I was pulled out of my flashback by the feeling of Brynjolf putting his hand on my shoulder. I turned to face him, and was instantly surrounded in his arms. He held me close to him, and I mashed my face into his shoulder. "It's alright lass. They're gone. I'm here to protect you. You aren't alone like before." I was remembering the helplessness I felt when slaughtering the Penitus Oculatus with my grandfather, and the scream of pain I let out when I saw Festus, who was my best friend and excellent mentor, nailed to the post by arrows.

I remembered flinging open the door, and seeing the entire Sanctuary ablaze. Arnbjorn was dead, Veezara was dead, and Babette's flesh was melting off from the flames. I walked in to the living quarters, granddad looking all around to keep threats away from me. I saw Gabriella lying dead across the table, and Nazir fighting an Oculatus agent. I started a frantic run up to him, and just before I got up there to help him fight the agent off, an arrow was loosed, crushing his skull. I turned, and there was a man standing in the hallway holding a bow and looking rather proud of himself.

Lucien snarled at the man, then launched himself at Nazir's initial attacker. He knew that the archer was mine. My eyes lit on fire, and I bared my teeth like a wild beast as I jumped from the top floor all the way down on top of him, and sent hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity flowing through his body. He fell to the ground, his body smoking and steaming. I took in a deep breath, and pushed a massive blizzard through the sanctuary, quelling the flames.

After a moment, I felt his hand grab my wrist. "Come, my dear!" He started with a look of panic. "If the Night Mother is harmed, the Brotherhood is ruined." I took in a deep breath, realizing that I no longer felt her presence in my mind. He dragged me along behind him, then dropped to his knees when he saw her smoldering corpse lying on the floor. As tears filled both our eyes, I dropped to the floor in a ball. I cried out at the top of my lungs, because my second, my true family, been taken away from me.

I looked up at the ceiling and said "No! Sithis damn it all to the Void! Not again! I REFUSE to accept this! My only family has been taken away! My Mother is gone, and so is the Brotherhood! In the name of Sithis, there will not be one more Oculatus agent to stand when I'm done!" I collapsed next to my granddad, and we both embraced each other tightly. He was sobbing to match mine, and his eyes turned a black to match the Void.

"Our Lady…" He said in-between sobs. "She is weeping for her children this day. There truly is no other way to restore the Brotherhood. It's… It's over, Breanna. Straight from her own mouth with the authority of the Dread Father." He collapsed into hysterical sobbing as he said "Our family is dead. We are all that's left. We will be united in the Void, the last of Sithis's children to live there forevermore." I started to cry into him with a ferocity, feeling nothing but sorrow and rage.

After we'd cried our fill, we stood up to walk out of the sanctuary for the last time. Just as we walked into the hallway to leave, we heard the grunting of a woman. I ran into the room, thinking it was an Oculatus agent. I stopped cold and slumped to her side yelling "Astrid! By Sithis, what happened?" She looked at me with a look of defeat. "I heard your cries. We… We were defeated weren't we?" I nodded my head and said "Yes. The others are dead, and the Night Mother's body is burnt beyond repair."

"Sithis damn it all… This is all my fault. If I hadn't had trusted Maro this wouldn't have happened. I just wanted everything to go back to the way it was…" After she said that one sentence, I knew she was the traitor. In a flash, I drew my dagger and plunged it into her skull. I stood up, and looked Lucien in the eyes before we walked out. When we got out into the daylight, we were met by a band of Oculatus. "Did you enjoy our little show?" Maro said, his sword brandished arrogantly.

At that moment, such a rage overtook me, and I felt like something was hitching itself to me. Something cold, dark, infinite, and a rage as towering as mine. I felt a dark voice in my mind. "They destroyed my children. We will annihilate them, my dear daughter." Sithis, the Dread Father himself. I felt my eyes turn a black to match the Void, and I let loose an invisible power that sent all of Maro's surrounding agents to the ground, dead as Uriel Septim VII.

Maro's face turned to fear as he looked upon me with shock. I took a step forward, and in a blink I was in front of him, my fingers surrounding his throat. I gripped it as hard as I could, lifting him off of the ground. I felt the sorrow and fury of the Dread Father as he wept angrily, giving me the strength to lift Maro off the ground one-handed. I looked up at him with black, emotionless eyes, as he tried to claw my hand away. After a few moments of struggling, I watched as his eyes rolled back into his head and I let him fall to the ground.

I felt the Dread Father embrace my soul tightly, and he said "I swear, I will do what I can to bring back the Brotherhood. But, I don't know what I can do…" Then I felt him look deep into my spirit. "But believe me when I say this: I will do everything I can to help rebuild our family. But, there may not be a way. I love you, my dear child. You are a cut above the others. I must take my leave of you now, but I will always be here when you need me." Then I felt his spirit depart.

Bryn squeezed me tighter, sensing that I was not quite all there, that I was still lost in my own twisted memories. I was pulled out of my mind, and locked it back up on the way out. As I stood there in his embrace, I felt a warm sense of security come over me. It was somewhat like what I felt with granddad, but at the same time, entirely different. I knew he wasn't here to pry or get me to tell him about myself. He was exactly like me. Quiet, but he knows when it's time to be there to hold someone.

I wrapped my arms around him and held him as tight as I could. I was so familiar with him after being in his mind, and he was familiar with me as well. I was shaking allover with rage, fear, and sorrow. "I… I was so scared, Brynjolf." I said shakily. "I know, lass." He said softly. "They're gone now. You don't have to worry anymore. I'm here."