[A/N: And we come to the end of Part two! I like to think of this chapter as the finale. A little long just as most season finales. Part three is the final part to this story which I will be publishing soon. May take a few days to publish just to let the second part stew for a bit. This chapter will have some flashbacks, which I assure are important to the chapter narrative as a whole. Not to mention, touches on Mimzi's history in Whiffet Hall.
A darker more horror-based chapter. A little different than others. As well as some fluxes in canon. I hope that's not a deterrent! Thank you all for reading and reviewing! It means so much! I've said this before, but I am a novice writer. Any critique to help in my skill is greatly appreciated! Alright, let's dive in!]
Chapter 25: Mara's Hand
"So… what will be your choice then? Of course… take all the time you need."
Mithelda asked to the couple as they pondered the children, lost in deep thought. Mimzi and Luna began to play haplessly on the floor. Mimzi pretended she was a monster, making raspy roars as Luna pretended to scream and flee.
The Dunmer man and Breton woman watched the girls, but keeping a forlorn detachment. Finally the Breton woman said, "I'm sorry… the choice is too difficult. I'm afraid… I'm afraid we may have made a mistake coming here."
Alessandra and Mithelda puzzled at the answer, with her husband even curving a brow.
Alessandra asked, "What… what do you mean?"
"Come on, Lewyn…" The Breton woman pulled her husband.
"Deliha, what are you…" The husband was quickly cut off by Mithelda.
"No… please," she pleaded, "I don't understand what we possibly said… but if you need time to ponder this decision that's fine!"
Alastar and Jesper spectated their rejection sullenly as the Breton woman said, "I don't feel a kindred love to any of these children… I thought I would… but… this was a terrible mistake."
She pulled at her husband who reluctantly followed out the doors. Alessandra heatedly followed, with Mithelda following after. They breached into the bitter chill of Dawnstar. Alessandra made an angered stomp behind the couple. "How dare you! How dare you come here and flay the hopes of those children! You…. You…. Monsters!"
"Alessandra!" Mithelda pled, "Enough!"
The Dunmer turned to them only to say, "I'm sorry we wasted your time."
"My time?!" Alessandra scorned, "You think you wasted my time?! You wasted their time! Those babies! Do you have any idea what you've done?! Selfish people! Hateful!"
"Alessandra, stop!" Mithelda cried.
The Breton turned back then, "Those are just dim-witted children. They don't know anything of what happened here today! Think about us and our disappointment! You told us over the letter you had an assortment of children. All kinds of races! I didn't see one Breton or Dark elf child in there. It was all a bunch of Nords and one Imperial! Of course, I should have known better seeking my child in this frozen husk of land. You wasted our time! Do not say anymore and let us leave of our own accord, wench!"
Alessandra's cheeks flushed red. She knelt down and threw a chunk of snow at the back of the Breton woman's head. "You heartless, matronly slag!"
"Alessandra!"
Mithelda ran to her and pulled away, shoving her back to the orphanage. The Breton woman looked back aghast and disgusted, leaving her husband to try and console her.
Mithelda apologized, "I… I am so sorry… please… please leave, we won't bother you again. I'm sorry!"
Mithelda chased after Alessandra who trudged back to the orphanage, wiping tears from her reddened cheeks. "You've damn well lost your mind this time."
Alessandra ignored it as she fled inside, kicking off the snow from her fur shoes. Mimzi and Luna were still playing, where the boys went back to their room. Alessandra retreated down the hall to her and Mithelda's quarters. She flopped onto her bed and began to wail. Mithelda stormed after her, but whatever berating words soured her tongue at the sight of Alessandra in despair.
"Alessandra. They were vain fools… they wouldn't have made good parents to our babies, anyway."
Alessandra wiped her hands down her red, wetted cheeks. "Don't you understand? We don't have much time, Mithelda. Our doors are soon to close, we can't even afford food for ourselves! Our only hope is to give them homes. We are… we are letting them all down!"
Mithelda sat to Alessandra's bed and rubbed her hand. "We are doing everything we can, remember? We've scraped by on nothing before, we always make it."
"Why…" Alessandra wept, "Why… why does no one… want them? They… are marvellous. They are perfect! What is wrong with people? How did they let this happen? You and I should have found ourselves a husband… someone who could have paid the lot and stocked the shelves… then we could have adopted them."
"We don't need men! We are stronger together, we don't need money! We have each other and those babies! We are enough."
Mithelda scooped Alessandra into a hug, "We are enough. Do not lose faith, my friend, we will do this together!"
Mimzi and Luna wandered into their room, still playing, but showing elation as they saw the two women. "Hello, little doves… oh my, they should really get to bed…"
Alessandra fretted, "No, not yet." Mimzi came up to Alessandra's lap and held up her arms, where Alessandra scooped her up.
Mithelda held Luna and said, "They will be just fine… they are not worse for wear."
Alessandra smiled as she breathed in Mimzi hair, "We will raise them if we have to. They will be just fine. The world is a terrifying place. I won't let them be raised into this world alone. Mara's hands will always guide them."
In a sudden snap of thunder, the howls of the Soul Cairn ceased. The smell of metallic faded, and a scent of musk and rot came back. Serana and Mimzi were back through the portal— back into the laboratory of Valerica. The room was almost deafening silence compared to the constant rumble of the Soul Cairn. A tepid relief filled the two. Mimzi's relief was suddenly struck with disgust at the stink of a wild animal staining her nostrils.
"Gods…" Mimzi grimaced, "What is that?"
Serana leaned her head to one side, "That's… Farkas, Aela and Vilkas… from when they last were here…"
"What? Why am I only smelling it now… oh…"
"Yeah. Your smell is heightened… among other things. We need to get back to the mainland as soon as possible."
Mimzi stared down despairingly at the portal, following Serana from the laboratory. She gently brought her hands to her teeth and shivered at the sharp incisors once again. Her skin pale and ice cold, her pulse non-existent. She was dead but alive, breathing yet no blood pumping in her veins. She was a vampire, and Mimzi shuddered in her own skin, feeling in a trance as she longed for a taste of something she couldn't recall, but knew in her heart what it was. She could hear the insects crawling along the walls so vividly they felt as if they were in her hair. She rustled her locks instinctually. Every new sense to her newfound being was a burden— turning her into a twitching and paranoid being of who she once was. In Nirn once more, her hunger for blood was far worse than in the Soul Cairn. The smell of the human thralls above them was irritatingly distracting. She pulled away from the drawing of it, angrily detesting it— ignoring it.
Serana asked, "Why didn't you tell me you were craving blood?"
Mimzi stayed silent, seeming to ignore Serana, "Mimzi?"
"What did you expect me to say? What would you have done to help exactly? I'm dealing with it."
"I could be prepared, for one. I could prepare you."
"How? You can't prepare me. You think I don't know how to control myself?"
Serana sighed, "Can you stop being offended for one second? I'm trying to help. This is only going to get worse, and we don't have a lot of time. If you're already craving, you're heading into the stages of bloodlust. Hunger is the first symptom, then anger, obsession, hallucinations…"
"Okay. You don't need to recite all the terrifying trials of being a vampire. I'm already scunnered of it."
"I'm not trying to scare you, I'm trying to…"
"Then stop!" Mimzi's voice cracked like a snap of thunder. Serana jolted to it. Mimzi gritted her teeth, forcing herself to calm down, "I'm dealing with it… just… please stop."
They made their way out the undercroft faster than they came. The cliff edge offered a large blot of shade. As they walked up to the jetty, Serana donned her hood. Mimzi didn't think twice of it until a sharp burn hit her face, making her wince. It didn't end there, it travelled through her veins, into her head. As if rocks were rolling around in her skull. Mimzi began to stumble to the discomfort.
"Your hood." Serana advised, "You need your hood… put it on."
Mimzi didn't want to indulge the sun was burning her skin. The sun used to be rejuvenation and glee felt under a warm day. Where it would once kiss her skin. Now a villain to her very senses. She was always a creature of the sun, a devout lover to the gifts it would bring. Now it exiled her— tortured her. The sun turned its rays to swords, and the warmth became an unforgiving fire. She was no longer the sun's creation, she was owned by the night. A slave to the dark and evil that controlled the forces she worked to destroy. The forces she was now kindred to.
"Mimzi…" Serana reminded, "Now."
Mimzi grunted and threw her hood over her head, which gave a slight amount of relief. The sun still heated her skin to such discomfort she felt as if she was hugging a furnace. They boarded the jetty and Serana took it upon herself to throw the oars and peddle back through the bay. Mimzi sat fighting the pain of the sun.
Serana eerily suggested, "Maybe I should take the scroll for a while. One less thing off your back."
Mimzi unbuckled the scabbard from her back, handing it over to Serana, discreetly glad to be rid of it for the time being.
Serana made recurrent glances to Mimzi, who still kept her head down to the floorboards. She knew exactly the toil she was dealing with. Serana peddled harder, almost angrily so, fighting the waves to meet the shores of Skyrim yet again. The suffering Mimzi endured was an urgent thing to attend to. Mimzi kept a steady prayer in her head, but she breathed it out through her lips in a whisper only she could hear, Divines… don't abandon me. She repeated it constantly, almost obsessively.
They boarded the shores of Haafingar, by the Northwatch Keep that lay in the distance. Sunshine was a few yards away, but out of sight. She was prized in taking care of herself and not to wander, as long as she wasn't fastened to a post. With the abundant and territorial horker presence, predators keen of horse meat didn't dare come up the shore. Serana led the way to Sunshine, where Mimzi followed staggeringly behind her. The fire of the sun on her back. She stumbled and limped behind Serana, who impatiently kept looking behind in an attempt to quicken Mimzi's pace. Serana irked at the sight of her friend now, who had quickly grown into a sinister representation of herself. Mimzi's face was pale white, almost blue, and shadows under her eyes. Her lips were as red as blood, with a streak going down the bottom of her lip into her upper chin. Her nose was beginning to wrinkle like a bat, her cheeks were sunken in as if she hadn't eaten for days. Then the fatality of her eyes. Perilous red. Harbouring glowing, golden pupils looming under her hood. The rosy and round, freckled cheeks, peachy lips, and ocean eyes that Serana had grown fond of were gone. Mimzi now appeared as a fiend with little humanity left.
Inside Mimzi, the mortal girl she once was struggled to hold on. Fighting the inflictions of vampirism with every wheezing breath she took. A heartbeat thumped louder in her ears, growing louder and more distracting the farther she straggled. Her delirium rallied for minutes, before she realized she did not have a pulse. She did not have a heartbeat. Mimzi slowed her shamble and stopped as Serana obliviously walked forward. She peered to Northwatch Keep. The heartbeat turned into a longing as one of the guards stood on looking to the west in ignorance. Mimzi could feel the honeyed blood pulsing calmly through the High Elf's veins. They stood over the tower, where a gust of wind blew the scent of their blood to Mimzi, rippling a scent of scarlet that pumped strong and bountiful. The more she took in, she started to tremble.
No...
She desperately consumed the scent of it. She could not walk forward with Serana in fear to lose it. But could not step closer to the keep or she would stop at nothing to sate it. Her breath grew heavier and harder. She flinched at her shoulder being grasped and jolted.
"Mimzi?!"
Serana stood before her with a glower of worry, thudding Mimzi gently to catch her attention. "Mimzi. We have to go."
Serana looked towards Northwatch Keep, knowing the reason of Mimzi's trance. She snapped from it reluctantly and followed Serana to the horse.
Sunshine did not greet Mimzi as she usually did. She was more open to Serana than her own rider. Mimzi was far too oppressed in her state to notice it. She clumsily boarded the back of the horse with Serana controlling the reins. They rode off swiftly into the pines of Haafingar, making their journey to Hjaalmarch.
A day of travelling in dire straits. Mimzi slipped in and out of consciousness in the hours. Fighting the breath of blood with her own fatigue. Marshes and dead lands were the greetings of Morthal. Nightfall had begun to creep. The town was only given light by the resting torches. Serana pulled on the reins to slow Sunshine. She promptly halted and whinnied before shaking her mane. Serana slid off the horse first. Before she could help Mimzi off, she slid off and thudded onto ground like a rag doll. Serana gasped, "Mimzi!"
She ran to her side and tried to help her up. Mimzi woke to the impact and groaned. She shuffled off the ground lazily with a gaunt glare. With her arms out before her, Serana grasped one and pulled her up. Mimzi stumbled and dragged her feet, Serana acting as her leverage into town. Only a few townguard patrolled. Their heartbeats cluttered chaotically in Mimzi's head. She loudly groaned again to it. Serana pulled her over the walking docks before the shallow swamp. They followed it down, and Serana used her illusion spell over herself to appear as human. Mimzi still appeared as a vampire, but with her head hung low Serana hoped no one would notice. They walked farther into town, where a guard approached the two.
She whispered to Mimzi, "Keep your head down."
The guard called out, "What's the meaning of this?!"
"I found this girl on the skirts of town! She's got a bad case of Ataxia and needs a healer! I've heard there's a wizard here. She needs attention fast! He wears… blue robes… he is a Redguard."
"Yeah, I know who you're talking about," the guard snapped, "Wizard or meddling warlock, there's no telling what he is. He is not a healer."
"Where can I find him?"
"You want to waste your time then fine, he lives over in that shack over there. He's barely home, so good luck."
"What's his name?"
"Falion," the guard groaned, "…and like I said, he's not a healer. Word is he dabbles in dark magic, so keep your wits about you."
Serana continued to drag Mimzi up to Falion's home, which was under a wooden terrace on the skirts of town before a vast amount of pond water. Serana knocked urgently. "Falion! Hello! I need help! Please, please open up! Hello!"
Mimzi finally croaked, "He's not home…"
"Hello!"
No light from the windows or the crack of the door, unlike the other homes. Serana pressed her lips in and breathed heavily as she thought for a solution. She thought of something quick and impulsive, "Okay…" She released Mimzi who slumped to the frame of the home. Serana knelt down discreetly to the door and picked the lock, anxiously looking back to not alarm the guards.
"Are you seriously breaking into his house…" Mimzi slurred.
Serana hissed, "You got a better idea?!"
The lock clicked and Serana pushed the door open. It created a small squeak of the hinges. Serana helped Mimzi inside.
The home was completely shrouded in dark. Cluttered in book shelves filled with tomes and alchemical ingredients. Mimzi pattered inside, who was still unsteady and her hunger infringing.
Mimzi asked, "Now what? He's not here… so what do we do?
Serana looked around the home, "I… I… um…"
"Well?"
"I don't know! I… you can't stay like this for much longer, I know that. Just let me think for one damn second!"
Mimzi sighed in exhaustion as she leaned up against the wall. Serana paced across the room. She finally ceased her pacing with a sternness. "My mother saw him in the forest outside Morthal. So... I'm going to go find him."
Serana walked to the door, but Mimzi squalled, "What?!"
"I'll be right back, you need to stay here," ordered Serana, "Lock the doors, don't accept entry to anyone. But you have to stay here. You can't come with me. You can't be around mortals. Just… stay here."
"You can't leave me here! Serana!"
"We're on a clock, okay? We don't have much time. If you even get a taste of mortal blood, the ritual will not work. We can't just sit around and wait. I need to go find Falion. You need to stay here. I made a promise and I intend to keep it. I will get you cured."
Mimzi whimpered, "I don't trust myself, Serana… I don't even know what I am anymore. You leave I know I won't be able to control it. I'm so… I'm so hungry."
"Mimzi, please…"
"You need to promise me something else," Mimzi wept weakly, "… you need to promise me… if I lose it… you'll do whats gotta be done, okay? You have to promise me you won't let me hurt anyone. Promise me!"
"No! It won't come to that, alright? I will get you cured!"
"Serana! Please!"
"Mimzi!" Serana shook her shoulders, "No! I will get you cured! I won't do that ever, you understand? Never!"
Mimzi bowed her head, growing into a wail. Serana tried not to cry in hearing it, "I'm not losing you. Don't you dare suggest that again. I will get you cured. Just hang tight and stay in this house. Don't ever leave for any reason. Say it back to me."
Mimzi choked, "I stay in this house… don't leave for any reason…"
A cry Mimzi never allowed to be heard. Sputtering and hoarse, her inflations spilled out like a wailing infant. Wheezing and whistling inhales desperate for breath. As the gravity of what was to come became frighteningly clear. She could die this way. No Sovngarde to comfort the thought of death. A young life plucked with so much opportunity wasted. Only to fall as something inherently evil. An afterlife of the dreadfully unknown. Serana pulled her in to herself. Any docile attempt to sooth Mimzi now was in vain. But she'd be damned if she didn't try.
"I'm so scared, Serana."
Serana pulled her in tighter. "I know. I'm sorry. I will get you cured, Mimzi. I won't be gone long."
Serana released Mimzi quickly and stomped to the doors with the scroll on her back. She made one last solemn look to her friend, then departed.
"Mithelda!"
Alessandra called as she dressed Luna and Mimzi. She looked to Jesper and Alastar who were busy playing. She instructed to the boys, "Go on, dears, help yourselves to some breakfast at the table. Jesper, can you be a good boy and go fetch the cheese from the closet? There's a good lad."
"Yes, mum." Jesper obliged and skipped to the closet. Alastar sat to the table and began munching down bread and apples.
She called again, "Mithelda!"
Her friend came trotting up the hallway. "Yes, yes, I was just putting away the linens. What did you need now, Alessandra?"
"We're running out of milk." Alessandra said in a break from struggling to put a dress on Mimzi, "Thoring is still allowing us to milk from their cow, just a bucket will do for today. The girls are in need of it, you know that."
"Well don't you need help?"
"No, don't worry." Alessandra stated, "I've got this— Ow! Mimzi!" She shrilled as Mimzi kicked her peddling feet into her chin.
Mithelda crossed her arms, "Are you certain?"
"Yes! Just… please. Go do it." Alessandra cooed to Mimzi, "Darling, please let me get your dress on, then you may have some cheese… ahh!" Mimzi kicked hard and began to whine.
Mithelda grabbed her coat, "If you sing 'Ragnar the Red' she'll let you put her dress on… just a tip."
"Oh, that… that is not a child's song!"
"She likes it! Bound to be a shield-maiden, that one."
Mithelda carried a pale up to the Windpeak where the cow grazed shrub under the snow. She opened the gates to its pen and grabbed for the stool by the fences. Suddenly a man spoke from the porch of the inn, "By the gods, I may have just spotted the fairest milkmaid of my whole existence. Here in this crippling cold…"
Mithelda spooked at the voice and turned to an older High Elf man leaning against the railing of the porch side. "I am no milkmaid! I am a caretaker at Whiffet Hall. I do not sully to dim-witted suiting, either. So save your breath."
The High Elf man made a charmed chuckle, "Apologies, of course. I did not mean to offend. You look after the orphanage, then?"
"Yes… I thought I made that rather clear. Myself and my childhood friend, Alessandra— we own it. We are not merely 'milkmaids' as you are not merely a drunkard standing outside a tavern. We are very respected in Dawnstar."
"But alas, an orphanage is not a very substantial source of income, is it?"
"What are you on about?"
"I'm in some need of help. I was hoping to find someone who can help me carry a few crates of mead to my den. Of course, I can carry two, but I need someone to carry the others. I'm willing to pay handsomely if you can spare the time."
"What on Nirn could you use that much mead for?"
"I'm throwing a party."
"A party…" Mithelda scoffed, "No, thank you. Find someone else."
"How does 600 septims sound?"
Mithelda dropped her pail. "600…?"
"Yes. The money is at my den, however. I can pay you as soon as the deed is done. What do you say, my dear?"
Mithelda glared in thought for a moment, thinking back to Alessandra. Her worry on their woes with coin. She planted her pail down. "Fine… I suppose I can spare my time. If this is a ruse, I will have you arrested by the guard… so no funny business."
"Deal… and what, may I ask, is your name?"
"I am Mithelda. And you are?"
"Arondil… Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Every bone in Mimzi's rattling body felt as if they were pulling from her skin. Every muscle strained to the waves of craving. The cluttering heartbeats of guards patrolling the midnight over Morthal mocked her endlessly. The taste of what she desired was just outside in the dark. She fought with herself, every fibre of her being a villain against a small part that believed in good.
You won't last feeling like this much longer.
"Shut it! I will not give in!"
You knew the price of turning. The cure is a dream.
Mimzi smacked her cheek. She struck a candle with a fire spell. If she was to suffer, she wouldn't suffer in the dark. Anything she could do to pull away from any notion of what she was. She passed a window, where her reflection startled her. At first, she swore she saw the eyes of a vampire peering into the window from outside, alas it was her own reflection. She came closer to the window and could see her horrifying complexion now.
You're a vampire, Mimzi. You look like one. You feel like one. You can act like one…
Mimzi grabbed a bookshelf and threw it across the room. She whipped more objects, stomping over the wood and destroying the furnishings. Anything to dull the thoughts, anything to not feed. The splinters of wood cut in her arms and hands. Her body brutally punishing her for not succumbing to the taste of blood. She heaved in the middle of the shambled home, bookshelves, ingredients, pots and crates broken into pieces around her.
I'm a hero… I'm stronger than this… you're not a vampire. You're a hero.
Serana had abandoned her to her plight, her friends with Jorrvaskr were gone. Delphine was gone… Luna was gone. The Divines were now counted among the many who were droll of her existence. Mimzi sat brittle to the end of the wall, her body still for the first time in hours, too weak and fatigued to pace or claw at herself anymore. She didn't even bob her knees. She sat and waited. She detested the smell of fresh blood outside the walls. She pretended to the best of her ability that she did not need it.
I've always been a follower of you. All of you. I've always been loyal to you. Now that I need you the most… you abandon me. Why choose me? Give me my power and leave me?
She wept into her palms. She curled her knees up to her chest as she wailed in dread.
Why am I alone? Why does everyone leave me?
Mimzi's thoughts dulled as a sudden chill crept down her spine. It was kindred to that of her own pale-white skin. So kindred to her own that she didn't notice it immediately. Suddenly, a croak in the dark side of the room. Otherworldly and guttural.
"You're not alone, Mimzi."
Mimzi flinched in horror at the distorted voice. It released low hisses of breath. Creaking of its own flesh and bone. Guised by shadow.
"Not any longer. You have found eternal family, my sweetest child. A home in the shadows… with me."
Mimzi did not want to believe it. She fought from the thought, but kept her wide, mortified scarlet eyes to the dark.
"Who are you?"
"You know who I am, Mimzi. The father who has been awaiting you. Since you were a helpless child, and now you are a woman— now you belong to me."
"Who are you?!"
"I am the truest fear of night. The horror of death. The murderer of innocence. The father of vampires. I am power, Mimzi. The one who will claim your soul when Serana's efforts prove in vain. You are mine. The only family that's ever kept you."
"No… you're not real. I'm… I'm hallucinating. You're not here. Go… go away…"
"Your body is that of my own craft. The blood that runs through your brain is my own. You can see what I want you to see. If I wish for you to see me, then I am the realest of any hallucinations."
"The Divines guide me. They love me! Get away from me!"
The Daedric Prince erupted into bellowing, harrowing laughter. She could not recoil her own breath, or her own being, as the creature leered over her. The air turned colder, and the candlelight went out.
"You are forfeit. You are now the miraculous gift they have bequeathed me, begrudgingly leaving you to your own devices. They are selfish beings. They love with only conditions. I love you for all your afflictions. With me, you become a force that's indestructible. As a vampire you will crack the very bedrock of Nirn. You could make all of your dreams come true, Mimzi. And yours coincide with my own. You are no girl; you have never been a girl. You are a dragon! Now with a taste for mortal blood! Your power cripples the Divines in fear. For me, I gladly encourage you!"
Mimzi wept, "Get back from me! Demon!"
The voice broke louder, his breath heating her skin. She whipped her face to the side and screamed, squinting her eyes shut as his rumbling voice spoke in her ear.
"No matter your efforts to refuse my gift, you will give in to the taste of blood. You think I am just random, terrible evil? Every choice you've made, every path you've taken has brought you here to me. It is my offering for you. You cannot escape my clutches, Mimzi. I already have you."
"Leave me alone! Serana!"
"Take this gift, Mimzi. Become the being you were always destined to be. Your home was built in darkness, and now you have arrived. Welcome home."
The cold left and the candlelight relit. She quaked and bubbled in terror. She knew in her heart she had been forsaken.
Suddenly a knock rumbled at the door, startling Mimzi from her despair. Her blood red eyes shot open. The waft of sweet, freshly pumping blood came to her again, burying into her senses worse than ever before. Mimzi went still and the knocks turned to thumps at the wood. The door knob shook but was locked.
A small child's voice asked, "Falion? Falion, can you open up? I… got scared at Joric's house. I want to come home. I'll try another sleepover next week but can you open up? I'm scared."
The smell of the child's blood enticed her to the point her consciousness— her self-control, was fleeting. Her breathing quickened and lip began to shake. Her hands clenched and teeth parted at the insatiable scent of fresh blood. As the child continued to knock, the dismal remains of Mimzi's control kept her to the floor.
"Mimzi! Luna! Stay away from the shoreline, now!"
Alessandra watched the two four year old girls playing and skipping by Dawnstar's shores. Jesper and Alastar made sand castles higher along the shoreline. Frida came walking over to them with a basket of food. She looked back to the children with a gloom.
Frida stated, "It's been three years since Mithelda's disappearance, Alessandra," she looked towards the children playing, "Maybe it's about time to call off the search, dear. You've been wrangled in grief for too long. These children… they need you to be happy."
"Did the guards search that abandoned fort outside town yet?"
Frida sighed, "No… they wouldn't dare go there. Far too dangerous. I don't think Mithelda would ever wander there, she knows better."
"Then what do you suppose then? She was taken? She went to get milk… I sent her to get milk… and she never came back. She had no reason to leave town… so reasonably yes, she left of her own accord…"
"She would not just abandon you."
"I don't know what to think anymore."
"It's beginning to get cold. I can take the children back to Whiffet Hall. You need to take some time for yourself. Go to Windpeak and get a drink… go for a stroll. Anything you want."
"No… too much to do. I… can't just leave the children."
"I'll stay with them for a while. They love my stories. You need time for yourself, you've been carrying the world on your shoulders for too long."
"What of your shop?"
"I'm sure the people of Dawnstar can go without an ailment or two for a few hours," Frida divulged, "Now go on… take a well needed break."
Alessandra wearily stood from the cold sands and walked towards town. Frida called out to the children, "Come now, lovies! Time for home!"
She picked up the basket of food as the children sprang happily along, taking sweet rolls from the basket. Alessandra made her way to town, leaving them behind.
Inside the inn she was met to a nearly empty tavern. Thoring polished glasses behind his counter, "Alessandra, how are you doing, sweetie? Need a cup of cold mead?"
"Alto wine, please…" Alessandra stated dejectedly, "Thank you, Thoring."
He set a chalice of wine down, where she took a swig and exhaled a weight of relief off her shoulders.
Thoring stated, "I'm going to go check on Karita, she's playing in the other room. You alright here?"
"Yes…" Alessandra smiled, "I'll be fine, go on."
Thoring left Alessandra still drinking from her chalice. The doors swung open behind her. Footsteps came thumping inside the inn. She didn't look back, but irked as the gentleman sat next to her in the neighbouring stool. She kept her weary eyes to her glass when the voice spoke, "Hard day?"
"Hard year… hard three years," she looked up from her chalice to a High Elf man.
"Where is the innkeeper? I'd love a drink…"
"He should be back soon… never seen you in Dawnstar before."
"I don't come here often as much as I'd like," the man shrugged, "Never seen you around much either, which is a shame, you're very beautiful."
Alessandra stifled a giggle, "I am?"
"Oh yes. Beautiful yellow curls and radiant skin. You're lovely. I'm Arondil, and you are?"
He held his hand out to shake her own, "Alessandra… what brings you to Dawnstar?"
"Investigating a disappearance for the townguard. They hired me out of the College of Winterhold," he claimed, "Young woman went missing a few years back. I feel I may have a hunch on where she is. But before I leave, I'm in need of a drink. Of course, when the barkeep gets back."
"A missing woman? Was her name Mithelda?"
Arondil perked his head, "Why yes, it is. Did you know her?"
"Yes, sir… she was my best friend. You... you think you might find her? Where is she?"
"Yngvild, a ruin across a road of water from here, harboured on an island. There's been sightings of unnatural forces there, and sounds of women… screaming. Hollering into the night. I believe she isn't the only victim of whatever lurks there."
Alessandra shook as she spoke, "When do you leave?"
"Relatively soon."
"May I come with you?"
Arondil thought for a moment, "If you wish… but it'll be treacherous. I promise to try and protect you, but I can't prepare you for whatever is inside that ruin. Ancient things are left there… ancient power…"
Alessandra shot up from her stool, "I don't care. Let's go, there's no point in wasting time. I'm right behind you."
"Now?!"
"Now!"
The doorknob to Falion's home wobbled from the ply of a lock pick. The frame of the door popped open, greeting the air of outside. It carried the possessing smell of the child's blood. When Mimzi caught the scent, her expression fell vacant. The battle she fought within herself was lost. Utterly and completely lost. The control she harboured was ruthfully demised as the shadow of the young child stood in the doorway. Standing paralyzed to small orbs of red peering up from across the room.
The girl whimpered, "Fa- Falion? What- what is that… Who are you?"
Fragile whimpering quaked from the girl's mouth. The destruction of furnishings before her path laying way between herself and Mimzi. She did not speak, she did not move, just tremble. Mimzi's breath went heavy like a panting wolf. For what felt like minutes, the two stared at each other. The girl was far too petrified to move or scream. The girl's blood curdled as Mimzi rose from her spot slowly. The inside of the home was dark, but could see ember eyes going up into the darkness.
The girl began to back away, but Mimzi followed. She screamed and tore away to run. In a second, Mimzi had tackled the child to the ground.
"Somebody help me! Help! Falion!"
Mimzi held the girl down and bore her fangs. She soured a hiss across her tongue. She heard it far too many times battling vampires. Now it conjured from her own throat. Invoking the same fear in this child. Her control was no longer dormant. It fought against the longing for blood once more, painfully so. Mimzi's face winced at what she was doing. The girl thrashed and tried to kick away, but she kept her down anyway. Waging one of her hardest battles in her head. She hadn't needed water, food, air or anything more badly than the blood pumping fast and strong in the child's veins. It was torturously famishing, apart from anything she ever craved before. Despite this, Mimzi did not bite the child, she did not further her advances to harm her. The terrible realization of what she was doing held her back stronger than hunger. Tears swelled in her eyes as she watched the child flail. She needed to let her go. Let her go!
Then a familiar voice shrilled out of the grove, "Mimzi! No!"
Serana and Falion bolted up to the home in panic to see Mimzi holding down the child.
Falion cried out, "Agni!"
He flung an ice spike at Mimzi. She jumped off Agni and dodged the spike, which collided into the house siding. Mimzi hissed at the warlock, showing little humanity now that she was threatened. She fled with unnatural speed into the dark of night— scuttling into the marshlands.
Serana cried out, "Mimzi!"
Falion ran to the child, "Agni! Are you alright?! Gods…"
Agni wept in his shoulder, "Falion! What was that?! Where were you?!"
"I'm so sorry. I thought you were at the Longhouse… Agni, you need to go back there now and stay there. Do not leave the house for any reason. There's a vampire on the lose! Now go… right now!"
Agni did as she was told and ran to the Jarl's Longhouse. Falion watched her go inside before berating Serana, "Why didn't you tell me she was at the fourth stage?! She could have killed… are you insane?!"
Serana gasped, "What?"
"She's a starved vampire!"
Serana fled after Mimzi with Falion following closely after. Certain if she didn't find her now, Mimzi would tarnish any possibility of being cured.
Alessandra and Arondil trekked to a ruin surrounded in white glaciers. She hesitated as they embarked upon Yngvild— its reaching stones and carvings haunting. She muttered in fright to Arondil, "This… can't be it, can it? What could possibly live inside here?"
Arondil remarked lowly, "Something terribly wicked. Stay close to me."
The ancient architecture sent shivers down Alessandra's spine. She followed the High Elf into the darkened abyss. Holding her breath through the tomb's entry.
He struck a torch and led their way through tunnels lined in cobwebs and dust. The air was thick and putrid. Every shuffle of their steps sent echoes into winding tunnels. Alessandra could feel her heart thumping madly in her chest. She wished to turn back from whence they came, but stayed onward in hopes to find Mithelda.
She called out in a crack of her voice, "Mithelda!"
"Shhh!" He shushed. A gust of wind came spiralling and blew out the torch light, frightening Alessandra to a blanket of black. She screamed, but Arondil consoled in the darkness, "I'll light it again."
She could hear his stone try to catch fire. His panting ceased and movements dulled suddenly, leaving Alessandra to her own breathing. She asked chillingly, "Arondil…? Arondil?" She moved along the darkness to feel for him, but his body was gone. His breath was gone.
"Arondil!" She shuffled quicker down the tunnel, her hands held out to feel. She started to run. "Arondil, where are you? Arondil!"
She ran into a stone wall and felt along the carved rocks to find for another entryway. The black was so deafening it brought the heartbeat to her ears like drums. She began to cry, "Somebody help! Arondil!"
She startled at the sight of a blue aura down the hall, illuminating her surrounds in a gloom. The blue aura was in the shape of a woman. It sauntered calmly down the passage. Alessandra followed this woman. "Hello?"
The ghost-like shape disappeared behind a wall, but Alessandra persisted. She came up to a dead end. The ghost was there, eerily still. Looking down to the floor. She uttered again, "Hello?"
As she came up behind it, the ghost looked back to her. It's resemblance struck Alessandra unmistakeable. "Mithelda?"
The ghost vanished into a cloud of mist. Alessandra could see something lay at the end of the tunnel over a pile of rocks. She slowly came closer to this and clasped her hands to her mouth. Baring a wretched scream. Her eyes watered at the skeletal remains of Mithelda, left to decay in threads of flesh and bone. Small critters leeching their way through flesh still remaining. Her brown hair entangled over the rotting scalp. Alessandra released a horrible, dreaded squall. Her scream escaping through her fingers, gathering tears down her cheeks.
"A dangerous place for a young maiden to tread…"
The voice of Arondil again, causing Alessandra to yelp. He stood a few metres from her in the darkness, but she could just barely see the outline of his frame. "I will keep you safe, Alessandra… Come join my collection, my darling."
He walked closer to her wielding a dagger, where she cried out, backing over a rock and stumbling to the remains of Mithelda.
"No!"
In her last moments when the dagger swiped across her throat, her thoughts dwindled to Luna and Mimzi one last time. Their infectious grins, their delicious smell, their adoring laughter. She yearned to hold her little girls one last time as the cold took her. She made one last prayer as her breath pattered away, "Mara… take care of my girls… do not leave them…"
The twigs and shrubs snapped under Serana and Falion's feet. Their panicked breath was filling the air behind them in mist. Serana screamed out, "Mimzi!"
Falion panted in heavy breath, "You do realize what will have to be done if she will not bend? Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?!"
"You try anything I swear to everything you hold dear, I'll make you suffer. You let me deal with her, you understand? Mimzi!"
Ahead of their path ran a hurdling figure in the marshes, running with supernatural speed like a hunting wolf. Mimzi sprang over bending landscapes and trenches. Her red eyes burned in the darkness of night, following the scent of blood like a hound. No ounce of Mimzi remained in her state now, only blood. Her hunger was every compass of her being, and she followed it desperately. She smelt a strong waft of fresh blood in the air as she clasped the trunk of a tree. They followed behind her. Mimzi shifted her direction and ran back the way of Serana and Falion.
Serana and Falion kept running into the marsh, with Serana following the dug outs left by Mimzi's sprawling feet. As they ran further, Serana pulled back Falion and hushed, "Wait!"
Falion gasped and equipped a destruction spell, "What?"
Serana listened closely and her heightened hearing could pick up the untethered noises of Mimzi's springing feet nearing. She warned, "She's coming! Stay close to me!" She looked to Falion, "… she's coming for you."
Falion balked, "She's what?!"
"Your blood," exclaimed Serana.
Two burning eyes emerged through the shrub and shadows, carrying a ravaged roar from Mimzi's fanged teeth.
"Look out!"
She casted a lightning spell at Mimzi, sending her rolling over the ground. Falion exclaimed, "By the Eight!"
"Get behind me!" Serana casted another lightning spell at Mimzi, but the vampire quickly everted it— pouncing back to her hands and feet with a vicious snarl. She bore her fangs and hissed before bolting into the neighbouring shadows again.
Falion barked at Serana, "What am I?! Bait?!"
"She's still lurking, be on your guard!"
Mimzi predictably came lunging after Falion from the shrub, much like that of any wild animal. Falion squalled under her grip, fighting off Mimzi's fangs trying to snatch his neck.
Serana flung an ice spike through Mimzi's thigh. She plowed to his side. Falion pushed off the ground and back to Serana's guard. The ice spike planted in her thigh was a whispering sting against Mimzi's bellowing rage.
"Mimzi! You have to stop this! Please!"
She sprinted back into the blanketed darkness, crawling up the trees and vanishing in the black. Serana followed Mimzi's sprawling red eyes up a wilting oak. She shot another ice spike at Mimzi, who deflected it with a ward spell while straddling the branches. Serana shot another at the branch, breaking it from the oak. Mimzi sprang off the branch before it fell. Serana lost sights of her, but Falion cried out, "She's there!"
Mimzi sprinted through a break of trees, narrowly missing an ice spike from Serana. She disappeared into the shadows again. A game of cat and mouse.
"Where is she?"
Serana said, "I don't know..."
Falion thudded face-first to Mimzi pouncing over his back. Serana snatched her by the scruff of her collar— pulling her up and kicking her away. She tried to lunge back to Falion. Serana pulled her back, and surprisingly, Mimzi ceased her efforts for Falion's neck and clawed over Serana instead. She pulled her feet under Mimzi's pelvis and kicked her hard— sending her back to dirt. Serana didn't hesitate in scrambling back to her feet now that Mimzi's clasp had been broken. She grabbed at Falion's robes and pushed him away. Serana threw ice spikes in flurries to Mimzi's legs, desperately trying to incapacitate her enough to stop. Mimzi deflected every attack with a ward, growing more enraged to Serana's meddling with every raised ward.
"Agh! FUS… RO… DAAAH!!!"
Power that had only been reserved for monsters forced from Mimzi's maw, colliding into Serana and Falion, sending them plowing into the shrub. Serana struggled a yell, "Falion!"
He did not answer, but she could hear his heart still beating in the shrubs a yard away. Serana struggled to pick herself out of dense twigs and vines. She pulled away at their threading limbs and stumbled a run to Falion. Mimzi was gone yet again, stalking in the darkness. Falion crawled staggering out of the bush.
"Please don't tell me. She's the Dragonborn."
Air whooshed from behind Falion. Serana grabbed the warlock by the fabric of his back and threw him to the ground. Away from Mimzi's lunge. She gripped Serana by the neck instead. Serana dug her nails into Mimzi's upper shoulders in an attempt to push her away. The scroll to her back just infringing her airway worse.
Falion sat up and raised a paralysis spell, shooting at Mimzi while she was distracted with Serana. In a second Mimzi went silent. Completely still. Her red eyes only reflecting the terror of her actions now. Serana gasped air and pushed Mimzi's frozen body off her. Falion and Serana's breath began to calm.
Falion said as he wiped the sweat from his brow, "Sorry. I didn't have much choice with this fiend."
Serana snarled, "She's not a fiend, she's a hero. You're going to cure her. Now."
"I'll try. I'm assuming you have her soul gem?"
"Yes." Serana felt for her satchel relieved to know it was still there. "And she hasn't fed. Not yet, anyway. But she will. So, we need to hurry."
"Very well, the soul gem and her abstain from blood is only the first stones in her ritual. I'm afraid the rest will be up to her. Her willingness to participate welcoming back her soul. Let's keep steady prayer now, she'll need it."
He knelt down to Mimzi and lifted another spell to lean the effects of the paralysis. Mimzi slowly began to bend her knees and elbows. Falion and Serana prepared their destruction spells. Mimzi weakly blinked her eyes and parted her mouth, escaping heavy breath that trembled to weeps.
"Mimzi. No more losing your senses, okay?"
Mimzi's lip waggled, "I'm sorry. I'm a monster…Serana. I couldn't even think… I don't want to die like this…"
"You won't." Serana knelt down, "I'll make sure of it. Come on." She helped her off the ground. Falion kept a wide birth from Mimzi but his spells ready.
He asked, "You're not going to try and kill me again, are you?"
"If the ritual fails, then I might." She wasn't going to lie.
Falion ordered to the two, "Come then. Let's get this over with."
Falion led Serana and Mimzi to the ritual mound of standing stones. Mimzi was far too weak to sate her hunger once more. The paralysis spell left a fatigue, even if she tried to feed on Falion now she wouldn't get far. She did not keep prayer, she did not hope. The part of her that fondly kept hope was crumbling away. If the cure worked, it worked. If it didn't, she was indifferent, either way. She knew if she kept fangs even after Falion's efforts, she would cure the world of what she was, herself. Ever since the Soul Cairn, she had accepted the latter. Especially after the turmoil she had brought Morthal and Serana, she was ready to die. Fear was no longer a crutch to do so.
"Stand in the circle."
Serana walked with her to the centre of the mound.
"Only she who wishes to be cured. You must stand away."
Mimzi swayed weakly in the centre of the mound, struggling to keep herself upright. As Serana came to his backside, he held his hand out for the soul gem containing Mimzi's soul. "
I call upon Oblivion realms, those who are not our ancestors. Answer my plea! As in death there is new life, in Oblivion there is a beginning for that which has ended. I call forth that power!"
Falion raised the soul gem to Mimzi and her soul blasted from its contents, rippling back into her body. She shrilled as she fell to her knees.
Serana yelped, "Mimzi!"
Falion held his arm out to Serana to keep her from running to her friend, "Accept the soul that we offer! As the sun ends the night, end the darkness of this soul! Return life to the creature you see before you!"
The soul burned into Mimzi's skin, and she raised a scream to the indigo skies. A gnawing ripped in her gut, and a tightness gripped her chest. Her eyes turned from glowing orange to pure black. Falion began to fumble nervously as the ritual prolonged. Mimzi's affliction fought the cure. Serana watched on in helplessly, unknowing the result.
Falion reformed, "I call upon the ancients of Aetherius! Overpower this affliction of Molag Bal's trickery! He holds your disciple in firm clutches! He distorts your very creation! Reform this abomination now! I implore you! This soul is for your universe!"
Mimzi's sight went black and brightened to white. She drifted into a realm of unknown emptiness. A vacant sleeve of the universe or her own mind, she couldn't decide. She confused to the nothingness quite certain it was death. She stood before never ending white, where a glimmer of a pearlescent frame floated closer. Mimzi soothed at the sight of it. Then a warmth like a mother's embrace. The light was euphoria. The light began to speak in the soft echoing harps of a woman.
"Mimzi… come forth…"
She walked closer to the blinding light. Each step a glide like walking through oil.
"I took a prayer many moons ago that I would keep you safe. My hand has guided you since your mother's womb. As hers was my own, and your life is of my own making. Your life is the sword drawn from my husband's sheath. You are Aedra. Every part of you is plucked from the strands of myself, my husband, and my sister's hearts."
"Please… save me." Mimzi's own voice echoed into the vastness of the realm.
"Your fateful errand stays true. Without you, the subjects of Tamriel will surely fall. It is our blood that courses through your veins and bids you complete your task. You are saved, Mimzi. Dragon of the North. Saviour of the Forsaken. My husband demands it. You are a child of Aetherius, and such, your deeds reign purest and immortal. Return to your body now, Mimzi. Discover all the boons our blood holds in store for you."
Mimzi gasped quickly, "Wait! I thought you left me. I thought I was left to the devices of devils. Forgive me, I... I'm so sorry I doubted you…"
"Do not despair, Mimzi. You are blessed in the imperfections of mortality. You are one with the skies, trees, birds and all the magnificent blemishes of Nirn. You are exactly what we created you to be. Your doubt is our boon to you. Serve us in pride."
Serana clasped onto Mimzi's frail body. It was left behind in skin and bone.
"Mimzi! No!" She raged at Falion, "What did you do to her?!"
Falion flabbergasted, "I did nothing! I told you! This was up to her!"
"Mimzi! Wake up, please!"
Slowly— almost without Serana even noticing— Mimzi's bluish pale skin began to pink. Skin slowly grew plumper. Her wounds healed, and the dark circles under her eyes faded as her cheeks rounded again. She blushed in pumping mortal blood. Serana was greeted with the scent of it again, bringing gleeful tears to her eyes. Her freckles blemished to her cheeks and nose, and her fangs receded back to human incisors. Her heartbeat began to thump louder and louder till her eyes crested. To Serana's relief, her eyes sparkled blue, like the seas to the southern coast. Mimzi parted her lips and said, "My heart… it's beating…" She clasped her hand to her chest and smiled, "I saw Mara. She came to me. The Divines didn't leave me… I thought I was abandoned."
Serana shook her head and wept, "No, Mimzi. The god's never abandoned you. Clearly, they have a firm grasp on you. I thought you were gone."
She pulled Mimzi up an embrace, whether Mimzi was ready for it or not. She hugged her back, blessed to be back to human again.
Falion kept silent but content to the success of his ritual, happy to see the human girl back to mortality.
The sun rays peered through the trees and greeted Mimzi's face, but did not scorch her skin, just kissed her cold cheeks in consoling warmth. The two held onto each other in the circle of the mound, with Falion patiently onlooking. The birds began to sing into the trees as mists lifted over Hjaalmarch, and the sun melted the frozen dew.
Frida stood before the doors of Whiffet Hall after a grim encounter with the town guard, hearing the terrible news of the hall's closure. The unknown for the children that resided inside. She mourned for her dear friend, Alessandra, and knew the children would be lost without her comfort. She dourly walked back to the home, where Skald the Elder yelped to her in impatience.
"Frida! Your attention, woman!" Skald ordered, "I've got some elating news for you and those little brats."
Frida stated in a hot temper, "What did you want, you mule?!"
"Is that anyway to speak to your Jarl, you shrew," he rasped angrily, "If you're going to be like that, I'll take my good news back home and my townguard can take you down to the dungeons!"
Frida rolled her eyes, "Of course, lock up the only alchemist in town over your own pride then, Skald? I suppose I'll bat my eyes and ask, 'what news have you come to regale me with, my Jarl?' — there, Sound better?"
"Well, it just so happens, someone is willing to take over the Whiffet Hall with the wenches, Mithelda and Alessandra gone, she's come all the way from Riften and is eager to reform it back to order. She's the daughter of an Imperial legate, but has pronounced her fealty to the Stormcloaks. Some of these Emperor boot-licking peasants could take note from her!"
"Who is she?"
The imperial woman came to Skald's side and announced, "You can address me as 'The Mistress' for now. As will those whippersnappers. It's time to run this orphanage properly, without children watching children. Those young girls were letting it go a shambles. I'm here to give these children the instruction they deserve."
"Instruction?" Frida asked, "These are children, miss. Innocent, young and dependent children. They do not need instruction. They need security and love. You sure you can provide that to these little ones?"
"Hmph…" The Mistress scoffed, "If they earn it, yes. This is an unforgiving land. These imps will soon discover to be given respect, they have to give it first. Children are to be seen and not heard. They are to be disciplined before being taught. I've run many successful orphanages before, with children who respected their elders and became models to society. I'll be doing that here. Now, make way, matron. I wish to be greeted with these… little ones."
The Mistress pushed through Frida, who hotly followed as Skald ambled back to his Longhouse without a care. Inside the hall, the Mistress irked at the brightly lit home with children's toys scattered along the floor boards. She hissed in anger at the rambunctious and cheery laughter of the four children playing.
The Mistress hollered, "ORDER!"
The faces of Alastar, Jesper, Mimzi and Luna stalled their play, freezing to the woman like fawns in the field.
"All of you! Clean this damnable mess now!"
The faces of the kids rumbled in fright and heeded her instruction. Frida seethed in anger quietly behind the Mistress who begrudgingly watched the children fearfully clean their toys.
Luna looked up to the Mistress in the midst of cleaning and asked, "Where's Sanda? I wan' Sanda."
Frida smiled in warm tears, knowing she was asking for Alessandra. The Mistress barked, "Did I say you were done? No? Then shut your mouth and keep cleaning!"
Luna's lip waggled as she started to wail. Mimzi ran to her friend and tried to console her with a hug, which only made the Mistress more enraged, "Damn it! I said clean!"
Frida snapped, "For the love of… they are only four years old! Have some patience!"
"This is my hall. My property! Get out now or I will call upon the guard!"
"I'll be taking this to Skald! You will not be punishing these children for your own weak-minded shortcomings! Don't get comfortable here, you cow. I'll be watching you, you hear me?"
Mimzi called out to Frida, "No, don't go!"
Frida looked back to her one last time as she opened the door, "I won't be gone long, dearie. I'll be back! Take care of Luna."
Luna's wails were dulled as Jesper went to comfort her and coaxed her into helping with the chores quickly. Mimzi glared down the Mistress, even as a child, her glare was unforgiving. Cold like glaciers. The Mistress took notice of this, "Get moving, you little ant. You're left to my demands now."
Mimzi muttered low in her small, childish voice, "I don't like you."
She begrudgingly helped her peers clean the home, as the Mistress stomped her way to her quarters, stomping over toys and breaking them in two.
Luna whimpered to Mimzi, "I miss Sanda…"
Mimzi said back, "Don't worry, Luna," she hugged her friend, "Mudder Mara loves you n' me…"