Chapter 18: When the Calm Suddenly Ends

It had been a whole week since the group learned the truth of Alduin's return and the oncoming end of the world, and they had gone their separate ways for training.

"Just breathe in and out, Erik," Aela whispered.

Aela had taken Erik, Seigmeyer, and Sieglinde back to the Companions for combat and weapon training.

Erik gasped for air as he got back up. "I know... I need to improve my stamina…"

"You can do it, old chap!" Siegmeyer whooped.

"Just focus on holding your stance," Sieglinde helpfully added.

Erik turned to the two Onion knights, who weren't struggling at all. "How can you two manage this?!"

"Well, being an Undead means you can handle more than most," the older onion knight said.

"And I've done this training before," the younger of the two onion knights added.

Aela sighed as she readied her sword again. "Okay, let's try again, Erik. Breathe, steady your blade, and try to attack."

Erik did as he was told. He took a deep breath, let out a war cry, and swung his sword.

Meanwhile, elsewhere…

Patches went off to do things in his own way, searching for information that could be useful, or answers that can give them the edge. Currently, he was searching in the Rift. The area around Riften.

"Here, treasure, treasure, treasure…" Patches said, calling out like one does to a cat.

While the bald Undead was searching for treasure, be it physical treasure or information, a dark figure stealthily approached him, wearing a black and red clothes, and readied a knife to stab him.

Patches poked his head up. "Hm? My spider senses are tingling… AH-HA! PEEK-A-BOO!"

The hooded figure, startled by the undead's awareness of his presence, attempts to attack, leaping forward with the knife.

"Aw, that's cute. Fine, I'll play along," Patches said. "Mr. Knife, meet… MR. SPEAR!"

The assassin's attack was cut short as the spear was thrust straight into his chest, with Patches pinning him to the group as he bled out.

The assassin, with their last breath, said, "The... Dark Brotherhood... always gets... their kill…"

"Uh-huh. Heard that one before."

Rummaging through the assassin's clothes for anything useful, the undead stumbles on a note of something which read as the following: "There is a group traveling across Gusteko that has attracted the attention of Mama. The Black Sacrament has been performed. Bring them to Mama. Dead or Alive. Failure is not an option."

"Don't tell me she's one of her's…"

Patches understood what the message meant, and began to make his way back to High Hrothgar.

At High Hrothgar, the other members of the group stayed behind. Subaru and Solarie were there for planning and meditation from the Greybeards.

"Mmm… my mind is a garden…" Subaru hummed, his body in a typical yoga pose.

Solaire stayed silent, imagining the waves of the ocean to calm his mind.

Subaru, meanwhile, attempted to envision a happy place, but all that did was make him remember the past, bringing tears to his eyes. He shocked his head violently to get rid of the awful memories.

Solaire took notice of Subaru's distressed state. "Subaru? Is something wrong?"

"Hm? It's nothing, just ignore it," Subaru lied, wiping away the tears.

Solaire, however, knew better. "One does not simply cry for no reason. If there's anything wrong, you can talk to me about it."

He sighed. "It's just… I tried to use a memory of the past as a happy place to meditate in."

"...The past is painful for you. After your... outburst of rage, we had a discussion about what might have caused it, and we ultimately concluded it was the reason you became an Undead in the first place."

"Talking behind my back, huh?" Subaru hissed, not as angry as his tone made it seem.

Solaire held up his hand. "That was not our intention. We were concerned about you and did not know what to do."

"Hmph. Fine, do whatever you want."

Solaire sighed at Subaru's disregard. "Subaru. Should... the time come when you are ready to tell us, we will be here, and we will help you for whatever your purpose maybe."

Subaru snorted at the response. "For some reason, I doubt that."

"Well… then I hope we can prove that doubt wrong."

"Hope," Subaru chuckled. "Heh, what a joke."

Solaire let out a silent sigh as he went back to meditating.

In the courtyard outside High Hrothgar, Emilia was currently being trained by Odahviing on the Thu'um, currently attempting to use the "Whirlwind Sprint" shout.

"Try it again." Odahviing commanded the Dragonborn.

Emilia let out a sigh as she tried to say the Shout again.

"WULD!"

Emilia had tried over and over, but unfortunately, the Shout would not work.

"Again," Odahviing commanded her again.

Emilia stomped her foot down in frustration. "I've tried it a dozen times, and it's not working!"

"Then what are you doing wrong?" the dragon asked his contracted half-elf.

"I don't know!" Emilia yelled in frustration. " I've been doing it exactly as you say, and it's not working!"

"Is something troubling you?" Odahviing asked.

Emilia stayed silent for a minute before answering. "...Three years... that's all I have, that's all anyone has, before the world ends. If not from a Dragon destined to destroy it, then from a fire dying out.

"I can see how that can become a mental block, from the stress alone," Odahviing noted.

Emilia let out a distressed sigh as the pressure of needing to fulfill her role of killing Alduin to save the world.

Odahviing looked for the horizon. "Your Faas is overcoming you. Taking control of your mind, and partially blocking your ability to use the Thu'um."

Emilia looked at the dragon. "Faas?"

"Fear," Odahviing translated the word. "It clouds your mind, and takes hold of your heart."

Emilia nodded as she thought about it. "I suppose that's true…"

Odahviing was in thought for a few moments before speaking. "Try this. Walk to the cliffside, and face the valley below."

Emilia didn't understand, but complied.

"Close your eyes, and spread out your arms." Emilia did as she was instructed.

Odahviing continued. "Now, breathe. Breathe and feel everything around you. Feel the wind against your face. Feel the ground beneath your feet. Feel the fire inside of you. Feel it burning to be let out."

Emilia breathed, as she felt most of what Odahviing described. But a fire inside her? Seriously? That was ridiculous.

"That Fire is your power. Your potential. Your soul. Whatever way it manifests itself, it will always be a burning flame in its truest, purest form."

Emilia looked deep inside of her. Deeper. Scrunching up her eyebrows, she felt something, and —

"WULD!"

Emilia suddenly found herself flying off of the mountain, and suddenly began to scream in panic. However, Odahviing managed to catch up to and catch her before she could hit the ground. Odahviing brought the two back up to High Hrothgar, and set her down.

Emilia steadied herself back on the ground. "What… just happened…?"

"You successfully used "Whirlwind Sprint"... Although, perhaps it was not the best position to use such a shout," Odahviing said, noting the oversight on his part.

"Oh, it knocked me off the cliff," the half-elf said.

"More like you flew off the cliff, if J'zargo says so." J'zargo commented as he walked up to the two.

"Not helping, J'zargo-san," Emilia said.

"Though, it would seem you have overcome your Faas."

Emilia nodded. "Yeah, that's the one plus side."

"J'zargo is curious about how you calmed her down. J'zargo believes it to be experience."

"I simply gave her mind something else to focus on, rather than let her focus on her anxieties."

Emilia bowed. "Thank you, Odahviing-san."

"You need not thank me, Dovahkiin. Your victory against Alduin would be for the greater good of all Dov."

Emilia looked down for a minute, as if pondering something, before she looked back up.

"Odahviing-san, can I ask you something?"

Odahviing looked interested. "What is on your mind, Dovahkiin?"

"I was wondering... do you happen to know —"

Before she could finish, Emilia was interrupted as Subaru came running up to the group.

"Guys! We got a problem!"

"Oh? What is it, my furless friend?" J'zargo asked, his curiosity now piqued.

Subaru gasped for air as he explained. "Patches just got back... and he has some bad news."

The Group, minus Odahviing, made their way inside, and met in the dining room.

"What's the emergency?" Solaire asked.

"While I was searching for some juicy info, some schmuck tried to pull a fast one on me, and he was carrying this note." Patches explained, pulling out the note and handing it to Subaru.

Subaru read the note, and his gaze sharpened.

Meanwhile, Emilia looked towards Patches for some answers. "Was he a bandit?"

Patches shook his head. "Worse, an assassin."

"The Dark Brotherhood." Everyone turned to Subaru.

Solaire tilted his head to the side. "Never heard of them."

Subaru explained, putting the note down. "They're pretty infamous. The Dark Brotherhood is the most deadly assassin organization in Ali'rasi. They've been around since before the Oblivion Crisis, and the Great Calamity."

"They sound dangerous," J'zargo said.

"They are," Subaru said with a grim tone. "Especially their leader."

Emilia knew she had to pull out an answer from Subaru. "And that is…?"

"Capella Emerada Lugnica. The Sin Archbishop of Lust of the Witch Cult," Subaru answered. "According to old sources, she took over shortly after becoming a Sin Archbishop."

Solaire gasped at the info. "A Witch Cultist?!"

"Yeah," Subaru said, with a grim nod. "From what I could find out, her power allows her to shapeshift into anyone and anything, as well as giving her a powerful healing factor."

J'zargo hummed in response. "Sounds like a worthy opponent."

Subaru shivered at the word choice. ""Worthy" is not the word I'd use. Formidable? Sure. But "Worthy"? She's a completely sadistic and disgusting being that deserves to die. Out of all the Sin Archbishops, she's the cruelest, and that's saying something."

Emilia raised an eyebrow. "It sounds like you her personally."

Subaru thought about how to answer for a minute."... Have you heard of the Bowel Hunter?"

Emilia gave Subaru a look. "I lived in a forest with no outside contact, remember?"

"Right. Well, her name is Elsa Granheirt, and she worked for Capella. I managed to beat her, and she spilled everything. At the end, she begged me to kill her instead of her going back to Capella empty handed."

Solaire, along with everyone else, leaned in. "And… what did you do?"

"I gave her a choice. I could kill her, she could go back to Capella... or she could just disappear, and I'll take care of Capella."

"Pretty ominous, Subaru."

Subaru nodded. "I made sure there was evidence to suggest death."

"Still sounds insidious, friend… J'zargo likes it." J'zargo said with a grin.

Subaru shrugged. "Considering the options available, I'd say it was the best of the three."

Emilia gave Subaru a suspicious look, before asking, "And… what does she do nowadays?"

"She discreetly moved to Tamriel. Can't say what she's up to."

"I see. So, what's the game plan?" Solaire asked.

Subaru over it for a minute. "Well, once they find out this guy failed, they're gonna keep sending assassins one after the other until they kill us."

Solaire contemplated their next move. "I see. We should probably inform Aela and the others once they return from their training. Safety in numbers."

"Yeah."

"Is that really a good idea? We would have to keep getting lucky against these assassins, but the assassins only have to get lucky once to kill us." Emilia said.

"Then perhaps we strike them first," J'zargo said. "Destroy them while they do not expect it."

Patches raised an eyebrow. "You do know that would mean going up against who knows how many assassins, and a Sin Archbishop, right?"

"And we have no idea where their base is…"

Emilia had an idea. "Maybe Aela can ask the Companions for information?"

"I don't know. The Dark Brotherhood is an elite assassin's guild. It'd be kinda hard to convince anyone to join against that," Subaru said.

"Well, J'zargo has nothing."

Subaru groaned in frustration. "Then we need to think of something... and fast."

Author's Note: Welp, our first official Re: Zero bad guy is coming soon.

No jokes today, We're just gonna go straight to the comments today.

5queso: I wasn't responsible for the Caboose quote, Infinite's just been on an RvB binge lately. (I'm rewatching Seasons 1-13.) And I doubt Odah's bind is gonna be bad in any way whatsoever. Hope you enjoy our next chapter, it's gonna be a big one!

Kifhjoofff: As a person who has dealt with deadlines before, you may think that three years is a lot, but you're gonna wish it to end just to get your looming anxieties over with.

If you want more content, visit my Discord, the link is /3PFYSt8Dqz. You can chat with others, post memes, fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, fan art, and we even have a writer's corner now! I'll also drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! Just please make sure to follow the rules!

Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!

- Ernalore & Infinite the Celestian