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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Karliah has lead the two initiates to the Nightingale Hall the moment Sakura has tied Chilly to a tree branch, next to her and Brynjolf's horses.
"I'm glad you two have joined up." She picked up a torch, and the smaller woman closed her fingers close to her mouth to blow a strand of fire. Brynjolf raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, as Sakura simply shrugged her shoulders.
"Thank you. Welcome to Nightingale Hall."
She was followed by the two thieves, as Karliah held the torch up. The sanctuary of the Nightingales was built in what seemed to be a simple cave. The narrow, steep hallway opened to an impressive, torch-lit cavern with banners bearing the Nightingale sigil hanging from the walls.
"So, this is Nightingale Hall. I heard about this place when I joined the Guild, but I never believed it existed." Brynjolf looked around, in wonder. They walked ahead, and Sakura couldn't help herself from staying behind, picking a book with blue covers from a wooden shelf.
"The assumption that the Nightingales were just a myth was seeded within the Guild on purpose. It helped avert attention from our true nature. What's wrong, Brynjolf? I can almost hear your brow furrowing." Karliah supplied. She kept walking, her memory slowly supplying the layout of the Hall. It's been decades since she has last stepped foot in the sanctuary. It felt strange to be back home.
"The Nightingales vol. 1? By Ga-"
"Lass, don't get left behind!" Her head snapped to the back of Brynjolf's head, who did not turn back until he heard Sakura skipping to catch up with them.
"I'm sorry. I'm here."
"I'm trying to understand why I'm here, lass. I'm no priest, and I'm certainly not religious. Why pick me?" Brynjolf furrowed his eyebrows. Karliah stopped walking, eventually, in what seemed to be the armory. Of sorts.
There were no mannequins to hold armor and no racks to showcase weapons. There were, however, broken down and discarded training dummies pummeled after years of use. The place could use some renovations, she guessed.
On the left was a stone platform with three ebony black pedestals, backed with three similar crested banners.
"This isn't about religion, Brynjolf... it's business. This is Nightingale Hall. You're the first of the uninitiated to set foot inside in over a century. Now, if you'll both proceed to the armory to don your Nightingale Armor, we can begin the Oath."
Karliah instructed them both to hold their palms on top of the pedestal, as she did so. The next thing Sakura felt was a surge of weird chakra. Was it a sealing technique? An almost solid, murky shadow enveloped their bodies, as it coiled around their wrists and ankles. Every inch of her skin was covered in a black metal plate, and yet, it felt so light, like a cloud.
It was like an armor made of solidified chakra. Of solidified shadows.
Their heads were completely covered, and even if the mask would go only up to their noses, their eyes appeared to be nothing but a glinting color; a spark. And yet they could see very well. The only visible parts of their bodies were half of their fingers. How else could a good thief pick a lock, after all?
The Nightingale crest was displayed proudly on their chests, as they stepped down the platform.
"Finally. A pair of boots that fit me. You guys have no idea how much the old boots bothered me." Karliah chuckled softly.
"Okay, lass. We've got these getups on... now what?"
"Beyond this gate is the first step in becoming a Nightingale."
"Woah there, lass. I appreciate the armor, but becoming a Nightingale? That was never discussed."
"To hold any hope of defeating Mercer, we must have Nocturnal at our backs. If she's to accept you as one of her own, an arrangement must be struck."
"What sort of arrangement? I need to know the terms."
"The terms are quite simple, Brynjolf. Nocturnal will allow you to become a Nightingale and use your abilities for whatever you wish. And in return, both in life and in death, you must serve as a guardian of the Twilight Sepulcher."
"Wait there a second." Sakura raised her hand just slightly. "Nocturnal? The Daedric Prince?" If her face has not been masked, they both could have seen the color drain from her face instantly. Just the thought brought her unpleasant memories of tentacles and Signus' wide lifeless eyes as he turned to ashes.
"Yes. Is there.. a problem?" And while her face was masked, Karliah could hear distraught notes in her voice. The pink-haired woman shook her head.
"N-No. No, you're right. If Mercer is backed up by a Daedric Prince, we don't know what is he capable of. I have seen first hand that he's a formidable swordmaster.." There was no point in denying the obvious truth. "But who knows what else can he do if he's also a Nightingale."
"At this point, I don't think there's anything else to lose. If you say this will help us give an advantage over that madman, then count me in, lass."
Karliah nodded at Brynjolf's muffled confirmation and motioned them both to follow.
Sakura had to admit, the cloak had a nice sway as they walked deeper inside the inner sanctum.
Three platforms rose from them to stand on, so they could take the Oath. Sakura walked to the left, Brynjolf to the right, and Karliah walked right in the middle. She raised her arms.
"I call upon you Lady Nocturnal, Queen of Murk and Empress of Shadow... hear my voice!"
They waited for a few moments until Nocturnal answered her prayer and manifested herself from a ball of shadows. The tall, womanly body was wrapped by a long silken robe, with two nightingales resting on her shoulders, next to her hooded head.
"Ah, Karliah. I was wondering when I'd hear from you again. Lose something did we?"
Her voice was thunderous and powerful, with certain hints of sarcasm and condescending notes.
"My Lady, I've come before you to throw myself upon your mercy and to accept responsibility for my failure."
"You're already mine, Karliah. Your terms were struck long ago. What could you possibly offer me now?"
"I have two others that wish to transact the Oath; to serve you both in life and in death."
Nocturnal's gaze lowered towards the two armored thieves standing on Karliah's left and right, recognizing Akatosh's chosen, the woman who has almost become Hermaeus Mora's emissary.
"You surprise me, Karliah. This offer is weighted in my favor."
"Revenge? How interesting... Very well, the conditions are acceptable. You may proceed."
"Lady Nocturnal, we accept your terms. We dedicate ourselves to you as both your avengers and your sentinels. We will honor our agreement in this life and the next until your conditions have been met."
"Very well. I name your initiates Nightingale and I restore your status to the same, Karliah. And in the future, I'd suggest you refrain from disappointing me again."
Nocturnal vanished, and the newly restored Trinity climbed down the platforms. Sakura couldn't say she was feeling more powerful, with the Lady of Murk's blessing. But she has felt her scorching eyes for a single moment before she has vanished.
"So we are Nightingales."
"With the Skeleton Key missing from the Twilight Sepulcher, I'm afraid Mercer's seen to it that none of us can benefit from Nocturnal's gifts. But it will be enough to put us on equal footing with Mercer."
"We don't have time to lose, you two. Let's go and get our hands on Mercer before he leaves Skyrim once and for all." Brynjolf already made his way out of the Nightingale Hall, obviously distraught by the whole ordeal.
Sakura and Karliah followed immediately, meeting the light of the sun once again. They headed right for their horses, petting their heads gently.
Brynjolf gripped his hands on the reins of his horse. He looked briefly at Karliah, then at Sakura, and he turned around.
"Listen, lass. There's one last piece of business we need to settle before we go after Mercer... the leadership of the Guild."
Sakura nodded. "So, when are you taking the reins, then? After we go for Mercer?"
He almost chuckled. Karliah nudged him to go on.
"Karliah and I had a long discussion before you arrived here. Thanks to your efforts, Mercer's treachery has been exposed. After we deal with him, all that remains is restoring the Guild to its full strength. As a result, we both feel that you have the potential of replacing Mercer as leader of the Thieves Guild."
"Wait... me? I barely joined the last two weeks. Why not you? You're the reason the Guild has not been completely flushed down the sewers under Mercer's influence." Her hands remained frozen on Chilly's reins.
"I've been at this game for a long time, Flower. A long time. I've stolen trinkets from nobles and framed priests for murder. I'm good at what I do, maybe even one of the best. But it's all I know. I've never been one to lead. Never desired it, never cared for it. Don't want it."
Sakura frowned for a second, before looking at Karliah. "Why not you, then? You have been trained directly under Gallus, if somebody knows how to lead the Guild his way, then that's you. I think nobody would question your leadership; you'd be an amazing Guildmaster."
"I.. I couldn't, Sakura. Gallus was.. more than my Guildmaster. But I've seen a pattern in the way you work.. just like I've seen in him. He'd be very proud to call you his successor."
"Then why not Mr. Mallory? Or miss Vex? They have years of experience over my head. Or maybe miss Tonilia; she knows the inner workings of the Guild better than anybody. I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty but... it's not right."
Brynjolf put his hand on her shoulder, making her raise her chin and look up to him.
"Look. Everyone in the Guild admires what you've done. Maybe they won't come out and simply tell you, but I promise you it's true. And now they know Mercer never genuinely cared about the Guild. He lacked the loyalty you obviously possess. I can't think of anyone better."
"I.. I guess I don't have a choice then. But now, Mercer has to pay for what he has done to the Guild. If he runs with the Eyes and the key, none of us will have rest ever again. But even so... I will hunt him down until the end of the world if I have to. Which way for Irkngthand?"
"West of Windhelm, in The Pale. There's a dirt path from the Nightgate Inn in Dawnstar."
"Let's go then. We don't have time to lose." She snapped the reins and Chilly broke into a running pace, followed immediately by Brynjolf and Karliah. They shook their heads, keeping a steady pace, but taking into consideration the stamina levels of their horses. It would be over soon. Years of exile would be over soon. Years of bad luck would be over soon.
It would be over soon.
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The horses were left to wait in a safe spot away from the ruins. They couldn't risk hurting them. The came across a camp.. a deserted camp. But as Sakura checked the pots of boiling stew, roasting meat, and the freshly poured mead, the bandits - most likely, have fled the scene not long ago.
It meant that Mercer was here. Or at least, has been here.
"Keep your guards up, guys." Sakura took the lead, and this time she took it for good. Her hand moved and pressed against her right eye.
"The way is clear."
They followed without a question, gripping the handles of their weapons.
Between the maze of towers, they could easily spot bridges made out of wood, connecting the rooftops and allowing access on top of the metal cupolas covered by thin layers of snow. They could easily slip and fall to their deaths. Sakura stopped for a second and turned around.
"I think that I should teach you two something that can help us. The ground can most likely be unstable and the surface here is slippery."
"What.. do you want to teach us, lass?"
Karliah awaited.
Now, there was no time to feel weird or insecure, as strange as it was for her to teach her superiors, so she started her lecture. "This trick is easily taught to mages because I don't know how well can you control your mana flow. We call it the 'Chakra Adhesion' technique." Sakura held her hands out and let a steady stream of chakra flow through her feet. She pushed herself high up, flipped, and glued the soles of her boots to the tree branch above her head. Much to their surprise, they saw her hanging upside-down before she flipped and landed back on her feet. "Normally, we are taught this exercise pretty young, starting with trees, rocks and up the water surface, but we have no time to dwell too much into the basics."
Sakura used her eyes to take a look at their chakra networks, their streams and the amount of mana they flowed through their hands and feet. Neither Brynjolf nor Karliah commented, despite not having any magical training. They must have thought the skill was useful to have, especially in their line of work. Sakura has not once used it to infiltrate different locations and not only in Skyrim, so all thieves could benefit from it. The only problem was... time. Sakura has gotten the tree-climbing exercise on her first time back in Waves, but it took a good while for Naruto and Sasuke to get it as well.
But her eyes were not even a quarter as developed as they were now. Which meant she could take a peek and guide them in directing the necessary amount of chakra.
They started waving around their flow, the moment they learned how to tap into their reserves.
"Too much mana and you will be blasted off the surface. Too little and you will lose your footage. Brynjolf, you used too much. Karliah, it's almost good, just add a little more- that's it, there you go. Now try walking up the bark." Karliah nodded and focused. With the newbie's guidance, she did it, she walked a little more than halfway up the treebark, before losing her focus and falling.
"Ugh... I thought... "
"That's the point. You don't think. You feel it. Test the surface with your foot. If you feel it can stick well enough and sustain your weight, you're good to go." She breezed through the lecture and explanations. Yeah, maybe she was not that much of a good teacher. Perhaps, when they were not working so hard against the clock, she could teach the whole Guild how to tree-walk. That would be fun. and useful.
"Not thinking, eh? I think I got it. Let me give it a go." Brynjolf claimed another tree for his own, and started running, a bit bolder than Karliah has been. He flicked a dagger in his hand. The moment he has reached his limit, he slashed the tree bark and fell back on his feet. It was good enough to make Sakura smile.
"I think we are good to go. If anything happens, just stick yourself to the surface. Use the mana in your hands to get a tight grip onto cliffs and walls. Rocks and trees are not that different. Water, on the other hand, it's much more different. It's changing all the time, and it's harder to get the grasp on how much mana should you use and where. But sometimes, the survival instinct can kick really hard and before you know it, you're high up on the ceiling like a cat that jumped out of the bathtub." She commented, eyeing the wooden platform in the distance. They headed for the stone stairs, platforms and structures, then right on the man-made wooden bridges across the domes. Sakura was right, they were slippery, and she was right again, the practice earlier gave them an insight about how useful mana really was. Trying not to slip was a good constant chakra control exercise. It made her wonder if the shinobi of Land of Snow were better at these climbing exercises since everything was covered in snow and ice.
With the bandits chased away, the path towards the Irkngthand Arcanex was clear. The large, but familiar, metal gates awaited, unlocked. The three of them conjoined their strength to push apart the doors, and while their noses were covered, they could swear that a heavy stench of death hit them right in their faces.
Several bodies were littering the stone floors, staining them with thick, red blood, around a scorching campfire.
"It seems that Mercer has been here." Karliah kneed beside a corpse, checking its pulse. The body was still warm. "But I don't think we are too late."
"Agreed. The ruins are tough to explore...at least he has cleared the way for us." Sakura followed the trail of blood. "Still... we should be careful. Bandits are less of a threat when you compare them to Falmer and machinations."
"Less likely we'll find a Falmer so high above."
Sakura extended a hand and let a flaming orb grow in her palm, to light up their path. They carefully walked past the bodies, climbing up the stairs, and as the left side seemed to have lead to a dead-end, they turned a sharp right. In the distance, they could see the dim-lit candles on the edge of a shallow, stone basin, and the metal scuttle which dropped a Dwarven Sphere the moment they got by near enough. Karliah's hand immediately grabbed her bow, and with exact three sharp arrows, the automaton shook and fell apart. Right before it could land a hit on either Brynjolf or Sakura, whoever was closer.
"That was a close one." Karliah lowered her bow as Sakura picked a few scraps.
"Interesting. The attunement crystal is better hidden than a spider's. I guess a single well-placed shot could make it explode right away. Or lose control and do Gods-know-what."
"We'll have time for that later, Flower. Let's go." Brynjolf put a hand on her shoulder, to nudge her to get up. Sakura nodded, but not before pocketing a filled soul gem and a flawless garnet. Maybe it was a petty one, but it could still charge a staff. And the garnet... well... it was not exactly cheap, was it? The dead dwarven spiders dropped several other soul gems and gemstones on the floor too, and Sakura couldn't really keep herself from picking them up. It was impossible... really. Luckily, the Nightingale Armor did not vanish and only increased the inner pocket filled with coin and jewelry. She had a place to store everything.
Still... she felt as if she has forgotten something. No... not the mission. It was .. something else. But she couldn't quite place her finger on what exactly.
They followed the trail of scrap metal and blood, to navigate further in the stone hallways. There was another stone pool straight ahead, but it was much bigger, albeit shallow. The water couldn't even reach your knees, she could bet. But the Dwemer were dwarves which meant they were no way near a human's average height. So maybe it was a swimming pool. Or maybe not. Yet, she couldn't help but wonder what was the purpose of at least half of the chambers in their ruins.
But it was quiet. Dead quiet.
All the awoken machinations might have been finished by Mercer before they got there. Their scraps were filling the water too, and as much as they investigated, nothing. It was quiet.
"So far so good. I don't even know if I like it more than when enemies jump on me."
"Keep your eyes open and walk with the shadows, Sakura. I will stay behind." Karliah let them walk ahead, descending the stone stairs to a large chamber, where the light was washed in a predominantly blue hue. Several golden gates were guarding their fall, but it didn't take long for Sakura and Brynjolf to attract the attention of one patrolling Dwarven Sphere, and two others who dropped out of the scuttles above their heads. They unsheathed their swords, parrying the metal bladed arms of the Spheres.
Arrows flew by their ears, and one clean hit blocked the locomotory mechanism, blocking the gears, allowing Sakura to strike it one go. "If you manage to aim it low enough, you will hit the crystal!"
Brynjolf blocked a hit with his armored gauntlet, before stabbing and shattering the red, glinting crystal.
The final Sphere was shot down.
"Wish there have been no enemies now, Sakura?"
"Nah. I'd be living in constant paranoia otherwise."
"Fair enough."
They walked down the flight of stairs, and one step closer, several pillars started to spout fire from four different directions. They stopped right in time from setting their cloaks on fire.
"This place is like a maze... how did the dwarves find their way around here?"
"And how didn't their beards always catch on fire?"
"How do you know they didn't? Maybe they used a pool as a beard extinguisher."
In a moment of weakness, the three of them chuckled under their masks.
"You know, they say that if you want to get somewhere fast and there's a crowd, get a water bucket and run. Nobody will stop a person running with a water bucket." Sakura joked, but she stepped forward, trying to make anything out of those fire pillars. Look for some gaps and find an opening.
Karliah's violet eyes spotted a gap right between the first two pillars and the wall, as well as a statue and many pieces of stone rubble they could leap onto when the need arose. "I think I found our opening. Follow me." She grabbed her cloak, careful not to set it on fire, and pressed her back tightly against the wall. She started to move to the left, avoiding the flames just right.
"Ladies first."
"How gallant, Brynjolf." Sakura rolled her eyes and followed Karliah, with Brynjolf right next to her. They silently moved past two Dwarven scuttles, as Sakura's breath hitched in her throat. They kept their feet steady, navigating through the labyrinth of flames, making use of the fallen debris and rubble. Karliah outstretched her arms and pushed right onto the metal gate, letting Sakura and Brynjolf pass through safely.
"First deathtrap.. done. Who knows how many others to come."
"You're so positive I don't even know what to do with you."
Soon enough, several more hallways navigated ahead, they found the elevator which would descend them to the next level.
"Ready to go?" Three hands held onto the level, as they pulled on it together.
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The moment they walked down the stairs, Sakura pushed open the gate. She barely had the time to catch the swinging ax trap with her hands.
"Son of a bitch!" It pushed her a few feet back.
"Sakura! Are you okay?"
The pink-haired woman merely grunted as she steadied it from swinging and taking any heads off. She painfully removed her bleeding hands from the blades. Brynjolf took out a red bottle from his pouch and poured the contents over her wounds. How could she swing a blade right with injured hands, anyways? The healing potions were good to heal internal damage when consumed, but could also act as antiseptics and heal open wounds when poured onto them. It was... a good thing to know.
"I am now. Thank you."
"For nothing, lass. We should tread carefully now that we know Mercer has left behind more than a few surprises."
They advanced, more cautious than ever. As they walked down the platforms, with the golden gates obstructing their vision of the cavern, they could hear foreign footsteps. Karliah rushed over a gate. "What's that?" She took a better look. "It's Mercer! Down there!"
And he was, indeed. There was a glint in his eyes, with a taunting look, all too clear despite being too far away.
"I'm on it, lass!" Brynjolf tried to pull the bars apart, as the traitor walked away, farther and farther. He slammed against it, but nothing could budge the Dwarven alloy. Sakura filled her foot with chakra and gave it a good swing, which startled Mercer immediately. A deep dent, the size of Sakura's foot, remained in the gates. She gritted her teeth and kicked again, swallowing the pain. it was not long until the gate was kicked down, and despite the pain that flowed through her body, Sakura jumped.
"Sakura!" Karliah yelled. Much to her relief, Sakura has landed safely, albeit leaving a deep crack in the ground, but Mercer was gone.
"Where are you, you asshole?! Show yourself!" Gallus' blade was out, as she looked around, but there was no sign of Mercer. But that did not mean she was not alone. Several footsteps startled by her presence started to get nearby her location, as her eyes blazed with fury. There were Falmer, everywhere. They let out a horrible screech as they swarmed in numbers.
"Come on lass, let's go!" Brynjolf yanked Karliah's arm as they made a dash through the narrow hallway. Pushing open the gate and almost tripping over the rubble, they dodged a pillar and busted their way outside. They jumped, from much safer distances this time.
Yet, the Falmer didn't seem to touch her. Her companions stopped for a moment to watch, as Karliah lowered her bow. Sakura was executing several series of dodge, sidestep, slash and stab, with a speed they didn't know that was possible. Her hand grasped the shoulder of one of the cursed elves before the blade impaled it right from the collar bone and all the way down. She tossed the body around, like a ragdoll, to catch the Sparks spell of a Falmer Gloomlurker - easily identified by the crude headdress they wore. They seemed to be smarter and closer to their origins, able to tap into their mana reserves and transpose it into spells. They were blind, so they couldn't have read a spell tome to learn them, which meant that the spells were transmitted from old to young, generation from generation, right before the change could happen, and all the way into the present.
It was fascinating.
But fascinating also meant dangerous, so Sakura kept fighting until a single one was not left standing. Sakura lowered her blade, panting softly, as Karliah and Brynjolf jogged to catch up to her.
"That was... I didn't know you could fight like that, lass. I knew you could fight but.."
"A dear friend of mine is a formidable swordmaster. He needed a sparring partner so it was impossible for me not to pick up a thing or two." She smiled a little beneath her mask. "So what do you think, guys? That gate should be opened by a lever, by the looks of it."
She was right. They had to focus on the task at hand, yet, as they searched around, they couldn't keep themselves from making observations.
"We saw a lever up there, onto the platform."
"Two, actually. One on the left and one on the right."
"Do you guys think one of them might be the right one and the other activates a trap?"
Brynjolf sighed. "We won't know until we try. Let's go." They picked up their pace and started running. Karliah went to the right, while Sakura and Brynjolf went to the left. There was a lever and a metal chest on both sides. Karliah pulled the lever first.
The groan and sound of gears putting themselves in function echoed through the cave, but the spears of the gate were locked in place. The gears did spin... so was it the wrong lever? No trap was activated either.
"Your go, guys!" Karliah called out.
Sakura nodded and pulled their own lever as well. The second set of gears started spinning, and finally, the gate lowered its spears down, freeing their path. They hurried downstairs immediately and headed towards the hallway. From that point, it was a game of sneak, snipe and try not to awake a Dwarven Centurion. Which sadly, they did.
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"Three Centurion cores? You know, I'm kind of glad that shit broke away from its charging station. I bet that Calcelmo will be in a better mood after I deliver two of them." Sakura commented. Nobody commented about how she sealed them in a storage scroll, strange enough, they just let be.
"What do you want to do with the third, then? Keep it for your personal collection, or what?"
Sakura shook her head, as they walked through the Slave Pens of the underground city ruins. She remembered the centurion core she has crushed in her own stupidity back in Mzinchaleft. Yes, they found another one to replace it ... but that did not make her feel less guilty about how has she acted.
"I'm trying to mend someone's trust, that's all. Don't you worry about it."
Karliah motioned them both to stay behind, as they soon walked in a clearing, but she spotted another variation of the Dwarven Spiders. The attunement crystals on their heads emitted sparks, which blew up when they were killed, so the wisest course of action was to kill them from as far away as possible. She aimed her arrow and shattered the crystal right through, making it explode and scatter away several scraps and gem powder.
They walked deeper inside the cave, almost knocking into the bone chimes.
There was the high platform there were standing on, with metal gates allowing the dwarves to look down on their slaves. There was also a lever and a few small stone chairs. Down there was something that Sakura recognized as a spinning blade trap. It was not activated and she could bet heavy coins that the lever turned them on.
It was also full of Falmer, judging by their huts and constructions.
"Brynjolf. Ring the bone chimes when I tell you to do so." Sakura's stomach churned, knowing what she was about to do. "Karliah, get ready your bow."
"Have you lost your mind?"
"Just do it!"
Brynjolf knocked into the bone chimes, alerting the Falmer about the intruders. They crawled out their huts and holes, as Sakura was watching them from above. Soon enough, she pulled the lever and just as she speculated, the trap activated.
Several elves were pulled into the trap, sliced alive, but she motioned Karliah to aim and finish off the ones who managed to escape and take cover.
The 'fight' was over quickly. Whatever the metal was made of, the Dwarven alloy was conceived to resist against magic, so not even the long-ranged Gloomlurkers or Nightcrawlers could hit them. Sakura pulled the lever back and the blades spun a few more times before they retracted in their sockets.
"That... was a good plan, lass. Are you okay?"
"Do you think they used this deathtrap as a way to scare them into submission?" Sakura asked as she eyed down the lever. "Or that they used this room as an execution chamber."
"The dwarves were a cruel race. I have to admit that too." Karliah sighed.
"I couldn't give you an explanation, Flower. Now.. let's go. Mercer awaits."
Sakura took a last look behind before she walked down the stairs with her .. team. She could call them her teammates at that point. They passed down a table which was filled with all sorts of poisons and potions... but it was stained with blood, from the stone to the rags, and ... oh Gods.. was that a human spine?
They quickened up their paces, going past the what it seemed to be a torture table, and headed into the dark cave network. They passed through the several huts, enough to fill up a whole village maybe, and after what seemed to be an eternity... there it was. The final gate towards the end of their mission.
"Are you guys ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be."
"Lead the way, lass."
Sakura sighed and pushed the door open, silently. She was greeted by the sight of the biggest and most beautiful statue she has ever seen. It was made entirely of Dwarven metal and depicted ... a snow elf. The original, ancient snow elf, laying in the depths of Irlngthand. The statue was sitting crosslegged and seemed to be holding a gigantic book. She could not fathom just how amazing the sight was.
But there was Mercer, like a stain on her scenery, who just left the statue blind. She could have bet the statue was even more beautiful with those crystalline eyes in its empty eye sockets. One of the eyes even dropped and fell on the ground. It was strange how it hasn't cracked.
"There he is..." Karliah whispered. "I don't think he has seen us yet. Brynjolf, the door."
"I'm on it. Nothing's getting past me."
Mercer turned around, to see three Nightingales waiting for him.
"Karliah, Karliah. When will you learn you can't get the drop on me?" He taunted, and then something happened.
The stone floor under them trembled, and Sakura fell right down. She landed on her feet, watching Mercer drop from the stone-carved book.
"When Brynjolf brought you before me I could feel a sudden shift in the wind. I knew that day that one of us would end at the end of a blade."
Sakura narrowed her eyes and walked closer. "Give me the key, Mercer!"
"Not as meek and eager to prove yourself now, are you? What's been Karliah filling your head with? Tales of thieves with honor? Oaths rife with falsehoods and broken promises? Nocturnal doesn't care about you, the Key, or anything having to do with the Guild!"
Sakura unsheathed her sword. Gallus' sword. "This has nothing to do about weird honor among thieves, Mercer! This is about fucking with a Daedric Prince. You're far too consumed by your own greed. You could have returned the key and the Guild would have prospered. You would have prospered. But you're selfish, and you care about nothing but your own greed. One of us will die here and it for sure won't be me." She held the blade before her, and right in front of his eyes, a black substance coated the metal.
"Very well then! Once again my blade will taste Nightingale Blood!" He drew his blade and advanced, but not before seeming to put a spell on Brynjolf, who was still high above her head, with Karliah, on the platform.
"What's happening? I can't get a hold on myself!"
"Fight it, Brynjolf! He has taken control of you!"
"I-I can't! I'm sorry lass, I can't!"
Sakura flinched, not wanting to know what was happening right above. Whatever Mercer did... would end when his life would have ended as well. She charged and dashed right for his blade. He blocked, and every single nick on her skin stung like hell. She pumped her arms and legs with chakra, as she swung her blade harder and harder.
The ground cracked and water started to pour faster and faster, in torrents, unlike the gentle waterfall which has done nothing but be a beautiful addition to the beautiful image it has once been.
Mercer seemed to have fully vanished, going to attack from behind, but her eyes felt his every movement. The water was rising, and despite it not being saltwater... she felt a call inside her soul she had to fight.
Sakura turned around and met his blade with her own, with a ferocious intensity. She was very kind on killing Mercer with Gallus' own blade, and the Divines knew she has never felt such an urge to spill blood in months.
"Send... Gallus... my regards!" Her blade cut through thin air as he vanished again.
"Where are you, you coward?!" Sakura yelled, turning again, keeping her guard up.
She found him. She found and lashed, slowly pressing him against the wall.
"This is where you die, asshole. Any last words!?" The blade pressed tighter against his chest and neck.
"Yes... your friends need you!"
Sakura indeed heard a scream of pain, which could have belonged to Karliah. And when she did the mistake of turning around to see, to check on them... a sharp and hot pain filled her entire body. A small drail of blood rolled past her open mouth, in the mask, as she fell to her knees.
"Again, Sakura? Again? Haven't you learn not to turn your back on me?!" He taunted, drawing his blade back, which seemed to have gone right through her abdomen, instead of the flesh wound he gave her last time.
"Y-You..."
"Sakura!" Karliah yelled as she dodged another slash from Brynjolf.
Brynjolf gritted his teeth and in a last moment of fury, he finally threw the sword away.
He looked down, and his eyes widened. "Is that..."
Dark red chakra seeped through her body and even through her armor. The gap inside the metal showed a gaping, bleeding wound that burnt away. She let out a feral growl as a tail swung behind her body.
"What is it, Karliah? Do you feel like history has repeated itself?" Those were his last words, as he was pounced on, much like a cat pouncing on a small bird for prey.
A fiery fist slammed right into his body, and another, and another, and he felt every single burning hit through his armor. She flung him away, as her armor was almost entirely covered by a weird, flaming blue with black swirls and spots pattern. Her pupils slit under the cowl. The next kick shattered at least a few ribs, setting his skin on fire.
"You've done enough damage to last you and everyone else a lifetime." When Sakura was sure that Mercer would be going nowhere, and to make sure of that, she kicked his sword away far and high, she went after her sword.
The scene was all too familiar for both of them. And so was for Karliah, who was witnessing everything for a second time. It was cruel, bitter and ironic, as an unmoving Mercer was staring in the eyes of his executioner.
"D-Damn you to Oblivion..."
There was a small difference, though. The chamber was getting filled with water insanely fast, and his skin was entirely ablaze. He was not numb and paralyzed as Sakura has been.
She lifted the sword and drove it right through the same place she knows she has been stabbed in. He let out a scream, as she sheathed her sword, and in a moment, that weird mana seemed to vanish from her body.
Karliah and Brynjolf jumped over, splashing in the water.
"Lass... what was that...?" They were on her side, as the ceiling seemed to break and pour water down on their heads.
"I think... I think we have other priorities..."
The water soon reached their torsos, and it wasn't long until Mercer gave his last, chocked breath. Sakura kneed over his floating body and retrieved the small tool she has seen him use before, back in Snow Veil Sanctum.
"The cave-in made our initial exit unavailable." They heard Karliah comment.
The water soon reached their necks. Through her foggy mind, Sakura spotted the glinting stones in the water. She pocketed it, storing it safely, and dove right in the water.
Brynjolf and Karliah started swimming, as their feet no longer touched the ground, but it was only a matter of time they would grow too tired to swim.
Sakura let her tail flap free again, as she swam towards the stones, and grabbed them both. With a final look towards the statue - a shame she emerged to the surface.
"It means we'll have to find another way out."
"But the stones..."
"Don't worry about them. You know what have I taught you, right? Focus mana into your hands and feet, and leap onto the walls. If you see an opening in the ceiling, go for it. Don't worry about me."
They looked at her, holding tightly onto the stones, standing perfectly still inside the water, despite her hands being occupied. It was only then when they caught the glimpse of something pink and shimmery beneath her. Still, they swam towards the nearest wall.
"Come on, lass. I have as many questions as you do." They did as they were shown just a few hours before and soon, focusing entirely on the earthly wall, they started to climb. If not for the mana, it would have been much harder.
Sakura started to swim around, looking for a hole in the ceiling, an opening, anything, as the water levels rose up. It would be best if she spotted it as soon as possible, as seen from underwater was rather difficult, given that the water was not entirely clean.
She could feel a breeze, however, coming from an opening.
"Guys... I think I feel something. It's cold... there's an opening right here!"
They soon reached the ceiling. With a steady hand, Brynjolf put his hand and stuck it right on top of the ceiling. Then another, and when he moved his hands farther enough, his feet. And then, he let go of the ceiling.
The cloak hanged down, as he started to move. He felt a little dizzy, feeling the blood rush to his head, but when he reached the spot Sakura has pointed to, he almost fell in the 'hole'.
Karliah followed as well and hopped inside, almost slipping and falling. She held her aching head, finally on the right side of the gravity. Brynjolf did the same, watching the water rise higher and higher. Soon, Sakura could hand them the Eyes.
"That was one hell of a way to see the world..." He took one eye and gave Karliah the other.
"Come on, get out." He took a step back.
Sakura sighed. "I can't. Just grab me out of the water, you'll see why."
The water levels were rising higher and higher.
"Come on, Brynjolf, we have to get out of here."
Brynjolf sighed and lifted her up, and not only that she seemed to be heavier, she seemed to be taller as well. Their eyes landed on the tail.
"Come on, let's just go! I will tell you guys everything later."
He moved his other arm under her legs- tail, under her tail, and both of them started to run towards the exit. The daylight was getting brighter and brighter, and they soon were busted out of the cave by the strong jet of water, and right into the mud.
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Sakura made the fire after they gathered enough kindle. They were shot out of the Bronze Water Cave and had to walk all the way back to Irkngthand to get their horses, packed with supplies like food and sleeping bags. They found a carve in the mountain not far from there, where they set the camp, too tired and famished to head back to Riften. Not to mention that they had to change out of their wet clothes. They were in The Pale, they would freeze to death.
The horses were sitting close by the mouth of the 'cave', and each of them were sitting on their bedrolls. The whole set up and traveling time took them another two hours, so the sun started to set.
The Eyes were wiped clean and set aside behind Brynjolf. Everybody was dry after they changed into their spare clothes and putting their Nightingale garb away.
"So... are you ready to talk, lass? What was that series of freakish events earlier?"
Sakura sighed as she bit into a wedge of cheese. "It's complicated. To keep it simple, back home we have nine mana creatures. Kind of like demons, but we called them Tailed Beasts. My mother was a host to the two-tailed beast. The shitty Kumo seal broke during childbirth and my father sealed it inside me when I was an infant, so it wouldn't destroy the island.
What you saw there was a part of that mana because I let the beast go after the war, two years ago. But she wouldn't let me not keep a tail worth of mana. Normally, I can control it very well. But I guess that was the final drop that filled the glass."
"That.. that sounds fantastic. But how can I doubt your words when I saw everything happen under my eyes? And the tail?"
"My mother was a mermaid. My father was a human. Put two and two together." Sakura shrugged sadly, as she kept eating her cheese.
"Those.. are kind of big secrets. In the end, they were useful. And that wall climbing thing."
"Right. What do you guys think about it?"
"All I hope is that I won't have to hang from the ceiling for that long ever again." Karliah chuckled softly. They soon joined her, as they watched the fire crackle.
"I can't believe that it's finally over. Twenty-five years of exile... over ..." She sighed. Sakura put a hand on her shoulder.
"It means that you can finally sleep, right?"
"Maybe... maybe when the key will be finally returned in its place..."
"Right. The key. Who gets to return the key?"
"I'm too ashamed to face Nocturnal, I will be honest." Karliah sighed.
"I'm needed at the Guild."
Sakura's hand looked for the key inside her discarded armor's pocket and pulled it out. She sighed. "Fine. I'll take it. But then, one of you has to get the first watch."
"Fine. I'll take it. Sleep, you two." Brynjolf shook his head, as Sakura laid down in her bedroll.
The wound was healed... but she felt that the blade effect might have done some lasting damage. She could bet she would be sore whenever rain season was nearby... yeah, she could bet it.
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A/N: Guys! I'm done! I'm finally done! I want to apologize in advance for the shitty fighting scene, but if there's a villain I hate more than Mercer, I don't want to know. Honestly. I was planning to make his death even more brutal in the initial draft, but I just went with cruel irony to make everything more dramatic.
Again, I apologize for the shitty fighting scenes.
You guys won't believe what happened to me these days. Okay, so I told you before how annoying it is to update. I can update. When I'm using my PC, the screen is so large I can easily miss certain phrases and mistakes. When I update from my phone, I can misspell when I hurry up and sadly, I can't replace the chapter. So I decided to look for spell checker online. And I found one which nags me whenever I misplace a comma. Cool, right? Well, guess what I did at 10 PM, two days ago. Exactly. Exactly that. I started proofreading every single chapter of mine and holy shit! But guess what, again. Well, again, exactly! You guessed right! When I edited the first chapter, I headed for the second one and somehow, the contents were replaced by the first chapter. And so on and so on. On top of that, when I published the first chapter for the first time, it was published with that ugly HTML format. The whole code. Guess who had to delete every single code line and publish AGAIN.
Yeah.
Again, I apologize for.. well for the shitty fighting scenes as well, but also if the chapter seemed a little rushed for you. I'm sorry. .-.
Okay, so I also had Sakura collect some trinkets, which are strictly monster looted. She basically has quite a lot of jewelry to last her for a long time, and even more to get Cyrodiil souvenirs. :3 But it won't be a slice-of-life arc, so there will be fighting and shit. You will see it. I have a lot of stuff planned for this... several chapters, actually. So: Petty Soul Gem (one filled and one empty), a filled Grand Soul Gem, an empty Lesser Soul Gem, Greater Soul Gem (two filled and one empty), Common Soul Gem (two filled), Ring of Eminent Smithing (gold with emerald gem), Gold Necklace, Flawless Garnet (4), Garnet, Amethyst (4), Flawless Amethyst, Sapphire, Emerald, Gold Ingot, Orichalcum Ingot, Silver Ingot (2), Gold Ingot, Silver Ore, Amulet of Mara, Shaman's Key, Centurion Dynamo Core (3), Vampire Dust, Left Eye of the Falmer and Right Eye of the Falmer.
I will talk later about the loot found in Mercer's manor. Phew. I'm so glad that he's finally dead.
The Shaman's Key is a rare but totally useless key. Lol.
Two of the cores go to Calcelmo and one goes to Marcurio. Heh. And if you're wondering, yes, the Centurion dropped two cores. The Guardian Dwarven Sphere dropped another. Three in total. Sweet, right?
I think this is it. One more chapter and we can conclude the Thieves Guild arc. In a way. Not for good. Those who played know what am I talking about.
Cheers!