The Pink Haired Pirate: An Old Norse Saying
Rated: M for language, future mature themes, violence, gore
Warnings: Spoiler alert for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
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Sakura was hiding in the shadows. For some reason, Calcelmo's lab was almost totally empty, if you did not count the Markarth Guards patrolling the perimeter. She has spotted the rusty key in the wizard's pocket and luckily, she has encountered a courier just outside of the Hold to deliver the special package of cogs and Dwemer artifacts to the famed researcher.
And she has waited, patiently, in the dark, for the courier to make his way towards the wizard, claim that he had a package for him - his hands only - and Calcelmo was more than happy that Sakura has delivered the artifacts in time. A shame she has not delivered them personally, as he would have made it worth her trouble with coin; oh, only if he knew...
But he was busy enough not to feel the slender, thin fingers reach inside the pocket before disappearing right away.
Sakura had to be very very patient. She could alert nobody of her presence. The last thing she wanted to do was to land in the Cidhna Mine. She has heard stories about it; about a King in Rags, angry Reachmen and the forced labor with scarce food supplies instead of resting your ass in a cell. On top of that, they were also mad at 'The Bear of Markarth', and if nobody guessed who was she talking about, the Bear is obviously Ulfric Stormcloak; and while Sakura has not openly voiced her political opinion and her stance on the Civil War, she was a Stormcloak supporter. The last thing the imprisoned Reachmen needed to hear was that their new inmate was a Nord sympathizer.
Plus... escaping would be a nuisance and she did not want to shame her Guild by getting caught. No, that would simply not do...
She had a brief idea of where the Dwemer Museum was. And all his sensitive research must have been kept locked far away from prying eyes. The gate, opposite from Calcelmo's laboratory and rubble, was frequently guarded and they hesitated no second to turn away any curious visitor. But she has been inspecting their schedule for at least a few hours.
Every six hours, the guard would go back to the Barracks, and it took them around three minutes for someone else to come and take their post. And they were much more tired, and blind, in the dark, so she had to wait for night time. It was only then when Sakura dropped from the ceiling and fumbled with her pockets to unlock the door.
She wiped a nervous bead of sweat from her brow before she pushed the door open and slipped inside, right when the shift has changed and someone else took the position to guard the lab.
Needless to say, the Museum was impressive. The place could have used some cleaning and refurbishing, but she certainly loved the Dwarven Spheres used as statues to accent the place. And they looked more interesting and captivating when they did not try to gut her.
Focus, Sakura, focus.
But despite being night time, the Museum was far from empty. Guards were patrolling each inch of the corridors. From the Museum to the Laboratory, the place was full of them.
And she has also found out why Calcelmo's lab was so empty. Aicantar was here.
She recognized him as Calcelmo's nephew, constantly bullied into perfection by his uncle. They have spoken briefly when Mara has sent her to play the role of Cupid, and she genuinely hoped that the old man would be a little less bitter now that he was less lonely.
One could always hope.
The wizard was busy and the Guards were patrolling the area. He was bent over a book, scribbling furiously, as a golden Dwarven Spider was crawling around him. It was... interesting to watch one of those little bastards not aiming to maim and kill. Kind of fun, actually. The machination was docile, almost like a cat, entertaining itself with kicking a rock around, climbing up a wall ... or someone's back, and overall scaring the shit out of an unsuspecting guard. It was fun to watch.
Until it spotted her.
Kami, Divines... how could have she been so stupid? Was she a professional or not?
It took her one moment of wonder to attract the attention of the weird, seemingly sentient creature, to blow up her cover. Sakura watched in horror as it crawled in front of her. She was not afraid of the spider per se. It seemed harmless enough. But a guard rose an eyebrow and started to walk closer and closer to her hiding place.
She gulped.
"Is someone there?"
The guard drew in a sword out of its sheath and walked closer.
Sakura backed away in the shadows, and her hand reached on the first thing which seemed good enough to swing at someone's head, out of instinct.
The staff was pulled out of its stand. She made a move to whack it over the head of the guard.
A bead of sweat rolled off her brow.
The staff was too fucking short. It missed just the eyes of the Breton man - his face was much more noticeable up close - and she was ready to roll out of the sword's way when his face contorted in pain.
The thief blinked a few times.
The spider slammed itself head first right in the guard's abdomen, making it crouch in pain and fall to his knees, holding his stomach.
Aicantar could hear a noise behind his back. He almost broke down the quill as a result. He turned around and saw a guard kneeling in pain, but despite hearing the familiar screeches of the metal spider, it was nowhere to be seen. And neither was the staff. He inwardly cursed. He could already hear his uncle yelling in the back of his head.
He looked at his open lab journal for another moment before closing it and dumping the quill in the open inkwell.
He started to look around, an orange orb flaming in his outstretched hand.
Aicantar's first thought was that an intruder has infiltrated the tower.
And sadly, they were confirmed to be true, when a small hand covered mostly in leather clasped right onto his mouth, muffling his gasp of surprise, as he was dragged in the dark with a force he did not know the stranger was capable of. He was held tightly against the stranger, and he could see a hooded head looking to left and right.
"Shhhh! Don't make a sound, I don't want to hurt you, Aicantar, but Gods help me I will knock you out if I have to." His captor whispered, but he could briefly recognize the voice. And when he turned around, in such close proximity to the captor's face, he instantly knew. Those eyes were not easy to forget.
The Altmer removed her hand from his face and took a good step away from Sakura. She was crouching in the dark, with his pet-project resting on her shoulder. The staff was a few inches away from her, maybe she has dropped it when she decided to forcefully drag him away.
"Sakura?" His memory supplied. "What in the name of Azura are you doing here? You're trespassing." He lit his hand on fire again. He did not want to use force, but he would if he had to. He narrowed his eyes, demanding answers. He was extremely conflicted. It would be a shame to hurt her, after all.
At first, he has thought he would never see her again. Now that they were face to face, he has hoped it would have been under different circumstances.
Secondly, he was amazed by how docile the spider was, it seems to have taken a liking to the pink-haired thief. But for all he knew, judging by her forsaken uniform, she could be there to steal his or his uncle's work. Calcelmo's paranoia was well placed and justified.
Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat, and much to his surprise, she began.
"Okay so there is this journal we have to translate but the text is written in the Falmer language and the text was written by the former Guildmaster which had scholar aptitudes despite being a thief and then he was killed by the former now ex Guildmaster who almost killed me and now we want to find out what did Gallus know about him and his plans and..." Sakura took a deep breath.
"That bastard is up to something. We have to find up to what and how can we foil his plans. For all we know he could be crossing the border to Morrowind. Or High Rock." It was one of the very few moments Sakura prayed that Naruto's 'Talk no Jutsu' would work and help her have her way.
Everything would be so easy if people could be talked out of situations... but where would the thrill of the battle be, then?
Aicantar couldn't help but blink owlishly. He hasn't... expected the whole story to be thrown away so quickly. Still, the years of listening to his uncle's half-hearted mumbles and then the whacks over the head for not understanding them in the first place allowed him to catch the main gist of the tale. He lowered his hand, slowly, sighing.
"Look. I wish I could help you but Calcelmo will have my head if I give away his research. He's planning to publish a book on the Falmer language but it's nowhere near ready yet."
Oh, Divines... not those disappointed eyes...
"I know, look, I'm a big fan of your uncle's work. I really am. That's how I started speaking Tamrielic, after all. But we literally have no virtual time to wait for its publication." Sakura coaxed on.
"I'd be willing to destroy the notes as soon as we were done translating the journal." Maybe he'd believe her better if she actually had it with her.
But her stupid ass has forgotten it on Enthir's desk.
A seemingly long pause has followed Sakura's last words. They never broke eye contact, carefully measuring their next move. While Aicantar wanted to avoid giving out his uncle's secret piece of work, Sakura did not want casualties to emerge out of the whole ordeal. Plus, the assassination was the domain of the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves wanted to keep their hands clean of blood as much as possible. Guard bribing and clearing out the bodies was tedious work; certainly not because of a certain moral compass. No. It was just hard work.
And she hasn't lied when she said she was a BIG fan of Calcelmo's research on Dwemer culture and history. It pained her to betray the old Altmer as much as it pained his nephew.
The spider was unmoving, sitting beside the abandoned staff which was soon picked up by the pink-haired thief. She handed it back to Aicantar, who accepted it.
"You have to promise you will destroy the notes. And tell me how by Azura's name you managed to get it to listen to you." He lowered the staff and sighed, starting to walk forward, expecting her to follow.
Sakura couldn't help but let a wide grin stretch widely across her face. She nodded her head.
"I'm not exactly sure myself. Lead the way, I will theorize what I did and maybe you can draw in some conclusions."
Aicantar motioned her to follow. Even if she had his permission, Calcelmo would throw a fit if a stranger was allowed in his private quarters and the guards would quickly report to their employer. They had to be stealthy and out of sight.
The spider was following the staff, like a beacon of light, close to their legs, almost going between and making them almost trip over. It let out a little screech and both of them tried to hide their discomfort.
"Okay so I think I might have unconsciously channeled my mana into the staff, and it might have reacted to the soul gem Dwarven Spiders usually have to keep them 'alive'. But since I'm more or less connected to cats, it's starting to become annoying like one." Sakura pondered, as she commented on the spider's behavior, while Aicantar made mental notes. It was walking ahead, then going in an '8' shape around their legs, which was incredibly annoying as mages usually wore robes. It was a guaranteed recipe for tripping and falling regardless of what you wore, though.
"Fascinating. And how did you actually channel your mana?"
Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "It's hard to explain since it has kind of become something innate and almost involuntary for me. It usually requires great concentration and control, but you don't switch it to have any effect other than pure connection." She scratched her cheek. "It's ... well ... again... hard to explain."
Aicantar took a left and stopped her right away, to avoid a jet of steam blowing in their faces.
Calcelmo's private quarters were inside a tower where the research was locked away. But because the Understone Keep was apart of a large scheme of brilliant Dwarven engineering much like the rest of the city, built on Nchuand-Zel, the place was bobby-trapped and dead guards were being dragged away on a daily basis.
"You're connecting your mind to that of the spider's, and then it should be bound to at least understand what's it supposed to do. If I turned it into a metal spider cat... I can assure you it was not my intention but good luck getting it to listen to you unless you find a way to reboot it." Sakura explained as they moved forward with great caution.
"The spider is a 'gift' I'm supposed to work on. It was the only one who was not crushed to death by a guard during his last excavation trip in Mzinchaleft. It's been a few weeks, but your mana has worked more efficiently than the control crystal."
"Mzinchaleft?" That part brought her attention. "I've been there a short while ago. I actually got a letter from your uncle looking to get a few of the artifacts I found - Mara knows how has he gotten word of it so quickly - so I arranged to have them delivered. I actually wanted to give him a dynamo core but it shattered."
"A dynamo core? Have you fought a centurion?" It was no mistake he was at least a little bit surprised.
"Un. Sure, I wasn't alone and I almost bled to death, but those things have a blind spot behind the head which is not as strong as the rest of the body. Still, it hurt a lot, but honestly, I was unable to avoid fighting it. But the sight of the ruins was worth it. I will just find another core to bring your uncle next time I have to jump into some ruins." She declared, much to his surprise. Could she actually be a spy if she was so dedicated to help them? She did risk her life in places the excavation teams would be too daft or too fearful to go in. Himself included. He was doing his best to avoid the Nchuand-Zel excavation site too, and he was dreading the day they got back to digging.
Dwarven ruins were fascinating, sure, but they were not really worth dying for.
They were close to the balcony. Aicantar pushed open the door and allowed her to slip through, with a quick 'thank you'. They were out in the open. They climbed the stairs up to his tower and stepped inside.
It was a large chamber made of stone. The upkeeping was horrible, but it was an understatement that the wizard would not let anyone inside and accidentally take a 'peek' at his work, nor would he trouble himself with menial tasks such as sweeping and cleaning. The stone tables were littered with books, paper rolls and pieces of charcoal, quills, ink bottles - a few full and a few half-empty, and diagrams of the dwarven mechanisms seemed to cover them almost entirely.
It actually made Sakura lose focus for a second until her shoulder was shaken gently by the awaiting wizard. Sakura sighed.
"You're right, I shouldn't snoop. The curiosity got the best of me. Let's just get this over with." Sakura followed him upstairs, up to a platform that had a view over the whole chamber through the metal bars.
But she wasn't sure what was she looking at. Yet. It was a large slab of stone littered with inscriptions. It was not just Falmer; she was almost positive that it was Dwemer and certainly Tamrielic too.
"So this is the guide."
She ran her fingers over the surface of the carved words, and she couldn't help but feel a slight bit disappointed that the strange words on the walls were missing.
"Yes. But as you can see, it would be counter-productive to copy hand by hand each character in order to get somewhere with it. That's what I was trying to warn you about." He was a little jumpy too, even if all the strange sounds were made by the spider and not by the uncle he thought he would catch them in the act right there and then.
"I guess you're right." Sakura ran her fingers through the dented surface again. Her eyes suddenly lit up and turned to face Aicantar with an all-knowing grin.
"Wait, what if we just..." and she bolted downstairs, only to climb back up with a batch of paper and coal.
"Just hold the paper over the writing."
Aicantar understood what was she trying to do and wanted to stop her. But could he? He merely nodded numbly.
Sakura then ran the piece of coal over the paper. The carved letters appeared as white on the black, coal paper.
The spider watched them, letting out a cute screech, something which was not quite expected. Dwarven Automatons did not actually do 'cute'. But this little fellow happened to be quite adorable actually when it was not killing or forever-incapacitating guards.
It took them quite a good deal of paper to transcribe the code.. but they were eventually done. Aicantar was holding the spider rod while Sakura's arms were full with a whole bouquet of paper rolls. She sighed, smiling. She was one step closer now.
"Thank you for helping me, Aicantar... I will make it up to you... I promise."
"It was.. for nothing." He shook his head. "As long as you keep your promise."
"Oh, I will! I will." She added quickly, before sighing. "I promise I will burn these away as soon as we translate the journal."
He led her right on the balcony and Sakura tucked the rolls of paper inside her cuirass, hoping it would not destroy the rubbing. She stood on top of the railing.
They were in perfect silence, for a few moments.
"Well, see you then."
"Yes.. see you."
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It was only inside of Enthir's laboratory Sakura pulled her hood off. She took out the rolls of paper which thankfully have not wrinkled too bad and the writing was understandable enough. But she could bet she'd need to wash off the graphite from her clothes.
Karliah was already waiting, sitting in a chair and Enthir has just walked inside the room with all the needed tools to decipher the journal.
"Oh, Divines... it was so damn awkward..." Sakura bit inside her cheek as she handed the translating guide to Enthir. The Dunmer woman merely raised an eyebrow.
Enthir flapped the paper open. "A rubbing? Odd, I expected notes."
"Well, I guess the old man thought that if somebody was to steal his research, it would be a pain to remove and carry a giant slab of stone. Luckily the carvings were deep enough so the rubbing is quite clear. Unless the graphite has worn off on my way here. All we need is a gist of what happened anyways." Sakura shrugged and took a seat beside Karliah. Her cheek was buried in her hand.
"It took you a while, but I suspected it might take longer. You had to go all the way to Markarth after all. Everything's alright?"
"I certainly won't ask about how did you manage to get your hands on this, but hopefully our friend has not made any trouble for you." Enthir sat down at his desk and began to translate the journal. It would take him a while.
"Yeah, miss Karliah... I'm fine. It was just so awkward... but at least no casualties emerged out of it. Except for a guard, he got hit, but not by me directly." She sighed and Karliah couldn't help but raise her hand to pat the younger girl's back.
Enthir's facial expression grew more and more contorted. During the whole process of translation, he fell into deep thought for a few moments, before starting to write again. Whatever was he reading has greatly disturbed him. It was only when he was done, he pushed the tip of the quill so hard against the paper. Not only the page and ink tore open, but the tip also broke down.
He let out a deep exhale, gritting his teeth, as he pushed the journal away for the two thieves to take, along with the notes.
"Are... are you alright, Mr. Enthir?" Sakura asked carefully, stepping closer.
"Get the journal out of here."
Sakura blinked, as his eyes darkened. She could see many familiar emotions flowing through his eyes, but grief and anger was certainly the most predominant ones.
"Get the journal out of here and make sure the bastard bleeds. Make sure he bleeds and burns." He muttered darkly, his head falling in his hands.
Sakura nodded mutely and merely took the materials off his desk. Karliah nudged her towards the window, leaving the room the way they have entered it, and disappeared into the freezing night.
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That faithless day in the Snow Veil Sanctum meant more than Gallus' death. It also meant the start of the Guild's degradation. From a thieving empire, they became a band of petty burglars. But it was also the day where Karliah's twenty years on the run started, sleeping with an eye open and never showing her face again. It was also the day where Enthir lost his best friend and he wished he could have strangled Mercer with his own two hands. Use a spell to turn his insides out. Make him suffer.
Karliah was careful enough to bring two horses to Winterhold. When she stepped inside Enthir's laboratory, Sakura was already gone, and they both sat in wait for the notes. She thought well that getting back to Riften on foot might prove itself to be a bother and they'd lose precious time, so she made a few arrangements in Solitude for two horses to be bought.
Two stallions were waiting, one was cream white and the other was a stunning silver. They were twins, so naturally, one followed the other. Getting the second horse to follow was not hard at all.
"Pick a horse and let's go. We can not make the Guild wait any longer. But there's something I wish to give you." That made Sakura stop right before she could mount the silver horse.
Karliah untied a sheath from around her belt and handed her what appeared to be a sword. Sakura put the decrypted journal inside her cuirass' inner pocket. Sakura's gloved hand wrapped around the black handle and slowly started to pull it out.
That sword was a piece of art. It was stunning, a dark kind of stunning.
The handle was dark and appeared to be decorated with three sculpted feathers. The base of the blade bore the crest of a bird with the wings which appeared to bore a kind of orb, and that orb encased something which looked strongly like a shuriken. The darkness started to fade until the very end tip of the sword.
"Karliah..." Her words died in her throat. She never missed the hint of a red glow which smothered the ebony and steel
"It was Gallus' blade. I thought you might put it to good use. I... you remind me of him in some ways." Sakura couldn't help but nod mutely.
"I will treasure it, Miss Karliah..." Sakura secured it around her waist and mounted the silver stallion. Chilly. She petted the side of his neck gently. His name was going to be Chilly.
"I know you will." Karliah gave her a small smile before mounting her own horse. She wanted to let Sakura take the lead as they began their gallop to Riften, but she could see a glimpse of hesitation in her eyes and decided to go first.
"Sakura continued forward, obeying Mercer's wish to take the lead in the exploration of the Tomb. Something was wrong, but a small voice in the back of her head tickled her ego. He finally accepted her as a comrade."
It was clear as daylight that his betrayal has taken a toll on her as well. The worst of all... she could have been quicker. She could have been less blind and see through his lie, so it was most likely her fault. But she was secretly grateful that Karliah acknowledged it and furthermore, she made no comments.
They just galloped through the snow. The horses were strong enough to fend off the pack of wolves that wanted to go pray on their bodies. And regarding the bandits... Sakura has never seen a better archer than Karliah. Once she puts her hands on the bow, she becomes a dangerously accurate marksman.
Honestly... Sakura had no time to land a hit before the way was clear again. She was... impressed. A little sad, but impressed.
They started to slow down their pace when they finally reached The Rift.
"You see, Sakura, the Nightingales are a secret branch of the Guild. An anonymous splinter, if you will. It was me, Gallus and Mercer. Sadly, my oath can not let me tell you more. You will have to trust me from now on and onwards."
It was unclear why, but while Sakura has made the mistake to trust Mercer as her Guildmaster... she had complete but masked faith in Karliah. It was just... she won't let her guard down ever again.
"I understand. How does it feel... to be back home after so long?" Sakura asked, carefully.
They got off their horses and tied them to a tree branch. She knew exactly where they were now, just outside of Riften's walls. Right over the wall, there was the cemetery, and even further in, was the coffin which protected the entrance of the Cistern. Sakura called chakra in her hands and feet and started to crawl up the wall with ease.
She helped Karliah up before they both jumped down in relative silence. They stopped inside the mausoleum.
"It feels... good to be back home. But I hope they will believe us."
Sakura took out the journal. She took in the Nightingale crest on top of the leather cover and gulped, before pressing on the rhombus button. The coffin made a familiar grinding stone sound and allowed both of them to descend. This time, Sakura took the lead, ready to protect Karliah from a possibly spontaneous arrow or dagger which could fly from an angry fellow guildmate.
Nobody would hurt a hair on her head as long as she was breathing. Sakura pulled down her hood and shook the hair out of it, sighing.
They climbed down the ladder and carefully stepped inside. Everyone was inside, even Vex, Tonilia, and Mallory, who used to hang out in the Flagon when off-duty. It means that they knew something, and the burning looks her wide-ish forehead received, was enough to make her cower. Slightly. All she could do was raise an arm to shield Karliah.
Their furious eyes landed immediately on the new blood and the kind of betrayal going through Brynjolf at that moment seemed very similar to what Sakura has been going through just a couple of hours ago. But her face was solemn, and her hands were gripping a leather-bound journal. Behind her, was a familiar figure they have not seen in years. Twenty years to be more exact. The newer members of the Guild has only heard about her deflection, but the more seasoned thieves knew her face and the fury her name carried on.
"You better have a damn good reason to be here with that murderer," Brynjolf spoke first, and it was not surprising that they would rather take action first and ask questions later. They would strike Karliah down in one go if she was not so fervently shielded by their youngest member whose allegiance they started to doubt.
"You hurt a hair on her head and you will pick your teeth off the ground so put the weapons down." Sakura stepped forward. She merely tossed a journal at Brynjolf, which he caught with ease with his free, left hand, as he lowered the sword in his right.
They never broke eye contact, and Sakura was simply daring him to make a move. But then, he eyed the journal in his hand and opened it.
"It's Gallus' journal. It's all the proof I need to know that you were all misled." Karliah spoke for the first time, as she gained enough courage to stand next to Sakura.
Brynjolf never let go of his sword. "No tricks, Karliah or I'll cut you down where you stand. And that sounds for you too."
"As if you could. Just read the damn thing." Sakura crossed her arms and waited.
The rest of the Guild waited too, and the atmosphere was so thick and dense you could cut through it with a knife. Sakura looked calm, but she was this close to punching something for stress-relief.
They all held their breath for a moment.
"No... this can't be true... I've known Mercer for so long... "
"It's true, Brynjolf. Every single word." Karliah stepped forward, a bit more confident. "Mercer's been stealing from the Guild for years... right under your noses."
"Just wait there for a damn blessed moment, Brynjolf. What does the book say?" Delvin stepped in immediately, unable to bear the charade and the ambiguity of the situation anymore.
"It says Mercer's been stealing from our vault for years. Gallus was looking into it before he was murdered."
"How can Mercer open up a vault that needs two keys? It's impossible. Could he pick his way in?"
"That door has the best puzzle locks money can buy. There's no way it can be picked open- " Vex butted in, before being abruptly cut down.
"He didn't need to pick the lock." Karliah interrupted her.
"What's she on about?" Delvin walked with Brynjolf towards the vault.
"She's telling the truth. I.. I have seen Mercer pull out a tool and open Ancient Nordic gates which don't even have a lock to pick. Now tell me that's suspicious." Sakura walked closer, but Vex prevented her. She shot Sakura a look when the pink-haired woman wanted to protest.
"Use your key on the vault, Delvin. We'll open it up and find out the truth."
Delvin walked forward first and emerged a small, silver key. It was as inconspicuous as possible. He inserted it in the first lock. "Done. But the lock is as tight as ever. Your turn."
Brynjolf did the same as well. The lock clicked open and he pulled away from the vault gates. He almost dropped the key in the process. At that moment, all the Thieves flocked around the vault.
It was empty. The chests were wide open and dried to the last septim.
"By the Eight! Everything is gone! Get in here all of you.." But they did not need to, because they were all already there. Brynjolf walked inside and looked around. No stone was left unturned.
"The gold.. the jewels... it's all gone!"
"What.. did he take?" Sakura found herself asking as was she finally made space to look through by the much taller guildmates. She was not been told of the existence of a vault. Yes, she has seen the door in the cistern, but she has been too busy to question its existence, with the whole initiation process followed by the hunt for Karliah.
"The question is what has left inside..." She heard someone next to her.
"The dust, apparently. You could make statues out of it." She commented grimly, tracing her finger on top of the opened treasure chest. She rubbed it against her leather pants immediately.
"I'm going to gut out that son of a bitch!" Vex immediately drew in her dagger, before Brynjolf lowered down her hand with his own.
"Vex! Put it away... right now. We can't afford to lose our heads... we need to calm down and focus."
"Do what he says, Vex. This isn't helpin' right now." Delvin quickly supplied.
Vex merely sneered as she put away her short blade. "Fine. We do it your way, for now."
Brynjolf then turned to Karliah. "In the name of the Guild, I welcome you back home."
Sakura couldn't help but smile. Their work was from over.. but Karliah has experienced the life of a missing-nin for over twenty years and she finally had the chance to lay down and sleep peacefully. It was a feeling she did not know how to describe. It was the feeling she had when she took her first nap on Going Merry, where she was not surrounded by psychopathic criminals, but by her goofy crew. She truly felt happy for her.
"Sakura."
"Hm?"
"Get some rest. Be here at the first thing in the morning... then we will talk about finding Mercer."
Sakura merely nodded and saluted numbly, before vanishing, ignoring everything and everyone around her.
She transported herself in her room, in Bee and Barb. The room was dark, no lit candle in sight. Chihiro was gone too, and the place she used to curl on was cold. She's been gone for a while.
Sakura sighed and closed her windows. When has she left them open? She could feel the cold breeze even through the closed cracks. The lily flowers in the vase have wilted too. She took a step forward and slumped on the bed. Her head fell in her hands as her smile vanished, and she started to weep.
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A/N: Chapter done! Almost. :3
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Aicantar returned to the lab as soon as Sakura vanished. He was greeted by an impatient Calcelmo, with his arms crossed against his chest.
The older wizard noticed the spider around his nephew's feet, but he made no comments about it yet.
"Where do you think you have gone? You know you are not allowed in that wing of the tower!" He almost barked, and Aicantar flinched.
"I'm sorry uncle.. the spider seemed to have grown a mind on its own and it has wandered off..."
"Sorry? You know the rules, what if someone would have followed you!? I won't be betrayed by my own bloo-" Calcelmo stopped, the moment the spider was mentioned. The spider appeared to be docile, standing close to Aicantar's feet. He was holding a rod that contained an attunement crystal, but true to his words, the spider seemed to have caught a mind on its own. A ... friendlier mind. He has heard how guards have been dragged out dead after the spider has been startled.
The said metal creature walked forward, made out a weird sound, before making an '8' shaped turn back to Aicantar's feet.
"It has wandered on its own, so I wanted to make sure it was not going to destroy anything, or itself. Or kill somebody."
Calcelmo sighed in relief. "Good grief. I expect a full report on the spider by tomorrow then. I am curious to see how it has improved."
He left soon after, leaving Aicantar to go back to his research table. He picked up a new quill and started to write down in his lab journal. The spider climbed on his stone desk and laid down right on top of the paper. With an unsure hand, he started to pet the portion which might be the head.
Much to his amazement, the spider curled all of its eight legs underneath its body, and let out a soft vibrating noise coming out of its mechanism.
It left Aicantar stunned. But that did not stop the petting session his pet project - pet demanded. He kept stroking the metal gently, leaning in his chair, sighing.
That woman... has turned his spider into a cat.
"If I turned it into a metal spider cat... I can assure you it was not my intention but good luck getting it to listen to you unless you find a way to reboot it."
The creature held more or less a fragment of her magical essence. He remembered her words as clear as they were spoken a mere few minutes ago. He wasn't sure if he could reboot it. Not yet. But even if he did... for some reason, he felt like not doing it.
His eyes then landed on the small, withered flower which has once been a shade of pink, resembling the trees he has only seen on Summerset Isles. It was used as a bookmark in a tome he was currently studying.
No, he would not want to change the spider-cat at all.
He did not notice the missing Dwarven Lexicon cube either. Not yet, anyway.
Once a thief, always a thief.
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.
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A/N: Finally! Again. For good, this time. Well, the chapter took me a while, not gonna lie. But there you have it, the second love interest; Aicantar! I kinda like him. Not as much as Marcurio, but maybe he'll grow on me. Plus, Altmers are kinda cute, just very damn tall. I read on a Skyrim forum on heights and the average height of an Altmer, regardless of gender, is around 6'8'', give or take an inch. I guess that's why they are so high. Ba dum tss.
If you're a little bit curious about her height, I did modify it from the canon version. She's somewhere under 5'4. But it's not that important honestly. The only thing important is that her head can be used as an armrest for all those damn tall Nords.
If you're also curious, yes, the spider already had a slight cat behavior, but it was accentuated by Sakura's fragment of chakra which filled the soul gem. Aicantar found himself with a metal spider cat on his head. Also, bonus points for who remembers the little flower Sakura has dropped in the Book of Love chapter. :3 Aicantar does have a weird crush on her, but it's very ambiguous even for him to describe. It's not love, it's more of a mild fascination and attraction at the same time. But it's overridden by the sense of duty. He was ready to seriously hurt her if needed.
Sakura has finally broken down. If you were wondering why Sakura has seemed so unaffected by the whole ordeal so far, this is why. Smile until you're alone; then cry your heart out.
I tried to fix all the spelling mistakes but maybe I have left some of them out. I mean... I did my best but it's almost 1 AM and my eyes are too tired to go over the story again. Hopefully, it hasn't made the story impossible to read. Maybe I will get back to it tomorrow to correct them if I won't forget until then.
No stats this chapter as nothing really changed with her inventory... I got a review on the last chapter and thought I would also reply here. The reason I chose the monitor her stats was for the sake of realism, honestly, so nobody would wonder why she could pull out of her ass the money to buy a fully upgraded Proudspire Manor. But at the same time.. scrolling could be bothering. The stats can seem long to scroll but they do not take only a very bit out of the whole chapter content and words.
However, I do want to make it pleasing to the eye and easy to read, so I'm just experimenting at this point. I was thinking of updating it just for me, and only adding at the end of the chapter what's new. What was sold, what was received... stuff like that. You can make the sum yourself afterward, if you don't, believe me, why can she afford this and that.
Well... that should be all. See you in the next chapter!