A/N: Welcome back!
All characters, place settings and other items belong to their respective copyright holders, Bethesda/ZeniMax Media Inc.. Characters that do not appear in the original content of The Elder Scrolls (OC, or original character) that bears a name similar to other popular story character names and/or character behaviour and attitude are purely coincidental.
Chapter 5: Moving Day (again)
"Pack your things children, we are leaving soon", Janice said as she finished her venison stew. She always loved to eat venison ever since she had her first taste when she got enough money to splurge on expensive items1.
"Yes mom!" Blasie and Sofie said in unison, both enthusiastic about the prospect of being royalty.
"What about me?" Alduin asked, looking up from her meal.
"I need to give you an alias, that way the guards won't try to kill you if they find out. How does Alice sound?" Janice said as she put down the empty bowl.
"I could live with that, it isn't that bad of a name." Alduin said.
"It could have been worse, I saw her trying to name a sword she used for crafting practice, 'Sharpy' once." Derkeethus said with a giggle as he collected the dishes.
"Right, I need to give you a convincing background story too, you know, for possible explanations and such. How about 'I found you as an egg and decide not to kill you'?" Janice suggested as she stood up.
"Really convincing, what is your speechcraft level?" Alduin asked as she snatched the small portion of beef from her plate as Derkeethus removes it.
"I can persuade just about anyone." Janice replied as she moved upstairs to change.
Flipping open the chest, she collected some other weapons that she would like to have with her, namely, the Wabbajack, the Staff of Magnus (she doubts that the guards would handle it with care given the nature of this incredibly powerful staff), Auriel's Bow, the Skull of Corruption and the Ebony Blade. Moving to the dresser, she took all the Dragon Priest masks with her as well as the Masque of Clavicus Vile. Moving down, she took out all the unique rings that she had stowed there, not wanting the guards to find out that she had connections to certain Daedric Lords that were seen as evil.
Changing into her Daedric armour set (without the helmet), she gave her mental checklist a nod before remembering something important. "Can't show them I am a vampire! Hmm, I guess I should start preparing potions of blood." Janice whispered to herself, already forgetting that she had a few hundred bottles of them stashed inside a barrel in the cellar.
Looking through the house again as the other residents quickly packed their things, Janice slipped into the cellar to look for her potions and poisons. "Can't leave without some Jarrin' Root based poison! They really are handy when you need them." Janice almost hissed evilly in the empty cellar.
Looking around again, she spotted a small barrel sticking out from under the coal pile used to fuel the forge. The blood! Yes! She thought as she fished it out. I need to find a way to disguise it though, I think I could pass it on as my special mixture of tomato sauce. Maybe I would make a recipe to make it seem legitimate. She thought as she haul the barrel up the ladder.
Seeing Derkeethus wearing his Dragonscale armour with his helmet off, Janice walked over to him to discuss the packing progress. "I'm just about done Derkeethus, what about the others?" Janice asked.
"I have finished my packing, the steward preparing the horse for herself and the children and I have dismiss the bard for you." Derkeethus replied.
"Where is Alduin? I would like to show her something before we leave." Janice said as she put down the barrel that is now labelled 'Janice's Special Tomato Sauce' in scratch marks.
"Over there, in the small house", Derkeethus pointed.
Walking over there, she saw the dragoness looking over the Dragonscale helmet left there by Janice. "Nice crafting, our scales are tougher than most of the daedra's armours." Alduin commented with a tear still visible in her eye.
"Thank you. Anyway, I would like to show you something, but before that, take this stone, I think you may need it." Janice said as she pat the dragoness on the back while fishing out a big oval pebble with a flat base.
"Thanks, I needed an incredibly hard pebble to hug anyway." Alduin said sarcastically as she exchanged the helmet for the pebble.
"Its not for hugging. You will know soon. Come with me", Janice said as she beckoned the dragoness.
Leading Alduin to the entrance to the trophy room, she said "You may not like what you find inside, but it is for the best. And you might want to start the ritual for honouring your fallen before we go, you really need to start a new beginning."
"I will try not to break down this time." Alduin said weakly as she hugged the pebble tighter under one wing.
"Prepare yourself," Janice said as she threw opened the doors.
Inside, on the middle trophy base, sits a dragon skull. Flanking it on either side were two draugr statues in different poses. On the other trophy bases sits various other kinds of enemies such as dwarven spheres and spiders.
Hiding her face under the other wing, Alduin started to sob again, not wanting to face the remains of the dragon. "Come on, it is time you say your prayers. You really need to let go." Janice as she rubbed the dragoness on her back.
"I suppose so, wait, this skull looks familiar." Alduin said as she examined it more closely, stepping into the trophy room.
"He was an easy target, too arrogant, too careless. You should have picked a better dragon than Sahloknir to fight me." Janice said.
"I hate you so much." Alduin said, "just leave me alone to do my ritual. Bring me some candles will you?"
"Sure," Janice said as she handed some candles to the dragoness from a drawer outside the room. "Anything else?"
"Some raw beef and venison." Alduin replied as she arrange the candles in a semicircle with the pebble in the centre of the line of candles under Sahloknir's skull.
"You just had breakfast you fat dragon!" Janice exclaimed.
"It is for the ritual, not for stuffing myself fool." Alduin spat.
"Fine," Janice said as she went to the kitchen.
With the arrangements in place, Alduin closed the doors and spoke in Dovahzul (A/N: I am just going to bold the English words here, is not spitting out English characters) "To the souls that are still trapped within the Dovahkiin's body, to the souls she already used, to the souls who are lucky enough to escape capture and the Dragon Cult, I speak now to thee. As your leader and King (Queen?), I wish that you had a good life, even if it was cut short soon after your rebirth. I wish that you have seen the many sights you had wished to see after so many years of suspended animation awaiting rebirth. I wish that you had a glorious fight with the Dovahkiin, that you died well during the battle with no regrets. To my fallen generals, I wish that you had a good time serving the cause. To my beloved Dragon Cult, I hope that you have fought well against the single most powerful person to oppose us since Miraak. May you forgive me for letting you down as your leader. May you forever be at peace." Alduin finished with a bow.
Feeling dizzy all of the sudden, Janice sat down on the ground with her back leaning against the door. With a jerk, she fell unconscious. Alduin turned around with shock upon hearing a bang from the jerk. Observing the Dragonborn, she walked closer to prod the limp body with a wing.
Janice suddenly jerked again, opening her eyes, though it wasn't her normal orange vampire eyes, instead it was a deep purple, an incredibly intense, deathly red marks where the pupil is. This drove the dragoness backwards, whimpering in fright. Speaking in Dovahzul and gripping the dragoness with her hands, Janice said in a voice unlike Alduin had ever experienced, "Oh great one, how you too had fallen to such a pathetic state at the hands of this Dragonborn. If even you can't best this warrior, what can the rest of us do against such a mighty opponent that seems to have wield the power of demigods in her hands? Do not bother yourselves with us, great one, we have already resigned to our fate. We can, but only, offer you the assurance that we will always be watching over you through the Dragonborn's eyes." Said the thousands of voices echoing within Janice's creepy, haunting voice. Janice seems to have to emotions displayed what-so-ever.
Shaking within the grasp of the Dragonborn's vice-like grip, her tail between her legs in a protective fashion, Alduin replied, "Who are you?"
"We are the dragonsouls she has absorbed, great one. We have no body here, just the other souls and the dragonsoul of the Dragonborn to keep us company. Her Dragonsoul is beautiful, so pure is her cause that she have such a nice soul." The voices replied.
"Can you communicate without letting her get knocked unconscious? I would really like to talk more." Alduin said after calming down significantly.
"To do that, we would have to establish some form of connection with her own dragonsoul. We would have to share some of the latent power to do that and that may lead to some… side effects. We should be able to manifest ourselves better after that though." The voices explained.
"What kind of side effects?" Alduin asked.
"Would you like to proceed? Even we do not know the full extent of the effects, but one thing is for certain, we can speak with you telepathically." The voices explained in some slight mirth of excitement, however, Janice's face is still devoid of expression.
"Sure, go ahead, I don't want to feel lonely. Besides, what is the worse that could happen? Like is she going to become a weredragon?" Alduin said as she grinned broadly.
"Stand back, great one. We will begin." Said the voices as Janice stood up and placed Alduin on top of Sahloknir's skull.
"Ready!" Alduin said as she braced herself on the horns of the skull. "You really do have some nice horns, Sahloknir." Alduin praised a little too loudly.
"Thanks!" Janice blurted, although this time it was just a singular voice, the voice of Sahloknir.
"Wahhh!" Alduin exclaimed in astonishment, nearly falling off the skull.
Not answering, Janice started to go into a trance, muttering all sorts of things in Dovahzul. After a few minutes of intense chanting with Alduin looking on curiously, Janice begun to glow faintly. Before Alduin could react, her body started to change shape, her tail fur molded into scales, the tip forming a triangle with webbing, much like a dragon's tail. Her armour melded into her flesh, giving her black and red skin while scales of the same colouring started to grow. Her head takes on that of a legendary class dragon and her arms transformed into wings. Her neck grew out like a dragon's and her body takes on the shape of Alduin's, except with fewer spikes. Her legs buckled and she was on all fours, her legs apparently taking on the short, but strong legs of a dragon. She had been transformed into a dragon by the souls she had absorbed since her journey begun1.
Opening her eyes, she stared up at the black dragoness on the skull. "We did not expect such a strong effect." The voices said.
Alduin just looked on, not really sure how to react. "We think it is best that we wake her up, we can continue our chat later. Tell her to use the Dragon Aspect shout if she wish to change back freely." With that, Janice fainted again.
Flying down to her face, Alduin was not quite sure how to break it to Janice. Examining her, Alduin noticed that she was about the same size as herself. Her colours were not natural though, being black primarily with red spots along the sides of her back and under her belly, kind of like her Daedric armour in pattern.
Alduin was not given a warning before Janice's eyes flew open, her normal orange vampire eyes returning. "What… happened?" Janice asked weakly.
"Umm… Apparently my prayers summoned the souls residing in you and for me to communicate with them further, they have to turn you into a… dragon?" Alduin explained quite frantically.
"What!" Janice screamed as she bolted up before collapsing again, not used to how wings work.
Hearing a scream, Derkeethus stopped helping the children pack and head through the trophy room door. "Where is Janice? And where did this dragon come from? Speak Alduin!" Derkeethus demanded as he took out his sword.
"Relax Derkeethus, the dragon is your wife. She got turned into a dragon by the dragonsouls she had absorbed." Alduin said.
"Okay, see you," Derkeethus said as he walks off.
"What's with him?" Alduin asked. "Why doesn't he seem to care?"
"I might have turned into a werewolf and a vampire lord in front of him before…" Janice said guiltily.
"That explains it, anyway, they told me you can change back using Dragon Aspect." Alduin relayed.
"I see, I would like to try this out later though." Janice said before using the shout to turn back into a Khajiit. She is still wearing her Daedric armour.
"Let's get going, I still have to tell them to carry some of the items here. And it is already ten in the morning." Janice said as she got up, apparently staring at a blank space when referring to the time.
"Get your men ready, I have quite a number of items needing transport, Cocceius." Janice said as she emerge from the house.
"Yes Your Highness!" The guards saluted as they went inside.
Following Janice in, Cocceius commented that the house is quite beautiful. "Thanks, I built it myself" Janice said.
"Really, Your Highness? This is such a magnificent manor. You built it well, not to mention you look fantastic in that armour of yours. Throw on a crown and a cape and you would look as good as Tiber Septim was back in his day." Cocceius said before spotting Alduin on the bed, curled up slightly looking at them.
"Who might this be, Your Highness?" Cocceius asked.
"She is my pet dragon, Alice. I found her as an egg, buried under several layers of snow on the Throat of the World." Janice explained.
"Hello," Alduin said.
"It… It can talk?" Cocceius jumped in surprise.
"All dragons can talk in two languages, don't you know that?" Janice said.
"Of… of course, Your Highness." Cocceius said.
"Right, you two get along with each other, I need to oversee the packing, there are some things here which needs extra care. After that, we are heading to the Blue Palace, I need to speak with some of my associates." Janice instructed Cocceius.
"Certainly, Your Highness," Cocceius called after her.
[Line break (Different from a time skip)]
"NO! The staff needs to be carefully handled, its ancient wood is quite fragile you know!" Janice exclaimed as the guards packed up her weapons.
"That is a lot of weapons, most of them being legendary artifacts, Your Highness. Where did you obtain them?" One of the guards asked.
"I found them in dungeons." Janice semi-lied.
By now, they have already packed all of her stuff into the carriage driver's carriage. "You work quickly, I like that." Janice praised Cocceius.
"Anything to please the Empress," Cocceius bowed.
"We have sent word of your arrival at Solitude. The Jarls of Skyrim are already there. General Tullius is heading the security there, he had complained that things would be a lot easier when you are the one in charge." Cocceius told Janice as she ushered the kids into the red carriage.
"He will be in for a surprise then. By the way, what happened to the Penitus Oculatus? Weren't they supposed to head the security?" Janice asked Cocceius.
"They were removed when an assassin killed Commander Maro, proving how ineffective they were at protecting the Emperor." Cocceius explained.
"I see," Janice said as she picked up Alduin and place her into the carriage. "Meeko, we don't have enough room for you, so you will have to follow us outside, is that okay?" Janice said as she pat the dog on the head.
Giving her a happy yelp, Meeko went to follow Cocceius.
Seeing Shadowmere appearing from the back of the house, Janice walked to him and climbed on. "Did you get to everyone?" Janice whispered into Shadowmere's ear.
"Yes I did, Lydia was tough though, she doesn't want to leave her seat to meet me outside." Shadowmere replied.
"Nice horse, Your Highness. I did not get a close look at it when it was still in the shed." Cocceius said as he walked up to her.
"Glad to hear that, his name is Sha… Shade, his name is Shade." Janice said, almost revealing Shadowmere's true name.
"Couldn't pick a better cover name myself." Shadowmere commented.
"Lovely name, especially when it's fur is so black, just like shadows." Cocceius praised. "You sure you will be alright there, Your Highness?" Cocceius asked in concern.
"It is okay, I always ride horseback in between cities. I can defend myself." Janice said as she slips on the Daedric helmet. Eyeing Derkeethus on the other horse, Janice said, "Are we ready to leave?"
"All set, Your Highness," Cocceius said as he mounted his horse.
[Time skip]
It was evening when they arrived in Solitude; Janice had wanted to collect her custom weapons along the way, thus slowing them down a little.
"Your Highness! Welcome to Solitude… ?!" General Tullius said in surprise as he opened the gates to let the convoy in, all having dismounted before hand, of course.
Taking off her helmet, Janice said in mock salute, "reporting for duty, sir!" Before laughing wildly at the shocked expression of the General and Legate.
Leaving the two behind, they were met by the people of Solitude who were equally surprised that a certain Thane had been crowned the Empress. The city guards were busy holding off the crowd of twenty people to notice. They are struggling with just twenty people? Just how disastrous were the training sessions? Janice thought.
[Elisif's POV, Third person]
The Empress! they had already chosen a worthy successor and she is coming here tonight before going for her coronation in the Imperial City! This is so exciting, I wonder who could that be though? Elisif thought as she paced frantically around her room, having some time off from entertaining the other Jarls and Janice's housecarls for some reason.
Hearing the blare of the trumpets signalling the arrival of the Empress, Elisif quickly snapped out of her thoughts and went to the lobby to welcome the new Empress. As the door opens, she, as well as the other Jarls nearly had a heart attack.
A/N: That is it for today! Please review and remember to favourite or follow if you like this story! It really helps my motivation. PS: If you are wondering why I haven't hit a writer's block yet, then check out my profile, I have already planned the fic from start to finish so I don't have to think of ideas out of the blue. Spoiler alert if you do though.
1. This idea literally forced itself into my head, it isn't even on my to-do list! So Janice is now a fire breathing black dragon, I am going to need to up the skill level of the enemies she is going to fight later on.