Chapter Ten: Remember the Oblivion Crisis

"Is she going to be okay?" Kai whispered, looking down at Svena with worried amber eyes. "She seems to be in pain."

"I'm sure she'll be better by tomorrow," the Red Guard woman soothed, shaking her head in dismay as she massaged Ula's temples with glowing fingers. "From what I can sense, she strained herself too much. I don't know what happened up there, but whatever she did... it drained her so thoroughly that it made her sick."

"Well," Faendal muttered, glancing at Camilla with unhappy eyes, "there were... several other things in the Barrow, as well."

"Like what?" Svena asked, glancing up at him with a serious expression. "Please, in order for us to know what's going on with her, you need to tell us everything that happened while you two were wandering around up there."

"It's fairly hard for me to believe myself," the Bosmer stated, shivering a little, "but if you'd like, I'll tell you everything."

And so, he did: he explained everything from turning himself invisible to take out the bandits to how he was stabbed through the heart, to how Ula healed him and how she'd practically gone into a trance. Then he explained how he'd come to his senses and followed the trail of traps that Ula had accidentally triggered, which had terrified Svena AND Kai so badly that they clamped down on the girl's arms and hugged her.

Faendal explained everything... even about the few undead creatures he'd seen walking around.

Then he came to the part where he'd found Ula lying unconscious in front of the ancient wall, and how her entire body had been glowing bright blue when he'd found her. However, Svena's eyes had sharpened intensely when he'd stated that the markings on Ula's body had resembled the ones on the wall she'd passed out in front of.

"You saw similar marks on the wall?" the woman demanded, face slowly draining of color. "That's... disconcerting. I've seen her throat begin to glow several times over the years, but until she touched the Mage Stone just outside of Riverwood, it's never stretched beyond that."

"That's right!" Kai exclaimed, eyes widening in surprise. "I almost forgot about that! How the heck did that happen, anyway?"

"I don't know," Svena muttered, shaking her head in dismay. "All I know is this: the more I think about it, the more it begins to sound like some sort of forgotten Magicka. Perhaps Ula has been touched by an odd form of power? It would explain how she can do the things she does."

"Why don't you try talking to one of the professors at the Mage's College?" Camilla asked, turning with worried eyes. "You know, the famous one in Winterhold? I've heard rumors that the people there have answers for almost everything, so maybe if you take your sister to see them, they might be able to tell you what's wrong with her."

"There's nothing wrong with Ula!" Svena snapped, making the woman flinch backwards in surprise; however, after a moment, the dark-skinned girl closed her eyes and bit her temper back. "I'm sorry for yelling at you like that. It's just, Ula's always been this way, from the moment I first met her: there really isn't anything wrong with her. We just want to know what's causing all of this unexplainable stuff to happen."

"You're a good sister," Camilla sighed, eyes softening almost immediately; she slowly gave the girl a knowing smile. "It's so nice to see that kind of compassion between you two. Especially since... well, you know, not all people are so kind to elves."

"Ula isn't an elf," Kai growled, amber eyes hidden by a shock of his dark hair. "I'm telling you, she's not a bloody elf! Just because she's got long ears doesn't mean anything! She's not an elf, dammit..."

Everyone stared at him when he started grumbling, even Svena.

"You know something, don't you?" the Red Guard finally muttered, making him tense. "You know something that I don't."

For a long moment, the Nord was silent... then he lifted his eyes with a glare that made the dark-skinned girl step away from him.

"So what if I do?" Kai demanded, clenching his jaw. "Nobody believed me back then, so they sure as hell won't now."

"What are you talking about?" Svena stammered, eyes widening in surprise; she instantly leapt to her feet and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him back and forth. "What the in the name of Akatosh are you talking about?! Tell me!"

"Why should I?" the burly youth demanded, quirking an eyebrow when the woman froze. "You'd roll your eyes like everyone else."

Before anyone could respond, she slapped him in the face: Kai's expression, however, didn't change for a second.

"You know I wouldn't do that!" Svena cried, glaring into his eyes. "Spit it out, Kai! What do you know about Ula that I don't?!"

The burly boy's mouth twisted and he glared right back at her: Camilla and Faendal both seemed uncertain now.

"It is said," Kai finally growled, making Svena pause, "that no one knows where Ula came from, right?"

"Well, yes," Svena confirmed, giving him a frown. "She just washed up on the shore of the lake one morning."

"Some people believed that she just appeared on the shore one morning," Kai continued, glaring down at his knees, "and others argued that she came from a faraway place, using her appearance as the basis for their claims. There was a lot of speculation about where Ula really came from, Svena… but nobody knows the truth of it."

"Kai, I already know that much!" Svena sighed, looking exasperated. "What does that have to do with this?"

"It has everything to do with this!" Kai retorted, eyes sharping in anger. "There's something you don't know about those events!"

"And what would that be?!" the girl shouted, face turning crimson with anger. "Just say it already!"

"Fine! Out of all the people living in Darkwater Crossing," Kai snapped, amber eyes glimmering with anger, "nobody saw how Ula ended up in the lake aside from me!"

Svena froze and stared at him with a startled expression.

"What did you just say?" the woman whispered, not knowing how to handle his confession. "Kai, what... do you mean?"

For a long moment, the boy closed his eyes... but then he clenched his jaw and let out a huff of air through his nose.

"I don't know how to accurately explain what I saw back then," he finally muttered, opening his eyes yet again. "I was only five years old at the time, so I can barely remember what it looked like. All I can really tell you is this: I don't think Ula is... normal. In fact, I don't even think her race is anything we've ever heard of. To put it simply, Ula fell out of a spiraling window that somehow opened up in the sky."

Everyone in the room went dead quiet... but then, Faendal started snickering in amusement, which made Kai glare.

"A window... in the sky?" the Bosmer asked, trying to hide his chuckles. "Well, that's very original!"

Svena, however, had turned pale and was clutching her mouth with both hands: Camilla instantly noticed her expression and frowned, obviously trying to figure out why the woman looked so horrified.

"Kai?" Svena whispered, looking up at him in dismay. "Are you honestly telling me... that you've seen Ula's nightmare?"

The Nord blinked three times in a row before cocking his head in total confusion.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded in a perplexed voice, not seeming to comprehend what he'd just heard. "What nightmare?"

"Ula's always had nightmares, Kai," the woman retorted, making his frown turn a little more concerned. "Ever since she moved into my Gran's house with us, she's had terrible nightmares that would wake her up in the middle of the night, crying. A few years ago, though, I asked her to draw some pictures to explain what they were about."

"So?" Kai demanded, quirking an eyebrow. "What's your point?"

"Well, that day... Ula drew two pictures for me," Svena whispered, swallowing hard before she timidly glanced at the unconscious girl. "She drew what I think was supposed to be a large, burning city... and above it was some sort of stick monster with weird blobs on its back. However, she also drew a picture of a girl falling out of the sky towards a circle with swirls around the edges."

"What?" Camilla gasped, blinking as a horrified expression flitted across her face. "That's not possible! What you just said sounds almost exactly like some texts I once read about the previous Era!"

"What do you mean?" Faendal asked, tilting his head in confusion. "What texts?"

"Some old texts in the Grand Library," Camilla explained, waving a hand before she covered her mouth. "A large, spiraling circle opening up out of thin air... with light spiraling out of the center, and circular clouds swirling into a tunnel shape. That's the literal description of what the gates in the Oblivion Crisis looked like!"

"The what?" Kai asked, glancing at her in surprise. "What's the Oblivion Crisis?"

Svena, however, immediately went rigid and turned to glance at Ula with horrified eyes.

"She couldn't be a Daedra, could she?" the girl whispered, making everyone stare at her in horror. "Ula couldn't be one, right?!"

"Daedra are evil and vile creatures," Faendal stated calmly, seeming to be unaffected by the question. "She is the total opposite."

"But still!" Camilla murmured darkly, shivering as she sank down into thought. "We can't ignore the facts!"

"Um, hello? What is the Oblivion Crisis?!" Kai demanded a second time. "What are you talking about?"

"The Oblivion Crisis was a horrific event that created rifts between our world and Oblivion," Svena stated in a grim voice, making everyone look at her in surprise. "It's why people who use Magicka are either feared or looked down on: Oblivion is... in short, the place where all Daedra reside. The Oblivion Crisis was a horrible mistake because it created several gateways between this world and that one. Those monsters started coming through them and tried to take control over this world, and a lot of people died as a result of it."

"Exactly," Camilla confirmed, nodding when Kai and Faendal glanced at her. "I'm from the Capital, so I've heard all sorts of fearsome stories about the Oblivion Crisis. It was said that only one person managed to close the portals, and because of that, he was forever regarded as a hero."

"I don't think you should dwell on this by yourselves," Faendal abruptly sighed, making the room go quiet. "If you really think this is a serious matter, do the intelligent thing and visit the Mage's College like Camilla suggested. At any rate, I think I am going to retire for the evening. Let me know when her condition changes, please."

"We will," Svena sighed, returning her gaze to the girl in front of her. "I promise."

"It was a pleasure meeting you," Camilla stated, bowing her head. "Thank you for helping Faendal get the claw back."

And with that, the woman hastily followed Faendal out of Gerdur's house.

Kai, however, merely stared down at his hands with furrowed brows. He alone had seen the window open up in the sky when Ula had first arrived. Out of that window, Ula had fallen down into the lake... and later that morning, she'd washed up on the shore. The only thing he was certain of was this: Ula was not an elf, so she didn't deserve any of the treatment she'd been given over the years. She was the kindest soul he'd ever had the chance to know!

So what if she had pointy ears? In his opinion, they only made her look that much cuter!

Kai's face flamed bright red when he realized what he'd just been thinking, though, and he instantly rubbed his nose.

"We should get some rest, too," Svena murmured, looking at Ula with worry. "Gerdur, Hodd, and Ralof should be back soon."

"If you say so," Kai muttered, shaking his head before he stood up and waltzed over to his sleeping area. "I'm just glad she's safe."

The two of them fell asleep with little ease; however, the next morning, Ula unexpectedly woke up.

When her amethyst eyes finally fluttered open, she'd felt dazed… almost as though she'd slept for a long time and had somehow been completely unaware of it. Her tongue felt dry and full of cotton, her throat was parched, her body felt weak, and her hair had turned into an unmanageable silver haystack.

Ula immediately blinked since a feeling of terror smashed into her stomach.

She crawled out of bed and scrabbled into a corner, hugging herself and looking around the room with terror-stricken eyes. Then the girl covered her face with both hands and burst into tears. When Svena and Kai ran into the room, though, her tears froze in place. All of a sudden, everything came rushing back: her home, Helgen's destruction, the Barrows... she closed her eyes as several waves of nausea overtook her.

"Shhh..." Svena whispered, wrapping her arms around the shaking girl's shoulders. "You're safe... just calm down."

"Please don't cry," Kai murmured unhappily, kneeling down in front of her. "You've been unconscious for an entire day, Ula."

"Plus, the entire town is buzzing about what you and Faendal did for Lucan," Svena giggled, patting the girl's back when she pulled away with confused eyes. "Camilla told us this morning that she's giving you some new dresses to show her gratitude."

"That is, if you want them," a soft voice uneasily called from the flap. "I didn't really know how else to thank you."

After a moment, Ula shakily rubbed her eyes and stood back up; a disheveled clump of hair fell across her eyes.

"Oh, dear," Svena sighed, frowning in dismay at the girl's tangled tresses. "That's gonna take a while for me to comb out..."

"If you would allow me to, I'd love the opportunity to style her hair," Camilla hesitantly offered, making both Kai and Svena stare at her in surprise. "I used to be a stylist back in the capital... in fact, if it hadn't been for the war going on, I'd still be doing business like that. Some of my clients were nobles, too."

"Would you, really?" Svena asked, eyes lighting up in delight. "I would be grateful for that! Her hair is almost too long for me to manage!"

Everyone started chuckling when Ula flushed bright red and discreetly tried to pat her tangled hair down.

"I'd be happy to," Camilla murmured, hefting a black bag onto the side table next to a stool. "Well, if you don't mind, shall we get you dressed up? If you'd oblige, you can go ahead and relax on the stool: I've always wanted to try this style on a woman with long hair, but all of the girls in this village keep their hair extremely short."

Ula hesitantly nodded and slowly made her way over to the stool, sitting down on it in nothing but her underwear and bra.

However, Svena looked a bit uncomfortable when Ula nervously glanced at her.

"She's never had anybody aside from me touch her hair," the Red Guard explained, making Camilla glance up. "This is new to her."

"Don't worry," Camilla murmured kindly, "I'll be gentle."

"We'll leave her in your care, then," Kai chuckled, gripping the Red Guard's arm. "Let's go, Svena."

With that, the two of them disappeared outside.

Camilla instantly started brushing Ula's hair pout with soft smile on her face: after a few tense moments, however, the albino hesitantly closed her eyes and simply basked in the sensation. Admittedly, she twitched a little bit now and then since the woman standing behind her unexpectedly switched to the comb to get the finer tangles out, but aside from that, she could almost pretend it was Svena standing behind her.

"You look almost like a princess," the dark-haired woman suddenly murmured, making the albino twitch and turn her head with an expression of startled surprise. "I've never before seen someone with hair as beautiful as this. Not even the nobles I once tended to had such fine hair, Ula."

The woman lifted her eyes and gazed at her pale pink irises with a soft expression.

Then Camilla sighed, pulling the top layer of Ula's long bangs to the side and braiding them in an intricate sweeping design towards the back of her head; then she did the same with the other side and put the comb in her mouth so she could grab a violet ribbon from her bag. Once she'd tied the gleaming tresses at the base of where the braided strands met, she continued braiding the joined hair down Ula's back.

Once that was finished, the woman move in front of the albino and made a few adjustments to her bangs.

Finally, she stepped away and gasped, eyes shining in delight.

"Wow," she whispered, grinning at the confused albino until her ears flattened towards the ground. "You look so pretty!"

Before Ula could react, the woman hastily ran over to the bag and started pulling a few more things out. Then Camilla turned around and held out the most beautiful dress the albino had ever seen. Ula's first instinct was to squeal in delight, but instead, she settled for a tiny wheeze: despite that, though, her eyes also snapped open wide and her jaw dropped in amazement as she examined it.

"I'm glad you like it," Camilla murmured shyly, smiling at the girl from behind her lashes. "It was my favorite dress when I was your age, mostly because it was pretty and extremely comfortable to wear."

Ula didn't care: it was still the most beautiful dress she'd ever seen.

The outfit had a ruffled skirt that ended just above the knees, but the inner arms were made of a skintight maroon fabric that would definitely cling to her in a pleasant way. Around it was a sheer, weightless fabric that billowed outwards from the elbow down. It was airy, and it gave the sleeves a profound amount of style. Also, instead of having simple buttons shooting up the front, there was a beautiful yellow sash weaving in and out of the openings in a crisscrossed style. At the throat, the yellow sash was tied in a beautiful ribbon, and at the waist it swept behind the back and tied into another gorgeous ribbon before hanging loosely.

All in all, the outfit was stunning, but not too frilly.

Camilla's hazel eyes widened when Ula unexpectedly stood up and lunged at her with outstretched arms.

"Oh, no!" she squeaked, flailing her arms when the albino wrapped her arms around her. "W-what in the world are you doing?!"

However, the sound of a barely audible voice made her freeze.

"Thank... you..." Ula whispered, slowly lifting her head; her eyes were watering and the mark on her throat was shining brightly, but she was grinning so widely that the woman paused. "Thank... you... so... much..."

"Well, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but…" the woman murmured, awkwardly unpeeling the girl's hands from her body before glancing at the outfit. "Well, um... let's just say that you're still severely under-dressed, shall we? At any rate, I washed and pressed the dress you were wearing after you returned. I'll let you pick which one you want to wear, okay? Oh, and by the way...? Faendal told me you didn't have any shoes... so..."

Ula blinked when the woman pulled a beautiful set of boots out of the bag: the girl's ears shot straight up and her mouth quivered when the woman smiled at her. However, after that, Camilla left the room, and Ula couldn't do anything but feel the amazement and gratitude washing over her.

She had shoes for the first time in her entire life.

Ten minutes later, the girl left the hut wearing the white dress that Gerdur had given her: she'd grabbed Arvel's old backpack out of habit, sadly enough, but only because the odd tablet she'd found was still inside it. When Ula arrived, though, she was startled since she found Kai and Svena talking to Gerdur about heading to Whiterun. She froze when she heard Svena murmur that they needed to warn the Jarl about the dragon attack.

In the end, however, she approached wearing her new boots and nodded up at them.

Then she knelt down and drew a picture of the three of them walking along a winding path towards a distant city.

"So, basically," Kai chuckled, glancing at Svena with gentle eyes, "you're ready to go?"

The girl grinned weakly and nodded, feeling the complete opposite but knowing they had to do something.

After all, she was the only one who'd seen the dragon attack.

"May Talos guide you," Gerdur sighed, pulling all three of them into a hug. "You are welcome to come back and work for me if you'd like! I'm going to be short a worker since Faendal and Camilla are heading off to Riften in a few days to plan their wedding and pledge their love before Mara."

Ula's eyes bugged out of her skull and she let out a series of wheezing squeaks before jumping around and clapping.

Her grin was so large that Svena was mildly amazed that her face didn't split in half.

"Divines..." she murmured, shaking her head. "I can't believe that elf worked up the nerve to take an arrow to the knee."

"Well, I'm happy for them," Gerdie sighed, glancing at an infuriated-looking blonde man who was currently hacking away at the wooden logs in front of him with a fervor rarely seen, "but I can't say the same for Sven, though. He hasn't gotten drunk on the job even once since they announced their plans yesterday evening. Anyway, I have to get back to work, but... like I said, our home is your home. Thank you for everything."

"You're very welcome, Gerdur," Kai chuckled, flexing his muscles with a grin. "Working at a lumber mill wasn't that bad at all!"

The blonde woman laughed and shook her head before walking back towards her house with a wave.

"Well, before we go, shall we have lunch?" Svena cheerily asked, looking down at Ula's happily blushing cheeks with a smile on her face. "We're in this together, so don't you worry about a thing!"

Ula glanced up at her in surprise, all traces of her smile wiped clean off her face. With a shaking hand, she pointed at the elder girl, then at Kai, and then at herself before drawing a circle in the air and looking at them with a questioning expression. Both of her friends instantly shared a glance and laughed.

"Of course, silly," Kai chuckled, patting her head with a soft expression. "We're a family: we'll stick together no matter what."

Ula's face went blank and she blinked a few times... but then her amethyst eyes softened and she smiled.

The three of them sat down on a nearby tree stump to eat their lunch, or in Ula's case... breakfast.

But when all of them were full and satisfied, Ula walked over and took their hands in her own: Kai and Svena both smiled and squeezed the girl's palm a little in a reassuring manner. Even after everything had happened... and even after losing their home in Darkwater Crossing... Ula still had her friends.

After waving at Gerdur, Faendal, Camilla, and Ralof, who had all come back to see them off, the three travelers began walking down the road towards Whiterun to warn everyone about the dragon. However, they didn't know right then that the closer they came to the castle walls, the farther their fates drifted from Ula's. Nobody knew that the beautiful girl walking between those two happy teenagers might someday be pulled along by the stream of fate.

After all... this same journey had played out in over a million different worlds, with a million different people. And all of them... every single one... had either died in combat, or brought down the fires of hell by destroying the one thing that might have been able to save everything.

Alduin.