Chapter 11 – Simulacrum
Lucien paced back and forwards across the cold stone floor of his new sanctum. Outside, it was raining fire. It had been like this since a few minutes before midnight, and the terrified shrieks and wails from the city's inhabitants had become like the background noise of the thunder, and the roar of the flames as the land burned. Lucien was reminded forcibly of the Oblivion crisis, except that then it had never actually rained fire (unless you count the rain of burning dogs in Border Watch, and Lucien had a fair idea who was behind that.)
He had been very busy over the last few days; contracts had taken up most of his time as the word had spread rapidly about the new 'service' available in town, but work had ground to a halt when flames began to pour from the heavens. It was only last week that the earth had shaken and ripped apart, and now this… Lucien was beginning to suspect that there was some unknown force at work here. However, he could glean nothing from his link with Kushiel; their bond had grown stronger over the last few days, and Lucien could detect nothing that would cause these strange phenomena. But now, with the drop in demand for his services, he had time to pursue his plan. It was time to visit Chaiya again.
xox
Raith Revan stared dolefully at the dregs of tea in his cup as he swirled them idly about. He had been waiting on a bench outside of Arquen's office for the last hour, and he still had no clue as to why the Altmer had called for him. He had had two contracts since he joined, and had fulfilled them both with little trouble, so he was sure he had done nothing wrong. Besides, breaking the rules was supposed to invoke the wrath of Sithis, not Speakers. He had not heard anything from Loria for a while, but the other members of the sanctuary assured him this was normal.
Just as he had begun to ponder stretching out and catching up on some sleep, the door to Arquen's office swung wide, and the High Elf beckoned him in with an imperious finger. Hesitantly, he rose and followed her into the dimly lit chamber. The mer gestured for him to sit in a chair which rested in a pool of light from the candelabra opposite her desk. Feeling like he was being taken in for interrogation, Raith sat in the chair, and squinted out at Arquen as she settled herself behind her desk.
After regarding her victim for a time, she cleared her throat and spoke in careful, clipped tones. "I understand you met with the Listener some days ago?"
Seeing no reason to lie, the Imperial answered "Yes, she asked to be introduced to the new Archmage of the mages guild."
"For what purpose?"
Raith paused. He knew of no reason to keep that information secret; the Listener had not asked him to, yet somehow he was reticent to tell her – surely Loria would have told the Black Hand of her plans if they were supposed to know?
"Never disobey or refuse to carry out an order from a Dark Brotherhood superior," Arquen quoted. "Why did the Listener meet with Anton Filius?"
"She wanted him to examine a scroll she had."
"What kind of scroll?"
"It was an ancient Dunmeri teleportation scroll," Raith reluctantly revealed. "But its power was spent; she wanted to know the destination of the spell, and how to revive the magicka in it."
Arquen's expression shifted from surprise to satisfaction, and Raith felt a wave of shame at revealing the Listener's private business to her subordinates, but what recourse did he have?
"Thank you, Revan, you have been very helpful. May you walk always in the shadow of Sithis, dear brother."
"And you as well."
The Imperial rose from his seat and slunk from the room, not noticing a figure step out of the shadows.
"So," said Banus, "Lachance teleported himself using this scroll, and Loria went off to find him."
"It seems unlikely, then, that Lachance is behind the disappearance of Bellamont after all, and it looks like Loria left of her own accord." Arquen's tone was disgruntled. "Meanwhile the Brotherhood continues to suffer! Prayers to the Night Mother must be going unanswered as the Listener is neglecting her duties because of this… obsession with Lachance. Steps must be taken."
"You have my support," Banus answered. "But Bellisarius will object, as will Vicente."
"That bloodsucker should never have been made a speaker!" spat the elf.
"There was no one more qualified among our ranks, and we need four speakers, always," replied Banus. "But he agreed to the promotion only as a favour to Loria; he will stand down when he is no longer needed."
Arquen snorted. "Sooner."
xox
Lucien raised a bored eyebrow as Chaiya made her eerie way towards him.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" she crooned.
"I require… ah… assistance," replied the assassin. "I need a woman."
Chaiya looked the Imperial up and down, appraisingly. "I think I can help with that," she smiled mysteriously.
Lucien narrowed his dark eyes. "Not that kind of assistance." He lifted her delicate chocolate hand from the front of his robe. "I need an assistant. A female assistant. One who can act."
The look of disappointment lingered only for a moment on Chaiya's angular features. "It will be arranged," she said, and glided out of the room without further ado.
Lucien did the same, with only a fleeting feeling of consternation at being dismissed so unceremoniously. Winding his way back through the streets of the City of Light, he kept to the shadows, sniggering to himself as he saw a hapless traveller fall victim to the ever voracious retards that littered the place. He walked past the fissure in the road, a relic of the recent earthquake, and wondered briefly when the council would see fit to mend it – in Cheydinhal it would have been fixed at once.
He opened the door to his hideout to find a statuesque blonde woman draped over his brand new desk.
xox
Loria sat regally on her throne. One by one, the Daedra Lords were arriving, and their aides introducing them to the new Lady of Madness.
Not that they really needed it.
First to arrive was Azura in a crescent moon and star ensemble. Then came Meridia, who was a kind of haze of light in a rather lively shade. They were both quite friendly, and complemented Loria on her costume.
Next came Sanguine; he sashayed into the great hall in five inch stilettos, a blood red bra and thong set, and full length stockings and suspenders. Loria could only assume he was meant to be a whore, and tried desperately to pretend that she couldn't see what was under the thong. His lecherous comments to the platypus were interrupted by the arrival of the next guest; Clavicus Vile was cleverly disguised as a hound, and bounded over to lick the platypus' anus in greeting.
Next to arrive were what Loria took to be Nocturnal and Vaermina; a fog of impenetrable darkness and something that shifted constantly between various horrific images. Loria avoided looking at the latter; the constant shifting made her feel slightly queasy.
"She's not going to win the best costume competition," whispered the platypus to Haskill.
At this point Loria noticed an Ogre skulking in the corner, and could only assume that Malacath had arrived at some point and she hadn't noticed. Her musings were interrupted as the floor began to shake. Wineglasses rattled on the table; the chip dip shuddered dangerously close to the edge, and the giant feather duster in the centre began to sneeze.
Then the door exploded, and in stomped the red skin and numerous arms of Mehrunes Dagon.
"I hope he's planning on paying for that door!" squeaked the platypus indignantly.
"Psh, always has to make an entrance," scoffed Meridia.
"Hey Big M!" called Sanguine. "It's not Halloween you know, what's with the costume?" An exaggerated expression of dawning realisation crossed his features. "Oh! That's your face!"
"Ahem – lame – ahem," coughed the Clavicus dog. Or it might have been Barbas.
Before Mehrunes could respond to the jeers of his peers, he was hustled aside by a werewolf and a dragon.
"Ah, Peryite, that is so lame!" Clavicus called to the dragon.
The dragon snorted. "Because your costume is so original."
Another argument was interrupted by the arrival of the next guest. A book. It waddled in by its corners. There was a moment of silence, then everyone went back to their conversations. Even if they weren't really having one.
Next came the shock of the evening.
In walked an entity so boring, that Loria could not bear to look at it. Indeed, her mind could not even comprehend its mind numbingly prosaic appearance. A hushed whisper ran through the crowd: Jyggalag had gatecrashed!
Conversation did not start up again. One or two guests yawned. Haskill sidled up to the platypus.
"This is bad, my lady," he said, sounding, if possible, even more bored than usual.
The platypus just stared unseeingly at the daedric prince of order.
"Jyggalag is the world's worst party pooper. Even worse than Malacath," he nodded at the Ogre now staring at the wall; drooping ears enhancing the general aura of stupidity surrounding it.
But Loria was already in the grip of the deadly vapidity, and the entire party was quickly following suit. Haskill had long since begun to lose hope, but just as he began to wonder why he wasn't being affected by the earth shattering mundaneness, 'help' arrived in the form of a giant slug, oozing foul smelling pus from various orifices. Everyone in the vicinity of the tangible stench that followed Namira around was shaken from their listlessness, and began to wretch.
With the party rapidly going downhill after only half an hour, Haskill decided to take action. Whipping the tablecloth out from under the food on the table, he ushered the two newest arrivals into a corner by themselves, and covered them with the cloth. Unfortunatly, there was now nothing to eat, as all the food had been thrown to the floor.
Only Sanguine really looked disappointed.
Released from the deathly uninspiring rays of Jyggalag, or the gut-twisting nausea of Namira, the gathering quickly went back to their conversations. Except for Malacath. He continued to stare at the wall.
xox
Lucien stared at his sanctum's new décor as she slipped off the desk and made her way over to him. With an elaborate bow that revealed far too much of her cleavage to be entirely plausible, she introduced herself to the assassin.
"My name is Miss Haise," she spoke in honeyed tones. "I was sent here by lady Chaiya to assist you."
Lucien sighed testily. "Follow me; stick close."
xox
Just late enough to be fashionable, but not enough to be rude; in came Vivec, accompanied by Almalexia.
"Bal's not here yet?" Vivec scanned the room briefly.
Almalexia was looking at the moon and star with a scowl on her face. "Azura, you spoil sport! You were supposed to complete our ensemble; where's Sotha Sil?"
The moon and star twinkled mysteriously. "I must have missed that message, Boethiah," it said.
Suddenly, there was a loud crack, and the lights went out. A horn sounded from the doorway, and when the lights came on again, in walked… Loria.
There was a moment of silence as the whole room did a double take, before Nocturnal piped up. "…Bal?"
The Loria simulacrum split into a wide grin, and the room burst into applause.
A/N: I know I've said it before, but I really will try to be more forthcoming with updates in future! As for this chapter... well I don't really like it. It was much longer, so I split it in two. So expect the next chapter - 'Splatypus' - to be up soon! :)