Fate's Games
Where Is Your Pride Now?
"Your ancestors wouldn't want this Silus."
"Why should I hide from it? This is my families legacy!"
"It's the past! Dead oaths on dead lips. Let it stay there."
"The museum is opening, Madena."
ES
Curse you, you stupid man. Curse you to Oblivion and back a million times over! How could you do this to me? Oh how could you do this to me? Tears fell from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks silently as she gazed down at the still form lying on the ground. I told you to leave it be; let sleeping dogs lie. No… no, you were too proud for that. You were always so proud. Where is your pride now Mystic Dawn? Where is your pride now? She sobbed and closed her eyes tightly, willing the image away.
ES
"Dragonborn!" she had cried out, chasing after the two men. Silus had heard. She knew he had heard. He never turned though; he never looked back. But the Dragonborn had paused and turned to face her. She raced towards him. "He is a good man!" she had exclaimed in terror. "Please, please, understand that! He is a good man!"
"Egotistic, megalomaniac, my lady, you have a strange view of good men," the Dragonborn had replied. She saw the hesitation in his eyes, however. Silus was watching now, arms folded coldly, waiting. The wind blew his robes around him and she felt her tears begin. She would never see him again… Oh gods, everything screamed those words to her. She would never see him again… His gaze had softened slightly. She never noticed the Dragonborn had reached him until he stood alongside Silus. "Please…" she breathed, shaking her head in denial, praying that Silus would stop, would come back. There was the howl of a wolf up ahead, though, and the two men turned. Quickly they raced onward to take on the pack, and out of sight.
ES
My tears have not stopped, beloved one, not once since the start. Darling… you didn't know, did you? You did not know how much I loved you. How can one who loved only himself love another? Friends since childhood, we fought together, played together, studied with one another, taught each other spells and chants. The nights out in my father's field, laying together on the grass and speaking about our ancestries. I couldn't see it then. How couldn't I see it? Your pride and arrogance, your desperate longing to solve a long dead mystery no one else could answer for you. Did you think of me at all? When you knew you were to die, did you spare even a moment's thought to me?
We could see the flashes of lightning from below. Lightning and flames and ice and your beloved conjurations, oh divines, please; please, spare him. Let him come home. Oh gods, if there is any mercy in you, let him come back to me! Please, please, please! I would have sold my soul to each of you a thousand times over if it meant he made it back. I stood on a balcony hoping against hope that you would come down once more, return unharmed. The skies lit up with the fight. I could hear the shouts of the Dragonborn. Oh my dearest friend, my secret passion, beloved one, did you think of me even a moment before your spells and incantations ceased to reflect against the dark night sky; as the Dragonborn finally ended your life?
ES
"Wait, wait, don't kill me! There's another way. I can take the pieces back to my museum, seal them in a display case! You get a generous amount of gold, I get to complete my collection, and nobody has to die," he pled desperately. She was right. Madena had been right, and he had been a fool. She had always been right, always, since they were young. He'd never learned to listen to her, his pride was too great.
"Dagon has spoken," the Dragonborn replied. Silus swallowed quietly. Now… now he was paying for it. Now he would give anything to go back in time and hear her plea. Now he would give up everything to be with her at this moment… He would give everything to be with her… be with her… her, her, oh divines, Madena… No! No, he would not accept this fate without a battle!
"Fine; but I'm not dying without a fight!" he declared. Before the Dragonborn could draw his blade, Silus conjured a familiar, a wolf. Immediately he followed up with chain lightning and on and on, not giving his attacker a rest. It wasn't enough. It wasn't enough and he knew it wasn't. The Dragonborn seemed to absorb the spells. The Dragonborn kept coming at him, blade drawn. There was reluctance in his eyes, but it wasn't enough. If it had been enough, he would not be about to die.
He wasn't aware of it, not until he felt the first blow. Then he was bleeding from the mouth, then he could feel his lips moving, mouthing her name over and over and over as each time he said it he tasted the warm salty liquid. He was going to die. Oh divines, he was going to die! Gods I beg you now, be with her, protect her, help her. I am not worth her tears, and he had seen her tears as she spoke to the Dragonborn. Now he knew why. She had tried to plead for him, she had begged the hero to spare him. Oh gods, I am not worth her tears… The only image he saw was her, her, her, always her! He felt like screaming curses at every immortal that existed. Madena, Madena, Madena…
He was on his hands and knees now, at the Dragonborn's mercy. The hero held his blades poised, ready to behead him. "Please," he finally managed to gasp out. He knew he would die now. "Leave my body intact," he begged, thinking only of her, only of her, not himself. He would have laughed if his position hadn't been so dire. How hadn't he seen? How hadn't he seen? "Don't do this to her," he whispered.
The Dragonborn couldn't have possibly heard anything he had just said, but the man had read his lips, he must have, because the blades came away from his throat. There would be no second chances, however. The next thing he knew, the hero's blade was buried to its hilt in his stomach. He gave a strangled cry as the Dragonborn twisted the blade, but that was all. Life fled from his eyes. I love her… I love her… He died with the words burned into his mind, and the Dragonborn watched silently as his body slid down the hill.
ES
She gazed upon his body silently. She heard the battle above stop. Whatever had been attacking the Dragonborn after Silus, had been dealt with now, and soon he would be down. Where is your pride now, Silus? Here you lay drenched in blood. The Dragonborn would come down. He would strip her Mystic Dawn of everything, clothing, weapons, everything, and leave Silus' corpse carrion for birds and beasts. No dignity would be left for the man. Where is your pride now, Mystic Dawn?
She felt eyes on her and looked up. The Dragonborn stood there watching quietly, icily, angrily. He could kill her in one blow. If she attacked, he would kill her. No… No… some goddess was whispering to her words she could not hear. Do no harm to yourself, lady, she sensed the deity had told her, and she knew… He had prayed for her. Her lover had prayed for her… The Dragonborn neared and just as she guessed stripped Silus of all he had leaving him near naked in the snow; and he walked off without a word.
It was then that she collapsed to her knees, seizing her hair and screaming in unbridled misery, rocking on her knees. She was shrieking his name, shrieking curses at every immortal she knew of, and she fell over his body and wept helplessly. No second chances, no second chances. Oh gods, come back to me, lover, come back to me! Goddesses, pity me, Daedra, I give my soul to any and all of you if you will just bring him back. Silus, Silus, Silus, Silus…
ES Alternate Ending
There was darkness, a brief flash; but that darkness encompassed all of Skyrim, every inch, and all at once they stood in front of the museum gazing into each other's eyes in shock, the Dragonborn waiting to be led to the shrine. "Madena…" Silus breathed softly. She sobbed then screamed, throwing herself into his arms and kissing him passionately. Just as eagerly he returned. He didn't know what had happened, where they were. He didn't know if she had died as well, but he prayed she hadn't. Had they been brought back in time? How? Did it matter? All he did was hold her tightly back returning every kiss as if it would be their last. Gods protect them both, forgive them both. From above, the god of time, Akatosh, watched silently, smirking. Mara, goddess of love, beamed down upon the pair grinning. Well, if no one was gifted a second chance, what fun would the immortals have?
A/N: Quest Referenced-Mehrunes Razor. I considered leaving the alternate ending out but decided not to, if only to see readers' comments, if there are any.