Morning came at the College of Winterhold, and at ten o'clock in the morning, the entire student and faculty body were gathered in the Hall of Elements for the assembly. Everyone had assembled in a circle around where the Eye had been. The Eye was no longer there, and everyone soon found out that the Psijic monks had come the night before and taken it away with them, having deemed it too dangerous and unstable to remain there. Onmund stood between Danielle and J'zargo in the circle, listening to Tolfdir talk for the past fifteen minutes from his spot in the center. He had mourned with them over the loss of Savos Aren and Mirabelle Ervine, lectured them about the lessons learned from Ancano's dealings with the College, and then explained how the Psijic monks had come during the night to take the Eye away, saying, "Our world was not ready for the Eye's power. The loss of one too many lives was the testimony to that." He paused, as everyone once again reflected in silence over the loss of Savos, Mirabelle, and Ancano. "But now," he continued, segueing into the next portion of his lecture, "with that threat gone and the Eye no longer in our realm, we can resume College business as normal. The College is safe again, thanks to the work of several people here. But this morning, I wish to recognize a select few for their stepping up to the formidable task of overcoming the Eye's power and for ensuring the College's and Winterhold's safety. Arniel, will you please step forward?"
With humble poise, the Breton scholar stepped forward and stood by Tolfdir in the center.
"Phinis, please step forward," Tolfdir continued, and Phinis joined him.
"Enthir, please step forward." Onmund bristled a bit as the conniving Bosmer went up.
"Faralda, please step forward. Drevis, please step forward. J'zargo, please step forward."
J'zargo beamed as he joined the elite group.
"Onmund, please step forward."
Surprised at hearing his name, Onmund walked over to the group and stood next to J'zargo.
"Danielle, please step forward."
Onmund smiled as his best friend joined him in the center of the circle.
"These seven that you see here, have gone above and beyond their call of duty," Tolfdir explained. "They not only have fulfilled every expectation, but I believe, have exceeded every expectation to ensure the safety of their fellow mages and have shown immense courage, valor, and integrity in the face of extreme trial. And for this, we wish to offer each and every one of them a token of our utmost appreciation." He reached over to the pedestal near him and produced a silver medal. There were seven of them total, and they were all engraved with the College symbol and motto, "Animus manu crescat," which meant, "The mind must improve with the hand." He presented them to each mage, one-by-one. As Onmund took the medal from his professor, he beamed proudly. Yesterday, he had said to me and Danielle that our service wouldn't go unrecognized. This is great! He then watched as Danielle received the last medal and then everyone in the room applauded.
Having received their medals, the seven mages all went back to the edge of the circle again. Onmund, J'zargo, and Danielle rejoined Brelyna at the edge and she smiled proudly at them. Tolfdir turned to address the crowd again. "Now…we are about to do something most unprecedented in College history. Normally, students must take a test in which they demonstrate both their scholarly and practical knowledge in the school of magic that they are in, and if they pass, they graduate on to the next level of learning. However, today I wish to present to you three students who have demonstrated such knowledge and then some, and whom I believe have already proven themselves worthy of the merit which is about to bestowed upon them. J'zargo, Onmund, and Danielle, would you please step forward again?"
The three apprentices all looked at each other in surprise and joined Tolfdir again in the center of the circle. "These three Novice mages joined our ranks just one month ago. Under my professorship, they have shown great academic progress and great mastery of basic Destruction spells. Therefore, it gives me great joy to bestow upon them the titles of Apprentice Destruction Mages."
Onmund was floored. Apprentice Destruction Mage! he thought with awe. This is the dragon's scales!
Tolfdir then presented each of them with Apprentice Robes and a Hood. Each set was neatly folded up and when he presented it to Onmund, Onmund took it, feeling his whole body tremble with excitement. I'm moving on up here! he thought proudly. And now the four of us- me, Danielle, J'zargo, and Brelyna are all officially Apprentices. This is a dream come true!
Everyone around the circle applauded again and the three newly-promoted apprentices went back to their previous spots. "Congratulations!" Brelyna whispered as they joined her.
Just when Onmund felt as if he couldn't take any more excitement, Tolfdir said to them, "And now…I wish to get to the conclusion of this assembly with another important announcement. As you all know, we have vacancies in both the Master Wizard and Arch-Mage positions. After careful deliberation with my fellow wizards, I am going ahead with filling the Master Wizard position myself."
No surprise there, Onmund thought. Out of all the wizards at the College, Tolfdir has been here the longest.
"Until a time in which another arrangement can be made to find a full-time professor for the School of Destruction, I and the new Arch-Mage shall be doing double-duty between the two," he went on.
The new Arch-Mage…I wonder whom they have chosen to be that person? Onmund wondered curiously. He had no doubt that everyone else in the room wondered the same thing.
"And now…I'm sure you are all curious to know who has been chosen as the new Arch-Mage," Tolfdir continued.
The room fell silent, as even the chattering and murmuring that had been going on on the side had stopped.
"After careful deliberation among the wizards, the answer actually came to us by way of one of the Psijic monks by the name of Quaranir, who recommended this particular individual with great fervor. After hearing his appeal, we had come to the same opinion that this person's character, qualifications, and standing are a perfect match for the demands of such a position. I was given one night to ponder upon the matter, and I daresay that the Psijics are right. There is no one more deserving to be Arch-Mage than this individual."
Well, who is it then?! Onmund wondered anxiously. The suspense is killing me!
With his eyes, Tolfdir honed in on the person at the edge of the circle. "Danielle, will you please step forward?"
A collective gasp rose from the crowd and Onmund felt as if a massive boulder had fallen on him. His jaw dropped and his eyes went wide and he saw Danielle's identical reaction before she slowly stepped up towards Tolfdir.
Tolfdir presented the mage standing next to him, saying, "In the midst of the chaos surrounding the events in the past several days, Danielle has shown again and again what a model mage should be. When things became dire, she took the initiative to investigate the Eye and its mysterious power herself, ultimately leading to the discovery of the Staff of Magnus. She and Onmund ventured into the dangerous and forsaken ruin of Labyrinthian and conquered the dangers within in order to retrieve this long-lost artifact. And in the end, she triumphed over evil, securing our College for future endeavors. It is with great honor that I present these robes to our new Arch-Mage, Danielle Sweeting."
Danielle looked like she was going to burst with emotion as Tolfdir handed her the Arch-Mage's Robes, and she said humbly, "Thank you."
"It will be a great privilege to work with you," he replied to her, smiling. He then turned to the crowd and declared, "Thank you for your attendance this morning. With the help of the new Arch-Mage and of course everybody's optimism and hard work, we shall usher the College of Winterhold into a new era! You are all dismissed!"
Once again, Onmund felt overcome with so many different feelings at once. He joined the others in congratulating Tolfdir and Danielle on their new positions, all the while secretly wondering what the implications of these changes were going to entail. Tolfdir said earlier that he along with the Arch-Mage were going to preside over the School of Destruction. Does that mean that Danielle will still be a student like I am? How is that going to work? He had no idea, but as he saw Danielle approach him, all of his thoughts melted away as she lit up at him and Onmund took in her beautiful smile, giving her one in return. "Congratulations, Danielle!" he said enthusiastically.
She stood before him and replied, "Thank you, Onmund! I'm just so…taken by all this. I don't know what to say."
"You deserve it," he said to her. "If there's anyone I know who has the capacity to lead the College, it's you. I'm really happy for you."
She smiled up at him again, her eyes filled with meaning. What that meaning was, he couldn't even guess, but as he became lost in her gaze, he felt as if he should tell her then and there how much he admired and adored her and how much she meant to him. But he had to remember that there were many others in the room, and no doubt they wanted to have some of her time, as well. Reluctantly, he let her go and let her receive her well-wishes from the other College members and he went back to talking to J'zargo and Brelyna.
"Wow, I can't believe it," Brelyna uttered. "Danielle, the Arch-Mage. Never would've guessed it."
"J'zargo had expected to be named Arch-Mage," J'zargo mused, rubbing his chin. "But there is still time."
Onmund chuckled at his two friends' comments. He was speechless about the whole thing, and Brelyna became curious. "So what do you think of all this, Onmund?" she asked. "Are you happy for Danielle?"
"Absolutely," he responded. "I know that she's going to make a fine Arch-Mage!"
"But is she going to be our professor now, or what?" J'zargo questioned. "J'zargo is confused about what Tolfdir had said earlier."
"I don't think she'll be our professor, as in teaching us," Brelyna said. "To tell you the truth, I don't know how that will work."
As the two Apprentices verbally speculated upon all of the changes that were happening, Onmund tuned them out momentarily to look over at Danielle, who was busy chatting with Nirya, one of the scholars and thought, I'm so proud of her- my friend, the Arch-Mage. Surely, this event is a cause for celebration! I hope I get a chance to talk to her again because I really want to take her out to the Frozen Hearth again. This time, I'll have to see about ordering some Ale for the both of us…Not only was that particular drink his favorite, but he conjectured that if he got to feeling courageous and loose enough, he might actually think about letting her know how he felt about her.
Everyone slowly started vacating the training hall until just Tolfdir and his students remained, including Danielle.
"Well, as you're probably wondering, I will still be your teacher," Tolfdir proclaimed.
Everyone seemed to react with relief to this news, including Danielle, herself.
"But as far as being in charge of training sessions in general, including taking you out on field trips, I will leave that to Arch-Mage Sweeting," he continued. "Her word is final, and I trust that you will respect her authority."
"It will be strange and new, but J'zargo is good at obeying orders," J'zargo remarked.
"Very good," Tolfdir said. "You are all dismissed for now, except for Danielle. We shall meet after lunch for class, and we will all learn new spells now that you are all Apprentices." He then turned to Danielle and said, "Danielle, I will need you to come with me."
As Onmund, Brelyna, and J'zargo went out of the Hall of Elements, leaving Tolfdir and Danielle alone, Onmund felt a little disappointed that he wouldn't get to talk to her until later. But he figured that she was going to be tasked with all sorts of duties now that she was in charge of the College. I wonder what that's going to be like having her in charge of everything? he wondered. I never really got to interact with Savos when he was Arch-Mage so I don't know how he treated students, so it makes me wonder how things will be between me and her from now on. Suddenly, he had an alarming thought. I'm in love with the Arch-Mage…he realized. Suddenly, his desire to talk to her about his feelings seemed like a very bad idea. I can't be in love with her now! That would be…wrong! A student in love in with the Arch-Mage…what would everyone else think? Brelyna's voice suddenly broke into his thoughts.
"I'm really glad that Danielle is in charge," she said. "I don't mind taking orders from her."
"J'zargo thinks it's a little unfair to put an Apprentice in charge of other Apprentices," the Khajiit quipped.
"But she's just an Apprentice in Destruction," Brelyna pointed out. "She's also an Expert in Restoration. Anyway, everyone in leadership is supportive of her being named the Arch-Mage. And so am I."
"It will just take some getting used to," J'zargo admitted. "But if she starts bossing Khajiit around, then we're going to have a real problem."
Brelyna opened the door to the Hall of Attainment and the three of them went in. "She's not a bossy type of person."
As they stood in the foyer about to go their separate ways, Brelyna looked at Onmund and said, "You've been awfully quiet since we left the training hall. Does it bother you at all that Danielle's in charge of us now?"
Feeling like he was being put on the spot, he answered nervously, "No! It doesn't bother me."
"You don't think she's a bossy person, do you?" she asked him.
"No," he responded, not really feeling like taking part in this conversation.
"Next time J'zargo will go with her to dangerous Nordic ruins," J'zargo declared. "He wants the chance to prove to her how good he is with his spells."
"I doubt we could get away with that anymore," Brelyna asserted. "Now that she's Arch-Mage, she can't be showing favoritism towards certain students. She has to treat everyone fairly."
"She wasn't showing favoritism towards me!" Onmund piped up defensively.
"I didn't say she was," she said. "Not before, anyway. But now that she's in a leadership position, she can't be spending all of her time training with just one person."
J'zargo laughed. "I think that makes Onmund quite sad."
Onmund became flustered. "I'm not sad! Why should I be sad? It just means that she won't be spending a lot of time with you either!"
"J'zargo is not sad," J'zargo replied. "After all, he's not the one with the crush on her."
Onmund felt his face become red with embarrassment as he gave a loud sigh and protested, "I don't have a crush on her!"
"J'zargo thought you did."
Onmund looked at Brelyna in an accusatory manner and the Dunmer protested, "I never said anything to him! J'zargo seems to think you do, as well!"
He felt like he was losing his composure now. He was about to open his mouth and say something, most likely something foolish, when the door opened, and Danielle walked in.
"Oh! Hi, Danielle!" Brelyna greeted as everyone stood around stiffly.
"Hi," Danielle replied. She smiled weakly and appeared to be down about something, not even picking up on the strange behavior of her three friends.
"We were just talking about you," Brelyna continued. "What's it like being Arch-Mage now?"
Danielle shrugged. "I don't know yet. But I've come in here to move my things out."
"Move your things out?" Brelyna questioned. "What do you mean?"
"You are…moving out?" J'zargo also questioned.
She looked at her three friends with a sad look on her face and responded, "Yes. I am moving into Savos' old room."
"The Arch-Mage's Quarters?" Brelyna questioned. "Ohh, that's right. Wow, I'm jealous! All that space!"
Onmund's heart sank as they said this. Moving out? Danielle is no longer going to be with us in here? He looked at her anxiously. Please don't let this be true.
"J'zargo envies Danielle," J'zargo said with amazement.
"Do you need any help moving your things?" Brelyna asked.
"No, thank you," Danielle replied. "I don't have that many things to move. I'd better hurry. I have some things to do before our class."
Onmund watched in disbelief as she left the three of them and made her way to her room near the door. Without much else to say, the three Apprentices went their separate ways and he went to his own room.
As he opened his wardrobe and began unfolding his new Apprentice robes, he stole a glance over at Danielle in her room. She was quickly moving to and fro, grabbing things out of her wardrobe, chest, and desk and stuffing it all into a large sack. His heart saddened as he realized that they'd never get to talk in their rooms anymore, he'd never again be able to catch glimpses of her brushing her hair or reading a book by candlelight, and he'd never again hear her sweet voice and laughter floating through the hall as she gossiped with Brelyna. Onmund felt like his world was slowly unraveling. He didn't want things to go this way.
He quickly changed into his Apprentice robes and then he saw Danielle carry her sack of things out the door. Onmund hurried out after her and went outside, as well. "Danielle!" he called out as she was walking briskly across the courtyard.
At the sound of his voice, she turned around and looked at him. He ran over to her. So many things were running through his mind that he didn't say anything at first, so she broke the silence by saying, "You're wearing your new robes."
"Yeah," he responded. "They feel, uh, a little bit lighter than the old ones. How are your Arch-Mage's robes?"
"I haven't tried them on yet," she replied. She then gave him a wistful look and said, "Oh, Onmund. I never even congratulated you on getting promoted. I'm such a bad friend."
"No. You're not," he said softly. "A lot of stuff was on your mind probably."
She nodded. "Well, congratulations. I bet you're happy about graduating."
"Yeah…" he replied. "Thank you."
She looked like she wanted to say something else, but she finally sighed and said, "I'd better get going."
"Wait," he stopped her. "I want to ask you if you'd like to have dinner with me at the Frozen Hearth tonight. We probably…won't have much time to go there for lunch."
He saw her face fall as she looked down at the ground and replied, "I can't. I would love to…but I'm having dinner with the other professors tonight." She then added in a noticeably sad tone, "I'm required to."
"Oh," he answered disappointedly. "You're required to…every night?"
She nodded slowly. "We're supposed to discuss College affairs over dinner. Savos did it when he was Arch-Mage."
"Oh, okay." He wasn't sure what to say now. He began to come to the conclusion that this was never going to work- asking her to do things with him.
"Onmund…" she started, looking up at him.
He waited for her to continue, but instead, she looked back down and said, "Never mind. I'd better go. I'll see you in class."
Onmund had no choice but to let her go. Whatever she had planned to tell him, he would never find out. "Okay. See you."
She then turned and left him standing there.
Response to a comment on the previous chapter: I didn't realize that Estormo could be completely bypassed in the game! I guess if you leave Labyrinthian the way you came or completely sneak past him, it's possible...he doesn't seem to contribute much to the quest line and he was hardly boss-battle caliber, which was why I had to beef up his encounter in this story.