Hermaeus Mora concentrated, pouring energy and knowledge into a single point. Once he had finished, the Daedric Prince of Knowledge examined his creation. Perfect. He began to chuckle quietly to himself. "The dark elf will call him. He will bring her to me. And the secrets she holds will be MINE!"

Neloth sat up in bed with a gasp. He blinked, then looked around, a tad confused. The Telvanni wizard frowned. His apprentice must have slipped another sleeping potion in his tea. Still, Neloth felt refreshed, so he decided he wouldn't berate Talvas for it. The dark elf paused, stroking his chin as he began to recall his dream. Then it hit him. A Black Book! Hermaeus Mora had written a new Black Book! Undoubtedly it would be in a place hazardous to anyone who entered, but he knew exactly who would be willing to go after it. Neloth shouted for his apprentice, "Talvas! Where are you? We have a letter to write and a Black Book to locate!"

Mikal practically threw Discord to the ground in shock, his blades falling to his sides and his gaze taking a north-eastern direction. "B-but," he stammered. "But that...t-that can't be…that's impossible…"

"What's impossible?"

With a curse, Mikal turned back to Discord, whom was looking at the Argonian with a quirked eyebrow. In his bewilderment, he had forgotten about the...ah, yes, draconequus. "Nothing important to you," Mikal retorted. "Now then, I believe-"

"Mikal!" He groaned. Cosnach had, as usual, come back at the worst time. "You have no idea how lucky I am. Ghorza laid into me about the fighting. I swear, it's like she's possessed. She went on and on about you breaking your new swords and - oh. Did I interrupt something?"

"Yes, Cosnach, an interrogation. Now then, you," he stated, grabbing Discord by the arm. "You are going to talk to Luna."

Discord's face lit up. "Oh, it's about time! I just can't wait to see Lulu again!"

The Argonian growled at the faux-human, set off by his attitude. "By Sithis, you had better pray there is some form of recognition, or I'll give you the distinct pleasure of meeting the Dread Father. Now move."

Luna sat in the kitchen of Mikal and Shavee's home, holding a cup of what the female Argonian had called kafay. The Redguards of Hammerfell had produced the drink, a warm beverage that tasted bitter but soothed the nerves. Luna found herself liking the drink, giving her something to focus on after the breakdown she had experienced.

"Feeling better, dear?"

Luna looked up from her seat to see Shavee carrying a tray with a bowl and spoon. "Yes, I am." The blue-haired Breton smiled at her. "Thank you for the drink."

"It's nothing, really. Both Mikal and Argis, my husband's Housecarl, adore the stuff, so we have plenty in stock. I didn't know if you wanted anything added to it, so I kept it plain. Here," she said, putting the tray down. "This is apple cabbage stew. Since the children are taking so long, you can have some. I wouldn't want it to get cold and go to waste." Seeing Luna open her mouth to protest, Shavee held up her hand to stop her from saying anything. "It is not the first time, and it will not be the last. They will simply have to put up with bread and cheese."

"Well...thank you, Shavee." Luna picked up the spoon, then paused, a frown on her face. "Shavee...is it normal for Mikal to bite people in the neck?"

There was a beat of silence, and Shavee turned back towards Luna, having gone back to the pot to fill another bowl. "What?"

"S-sorry." Luna blushed, somewhat embarrassed at asking such a strange question. "It's just that, at the place he rescued myself and Fjorta, he snuck up behind a Forsworn and bit his neck."

Shavee was silent, as if she was contemplating her answer. "I...forgot that you lost your memory." Another silent pause. "My husband is...a vampire. You see, some time back, he showed up with a woman named Serana. Serana was also a vampire, but had not attacked Mikal, or even tried to drink his blood. Instead, she trusted him to take her home. They had stopped here for a refill of stocks. I was shocked at first that he would travel with a vampire, before I remembered that he had also befriended werewolves. After that, he disappeared for about a month before reappearing…"

{Flashback}

Shavee turned at the sound of the front door slamming open. What she saw scared her.

"Mikal!"

The aforementioned lizard was being propped up by Serana, his arm around her shoulders. Shavee made to move forward when Serana quickly exclaimed "NO! Don't tempt him!"

"Tempt him? What do you…" Shavee's voice died in her throat. Mikal's scales were pale - almost a pure white color. His exposed snout revealed elongated fangs. And when he raised his head to look at her, there was only hunger in them. "Wh-what…"

"I can and will explain, but only after I've tended to him. Get the children and the Housecarl if he's here and get out!" Seeing the female lizard hesitate, Serana shouted, "NOW!"

{Flashback End}

"In order to fight against Serana's father, she and Mikal had to enter a place called the Soul Cairn. Mikal, however, could not enter while he was alive, and since vampires are considered undead…"

"He became one himself."

"Yes. It was voluntary on his part. What he did not expect was the hunger for blood, which the Soul Cairn had repressed for whatever reason. Fortunately, Serana knew of a way to make a Blood Potion, which can soothe a vampire's hunger. He even trained himself to ignore the call of fresh blood so that myself, Argis, and the children could be safe."

"But what about the Forsworn?"

From the kitchen doorway, a familiar voice spoke up. "He had it coming, and I was thirsty. Even I only have so much restraint."

Both Luna and Shavee turned to see Mikal standing there, a smirk plastered on his snout. Shavee walked up to him and hugged him tightly, relishing the moment. "Welcome back, dear. I do hope whoever you were fighting got off lightly."

Mikal, who had returned the hug, grimaced. "The Dawnguard found me again. I was getting bored of Markarth anyways. What do you think? Solitude this time?"

"Oh, Mikal," Shavee sighed. "You cannot keep running forever. Sooner or later you must confront Isran. Killing those he sends after you doesn't help."

"You haven't seen their so-called 'trials' for vampires."

"The...Dawnguard?" Luna asked, a bit confused.

"A group of vampire hunters. Despite me preventing not one but two power-hungry vampires from creating an eternal night, they hunt me because I too am a vampire." Luna's eyes became unfocused.

"Eternal...night…" she whispered. No one noticed her pupils become slitted and cat-like for a moment. Mikal's voice roused her from her trance.

"By the way, Luna. Someone claiming to know you...helped...fight off the Dawnguard. I figured it wouldn't hurt to bring him to you." Turning to someone the two women couldn't see, Mikal called him forwards. "Get over here. Pray to whatever Divine you worship that she recognizes you."

The Argonian moved to the side, and a very strange man stepped into the kitchen. Upon seeing Luna, his mismatched eyes lit up and a snaggletoothed grin grew on his face. "Hello, Lulu." Luna's own eyes widened a bit as the tiniest of memories fell into place.

"...Discord…"

Discord had to admit, he was glad that Luna recognized him. As it was, he would've had quite the time fighting off Mr. Grumpy Scales. So glad was he, that when Luna stood up and strode over to him, Discord opened his arms for a hug.

"I'm so glad you remem-"

CRACK

The sudden backhand made him less glad, though if the rasping cackles were anything to go by, the lizard thought it was hilarious. For his part, Discord put his hand to his cheek, wincing at the stinging feeling.

"I take you aren't happy with me, Lulu."

"I've yet to decide. All I remember about you is that you very much deserved that backhand."

"But you remember me!"

"Vaguely, yes."

Discord looked at Mikal, a triumphant look in his eyes. "You see? I wasn't lying!"

For his part, Mikal had a wary look on his face. "Luna...you say you vaguely remember him. What do you remember?"

Luna thought for a moment, her eyes closed and a somewhat frustrated look on her face. "...Discord was an enemy. An obnoxious one at that. I and someone else stopped him. Later he attacked again, shaping...somewhere...to his liking. I believe there were clouds that rained milk."

"Cotton candy clouds that rained chocolate milk, thank you." At the disbelieving and confused looks he received, Discord shrugged. "What?"

"Nothing," Mikal groaned. "Continue, Luna."

"There were others that stopped his second attack...and then he was released and reformed into an ally." She opened her eyes, still somewhat frustrated. "That's all I remember."

"That's very good, Lulu. The failsafe worked perfectly." All eyes turned to Discord, who for once looked serious. "Perhaps I should explain."

"You have five minutes," Mikal growled. "What failsafe? What are you talking about?"

Discord let out a weary sigh. "Please keep in mind that I must limit what I say. It's the only way to protect Luna.

"First and foremost, Luna and I are from another world. No, not some obscure realm of Oblivion, but if it helps you to think of it like that then go ahead. Now, we knew that there are other worlds and dimensions out there thanks to an...encounter with one. Naturally, this sparked the idea of exploring other worlds and dimensions. I, of course, was the perfect candidate to do this, what with my reality-bending chaos powers and all. So I jumped from place to place, recording the history of the lands and having fun as I went.

"We should've expected what happened next. One of my jumps landed me in the strangest place I had ever been to. It was a dark place, with islands made of books and…"

"...murky waters with unknown depths, three-armed creatures wrapped in shabby cloaks, highly aggressive, giant humanoid fish beings, and tentacles seemingly made of ink." This time, all eyes turned to Mikal, who had interrupted Discord's explanation with his own. "You jumped to Apocrypha, the Oblivion Realm of the Daedric Prince of Knowledge, Hermaeus Mora."

"Dearest, how do you know of this place?" Shavee seemed frightened; if her expression were anything to go by, Daedric Princes were not something to be trifled with.

"You remember what I told you of Miraak? How I fought him in Solstheim?" Shavee nodded, recalling the tale. "I was not entirely truthful. Miraak was in Apocrypha, having been claimed by Mora as his champion, and in my pursuit, Mora gave me the knowledge needed to defeat him at the price of the Skald's secrets. Afterwards, Mora killed Miraak, and named me his new champion. I renounced him, of course, but he just chuckled and said 'Time will tell...my champion.'"

His wife was visibly shaken by this, and she clutched him all the tighter. "He can't have you. None of them can."

Discord raised an eyebrow. "'None of them?'"

Mikal let out a heavy sigh. "Ever since my arrival in Skyrim, I have run across a total of twelve Daedric Princes, rulers of their respective Oblivion Realms, including Mora. Out of the twelve, all have claimed me as their champion, and I only respect four. Nocturnal, who is a patron to the Thieves Guild that I lead, Meridia, who gave me a weapon that was and is extremely helpful every time I come across some form of undead, Azura, who gave me her Star and guided me through its recovery, and Sheogorath, simply because I find him somewhat amusing and I'd be stupid not to." Silence reigned in the room as Luna openly gawked at the pale Argonian and Discord had some form of recognition at the Mad God's name. "Sheogorath also sounds like the one that took your powers, Discord. It makes sense, which is terrifying in and of itself. Sheogorath isn't supposed to make sense; he drives people insane and is mad himself."

Discord simply shook his head at the revelation, and continued his story. "In any case, I found myself in Apocrypha, when this huge mass of tentacles with an eyeball appeared…"

{Flashback}

"You are...new...to me. Why have you come here...creature?"

The draconequus's ears fell, and he put on a shaky grin. He may have been powerful, but even Discord knew when he was outclassed. "N-now, now. No need to get all territorial on me. I'm just jumping around dimensions at random. I-I didn't know I'd end up here."

The writhing mass stared at him, the goat eye of the thing balefully blinking slower than a snail crawled. "...Nonsense...everyone that comes here has...something in common...you are looking for knowledge, are you not?"

"U-um, yes! Y-you could say that!" What felt like an eternity passed. Neither being moved, one studying the new creature that had unexpectedly jumped into his realm, and the other simply scared to move. Finally, Discord spoke up. "W-well, I'm sure you're busy, s-so I'll just leave now. Tah!"

He snapped his talons, but nothing happened. Well, that was untrue. Discord felt the familiar surge of chaos energy rushing to shift his position, but before it could do that, it dissipated, torn apart by the very nature of Apocrypha. "You cannot...leave," Mora boomed. "...not without an...exchange...knowledge for knowledge...you gained knowledge...when you arrived, and so...must give me knowledge...to leave…"

Discord nodded, just wanting to get out of there. "O-of course! Well, I'm a draconequus, a spirit of chaos and disharmony with reality-bending powers! Normally I can do as I please, b-but this place is keeping me from doing so; s-stopping the chaos before it can happen." He fidgeted, waiting for a response.

"How...interesting...you may leave...I will see you again...Draconequus…"

{Flashback End}

"After he said that, I blacked out and woke up in my world. His words stuck with me, so I convinced everyone to take safety measures: a failsafe spell that would give whoever was taken from our world by a foreign power amnesia, until they found a way to come home. The only reason Lulu even vaguely remembers me is because I had such an impact on everyone's lives. I am very memorable."

Mikal snorted in amusement. "That you are. Despite telling the guards that you're a newly discovered Daedra, they're still gossiping about the creature that killed so bloodily. They don't like you, Discord, so I would advise you to not act so primal next time. You at least can look human."

Ignoring the jab, Discord continued. "It is okay for Lulu to remember me because I have already told Mora about me. He doesn't strike me as the type to want old information. However, the moment she starts remembering, Luna is in danger. No doubt Mora has servants in this world that would try and take her to him. And that is bad, due to what Luna does know that absolutely must be kept secret, no matter what."

Luna spoke up, a bit worried about the predicament she was in. "I...had a breakdown earlier. I mentioned something called the Children of the Night."

"Did you remember anything about them besides the name?"

Luna shook her head. "Aside from you being associated in some way, no."

"Then we are safe," Discord said. "At least for now. Now that you and I have reunited, the memories will slowly start coming back. Tell me the instant you remember anything." The room was silent for a moment. "And you two, stop hiding behind the door. I know you're there."

All eyes turned to the doorway, where two children guiltily stepped out from behind the door. Shavee let out a small sigh. "We have talked for a long while. I will get these two some food and then they will go to bed." Seeing Runa and Alesan begin to protest, Shavee quickly silenced them. "Hsst! No complaining. Go." The children trudged off to their room, and Shavee followed after gathering up some bread and two cups.

Discord stretched and yawned, popping and cracking quite a few bones as he did. "I am exhausted! I don't suppose you would be willing to lend me a bed for the night?"

"No. We only have one guest bed, and Luna is taking it. You will go to the inn and rent out a room for the night. I still don't trust you, so be grateful that I am giving you enough gold to pay for the rent."

"Fine." Discord rolled his eyes and said goodnight to Luna, who was quite amused by Discord, however vague her memories of him were.

She too yawned, and Mikal helped her up from the chair. "Come. I'll take you to your bed."

Luna shifted on the bed, trying to get comfortable. Stone wasn't the best thing to use for a bed, and even with the hay-stuffed mattress it felt very hard. Eventually, she found a good position, and fell asleep.

{Luna's Dream}

Luna blinked as she found herself floating in a star-filled landscape. It was very beautiful to look at, and she soon noticed the gray, pitted surface she was slowly falling towards. She landed softly, causing a bit of dust to puff up from the disturbance of her touch down. She recognized the moon, of course, amnesia or no amnesia. To her right, a darkened moonscape stretched onwards, filling her vision as she turned towards it.

"Hello, Luna. Did you miss me?"

Startled, Luna peered forwards. A pair of cat-like eyes stared back at her. "Who are you?"

"Oh, Luna...don't tell me you can't recognize yourself anymore…" And she stepped out of the darkness.

Luna gasped. It did look like her. However, this version of her had many noticeable differences. The first was the midnight black skin, and how it seemed to absorb light. The second was the pointed ears, followed by the smile filled with sharp teeth that didn't reach her eyes. The third was the clothing...or lack thereof. Luna could barely call the few scraps of cloth that covered the woman's extremities clothes. This was her and yet...it wasn't. "You...you are not me. Simply because we look somewhat alike-"

"What's wrong, Luna? Still in denial...or is it something else?" The woman's eyes gleamed for the briefest of seconds. "I see. You have amnesia from Discord's little failsafe spell. Well, worry not. I won't take advantage...this time. After all, whether it's you or it's me, we must protect the secrets."

Luna blinked, coming out of her shock. "What secrets? Who are you?"

The woman laughed, the lack of mirth making the laughter sound wrong. "The secrets will come to you, little Luna. As for who I am...I am…"

{Markarth, Mikal's house}

Luna sat up in her bed, with remnants of the dream still lingering. She shuddered as she recalled the way the woman had leaned in and whispered into her ear her name, as though the woman were whispering secrets to a lover. The woman's name fell upon her lips, and escaped into open air.

"Nightmare Moon."

Greetings, everyone. I apologize for making you all wait over a year for this update (well, some of you). Real life, and a combination of my junior and senior years of high school pushed all inspiration from my head. However, I now have the next four months before I'm busy again, so expect one or two more updates before another long wait. Don't worry. I'm going to finish this story if it kills me.

jsun25, logging off