-Chapter IV- The Journey Begins

-Whiterun, Skyrim

-17 First Seed

-10:00 A.M.

-Nicholas

I awoke on a small, rough cot in the Temple of Kynareth. A woman was standing over me, rubbing my shoulder where it had been pierced by the arrow. My sight was fuzzy and the words she spoke sounded muffled, like something was clogging my ears. The room I was in was full of candlelight as well as sunlight, reflecting off of the face of the apothecary tending to my wounds, Danica Pure-Spring.

My sight was the first of my senses to return to normal. The colors began to contrast, and the shapes of the people and objects around me gradually sharpened. Still unable to hear very well, and body completely aching, and slowly sat up, holding my head up. I looked around me at the people who were there. The Sages, Danica of course, a few of the townspeople, and someone I didn't recognize.

She looked nothing like a Nord or Imperial. Actually, she wasn't even close to resembling any sort of race that hailed from Tamriel...or anywhere on Earth for that matter. She was tall and slim, had purple hair and lips and had large eyes. One second she was standing amongst the crowd, then in the blink of an eye, she was gone. I rubbed my eyes and blinked a few times to ensure my eyes were not deceiving me.

Though I could just barely hear, I understood what Danica was telling me when she told me to lie down, especially since she was putting pressure on my stomach, trying to direct my body down. I obeyed. I looked back at the group, to check for the woman again, but she was still gone. I heard Danica's muffled voice, and I turned my head with pain in my stiff, injured neck back to where she was looking down at me. Slowly my ears adjusted so I could hear again.

"What are you looking at, Nicholas?" she asked. I didn't respond, instead, I pretended I didn't hear her. "Nick? Can you hear me?" I didn't answer.

I lied there amongst the crowd in shame, for what I had done, and what I wasn't, but that wasn't why I was really upset now. Max... His death was because of me, and me alone. He tried to protect me, he was my greatest friend, and yelled at him, calling him a liar and treated him like an enemy, and even afterwords, he gave his life for me.

I felt as though a part of me was missing, and a deep feeling of sadness of enveloping my stomach. I started to remember all the good times we had together. Once when I was very little and I had begun my swordsmanship training, I had failed miserably multiple times. One of the times I laid there unmoving, sore throughout my entire body, not wanting to get back up. He reached out a hand to help me back up. After a minute or two of rest, I took it, and he pulled me back up. He said that would have been enough training for one day, then guided me back inside Jorrvaskr.

We spent some time in his miniscule room, where we relaxed for a bit. I still clearly remember sitting at his side on his fur-stuffed bed, looking around the room and the objects within it, such as the small portrait of Max's family: him, his wife, Anri, and their daughter, Katrina. He handed me a few sweet rolls, which I accepted gratefully. Afterwords, I apologized for being so rude, stopping in the middle of our training session as I did, to which he replied that every great hero needed some rest, then gave me a small side hug, rubbing one of my aching shoulders. I still remember what I felt when he did, it was something I had never felt before...like a father. Now he was gone, only living in my memories, leaving me depressed and alone.

Danica turned towards my visitors. "Let's give him some rest, he still needs time to heal." One my one I watched the people leave. Danica turned to leave as well, but half-way through the room, she stopped, walked towards the windows letting in an abundance of light reflecting off the stone floor, and covered them with sheets, blocking the light and sending the entire room into almost complete darkness lit only by the dim candlelight and a single window near the ceiling.

She left the room and leaving me in silence. All I could do was look around. I wasn't tired, and I wanted to leave reality for awhile and lose myself in thought. I turned my head upwards, which was hard to do with my injury, which felt like an extremely stiff neck, there was a jug of water next to the stone platform I was on.

I noticed something against the wall near the door on the other side of the room. It was just a cardboard box, which looked like it had been neglected for years. I stared at it for what seemed like forever, my eyes never leaving the side facing me, I didn't know why I was staring at it, maybe just because I was too lazy to move my eyes, or there was another reason.

I blinked a couple more times, then looked for the lady again. There was something...unsettling about her. It was creepy how nobody seemed to have noticed her, and when she left, no one knew the difference, but she was real. It wasn't just my imagination, there was really someone there. Maybe she was a ghost...? I thought, but then I remembered she looked completely different from any known species or race on Earth (or "Nirn" as Tamriel and some surrounding continents called it). Not Hyrulean, Alagaesian, certainly not Nord, and I didn't think anyone from the Four Nations or America would look like that. She was definitely...strange.

I now didn't care that I wasn't dragonborn, I just wanted Max back. I wanted to take everything that I had done the past few days, and have a redo, even going through the humiliation amongst all the viewers and observers of being unable to shout, to stop myself from going out there, and saving Max's life. Or at least take back my anger towards him beforehand.

After lying on the stone bed for hours of just silent thinking, I slowly start to drift off. The light of the sun setting outside was relaxing, and though where I laid was hard with only a mat between my back and the rock, it was warm nevertheless. My eyelids slowly got heavier and heavier until it seemed impossible to keep my eyes open, my head started to lower, and I eventually nodded off. My body relaxed, the pain in my neck faded away, I took a deep breath, and I found myself in a familiar place.

I looked around, I was back at the Concentration Camp, prisoners everywhere. I began to start to hear the sound of chains fading in, people crying for help and mercy, voices dry and ragged. Some begging for water, and others crying out in pain. It was night now in the strange world, so the entire fortress was lit only by torches, which glowed unnaturally bright, in their sconces on walls everywhere.

I heard a noise coming from behind me, like someone shuffling through grass. I jumped around as quick as I could, throwing my fists up and bracing myself for a fight. The strange woman was sitting in the air before me, levitating somehow, with the look of pure hope in her eyes. Her purple lips slowly turned into a smile. First she was looking me over, inspecting me for some reason, and she simply nodded before opening her mouth to speak.

"Nick? Nicholas, are you okay?" I woke up with Danica looking down on me, feeling my forehead and then placing a rag damp with cold water upon it.

"Wh-what-?" I stuttered, sitting up, "What happened? Was there something wrong?"

She looked concerned at first, but I assume she thought I was fine after all, then explained, "I walked in here, and you were...mumbling to yourself. I thought you were awake, but then I saw you starting to behave strangely, so I thought something was wrong."

A moment of silence followed, "What was I saying?" I asked.

"I don't have the slightest clue, you were talking too fast and too quietly. Why?"

I looked down at the floor. "I don't know, I was just wondering." I answered blankly. "Am I ill?" I asked looking up at her, removing the rag and holding it up.

"Yeah, I think you may have a high fever, in fact, you still don't look too well now." She told me, walking towards me.

I lowered the rag down. "Thank you." I said, lying back down. She replaced the rag in its original position.

"If you are thirsty, do not hesitate to drink. There is a pitcher of water next to you," she said, pointing to the table above my head, "so help yourself. As for your wound, leave it be, and just let it heal naturally."

"Thank you." I repeated as she turned to leave once more.

"Oh...and Nick?" She asked.

"Yeah?" I answered, looking back at her.

"Don't blame yourself for what happened to Max. It wasn't your fault, it wasn't anybody's." She assured me with a concerned smile, then she turned to leave once more. I set my head down on the pillow and tried to relax. All I could do was look up at the ceiling. I turned over so that I was on my side, and I caught my eye on the box again. There was something in there, something important.

I slowly started to get up, causing my neck to start to ache. My head was throbbing and my legs were weak, so I could barely stand. I slowly made way across the room, watching as the box slowly got bigger and bigger. At one point I fell to my knees, breathing heavily and feeling nauseous. I was reduced to a crawl, determined for whatever reason to retrieve whatever it was that was in there. After awhile, I managed to reach the cardboard. I reached my hand up, feeling the smooth material beneath my fingers. I looked up, and slowly gathered the strength to pull myself to a crouch. A knife was lying on top of the box, but not just any knife. It was Max's combat knife.

I weakly lifted my hand and grabbed the knife. It was a small silver blade, with a fine steel handle. It was so sharp I wouldn't have been surprised to see it cut through iron. I delicately held it my hands, trying to be gentle as I could. This was Max's most prized possession, the last gift from Anri, before she was killed in an attack on Mariana. The sheathe was made of pure silver, with symbols of Ancient Rune engraved on it. Unfortunately, Max never told me what they meant.

I took the sheathed knife, removed the cold scabbard, exposing the gleaming blade. I took the knife, pointed it downwards and slowly inserted the knife through the crack between the cardboard flaps, cutting the tape that was keeping the large box shut. Once the tape had been completely severed, the cardboard sprung open. I carefully wiped the edge of the knife off with the edge of the box, to get rid of the adhesive still stuck on it.

I slid the knife back into into its sheathe, creating a shing sound that resounded throughout the room. I opened the flaps of the box, first revealing a couple pages of paper. Written on it, was Max's will. The ink was still considerably fresh, gleaming in the dim light, which meant that it was recently written, at most a few days before. He had written out his will the night before the attack, like he knew it was going to happen, that he knew that he was going to die.

My hand started shaking as I removed the contents of the box. The first thing I pulled out was the biggest item in it, what appeared to be a normal sword with a bright golden handle and a sheathe of a bright silver steel. When I unsheathed it, it revealed a cobalt-blue blade, with a dark blue, nearly black, gem just above the cross-guard, and embedded in the blade itself.

I lifted the sword closer to my face to take a closer look at the gem. It was transparent and visible from both sides of the blade. When I touched it, I felt like I had been shocked with a massive bolt of lightning. I felt like my skeleton was being ripped out of my body as I watched as the black smoke emanate from my body and was sucked into the gem. Everything was still for a few moments, then it shone brightly, sending images into my conscience. It was like my life had flashed before my eyes...only it was multiple lives...and none of them were mine.

I saw places I've never imagined, unable to see them for more than a half of a second before going to others, certain events sped up, a plethora of people, adventures, places... Almost as soon as I saw them, I forgot them, only remembering a few points in time, like a picture burned into my mind. Amazing sights, allies...and killing. Looking down at the bodies, the death that I had caused, the pain...

I awoke again back on the stone platform with Danica looking down at me as though she was about ready to start scolding me.

"What the hell were you doing across the room in the state you're in?" She asked angrily. "If you wanted the box you could have just let me know. You didn't have to almost kill yourself."

"I almost killed myself?!" I started to panic.

"No, no. That was a bit of an exaggeration, but you shouldn't be getting up and moving around like that. It's not healthy."

"I-I'm sorry. I just-" I stopped. The words were stuck in my throat. The sword was just how I left it, but everything else was picked up. "How come the sword is just lying there?" I asked.

"Max told me about it...not to touch it."

"How come?"

"I didn't ask, but obviously he knew what he was talking about." She said, looking over her shoulder. "What I'd like to know is why he'd give it to you if he knew it did...that."

"What do you mean, that?"

Silence followed and lingered for a few moments, until she broke it saying, "You...you acted like you were having a seizure, but when I checked on you, you were completely fine. Then you started breaking into tears." I saw the worry in her eyes grow. "Nick, what happened? What did you see?"

"I-I'm not...sure." I said, a little scared. I still remembered the pain, like being ripped in half.

She sighed, then smiled. "Do you want me to bring the box over there? If you were going to risk your life to see inside it, it must be important." She asked. I nodded. She snatched the box for me, avoiding the sword still laying on the ground. I carefully sat up as she placed the box next to the bed. I removed the blanket off of me and wrapped it around me instead. I looked up at her and gracefully thanked her. I expected to leave once again and was surprised to see her stop at one of the stone pillars of the room and lean on it.

I smiled at her, receiving a similar action from her. I took a deep breath, then released it, trying to calm myself and clear my conscience of sadness and emptiness. I slowly put my arm inside, not knowing what to expect. I felt something warm and hard, with many smooth surfaces, as well as just as many rugged areas. I grabbed it easily with one hand, seeing as how the elliptical shape fit almost perfectly in my palm, and revealed it in the dark-golden light of the sunset. At first all that I saw was the black silhouette of the object, with rays of light surrounding it. I lowered it from the light to get a better view of it. It appeared to be egg, but I wasn't too sure of its origins, seeing how it was coal-black, with many curves and spirals jutting out of the egg, making it an imperfect shape. I examined it for awhile, repeatedly feeling its smooth surface that seemed almost comforting to the touch, warmth still radiating from the tiny stone-like object. I set it on my lap,

I again peered into the dark box before reaching my hand down into it, pulling out what appeared to be a helmet...for a blockhead. It was a light blue, square, shining helmet that seemed to fit me other than the fact that it was square. "What material is this?" I asked Danica as she walked towards me to take a closer look.

"I'm not exactly sure, but it isn't a metal or a fabric of any sort I've ever seen before." She knocked on it a few times, the sound that came from it certainly wasn't metallic. "Hm." She said, pursing her lips.

I set the helmet down next to me, then reached into the box once more. It was hard to see in the dimming light of the sunset, causing the room to illuminated in a dark orange tint. I again inserted my hand in the box-o-mystery. I found myself holding something I've always wanted ever since I'd ever heard of them. It was a sphere with a red top half and white bottom half and a button in the middle, surrounded by a black line that went all around the circumference of the entire sphere itself. It was a pokéball. There was just one problem: I have no idea how to open it. My eagerness was soon replaced with aggravation and confusion as I tried multiple ways to open it. I tried prying it open, pressing the button...repeatedly (which only caused it to make some sort of sound each time I pressed it), and lastly, begging.

"Pretty please with a sweet roll on the side?" I asked with a smile. Danica only shook her head.

After about five minutes of fruitless attempts, I just gave up and put it with the others. "Maybe it's just empty?" Danica offered.

"I think it still would open, wouldn't it?" She shrugged. After sticking my hand into the box again, I couldn't find anything, so after setting it down, I heard something small roll around in it. Danica and I looked at each other puzzled.

I turned the box upside-down to drop the item on the floor. It was a small golden ring with a pearl lining running along through the middle of it, as well as a small slip of paper, which simply read: "You will be Revolutionary".

"You will be Revolutionary?" Danica read, "I wonder what that's supposed to mean." Silence was all that followed. She looked at me with caring eyes. "You alright?" she asked softly.

I nodded "Yeah, I just miss him."

She lightly rubbed my back reassuringly, "We all do, I wouldn't worry about it now, he's in a better place. Whether it be Sovngarde or Heaven, he's happy."

I nodded again. "Thanks Danica." a said with slight smile.

"For what?"

"Healing me, caring for me...more than I can say." I said.

After a few seconds of her looking at me with a concerned look, she finally said, "No problem. Now get some rest, let your wound heal, okay?"

I lied back down, covering myself with the woolen blanket. I turned over and she blew out the remaining candles in the room, plummeting it into complete darkness. I heard the door start to shut, then Danica saying, "Oh, and don't get into anymore trouble, alright?"

"Only if I have to." I said jokingly. The door shut, sending a loud bang all throughout the room, repeating itself again and again, each time slowly getting quieter, then silence. I eventually fell asleep again.

Once more I found myself in the mysterious world, only this time not in the fortress, in the middle of an open field. I could feel the wind blowing whistling in my ears, stinging them with a slight chill, and the warmth radiating from the sun onto my neck, with its golden light reflecting off the flora around me. I heard the sound of running water from a small creek nearby. I watched as a group of mushrooms bounced up and down, and stacking on top of each other, then going back to how they're original poses. It was like I was really there.

I turned around to see the sun suspended in the bright blue sky, spreading the warm sunlight across the land, creating shadows from the miscellaneous objects obstructing the light's reach. I started moving forward, looking around, then stopping and looking at the ground.

It was some flowers with a pair of peculiar butterflies fluttering around them, with images on both of their sets of yellow wings depicting smiling faces. One flew up to my eye level and I reached out an arm towards it. When I did, I noticed my arms looked extremely different. They were really thin, with my hands reminding me of a flower on its stem. I stood in awe at the strange look my arms had taken. I continued walking forward until I stubbed my toe on something metallic, and it hurt. That didn't happen in dreams. I look at what I stepped on to find the blue sword. I turned around to find the place where I woke up, and it was the exact distance I was from the weapon as I was back in the temple.

I slowly picked the sword up, examining it. Then I looked at the gem again, touched it to see if I would get the same experience I did the first time. I was relieved to find that it didn't. I raised a hand and looked at it in its current state, then slapped myself. That hurt too, which only meant one thing: I wasn't dreaming.