ram-ku was coughing up blood, his eyes fading away. I couldn't just sit here and watch this.

"Help." I asked anyone.

That girl with the long black feathers shouldered past me with a bottle of hist sap. She handed it to me, nodding. "Here." I could see the look in her eyes. She knew what I was going through. She might say a lot with her mouth, but her eyes looked distant and thoughtful. I wonder if she had to watch someone she liked die? I couldn't focus on that now. I nodded her thanks as I took the bottle. I quickly popped the top and shoved it into Ram-ku's mouth.

"Drink it, dammit!" I growled to him. "Drink it and fucking live!"

Ram-ku started swallowing the sap. It was slow but… he started to relax. His body stopped fidgeting, his eyes glazed over, finally closing. His arms became lifeless. And… he didn't move. He didn't breathe. I think I just watched him die right in front of me. I continued to sit there, waiting for him to jolt awake, to look at me, grab onto my hands, whisper sweet nothings to me, thanking me for saving him or something like that. But… it never happened. He just sat there. And I sat there. And the girl I was fighting sat next to me. Mom and the shadowmasters stood behind me.

Mom finally placed a hand on my shoulder. "We need to go find the princess. Protect her."

"Go… I'll stay here… wait for help." I found myself saying to Mom. I looked at the girl. "Go find a white robe, will you?" She nodded and stood up, disappearing into a shadowport.

Mom and the others took off down the hallway, leaving me alone with a hallway full of unconscious shadowscales and a possibly dead Ram-ku. I was so done with all of this. All this time, I was trying to kill Nakuma, and it only ended with this crap. I was so done with it. So… I sighed as I sat next to him. I took the hand clutching his bloody rib and placed it over my shoulder. I snuggled myself next to him, placing my head against his. "So…" I said to him. This was possibly the last time I could do this. Might as well make this worth it then. Make it last as long as possible. Make it memorable.

I reached into my pouch of poisons. So many different options. So many different ways to go out. Which one should I use? I reached for a bottle of branz thorns extract. This would give me the time I needed to reflect on my sins. This poison would give me about two minutes to face my worst fears, make me see what I truly feared. Perhaps I deserved this. This would be my punishment. My redemption. I popped the lid off and brought the poison to my lips.

"I need your help…" The shadowwraith Oleeme appeared over a corner. He looked pretty concerned. Wasn't he one of those husk things? Can he even be concerned?

I brought the bottle of poison down. "With what?"

"Nakuma. She needs carried to a medical ward… and I can't carry her at the moment. She's in critical condition. If we don't do something soon, she'll die."

Nakuma, you say? She might die? Huh… I looked at the bottle of branz thorns. Should I?

…

[Nexa]

I learned a lot talking to grandmother. How Shadow first come to be, and how the first wraith had been born into this world. The only problem was… she didn't do anything else. She just ended our little vision with her standing over me. "You need to get up. Fight Zeelius and kill him."

"Ok…" I wanted to hear if she had any advice or something that would help me at all. "How?"

"Your father has one fault, one weakness. If you think about it, you'll figure it out." She started to fade away before I could ask what that was. And before I knew it, I was awake.

People were trying to keep Dad from killing me, and I knew that I would need to do this myself. I had to prove to myself that I could be Queen of Shadows. I deserved the right to fight my father to the death. Some shadowmaster tried to stop me, and… I somehow used Shadow to pause her knife from hitting me. Huh… that was weird. Perhaps spending some time with Grandma did something to me, made me stronger or something. So… I had to find out. Who would win in a fight? Me or Dad?

"He's mine." I repeated to everyone standing around me. Looking at him as he stood there, I could see the flames of Shadow pouring off him. He hated training with Shadow. He wasn't like Uncle Julanza. Uncle Julanza preferred to fight with his Shadow, did it all the time. Dad preferred to train with his swords and daggers, trying to find ways to use Shadow to help him move quicker or have a deadlier edge to his attacks. It worked, actually. That was one reason he was able to reach me the way he was.

I looked down at the arm that I had just reattached before passing out. I couldn't even see the line where the sword passed through anymore. It was fully healed. I could even bend my fingers and feel it. Good. I might need it. I looked back up at Dad. "So…"

Next thing I knew, I was being grabbed by my face and lifted off the ground. Dad tossed into the air, slamming me hard with his tail. Before I could fly away, he snatched me by my leg and started swinging me around, slamming me into the dirt. It hurt… it really hurt. I instinctively surrounded myself with Shadow, trying my best to hold onto its protection. I tried my best to shadowport, but the constant swinging was putting me off. Oh wait… I can do other things than just Shadow. Duh! And… and… Dad can't! That's right! He only knows Shadow, not magicka!

I focused on summoning a Flame Cloak to my body. My body quickly erupted into flames, forcing my dad to let go of me. I was mid-swing so I ended up flying across the neatly trimmed grass near the Mages table. I managed to hit soft enough that I could roll up onto my feet without too much trouble. As soon as I managed to get myself up on my feet, Dad was right in front of me, sword's edge passing right along in front of my eyes. I quickly vanished into a shadowport, popping out a few feet ahead. Dad was also gone. But… where?

"Behind you." He growled out. Before I could respond, I felt him grab me by both of my arms, pinning me. "Can't shadowport when someone is putting pressure on you, right?" Well, that's not entirely true. I just take them with me. So, I decided to Shadowport. I can't leave the city, but I know one place I can go. And just like that, we were gone in a puff of shadows.

Popping up blind is scary. Popping up in a blind room is scarier. When I managed to transport us to the darkened room, Dad was quick to release me. "Where are we?" I quickly kicked him away, using my magicka to fuel some night vision. I scrambled away from him. He smirked as he tried to shadowport, but found himself incapable of doing so. "What?" His voice echoed. "What's going on?" The way his voice bounced off the rounded walls of the massive room, there was no way I could pinpoint where he was. I could see him just fine, but that meant I could answer without him being able to find me. "Where are we?"

"The Soul Chamber." I replied loud enough to make my voice echo from every rounded corner of the room. "The final testing place of all Shadowwraiths. You wanted to send me here, but Uncle Julanza said I wouldn't be ready. That… I couldn't hope to survive. He was afraid I would become a husk, because of Mother's death. You shoved me in here anyway. You had them test me at full strength. I almost shattered, I was almost broken. But… Uncle Julanza helped me. Took me to the Rainbow Forest, helped heal me with the Rainbow Sap. It helped me recover, helped me stray away from being a husk. I never forgot that, Dad. How you tried to make me into your little puppet. And now… it's time we have a little 'talk'." I used my magicka to activate the Soul Chamber. The room quickly turned bright white, illuminating both Dad and me to each other. He was lost as he looked around at the endless white surroundings.

Dad looked over at me, bringing his katana up. "If I kill you, I get to leave right?"

"Not exactly." I replied. I forced my heart open, forcing my emotions to flood over me. And just like that, the room turned a bright pink, purple, and orange. And then it turned red. As if turning on a switch, the room quickly turned into a massive wailing screeching vibration that pulsed right through me. I could feel all my pain intensified by a hundred. It hurt, it made my head spin, but it was necessary. This was the only way I was ever going to beat him. I've lived through this pain, but my father hasn't. "Do you feel that, Dad? That's all you! That's everything you've ever given me!"

Dad smirked as he was berated by my waves of emotion. "Cute… want to know a secret?" He frowned and then the room shifted an even darker shade of red. And it crashed down on top of me… and horrifying mind-shattering noise that burned right through me. His emotions hit me like a siege cannon, knocking me off my feet and into the ground. The pure unbridled emotion continued to slam down on me as Dad slowly walked over to me. At least, I think he was. The room was doing everything it could to push me down, to destroy me. I could see images of Dad holding onto Mom's corpse, crying into shoulder as he wished her a safe journey to the marshlands. All the pain… all the grief. Seeing his own father die at the hands of a Sengar, all the hatred he had for them. And it was pounding into my head. Everything my father ever felt.

I looked up at him as he bent down to talk to me. "You don't know what true pain is. Allow me to teach you." And more and more pain flowed through me from him. It was becoming so much that I didn't know how much more I could take. Images of seeing me in his arms, growing up. The happiness he got from it replaced with images of Mom not being here to see me grow up. Knowing that one day I would take his place, and leave the capital to find my own way. Everything… fear… anger… love. It all meshed into one solid emotion I did not have a name for. Things I've felt around Vatu, around my squadmates, but never as strong as it was now. The emotion of parenthood. And it was pushing down into me, forcing me to accept it for what it was. And it was killing me.

"Make it stop!" I screeched out. Not my proudest moment, but I couldn't take it anymore. Dad had won. This was my final strategy… my final play to beat him. And he won… again!

Dad laughed as he walked around me. "Where's all that bravado? All that… 'I'm going to kill you for my crappy childhood, father'? You could never stand up to me, daughter. You were always soft, always weak. You've proven it again, and again. I give you ample opportunities to kill me, to prove to me that you are worthy of being the next Queen of Shadows. And yet… your last play, your last resort, and you can't even get me to blink? So pitiful." He kicked me in the stomach, forcing more waves of pure anger to crash into me. But… it was more than just anger… was it… that weird combo emotion again? What else is in it? I can't tell anymore, it just hurts. "Couldn't kill the Khajiit, a blood-rager. Instead you loved it… Couldn't kill me when you had the chance, when we were in the dark. You had to show something to me, like a child!" He kicked me again. "Grow up, Nexa! Everyone has a past, everyone has issues!" He continued to kick me. "Never think that your pain outweighs another's!" Another kick. "When Neria died, it killed me! When I was left with you… it killed me. You were the only part of her I had left. Seeing you grow up into the woman you've become… it hurts. It hurts me to know that it's up to you now. My time has come and gone…"

My dad shrugged. The pain of his emotion was starting to cool off, giving me some breathing room. "Assassinated in my own war room, by a treacherous elf. Dominated and reincarnated by some stupid Altmer. And for what? Some plot of land? Some marshes?" He walked away from me, his cape flapping behind him. "Mother was right… all this stupid conquest. All I've brought was pain. Neria's death was my fault, and I knew it. I pressed the attack on Elsweyr, even when Mother wanted to begin bringing our troops back. Thought she had seen enough death, but I wanted revenge for my dad. And… in doing so… I invited more of those Sengars to our doorstep. It's my fault Neria died…"

More waves of grief crashed down through me, pushing me back down to the floor. I had just gotten up to my feet too. The room spun around me, making me regret this decision. This… this was my dumbest plan ever. I didn't think an empty shell like my dad could feel real emotions, I thought I could just use mine to overwhelm him, maybe even get some closure from his fake copy. Turns out, I was wrong.

"Fake copy?" Dad looked back at me. "You really think a Frazviani can be copied? No…" He shook his head. "That poison kept me in a state of unconsciousness, lingering between life and death. Nrillia planted that pseudo-soul inside me, and I locked my soul behind a wall of Shadow to keep her from knowing the truth about me… but I was never dead. I've been here the whole time, just waiting, biding my time."

"For what?" I asked in-between breaths.

He waved his hands around the space. "For this!" More and more waves of intense emotions crashed down on me. Excitement, relief, grief, and that weird parenthood emotion again. "Our resolution, dear daughter. Our final confrontation. Your crowning achievement…" He smiled at me. "The true battle between daughter and father." He laughed as he walked around me. "I knew you would return to kill me. I just had to be patient. But this…" He waved his hand around the Soul Chamber. "was a mistake. You shouldn't have brought me here. Using emotions to fight me, Nexa? What… are you a bard now?"

I tried very hard to push his emotions out of me… all the images of me growing up, being with Mom… all of it. I had to push him out. So, I took a few breaths, tried to focus on my own emotions, on my own memories. Memories of Dad pushing me out of his life, throwing me into the arms of the servants, to the hands of Uncle Julanza. All that resentment I had for him leaving me. I pushed those out into the space, hoping I could use them to distract Dad. The powerful emotion surrounding me started to loosen and I took this time to push myself up onto my feet.

As I started to fight through his pain, I felt a new emotion slam down on top of me. The image of seeing me stand up against all I was fighting was creating a new emotion, one of pride, astonishment. And it was hitting me hard. I coughed up some blood as I almost fell down to my knees, but… I refused to buckle. And that emotion helped echo through the room, blasting my dad back a few inches. There, take that! More pride slammed into me, almost throwing me off my feet. I resisted the urge to throw up and drew my sword.

Wave after wave of pride slammed into me as I marched up to Dad. I could see images of myself learning how to walk, learning how to use Shadow, any other form of magicka… learning how to speak. Images of my whole life flashed before my eyes, every second my dad could think of. And while he did that, I sent him emotions of my hatred for him, the moments where he neglected me, beat me, and forced me to train in low-survivability scenarios… being locked up in prison for those three weeks while being threatened with death. I used those to keep him pinned, while he tried to hit me back with his apparent 'pride' in me.

When I got close enough to hit him, I gave him one final emotion… love. Love for Vatu. I showed him everything I loved about that cat, forcing him to witness my love firsthand. It hit him pretty hard. And with that, I shoved the katana right into his chest. It went through to the other side. I knew I hit his heart. I left the katana in there and reached for my knife. I had to cut off his head to finish this off. After I grabbed the knife, I brought it to Dad's throat. "Any last thoughts you want to share with me?" I asked him.

One last image appeared in my head. Dad… forcing me to train for the sake of my survival. Fear that I would end up like Mom, fear that I wouldn't be able to protect myself from any who would wish to kill me. Fear that he would fail as a father, as a protector. And… with knowledge of me growing up to resent him for it, he accepted the fate of his daughter hating him for the knowledge that his daughter would one day be able to take care of herself. Pride that I was able to stand up to him, love someone as intensely as I do… and never gave an inch to someone she could never hope to beat.

"I love you, Nexa." Dad whispered to me, tears rolling down his cheek.

"Yeah, you too, Dad." I slid the knife through his throat, grabbing onto the back of his head and making sure I ran the knife all the way through. After I cut his head off, I silently wondered if I had to kill him at all. He wasn't a corpse being run by Nrillia, he was just my old man. But still… did I do the right thing? I got what I wanted… resolution with my dad. So… why did I feel like shit?

I dropped his head and started walking for the door. I knew where it was. The walk to the chamber door was filled with my emotion of regret. Regret that I pulled the knife through his throat. I may have hated him, and he was serious about killing me, but… I did what I knew I needed to do. But, that was only because I thought he was dead and reincarnated. I did not know he was alive the whole time, pretending to be a slave of Nrillia. It was in this moment, in this room, that I learned he was real. I should have stopped the fight, urged him to come back with me. But… he continued to fight me. He knew I was going to kill him the whole time, and he knew how this fight was going to end. He… oh fuck it.

I reached the door and pushed it open. As soon as I opened it, Shadowmaster Yuvenni rushed in. "We tracked you back to this room, Queen Nexauvia. Are you ok?" She walked around me, taking in my injuries. "Bruised ribs, some minor bleeding in the nose and ear holes, but you seem in one piece."

I nodded. "Yeah… I'm fine. Just… you know, taking care of my dad." I let myself sigh. "So… what happens now?"

Uncle Julanza walked into the door. "Now, you need to rest. I'll take care of the cleanup." Rest? I'm so ready for that. I can't forget about tomorrow though. I get to hang out with Vatu.

Cearbhail:

So... that happened. yeah, a lot of stuff happened. Nexa having a bardic battle against her father, well... trying to anyway. Meesei almost committing suicide to die alongside Ram-ku. And then getting an opportunity to finally kill Nakuma... and then probably herself as well. I guess we'll find out next chapter. Oh, and after this story is complete, I probably have three new story premiers. Not sure yet. At least one, but it will be low priority. The other... not so much. the third is still kind of a beta in my head. I'll get to it eventually.