Chapter 33: Soul For A Soul? Let's Make A Deal
As Aela and Serana walked back into the room, Erik said, "Okay, I think I found your Mother's journal, but the handwriting is... well, it's ancient."
Serana crossed her arms. "Okay, rude."
Erik winced a bit. "Sorry! It's just... Well, I can't read it. Are you able to?"
After handing the journal to her, Serana quickly skimmed the book for any whereabouts to her Mother's location, and gasped when she found something. "No... she couldn't have... she went there of all places…"
"Playing the pronoun game, are we?" Patches jokes at the constant trope.
Serana looked at the others with clear unease. "My mother... she went to the Soul Cairn."
Emilia, as usual, was confused by unfamiliar terms. "Wait, what's the Soul Cairn ?"
"My guess? An evil spooky place," the bald Undead said.
"The Soul Cairn is one of the thousands of planes of Oblivion," the Vampire Princess explained. "Tell me, have any of you heard of Soul Gems? I don't know if they're still around."
"I'm somewhat familiar with them. I've captured some bandits who utilized them a few times," the team's Werewolf said.
"They're pretty rare nowadays," Erik commented, "Soul Gems can be used to capture a Soul upon death and use them to power enchantments on weapons and armor. However, they've been outlawed in both Tamriel and Ali'rasi."
"Well, my Mother had a theory about Soul Gems, that the Soul trapped inside doesn't disappear when it's destroyed or used," Serena explained. "That, when a Soul Gem is used, the Soul is sent to the Soul Cairn to roam for the rest of eternity."
Emilia looked back at her friend. "So you think that your mother…?"
"She has to be there. Even after all these years, Mother is crafty and clever." Serana walks up to the circle in the room. "That must be what this circle is. It must be a Portal to the Soul Cairn."
"Great!" Erik clapped his hands. "How do we get in?"
"Let me see…" Serana checks the journal for ingredients. "We need finely grounded bone meal, soul gem shards, purified void salts, and... No... No! You've gotta be kidding me!"
"What? What is it?" Aela asked, concerned.
Serana elaborated with clear frustration. "It says we need her Blood for it to work! If we had that available, then we wouldn't need to do this!"
"Would a substitute work?" Patches asked.
The redhead nodded at that. "Actually, Patches may be onto something. You share your Mother's blood? Would that be sufficient enough for the process?"
Serana thought about it for a second and said, "I don't know, maybe?"
"Wouldn't hurt to try, right?" the blond Nord said.
Serana sighed. She wasn't sure, but they had no other option. "Sure, why not? Let's try it out."
"What about the other ingredients?" the silver-haired girl asked.
"Yeah, bone food and some salt?" Erik asked for clarification.
Serana nodded. "And soul gem shards. They should be somewhere around the lab. Look around and see what you can find."
The others nodded and got to work.
It took a few minutes to find everything, but the party managed to gather all the ingredients necessary. They put the ingredients into a pedestal and prepare the final ingredient.
"Alright... everything ready?" The Vampire princess asked, to which the others nod, wordlessly.
"Alright." Serana let out a quiet breath. "Here goes nothing."
Serana took out an Elven Dagger and cut her palm, allowing her blood to meet the ingredients. Emilia winced, but stayed quiet.
Once enough blood was introduced, the circle began to glow ominous purple as it... split apart. Pieces of the circle swirled around, allowing a vortex of violet energy to be visible. The pieces of the circles then moved to form a makeshift stairway to the vortex. The entrance to the Soul Cairn was open to them.
"So…" Erik looked at the others. "Do we just go in?"
Before they could say anything, Emilia, Aela, and Erik suddenly gasped in pain, their strength being sapped away, as they felt like... something was being pulled out of them.
Patches had no idea what was happening. "Uh, what's going on?!"
"Get them back against the walls, now!" Serena shouted.
Patches quickly nodded, as he grabbed his comrades' bodies, and got them as far away from the circle as he possibly could.
Slowly, but surely, the pressure they felt died down, and they were allowed to breathe again.
Emilia was the first to speak. "Wha... what just...?"
"It's like… our souls were being… ripped out of us…" Aela said with clear exhaustion from that horrible experience.
Serana looked back to the portal. "It must have been the Soul Cairn…"
Erik felt sick. "Is… is this what being Undead feels like…?"
"Not sure what exactly you felt, but I guess you could say that," Patches said.
Emilia turned to her vampire friend and asked. "Serana, what just happened?"
Serana shook her head. "Living beings can't survive in the Soul Cairn, but I didn't anticipate it would try to... suck your souls out."
Erik gave her an annoyed look. "What did you think it would do…?"
"Honesty, I don't know what I was expecting," the orange-eyed woman said. "However, me and Patches should be fine. We can go in and look for my Mother."
"I guess we can stay here and… guard?" Aela shrugged.
"I don't think there's anything else we can do," Erik said.
"Aight, I'm following your lead," Patches said to Serana.
Emilia didn't like it, but she didn't have any other choice. She had to put her faith in them. Yes, even Patches. "Good luck, you two."
The two soon entered the Soul Cairn. They could do nothing but wait for them to come back out.
Patches took a look around and commented. "Nice place they've got here."
The shortest way to describe this place would be that it looked... well, dead. No greenery, ruined buildings, and a perpetual storm that looked like a black hole was constantly hanging above.
To someone like Emilia, the place was far more… alien.
The sky was a constant dark blue, as if the sun had already set and the night had begun to creep in, as evidence of the massive moon overhead. The only sign of vegetation being the trees that looked like they had been through multiple wildfires and the black shrubs next to the gravel. Additionally, any of the architecture that didn't seem to be in ruins were the odd church-like structures and the stone pillars that seemed to resemble tombstones.
This place was definitely in theme of the dead and dying.
"Yeesh," the Undead said, looking around. "Looks worse than Yharnam."
Serana looked over to the bald undead. "Yharnam?"
"Right, you weren't there."
Serana shook her head, as she said, "Let's just find my Mother."
Patches shrugged. "Sure. I'll tell you the story later."
As they began walking, Serana noticed something in the distance. "Looks like there's a castle over there. That'll be the most likely place she'd be."
"Because of all the shade?" Patches joked.
"Just come on."
Patches merely grunted, as he followed behind her.
Unfortunately, they did not make it far before something caught their attention, and vice versa. And it was big. Suddenly, Serana's Vampire instincts went into overdrive and caused her to freeze up.
"Uh, Serana?"
Serana slowly said, "That... is not good."
"How bad are we talking here?" the bald thief asked.
"RRAAAWWWWRRRR!"
The two looked up and saw what was looming down at them.
"Got it! Eleven out of ten!"
Back in the laboratory, the other three members of the party had long recovered from what had happened with the whole almost-losing-their-souls thing, but were also still worried about their two technically-Undead members.
"Do you think they're okay?" Emilia asked.
"Serana will be fine," Aela said, as Erik vehemently nodded.
"And besides, Patches can't die. So, he'll be his jolly self as ever."
Aela cringed as Erik mentioned the bald Undead. "Yes. Joy."
FWOOOM!
Suddenly, Serana and Patches came running out of the Portal, clearly afraid of someone as Patches jumped out of the way of an... ice blast?
"OUT OF THE WAY!" Patches shouted as the ice blast made its way past him and exploded against the wall.
"What?!" Erik jumped out of his seat. "What's going on?!"
"We've got a big problem! And I mean "Big"!"
"Patches, what did you do?!" Aela shouted.
Serana gasped for air before saying one thing. "An... Undead... Dragon…"
That got Emilia's attention. "Undead… like Subaru and Patches, or…?"
"We don't know, but it looks like a rotten corpse still movin' around and blasting ice!" the bald Undead shouted, his hands waving around in an exaggerated manner.
"Did it try to follow you back?" the party's Werewolf asked.
"We think so, but it's too big to fit through the portal," Serana said.
Erik sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness."
Emilia got up and prepared for combat. "Then I'm going in!"
"WHAT?!" the orange-eyed woman shouted. "Are you crazy?!"
"I'm the Dragonborn! My whole existence is about killing Dragons!" Emilia retorted.
"Did you forget about the part where the alternate dimension tried to rip out your soul from your still-living body?!" Serana shouted at the Half-Elf.
Emilia was undeterred. "You said that Undead can survive in there, right? Then turn me into a Vampire!"
Serana gave the silver-haired girl an incredulous look. "Are… are you serious?"
Emilia nodded. "Yes. Turn me into a Vampire, that way I can kill the Dragon and we can find your mother."
"Wait, isn't that shit permanent?!" Erik shouted.
Serana had to take a deep breath before carefully explaining it to the Half-Elf. "Emilia... you don't know what you're asking for. If I turn you, you would become Immortal and have to drink blood constantly to keep your sanity, and have to deal with the fact that Fire will be even more fatal for you. Not to mention you'll never be able to enjoy the daytime again with the constant irritation and weakness that comes with it. Do you really want to have to go through that?"
Emilia was beginning to have second thoughts about this. Not being able to enjoy the sun? Forever? And being weak to fire? Having to…drink blood to keep her sanity…?
How would Subaru feel about this?
Another sacrifice?
"Is there another way Emilia would be able to enter the Soul Cairn?" Aela asked.
"Yeah, like some kind of… soul box?" Erik suggested.
Serana's eyes widened at what Erik suggested. "Soul box... Hang on."
Patches, meanwhile, had no idea what was going on. "What?"
Serana began to look around the lab for something specific. After a minute of searching, the Vampire Princess found what she was looking for.
"There is a way for Emilia to enter the Soul Cairn without turning her, but... it has some risks."
Emilia's face shifted to one of determination. "Tell me what it is."
Serana pulls out what she was looking for. A Black Soul Gem.
"A partial Soul trap." Serana began to explain. "I can trap a part of your soul in this gem and it should allow you to enter the Soul Cairn without dying, and Erik and Aela can hold onto it until we return."
"What's the catch?" The Half-Elf.
Serana hesitated a bit before explaining. "I've... only done this in practice before. I have no idea what could happen to you in the time being, especially if this will leave long-lasting effects on you."
Emilia nodded in understanding. "So, it's uncharted waters."
"I'll be honest, Emilia. Each option isn't good. Being a Vampire would be the safer option, but it could cost you your Humanity. And partially Soul Trapping you will allow you to keep your Humanity, but the effects could be unpredictable." SeranaI explained, hoping to make sure Emilia knew the risks.
"It's a lose-lose scenario," Patches summarized.
It took some debating, and each option scared her. It was either becoming an Immortal bloodsucker that's weak to Fire and the Sun, or allowing a piece of her own soul to be ripped from her and be put into a Gem with no idea how it could affect her in the long run.
But eventually, she came to a decision.
Emilia grabbed Serana's hands. "Serana, I will... I'll allow you to Soul trap me. I'll admit... I'm terrified at the thought of part of my souls being ripped out... but I trust you."
Serana was surprised by this. "You do?"
Emilia nodded. "Do what you have to."
Serana gave her a strained smile. "You… might feel a slight sting…"
Serana readied a Soul Trap spell while holding the Black Soul Gem. After a few seconds of focus and concentration, Serana cast the spell, which caused Emilia to grunt in pain, but luckily, the spell was a success.
"How do you feel?" the Vampire asked.
Emilia grunted "Weak... but... I can move…"
Patches guided her to a chair. "Take a few moments to rest…"
Emilia did so, and tried her best to regain her strength. Thankfully with the help of some Stamina potions and Mana Enhancement, Emilia was able to get back on her feet and take a few deep breaths.
"How do you feel?" Erik asked.
Emilia grunted, getting up. "I can keep going…"
"Alright, just don't push yourself." Aela held Emilia in place to make sure she wasn't straining herself.
The amethyst-eyed girl nodded her head. "Right…"
"Alright, as soon as you're right as rain, we're going back into the portal," Serena said.
Emilia nodded. "Okay... just need to get adjusted first."
She could do this. She had to be strong for them, for everyone.
She had to.
Author's Note: So, Emilia has taken her first steps to being something more… while also exploring what I think might be the Skyrim equivalent of the afterlife. Am I right on that?
(One of the afterlives in the Elder Scrolls, specifically the ones that get souls trapped in soul gems and used for enhancements. The Soul Cairn is definitely something. A dark, desolate, and depressing world to spend eternity in. It's one of the reasons I do not want to live in the world of Elder Scrolls.) Alright, now it's time for the comments!
5queso: I think it's safe to say that no one likes Molag Bal. Also, I'm glad that you still like our work. I guess it just proves to show that the writers themselves are their own biggest critics. While I'm not that big on the Skyrim lore, I know that it's pretty important whenever Infinite brings it up as a plotpoint, so we do our best to show it. And as for MatPat's video… let's just say that it's pretty fascinating, for the topic it's about.
Kifhjoofff: Sí, Serana tiene una de las historias de fondo más trágicas de este fic. Y Patches es básicamente Kazuma si eliminas su estado japonés.
Anyways, back to the regular old shilling…
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- Ernalore & Infinite the Celestian