The flame left my body and relit the fires of Dementia. I watched as the fires shot towards the sky with an eerie blue light. I shivered at the thought of killing Syl, but what must be done must be done. I looked to Sheogorath, who sat smiling and tapping his cane on the floor. My legs worked against me as I walked down the stairs slowly and next to him. My arms betrayed me too as they wrapped themselves around Sheogorath's neck. He chuckled and patted my back.
"You've done it," He cheered, "You'll be the new Duchess of Dementia."
"But Syl will have to die." I said, the hollowness of my voice etching every word.
"Yes, but she's lived long enough, don't you think?"
I didn't answer, instead merely stared down at my sweaty palms. I watched as they were soaked up to my elbows in blood, I held a heart wildly above my head. I clutched onto Sheo and whispered that I felt ill. He escorted me out and back to the palace, into his bed where I would forever stay.
"Are you feeling alright now?" He asked patiently.
I laid in the bed, ironically enough on the Dementia side of his split covers, with my arms laying neatly on my chest.
"No." I choked.
He approached me and gently stroked my hair. I turned away from him and buried my face in the pillow. He then firmly grabbed my hair and turned my face around. I knew that 'Nice Sheogorath' had gone on for far too long.
"What in the Isles is your problem?"
"Syl doesn't deserve to die."
"It's the initiation process. You chose Dementia, so you must kill Syl. Otherwise, you will die. The choice is up to you."
With that he pushed my head back down and stormed out of the door. I sat up a head ache tore through my skull and I clutched my head, closing my eyes and moaning slightly. The image of blood-stained hands and arms flickered past my eyes and I lost my breath. I've killed before, who couldn't I do it again? What if Syl had deserved to die? She betrayed her people, but sleeping with the Duke of Mania hardly counts as a reason to die. I flexed my hands and cracked my neck, standing up from the bed, placing my leather armor on and strapping my sword to my hip.
"Where are you going?" Haskill asked, chasing after me.
"To kill a certain woman who is impeding my progress here." I replied and threw the door open, walking out into the brisk dawn.
I walked over to the Dementia side of the palace because I didn't want to run into Sheogorath when he was in a bad mood. I walked in and she knew I was coming as no one was there. I walked down to her room and saw a body on her bed.
"What the hell?" I said, closely examining the body.
"It's merely a decoy." A voice said from behind me.
I quickly spun around, seeing that it was only Kithlan.
"I can see that." I replied and kicked the floor.
He beckoned me to follow him, so I obeyed and he lead me to a nearby Sheogorath bust. He pulled on it and the floor beneath it opened and a ladder leading into nothing appeared.
I smirked at Kithlan and climbed down the ladder and into the dark.
--
Syl!" I called out in the dank darkness.
Only my own voice echoing answered me. I sighed in frustration and groped about the cavern until I managed to find a torch.
"Prepare to die Syl." I whispered and ran through the labyrinth.
--
I walked carefully towards a well lit room, and found Syl and her trusty dark seducers. I chuckled at the thought of her death, and she heard me.
"Come out, traitor!"
"I hardly consider myself a traitor." I replied coyly, stepping from the shadows.
She drew a battle axe from across her back as her dark seducers drew out maces. Syl stepped back like a coward and let her dark seducers take care of me. I was an expert swordsman, so when one raised her mace too slowly and clumsily, I quickly drew my sword and stabbed her in the stomach before she could even hope to crush my skull. The other was in shock, but trained well enough to block my swing. Syl took the opportunity to swing at my exposed back. Luckily she's clumsy, so it left merely a scratch on my skin. I pushed the dark seducer away with my shield and slashed left and right at Syl, who blocked all my attacks. If I wasn't so rushed, this would be over by now. The hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention and I ducked, barely missing a blow to the head by a mace. I quickly spun around and slashed at her shins, calling her to fall to the floor, screaming in pain.
"Die, seducer!" I said cruelly as I cut her head off.
As my sword dripped with blood, I turned slowly to Syl, fire burning deep and hot beneath my eyes. She could see it as she backed up to the cavern wall, dropping her battle axe. My boots carried a new, heavier weight as I stomped towards her, holding my blade up. She turned around and scratched at the walls, screaming incoherently. I turned her around roughly and stabbed her through the abdomen, pinning her to the wall. She let out an inhuman cry of pain as I dug through my boot and retrieved a dagger, cutting her chest open as the blood sprayed onto my face and chest. Ignoring Syl's screams, I dug through her chest and ripped out her barely-beating heart and held it triumphantly over my head.
"So it is done, Syl." I said evilly as she slumped against the wall, dead.
My arms were covered up to the elbow in pure blood, and surprisingly, I didn't cry, scream or faint. Maybe the insanity of the Shivering Isles was finally catching up to me. I walked away from Syl's body after withdrawing my sword, letting the blood drain from her heart that I carried in my left hand. The beating finally died when I left the cavern.
--
I returned to the Sacellum, carefully cradling Syl's heart and placed it into the altar. I looked to Sheogorath, who seemed to be proud. So it was official. I was the new Duchess of Dementia, and everything will be fine from now--
"STOP!!" A voice screamed from the back of the room.
So much for everything being fine. I surprisingly identified the voice as being Thadon's. He screamed at Sheogorath that this wasn't fair that Syl was now dead and some outsider came to take her place. I was offended, but when I stepped forward to challenge Thadon to defend his claim, Sheogorath's arm draped across my chest to hold me back.
"Hold your tongue little Duke, or I will!"
Thank the Gods it wasn't me who was getting Sheo upset. Thadon's face became red as he screamed he was leaving to join Order during the Greymarch. He stormed out of the Sacellum, but when I moved to stop him, Sheogorath stopped me.
"Layla, let him go."
"Let him go?! He'll betray us all!"
"That may be, but he will be dealt with later. For now, I want you to have this."
He handed me an ornate ring, which was beautiful. The band and gem were pure onyx and it seemed to catch the light when I turned it.
"It's a ring of your lordship. Either wear it or keep it around you at all times, because it is a symbol of your title, and symbols are very important."
"Of course Sheo, whatever you say."
I looked back at Syl's heart in the altar, and immediately all resolve I had when I killed Syl broke away. I collapsed onto Sheogorath and cried my eyes out, my hands and arms still covered with dried, caked blood.
"How could I have done this?" I screamed, clutching onto him tightly.
He sank me to the floor and stroked my hair, and it was all déjà vu.