Before you do anything, PLEASE READ THE A/N! IMPORTANT NEWS!
27.10.2014 A/N: 10 favourites! I am going to do a series of background stories to some OC and characters in TES that never really had a backstory, like Derkeethus and Lydia. Don't worry, it is only going to be within this chapter, not spread out. Also, I need to know whether you guys are enjoying these later chapters! Please do review these later chapters. To give a reason why isn't it an incredibly serious story of Janice being the Empress is because if it is, this story would have ended at 13 or 14. This chapter might explain some things that happened in the past few chapters, especially how weird it is that June was with Arkay.
A couple of weeks in limbo...
6.10.2014 A/N: Looking back, these rush work chapters that I try to churn out everyday does not really connect with each other. Probably because I never really have a good solid backstory to the characters used before writing. So, with school coming 7.10.14, I have to split this backstories of main supporting characters into two chapters and maybe a series of backstory chapters of Janice. I will be rewriting some earlier chapters to better fit what the characters now know and their behaviour as well as creating a better flow of the chapters. Re-read them if you want, but generally, the only scene that will get a major rewrite is the one with Ralof. Damn, that was low, even for me. I really wanted to create a gender equal story, but that was a little too far.
All characters, place settings and other items belong to their respective copyright holders, Bethesda Games Studios/Bethesda Softworks LLC./ZeniMax Media Inc. and Game Freak Inc./The Pokémon Company/Creatures Inc./Ninendo Co., Ltd.. Characters that does not appear in the original content of The Elder Scrolls (OC, or original character) that bears, but not limited to, a name similar to ANY story character names and/or character behaviour and attitude are purely coincidental.
Chapter 22: Tell Me More About Your Past
[Sundas, after breakfast, Janice's Chambers 9 a.m.]
"Don't you have something to do today?" Alduin asked.
"Who works on a Sundas?" Janice rebutted.
"Good point, though won't be anyone in this continent that might need your help right about now?" Alduin asked.
"Skyrim's finally peaceful again and there isn't a lot of problems here and High Rock. I don't care about Hammerfell and Morrowind since they are outside the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion can kiss my ass." Janice replied.
"You better hope that Nirrne isn't listening in." Derkeethus said.
"I've checked, there isn't anyone spying on us here." Jane said as she came into the room wearing some expensive looking new clothes and jewellery that wasn't given to her by the palace.
"Where did you get those clothes? Actually, where do you GET the gold for those clothes?" Janice asked in mild surprise.
"The shops offered me a discount when they saw me coming in, in fact, they dropped whatever they were doing and serve me. I don't even have to walk around to browse their wares." Jane chuckled at the memory. "I used the gold you sent my way."
"Okay, is father awake yet?" Janice asked in concern.
"No, still in deep sleep, at least he is stable." Jane replied as Janice conjured an extra chair.
"Your Majesty!" Lydia's voice sounded from behind the closed door, her fists pounding the door quite loudly. "Does your weapons and armours need polishing?"
"If you want too! And stop pounding the door so loudly!" Janice shouted her reply.
"Sorry!" Lydia apologized as she went in.
"Wow, I never knew you had so many weapons and armours, most of them look very important." June commented as Lydia opened the closet room where Janice stashed her equipment.
"Yeah, just don't touch them." Janice said, before her eyes widened in horror. "Especially not TH-"
A flash of red cloud surrounded Janice, interrupting her sentence. On the chair where Janice had been was a chicken. "Bak!" Janice clucked.
"Uhh… Whoops…" June said in guilt as she placed Wabbajack back in its rack.
"Bak! Bak! Bwwwaaak!" Janice clucked furiously.
"We can't understand you, you know that right?" Derkeethus said to the chicken.
"Bwwwak, bak, bak!" Janice clucked angrily at Derkeethus.
"At least it is not permanent, unlike her own powers." Jane said.
"Hey! What does this one do?" June asked as she picked up the Staff of Magnus.
"No! Don't look at the orb!" Jane yelled as she ran over to the ghost and snatch the powerful staff away before she does any harm to herself, and the rest of the people in the room.
"Just don't touch anything in that closet, alright? Let Lydia do the cleaning. Here, I bought you some plushies to play with." Jane said as she put down the staff before taking out some teddy bear plush toys she bought at the market.
"Okay… But what does that bony looking staff do?" June asked as she pointed to the Skull of Corruption.
"It is better off that you don't know." Jane replied as she push the apparently solid ghost out of the closet and onto the bed. "Now, just play with these toys, alright?"
"They are cute, but they aren't fun!" June complained as she somehow conjured her old DS Lite with a Pokèmon Platinum cart in it and started playing.
"What in Oblivion is that thing?" Jane asked.
"Nothing, it isn't important to you primitive people anyway." June replied as she boots up her save file.
"PRIMITIVE?! What makes you think we are PRIMITIVE?!" Jane shouted loudly, causing Lydia to accidentally fire Wabbajack at Jane.
"I don't know, the fact that you believe in superstitious nonsense, the lack of electricity and the fact that there isn't a drink made of artificial chemicals that can kill a horse ten times over and yet is selling like nobody's business." June said to the Sweetroll on the floor under her.
"Mom?" Janice asked the Sweetroll as she picked it up after returning to her normal form.
"She can't answer." Derkeethus informed Janice.
"Sorry, Your Majesty! I should have aimed the staff somewhere else!" Lydia apologized to Janice.
"Don't apologize to me, apologize to her!" Janice said as she held out the Sweetroll in front of Lydia.
"Uhh… Sorry, Your Highness?" Lydia said as she lowered herself to eye level.
"Damn… That shiny got away, that was the last one I needed to have a complete Pokèdex of shinies!" June commentated her play situation.
"Whatever, I believe this effect is permanent, if I am not wrong, so I have to change her back." Janice said as she place the Sweetroll on the floor.
"That was deliciously wrong." Jane said as she returned to normal.
"Sorry again, Your Highness!" Lydia said as she got down on both knees.
"That is okay, you were startled, it wasn't your fault." Jane said to the former housecarl.
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness!" Lydia said as she scrambled up and back into the closet.
"So, Derkeethus, tell me more about yourself." Jane said as they sat back down.
"Well, I thought you might never asked! You both know that I was born in Black Marsh and moved to Skyrim when I was five. There isn't anything really interesting that happened in my life before I met Janice except for this one…" Derkeethus begun.
[Flashback, ten years ago, fifteen year old Derkeethus]
"Hey rich kid! Buy us some lunch would you?" A Nord bully said as he kicked Derkeethus over and into a mud puddle.
"Ralof! You had already bought your lunch! Why do you need to ask me?" Derkeethus said as he wiped the mud off his face.
[Present day]
"Wait, you knew Ralof?!" Janice exclaimed in surprise.
"Well, of course I do, we studied in the same school in Whiterun." Derkeethus replied. "If you have to know, he wasn't as racist as he was now. Anyway, back to my story…"
[Flashback]
"But my brothers haven't had theirs, lizard!" Ralof said as he pushed Derkeethus down with his leg, his gang laughing with him. "They say that the Argonians were a tough race that can survive just about any climate and environmental conditions, yet you look so weak, so- so pathetic. You are probably the biggest loser in your entire race's history!"
"Just take my gold and leave already!" Derkeethus shouted as he struggles to resist the pressure of the Nord's leg.
"Do you really think this is just about gold?!" Ralof shouted. "You animals are trespassing on territory that you don't belong! Jarl Ulfric is angry at the fact that the Empire's trading company is hosting lizards like you on his city's shores! And I have learnt that your parents were in charge of the organization that brings them in! Come the day of uprising, you and your parents will be banished from this land!" Ralof shouted as he picked up the Argonian and throw him against a wall.
"Stay that way until the end of school!" Ralof spat at the crumpled body of Derkeethus.
"Ow…" Derkeethus groaned in pain as he saw a teacher running towards him urgently.
"Oh no, if you don't recover soon, your parents will have the Jarl shut down the school, for good this time! And I will be out of job!" The Nord woman said as she picked up Derkeethus and rush him into the Temple of Kynareth that was fortunately right beside the school.
Is that what you Nords really think about my race? You care not for my well-being, but instead pretend to care when threatened with the lost of your job? Nords really are racist. Derkeethus thought subconsciously.
{Back home}
"How was school today, honey?" Beeht asked the tired looking Argonian at the door. "What happened to you?"
"Ralof beat me up again." Derkeethus complained.
"Did he now? Well, may be I will pay him a visit in his house in Riverwood tonight and strangle his puny neck in joy." Beeht said darkly.
"Uhh… What was that?" Derkeethus asked.
"Oh… Uh… Nothing, nothing…" Beeht said, pretending like she said nothing.
"Whatever, can I switch to home tutoring? I am tired of being robbed and bullied." Derkeethus said in exhaustion as he handed the butler his sack.
"You can't just quit school now, not when you are halfway through the year! Besides, you need to learn the Nord's culture to take over the family business in the future." Beeht told the tired Argonian.
"All I have learnt was that they are racist bastards that drinks a lot and think they are all high and mighty." Derkeethus replied as he walked into the living room.
"There are other Argonians in the school, you know." Beeht said. "And they aren't really picked on by the other students."
"And how do you know that?" Derkeethus asked.
"I… Uhh… Was in Whiterun the other day doing some shopping, heh-heh…" Beeht replied carefully.
"Right… Anyway, can I please do home tutoring? I am tired of getting pushed around all the time." Derkeethus said, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
"Alright, fine, but I am hiring a Nord to do that." Beeht said.
"Hey, where is father?" Derkeethus asked.
"He is out on his usual business, nothing to worry about." Beeht replied after telling the butler to look for a Nord teacher and to cancel Derkeethus' enrolment with the school.
"I am tired, so I am going to go wash up and go to bed. Call me for dinner." Derkeethus said as he leave.
"Sure." Beeht said.
{Dinner}
"So then this stillborn go try and take up a hammer, but it was too heavy for him! It ended up falling out of his hands and onto his foot! Ha! Poor sod wouldn't be walking for days!" Ushaei said as he recollected the events of that day.
"Haha, very funny. Anyway, Derkeethus, I would like you to meet your new teacher, Lydia!" Beeht called out.
[Present day]
"Wait, Lydia was your home tutor?" Janice asked in surprise.
"Yes, the only reason why I didn't recognise her was probably because she looked older than what she was then and I also don't remember her being able to fight." Derkeethus replied.
"Derkeethus?! So it was you! I thought you were another Argonian named Derkeethus! My, you have grown so much, my lord!" Lydia exclaimed as she poked her head out of the closet.
"Would you keep it down?! I don't want to turn this thing to full volume!" June shouted in anger from the bed.
Ignoring the ghost, Lydia walked over to Derkeethus. "You look different ten years ago. I can hardly recognise you when you came into Breezehome with Her Majesty that day. Where have you been?"
"You look, well, tougher than you were back then, Lydia. What happened to you?" Derkeethus asked. "I stayed in Darkwater Crossing since I was twenty three, a year before I met Janice."
"I wanted to find service with the Jarl after you dismissed me seven years ago. The Thanes I served can barely fight their own fights. So I trained to become better warrior." Lydia explained.
"Okay, who else did you meet back then that I know?" Janice asked.
"I worked with your mother to bring in some cheese for you, but that was just a small thing, no names were needed." Derkeethus replied. "I didn't bother to remember faces too."
"So you were that guy who was five years older than me when we went to Windhelm to collect some Argonian cheese?" Janice said.
"Yes, now back to the story." Derkeethus said.
"Oh, this is the part where I made a fool of myself!" Lydia exclaimed as she dragged a chair from somewhere over.
"Where did you even get that chair?!" Janice exclaimed. "Are you a chair god or something?"
[Flashback]
"It is an honour to teach you, my lord." Lydia said with a pile of books in her arms.
"Are you a racist Nord?" Derkeethus immediately asked.
"What? No, why do you all think all Nords are racist?" Lydia replied.
"Don't mind him, he got bullied too much in school." Beeht replied. "We are happy to have you with us. Come, you must be hungry after that long trek from Whiterun."
"Oh, it is fine, I have eaten." Lydia replied.
"Well, suit yourself. Hondor! Show Lydia to her room, will you?" Beeht instructed.
"Follow me." Hondor said to Lydia.
As Lydia was walking out the door, her foot caught hold of a potted plant and she tripped. The books flew out of her hands and hit Hondor on the back, sending him crashing into the ground. Lydia fell over and face planted her face into Hondor's buttocks.
"Uhh… Sorry about that." Lydia quickly said as she stood up, face blushing.
"Let's not mention this to anyone." Hondor said as he picked himself up and walked off.
"Are you sure she is good?" Derkeethus whispered to his mother.
"She graduated at the top of her class and have taught other high status people's children to graduate at the top of their exams. Basically she is the best of the best." Beeht replied.
"Whatever you say." Derkeethus said.
[Present day]
"So your most memorable thing was you getting bullied and Lydia being your tutor?" Janice asked impatiently.
"I have not finish!" Derkeethus replied. "As I was saying…"
[Flashback]
{Three years later}
"I think it is time for you to live independently." Ushaei said proudly to Derkeethus.
"Where are you sending me too?" Dekeethus asked over breakfast.
"Wherever you want to learn to live by yourself. If you can do that, we can probably die knowing that you are a capable Argonian." Ushaei said. "If I may, I think you should become a miner, you know, learn to appreciate the other side of world, the poor people side of living."
"Why would I want to do that?" Derkeethus asked.
"Learn how the less fortunate live and you will learn sympathy that you can't gleam if you are always living with what they called 'head up your ass'." Ushaei reasoned.
"I see… Well, I have always like the falls at Darkwater Crossing…" Derkeethus said.
"Darkwater Crossing it is then! I have already prepared your attire, just pick up your bag and you are ready to go!" Ushaei said.
"Can I request that I stay here for the time being? I am worried that they will try to kill me for the gold." Derkeethus requested as he don his worn-out looking miner clothes.
"Alright, until they gained your trust. Well, see you!" Ushaei said as he pushed Derkeethus out the door.
{The next day}
"Mom!" Derkeethus screamed as he crawled to the door looking badly wounded.
"Derkeethus! What happened to you?" Beeht asked as she opened the door.
"I… I… Couldn't make it through the forest!" Derkeethus panted.
"We should get you inside to heal up, you can explain it later." Beeht said as she lift the wounded Argonian onto her shoulders and carried him in.
{Later}
"So what happened?" Ushaei asked, rushing back home when he heard the news.
"I didn't make it out of the forest, a wolf attacked me." Derkeethus said weakly.
"Great, if you can't even face a wolf, how are you going to survive in the mines where it is hard labour round the clock!" Ushaei exclaimed. "Nevermind, I will hire some people to see you to and fro from the mine."
[Present day]
"And that is how I was in Darkwater Crossing." Derkeethus as he ended his story.
"I see, no wonder you got captured, you are very weak if you can't even stand up to a wolf." Janice commented.
"So, who's next?" Derkeethus asked, ignoring the comment.
"Mom, how did you know you were Dragonborn?" Janice asked.
"Well, it was when I met your father…" Jane begun.
[Flashback, twenty five years ago]
"Hey, pretty lady!" A Khajiit man in steel plate armour called out to Jane from a bench inside the Bee and Barb. "I am planning an excursion to Bonestrewn Crest in the hot springs northeast of Darkwater Crossing. You look like someone very capable of fighting her own fights."
Taking off her elven helmet, Jane said, "Do you have enough gold to pay my fee?"
"A sellsword! That's perfect! Name your price, I am sure what we find there will be enough to pay you back ten fold!" The man exclaimed. "I am J'Zhar Senior, or you may call me J'Zhar if you want, 'Senior' is just a formality."
"My name is Jane, when should we leave?" Jane asked.
"Tomorrow morning, come, you must be tired. Food and bed are on me." J'Zhar said as he put an arm around the woman's shoulders and led her to the counter.
"Another woman again, J'Zhar?" Keerava asked. "How did the last one turned out, hmm?"
"Do we have to mention Dar'Tran? She stole my purse in the middle of the night! It was lucky that she was caught by the guards." J'Zhar exclaimed.
[Present day]
"So that alias wasn't made up?" Janice asked.
"Yeah, she killed herself in prison." Jane replied.
"Poor soul, she might have been married to J'Zhar right about now." Derkeethus commented.
"Whatever, let's continue with the story." Janice said as she picked up Alduin.
[Flashback]
"When you said 'bed', I thought you meant separate rooms." Jane said in frustration inside the double bed room.
"Well, I don't really have the gold for two rooms and your payment." J'Zhar admitted. "But I am sure that you would find sleeping with me… rather charming…"
"You stay away from me, pervert!" Jane yelled as she slapped J'Zhar onto the wooden floor.
"A hundred gold says that that woman will storm out of there and rent herself another room." A Nord yelled from downstairs.
"A feisty one, eh? I am going to enjoying living with you." J'Zhar said charmingly as he got up.
"This is just a job, don't get your hopes up, goodnight!" Jane said rather rudely and angrily as she get on the bed, carefully placing herself near the edge. "And don't try anything funny!"
"Aww… She didn't change rooms. Well, a bet is a bet, you win, here's your gold." The Nord said.
{Next morning}
A loud thud was heard coming from the room J'Zhar and Jane were staying in.
"I told you to stay away from me!" Jane yelled when she discovered J'Zhar had wrapped himself around her waist during the night.
"Good morning, pretty." J'Zhar greeted as he picked himself up from where he landed, the wall across the room showing signs of a heavy object having slammed into it. "Damn, you are one strong woman to have thrown me that far."
"Try that again and I will make sure that you will be missing an important organ between your legs!" Jane shouted. "I will leave you stranded at Bonestrewn Crest naked and with a bloody hole in that area, understand?!"
"Uhh… Uhh… Yes, madame!" J'Zhar replied in fright.
"Good, I will meet you outside." Jane said as she leaves for the public bathroom.
"You got to pay for that!" Keerava yelled at Jane.
"Whatever, go drown yourself in it." Jane said as she tossed a bag of coins into Keerava's hands.
"Hey! Do you want breakfast?" Keerava called out to Jane as she head for the door to the bathroom.
"Sure, I don't mind." Jane replied as she enters the bathroom.
[Present day]
"Boring! Can we skip to the part where you learn that you are Dragonborn?" June called out from the bed, the DS Lite still in her hands.
"When were you listening?" Janice asked in surprise.
"I have played this game countless times, I don't need to pay full attention to play it!" June answered.
"Alright, I guess we can skip all the stuff about getting there." Jane said. "Now, Bonestrewn Crest…"
[Flashback]
"There it is! Bonestrewn Crest! My sources said that this place have some small trinkets to collect that is worth the trek as well as something a bit more personal as well. Hey! are those skeletons? We need to clear them out first." J'Zhar said as they climb up the slope leading to the summit.
"Just stay here, I will take care of it." Jane said as she readied her elven mace.
"Whatever you say." J'Zhar replied, not wanting to cross the female Khajiit.
Going up to the summit, Jane called out, "Hey stiff bones! Over here!"
Grabbing her mace tightly, Jane dashed forward and scattered the first skeleton into a shower of bones. Swinging her mace around her, she quickly dispatched the other two in a similar fashion.
"Wow, it is raining bones…" J'Zhar commented as he heard the fight finish.
"There, now, about my payment." Jane begun. "That would be five hundred gold for hiring me for two days and ten thousand gold for molesting me."
"Sure, but why do you charge for people touching you and at such a ludicrous price too?" J'Zhar asked as he handed the gold over.
"Hey, you want to touch me, you got to pay, no exceptions." Jane said as she counted the gold.
"You work as a sex slave?" J'Zhar asked as he looked around for the spot in the ground he was looking for.
"No, I charge my clients if they try anything funny that goes beyond me helping them. Besides, I charge a premium for someone hugging me like that." Jane replied, before looking over to the word wall. "Strange, do you hear some chanting coming from that wall?"
"No, all I can hear is the steam coming out of these vents." J'Zhar replied as he stuck a shovel into the soil.
"I am going to have a closer look." Jane said as she approached the wall in caution.
"Huh, strange, these markings looks familiar to me…" Jane whispered as she ran her hand over the dragon scratching.
"'Pah WERID SONaaN LUNERIO WEN YUVON LOVaaS MeyZ FO HET KO VULON', how strange…" Jane whispered in wonder. "This 'FO' character is glowing, too."
"Huh, FO." Jane repeated.
"Wahh!" Jane jumped back in surprise when a small shower of ice crystals formed in front of her lips.
"What's wrong?" J'Zhar asked as he drove the shovel deep into the soil.
"Ice crystals just formed from my mouth!" Jane shouted in worry as she turned around.
"Ice crystals? From your mouth? Hah! How can there be ice in such a warm place?" J'Zhar laughed.
"Well, whenever I say 'FO', it happen. It must be something to do with that wall, I know how to read it, for some reason." Jane said as another shower of ice crystals appeared from her mouth.
"Don't be foolish, that wall was written in the dragon language, nobody these days know what is written there." J'Zhar said as he pushed a big chest onto the bank of the hole he made.
"What is in there?" Jane asked, dismissing her 'problem' for the time being.
"Just my inheritance. My parents just died." J'Zhar explained.
"Oh, I am sorry." Jane said sadly.
"No need to be, they died having known that they have done everything they ever wanted to do." J'Zhar said as he opened the chest.
"Wait, if you are 'Senior', doesn't that mean you have a younger brother?" Jane asked. "Shouldn't some of it go to them?"
"No, this chest was in their will to give to me. My brothers have their own set of inheritance to go after." J'Zhar replied as he took out a huge bag of gems and an even bigger bag of coins.
"Who are your parents?" Jane asked in surprise that J'Zhar had so much inheritance.
"They head the Khajiit caravans in Skyrim. What about yours?" J'Zhar replied.
"Well, they died when I was ten… All I know is that I was left with a huge sum of gold that they said was past down from a Nord named Talos…" Jane answered.
"Talos? THE Talos?! You do know what that means, right?" J'Zhar said.
"What? It could be any Talos, not just the mortal turned divine… Could it?" Jane answered.
"I guess so, anyway, I am going back to Riften, safe travels." J'Zhar said as he left.
"Hey! Can I come with you? It gets lonely sometimes and I don't have the opportunity to talk to many Khajiits!" Jane called out as she ran after J'Zhar.
"Well, well, I thought you hated me for touching you while you were sleeping, why do you want to follow a 'pervert' like me?" J'Zhar asked.
"Well, to be honest, you do look kind of handsome..." Jane said awkwardly.
"Well, alright, but don't expect me to pay you. I have a few other places where I need to go to collect my full inheritance, so tag along if you want." J'Zhar offered.
"Alright!" Jane said happily.
[Present day]
"Hey! The family's together! Let's take a selfie!" June exclaimed out of the blue as she conjured her smartphone that she used in the real world to her.
"A what?" Janice asked as June pointed the front camera to the group.
"Say 'cheese'!" June said as she snapped the photo.
"Oh, come on, you ruined it with your shocked expressions! Have you not ever heard of a 'selfie'?" June asked. "Oh right, I forgot that you people live in the past."
"Whatever, just don't do that again, alright?" Janice told the translucent Khajiit.
"'Snapped a photo with my family and my body today!' Uh, what were you saying?" June asked as she posted the photo on her social media networks. "Man, did I just managed to give myself a good wifi connection back to the human world? Who's the best at magic? I am!"
"Whatever, can we get back to the story?" Janice asked her mother.
"Sure… So we went to the different dragon liars…" Jane begun.
"Oh come on! They are not wearing Khajiit cosplay! They are the real deal!" June shouted her reply into the phone.
"Uhh… Right, anyway…" Jane started again.
[Flashback]
"Why does the walls kept chanting whenever we go to these places?" Jane asked as she finished her inspection of the word wall at Eldersblood Peak.
"I don't know, maybe you can try going to the College of Winterhold and ask about it." J'Zhar said as he pockets the last of his inheritance. "I won't be going there, though. I am scared of the cold and my winter clothes got stolen."
"Well, buy a new set!" Jane shouted.
"I can't, they don't sell clothes with tail holes anymore." J'Zhar retorted.
"Buy them from the Khajiit traders then!" Jane rebutted. "Didn't you take over the family business?"
"Like I know where they are, they keep moving around Skyrim." J'Zhar answered. "Me and my brothers had decided to step down, we just want to enjoy the gold they left us."
"Well, I will go alone then, I will see you back in Honeyside." Jane replied as she went off in the direction of Winterhold.
"Bye bye, dear! Be safe!" J'Zhar yelled.
[Present day]
"Wait, you can't just skip the part where you and father marry!" Janice and June said in unison.
"Trust me, you don't want to know how we got married." Jane replied.
"Why?" Janice asked as June went back to arguing with her online friends.
"Let's just say things… happened..." Jane said as she tries to dodge the question.
"Oh… I see, nevermind then." Janice said as she lean back against the chair.
"Right, anyway, the College of Winterhold…" Jane started.
[Flashback]
"Who are you?" Faralda asked as she stopped Jane in her tracks.
"I am Jane, I need to seek help with my powers." Jane replied.
"Ah, an amatuer mage, well, what school of magic do you need help in?" Faralda asked.
"Breath." Jane answered. "You see, I went to these places where dragons were once said to be living in. The walls there chants to me, like they were beckoning me to read them. I can understand the writing perfectly! I don't know what is going on, but one thing is for certain, other people can't hear this chanting."
"The word walls were chanting to you? Oh, umm… Co-come inside then, I am sure the Archmage wants to talk to you in person." Faralda said.
"Why are you acting so nervous?" Jane asked as she saw Faralda fidgeting along the narrow pathway.
"Look, you may or may not be the Dragonborn, someone who knows how to speak and understand the language of the dragons to a certain degree without training. I don't know if it is true, but if it is, I have every right to be afraid of you." Faralda answered as she stopped in the middle of the bridge.
"Dragonborn? Like Talos was? My parents said he was one of my bloodline's ancestors!" Jane yelled, before Faralda spun around and clamped her snout shut.
"Don't do that! You may shout me off the bridge!" Faralda shouted in fear.
"Wait, did you say Talos was your ancestor? How could you be a Khajiit then?" Faralda asked as she realized what Jane just said, letting go of Jane in the process.
"Well, he mated with a Khajiit sellsword living in Skyrim. At least, that was what this family heirloom said." Jane said as she handed Faralda an old book.
"'Talos of Atmora hereby decree that this Khajiit woman, Do'Kann, shall carry his bloodline to the end of time'" Faralda read a sentence aloud. "Talos of Atmora?! You really do carry Talos' blood…"
"Okay, but what does that got to do with me?" Jane asked.
"Don't you see?! You have the dragon blood within you! You. Are. Dragonborn!" Faralda yelled as she shook the thin frame of the Dragonborn. "Oh! What an honour it is to stand before a Dragonborn!"
"Uhh… You can release me now…" Jane said after a few minutes; she was still suspended in the air after Faralda declare her Dragonborn.
"Oh, sorry, Dragonborn. Here is your book back." Faralda said as she put Jane down and gave her the old book back. "You will want to go to High Hrothgar on the Throat of the World, the Greybeards would know what to do."
"Alright, sure, thanks for your help." Jane said as she left.
[Present day]
"Wait, if you met with the Greybeards, how come Arngeir said I was the only Dragonborn?" Janice asked.
"A lot has changed since I went there, Arngeir was just an apprentice back then, and he was out collecting water in Ivarstead when I came. Borri was the one who could speak and acted as the main face of the Greybeards." Jane explained.
"I see, no wonder he tries to communicate with me everytime I was there. But, didn't Borri explain that to Arngeir when he came back?" Janice asked.
"Hehe, well…" Jane started.
[Flashback, High Hrothgar]
"Anyone here?" Jane called out as she knocked on the heavy bronze doors.
"Coming!" An old man shouted from within the monastery.
"Ah! A pilgrim! Do you wish to make a donation or to pray on Kynareth's sacred mountain?" The old man asked when he opened the door. "Come inside, it is warmer in here. I am Borri, speaker for the Greybeards."
"It is an honour to be here, Borri." Jane greeted.
"So, is there anything I can help you with as you pray?" Borri asked.
"Oh, I am not here for prayer, I am here for answers." Jane said.
"Are you one of the Blades?! Get out before I shout you out!" Borri shouted as he overreacted.
"What? Whatever the 'Blades' are, I am not one of them. I am Jane, the College of Winterhold says that I might be Dragonborn. I have came here for the truth." Jane quickly explained.
"Dragonborn? There hasn't been a Dragonborn since Martin Septim! If you really are Dragonborn, demonstrate your shouts!" Borri said.
"Is that what it is called? 'Shout'? Here, let me try, 'FO'!" Jane shouted, a shower of ice crystals formed from her mouth.
"It is you, welcome to High Hrothgar, Dragonborn. You've shown the gift that you have, although it is weak. You can't fully use your powers without full knowledge of what they are." Borri explained. "Well, either you can choose to study with us or kill dragons to use their souls to fuel your powers. But since there isn't any, I think it is best you study with us. Wulfgar! Einarth! A Dragonborn has come!"
"What are you going to do to me?" Jane asked in slight worry.
"Nothing, we are just going to teach you proper use of your powers. Come, we shall teach you the Unrelenting Force shout." Borri said.
{Later}
"Alright, go retrieve the horn of Jurgen Windcaller. You have done well." Borri said.
"Is there a reason why they can't speak?" Jane asked as she pointed to the other two old men.
"Their voices are too strong for them to say anything but a whisper. If they start speaking like I do, the damage would be unspeakable." Borri explained.
"I see, what about you? Are you nearly to the point of being unable to talk?" Jane asked.
"I have to be careful, another shout, and I would lose my voice like the others." Borri said. "We have an apprentice who is ready to take my place when that happens."
"I see, well, I better get going then." Jane said as she leaves.
{Later}
"Hey! I have the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller!" Jane shouted as she pounded the metal door.
Without a sound, Borri opened the door for Jane.
"Hey, what's wrong? Can't you talk?" Jane asked as she went in.
'I shouted to save Arngeir's life when he was coming back up, he was about to be killed by a troll.' Borri showed Jane a piece of paper he wrote on.
"Where is he then? He should be here talking to me, right?" Jane asked.
'He was severely injured. Anyway, approach Wulfgar and he will teach you the full Unrelenting Force shout.' Borri quickly scribbled.
"Alright then." Jane said as she approached Wulfgar.
[Present day]
"So that was how I learnt that I was Dragonborn. Later, I discovered that Septim was the family name, so I adopted it." Jane said as she ended. "Of course I said nothing to your father though, don't want to cause worry and create unnecessary attention."
"But that still doesn't mean Borri couldn't have wrote something to Arngeir and Paarthurnax." Janice said.
"I later learnt that they refuse to believe it when Borri approached me as I pass by Ivarstead on my way to Whiterun for work." Jane explained. "He asked me to come up with him, but I said 'I don't think I am the Last Dragonborn of Prophecy' before I rode off on my horse."
"I see..." Janice and Alduin said in unison.
"Your Majesty! Lunch is ready!" A servant called out he she knocked on the door.
"Send it up!" Janice told the servant.
"Right away, Your Majesty." The servant said as she left.
"So, Lydia, what about yours?" Janice asked.
"Well, I studied really hard during my younger years, got my qualifications in history, language and trading. I had just finished teaching the Jarl's son, Balgruuf, when I received an invitation to teach Derkeethus. For the next seven years after Derkeethus finished, I thought it might be time I went places, go exploring and see if my books really tells the truth. But I ended up a housecarl when I don't know where I want to go first. I thought it would be better to allow Thanes to bring me to places they want to go, but all they did was ask me to be their footstools, that is, until I met you." Lydia told Janice as a servant brings the food in. "If you would excuse me, I got to go and have my lunch now, Your Majesty."
"Sure," Janice said as she put Alduin down. "So, Alduin, what did you do after you killed me?"
"I rather not say, it is too painful." Alduin said with her head lowered.
"If you killed me, why do you pretend that you regret it?" Janice asked as she picked up her fork.
"Because it wasn't entirely my doing! I just said that you need to be killed, but I never thought I would put it into action. That bastard tricked us both." Alduin replied.
"Who?" Janice asked as she turned her attention to Alduin.
"You will know soon enough, I sense him on the wind." Alduin replied.
"Alright then, so why did Akatosh send you to other universes?" Janice asked as she returned to her meal.
"He said that I have to explore other universes to become a better leader. Learn about the way of life in these other universes. But to me, I just see it as a form of punishment for killing you." Alduin explained.
"Oh, that is... Great, actually. You got to try a different way of living and you picked up new skills along the way. Good for you." Janice said as she ate the venison.
"I guess so, but that universe with the superpowered caterpillars is really freaky. Anything there that moves can potentially kill you. Makes you wonder how powerless humans even rose to power in that world. Their gods are eccentric too. They don't want to be seen, but they need to help the humans when the time comes. Most of them seems so relaxed as well, especially a certain pink cat. She plays all the time, makes you think whether she actually does her duties. I can see why the creator is furious at her but can't do anything since she is needed." Alduin said.
"Is this the same universe where this 'Dialga' comes from?" Janice asked.
"Yes, h-" Alduin started to explain, before June cuts her off.
"He is the God of Time in that universe. The creator she mentioned is Arceus, here, I have a picture of him." June said as she handed Janice her DS with Arceus selected. "I caught him in the Hall of Origin!"
"'Caught'? How do you capture a God? Won't there be negative repercussions if you do that?" Janice asked as she look at a white and grey donkey sprite that has a golden wheel around its waist.
"It is impossible, of course. And of course the world will get plunged into chaos if you do that. This is just a game, the real universe is somewhere else." June explained.
"Real universe is somewhere else? You mean this 'game' is a representation of that universe?" Janice asked curiously.
"Yeah, all the games the humans made are real, just, they can't access them themselves, so they created the next best thing." June explained. "They even made one for this universe!"
"So, they call this 'The Elder Scrolls'? They play this 'game' to get a sense about the real one? Is this what 'The Voice' in my head was? Just a player mumbling something? And what about these 'menus' I kept seeing appearing from nowhere?" Janice asked, remembering a part of June's speech about what Arkay had shown her.
"I don't know, it could possibly be your own imagination. As far as I know, this universe is real." June answered.
"Oh, well, I think I need to think about it, I can feel a headache coming along." Janice said as she clutched her forehead.
"Anyway, June, tell us about how Arkay favoured you over the other souls, I mean, you must be special if Arkay took interest in you." Derkeethus said. "Please leave the 'modern' shit out of this though, please."
"Well, this story obviously start when I died..." June started.
[Flashback, Arkay third person, twenty years ago.]
"What do you mean it is time for the last Dragonborn?!" Arkay questioned Akatosh. "And why do you want to insert your daughter into the prophecy? Killing an unborn baby is just wrong, especially if it's time isn't up! I am sure your daughter would agree if she isn't resting!"
"Some things are better left unsaid, but I can tell you this, Alduin is coming back in nineteen years and you know that we can't possibly deny fate from happening, and my daughter has slept for too long!" Akatosh argued, slamming the council table with his fists.
"Well, resurrect her! Where are her bones? Her body?" Arkay asked in rebellion.
"Unfortunately, her bones were hidden from us, when I said the preparations were done, I had meant that I found a suitable mortal body for her, then of course those things happened and the mortal got killed and dismembered before I could start. For many years, we were too occupied for me to go find another one, so I set her down to rest. Now, she has the chance to begin a new life, try to seek justice for herself. Her sister is coming back, I am sure they had much to talk about when they found out about each other." Akatosh reasoned.
"Alright, but I want to take breaks from my duties to take care of this soul that you are throwing away carelessly. She deserves to at least feel comfortable dead." Arkay replied.
"She is a dragon! You know all dragons come to me, right?" Akatosh said.
"Well, see to it that she comes under my jurisdiction when she dies or I am flipping her over on her head so she lives!" Arkay said.
[Present day]
"So that was what that was!" Jane exclaimed. "I felt my stomach churned upside down a day before I gave birth! Arkay flipped the child over so that you suffocated to death!"
"I died sniffing your lips? Eww...!" June exclaimed as she rubbed her snout, Janice doing the same in disgust.
"Yeah, gross." Derkeethus and Alduin said in disgust.
"Well, it was either that or he smite you as soon as you got out." Jane answered as Janice pushed the remainder of her meal away.
"I prefer him killing me directly!" June said. "Anyway, back to this HORRIFYING story..."
[Flashback]
"Alright, now, your priest will be coming into the hospital to exorcise the ghost, so I will pick her up and hand her over to you. Just tell your priest that you send her to that ruin where all the lost souls get dumped." Akatosh instructed.
"Well, the only thing now is to wait." Arkay said as he fumbled his thumb impatiently. "Hey, Mister Time God, can you-"
"No, and no. I can't just speed up time without the people questioning what just happened and you will cause irreversible damage to Time since you will be meeting yourself in the future." Akatosh cut Arkay off. "Just wait patiently, it is already evening in the mortal world. She will be giving birth at nine in the morning and the priest will come at ten."
"Alright, alright..." Arkay said dejectedly.
[Present day]
"How do you know of all of this?" Derkeethus asked. "I mean, you aren't there."
"He told me, obviously." June said as she rolled her eyes. "Now, to my out of body experience..."
[Flashback]
"Mom? Mom! It is me! Your daughter!" 'June' cried out as she hovers like a ghost over her body.
[Present day]
"Wait, how can you talk? And how do you even know I was your mother? Also, why weren't you visible?" Jane asked the ghost.
"Yeah, why are you visible now?" Janice questioned.
"All souls can talk, it is just that the body can't do that soon enough at birth and needs some time to get used to the vocal cords. Isn't it already obvious that my body is coming out of you that I am your daughter? As for me not being seen was because you refuse to believe I was dead!" June explained.
"Wait, if you are a dragonsoul, and mother is a Dragonborn, how come you weren't absorbed?" Janice asked.
"Arkay said Akatosh marked my soul for collection by him instead of going to the nearest dragonsoul." June answered. "Back to the story..."
[Flashback, June's first person pov]
I was floating, floating above the scene. I saw what I believe was my father crying his eyes out, clutching my mother's hand in sadness. I wondered why, so I asked, "why are you both so sad?" I received no reply.
I float there, watching the scene unfold. I began to wonder how I actually looked like, so I bent my head around. What I saw, shocked me. I wasn't like them, I wasn't covered in fur, but scales. I was quadrupedal while they were bipedal. I had wings, they had arms. While both of us have a tail, mine was scaly and the top had a row of spines, but theirs was furry and had no spines, instead ending in a single bulb.
How could these people be my parents when we do not look alike at all? I thought with growing anger. It must be some mistake, clearly I wasn't suppose to be here.
I tried to leave, but I was bound by some unseen force. By this time, they had already asked that man how to resurrect my body. Maybe I can go back to my body! Oh, what should I say to them first? I thought as I saw them leave.
"Well, better get a priest of Arkay in here to get rid of the ghost." Said the woman who have delivered me.
"What?!" I roared in fury. "I am no ghost!"
"Did you hear that? The spirit must be angry, quick, get him in here right now!" The woman yelled.
"Angry? I will show you what is anger!" I roared as I blast a hole in the wooden floor with a flamethrower that I didn't knew I had.
"Ah! Quick! Run to him!" The woman shouted from the door to the man who is fetching this 'priest of Arkay'. "It just blasted a hole through the floor!"
I watched the scene carefully, not wanting to cause further harm after being scared by that flamethrower.
After a few minutes, a yellow robed man holding an amulet that looks like the amulet the other man had given the parents to put around the infant's neck came in and started to recite soothing chants.
I felt a powerful suction on me as he got to the middle. I felt myself draining away as he finishes.
{Aetherius}
"Hello, young one." A loud, royal sounding voice said in a soothing tone to me as I opened my eyes.
"Are- Are you my father?" I asked the glowing orange creature that was about three times my size, but it looks like me at the same time.
"In a way, but your true parents had left to seek resurrection for your body. I am Akatosh, Dragon God of Time, the First God and Father of all dragons, including you." He said as he nods his head towards me.
"I am a dragon? What is that suppose to mean? And how could I be born to creatures that look nothing like me?" I asked Akatosh.
"The creatures you saw is a mortal race called the 'Khajiit'. You were born to them because you are supposed to be the Dragonborn, a mortal with the soul of a dragon." Akatosh explained. "As for being a dragon, it means that you have great power within you, the power to breath fire, as you just learnt, the power to create blizzards from your breath alone and devour fellow dragon's souls if you best them in combat, as well as many others that you will learn in time."
"So, I was suppose to be a dragon living in the body of a mortal? I died before I knew what I was, my life hasn't even started and I am dead already! What had I done to deserve this fate?" I cried, translucent tears flowing freely from my eyes and down my scaly snout.
"Uhh... Hush, little one, you are safe now... Uhh..." Akatosh tried to comfort me as I went into balling my eyes out with my wings.
"Barely five minutes into your explanation and you already made her cry to Oblivion and back! Is this how you treat all the Dragonborns that died before their time?" A man's voice boomed from somewhere. "Here, I know how to comfort stillborns more than anyone."
"Hey, there, come on, don't cry now, you didn't do anything to condemn yourself to this. All you need to know is that you will be safe with us. If it makes you feel any better, I can take you to places that you never thought had existed. Will a rattle calm you down?" The man said in a comforting tone as he gently pushed a big rattle in my wings a few minutes later.
"There, I am Arkay, the God of Death and Life. I am here to pick you up, make sure you have a comfortable afterlife. You had died before your time, and it wasn't because of an accident. Come, I will explain the situation to you soon. Step into this portal and I will talk with you more." Arkay said to me as a portal opens and he gently ushered me into it when I stop crying.
Without a word, I willingly step through the portal and was immediately greeted by a huge rack of toys lined up neatly on giant shelves.
"Come on, come with me. This isn't where you are suppose to be. This place is a dimension for me to receive stillborns and children like you before sending them off to whatever plane of Aetherius are their final resting place. Or, if their parents prayed hard enough, they will be sent back to their bodies. I have created a special small dimension just for you. You were supposed to do great deeds in your life, but Akatosh wanted to let his daughter carry out the prophecy of defeating his other daughter as a mortal. He has chosen your body specifically for the task." Arkay explained as we walked parallel to the seemingly infinitely long racks of toys.
"You... You mean I am never going to go back to the mortal world?" I asked as I stopped and begun to cry again.
"Good with stillborns, huh? I guess not." Akatosh's voice sounded from everywhere within the dimension.
"Hey, if it wasn't for your plan to substitute her soul for your daughter's, this would have been much easier." Arkay retorted as I sobbed, the rattle in my jaws making it slightly harder.
"Come on, you have been crying for the last hour already." Arkay said after an hour of me crying. "I have a lot of lost souls to receive."
"I thought you were putting down your duties until she is old enough to be independent?" Akatosh asked. "Besides, Stendarr had already taken up some of your 'bad' souls to judge them worthy of mercy. And these seems to be the majority nowadays."
"Come on, little on, you can stop crying. If you really want to see the mortal world, I can let you go there after I show you were you will be resting, alright?" Arkay said to me, ignoring Akatosh's question.
"Okay, but Akatosh shouldn't do this to me!" I cried out. "Replacing me for his own selfish goals! What kind of God puts his own goals ahead of others? Especially someone who were given such an honour to be a special person in the mortal world?"
"It isn't a selfish goal at all!" Akatosh roared, a flaming portal opening in front of me. "It was written in the scrolls that I am going to have to do such an atrocious act. Even I can't break the chains of fate so freely. Do you really think I can stand the murder of an unborn baby not due their time?! I had been mulling over it wondering if I can let you live, but I still have to obey what fate has dictated for the mortal world. After I saw the future that I refuse to believe at first, I gradually accepted it, it really had to be done if she is to defeat enemies like nobody has ever seen before. I am really sorry if it had hurt, but it had to be done."
"I thought Hermaeus Mora was the embodiment of fate and wisdom?" Arkay asked.
"He likes to think that way, but he really is just fate's mouth." Akatosh answered as I look at him, trying to accept what was said.
"Hey, is this 'Fate' a god like the rest of you? Akatosh, how can you proclaim yourself the 'First God' if 'Fate' rules over everything?" I asked.
"No, fate isn't a God, it is an idea. Of course any God can freely break it, but if we were to break it, we have to consider the impact on mortals. I saw your future where you were not replaced, you were killed by my daughter before the prophecy was fulfilled. I can't allow that." Akatosh explained.
"Okay, I guess it is a good reason. I still want to explore the mortal world, but I will come with you, I feel tired." I said as I wobbled unsteadily, my wings and legs beginning to give way.
{Later, about four days later}
"Where- Where am I?" I asked, lying on a flat surface with my hand on my forehead as I awaken.
"Wait, how do I have a hand?! I had wings the last time I checked! And my head feels furry..." I exclaimed as a portal opens to where I was.
"Ah, you're awake, good. Now, you might have noticed that something is... Off about you, don't worry, it is perfectly normal." Arkay said.
"Normal?! I was a dragon! How can I have a hand and a furry face?" I exclaimed as I tried to move, but since I don't know how to move as a Khajiit, I just fumbled, trying to get into the posture I was in as a dragon.
"Calm down! I will explain. Your body has been given the soul and a name. The cub now has a form of her own, like how the Khajiit traditions has dictated. Your name is Janice. You had turned into your mortal form since you are closely connected to your body, and as it grows, so will you. I will have to teach you how to walk, it seems." Arkay said as I struggled with my much smaller body. "But first, some clothes for your bare body..." He coughed.
After he dressed me and taught me how to walk, I asked, "so where are we?"
"We are inside a pocket dimension that I created just for you. It is connected to the real world via a portal. I advise you, however, to not go out through that one, instead, see me to go out." Arkay explained, pointing to the portal in question.
"Why?" I asked as I sticked my head out before Arkay can stop me.
"Oh, so th... That's wh...wh... Why." I stuttered as I draw my head in after hearing ghastly screams echoing within the caves below.
"I guess I have to close the doors to prevent you from doing that again, stay here." Arkay said as he head out and back in again after a few moments.
"That was so fast that I couldn't possibly have done anything." I said.
"I just had to be sure." Arkay said as he conjured up some equipment of various sorts. "Now, you need to learn about your powers, then I am sending some teachers in to teach you all the mortals teach their young. Time moves slower here, about two years per mortal day, so you will have plenty of time to learn and do whatever we wish to do." Arkay explained.
"But that sounds boring! I want to play!" I complained.
"I can see why Akatosh say you will get killed..." Arkay mumbled as he forced me to study.
[Present day, Janice third person pov]
"So he taught me how to control my powers and made me study everything here, everything the humans in the human world knows and just about everything else in the other universe till I was about three mortal years old. Good thing I am a fast learner, you wouldn't believe the pile of books he made me go through. It was even taller than Mount Everest, The human world's equivalent of the Throat of the World! After all that, he finally started to let me play." June said.
"You were so young! How could he do that to you?" Janice asked in worry and anger.
"Actually, he said that I was already about eight when I woke up even though I still looked like an infant." June replied.
"So, how old were you when we came?" Jane asked.
"About fourteen thousand and six hundred years old." June answered.
"That is old, can I call you an ancient now?" Janice joked.
"Hey, I am still twenty mortal years old! And since I am here, I am twenty as far as age is concerned!" June shouted in anger as she turned Janice into an old, fossilised looking skeleton. "Now who looks old?"
"I can hardly move my legs..." Janice croaked, her lower jaw moving unnecessary. "How does those skeletons even move so fast?"
"How can you do this to your body?" Derkeethus asked in shock as he touched the bony and grimey ribs of his wife.
"Well, it is clearly not mine anymore. I was taught to let go, but I still would really like to be in my body again." June replied.
"Well, she herself is older than you, even by your dimension's standards. We both are. You don't have to turn her in a skeleton to make her know that literally." Alduin said as she hopped off of Janice's femurs.
"Can you turn me back now? I don't think I can even fight any battles now..." Janice croaked as she tries to stand up.
"Can't you do that yourself?" Derkeethus asked as he went down the skeleton's body. "So that is how bones so old feels like."
"She locked my form, only she can unlock it. And don't touch me like that, do that when we are in bed, alright?" Janice croaked as she bats Derkeethus' hands from her pelvis. "Please, return me to normal before Lydia comes back to continue her cleaning."
"Uhh… Sorry about that, dear…" Derkeethus said as he finally realised where his hands where.
"Your Majesty! Sorry I took so long! Some soldiers were asking for pointers to how to block effectively." Lydia said as she pounded the door.
"Umm... Come in, just don't be afraid..." Janice croaked.
"You sound... sick, Your Majesty." Lydia said in concern as she opened the door. "How can vampires... be... sick? Ahhhhhh!"
"I told you not to be scared!" Janice croaked at the top of her voice at the shrieking knight.
"Calm yourself, Lydia! It is just a mischievous transformation by June." Jane held the screaming knight tightly.
"Well, change Her Majesty back! She can't possibly serve as Empress if she looks like she is dead!" Lydia screamed at the ghost after she calmed down.
"I am not doing it until tomorrow. I am sleepy now, see you tomorrow." June lied as she drains herself into the ring on Janice's bony fingers.
"Get out of there this instance!" Jane shouted at the ring as Lydia carefully walks into the closet and slammed the doors in slight fear.
"Sorry mom, I can't. I am completely exhausted!" June lied.
"Well, better try to stand up and get used to that form." Alduin said. "Then again, I do envy you, I had always wondered what it would feel like being just bones."
"Sure you do..." Janice croaked as she turns everyone, including Lydia into skeletons. "And you can stay that way until tomorrow."
"Wouldn't dinner be coming soon?" Jane asked. "What would the servants do if they find out?"
"Ahh!" Lydia's shrill screams sounded from the closet. "I am too young to be dead!"
"You're already forty five! You should count yourself lucky that you hadn't died!" Derkeethus shouted, nearly dislocating his skull as he swivelled around.
"I guess so, I think I will turn you back then, although Alduin seems to be enjoying herself." Janice replied as she picked up Alduin's skull.
"Hey! Attach me back to my body!" Alduin demanded as her body pokes Janice's shin with the top of the spine.
"I don't think so." Janice said as she returned everyone back to normal except for Alduin, of course.
"I think it is best if she gets her skull back." Jane said as she tries to pry it from Janice's locked fingers.
"Don't pull that hard or you will- Arghh!" Janice screamed in pain as Jane pulled her arms off.
"How come I can feel pain?!" Janice yelled.
"The socket the arms were attached to are are harder to pull out than the one connecting the head to the spinal cord." Jane answered as she continues to pry open Janice's fingers. "Let go, will you?"
"Yeah, let go of my head! This isn't funny anymore!" Alduin exclaimed. "My body is wandering off under the bed!"
"Put my arms back first. I don't know if I can even open the fingers with my arms away from the body." Janice croaked.
"This might hurt a bit," Jane said as she popped Janice's arms back into her shoulders.
"Get your body here and I can see about putting it back on, I don't think I can even stand up." Janice instructed to Alduin's head.
"Just give it to me." Jane said.
"So, any plans to hide yourself when dinner arrives?" Alduin asked as she adjusted her skull.
"Mom can carry me into the bathroom and Derkeethus can order them to come in." Janice said. "I can't eat though, so someone is going to pretend I ate my meal or they will start questioning my state of mind."
"Argh, the joke isn't suppose to cause inconvenience to anybody; I will unlock your form for you." June sounded from the ring.
"So you aren't even tired! Liar!" Janice shouted as she changed herself back.
"I didn't have much time to fully decorate this ring on the inside. And I want to play some games that I know you wouldn't want to." June said.
"Right, sure, stay in there, you cause more trouble outside than in anyway." Derkeethus said.
"Who says I can't cause trouble inside this ring?" June said as she turns Derkeethus into a monitor lizard, though, of course, none of them knew what species of lizard he is.
"Wow, an actual lizard, though isn't it bigger than your average lizard? Like much bigger?" Janice wondered as she wrapped her hands around the chest area and brought Derkeethus into a sitting position much like a dog would be in.
"Change me back! I don't have to be a lizard to know that I am a lizard/human hybrid." Derkeethus hissed.
"Well, you are a lizard, Janice and I are mythical giant fire breathing lizards that can fly, Jane has a soul of said lizards and June is a dragonsoul. We are all lizards here, except for Lydia, of course." Alduin said as she examined herself in a mirror. "Is my skull on sideways? It is hard to tell."
"Thanks for trying to comfort me, Miss Obvious." Derkeethus hissed as he tries to keep his long tongue inside his mouth.
"Alright, fine, now what do we do? It is only four in the afternoon." June asked as she turned Derkeethus back, making Janice let go of him and causing him to crash into his chair on his head.
"I am so sorry, honey! Are you going to be okay?" Janice asked in worry.
"I- I'm fine... my head hurts a lot, though." Derkeethus said shakily as he got up, clutching a bleeding forehead.
"How can you be okay if there is blood coming from your forehead?!" Jane exclaimed in worry as she grabbed a towel to wipe away the blood. "Let me see it."
"You are lucky it is just a small cut, go and lie down on the bed and I will heal you up. You need to rest, the headache that it might cause must be severe." Janice said as she supports Derkeethus over to the bed and laid him down.
"I think I can help with that! With my added power, your already powerful spells will be much stronger." June said from within the ring. "And I felt sorry for not telling you to put him down first."
"Well, about time you did something useful." Janice said as she rub her hands together, casting a growing giant orb of glowing yellow light.
Inserting the orb into Derkeethus' body, the wound immediately closes as well as causing Derkeethus' pained expression to change into relief, then into being more awake then he was after sitting on a chair the whole day.
"I feel better than I had since, well, since forever! What did you do?" Derkeethus shouted in great energy as he sat up.
"June?" Janice asked, for she doesn't really know the answer herself.
"I fixed your liver problems, heart problems and regenerated some worn out cartilage between your joints. I also healed a turmor in your right, who knew you had lung cancer?" June listed. "You were that close to death if I had not healed those problems. Ease up on the alcohol next time, remember to drink plenty of water and stay away from any kind of smoke."
"Huh, weird, my spells only heal wounds... Well, looks like you are given a new lease of life!" Janice patted the healthy Argonian on his back.
"Can you heal old age?" Jane asked as she walked over. "I really do want to feel young again..."
"Sure..." June replied sadistically.
"What makes me think that she is going to do something that you will soon regret?" Derkeethus said.
"Wh-" Jane started to say, but was interrupted as she got smaller, shorter and what seems like a Khajiit's toddler's face starting to form. "This isn't what I had in mind..." The toddler wearing oversized clothes said in a high pitched voice.
"It will be weird calling you 'mother' now... Hmm... I need toddler clothes for her." Janice said as she thinks of suitable clothes to spawn.
"No need for that, I will turn her back, it was just a joke." June said as Jane returned to her normal self. "Come here and I can work on you."
"Why are you so willing?" Jane asked, suspicious of the ghost's intentions.
"Well, you are my mother and I suppose I should do something for you for freeing me from the pocket dimension." June said as she materialises.
"You didn't like it in there?" Jane asked as she walked towards the ghost, Janice passively standing behind her.
"It had been boring since Janice started her adventure and the souls just kept flowing and flowing and flowing… She killed so many so quickly that Arkay had to leave to attend to them. He even said that he might have to contact Janice to stop killing so many bandits even though their time had came for them to die. He was very, very busy." June said as she scanned Jane for problems. "He had said that the rate of you killing anything that had a soul, even the natural draugrs, everyday was higher than any war before. Even Talos didn't have such an impressive kill rate. Luckily, he still had time to see me now and again, the volume is lesser than wars, but the kill rate per day was unimaginable." June commented to Janice.
"Just doing my job to ensure justice is done; though if I had known, I wouldn't even thought of joining the Brotherhood…" Janice said as June finishes.
"Oh, wow…" June exclaimed in surprise as she reviewed what she discovered.
A/N: So, there you go, the chapter that had to be split into two parts after being with me for two weeks. I can't guarantee I can even update on a weekly basis since school is starting, so I hope you will stay with me, with this story, I mean. I will be rewriting after Janice's backstory is done, after that, who knows? I need to serve my nation as a soldier and my mother is pressing me to get a part time job before I get roped in, after I graduate. I don't know, probably going to end off after the back story, you know, begin the third and final arc of this story.