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FALNAS

Blindsighted

The Ragged Flagon, Cistern

"Ouch. Looks like our beloved patron wasn't joking when she said the curse was at work even now."

One hand pressed against the side of her face, a bloody rag against her cheek, Vex waddled in, her face a mixture of pain and frustration.

"No, Falnas, it looks like she wasn't," Brynjolf said as they watched the blonde approach. She looked like she'd just gotten the teeth on one side of her mouth pulled by a horse-drawn cart.

"Not. A word."

"Are you badly hurt, Vex?" Karliah asked, cocking her head in concern.

Even though she'd forbidden her company from saying anything, she did reply, "More in my pride than anything. Guards made me when I tried to sneak into that bedamned wedding."

Brynjolf grimaced. "That's a tough deal."

"Managed to steal anything?" Karliah asked, trying to focus on the positive.

"Mm. Just this. Not bad, but could have been a lot more." She fished a red, sharply-cut gemstone from her pocket. It had a natural buoyancy, almost like it was floating above her palm. Falnas had heard from them. Stones of… some queen. Apparently there was a certain number of them, spread across Tamriel, and finding them all… well, something would happen. The legends were a bit murky on that.

"Ah," Brynjolf said, lighting up. "One of those shiny bloody diamond stones."

Karliah nodded. "The ones that shoot the stars into your mind."

"Good job, Vex," Falnas risked saying.

"No," she snapped back. "It was an awful job. I got booted before I'd even begun. I swear, I'm beginning to believe Delvin when he says the damn Guild is cursed."

As much as he would have loved to leave Vex even more vexed by saying it was all down to her amateurism, Falnas told her, "You're more right than you know. A lot of things have been happening, and a lot of things make sense now. Including the Guild's shitty luck." They were regular clothes over their Nightingale gear, to avoid any questions before they had a chance to announce their new status to everyone.

"… Which started about the same time you arrived," Vex pointed out.

"Correlation doesn't equal causation," Karliah admonished her. "The Guild is cursed, we've confirmed it."

A sour smile broke on Vex' sharp features. "I'm sure Delvin would love to hear that."

Brynjolf nodded. "And he will. You've got time to see Tonilia and get freshened up. Guild meeting in an hour."

There weren't many Initiates left to shoo out. Most had left and not returned when they'd heard of the empty vault. There was just a sullen-looking Redguard girl who kept rubbing her butt with a pained expression, and a particularly foul-smelling Khajiit. They were told to wait outside until Delvin arrived and they could start the meeting. With Sapphire out on a job in Markarth, Delvin was the only one they had to wait for.

With Delvin returned, they once again took their places at the table, in the dark, with only a few candles. It had become a tradition which Falnas enjoyed despite his usual dislike for stuffy rituals. It had a certain… intimacy about it.

"Roight," Delvin kicked off. "Karliah wanted a Guild meetin', so I s'pose we'll let 'er start the chin-waggin'."

"Thank you, Delvin, for the… very Delvin-like introduction," Karliah said, prompting an amused grin from the bald Breton. "And I've got some news which is good for you, but not so good for everyone else." She paused for effect. "The Guild is, indeed, cursed."

Delvin slapped his hands down on the table. "Bloody well knew it, I did!"

"That's a bold statement, Karliah," Tonilia said gently. "What made you come to that conclusion?"

"We were told," Brynjolf answered in her stead, "by the only… well, 'person'… who'd know for certain, and who has no reason to lie to us."

"And who would that be?" Vex asked, her face healed but still a bit swollen on one side. "The ghost of the Gray Fox."

"Even better," Karliah said flatly. "We were told by Nocturnal herself."

Silence fell for a few seconds, after which Delvin shot into a barking laugh. "You takin' the piss, Karliah? What, you tellin' me Nocturnal 'erself came down from the 'eavens, to pass that little tidbit of information along?"

"No, Delvin," Falnas said. "She didn't come from the heavens and we went to see her. And the reason she told us of the curse is because she's the one who cast it on the Guild."

Delvin fel silent and blinked. "What? Why'd she…"

"The Skeleton Key is no longer in its pedestal, Delvin," Karliah merely said. "The Guild is cursed until we return it."

Vex snorted. "Yeah, sure. And did Nocturnal have the thoughtfulness to tell you who took it?"

Tonilia said gently, "It should be obvious, Vex."

"Bloody shithead Mercer's who it was," Delvin spat. "… if this is even true."

"It's true," Brynjolf only said.

Pouring herself another modest measure of brandy, Tonilia asked, "And I suppose this curse won't lift until our patron Daedra Princess gets her Key back?"

Falnas nodded. "That's exactly how it is."

"So then." Delvin leaned backwards in his chair. "Our goals and Nocturnal's coincide. She wants 'er key back, and we want to give Mercer a good beatin'."

"If all of this is even true," Vex threw at Karliah. "We're taking a lot at your word, aren't we? First some translated journal when we can't read the original, and now you claim to have visitations from Nocturnal. What's next? Will we have to believe you when you say you saw the face of Talos in your roasted bread this morning?"

"You don't have to take our word for it," Karliah simply said. She opened the laces of her tunic and showed her the emblem of Nocturnal on her jet black Nightingale armour, the candlelight lighting up the silvery edges.

"Oh my," Tonilia said, amused. "Ye of little faith…"

Vex' mouth fell open. "N… no way."

"I'll be damned," Delvin breathed. "Nightingales? Nocturnal made you Nightingales? You three?"

Brynjolf nodded, showing his emblem as Falnas did the same. "She did, Delvin."

"Well that's old bollocks," Delvin grunted. "Listen, strange women hidin' in caves distributin' armour suits is no basis for a system of Guild governance. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate of the members, not some farcical underground ceremony."

Karliah chuckled. "Nocturnal didn't make us Nightingales so we could govern the Guild, Delvin. She made us Nightingales… well, in my case, reinstated me as one… so we could face Mercer on equal ground. He's a Nightingale too. As was Gallus."

Delvin shook his head. "Well, bugger me with a fish fork."

Vex had her hand extended towards Karliah's collarbone. "Can I… touch it?"

"Uh…"

Vex let her fingers brush over the material. "Mm. Silky."

"So what's our next step?" Tonilia said, bringing them back to the business at hand.

"The next step," Brynjolf explained, "is going after Mercer and getting that Skeleton Key back."

Vex blinked. "Why does that Key even have to be returned? I mean, why would Nocturnal make a Key that unlocks all doors and then not want anyone to use it? How illogical is that?"

Falnas shrugged. "They're Daedra Princes, they don't have to be logical, I s'pose."

"It'd be nice if we knew where Mercer is hiding though," Tonilia mused. "Or at least, where he's likely to go."

"We already know," Karliah said with a grin. "The bastard is attempting the biggest heist ever pulled in Skyrim."

"What, is he goin' to steal Jarl Elisif's undergarments?"

"No, Delvin, but close. He means to steal the Eyes of the Falmer."

Vex grunted, "I was going to ask if those are even real, but I'm not going to make the same mistake twice in a day."

"They are real," Karliah confirmed. "I know where they are, in the bowels of an ancient Dwemer ruin, but when we, the three previous Nightingales, found them, we couldn't enter the ruin. The door and the walls around it were inches thick and made of Dwemer steel, and the lock… well, not even Mercer could open that."

"Until now," Tonilia concluded.

"Until now. He's probably trying to cut the Eyes free as we speak. They're supposedly extremely fragile, so he'll be busy for a while. But if we don't catch him now, and he gets the Eyes out of there, we'll never see him again, and then his victory over Gallus and me will be complete."

Tonilia nodded. "Gallus was a good man. You know what to do then?"

Brynjolf stood up and struck a pose. "Nightingale squad… move out!"