It seemed as though the pair of them were chasing echoes even in the most literal way. Sounds of their footsteps reverberated throughout the spacious ascending stairwell. The halls of the undercroft all looked alike to Cura. Thank goodness she had Serana as a guide, otherwise she'd be going in circles, she was certain.
Still, she could not shake the fear concerning the fate of her friends. Were they all right? Should she turn around and descend the abyss in search?
Her heart was aching, and Serana quickly perceived this. "From my understanding, you're a vampire huntress, right? Your heart is giving you away."
Cura held a hand to her chest. "I know, but I can't help it..." Her heart continued to throb.
"You know," Serana began. "I still can't get over how soft you are. You've been through hell, and yet you're still shaken by so many things."
"The potential loss of people I care about is valid, I would think." Cura defended herself.
"I wasn't trying to invalidate it - really, I wasn't." Serana tried to reiterate. "I think it's a good thing that you could hold onto your humanity like that, in spite of everything. Just, try to keep a handle on it?"
Cura nodded, and took in a deep breath, and slowly released it, calming herself down minutely. "So... Serana... I know that your family life was... complicated, but I have to ask; how do you feel about your parents now, after all this time has passed?"
"I honestly don't know." Serana confessed. "When we see my mother, I don't know what to expect from her, or how she'll react to your company, to be honest."
Cura was confused for a hot minute. "My comp..." then she looked down and saw her Amulet of Stendarr. "Oh... right. But the Vigil didn't exist in your time, right?"
"No, but I'm sure my mother keeps up with the times." Serana stated.
Cura placed a hand on her cheek. "You don't think I'll wind up having to fight her, do you?"
Serana turned around and pressed her hand on the gothic wooden door. "For your sake, I hope not." She had the utmost confidence in her mother, it seemed.
Cura was actually eager to meet Valerica; as much as she would normally abhor vampires, the way Serana spoke of her made her sound like more than just a bloodthirsty menace like the others of the court. Imagine what could be learned from a woman who walked the world for this long. Perhaps she even knew the Dwemer. Maybe she knew Dovahzul!
When Serana gave a light push to the door stop the stairwell, a cold breeze blew in from without. Serana was taken by nostalgia. "I can't wait to see the courtyard again."
She swung open the door, revealing a large, circular castle courtyard, fallen into disrepair, complete with balconies, benches, garden areas, and a large sundial-like gizmo in the center of it all.
Serana's eyes widened in shock as she examined the wreckage. "Oh, no! What happened to this place? Everything's been torn down... the whole place looks... well, dead. It's like we're the first to set foot here in centuries."
Cura was surprised, considering the residents were very much still around. How could they be so negligent? "We probably are the first people to set foot in here in centuries. They really let it go..."
Serana pointed to the door adjacent to their location, collapsed in rubble. "This used to lead into the castle's great hall. It looks like my father had it sealed up. I used to walk through here after evening meals. It was beautiful, once."
She had to take a seat for a moment and chose to do so on the side of the stairs' stone wall. "This was my mother's garden. It... do you know how beautiful something can be when it's tended by a master for hundreds of years? She would have hated to see it like this."
Cura's eyes tracked the area, drawing it out in her head as she attempted to imagine it all those centuries ago. Especially considering Serana's mother was a vampire. Did she really stand out here in sunlight to tend to the plants, or were they nocturnal plants, like fungi?
She imagined a young Serana with her mother, who she visualized as being similar in appearance, but with longer hair, both living and Human, before they turned to Molag Bal, tending the Alchemical Garden together, laughing and smiling; loftly passing the day away. Cura smiled at the cute image before returning to the crumbling ruins before her.
"So, in her garden, what sorts of things did Valerica grow?" Cura asked.
"Oh, normal things, like Blisterwort, Canis Root, Deathbell, Hanging Moss, Jazbay Grapes, Namira's Rot, Nightshade, Spiky Grass and Swamp Fungal Pods." Serana tried to recall the collection.
"Wow, so many poisonous things!" Cura exclaimed. "It's almost as if..."
"Poison doesn't work on vampires. It would have been pointless, if that's what you were thinking." Serana stopped her train of thought then, and there.
"Oh... all right." Cura silenced.
Serana led Cura to the stairs around the balcony. "Yeah, just around this bend."
Cura jumped over a hole in the stairs and stuck the landing and continued to sightsee.
Serana looked up at the looming buttresses of the fortress peering over the eastern wall, attached to the whole of the squared structure. "Castle looks so big from down here. I mean, it is big, but, well, even bigger."
Serana ran over to a large well that was caved in with rubble on the northwestern corner. "The old water cistern. On some days, this would smell just..." she nearly fell forward with disgust by the mere memory. "...be glad you weren't here then."
Cura surmised that perhaps it extended below the castle, to that moat she told her about. She hoped Carcette, Inigo, and Lucien were okay. Please, Stendarr, let them still be alive.
Cura laughed, trying to take her mind off of the dire situation. "I think I could stand it. If only you knew how some of the Vigilants smelled after a day of Daedra-hunting! By the Eight!"
Serana laughed lightly before turning her attention to the sundial-esque mechanism. "Wait... something's wrong with the moondial here. Some of the crests are missing and the dial is askew. I didn't even know the crests could be removed. Maybe my mother's trying to tell us something?"
Cura nodded. "Really? Are you sure?"
Serana scoffed with annoyance. "I'm telling you, there's something strange with the moondial. It wasn't like this. Well-fine, the whole courtyard wasn't like this, but we should investigate the moondial. My mother would never have allowed this, unless it was intentional."
"Oh... I see." Cura approached the mechanism and noticed that it portrayed the Lunar Phases from New Moon to Full Moon, going clockwise, but the skates depicting the waning crescent was missing, as well as the New Moon and waning Halfmoon.
Serana elaborated to ensure she understood. "If we had the crests, we wouldn't have to keep hanging around this lovely place."
"What's so special about the moondial?" Cura asked.
"Well, as far as I'm aware it's the only one in existence. The previous owners of the castle had a sundial in the courtyard, and obviously that didn't appeal to my mother." Serana explained. "She persuaded an elven artisan to make some improvements. You can see the plates that show the phases of the moons, Masser and Secunda."
"Does it work?" Cura wondered.
"That's the thing... what's the point of a moondial? I always wondered why she didn't just have the whole thing ripped out. But she loved it. I don't know. I guess it's like having a piece of art, if you're into that sort of thing." Serana mused.
Cura nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely! I've always been fascinated by arts, culture, relics and the like. I suppose I got it from Brother Adalvald."
"I never would have expected that of you." Serana was surprised. "You didn't seem the type."
"What type do I seem like?" Cura was slightly offended but brushed it aside to ask.
"I don't know really... certainly not very sophisticated, no offense." Serana began to search her innermost thoughts. "I guess you seemed more like the kind of girl who played with dolls and spent lots of time picking bugs and playing in the mud."
"You're... not far off, actually." Cura was surprised by the accuracy of the content of her claims. "Replace 'mud' with 'snow' and 'dolls' with 'maces' and that's pretty much me."
"You picked bugs?" Serana glared at her for a moment in disbelief. "Yeah, right. Where would you find bugs in the Pale? It's literally a frozen wasteland."
"I let them out of Brother Adalvald's alchemy room in his Retreat once..." Cura recounted some of her rascally deeds. "Er, he has a small shack on the outskirts of Dawnstar, where he does his private studies and experiments. The Hall of the Vigilant wasn't spacious enough for him. He had many different kinds of alchemical ingredients in his lab, and he also had jars with Luna Moths and other insects in them. I was only seven, mind you."
"And...?" Serana goaded her into continuing.
"I opened all of the bottles and let them fly free. The Torchbugs were really pretty to look at, and I just had to see them without glass in the way!" Cura smiled as she fondly remembered the flickering green and yellow lights wafting through the air., joined with the moving colours of Butterfly wings in the wooden shack. "Brother Adalvald was furious, and I got a stern lecture for that, but we did manage to bottle the insects back up. No harm was done. Oh, wait... no, one of the butterflies died when it got too close to the front door and was caught in the cold wind, but that was about it."
Serana chuckled and shook her head. "Hiding in walls, dragging in rabbits, releasing insects indoors... you really were a little terror, weren't you."
Cura laughed aloud. "I haven't even mentioned the time I knocked a shelf over and was crushed while looking for desserts on the top."
Serana smirked and released a friendly scoff. "Carcette must have a lot of patience, I'll give her that."
"Er, no. She doesn't. Not at all." Cura shook her head quickly. "I've gotten more lectures and 'I told you so's from her than from anyone else. If I coughed too loud, I wasn't covering my mouth right. If I stayed out a little past sunset, I was endangering myself. If I knocked down the Shrine while sweeping, I was a careless brat. Though, until recent times, she never struck or beat me."
Serana did not believe it, and her face expressed that, making it known.
"Well, outside of training, anyways." Cura admitted. "Sometimes I'd spar with her, Vigilant Tolan, or Brother Adalvald, or even some of the average Vigilants. It was an interesting way to grow up..." She paused and looked wistfully to the side. "...Sometimes I wish I could go back to those times."
"I know what you mean." Serana sympathized. "But you know, we're still alive, I guess. Well, in your case, alive, but in my case... existent." She juggled trying to phrase her sentence correctly. "Well... yes. We both still exist on Nirn, and we can make new memories. The past was great, but the future is exciting."
Cura shook her head. "I don't know about that. Truthfully, the future makes me nervous. The uncertainty is... maddening."
Serana nodded as she took a seat on one of the old benches. She ran her hand across the hardwood and reminisced some more upon the familiar feeling of it, which brought her all the way back. "You know what? I wish I could just sit here forever. This... is nice."
Cura approached the moondial and knelt before it, both examining and resting her hands on an empty slot. "So, what exactly am I doing to it? Placing the missing pieces back on it, I suppose."
"Hard to say. Maybe if we found the missing crests, we could figure it out." Serana stated. "It would be a start, at least."
Cura nodded and pulled herself up and began to search. "What do you think happened to the castle courtyard? This is more than just the passage of time." She walked over some displaced rocks and hopped onto the ledge of the balcony adjacent to their entry point. Immediately, she noticed something glistening under the sunlight.
"If I had to guess, I'd say the moment mother fled the castle, father went on a rampage. Knowing him, anything at all that reminded him of her was just destroyed." Serana spat venom against her father's nature.
"And then he just walled it off." Cura walked ahead and began to sift through rubble on the balcony and gazed at the collapsed mess over the doorway as she tossed brick and stone apart, revealing a slate depicting a waning crescent. Or was it a waxing crescent? She held it up to her face and began to rotate it, hoping to figure out which direction was which.
"It appears that way. I suppose he wanted to put the past behind him. Perhaps if he had spent more time with us, he would have recognized the beauty for himself." Serana sighed sadly. She looked down at her hands on her lap and clenched her fingers into fists, tightening around the fabric of her pants. It was just painful to think about the times that would have been happier if her father were more present in her life, rather than laser-focused on his conquest. "Look around for the missing crests. Even in this mess, they should stick out." She instructed Cura as she stood up to join her in the search.
"I found a Crescent already!" Cura alerted her as she held up the glistening silver-coloured slate. "Waning or waxing?"
"Waning." Serana told her as she stepped up to the moondial and noticed which was absent.
"Yes!" Cura exclaimed happily, contented that her initial guess was correct.
Serana noticed something shining in a pond over by the Deathbells growing among the weeds in the untended garden. She quickly moved through the plants and found herself waist-deep in water. "Eugh!" She exclaimed in surprise as she realized she was now soaked with mud, Underneath the water, she saw the New Moon slate. She reached down and quickly pulled it out and wiped it using her cape.
All that remained was the waning Halfmoon.
"Found the Halfmoon!" Cura's voice called out as she lifted a slate off the floor near the grass.
"Wow, you're fast!" Serana exclaimed as the pair approached the moondial from their respective corners.
Cura slowly placed the crescent moon slate in the corresponding empty slot, and moved on to the Halfmoon, completing the waning cycle. Serana finished the collection with the New Moon, which set off the mechanism. A loud, resounding 'click!' was heard, and then the moondial itself began to slowly rotate clockwise to make room for descending stairs around it, which led underground in a looping spiral.
"Wow..." Cura remarked. "that's really impressive. That elf your mother commissioned wasn't a Dwemer, was he?"
Serana looked at the stairwell before them. "Very clever, mother. Very clever. I've never been in those tunnels before, but I'd bet they run right under the courtyard and into the tower ruins. Well, at least we're getting closer. Let's go."
Cura led the way, descending the stairs ahead of Serana.
Carcette, Inigo and Lucien traversed the dark caverns, dodging stalactites as they flew through the tunnel.
Lucien chattered his teeth. "It's so damp down here... and I can't see a thing!"
"Do not worry, friend, you are with a nightstalker and a cat! We are two pairs of eyes in the dark!" Then he paused for a moment. "Er, a pair and one eyes. Sorry,. Carcette."
"Not a problem." Carcette said dismissively, keeping her attention instead on navigating the space ahead.
"What is it like, seeing the world through one eye?" Inigo asked.
Carcette dodged another stalactite, and then lowered her angle. "Close one eye for a long period of time. There you go."
Lucien scratched his chin. "How did you lose it?"
"A vampire drove his claws into my eye." Carcette admitted. "I'd rather not relive that, thank you."
The memory of the sharp, screaming pain that resonates through her head and down her body nearly caused her to drop them.
Inigo gasped and dug his claws into her back and collarbone to keep himself steadied, and Lucien wrapped his arms around her tightly.
"Oh, bother!" Lucien exclaimed in terror.
"Calm down!" Carcette snapped at the two of them. "I'm not going to drop you!"
They continued to soar through the blackness, when a swarm of bats passed them by.
"Yipes!" Lucien cowered.
"They are only bats!" Inigo stated. "Keep calm!"
"Yeah, sure; just bats, in a vampire Lair. Uh-huh. Only normal, mundane bats." Lucien looked behind them, over Carcette's shoulder. "Yes... only bats. Phew."
"Can Carcette turn into a swarm of bats?" Inigo asked.
"Do you really want me to try it now?" Carcette made him realize the ramifications it would have if she did.
"No! No, we're fine! It's all good! Right, Inigo?" Lucien panicked.
"Yes, yes! All is good in the dark caves!" Inigo exclaimed.
As much as possible, Carcette was trying to distance herself from her Vampiric abilities, limiting to the ones she would utilize passively. Perhaps she could turn into a swarm of bats, to mist, or into a wolf, even.
Or, more terrifyingly, into a freakish abomination like Harkon had demonstrated to Cura in his court.
The mere thought shook her to her core, picturing herself in that form.
"Upwards! A hole!" Inigo pointed to dim light coming through from the ceiling some distance away.
Carcette flew upwards and exited through the hole, and the group found themselves at the back of the castle.
"Wow! Yikes!" Lucien hung on for dear life as Carcette ascended.
"Where do you think Cura is?" Inigo asked. "I cannot smell her from up here, even though she often smells... strongly."
"What are you picking up then, Inigo?" Lucien asked curiously as he continued to cling onto their vampire cohort.
Carcette examined the sights, tracking up and down the castle's architecture, when she noticed the courtyard below, and the moondial, glistening in the sunlight with what looked like a descent into the ground around it.
"Well, I smell you, Carcette, some rotting birds, and the sea." Inigo stated. "And not one of you smells good."
Carcette lowered herself into the castle courtyard and dropped Inigo on his butt as she descended, while lowering Lucien gently.
"Ow!" Inigo exclaimed as his butt hit the stone. Thankfully, it was not high enough to do any damage where she had dropped him.
"This staircase..." Carcette examined the moondial's open passage. "I'll bet my last Septim that they did this."
"Why do you figure?" Lucien asked as he examined the dial. "Wow... this is so cool! The moondial appear to be a mechanism that controls the stairs!" He looked at the pulleys and pinions along the inner ring of the staircase's walls. "I've never seen such a thing!" He quickly took out his journal and began to draw a rough illustration of the moondial and stairs in the courtyard. "I'm going to tell everyone back at the Arcane University about this!"
"I'd wager that Serana knew of this, and opened the passage." Carcette stated. "We must follow." She quickly descended the stairs, and Inigo hurried down after her.
After some meandering through an entire abandoned sector of the castle, Cura swept cobwebs off the archway if an old dining hall. "I'd only they could teach skeletons how to sweep, right?"
"I've never even seen this part of the castle before. Be careful. I don't know what might be around." Serana warned. "But we're getting close, I'm sure of it."
"Do you know this place?" Cura asked her to reminisce about the past.
"I had always just assumed that the other tower was completely destroyed inside. My mother kept this a secret, even from me. She must have been up to something she thought was dangerous." Serana mused.
Then the bones around them sitting on the chairs, and floors began to reassemble, forming skeletal warriors.
Cura quickly held out two hands. "Circle of Protection!" A golden ring formed around a five-foot proximity to the pair.
Serana cringed before realizing that it wasn't harming her. "Wait... I can stand in this?"
"You're my friend. Of course you can!" Cura exclaimed as a skeleton stupidly ran into the circle and quickly caught fire.
Cura quickly smashed it with her mace, finishing the finish undead in one blow.
Serana quickly shoved a skeleton back and stuck it with an icy spear, pinning it to the wall and keeping it burning within the circle.
Cura raised her shield to block incoming arrows fired by skeleton archers on the raised balcony parallel to them. "Serana, you take the one on the left, I'll get the right!"
"Got it!" Serana confirmed as the pair dashed outside the circle.
Cura barrelled up the stairs and smashed another skeleton in her way, and pivoted around the first archer and took the second out with a well-struck blow while Serana levitated and rushed the first head-on with a spinning tackle through the air, scattering the bones.
Cura spun around once more and cracked the skull of another creeping assailant and scattered it's remains, leaving the pair in peace.
After heading through the old stone corridors, they encountered a small but spacious chamber with four Gargoyles in different positions. After Dimhollow Crypt, Cura knew they were just waiting for them to come closer.
"Did your mother keep gargoyles here?" Cura asked, needing to know whether or not it was safe to pass.
"Not that I ever saw. My mother had a bit of a thing for magical constructs." Serana noticed Cura's surprised expression. "Not... not what you're thinking. She just found them fascinating."
Just then, after Cura took a step forward, the Gargoyles began to shake and rupture out of the stone casings with a demonic roar.
"Great." Cura's suspicions were confirmed. "FUS RO DAH!" Her voice knocked them off-kilter and led to a wide opening in their defense. Cura exploited the opportunity and smashed a couple of them with her Draconic strength, giving them little recourse.
Another pulled itself up and clawed her in the shoulder, and the blood that emerged was quickly drained by the fiend, turning into a red mist in the process.
Serana resurrected one of the Gargoyles that Cura killed and sent it against its allies, buying Cura more time to heal herself, and strike the nearest one.
Then Serana finished the last gargoyle off with an icicle through its mouth as it slashed her Gargoyle, turning it to dust.
Cura twirled her mace to get the stone residue off of it before slipping it back on its hook on the right side of her waist.
Serana clicked her tongue. "Turns out my mother is sneakier than I thought. I wonder what she's hiding?"
"I really hope she's not as vicious as your father." Cura stated.
"I... don't know anymore." Serana admitted sadly. The matter weighed heavily on her heart, but she cast it aside for the moment.
This part of the castle was blocked off from the rest, shown by its dilapidated state and it seemed to be teeming with armed skeletons and gargoyles, Cura observed using Detect Dead.
Cura and Serana headed south up to a balcony that led to a room filled with cobwebs and spiked traps.
"Glorious. Simply glorious." Cura shuddered as she tried her best to avoid the traps. Unfortunately, one caught her arm and she tore the sleeve of her robe jerking it free. "Sigh... this poor robe can never catch a break, I guess."
To make matters worse, at the far end of the room another Gargoyle statue came to life and attacked. The fiend flew through the air, resembling a Dragon in flight racing towards Cura with intent to devour her.
With her back to the spikes, Cura shouted. "WULD NA KEST!" and rocketed forward, shield raised, slamming the fiend into the wall before grabbing it by the chest and spinning it around, and launching it into the spike traps.
"Brutal." Serana remarked.
Cura caught her breath and held a hand to her chest. "Whew... okay, sorry about that. I panicked."
"I'd hate to see you when you're angry, if that was only you when panicked." Serana admitted to her ferocity.
The girls resolved to head into the next room, where they encountered two more skeletons, which Cura made short work of with her mace.
"There is no greater bane to skeletons than the mace." Cura explained as she examined her wonderful Elven Mace.
"How do you figure? Have you tried anything else?" Serana asked.
Cura shook her head. "No, but they are designed to break bones, and skeletons are just that. Besides, one shattered bone makes the construct collapse. They're no threat at all when this close."
They continued out of the room and noticed a very long staircase with a wooden door at the apex, and a gate to the west of the door. Once they began up the long flight of stairs, another Gargoyle burst forth from its petrified casings and leapt at Cura, knocking her down some of the stairs with a vital swoop. The two began to wrestle as they fumbled down the stone steps and bounced off pieces of rubble.
When they reached the bottom, the two released and Cura spun into a wall, and the Gargoyle into a clearing, where it caught its balance and lunged forward, knocking Cura down to the floor, and grabbed her by the throat. The fiend then arched its back and pulled her towards it, and then drove her against the stone wall a few times, each hit increasing with force.
Serana shot and icicle from atop the stairs as she quickly descended, which distracted the fiend, and Cura took the opportunity to slam her mace down on the beast's arm, breaking it in half. When the Gargoyle roared and staggered backwards, Cura followed up with a vicious uppercut, killing the fiend.
Blood dripped down Cura's face, and she quickly cast a healing spell to remedy the damages. She fumbled about as her head tried to readjust.
"Are you all right?" Serana asked out of concern.
"I will be." Cura shook her head to pry off the dizziness. "Let's keep at it."
They proceeded up the stairs, and past several armed skeletons, which bent easily to a quick flurry of attacks as they rushed past them. In the next room, they came across another smaller dining area with a gargoyle by the back wall. Behind the statue was a chain that needed to be pulled to open the iron gate to the next area, Serana had surmised.
"I just know it's going to attack me the minute I pull this." Cura braced herself for the inevitable as she reached for the pull chain.
Serana held her hands up and readied her ice spells. "I've got your back this time. Don't worry about it."
Cura pulled the pull chain to raise the iron gate, and once a clunking sound resonated through the halls, she brought down her mace and smashed the statue, revealing its true nature to be just that: an inanimate statue.
The two extended a strange gaze to it and shrugged as they decided to continue on as if the event never occurred.
They backtracked to the stairway and passed through the opened iron bars and immediately realized that they had walked into a run-down cathedral of sorts. A raised platform was studded at the far end where a ruined statue of Mara stuck out of ceiling debris and rubble against the back wall, dimly lit by sunlight peeking in through a hole in the roof and Cura immediately realized that this area of the castle once was a temple of Mara.
Cura quickly raced to examine the ruined statue of Mara. It depicted the beautiful Handmaiden of Kyne in her splendor, adorned with her beautiful veil, and lovely robe as she looked up to the sky, her arms outstretched and her face stained with tears. She was coated with a thick layer of dust and powdered snow, which also coated the rubble.
"Mother Mara... so this was what Erandur was talking about." Cura spoke softly as she began to try and wipe the powdered snow off the statue. "Who... who did this?" Her voice fell, saddened by the desecration of one of the Divines.
Serana turned her face to the side and began to shift. "My father, when we gave up on her."
Cura turned to face her, awestruck. "Your family were worshippers of Mara?"
"We were, before my father developed his fear of death." Serana began to explain. "He was consumed with guilt for his years of warring, and he feared death above all things. When the promise of immortality was offered to us from Molag Bal, he cast Mara aside and destroyed the chapel at the Daedric Lord's command. I wasn't here when he did it, but my mother made it clear enough."
Cura understood and began to claw at the rubble beneath the statue in attempt to pry the gentle mother free.
"What are you doing?" Serana asked.
"I'm bidding her my respects." Cura stated. "As Erandur said, I will right a wrong. I hope I can..." She tossed some of the rubble to the side and was quickly beginning to make progress.
Eventually, Serana sighed and rushed to Cura's side and began to help her clear the rubble away from the statue.
Miraculously, the statue was fully intact, even after the centuries had passed. It only had scratches and dust on it.
Cura opened one of her empty potion flasks and cast a basic Frost spell inside of it, and then used a benign Flame spell to warm it up, melting the ice into water. She quickly took out a rag from within her bag and turned the flask down on it, soaking it.
"Do we really have time for this?" Serana asked as she began to look around, searching for enemies that weren't there at the moment.
"For one of the Divines? Yes, we do.." Cura stated as she began to clean the statue, starting by wiping Mara's tears away. She would always do her best to respect the Aedra, even if they weren't necessarily Stendarr. After all, they were all within the same pantheon.
There was no way that Cura could leave the statue there in such disgraceful condition. After the golden lady was cleansed of all dirt and debris, Cura leaned back and examined it. She bowed her head, not knowing the official prayer to Mara. But still, she spoke. "Lady Mara, I give you my respects, and I ask for your aid in the coming trials. Please, guard my heart from the snares of the enemies that surround us, so that I may better protect all of your children. I also pray on Serana's behalf..."
Serana quickly snapped as a silent terror came through her. "What are you doing?!"
"...please forgive her, for she had no part in this desecration. May there be the potential for reparation." Cura clasped her hands together.
"Cura, I'm a..." before Serana could continue, a golden light shone from the statue and enveloped both herself and Cura. Serana's jaw dropped and she looked on in terror.
A feminine voice called out to Cura. "Thank you, for honouring me, kind Vigilant. I am willing, but for Serana to receive my forgiveness, she must first release her shame and return to the light. You will guide her along her intended path. Now, go forth, with my blessing."
"M-Mara?" Cura called out in shock as the golden light grew stronger and embedded itself softly in her. The warmth was all-encompassing, and she could feel her heart fluttering as if it were a butterfly inside her ribcage. Her feet slowly left the floor, and she hovered in the air for a few moments and the golden light turned white and surrounded her before flickering out and disappearing in sparkles.
Silence.
The room was still, and Serana stared at Cura with her mouth hung open in shock.
Cura touched her chest and looked at the statue, "She spoke to me. She really spoke to me. I... I'm honoured." She never heard the voice of an Aedra before. Until now, she had only been in direct contact with Daedric Princes.
Her heart settled back in its natural rhythm, but Cura felt alive again! Oh, how full of life she felt! And love. She felt the warm embrace of Mara. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before.
"What in Oblivion was that?" Serana chided angrily. "Forgiveness? Why would I need that? I've done nothing wrong!"
Cura shook her head. "Serana, your family still forsook the Divines in favour of Daedra Worship. That sort of thing builds animosity with them."
"Well, if she hates me so much for what my parents decided, then maybe the Divines don't deserve my time!" Serana snarled.
"Serana, it's not like that..." Cura was about to attempt an explanation, when Serana snubbed her and headed towards the eastern door.
"Forget it. Let's just keep moving." Serana insisted as she walked ahead.
Cura felt bad after the exchange but continued to trek through the cold halls with her.
Serana was joyful at first about Cura coming to aid her in this endeavour, but now she was beginning to doubt she would follow any further. If she met Valerica, there was no telling how she would react.
In silence, they headed through the halls and over the stone bridge that rested in the air above the cathedral to the next room, which was empty with the exception of a pair of robes identical to Serana's own lain across a counter next to two wooden coffins. More Gargoyles could be seen adorning the walls in orderly fashion, but they lay motionless. Still, Cura elected to be cautious and tread carefully, and more importantly, silently.
The room appeared to be a dead end, but Serana could feel that something was off. "I don't think we've reached the top yet. I'd bet there's some kind of secret passage around here."
Cura was already on it, examining a loose candle on the wall to the left of the mantle. She decided to pull it downwards, as it seemed to be like a pulley. Probably the work of the Elven architect, as well.
Serana laid a hand on the coffin that sat in the eastern corner when she heard a shifting in the wall.
The fireplace moved upwards, revealing a hidden passage.
Serana smirked. "Leave it to my mother... always smarter than I gave her credit for."
"What do you think we're going to find up there?" Cura asked.
"Something." Serana said plainly, having no real idea herself. "Maybe her private study area..."
Cura swallowed. She readied herself for a potential war on the other side, and clenched Dawnbreaker with her left hand, obscuring it with her shield as she lowered her upper torso and walked through the dark midway.
Inigo raised his face and began to sniff the air. "Yep. She's been in here. I smell a distinct odour, blood, sweat, and dirt. That's our Cura! And Serana's vampire smell, too! We are close!"
"I'd say it's rather evident, all things considered." Lucien remarked as he pointed to the piles of ruined bones arraying the ground in the Dining Hall.
Carcette began to search around, and saw the charred bones near the southern wall, and quickly surmised that Circle of Protection was cast. "We have to keep moving. I can sense a heartbeat in one of the upper floors, but it's faint." She hurried ahead, flying over the stairs and onto the higher platform, and Lucien and Inigo rushed up the staircase to try and keep up.
What she hadn't mentioned, however, was that she could smell blood. Cura's blood, perhaps, but living blood to be certain. Her fears were validated when she entered the large stairway, where a dead Gargoyle lay with a shattered arm near a cracked wall with patches of blood staining it.
They were close.
She just hoped they weren't too late.
Cura and Serana found themselves in a large, circular stone chamber with a dusty old bookshelf to the east, with tables beside it that held Bonemeal of various kinds, and Dragon Bones, as well.
Valerica's study had two levels, with a large circular indentation embedded in the floor at the center of the room, surrounded by candles on the ground floor. Stairs against the northwestern wall led up to the raised section.
In the southern corner was a short flight of stairs ascending to a door leading outdoors. Against the western wall were two long wooden chests, with wall shelves filled with candles above them, and a narrow wooden table between them holding three soul gem fragments and an elven dagger.
In the northern corner of the lower level are several sets of shelves, with various ingredients that Cura could notice, among them being a Daedra Heart and some Bear Claws. Though it was in shadow, so it was tough for her to tell.
Serana marvelled the location, but found herself having to justify it to her Vigilant friend. "Look at this place. This has to be it! I knew she was deep into necromancy. I mean, she taught me everything I know. But I had no idea she had a setup like this. Look at all this. She must have spent years collecting these components. And what's this thing? I'm not sure about this circle, but it's obviously... something."
"I don't like the look of this." Cura stated. "This has to be some kind of dark magic!"
Before she could continue to protest, Serana cut her off. "Let's take a look around. There has to be something here that tells us where she's gone."
"What exactly are we looking for?" Cura asked plainly.
"My mother was meticulous about her research. If we can find her notes, there might be some hints in there." Serana began to look around.
"Your mother maintained... quite a laboratory." Cura stated as she beelined for the bookshelves.
"I had no idea that her laboratory even existed. She had an alchemy setup in her drawing room, but nothing that even comes close to what's here."' Serana admitted as she examined ingredients on the shelf.
"What did she research?" Cura feared the answer. The books she was seeing were benign so far, like 2920, Sun's Dusk, v11, Feyfolken I, Feyfolken II, Feyfolken III, Forge, Hammer and Anvil, and Herbane's Bestiary: Ice Wraiths.
"Looking at the equipment and materials, it looks like she was trying to advance her necromancy." Serana proposed.
"To what end?" Cura quickly began to express her concern.
"I don't know. Certainly not longevity. Kind of a waste of time for a vampire." Serana walked up the stairs to the upper floor. "I remember she used to keep a small journal. See if you can dig it up."
"A journal..." Cura found a red-coloured leather bound book. "I don't like this, not at all."
"I know you don't, but if we want that Scroll, you have no choice." Serana spoke sternly. Don't make me have to enthrall you, she thought to herself.
Cura opened the ancient book and began to read its contents.
"by Valerica
Valerica's notes on attuning the portal vessel to the Soul Cairn
27th Last Seed
Harkon's shortsightedness is becoming a serious problem. I've warned him time and time again that his foolish prophecy would cast far too much light on our people and yet he refuses to so much as listen to a word I say. I've become less a wife and more of an annoyance in his eyes. Devoting attention to my work is the only solace I can find while enduring his ridiculous crusade.
28th Last Seed
I've had a breakthrough today. I was able to attune the portal vessel to the Soul Cairn properly by using a small sample of ingredients. Although the portal opened only for a few seconds, I'm confident that with the proper formula, it can be sustained indefinitely. I feel like I'm missing a key ingredient, something of sufficient potency that can resist the forces trying to prevent my intrusion. Communing with the Ideal Masters has proved worthless. They speak in riddles and offer no assistance whether I ensure them a steady supply of souls or not. If I'm to escape Harkon's clutches, I need to keep the portal open long enough to carry me away from here... forever if need be.
3rd Hearthfire
I've done it! After wasting thousands of gold coins on components, I've discovered how to sustain the portal. I'm listing the components below without the proper amounts for my own protection. As a secondary precaution, I am combining my own blood into the formula which should prevent anyone from being able to duplicate it and following me into the Soul Cairn.
The formula consists of:
-Finely ground bone meal
-Purified void salt
-Soul gem shards
Using the proper measurements, place the above in the silver-lined portal vessel and add blood as a reactive agent.
I will make my way into the Soul Cairn tomorrow after I gather my things and prepare for a potentially lengthy exile. More importantly, I must enact my plans with Serana, and get her to Dimhollow Crypt as soon as possible."
"Any luck yet?" came Serana's voice.
"I've found your mother's notes." Cura stated
"You did? Let me see them." Serana leapt over the railing to join her, and quickly pulled the book out of Cura's hands. She flipped it open and began to read it for herself.
"What's this "Soul Cairn" that she mentions?" Cura asked, her tone fallen to uncertainty.
"I only know what she told me." Serana began. "She had a theory about Soul Gems. That the souls inside of them don't just vanish when they're used... they end up in the Soul Cairn."
Cura furrowed her brows. Something about all of it seemed dirty. "Why did she care where used souls went?"
"The Soul Cairn is home to very powerful beings. Necromancers send them souls, and receive powers of their own in return." Serana summarized the complex measure as briefly and quickly as possible to avoid scrutiny from Cura. "My mother spent a lot of time trying to contact them directly, to travel to the Soul Cairn itself."
"So... If she made it there, we'll find her, you think." Cura mused as she took a couple of steps back.
"That circle in the center of the room is definitely some type of portal. If I'm reading this right, there's a formula here that should give us safe passage into the Soul Cairn. A handful of soul gem shards, some finely-ground bone meal, a good bit of purified void salts... Oh... damn it..." Serana clicked her tongue in frustration.
"What's wrong?" Cura asked.
"We're also going to need a sample of her blood. Which... if we could get that, we wouldn't even be trying to do this in the first place!" Serana slammed the book shut and waved it in the air brusquely.
"Well... you share her blood." Cura stated.
"Hmmm. Not bad. We'd better hope that's good enough. Mistakes with these kinds of portals can be... gruesome. Anyway, enough of that. Let's get started." Serana readied the undertaking.
"Is there anything you can tell me about the 'Soul Cairn'?" Cura demanded more insight to what they were getting themselves into.
"The Soul Cairn is a tiny sliver of Oblivion, the realm of the daedra. It's ruled by unseen beings known as the Ideal Masters." Serana freely admitted.
Cura's expression fell. "Why was your mother so fascinated by it?"
"Honestly, I don't know. Necromancers are always interested in souls, though, so that probably has some kind of interest." Serana stated.
"Who are the Ideal Masters? I've never heard of that before at the Vigil." Cura asked, hating where this was going.
"Nobody really knows. As far as I've heard, no one's seen them and returned to Tamriel to tell about it." Serana explained.
"Then how are their names even known?" Cura asked. It made no sense as far as she was concerned that nobody lived to tell the tale, because it was clear there were tales to be told. Someone had to have lived to share.
"I've read stories. Stories about fools that managed to... communicate with them. You give the Ideal Masters souls, they give you powers to summon the undead. It's all very business-like." Serana twirled a hand as she explained the plain fact and tale.
"They certainly are fools, if they believe necromancy doesn't come with a cost." Cura stated contemptually. "Whenever necromancy is involved, innocents always seem to suffer."
"Most of the stories end with the Ideal Masters duping the necromancers, who end up dead or wishing they were dead." Serana scoffed at their retroactive naivete. "But we are not going to be duped in this. We're just..."
"Opening a portal to the Soul Cairn..." Cura shuddered. "Serana, this is necromancy! I'm not doing that! Are you crazy?"
"Oh, definitely." Serana rolled her eyes before continuing, unhindered. "Mother would have plenty of the required materials in her laboratory, you just need to find them. I'll open the portal."
Cura crossed her arms and shook her head. "No. I refuse to have anything to do with this."
Serana paused for a second and frustration began to boil. "You say that like you have a choice."
"I do have a choice. I'll find another way to defeat Harkon!" Cura stated. "I'll not stand idly by and allow a portal to Oblivion to be opened!"
"Don't be like this now." Serana rubbed her forehead. "We're so close..."
Cura was stubborn. "I'm finding the others and leaving." She turned around to head back out through the entrance, when something sharp hit her in the back of her thigh.
"Gasp!" Cura exclaimed as she looked around her back to see Serana with must surrounding her right hand, and then looked down to see an icicle stuck in the back of her leg.
"Serana?!" Cura exclaimed in disbelief.
"We have to see this through!" Serana shouted. "I can't let you leave!"
Cura grit her teeth and pulled the icicle out of her leg, and it was coated in her blood. She clenched it, smashing it into shards, and cast a Healing Spell. Her visage bore rage. "Don't you ever do that again."
"Then get over here! I need your help for this undertaking!" Serana demanded.
Cura shook her head once again. "Performing necromantic rituals is a direct violation in my oath to Stendarr."
"To Oblivion with Stendarr!" Serana roared. "This is more important!"
Cura's jaw dropped. Did she just...
The Vigilant laid a hand on the handle of her mace. "Serana, I'm not going to warn you again. Don't force my hand. You know I can't..."
"And what? Are you going to slay me, you Aedra Dog?" Serana was becoming increasingly more saline. "I thought we were allies! You were supposed to be on my side!"
"I want to help, but I can't do this." Cura stood firm. "Why can't you understand that?"
Serana looked over to the side and sighed. "Okay, fine. I suppose you're right. I shouldn't expect you to participate in this ritual, or even watch it." She approached Cura and the two locked eyes for a minute. "It was wrong if me to assume you would just go along with it without asking questions."
Suddenly, Cura began to feel drowsy, and exhaustion overcame her. She slipped out of consciousness and dropped to the floor.
"Sorry about that, Cura. You'll wake up when I'm finished." Serana turned away and began to examine the room.
She found Purified Void Salts on the upper floor, some Finely-ground Bone meal powder on the table on the eastern side of the room, and scattered fragments of a soul gem on a counter across from her.
She walked up towards an alchemic depositer at the middle sector of the upper floor, seeming to be the mechanism to open the portal.
"I don't know what will happen if I do this... I hope it works." Serana held a knife over her hand and cut across, causing her blood to fall into the mixture.
Immediately as the mixture simmered, the circular indent in the ground began to open and dull, purple and blue light began to emerge in a whirling vortex.
The ground raised, forming stairs connecting the portal to the platform Serana stood on as her blood was sucked into the vortex. "By the blood of my ancestors... She actually did it... created a portal to the Soul Cairn. Incredible."
"CURA!" came Carcette's screaming voice from the entryway. Serana nearly jumped when the shrillness hit her.
Carcette quickly panicked as she noticed the open portal and the unresponsive Cura lying on the floor. She spun upwards to find Serana. "SERANA! What have you done?!"
Lucien and Inigo caught up, and the Imperial gasped in horror.
Inigo's eyes widened with fear. "My friend! Whaaaat is that?" he pointed towards the portal.
"Did you sacrifice her?!" Lucien exclaimed with disgust. "Oh, gods..."
"What? No! Of course not!" Serana was taken aback. "She just wouldn't cooperate, so I hypnotized her. No harm done, and she'll be awake in a couple of minutes. "
Carcette gently shook Cura in attempt to wake her but kept her attention on Serana. "Explain the portal. Fast!" Her anger was almost palpable. She was uncertain as to what was going on, but she did not like the looks of it at all.
"Just so you know, Cura wanted nothing to do with it." Serana gave a disclaimer on her behalf. "I opened a portal to the Soul Cairn."
"You did what, now?" Lucien's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Oh, no... not the Soul Cairn! There's no way I'm going in there! Nope! Nuh-uh! Nix!"
"What is the Soul Cairn?" Inigo asked as he stared at the portal that lit up the room.
Cura lightly groaned as she placed a hand on her head slowly. The hypnosis seemed to be wearing off.
"You don't know?" Lucien looked surprised. "The Soul Cairn is where the spirits of the Soul-Trapped vanish to after the Black Soul Gem is used. It's said to be a wasteland of endless despair!"
Carcette's face darkened and she pulled herself up and got Cura to stand. "I take it that this has something to do with the Daedra."
"Not the Daedra, the Ideal Masters." Serana corrected her.
"I read a bit about this at the Arcane University." Lucien confessed. "This is some very serious stuff! Do you think you should be playing around with it?"
"My mother is in the Soul Cairn. I have to see her again!" Serana held a hand to her chest as she proclaimed this. "I'll need Cura's help."
Cura shook the remaining sleepiness off. "Wha...?" She then quickly realized what was going on. "Serana, you didn't!"
"I did. You said you couldn't stand by and allow it, I know." Serana began, "So I took that burden away from you."
Cura scowled and bit her lower lip in frustration before calming herself down. "Okay. Okay, fine. Have it your way, then. Nothing escaped the portal?"
"I don't think anything can." Lucien admitted. "It appears to be a one-way trip."
Serana nodded silently, and Cura brushed past her, and stepped over the dark light. "This... fine. The Elder Scroll is in there? You're certain?" She turned her face to partially see Serana, who stood behind her.
"Yes. My mother has the Scroll, and she's in there." Serana pointed to the vortex.
Lucien tried to really make her reconsider., noting Cura's chagrin "Are you sure Valerica has the Elder Scroll?"
"No, but there's no way she would have left it in Tamriel. She wanted to get it as far away from my father as possible. I can't imagine a better place." Serana admitted as she nudged her head in the portal's direction.
"And if she... doesn't?" Lucien again tried to stress against the course of action.
"Then we find out where she hid it. If she's still alive... well, as alive as she was before. Or is now. Or... you know what I mean." Serana was getting fed-up in trying to justify her peoples' existence, as well as her point.
"Why not hide the scroll in the Soul Cairn and then return?" Inigo asked.
"Probably to avoid whatever my father would do to her if he could get his hands on her. Or maybe her plan was to come back, but she was stuck here. We won't know until we find her." Serana stressed her point.
"Let's get this over with." Cura seemed disdainful of the whole notion, but she relented at last.
How dare she do this to me! Cura cursed internally as she took a step forward without reservation.
The moment her foot touched the portal, Cura wailed in agony as the vortex refused to suffer her presence, shooting knives into her muscles and acid into her veins, and lightning to her synapses. "HWAH!" She stumbled over backwards, retrieving herself from the arduous torment.
Lucien shivered on the spot and Inigo rushed to Cura's side. "My friend! Are you okay?!" The blue cat panicked.
Carcette quickly examined Cura but found nothing abnormal. She gently placed a hand on Cura's forehead as the young half-Elf's breathing steadied.
Serana looked worried, and she approached Cura. "Are you alright? That looked painful."
Cura was still trying to collect herself. "It was the worst thing I've ever experienced... What happened?"
"Now that I think about it... I should have expected that. Sorry. It's hard to describe." Serana hit herself in the face for the error. "The Soul Cairn is... well, hungry, for lack of a better word. It's trying to take your life essence as payment."
"Like I said, not going in there." Lucien reaffirmed his stance with evidence this time.
"So there's no way for Cura to even enter, then. It would be suicide to attempt it!" Carcette stated angrily.
"There might be a way, but I don't think you're going to like it. Vampires aren't counted among the living. I could probably go through there without a problem." Serana admitted. "Carcette, as well."
"Wait, wait, wait. Are you saying that I would need to become a vampire?" Cura snapped almost as quickly as the sentence was uttered.
"Not your first choice, I'd guess." Serana shrugged.
"That's off the table! There has to be another way." Cura exclaimed.
"Maybe. We could just "pay the toll" another way. It wants a soul, so we give it a soul. Yours." Serana emphasized almost as if in an effort to frighten Cura.
"No!" Cura protested. "That's way out of the question!"
Inigo stood between Cura and Serana, protecting his friend. "Wouldn't that kill her?"
"My mother taught me a trick or two. I could partially soul trap you and offer that gem to the Ideal Masters. It might be enough to satisfy them." Serana informed her unwilling participant. "It would make you a bit weaker when we travel through the Soul Cairn, but we might be able to fix that once we're inside. Maybe."
"Those are my only options?" Cura asked.
"I'm sorry. I wish I knew a better way, something that would be easier for you. Just know that... whatever path you choose, I won't think any less of you. Sometimes things just have to be done. I know that better than anybody." The vampiress tried to offer consolation.
"But my refusal earns judgment." Cura called her out. "But what else would you expect from an Aedra Dog, right?"
Serana sighed sadly. "I'm sorry - I didn't mean that. It was in the heat of the moment."
"Uh-huh. After an icicle in the leg." Cura seemed embittered by it.
"Oh, will the two of you stop it?" Carcette intervened. "You're worse than these two!" She pointed to Lucien and Inigo, who both shouted a resounding "Hey!" in response.
Cura looked to Carcette. "This is all wrong, Carcette... you know it!"
"I do!" Carcette expressed. "But Cura, you of all people- I'm surprised at you. It was you who have shown me the world is not as black and white as the Vigil's teachings suggest. Why do you have reservations now? Do you not trust in the Divines to protect you?"
Cura looked down to the floor, once again in the position of a scared young Vigilant being berated by the Keeper. "It's not that..."
"Then what is it?" Carcette asked.
"This..." Cura pointed to the portal in the floor. "this is necromancy. Voluntary necromancy. We can't have any part in it! Stendarr says..."
"that you should never refuse aid you are capable of providing." Carcette stated. "What's done is done. You could not stop her in what she has done, but it was ultimately the only way to reach the Elder Scroll that we need to defeat Harkon and save Skyrim! Cura, Stendarr understands." She placed comforting hands on the Vigilant's shoulders. "This is for the greater good... sometimes we have to be flexible and make tough decisions, some of which turn us inside out and put our faith to the test. Believe me, I know."
Cura knew that to be true. In fact, having been a Werewolf for a time, she experienced that fear already once firsthand.
"Have you made up your mind?" Serana asked softly, trying to ease the tensions. "Turning someone is a very... personal thing for vampires. It's intimate. For us. I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing you into this."
"You're not? That's news to me." Lucien remarked.
"Friend, whatever you decide, I will always be your friend!" Inigo told Cura, giving her a thumb up.
Cura looked at Serana and then at Carcette. "If I become a vampire voluntarily, I'd be going against what our Vigil stands for, and make an enemy of the Dawnguard."
"I'll go." Carcette stepped up. "Cura needn't do this. I will take her place."
"You can come along, but I'll need her in case we encounter a Dragonborn in there, or a Dragon. Fighting them would be... not fun alone." Serana crossed her arms as she recalled the deadliness of the Thu'um.
"What." Lucien dropped the ball. "Why would there be any Dragonborns or Dragons in there?"
"Because Dragons and Dragonborns are power-hungry." Cura caught on immediately. "We always crave to dominate, to control. It's the Draconic nature. I see her point... it could be dangerous if there are, from over the centuries." Cura did not want to see Carcette or even Serana, even in spite of her anger towards her at the moment, killed or harmed in that fell dimension."Soul trap me. I won't feel right as a vampire."
"Are you sure? I'm willing to do it, but you need to think it through. You'll remain mortal, but you'll find yourself weakened within the Soul Cairn." Serana stated.
"Are you really sure about this, Cura?" Carcette asked. "I'm not even sure what to expect in all this; the Soul Cairn... it's bound to be awful. It would be silly to justify your coming along based on the vain threat of a Dragon or Dragonborn within."
Cura shook her head. "Let's just get this over with. Do it before I change my mind."
"As you wish." Serana placed a hand on Cura's forehead and took out a Black Soul Gem. Cura looked to Carcette to do something if Serana was planning something ill-intended.
"I promise to try and make this as painless as possible. Hold still." Serana stated before muttering something in an ancient language. Suddenly, Cura glowed a royal blue colour, and part of it was drained out into the Soul Gem. Cura could feel a vain tugging and experienced being pulled from her body lightly, but it ended quickly.
"Wow, so many colours!" Inigo exclaimed like a child at a community fair.
"Wow... it felt as if I fell off a cliff..." Cura staggered backwards into Inigo's arms.
"Do not worry, my friend; we will guard the entrance until you return!" Inigo informed her.
Lucien nodded. "Right! We will... will we?"
Inigo elbowed him in the ribs.
"Er, yes! We will!" Lucien jumped awkwardly.
Serana, Carcette, and the dazed Cura slowly descended into the portal, leading them into the terrifying Soul Cairn. Lucien and Inigo were sure to block off the entrance by using a pull chain to bring down the fireplace over it, and pushed a few bookshelves in front of the balcony door, to at least buy them time to attack, should they be discovered.
"Good luck, friend and friends." Inigo said to their companions who descended.