For All the Riches
Part II – A Vexing Task
So fucking beautiful.
Another one for the collection.
She was broke. Would Brynjolf just give her money from the vault? They had a shitload of money there now. But he seemed adamant about keeping it there and having them earn all of their drakes on their own. She understood. Kinda agreed, sure. They needed something for emergencies or for fun parties for everyone, not to give coin to every sorry broke ass in their midst. But still, when it came to her, she did regret that agreement.
But she knew what he would say.
'Vex, why the fuck do you pay so much for these? You don't even have a buyer!'
She didn't want a buyer. She wanted the gems. All of them. She had done her research. Sure, buying these gems was expensive – she needed to offer a good enough price for them so that people wouldn't sell them elsewhere, or so that merchants would still find it profitable to sell them to her after having some unknowing adventurer pawn them off on them. Maul spread the word effortlessly. All of Riften and many traveling adventurers and merchants knew where to haul these gems. She took them all.
The Stones of Barenziah.
Only she knew what they were really for.
She wasn't sure if she believed all the legends – that the Crown of Barenziah was supposed to bring anyone owning it great wealth. How would a crown do that? Vex had enough talks of luck and wealth and protection from some otherworldly sources. It was all bullshit.
What she wanted was the artifact itself. The crown given to the first Queen of Morrowind a whole Era ago, with huge red gems embedded in a large golden construction. She couldn't even appraise what such a thing assembled would be worth. But she wasn't even sure if she was willing to sell it. It was a symbol. It was a challenge. She would be a legend in the underworld, or at least in the Guild.
Besides, it must have been so beautiful. The gems alone were gorgeous and she already bought so many of them. She even found two herself. And she received one covertly from the Blue Palace of all places. She wasn't sure who sent it to her, but she liked to imagine that the High Queen herself had her people ask about the strange gem until they came across Maul's contacts who directed them to the 'collector'. Vex had no idea why a queen would want the reward money, or if she would even want to part with something so rare, but she still liked to think it was her. More likely though, a servant stole the gem and learned where to sell it for the highest price.
Five hundred drakes for each gem. Very often Vex spent all her money on the purchases. Sometimes she had to borrow it from other Guild-mates, or she had to win it in the card games.
The legends said there were twenty-four of these gems. Vex had been collecting them for ages and now she had twenty of them. Almost there. A Nord thief was said to have stolen the crown and picked out the gems, scattering them across the Province to cover his tracks. Clever tactic, though it would render the crown mostly useless. Well… maybe some collectors would still buy it, but clearly nobody managed to assemble a full set. At one point, Vex received three at once – possibly stolen from someone who tried to assemble it as well. That haul set her back so much. She had to beg Mercer to borrow some money from the vault. That was annoying. And it was even more annoying now, remembering that he had been stealing from the vault for ages.
Whatever. She had all these gems now. Only four more.
A knock on the door interrupted her contemplation. She closed the small golden box the glowing gem was in carefully and she put it aside. She hoped it wasn't more busywork about preserving their network. Rebuilding the Guild after that whole mess with Karliah and Mercer was exhausting. Vex would much rather concentrate on her own hunt for treasures, but she was called to action often. Brynjolf was intent on establishing good contacts in all the Holds with the most powerful people in them. Those needed to test the Guild's loyalty and abilities. And while the others were running around, establishing smaller contacts and making it clear that people who did not do business with the Guild could very easily become their target, she was entrusted with the most important jobs.
She was the best of them after all. The best thief and capable of handling herself better than most in combat to boot. The only ones that rivaled her in that area were the former Thorn's bandits now. They had disturbingly good combat training. Dirge used to be better than everyone in battle but… he was dead now. She didn't even know who killed him that day Mercer died. She didn't like to remember that day. So many friends dead.
Sure, the work was exciting. She snuck into Dragonsreach to save a man from imprisonment to gain the favor of the Battle-Borns. She even stole from a bandit clan, one that moved into Pinewatch after Thorn's men were wiped out there, to placate the Silver-Bloods. But something was always pulling her to the Crown instead. She had feelers out everywhere – for the gems, for the Crown itself, but it was slow going. And the other jobs did tend to annoy her a little while she waited for her big one. To build her legacy.
"Come in," she called out when the gem was put away.
The door to her chambers opened and Delvin walked in, holding a small wrapped package in his hand. He had a weirdly eager smile on his face.
"Hey, Vex. I brought you something." He walked over to the table she was sitting by and his eyes roamed over the golden boxes scattered there.
"What is it?" Vex pried. "You got me a gift?" She had never really gotten a gift before. Ever, as far as she remembered.
"Not exactly. My friends did."
Wait, what the fuck?
"Seriously, Delvin, are you bribing me now? I don't think it's a good idea to cooperate with them and you're not changing my mind. We have that rule for a fucking reason," she snarled.
They'd discussed this! Delvin kept suggesting that his 'friends' in the Brotherhood could provide good contacts, sometimes even help them with some stuff and the Guild would do the same – provide information to the assassins or provide access to some hard-to-reach places. She didn't like it and neither did Brynjolf. But Delvin kept harping on how good of an idea it was. What if the assassins' target was one of their associates? What if it was one of their members? Would they start to sell out their own just for their 'alliance'? This would lead to nothing good.
"It's just a gift, Vex," Delvin chuckled at her.
"A 'gift'? And what do they want in return?" Vex scoffed. There was definitely a catch.
"Nothing. That's how gifts work," he winked. "It's not a big deal, Vex. It doesn't mean anything. They just had this and I mentioned you would… appreciate it."
That was fucking fishy! She didn't want anything from the Brotherhood!
But before she could protest, Delvin unwrapped the package, revealing the small gold box inside, identical to the ones on her table.
Another one!
"See? Knew you'd like it," Delvin smirked when he saw her expression.
Fuck. She did. She hated that it was from the Brotherhood, but… she needed it. But she didn't need to owe anything to them.
"I'll get the money on my next job and you can pay them, like I pay everyone else," she nodded resolutely.
"Don't be daft, Vex. They don't want the money. Come on, just keep it and I promise it won't come up again."
Fuck. She wasn't sure she believed him. He was really pushing for this fucked up alliance.
But these gems had such a hold on her.
She could never resist. One step closer to her collection being complete.
…
A few months went by and the Guild was building more of a reputation everywhere. No longer as those people terrorizing merchants and businessmen, but those that worked with them, supplying them with black market goods, smuggling for them, stealing for them, while they got considerable cut and a lot of goodwill.
Everyone was pitching in. Even Raven, despite his claims that he was done with all this, often helped them out, especially since he had gotten the perfect house for smuggling from the Dragonborn.
But through the successes, Vex was still preoccupied. This was good. Their repaired reputation did help her in her own search and she managed to get further in the short span of time than she had hoped.
One gem left. It was unbelievable. And what was more, her feelers paid off.
She knew where the Crown might be.
Maul's contacts did a lot of digging. Apparently there were caravans delivering memorabilia from Morrowind that got stolen or scattered around Tamriel. One such caravan was leaving Skyrim, but it was ambushed by bandits – no survivors. Vex was a little perplexed as to how anyone would know that when they all died, but apparently, the bandits took their haul to a nearby cave to sort through it. One bandit came out, empty handed, seeking shelter at Shor's stone. He fessed up to everything and talked about some horrible monsters of the deep that almost killed him and killed everyone else. He was arrested and taken to the Riften prison and Maul's contacts collected the information from him. The rest Vex filled in herself by contacting the people in Shor's Stone. They were all working and mining for the Guild after all.
Maul reported that the bandit claimed there were a lot of gold and valuable-looking items in the loot. And when Maul asked about the Crown specifically, the bandit did say he saw something looking a bit like that.
This was likely it.
Now Vex only needed to go and find the cave and deal with those 'monsters of the deep'.
If only she wasn't called elsewhere.
She was so pissed about that. She couldn't wait. Granted, she had waited for a long time, but she didn't want to wait any longer when she didn't have to. She was so eager to see the Crown.
She just hoped that Brynjolf would understand.
She knocked on the door to his room, and when a muffled 'come in' rang from the other side, she entered.
"Vex. Need to know anything else before you head to Solitude?" Brynjolf was sitting by his table, counting some drakes. He had a lot of pouches there.
Crap. No. No Solitude.
"Actually, Bryn, I just got some news," she sighed. "I know where the Crown of Barenziah might be and… I need to go check it out. See if I can find it."
"That's… good," Brynjolf nodded slowly. "Wait, what do you mean? Right now?"
"Yeah… kind of." She couldn't explain it. She worried that suddenly someone would beat her to the punch. That was very unlikely, given how difficult it was to get this information in the first place but… shit happened. What if Maul gave the information to someone else too? What if more people were still looking for it, like those collectors who had that caravan coming? And… she just couldn't concentrate on anything else. Years of work went into this and now it was all within reach.
"Vex, you promised you'd go to Solitude," Brynjolf scowled at her. "We need to get Thane Bryling on our side. It's our best chance to operate in Solitude more safely and profitably, you know that."
"I know Bryn but… I need to get the Crown while I can. I've spent so much time on this," she gritted her teeth.
"On what? You don't even know how much this is worth or if anyone will be able to buy it. It might be too hot. Vex, we'll figure this shit out after you return from Solitude, I'll get some reliable buyers for you in the meantime, I promise," he smiled at her reassuringly.
"I don't wanna sell it!" she shook her head. Well… apparently she had decided. It was an instant reaction.
"What? Vex… what the fuck is it about that thing?" he sighed in palpable exasperation. "You're getting obsessed."
"No shit! I've been looking for this for years, Bryn," she huffed. "I… I need to see it through. I don't know what I'll do with it, but… I spent so much money on it and I want it."
There was silence for a while, but eventually Brynjolf only sighed. This time in resignation.
"I fucking hope the Solitude mission will go well without you. It's important," he growled.
"I'm sorry, Bryn. You know, maybe Sapphire could…" She would take up that mission. A lot of people shied away from this important shit in fear of fucking up, but if Vex asked her to, Sapphire would agree.
"I need someone subtle. Sapphire is anything but," Brynjolf shook his head. That was a fair point. "I'll… I'll handle it. Just… do your thing. And be careful. I'd be really pissed if something happened to you because of this."
"Why do you assume it's dangerous?" Vex chuckled a bit. It probably was, with those 'monsters of the deep' there. But how would Bryn know?
"The way you're rushing," he smirked. "And I don't know shit about this thing, Vex, not about your info. I don't like having you guys stealing out there without contingency plans."
His concern was touching. He was always like that – he made sure to find out everything about every mission, just so people wouldn't be caught off guard and hurt or busted.
"It's not even a theft. Just… looting. I'll be fine," she reassured him. Telling him now about the dangers would not be too smart. He might change his mind.
"Alright. Still, watch your back out there," he mumbled, clearly still a little peeved. Or maybe more worried.
Vex merely nodded at him before she turned on her heel. As she walked out of the room, she only added one more reassurance for him.
"Always do."
…
This was the place.
Tolvald's Cave. The miners in Shor's Stone called it that. Vex stopped in the village to get more information face-to-face before she would head out. The least she could do for Brynjolf, and herself, was to actually be careful.
It looked like any other cave. Vex didn't get inside caves much though. She was more of a city girl. She never liked staying in the wilderness and camping out on the road or hiding in caves. She preferred taking a carriage to her destinations or sometimes she stole a horse when she needed a quick getaway. That only happened twice though. She rarely got caught.
Still, here she was. In a cave. Like some… adventurer. The sacrifices she made for the Crown, really…
The place smelled of rot and death. That wasn't a great sign. She did come prepared, dressed in her reinforced armor and with her two daggers ready, coated with quick-acting poison, and her bow on her back.
The bandits couldn't have gotten that far in, right? The Crown was just gonna be near the entrance and she would likely not even encounter whatever monsters were here.
And if not, well… she was good in a fight.
The bandits were probably not very experienced. People that called things 'monsters from the deep' were usually not very familiar with fighting monsters in general – it sounded more like something terrified villagers would say. Maybe they were some upstart bandits getting lucky. Granted though, Vex didn't have much experience with monsters either.
But she fought lots of people before. Mostly not intentionally, but she could hold her own.
The cave seemed empty, but the smell was disturbing. Something definitely died here. But she already knew that. There were plenty of glowing mushrooms illuminating the dark halls, but she saw no sign of anything for a good while. It was just empty halls, weaving deeper underground.
Until she noticed something on the ground.
It was a trail of blood, smudged as if something dragged a dead body that way.
That was… disturbing. But what did she expect? Of course this happened. The monsters killed the bandits and likely dragged them deeper in. Maybe they were eating them. That was what monsters did, right?
Ah well, she would find out eventually. She just had to be careful in this place.
What could the monsters be? It was probably not animals. The survivor would just say 'wild animals' or such, right? Maybe spriggans? Hagravens? She hoped not, she wasn't exactly ready to deal with mages.
She walked further and further into the cave without anything to see, except the trail on the ground. Other trails joined it eventually. Now it was just one thick trail. Those fuckers clearly didn't know what hit them. At least she was ready for an attack.
A few more moments following the trail and she finally spotted something move.
It was a bit dark over in that spot, but something definitely moved. And it didn't see her yet. This was a good opportunity. Vex pulled out her bow and aimed it at the creature. It was shuffling in the spot, but it never moved too sharply. Good.
She let the arrow loose and it hit its target within seconds. She wasn't sure if it fell. She didn't see anything fall, so she notched another arrow and shot it once more.
Fuck, it was too dark. She needed to go check.
She put her bow back and reached for one of her daggers. She needed to be ready. But nothing seemed to be jumping at her as she approached, all the way until she could see the creature.
It was a strange thing with eyes grown shut and pointy ears. Its skin was pale, even paler than Breton skin, and it was oddly crouched on the ground with one arrow in its neck and another in the chest. It was definitely dead.
Huh. Was this a Falmer? It did kind of look like some kind of mangled elf. It fit the descriptions of them she had heard.
So… that meant they were blind, right? That could be an advantage. But then again, she had heard that they tended to attack in numbers. That could become a problem. She looked around carefully, but all she could see were some bones near the Falmer. They were clearly gnawed on previously. There were some remnants of flesh on them. Ugh. She expected this but it was still a bit of a shock to see it.
Vex got a little annoyed by the development, but it would be worth it. She would find the Crown here – she could feel it. No matter what creatures waited further in.
…
Alright, what did she know about Falmer?
She knew that she had already disposed of three of them with her bow. Who said they attacked in swarms? She only saw some stragglers here and there. They fell easily. She knew they were blind, but apparently that heightened the other senses. That was a problem. She was pissed that she didn't spend her compensation on a muffling thing like Tonilia did. No, Vex only spent her money on the gems.
After a while, she started to see Dwemer pillars and constructions buried in the ground or crumbled by the cavernous walls. Clearly this was not just a cave.
And it became even more apparent when she reached the next chamber.
There was… an actual piece of Dwemer architecture. An entire altar with steps leading to it. And what was much more important – a chest.
Treasure. This was… actually kind of exciting. Similar to how she felt when she found a stash of valuables in someone's house. At least in case the Crown wasn't here, she would have something to show for her efforts.
She walked over to the chest and opened it eagerly, but before she could even look inside, a strange sound alerted her.
Only a second later, she felt something painfully lodge into her arm and the sounds around urged her to move in panic. She instantly dropped onto the ground. Arrows. She could hear countless arrows swishing through the air and she could also hear stone grind against stone. For a moment, she had no idea what was happening. She had a small arrow lodged in her upper arm and she was hiding under the altar. It took her a while to take scope of the situation.
Arrows really were swishing through the air and colliding with the cavernous walls. A trap. The chest was actually trapped. Why didn't she think of that? Why wasn't she more careful? Stupid. She just didn't expect that she needed to watch out for traps here. The Falmer were too primitive for traps, right? Were they?
But then again, that chest was Dwemer. Dwemer shit was always trapped.
Stupid. So fucking stupid.
She needed to be much more careful.
But that wasn't the only problem she was facing.
The grazing sound stopped, as did the onslaught of arrows, but there were other noises. Snarling and pitter-patter of bare feet. She noticed that some entrance opened on the side of the room and a Falmer instantly rushed in, alerted by the noises. Oh. No. Two entrances. Two Falmer.
Fuck.
She stayed hidden under the altar and the Falmer only seemed to be searching the chamber. They did not know where she was. Good. But they clearly knew someone was there. Maybe they could… smell her or something? Or maybe they could smell the blood. That arrow was still stuck in her arm. It wasn't too deep, but it fucking hurt.
One of the Falmer got close. Too close. She could see it walking by the altar.
Ah, fuck it.
She took out one of her daggers again and slashed its leg when it was near. The Falmer screeched and fell onto the ground. Before the other one reached Vex, she managed to leave her hiding place and slit the screeching Falmer's throat. Now to deal with the other one.
The second Falmer was already upon her and it tried to chop at her with its axe. Vex was still fast though. She managed to twist her body enough to dodge the attack and she retaliated right away. She slashed her dagger against it, wounding its exposed chest, before she managed to brandish her second dagger quickly and slash its throat as well.
She knew she was good. She just had to take them out one by one. When she was sure there were no more, she sheathed her daggers again and yanked the arrow out of her arm with a subdued cry of pain. Fuck that was unpleasant. Annoying trap.
It was her own fault though. She'd be on the lookout next time.
But now, it was time to get the spoils she rightfully earned.
…
The chest did have some valuable items in it. It was a satisfying reward.
When she explored further however, it wasn't nearly as appealing of a sight. But… at least she found where the blood-trails led. There were a few… pens, all filled with corpses. Half-eaten, half-rotted. It was a really disturbing sight.
She was eager to get out of that section of the complex, but the next one didn't get much better. She had to deal with frostbite spiders and she got entangled in multiple webs. They stuck to her armor and it was now a bit harder to move. She couldn't get rid of them effectively.
And of course, right after that, a sight that greeted her was another altar, now in the middle of the room, with a corpse laid atop and three Falmer currently feasting on it. She managed to dispose of two of them with her bow and the last with her daggers, but this whole place was starting to piss her off.
Fucking annoying spiders. Fucking creepy cave. This better be worth it.
Though the next section she came across did not fill her with much confidence about that.
There was a huge ravine in front of her, with a stream down below and multiple visible pathways and crevices around. And countless Falmer crawling through the area.
Great. Just fucking great.
It was probably smartest to pick them off one by one. That would mean she had to stay on her vantage point for a long time, likely, but it was better than getting overwhelmed. As long as she was careful, she might actually avoid a face-to-face fight. That would be ideal.
She let out a sigh and pulled out her bow once more.
This would take annoyingly long.
…
Who knew that shooting the Falmer wouldn't be the worst part of traversing this ravine?
She got completely lost. All those fucking passages looked exactly the same! She kept going around in circles, around and around. And of course she got surprised by a few more Falmer.
But there was one thing even more annoying.
When she finally found a chamber she hadn't been in yet, she got so giddy, she just rushed forth. Which apparently alerted some creepy… cocoons. Weird bugs sprung out of them, spitting something at Vex. The leather of her armor on her wrist and shoulder got actually dissolved and she had painful boils from it on her skin.
She had potions. She already had to have one after that arrow, but now she had to drink another to numb the pain more. Fucking bugs. Tonilia better fix up her armor for free when she gets back.
But there was nothing to do but continue onwards.
She had to be so deep underground by now, it was fucking disturbing. And this place just got worse and worse.
When she finally found a path further in, she found herself in a strange place. A chamber with an incredibly tall ceiling, a Dwemer grate serving as a bridge above a pool of water, and a waterfall going almost from all the way up. There were many Dwemer metal pipes lining the circular ceiling. It would have been impressive if Vex wasn't so tired of this shit.
At least she was pretty sure this cave wasn't 'crawling' with Falmer. People sometimes talked of swarms of hundreds of them at once. She had so far killed maybe twenty of them. That wasn't probably as bad as it would be if she went inside actual Dwemer ruins. Right? These weren't actual Dwemer ruins. Maybe it was an underground tunnel leading to them though.
Fuck, it better not be.
What exactly would she do with those automaton things? They were all metal! She was pretty sure that arrows and poisoned daggers would be entirely useless in that case.
But she was definitely not turning back now. She would figure something out if she came across a metal monstrosity.
For now, she continued onwards. She knew by now that she had to be careful about those weird-ass cocoons plastered on the walls. Falmer were in those. So she learned to anticipate it. She shot every single one. Usually that made a Falmer jump down in panic, but before it could fall onto its feet, she already shot another arrow – straight at the creature. It was a useful tactic.
She disposed of a few Falmer a chamber ahead. There was a lot of… stuff around. There were pillows in one pile, all filthy and dusty, then there were some remnants of broken boxes. There were also books in one place. This was their treasure room or something? They must have dragged this stuff here. It looked like… goods. They either ambushed caravans too, though that would probably be something people would hear about by now, or there were more bandits around with equally bright ideas like the last batch.
But that was good. Maybe the Crown would really be here.
Vex stepped forward a little more confidently, but suddenly she stopped in her tracks.
SNICK.
Was that a tripwire?
A huge strange construction looking like a claw came at her. The sharp ends dug into her arm, scratching over her chest in the momentum as the impact practically launched her back. She ended up on the ground, wheezing and heaving while a burning pain seared through her arm and chest.
Fucking Void!
How had she not learned her lesson?! She was usually so good with traps. But she still didn't expect these things to be trapping the place, even though she had already seen that, aside from eating people, they were really not that 'primitive' at all. They had weapons, magic and armor. They had dwellings and their own chests and apparently even traps.
That was… so fucking annoying. She just wanted to go back home.
But she had to see this through. She had to get the Crown.
She carefully examined herself, the torn armor on her chest stained with blood, and the same on her arm. None of it was too deep, but it was painful and she knew she would be bruised all over. The effect of the first potion was already waning, so she could get another and not be too woozy, hopefully, but she still felt like her head was spinning from the pain alone.
She had to persevere.
With a grunt, she picked herself off the ground and reached for another potion.
This place couldn't be much larger, could it?
She just wanted one stupid artifact.
Was that really so much to ask for?
…
There it was!
It was really here. The Crown. Vex would recognize it anywhere.
There was just one problem.
That fucking Falmer that was draped in all that armor was wearing it on its head. Well, not the head, but on its helmet. A little sideways. It actually put the Crown on. Was that disturbing or impressive? But the golden metal and the beautiful winged design glinted almost mesmerizingly in the glow of the mushrooms. Especially in this chamber, filled with water with only stone platforms providing a path across it as the surface reflected everything.
Vex was careful by now. Every move hurt, but she knew she had to withstand the pain to be smart about it. The armored Falmer wasn't the only one there – there was another carrying a long stick. A mage. She knew that by now. She had to take that one out first.
She gritted her teeth and subdued all the cries of pain as she notched an arrow and aimed at the mage. It needed to die. Now.
The arrow swished through the air a second later and it hit its target precisely – right in the head.
The mage fell, but that instantly alerted the armored 'queen'. The Falmer brandished a large sword and it ran across the platforms, trying to locate the archer. Good, it didn't know yet. But Vex couldn't see any parts of it that she could effectively hit. Well… the mouth was accessible. She could try.
She tried to aim at its maw, but the moment she shot, the Falmer turned slightly and the arrow only clattered against its hard-shell helmet.
Fuck!
Now it knew.
The creature rushed towards the source of the attack and Vex barely had the time to put away her bow and brandish her daggers. What was she going to do though? It was all armor. Her daggers couldn't deal with that!
The Falmer was already upon her and it slashed its sword against her. She dodged. The sword must have been heavy, but her own movement made her cry out in pain. Fuck, that was not good. She needed a better tactic.
Quick.
Though, when in doubt, she always had a good move people didn't expect. Nobody expected anyone to drop down on them, it made anyone too vulnerable. But Vex could use it.
She swallowed the hiss of pain and ducked down. It was well timed to avoid another slash. Now, however, as she was crouching there, the Falmer had every opportunity to kill her on the spot, even lop her head off.
If she gave it the chance.
She let her daggers clatter onto the ground and instead, she grabbed a hold of its armored leg and yanked. The Falmer instantly faltered. Now she merely pushed it to send it toppling onto the ground.
It released its sword for a moment and Vex quickly shoved it away as she grabbed one of her daggers with her other hand. The Falmer was on its back, still heavily armored but confused and unarmed. It began to kick with its legs and flail with its arms as Vex got too near it for comfort, but it couldn't actually see her.
The dagger stabbed through its face almost instantly. And when only a pained gurgle came out, she promptly yanked it away and then slit the creature's throat.
"That's for stealing my mark, fucker," Vex snarled while a grin decorated her face.
Finally. The Crown was hers.
First, she sheathed both her daggers again before she took hold of the 'wings' of the Crown. She actually had to pry it from that helmet with some difficulty. It hurt so fucking much. But she managed in the end.
She had it. She really had it. It was beautiful. She couldn't wait to assemble it again, to put all those gems inside the empty sockets.
Almost all. She still missed one.
But that was a concern for later. Right now, she just wanted to take her Crown and get out of here.
She collected herself off the ground. She was walking much slower now and she couldn't stop imagining collapsing into some bed. But first she needed to get out. She did see a pathway along the stream leading from the pool of water. She should check it out.
The pathway led her through a hallway and it ended atop that huge waterfall.
That was… disturbing. She suddenly thought about just jumping down. She knew there was water below, but there was also that Dwemer metal grate bridge. She could fall onto that and die. That was not smart.
But this was the end of the road. She would have to go all the way down again. It was so fucking far. This way she could shorten her journey so much.
Although…
Vex got an idea. She rushed back, as much as she was able to rush, and she made her way to one of the places where the Falmer gathered their loot. It was right in front of the previous chamber. And there she found it again. She remembered noticing it briefly - a bolt of cloth.
It looked like quality cloth. Sturdy. It had no rips, it was just filthy. She could use this.
She promptly unrolled a large part of it and cut it off. It looked sufficient. Perfect. She had done this once before when she was escaping from one of the Solitude towers. It was thrilling then and it was thrilling now, even though she was in pain and tired beyond what she thought possible.
She quickly went back again to the waterfall. Maybe it wouldn't take her that much longer to descend back down, but now she wanted to do this. And she could do it at the ravine too. At least she wouldn't get lost there. It was a good idea.
She bundled the cloth in her hands properly and she made a running start. She grunted with each step, but the pain was not as bad as she had been prepared for. And then she jumped. She yanked the cloth in her hands as if she was spurring on a horse and she managed to get it to hold in enough air. She wasn't falling, she was floating. With her improvised parachute guiding her safely below.
The spray from the waterfall was making it a little heavier than she anticipated though. She could feel it. Her fall was getting a bit quicker and quicker. It made her very nervous.
But fortunately, by the time it got too wet, her feet already landed safely on the Dwemer grate.
She knew she would have fallen onto that if she just jumped. Ugh. Good thing she didn't risk it.
She was pretty proud of herself. Time and painful descent saved.
Now just to get back home.
…
Was this all even worth it?
Vex stared at the Crown with all those gems glittering, embedded inside. It was almost complete. One more missing. And it was beautiful.
But it's been a few months and she was still missing that last piece.
And the longer she did miss it, the more discouraged she was getting. She was used to waiting for them, but it was harder now when she was so close and after everything she had been through.
She got her wounds dressed by the miners in Shor's Stone, but there was no actual healer there. She did get one of them to give her a ride to Riften at least.
Brynjolf was livid. In a good way. He was so fussy and worried about all those wounds. He instantly paid for her healing at the temple. And then he let her have it.
But she was proud of herself. She managed to get through this even though she had no idea what she was getting into. But now, as the Crown still stood there on her table with that one annoying piece missing, it all felt like a pointless ordeal. She even had a scar left from that.
"Are you moping at that fucking thing again?"
A voice startled her. She didn't even notice someone entered the room.
"I'll mope at whatever I want, Sapphire," Vex huffed. Sapphire had been making fun of her ever since Vex began to feel this way. She usually liked the teasing relationship the two of them had, but it did peeve her a little more than usual when it came to the Crown.
"Well don't mope and come get some food or some shit. I don't know, just come do something boring," Sapphire sat next to her by the table and nudged her shoulder.
"You really know how to sell it," Vex smirked. 'Something boring'. How tempting.
"What? You know how much I like the boring shit now?" Sapphire shrugged. It was… true. Sapphire didn't even volunteer for many missions. After all that shit with Karliah, Thorn and Thrynn, she just seemed… sick of it all. She seemed like she wanted nothing more than anything boring and safe. It was really understandable. She had been living in constant fear ever since she could remember – of Thorn, of Mercer, then of everyone in the Guild when she thought they were after her, thinking she was a traitor. Sapphire may have put on a tough façade, but Vex knew her well. She knew a lot of things broke her down overtime.
"And it's not gonna be boring if you stop moping," Sapphire winked at her.
Vex could only roll her eyes with a bit of a smile decorating her face. Spending time with Sapphire did always alleviate her mood.
"You know what? Fine," Sapphire suddenly huffed. What? Did she get pissed off by Vex's lack of immediate response?!
"Wait, I was gonna…" Vex tried to explain, but Sapphire interrupted her promptly.
"If you wanna mope around about that stupid shit, guess I'll fucking have to do something about that."
Wait, what?
With a sly smile, Sapphire reached into a pouch on her belt and pulled something out. A small golden box.
Vex's breath hitched in her throat. The last gem. Sapphire managed to track it down for her. All that talk was apparently just her having fun with how to break the news.
"Well come on, the fuck are you waiting for?" Sapphire chuckled.
Right. What was she waiting for? She was just staring at it in awe. But now, at her urging, Vex took the box in her hands and carefully opened it. The gem was there.
Vex took it between her fingers with special care, as she always did, and she placed it gently into the last socket. It fit perfectly.
Nothing happened. There was no magic in this thing, no amazing miracle accompanied its assembly. It was just a ridiculously gaudy crown that glittered and shimmered before their eyes. But it was the most beautiful thing ever.
Sapphire squeezed Vex around her shoulders with another chuckle escaping her lips.
"You're so in awe. It's fucking ridiculous. You don't even wanna sell it," she snorted at Vex.
"So? Look at it," Vex smiled. "And… I went through so much for it."
"I know that. It's useless, but… I'm fucking proud of you, you know?" Sapphire winked at her. "And so's Bryn, by the way, even if he still just yells at you for going to that place."
"I know," Vex nodded. She did know. But most of all, she was proud of herself. And so grateful to Sapphire. She really should do something to repay her for this.
Vex's gaze went back to the Crown, to examine every single red gem that sat comfortably inside it. And when she looked at it, only one thought was on her mind now.
Worth it.