-Here I am again, with that quick update I did promise before! This part will be the 'second' half to the whole Repentance side-quest. Also special thanks to a friend of mine, Usami Worry Haru Cookietine, for pre-reading this chapter and pointing out how it could've been much bigger and meatier than what I had originally! Thanks a lot! Anyway, enjoy!-
The path before them was in fact a stone section of the tower that seemed to stretch out and bury itself into the land next to it, the natural ground appearing to swallow it. The three women were bathed in the light of the afternoon sun. Or rather, two of them would be more accurate.
"This way," Illia instructed, carrying her voice a little louder than before. She led the way, with Siffre right behind her. The transparent Lydia watched them and carefully followed behind them. The steps they were taking were not in perfect sync with each other, so maybe there was a better chance that the sound of her own footsteps could be concealed.
Her own footsteps... Lydia looked down at her feet. This was quickly reaching the top of the most outlandish moments to have ever befallen her. Perhaps once or twice in her life did she ever have some rogue mage cast some fireball at her, and even a couple managed to graze her a bit. But never had she had any kind of spell like this cast upon her! Her own feet even, or, where she was certain they were walking with each step... By the Gods, it almost felt like an actual out-of-body experience for her! She was certain she was literally putting one foot in front of the other, but without visual confirmation...
She swallowed her anxiety and looked back up, refocused on where she was walking towards. With Illia leading the way, she walked directly behind Siffre, across the stone walkway to where the natural land began its upward slope. This way lead past a stone arch, revealing a larger patch of land before them, with a ruined stone wall surrounding an encircled perimeter. This layout of stone structure was actually very similar to the stone wall first seen on the lower ground, with some exceptions.
For one thing the land was not entirely empty. Carved out wooden poles with sharpened edges were littered all around in threatening displays. Some were arranged around a small, primitive tent, made of what appeared to be various animals' hides and skins sewn together. There were lit candles on each side of the tent's entrance, but the angle the tent was positioned at made it so that what was inside could not be seen.
Another thing that stood out was a single stone chair, positioned in the clearing of dirt away from the grass. It was not a common house chair, but rather an older looking throne, made of rock, stone, and decorated with architecture that suggested ancient history within it. Placed in front of this chair was a small pole, with a small, dark purple crystal object nestled on top of it.
Lastly, the three women were not alone as they entered this area. Someone was standing there, next to the pole and chair with her back turned to them. A woman with snow white hair, wearing a black robe identical to Illia's. One of her hands held something, a large stick of some sort. The closer they walked, the more menacing this 'stick' appeared to be. They could see edges of this stick- no, this staff were decorated with sharpened, serrated edges, possibly teeth, and singular feathers adorning the front end of it! She was looking up and outwards towards the forest's trees beyond the stone fort's wall, when the sound of footsteps drew her attention. She twitched her head once to the side, and slowly turned around to greet the newcomers.
"Mother," Illia stopped her walk and regarded the woman with a small nod of her head. She gently held a hand out to her side, signalling Siffre to stop her movements as well.
"Illia," the woman spoke, "You approach me with good news I trust?"
"Indeed Mother," the other mage spoke, indicating to Siffre, "I have brought you a sacrifice, as per your command." The older woman regarded her with a small, matronly smile.
"Excellent! You have done very well, my child!" she said, "The dawn of my ascension draws ever nearer! Please, why don't you summon your witch-sisters here to bear witness to it as well?"
"Oh- um... Well, the others at the moment..." Illia could be heard with a slight hesitation in her voice, "They were a little... they are probably still seeking to find sacrifices themselves! I-I was actually the first to find one and return here!" Siffre looked over at Illia herself. The mage was doing her best to keep a straight and composed face, but below she noticed a slight twitching of one of her hands at her side.
"Is that so?" Sylvia said with a tilted head.
"Yes!" Illia replied a little quickly, "In fact, I would propose we perform the ritual now? We can still have the others be surprised to see your ascension in the end, can't we?"
"Hmmm... I suppose you are right," Sylvia said. Illia could be heard struggling to silently release a sigh of relief, "My ascension is a momentous occasion, one I would rather not put on hold for longer than need be... Right then, have the thrall be seated." She moved herself to the side for the chair to be revealed in full view.
"Yes Mother," Illia said, then turned to Siffre and spoke with a rather commanding tone, "Thrall! Take a seat in that chair there!" Slowly yet cautiously, Siffre walked forward towards the chair, first setting her shield down at to the side of it. As she moved, Lydia slowly moved forward until she stood herself next to Illia. She lightly brushed a hand against her robe's sleeve. The action almost caused her to seize up in fear and surprise, yet she held herself steady as she quickly remembered. The invisible Nord slowly leaned her head inward as close as she could to the mage's.
"Which side...?" she whispered, a voice as soft as death.
"Hmmm... you left, I go right." she attempted to reply just as quietly. By now Siffre had fully seated herself in the chair, With Sylvia repositioning herself so that the pole with the crystal was directly between the two of them. As she had moved , Illia moved herself to her corresponding side, Lydia slowly doing the same. She slowly reached for the hilt of her sword, attempting to draw it quietly. The steel scraping against the leather of the sheath would no doubt not be silent, so she'd need to do this as carefully as she could. After all, her thane's life was very much on the line here!
She carefully took position that mirrored where the mage stood: her on Sylvia's left side, Illia on her right, and Siffre sitting in the throne about five feet before her. Between them stood the pole with the strange, dark purple crystal resting upon it. As Lydia concentrated on silently drawing her weapon, she found herself studying this strange gem between the two of them. Something about this gem seemed oddly familiar, but she could not for the life of her understand how...
"Let the Ritual begin...!" Sylvia announced, first stretching out her unarmed hand as if indicating to a larger, absent audience before her. She slipped her hand into a small pocket in her robe and retrieved a small, purple vial, "First, to ingest the essence of the hagraven..." With she quickly poured the vial's contents straight down her throat, swallowing soon after.
'Essence of the... what?' Lydia repeated this in her mind. As it began to run wild with possible implications, she suddenly refocused her efforts on restraining her gag reflex. Disgusting as it was, this was no time to lose her nerve, nor her lunch; she had to focus!
"Forgive me... mother..." She suddenly heard Illia's voice from the other end of Sylvia's form. Her eyes narrowed to alertness. That had to have been the signal! She could even catch the faint image of the mage lifting her hands up on the other side of the older woman! Was she planning to strike, planning to cast some fancy spells against her now? She had to be, which means she herself needed to hurry as well! She made haste in finally freeing her sword from the sheath, as quietly as she could. There was a slight scraping noise as she pulled it loose, but hopefully it wasn't too loud to hear.
As she looked up to refocus on Sylvia, she noticed the older woman was suddenly looking up and forward. She was looking in Siffre's general direction, but not at her; more like a little above her. What was she doing?
"Whatever for... daughter...?" she could be heard saying. Her head slowly tilted to face Illia's direction, yet her left hand suddenly jerked itself out and to its side. The very hand that still held that frightening looking staff, its tip now pointed in Lydia's direction. The Nord's eyes slowly widened, and she quickly prepared herself to move forward.
Her world before her was suddenly blinded by white! White, and absolute cold!
"Arrgh...!" Lydia grunted in pain. Her entire front of her body was being blasted by some kind of frost! Teeth gritted and eyes clenched shut, the cold was damn near making it impossible to move!
As this wave of frost pressed harder against her, she found she was forced back and down onto one knee. By the Gods, it was like being back on that mountain! Just an endless wave of blizzard practically drilling itself directly into her! If this didn't stop, she'd surely be floored by this! She mustered all her strength to her left arm to bring it forward; was her shield still in the grip of her hand? She would find out soon...
The force of the cold felt noticeably lessened by now. Lydia struggled to open her eyes, and she looked out before her. She could in fact see her shield, as well as parts of her own self. Shimmering speckles of light green danced all over her person, everywhere they danced revealing parts of her previously unseen. She could now see that her arm and the shield it held were blocking the majority of the frost wave, which she could also see was emerging from this blasted witch's staff! How had she known she was there before?! She was invisible, wasn't she? Even she couldn't see her own legs or body after that Illia had used that scroll on her!
She could make out the vague image of the mage in question on the other side of Sylvia, her down on both knees as opposed to her one knee. There was also the small crackles of rich blue... something, that raced across her form. What had happened just now?
"Lydia! I-Illia...!" she recognized Siffre's voice, vibrations rippling the air as she called out her name. There was just so much frost being leveled at her from over her shield, she could barely see! Her left was beginning to lose familiar feeling; she'd need to start moving soon...
"It would be wise if you did not stand up," Sylvia's voice could be heard saying. Lydia struggled to look over the edge of her shield. Was the witch talking to her? No, she was still looking forward, towards Siffre. Her thane's eyes were widened in complete alarm. Her hands were gripping the edges of the chair's armrests, as if poised to raise herself. But she held that position, and simply stared back into the damned mage who was still leveling this frost spell at her, "Frost to a warrior and lightning to a mage are quite inconvenient to each one, but at the moment I'm simply incapacitating them. Would you really want me to end them with lethal versions...?"
Damn, she wasn't wrong! Lydia may be a Nord and resistant to cold, but that didn't mean she went out of her way to experience long-term exposure! This freezing held a biting edge to it, even as it was striking primarily on her shield. That combined with how this frost was absolutely pushing against her, making it hard to move forward. But... she had to! She had to move, if she had her thane in a precarious position! She tried to grip her sword harder, while holding it far off to her side. While she concentrated her efforts, she could still vaguely hear the elder witch's voice, still carrying on.
"Now then, barring future interruptions..." Sylvia spoke, her eyes returning to their relaxed state as they had been upon first seeing her, "Be delighted, child, as your own life will be put to good use as the conduit for my grand union to nature itself!" Sylvia's other hand on the other side of her body was suddenly seen. She held it backwards, just past her head, and Lydia could see it begin to glow with a strange light of dark purple.
The housecarl's eyes widened in fear and alarm. Illia and her 'plan', whatever it was, having been completely forgotten in her mind. She had to move! She had to do something to stop... whatever was about to be done to her thane! But this blasted cold, blowing straight into her from that damned staff! Maybe if she could... inch her way close enough, she could swipe at it with her sword!
With as much strength as she could muster, she finally moved her rear-placed foot forward. Progress was slow, but at least there was progress. She could make it to her target, if she just concentrated.
"No... stop hurting them..." Siffre's voice could be heard. It's tone felt low and dangerous, with heavy vibrations accompanying it.
"You are in no position to make demands, foolish Nord," Sylvia taunted. Lydia spared a glance towards Siffre this time. She continued to sit in the throne, but her thane's eyes were leveled dangerously at the older mage.
"Yes... I am..." Siffre said. She drew a sharp breath in, then exhaled with-
"Fus... RO-DAH!" Absolute thunder erupted from her mouth. The sound was almost deafening to Lydia's ears. She could feel what felt like a massive force of wind rush past in front of her. And in that moment, that rush of cold that had been holding her at bay ceased altogether as well. Finally able to look up again unhindered, she looked closer at what had just happened.
Sylvia had indeed just been standing in front of her, facing her thane, but she was no longer there. She'd been literally blown away, screeching as she flew backwards practically like a rag-doll. Nothing stopped her from flying straight back towards the fort's stone wall directly behind her, and smacking it hard. A hard thud sound filled the air, along with Sylvia's grunt of pain as she hit the ground and fell to her front.
Lydia turned her head the other way. Siffre was shaking her head as if she was dazed, but other than that appeared to be alright for the most part. The Dragonborn quickly rose from the stone throne, and spared a glance towards her.
"Lydia! Are you alright...!" she said, rushing over to Lydia's side.
"Y-y-yes, m-my thane... I'm f-fine...!" Lydia chattered. It was then that the two heard grunting behind them. Turning their heads, Sylvia was struggling to pull herself to her feet, "Sh-she's getting back up! I can-!" She grunted as trying and failing to stand up resulted in her falling back to one knee.
"It's no good, just... wait here," Siffre patted her shoulder, "Try and warm yourself! I'll deal with her..."
"Quick- er, Siffre!" the Dragonborn heard Illia call to her, "That tent over there! It's where discarded possessions are kept from past sacrifices! I think I remember seeing weapons in it...!" She turned over to the small tent Illia pointed to. The one off to the side had no illuminating light from within, yet she could faintly make out some small item sticking out from around its corner from within. She quickly dashed over to its front entrance and peaked inside. There, right there before her laid up against the tent's inner wall, was a tall, sheathed great-sword. She reached out and grabbed its hilt to pull it hard, removing it from the sheath and leaving it to crumple to the ground. The Dragonborn spared a precious moment to stare at flat of the blade before rushing back out.
From down on the ground, Lydia watched her thane return to the fray, a steel great-sword held in both her hands. She quickly moved past her and advanced back upon where Sylvia was last seen.
"M-my thane! Wait-" Lydia tried and failed again to stand up. This frost was so numbing for her, but she needed to move!
"That power... an ancient magic unseen nor heard for several lifetimes! It exists...?" Sylvia uttered in deranged wonder, "Why, a soul of yours being used to as a catalyst to my ascension? I would positively rule this land!"
"You will not have it!" Siffre declared, vocal reservations abandoned, her voice carrying low and deep vibrations in front of her. This only seemed to fuel Sylvia's desire more as her hands glowed with light again. She thrust them forward, one after the other, and the air practically thundered as lightning bolts shot forth towards her. Siffre was quick to dodge to one side and then the other while maintaining her forward rush. She nearly cleared half the space between them when the older mage brought her two hands behind her and to the side. Bright purple light practically radiated from within her hands, her face also twisting in frustration.
"Come no closer-!" she cried out, thrusting both of her hands forward in Siffre's direction. Another thunderclap, far louder than the previous two, erupted throughout the air, while a much thicker lightning bolt was shot outwards. In a quick motion, the Dragonborn spun in place while maintaining her forward momentum. Her quick spin was able was well enough to narrowly avoid the bulk of the bolt, however a little bit of it still managed to graze her side armor. As a result, as she came out of her spin, and using her speed towards spinning her massive blade, the blade's tip also just barely grazed Sylvia as well.
Both women grunted in respective pain in that moment. It was clear that each one's attack was not nearly enough to severely damage the other. While Siffre's hand shot to her grazed side, Sylvia quickly ran around and behind her.
"That big sword makes you clumsy, does it not?" Sylvia taunted with a grin. Siffre quickly spun back around to watch Sylvia's left hand charge another lightning bolt within it, "As it of course leaves you wide- AAARGH-!"
Her words were suddenly cut short as she was forced to one knee. The reason being for this was that a small, ice spike was now embedded in the back of one of her legs, blood beginning to seep from the wound. Looking behind her, she saw Illia, still low and on the ground, and trying to prepare another spell in her own hand.
"Not this time, Sylvia...!" she said. There was a look of intense concentration on her face as she focused. With great effort, she finally shot forth a second spike of ice, much smaller than the first.
Unfortunately, Sylvia was prepared for this second attack. She held out her hand closest to the side Illia was on, and the familiarly transparent blue circular field appeared before her. The spike made contact with this field and was instantly dissipated upon contact, Sylvia's field hardly losing its shimmering brilliance.
"You'd be wise not to interfere, Illia!" Sylvia challenged, "Your own reserves are nearly depleted, are they not? You cannot hope to possibly-" As she spoke she turned her head around to refocus on Nord warrior before her, only for her eyes to widen in shock and surprise.
Siffre had in fact advanced all the way to where she was kneeling, and was moving to strike with her massive blade! Sylvia quickly abandoned her ward with one hand and tried to prepare new spells to stop her, but Siffre was already on her. The Dragonborn held her blade level to her waist and thrust forward into Sylvia's vulnerable midsection. Sharpened steel carved easily through both cloth, flesh and everything beneath with no trouble, emerging from the other end a blood-dripping tip.
Blood splattered from both the stab wounds as well as from Sylvia's own mouth. Her hands continued to shimmer with built up magicka energy, but focus was temporarily lost in that moment. The scream she uttered was both guttural and slightly drowned out by blood coming from her throat as well. She looked down and with unsteady hands tried to reach forth to grab at the blade that penetrated her body. But Siffre was quick to raise her boot up and kick her body off, freeing the blade and send her to her straight onto her back, unceremoniously.
From off to the side, Lydia had watched this entire scene play out- her thane quickly finding a great-sword to arm herself with, her little evasive maneuvering around the witch, and her managing to fatally wound her. And all the while, she still knelt in her own spot, freezing cold still preventing her from helping out, much less moving! How pathetic was this- a housecarl who couldn't even move to perform her most basic duty!? This crippling feeling within her simmered beneath the surface, even as she struggled to raise herself to her own feet. She suddenly heard the sound of footsteps, but when looking up she breathed a sigh of relief to find it was her thane that had rushed over to her side. The Dragonborn was slowly grabbing her arm to lift her up to her feet.
"Lydia... are you alright?" she asked. Her voice was much softer than before's volume of challenging Sylvia, and the difference was as clear as hot and cold.
"Um, y-yes, my thane..." Lydia tried and failed to stop her teeth from chattering. Siffre's next motion was to brush the flat of her hand against the front of Lydia's armor. This surprised the housecarl, until she realized that her armor was still covered with light frost. As she moved, Siffre made a quick motion with her left arm, and quickly winced at the motion. This was a reminder to Lydia of how she had taken a glancing blow of lightning to her body, "M-my thane! What of your own s-self? Are you-"
"I'll live," Siffre quietly assured her, "That lightning didn't hit me nearly enough to... hurt me, but this frost..." She shook her head, and finished wiping away the white frost from Lydia's armor. Lydia found herself shaking her head slightly; her thane takes injury on her own person, but her first thought is to make sure she was alright? Who really was the better protector here...?
It was then that a sudden loud snap filled the air. This wasn't the same kind of sound from before, from a body impacting hard against something more solid. It sounded more like a twig being broken in two. Both warriors quickly turned their heads towards the same direction.
They could see Illia, standing a good distance away, with Sylvia's staff in hand. Or rather, it was in both hands, as she appeared to have broken the weapon in half over her knee. She kept her back facing the two Nord women as she carelessly threw the useless weapon pieces to the side and stalked over to where the downed mage lay.
Sylvia groaned in pain as she struggled to move in any capacity, but only for a few inches. A pool of blood could be seen growing from beneath her body, as well as a small trail leading back to where she was initially stabbed. As she drew nearer Illia dropped down to one knee next to the older witch's prone form.
"Gah! Illia..." Sylvia croaked out, "So, you finally... have nerve to usurp me?"
"No, I'm ending this, Mother... it's time for this to end," Illia simply replied. She reached one hand downward towards Sylvia's waist. Her fingers gripped her desired target: a simple dagger. Sylvia's hands feebly tried to reach up to stop her, but she couldn't focus them enough to actually stop her.
"Bah, so weak... with untouched potential..." Sylvia spoke. She craned her neck at an angle as to look at the two women still behind her, specifically Siffre, "But her... she possesses a power; ancient and latent with magicka like never seen before..." Her head turned back towards her 'daughter', who was now holding the dagger in between both of her fists, "You've witnessed it for yourself, have you not...? It'd be foolish to leave it... unclaimed..." Eyes narrowed up at Illia and a wicked smile graced her lips, "Do it.. claim it for yourself-"
"Goodbye, Sylvia..." With barely pursed lips that concealed gritted teeth, Illia raised the dagger level to her head and plunged it down, straight into the elder witch's throat. Sylvia's eyes practically bugged out as blood erupted from her neck as well as her mouth. She frantically grabbed at the dagger, at Illia's hands, anything, in a futile attempt to help herself, but Illia held fast. She kept her hands and the dagger held firmly in place, all the while her eyes were clenched shut. She held that position for a solid handful of seconds, Sylvia's thrashing growing slower and slower. Finally, with a last gargle emerging from her mouth, her arms slumped to the ground. She no longer moved any muscle at all, and her eyes continued to stare straight up into the dusk sky.
Sensing the lack of any more movement, Illia slowly opened her eyes. She pushed herself to her feet and hastily wiped the blood from her hands on her robe again. Her breathing was heavy at first as she stepped away from the body, each breath struggling to be less and less labored. She shook her head and looked back up at the two Nord women, now both standing on their feet as well.
"It's... it's over now... it really is..." she spoke.
"Are you alright...?" Siffre asked.
"I... I don't know... I'm not sure what I feel right now..." Illia said, looking down at the ground, "I should be happy, but... I can't help but feel... sad. Terrible even..." She shook her head again and looked back up at the two women, "Still, it's over now. I guess all that's left is-"
Illia's next motions were to take a few steps forward in their directions, hands slightly hanging out and forward, gaze focused straight at Siffre. It was all this that caused something within Lydia to snap to attention yet again. Her body still felt chilled to the bone, yet she still stepped forward to hold her sword out, tip pointing threateningly at Illia. Again, the mage stepped backward a step in surprise.
"Not... another step..." Lydia uttered low and dangerously.
"Whoa whoa! Please, calm down!" Illia protested with her hands held up.
"Lydia? What are you doing-?" Siffre said.
"You j-just stay back, well away from us!" Lydia pressed, ignoring all else and focusing solely on Illia.
"What is wrong now?!" Illia protested, "Sylvia is dead! We have killed her! Now why are you still so bent on thinking that I'm going to kill you?!"
"Are you s-serious-?!" Lydia felt her teeth chatter in between her speech. To maintain her threatening image, she'd need to get a better hold of herself, "How about the fact that even with you casting that weird spell on me, that woman still somehow knew I was there! I was nearly blasted and frozen by her, while what had you been-?!"
"Lydia, that's not true!" Siffre quickly cut in, voice heavy with vibrations, "Illia was being shocked by lighting! Didn't you see it?!"
"That's right! I was!" Illia chimed in, slowly lowering her hands, "About her seeing you, I don't know how! We couldn't see you when I cast it upon you! And even if I had a mind to try anything, that lightning weakened my magicka reserves! I barely had enough for those ice spikes just now; I couldn't do anything to you even if I wanted to!"
"How would we know that? How could we possibly trust you on that, on anything?!" Lydia pressed, "In fact, your whole plan of attacking that witch there was faulted from the start! Things could have gone horribly for us-!"
"But they didn't! You've aided in killing her, isn't that what matters?!" Lydia's knuckle felt whitened as she gripped her sword's hilt. The blade drooped ever so slightly, as she herself actually felt herself considering. Had she tried to kill them herself? Had she made any move against them in the time they'd known each other. No... but...
"We've been put in mortal peril since the first instance we encountered you," Lydia spoke, "So really, what good reason would there be to not slay you right here, right now, and end it?!"
"Lydia! Stop this, now!" Lydia could both hear Siffre behind her and feel her roughly shake her shoulders.
"And I implore you, can't you just let me leave, like I originally wanted to do?! Is it..." Illia's pleas became more frantic and desperate, and in the middle of them her eyes snapped over to the side, the ramshackle tent, "There! In that tent there, that's really where they kept all the discarded possessions of past sacrifices! You can have anything that's in there- just please, let me leave here...!"
"Huh...?" Her eyes still fixated on Illia's form, Lydia felt Siffre's hand leave her shoulder. Single steps to the side told her that she was moving over to investigate the tent herself, "Lydia, she's right! There's... there are other things in here...!" What, there was? She glanced an eye in Siffre's direction; the Dragonborn's face looking back at her was an earnest one. So, was Illia here looking to bribe them off or something? She looked back over to Illia. Her teeth still gritted, but her eyes no longer feeling hardened like before. That was all she wanted to do, was leave here? But after everything that had happened to them, to 'her' even, she'd be allowed to go free from it?
"Lydia... please..." Siffre's softer voice could be heard. Though she stood next to her, the voice might as well have been from miles away, echoing across a vast, empty void...
The sword blade drooped, and fell down to her side. Illia let out a soundless sigh of relief.
"Go on then... leave..." Lydia spoke in a low tone, "Before I change my mind..." There was a moment of hesitation from the mage, combined with quick looks between the two women. Finally, as if snapping back to her senses, she peeled away towards the fort's stone wall, where erosion had produced a thin-sized crack from the bottom. The mage quickly slipped through this crack, and just like that was gone from sight.
With her gone, Lydia slowly turned to look at her thane.
"Th-thank you, Lydia..." Siffre spoke, She then noticed her armor, as well as the heavy patches of frost that still could be seen on her front as well as shield, "Um, are you alright...? I saw that frost hit you..." Siffre had moved a hand up scrape away some leftover frost with her hand. This action seemed to remind Lydia of it as well, and the fact that her armor was ice cold by now.
"I-I'm fine... Siffre, really..." she said, nudging her hand away to dust her own self off. Thankfully the frost that was on her felt little more than snow, the kind that came from some mage's staff, not snow that born of Skyrim's own white blanket.
"Oh, alright... good..." Siffre took Lydia's earlier meaning and pulled her hand back. She glanced back over to the tent, while hefting her great-sword in front of her for emphasis, "Well, come on... I think I like this sword, so let me grab the sheath at least..." Lydia heard her say, even as she nearly finished dusting herself off. But she had no intention of moving, not yet. Not before something that was on her mind was addressed...
"My thane... Siffre...?" she spoke. The Dragonborn stopped moving and turned around, "I want to know... why did we- 'you', do that...?"
"Huh? Do what...?" a confused Dragonborn questioned with narrowed eyes and a tilted head.
"Just now, with all that..." Lydia said, "Why did we just put ourselves through all of that?"
"Lydia..." Siffre started, then sighed, "I told you... it was something I felt... I needed to do. She wanted to be-"
"Yes, you've mentioned this before, and it still doesn't make sense," Lydia challenged, then pointed back in the direction to where Illia had run off, "That woman was a witch, a killer, vagabond, a bandit! Living out here with a bunch of others like her- she even admitted that they did bad things here!" Siffre winced gradually at each listing of words Lydia used to describe Illia, "We could have easily been her next victims, being brought to that older witch like that- did you forget what was nearly done to me?!" All the while Lydia ranted, Siffre's own eyes began to narrow slowly.
"Lydia... that's a very... very judgmental way of seeing things..." Siffre's speaking tone was at normal volume, but the vibrations were felt... a little harder somehow, "You heard Illia say many times that she wasn't trying to kill us... And I did tell you that her mother attacked her as well...? I am sorry... sorry that happened to you, but... It couldn't have been her fault!"
"It had to have been! Otherwise how did the other one know I was there?!" Lydia then shook her head, scoffing, "Why, why are you so..." In her mind, Lydia suddenly was reminded of a previous discussion the two of them had, "My thane; why is it that you would stick your neck out for people like them? I asked you earlier and never got an answer... Well now is the time for one." The Dragonborn returned her gaze; her eyes changing from narrowed to widening in slight surprise. For a moment she hesitated, and Lydia thought she would try and avoid this topic again. But Siffre did speak up.
"Lydia... I don't know if this is... something you should hear..."
"You can be sure," Lydia said, "I very much want to know the reason, from you, right now, whatever it may well be!" Siffre's mouth could be seen quivering, twisting as if she was meaning to quickly reply. As her hard stare with her eyes drooped more, that overall look on her face turned to one of uncertainty. Lydia watched her carefully, waiting in tense anticipation. Finally, her arms drooped in front of her, the great-sword falling to the level of her legs as well.
"You... you really want to know why...?" her volume was that of speaking, but her usual stuttering that came with when she spoke softer was still present, "Why I'm not so quick to... to condemn a once-criminal seeking... something else...?"
"Yes, I would like to know," Lydia pressed. Why was she delaying this so much...?
"Have you wondered why... I haven't told much about my past...?" Siffre spoke, "It's because... I took care to not let anyone know... at all." Lydia's gazed turned to a confused one.
"Know of what?" Siffre's eyes met hers.
"The truth is... that I'm no different... from people like her," Siffre looked up, "I too... was a bandit."
-Yet another cliff-hanger?! I seem to do those a lot, don't I? Anyway like I said, I'd originally had this chapter as what I could only now describe as 'half-baked'. Thanks again for Usami Worry Haru Cookietine for reading it over first and pointing out the flaw in my original design! Check out his fanfic page as well for more good stuff!
I'm just as excited as ever to get on with future plans for this story, especially with this latest discovery made at the end here! For now read, review, let me know what you all thought, and I'll see you next chapter's release; bye bye!-
