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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The Leyawiin Castle was a very impressive piece of architecture that dated sometimes from the 1st Era. That's what the book said, anyway. On the second floor, Alessio and Sakura stumbled across the residential library of the Count and Countess. The chamber had the classic, dull, gray, and green color schematic, the fireplace was cold and hasn't been used in forever - still filled up to the brim with ash and burnt pages.
Empty book covers were littering the carpet, along with whatever pages they have been unable to burn, and certainly, no cleaning maid touched the hearth to tidy it up for later use.
Seeing so many torn books almost broke Sakura's heart. She has been a bookworm before she learned how to walk properly, and she hasn't stopped being one for a single moment. At least at heart.
"Sakura? Are you all alright? You look like you're ready to cry." Alessio asked, rather concerned, noticing the sniff and wiggle of her nose. He was not one to talk, though, the amount of dust in the castle was enough to redden and irritate his nostrils, possibly triggering an allergy...
Sakura browsed the almost empty bookshelves, pushing away all the ruined, burnt covers. "I know you're not supposed to cry over the spilled books but... this is so sad!" She whined. "Who knows what kind of volumes must have been hiding here? What kind of psychopath could have burnt down so many books!"
Alessio sweatdropped. "Stop playing around. You could wake up the dead with your wailing."
He didn't have the time to dodge one last hard book cover before hearing one last sniff of her nose.
"Hey!"
Recovering from her initial shock, Sakura has gone through every single drawer and shelf. All for nothing. The library was completely void of clues about whatever happened inside the Leyawiin castle.
And 'Walking the World, Volume II: Leyawiin' was one of the few intact books in the library. So Sakura decided to keep it. I mean... even if it was considered to be theft... who would care in the first place? And even if someone cared... she was a thief! Taking whatever you wanted - as long as it was not from a fellow thief of a protected individual - was in the job description!
Your average thief would indulge themselves in someone's cellar of fine winery, or maybe jewels and anything that can fetch quick gold.
Books were not on that list unless you counted out rare commentaries - such as the Mythic Dawn. Regardless, knowledge was valuable and the more Sakura knew about the world she was living, the less were the chances to make a fool out of herself. Now that was a high-priority thing.
Her nose was stuck in that book as Alessio picked up the lit torch from the adjacent wall sconce, right where they left it.
There was something strange about the book, however. That little detail made her stop in her tracks, and Alessio noticed that immediately.
"Is there something wrong?"
"This ear fold." Sakura walked over, showing him. "It's fresh." She flipped the pages quickly. Chapter IX: The Castle of Leyawiin. "Somebody has been here recently. But who?"
The conclusion let a shiver of ice run down their spines.
"Maybe the spirits of the disappeared Argonians are haunting these halls."
"That's not funny - wait. Do you think we might find something in the Count and Countess' private quarters?" Maybe they had a study room to keep all the important documents. Like a floor plan of the castle, or anything related to their daily work.
"I think so. It should be close." Alessio nodded.
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Alessio knocked on the door of Marcurio's room last night. Albeit a little disturbed that he almost messed up his work by spilling a bottle of ink, Marcurio let his little brother in.
'Big brother, I have a question. Do you know Sakura well enough?'
Less than a few weeks. But he still caught up some specific mannerisms and the whole night spent in Konoha has enlightened him for a bit. Or at least it answered a few questions about the strange foreigner.
'Yeah, I do, I guess.'
'She's missing. Do you know where could have she gone? She was supposed to help me with knife-throwing.' It was a lie, but whether Marcurio caught on or not, it didn't matter.
'I don't. But she's a cat summoner, so maybe Tora can help you find her.' Said cat lifted her tiny brown head from the bed, with a yawn.
He has lent him Tora to help him track her down. A cat summon could smell their sage from miles... whatever in the oblivion 'sage' meant.
Tora has returned last night, but Alessio didn't. And he knew that because his father asked him to wake him up for lunch. Marcurio saw a lump in the shape of his brother underneath the blanket.
"Alessio, wake up. It's already lunchtime." Marcurio narrowed his eyes and touched his shoulder. The lump moved a little bit but showed no signs of waking up. He sighed, grabbing the edge of the blanket and uncovered him.
Alessio was there, unmoving for a second, before disappearing with a familiar 'pop' sound and a puff of smoke.
He dumbfounded let the blanket slip out of his hands.
"A bunshin?" Tora climbed on the bed and sniffed the spot. "It's decent... but not perfectly executed. Your brother's chakra is still lingering." She sat down and looked up to her summoner. "What are you going to do? Go after him?"
Marcurio nodded. He wanted to go after his brother, but missing from home potential hours before lunchtime could make their parents extremely suspicious. Instead, he simply walked downstairs.
"Alessio is gone. Do you know where could have he gone?"
He was surprised that his parents show no signs of being at least slightly worried. Not even Alessia, who was having her dessert rather casually.
"Don't worry about him." Minerva smiled. "He has the habit of going out on a walk for a few hours. He will be back." She waved her hand and motioned him to take a seat and take a cinnamon roll from the platter. There was something strange going on, and judging by the way Tora's tail frizzed and puffed, she knew it too.
"I will eat later. I'm going to find him." The way his mother smiled and waved him goodbye was the last nail in the coffin, he bolted out with Tora on his tail.
"Genjutsu."
Marcurio nodded. "I think so too."
"Uchiha chakra."
That made him stop and turn around. "What did you say?"
Tora repeated. "Uchiha chakra. I could recognize the chakra of an Uchiha from miles, Mar-kun. It's a faint scent of ash and despair." She hopped on his shoulder.
"So you say that Sakura was here? She put my parents in a genjutsu?"
Tora shook her head. "Sakura was gone all night. She couldn't have done it. No, it means that she's not the only Uchiha in the Imperial City." The statement sent chills down his spine.
He started to follow her out of the Market District, and out of the Imperial City altogether. "Another Uchiha? But who? Sakura's cousin became a Jōnin instructor and her brother is a spymaster. He doesn't even know about Tamriel and even if he did, why would he cover for my brother and place my parents and sister in an illusion?"
Marcurio took Tora's directions from last night.
"I don't know." Tora shook her head. "But I'm mostly certain it's Uchiha chakra. And must have been skilled enough to completely hide their's presence from me, and strong enough to cast an illusion to last for hours without damaging their psyche."
"Do you think this Uchiha might be friends with my brother? Because Sakura had no time to teach Alessio the Clone Technique." Marcurio stated. They walked outside the Imperial City and awaited for Tora's next turn to take.
"Possibly. But who?"
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They stormed the bedroom of the former count and countess. The room was cold and dusty, much like the rest of the castle, except for the distinguishing claw marks slashed across the tapestry. Sakura walked closer and lifted the piece of cloth up, fixing the last hanging piece of the puzzle. "This was the countess, wasn't she?"
"Yeah. She was loved by her people."
"But there was certain darkness that she couldn't be saved from."
"That was... poetic." Sakura smiled and let go of the tapestry, before she followed Alessio's example of opening drawers and searching shelves, for any kind of clue. Most of the books have worn out with time too, so there was nothing worth taking anyway.
Alessio looked through the drawers, forcing a lock open with skilled precision and a twist of the lockpick, in the right angle. "That's what the book said. The guy had a rather fancy language to keep up with, you know? Reading books can be entertaining... but I prefer this." He pointed out at the now unlocked drawer, before bending his back to rummage through the former Countess' belongings.
There were several or half-empty bottles of perfume, cosmetics, and creams that mostly have gone bad if not completely dangerous to use. It's been over two centuries since someone has last lived in the castle.
"I guess I do see your point. Books are helping me understand better the world you live in. But what's the point when you're born in Tamriel?" Which country, it didn't matter a lot.
Alessio stopped, picking up what seemed to be a small, yellow vial. He popped up the cork bottle and sniffed it briefly, before slamming back close. He coughed heavily in his sleeve, attracting her attention immediately.
Sakura immediately put her palms on his back, pumping in his lungs. The coughing started to cease slowly.
He panted softly. "Arsenic. Why would that fucking countess keep arsenic in her bedroom?" Sakura let him get up. His face was still red from the coughing fit. "In her cosmetics drawer? She could have woken up half-asleep and open the wrong bottle."
"Stupid theory, but might it be related to the missing Argonians?" Sakura theorized as she pushed back the drawer.
"I don't know, but I'm taking the bottle of arsenic with me. Maybe it's a clue." Sakura nodded in agreement.
Most of the room has been searched thoroughly. She did notice the wooden panel behind the shelf, usually hidden by the books. The shelves were sturdy and the bookcase was pinned to the wall, making it impossible to walk through and get to the false back panel.
"It's like Hjielrim. I and your brother stopped in Windhelm for the night, before heading to the ruins. A lady has been murdered a small while before we got there. We decided to gather some clues and investigate... since the guards were too preoccupied with the Civil War. The first victim was the daughter of one of the most influential men in Eastmarch, and had her own house complete with a secret chamber where the killer built an altar."
"And what happened next?" Both of them started working to remove the shelves. Alessio unsheathed a rather sturdy steel dagger, and Sakura formed a chakra scalpel to slice through the wood with ease.
"I baited the bastard out and Marcurio froze his legs so he couldn't run. The marketplace was almost full, but it was nighttime so the butcher thought he might have been able to kill me and getaway. The guards have been doing several rounds so they weren't entirely in top shape." Sakura removed the planks. She tapped against the hollow back of the drawer before a swift punch smashed it whole.
"That sounded like an adventure. Why did you leave?" Alessio concluded. He stepped inside what seemed to be the private study of the Count. Surprisingly, it was in much better shape than the rest of the castle. The fireplace was lit, and the dust was swept from the desk and bookshelves. Yet all the books have been burnt beforehand.
"I guess I didn't want your brother to think that I was using him. Or think that I was putting you and the rest of his family in danger. Back in Skyrim, I had to join within Nocturnal's inner circle to defeat Mercer Frey. But I want to free my soul now, I don't want to be stuck in the Twilight Sepulcher for the rest of my eternity."
"He seemed pretty distraught lately." They started searching the desk, naturally. Most of the drawers were locked, but that's where their lockpicks came in handy.
"Really?"
Alessio nodded in agreement. "He considered you a friend more or less. My brother has been gone for a long time, but I know that he's as stubborn as he was, nine years ago. So you won't hear it directly from him."
Nothing was interesting so far. All the papers were legit documents about the status of Leyawiin County and the city. Some bore the former emperor's seal of approval, or signature, or the crests of the Elder Council. It was interesting, as the symbol of the Empire was a strange, rhombus-shaped representation of the dragon.
She did recognize a name, Uriel Septim VII, both from a book and both from his surname, meaning that he was a descendant of Tiber Septim.
The dragon symbolized the Dragonborn Emperors that have been ruling the Empire for centuries.
"I guess I do think of him as a sort of friend too. The first one I made in Skyrim." Sakura admitted as she picked one last rusty lock. Keevara and the others didn't exactly count, and while she trusted her Guildmates, they weren't exactly her friends. Yet. Even Karliah was more of a person she looked up to than a friend.
"I guess I should talk to him one day."
"You should. Did you find anything?"
Sakura simply nodded a little numbly. There was a box inside and said box was full of yellowish and stained papers.
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Name: Jeer-Maht
Provenience: Gideon, Black Marsh
Occupation: Shipwright
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Name: Hides-His-Foot
Provenience: Archon, Black Marsh
Occupation: Bard
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There were many more folded in tiny squares, filling up the box to the brim, including a certain 'Drinks-With-Rats', a name which seemed to be familiar for the Cyrodiilic thieves. Alessio recognized it instantly.
"Do you know what is this?"
Sakura stared at the papers. "Identity papers... right? The missing Argonians..."
"It means that the Argonians indeed disappeared... and died here."
"They took their papers..."
"So you know why you must die now." A voice growled from behind their backs. A translucent scaled woman was standing in the doorway, gripping on the wooden frame. They let out a scream.
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A/N: Ugh. Short chapter. But I haven't updated in so long, I wanted to post a new chapter. Maybe the following one will be longer, don't worry. I wanted it to end in a cliffhanger anyway. I have an idea on how to end the mini-story anyways. It will be cool, you'll see. I hope.
Have you managed to solve the mystery yet? What's going around in the Leyawiin Castle?
Walking the World, Volume II: Leywaiin is not an existing book. The only book that exists in Skyrim is Walking the World, Volume XI: Solitude but since it's the damn eleventh volume, then there must be ten more volumes talking about other counties and holds from Tamriel and maybe beyond. It was only natural for me to add more elements that while they're not added in-game, they're pretty plausible and make total sense. Right?
What other ideas do you have for the story? I really got a few great ones for a mini-arc... maybe after the main game storyline, and honestly I'm dying here to write it. It's so... I don't know. Hint hint, it's related to the Dawnguard DLC, but it's not about the whole Vampires vs Hunters feud. And speaking of vampires... I kinda imagine her and Serana being good friends. I'm the only one shipping Serana with Isran? He's fucking badass. Those light spells are the shit. I never sided with the vampires because of my own more or less moral choices, but I like how Serana still is a positive character of the storyline, no matter what side you pick.
I'm this close making MarcuSaku a thing without giving other possibilities a second thought. This close. I don't have much, believe me.
So... suggestions then? I'm going to get back to this a bit later.
Cheers!