[A/N] Sorry for the extremely long hiatus! Got busy with moving, work and Baldur's Gate 3 which consumed me. XD I'm back to finish posting this story! I'll try not to disappear again if life allows! Got a lot to catch up on such as this story and an another I was reading from a friend on here. Excited to be back and practicing my writing and learning more!]

Chapter 18: The Portal

Mimzi and Serana rowed to the docks of Castle Volkihar once more. The winds off stone created a sharp, harrowing cry under the arching cliffs. They rowed to the dock while gathering a lead of rope. The boat swayed as they stepped onto the platform. They could see pale white eyes lurking in the shadows within the stairwells.

Serana's ice spell shimmered in her hand, and gloom of red in the other. Mimzi felt for her axe hilt. At the shuffle of their footsteps, unnatural creaks of bone and metal stirred in the shadows. Mimzi pulled out her axe but tried to channel the flame spell in her right. Adrenaline stalled her concentration. Serana threw an ice spike to the first skeleton, which pierced into a chest plate but not deterring it.

"Mimzi, now!"

The fire bolt exploded into the undead, blasting into pieces. It's comrade pulled out his bow and arrow, causing Mimzi and Serana to lunge under cover. The arrow flew and cracked over the stone, narrowly missing Mimzi's head. She held her fire spell, knowing the skeleton had an arrow drawn waiting to soar.

Serana threw an ice spike to the other side of the ruin, which cracked the sword arm of the skeleton clean off. She casted another, which impaled into its pelvis causing the bones to scatter at impact. Serana hoarsely breathed, "That's all of them… these undead weren't here before. Probably risen by my father or one of his lackeys in case we were dim enough to come back. Unfortunately for them, we can handle a few skeletons… let's go."

Mimzi ambled behind Serana, passing the skeleton remains. She picked up the bow and arrows left as they jogged up to the undercroft. The doors ripped from the hinges and splintered into chunks of wood. Tuff of black hair and scratch marks on the remnants of old wood, left behind by Vilkas. Inside, the air was thick and musty, and the horrid stench of rotting dead rose up again. The winds were left behind outside, yet the air stayed just as cold. They passed the cistern and down the hall towards the bridging over traps and wooden spears into the pit. Every movement an effort to stay quiet. The smell of rotten corpses became strong, and the room mounded in skeletons and flesh was back in view.

Mimzi irked quietly, "Out of all the places I've seen, never dreamt of seeing this place twice. Somehow… it's not as horrifying as the first time… kind of strange."

Serana mumbled, "I've seen this place thousands of times… and it will always give me the creeps."

They walked over dry bones into the deeper chamber. There was blood smeared and fur pulled from the fight between Farkas and Vilkas, and Aela's blood dried to the skulls. Mimzi's eyes wilted at the remains of her friends, and the distant nagging in her mind from the unknown. Then she caught a glimmer to the side of her eye. It was long and sharp; the shape of a sword. Mimzi gasped and bolted to the light, startling Serana. Over the bones was Dragonbane. She took the axe from her sheath, and found a scabbard for her sword from a body in the piles. Serana sighed in relief knowing Mimzi hadn't found something more alarming.

"My sword… never thought I'd see it again."

"Really? You scared the life out of me over a sword?"

"This is an Akaviri sword…" Mimzi mumbled, "You know how expensive these things are?"

Serana continued back towards the bridging.

Mimzi asked, "Where does this lead?"

"We are entering bounds of the castle you haven't seen yet, and I haven't seen myself in centuries. Be ready… I have no idea what's waiting for us. Knowing my mother, she would have left a few party gifts for anyone who'd breach her old laboratories." Serana explained lowly as she summoned a candlelight spell to show their way.

"What makes you think she's down here?"

"I have a hunch. When my mother sealed me away, she said she was going into hiding with the scroll. Somewhere safe. Somewhere my father would never search. When she said it, she called attention to it, almost as if she knew I knew. It's down this way… just be ready."

She followed her back towards the bridging over the wood impales, and up another flight of stairs to a door. Serana almost spoke but kept quiet when she turned the knob. A brisk sweep of fresh air met them as soon as she did so. Mimzi and Serana entered what appeared as a courtyard, walled entirely by vast towering infrastructure. It was layered in garden beds left to fend for themselves in rotten weeds. The doorways were all buried in rock. To the centre of the courtyard was a moon dial, aligned in crystal augments in the likeness of moons in cycle.

"No… What happened here?"

"What?"

Serana looked along the dead plants and ruined arrangements dejectedly, "This was my mother's garden… it used to be… it never used to look like this. My mother wouldn't let it… which means my hunch was wrong."

"You're all bent out of shape over some dead flowers? What are you talking about?"

"I was hoping my mother would be here. My father hated this courtyard… and from the looks of it, he took his rage from our departure on it. It's a shame… this place was beautiful. Can you imagine how beautiful something can be when it's tended to by a master for centuries? This was my mother's sanctuary, her project. It's not right seeing it like this…"

"So, we came here for no reason then?"

Serana stayed quiet in thought as she looked down to the augments of the moon dial. Her sadness leaned to suspicion the longer she pondered.

"Do you see the moon dial? You see the crests?"

"Yeah, what about them?"

"They are in the pattern of the moon cycle. Or at least they were," Serana stopped at a few empty slots where no augments were placed and stated, "Some of the crests are missing. The dial is askew."

"So what?"

Serana began to scour along the courtyard, "Look around. They've got to be around here somewhere…"

"What in Ysmir's beard are you talking about?"

"Just find the crests! I have a feeling."

Mimzi released a groan and reluctantly looked along the courtyard. Serana swiftly paced along the yard, as well. They searched for an amount of time that drove Serana to anger, and Mimzi to impatient boredom. Suddenly, Serana shrieked, "I found one!"

She came running towards Mimzi with a wet and dripping crest in her hand, the shape of a waxing crescent. She walked straight to the moon dial and inspected for the right spot to place it. She knelt down and fitted the crest back.

Mimzi asked, "You think if we find all of them… it'll reveal your mother?"

"Makes sense, right? I didn't even know the crests could be removed… My mother may not have left a note for me, but I think she's telling me something. We need two more."

They continued to scour the courtyard, where Mimzi walked up a balcony and spotted one peaking from the soil in a desecrated planter.

"Found another one!"

Serana ran to Mimzi and picked the full moon crest from her palms, then placing it to the moon dial. As she stood, she could see the last crest of a half moon on the ground by a corner of the courtyard. Serana bolted to the crest then back to the moon dial to place the last missing augment.

As she did so, the moon dial cracked and shifted with stone on stone in a clock-wise direction. Mimzi and Serana baffled at the revealing of a spiralling staircase to a secret entrance. They both slowly strode to the first step, staring down in disbelief at the door in darkness.

Serana almost said it to herself, "Very clever, mother..." She perked a half smile, "I know that woman like my own back hand, I know when she's being cryptic… even without words."

"You're making this too damn easy. Where were you during the dragon crisis?"

Serana went to clasp the doorknob, but before she could turn it, she froze.

Mimzi raised a brow, "You usually turn it and it opens."

"I've never been down here. Ever. I don't know this place. My mother never brought me down here, which means there is something down here. I can't be prepared for what that might be…"

"We're no closer to finding your mother and getting the scroll standing here."

"I can't protect you in here, Mimzi… I can try, but I don't know what to expect…"

Mimzi scoffed a laugh, "I don't need you to protect me, I've got your back. I'm your shield-sister. We're doing this together."

Serana looked back to Mimzi and asked dejectedly, "Shield-Sister?"

"It's a Companion thing. But it's true… in Jorrvaskr, we're family. We don't know each other, we may not even like each other, but in battle, we're family. We fight to death for each other. That's what being a shield-sister means. I've got your back."

Serana smirked, "That's kind of sweet… for a Nord custom, anyway…"

"So are we doing this?"

Serana nodded and turned the knob. The innards of the chamber were dark and wafting in dust. It smelt of centuries of desolation. Serana and Mimzi stood before the abyss. She summoned a candlelight spell again, which illuminated abandoned tables, bookshelves and hallways leading deeper underground.

They stepped inside, and as they did so, Serana smiled at the thought, I've always wanted a sister…

Deeper into the chambers, Serana and Mimzi stayed close to one another through narrow passages. Mimzi held the hilt of her sword in her hand, ready to throw the blade at any surprises. It opened into a dining hall. It was lit dimly with scattered candle light. The table had been thrown across the room, with chairs shattered to pieces. A large piece of rubble from the ceiling had smashed a quarter of the dining table. An upper balcony overlooked the dining hall, and a passage behind it. In the chairs that remained upright were slumbering skeletons, all equipped in armour and weaponry.

Serana struck an ice spike to one that almost landed its axe into her shoulder. The ice spike sent the skeleton hurling back from the blow. Shots of lightning came from the upper balcony as a mage skeleton used the range to its advantage. Mimzi blocked the lightning with her ward that shattered at the spell. It went to throw another bolt, but Serana casted her ice spike to the undead's skull. When it fell, she casted another spell that ribboned the fallen skeleton in purple. It reanimated and came to Serana's aid, throwing more lightning strikes at the other skeleton that pursued Mimzi. The blast scattered the bones, leaving the two alone once more. The reanimated skeleton kept to Serana's side, making eerie creaks and chattering from its jaw.

Mimzi breathed loudly trying to catch her breath, as Serana grabbed the axe's scabbard off the skeleton remains and strapped it to her waist. She sheathed the ancient Nord axe and nodded to Mimzi, "I got your back, too."

"That you do, shield-sister."

Serana breathed out in relief, feeling a kindred prowess she hadn't felt but only in Mimzi's company. They walked up the balcony and to the next passage, which was lit by cracks in the tall ceilings revealing day light. The halls were still in the vampiric craftsmanship, but rubbled with fallen debris. They came up to large doors, and Mimzi and Serana pushed them open from each side. Inside revealed a vast chamber with climbing steps and high ceilings. The rooms were reaching, yet the air was sparse. They walked in slowly, examining every crevice for dangers. Mimzi stayed hopeful they would find Serana's mother, but the farther they delved, the more bleak the intent seemed.

Up the steps they reached another chamber, dark as night and silent as space. They walked in and could see the outline of dangling spikes and traps along the floor and from the shallow ceiling. Serana summoned another orb of light from her palm, which brightly lit the room to the very end. A gargoyle sat just before them and broke suddenly from its stone encasing. Mimzi and Serana shrieked to the sudden roar. The creature lunged towards the two, who fled and leapt to different sides of the chamber. Mimzi's leap into the darkness was accompanied by a sharp sting in her right arm. She had nicked a dangling spike. The pain struck then continued to singe her arm even further. The pain bit so terribly Mimzi made a pained cry. She stayed immobile to the ground. Serana dived into the shadows adjacent to her and panicked at the sound of her cries.

"Mimzi!"

The gargoyle lunged to Serana, who shot an ice spike to the creature's belly. It howled and ripped the spike from its flesh, sending plasma out the wound. Serana tried to fend it off with a drain spell, but the creature persisted. She snatched her axe from the scabbard and went to throw it. The creature thrashed her hand away and tackled her to the floor of the chamber. Serana struck lightning from her palm, but missed by inches. Suddenly a blade dug through the back of the creature, making it freeze and quiver. It sputtered and growled before flopping to its side. Serana panted heavily as she sat up. Mimzi stood over with her sword being pulled from the corpse.

Mimzi resolved her scowl and reached her hand for Serana to grasp. She helped her off the ground and asked, "You okay?"

Serana nodded, "I will be. I knew this place would be littered in surprises. I was just hoping I was nervous." She then noticed Mimzi's bloody gash along her arm, "Did you nick one of those spikes?"

Mimzi looked down to her cut and nodded, "Yeah… hurts like a bitch. Honestly feels like I just want to cut it off…"

"Those spikes are poisoned, Mimzi! You need to watch for these traps. My mother would've made sure to make them lethal… as lethal as possible. You need to heal now!"

Serana raised her hand to Mimzi's injury for a restoration spell. The glowing gold from her hand chimed, gently easing the pain in Mimzi's arm. She held it up for a moment and released, exhaling painfully. Serana thudded back and nearly lost her stepping.

Mimzi asked, "What's going on?"

"I've spent my magic…" Serana exhaled, "I need sometime to rest before it comes back…"

Mimzi winced through the coursing pain from her arm that began to travel up her neck, "Alright, so we wait."

"No. That poison is spreading throughout your entire body as we speak, you don't heal you'll die— fast. You need to try and heal yourself now."

Mimzi could feel gathering sweat from her face and chest. A fever erupted fast, sending her whole body in a chill and she began to rattle. Mimzi croaked through a blotchy tone, "I… I don't know if I can. I've never healed myself."

"You need to try. You can do it, just do it quick. Imagine the pain you're in finally subsiding, just like last time. This time you need to focus on yourself feeling better, but not the pain."

Mimzi could feel herself getting faint, and knew she'd fall to unconsciousness if she did not heal now. She rested onto her backside and raised her left hand to her upper arm. She clasped her clammy hands over the blood-soaked cut. The pain was excruciating the more pressure she put on, and she gritted her teeth through a cry. The pain was all she could think about. It was the only existing thing in her mind, and the most powerful feeling she had. Serana fell to her knees beside her and put her hand to Mimzi's knee.

"You can do this… bury the pain. You're better than it. You'll feel better when you do. Just bury it deep."

Her hands gently squeezed Mimzi's knee, and she looked up to Serana's terrified eyes. Mimzi kept eye contact to Serana, gaining a kind of relief from her company. As Mimzi continued to stare up to her wearily, an orange hue lit their faces accompanied by a serenading chime. The pain in her arm began to subside, and the relief brought tears to Mimzi's eyes. She didn't look from Serana, she was almost encouraging her to keep going.

Mimzi finally closed her eyes in deep relief as the spell did its work. She lifted her hand from her cut, revealing a sealed scar. The symptoms of her fever and infection were gone. Serana helped her off the ground, and the two carried on through to the other side of the chamber. The darkness was thick, and Serana attempted to summon a candlelight spell but her magic was still healing. Mimzi casted a flame to a brazier left behind in the hall, which brightly lit their way. Pillars aligned the chamber, with hanging chains and stone tables to the walls. There was no other doorway from the chamber, and no sign of life besides themselves. To the left of the gargoyles original position was a small library with bookshelves brimming in tomes. Serana pulled Mimzi's arm and pointed, "Over there…"

They both ambled up to the abandoned books and tomes. Serana began to pull books halfway from the shelves before sliding them back into place.

"What are you…" Mimzi asked before being promptly cut off.

"Looking for a lever…" Serana declared earnestly pulling at books.

Mimzi raised a brow, and looked up impulsively at a candle stick and turned it. By her surprise (and Serana's) it shifted and turned, creating the stone to pop out and grind down into the floor, revealing another secret passageway.

Serana flabbergasted, "Did you… how did you?"

"I don't know… I gave it a shot and I was right. Didn't think it would be the lever, either."

Serana tittered lightheartedly, "Leave it to my mother. Always smarter than I gave her credit for."

They walked through another winding set of steps up several flights. Each wall was coated in spider webbing. They came up to another arched door, which Serana opened promptly. The hinges creaked into the next chamber. Their eyes were immediately caught by a strange formation in the centre of the chamber that distracted them from the rest of the laboratory. The formation was shaped like a ribbed circle. Each column descended a little deeper into the floor much like a mound. It was carved and handcrafted, with candles lit along the edges. Surrounding the formation was scattered bookshelves, tables, alchemy stands and enchanting altars. It had a higher level filled with more knowledge, and shelves littered in herbs and soul gem shards.

Serana muttered, "I think it's safe to say we found her laboratory…"

Mimzi staunchly replied, "That's what this is?" She gestured down to the circle.

Serana walked around it carefully, "I have no idea what this is. Something my mother was studying, that's for sure…"

"Looks like necromancy…"

Serana agreed, "My mother was a master in it, so wouldn't surprise me. But what kind of necromancy? She taught me everything I know, and I've never seen anything like this."

Mimzi walked over to the bookshelves aligned in ingredients. There were giant toes, flaming salts, dart wings, cluster root and void salts. Books were brimming and cluttered into the shelvings. Serana continued to ponder the circle, trying to think on where her mother could have gone, and why she left such an altar behind.

"Let me know if you find anything, writings… recipes… ingredients. Perhaps she left behind something that might tell us what she was doing."

As Serana said so, Mimzi noticed a velvet red journal wedged into the bookshelf. She pulled it out and unbuckled the strap. The book was old and worn, and the writings smudged and barely coherent enough to read. Mimzi chimed as she read from the contents, "You mean like a journal?"

Serana whipped her head back to see Mimzi reading from the book, "What is that?"

She ran over to Mimzi's side who aloofly shrugged, "Don't know, it was the only book with a leather strap. Looks like a journal."

Serana grabbed the journal from Mimzi's hands and read sternly. She stood still in one place as Mimzi quietly awaited for Serana's verdict. She flipped through pages, trying to find a plausible answer. For minutes Serana read, where Mimzi slowly began to lose her patience.

"Well? Is it her journal, or not?"

Serana said lowly, "It is…" She took a moment to read on and sighed in amazement, "By the blood… she did it…"

"Did what?"

Serana lowered the journal and looked to the circle in astonishment, "She made a portal… a portal to the Soul Cairn."

Mimzi flummoxed, "A portal to what?"

Serana earnestly walked over to the portal and excitedly explained, "When a soul is trapped in a gem and used to enchant, a lot of people believe the soul is destroyed. It vanishes into thin air, leaving no trace behind. Well, my mother knew that wasn't true. In fact, the fewest and most skilled necromancers know where souls go after they've been trapped and used for witchcraft. My mother believes they go to the Soul Cairn."

Mimzi's eyes widened, "What… is the Soul Cairn?"

"A plane of Oblivion. Somewhere owned and controlled by dark, powerful forces. I don't know much besides that. If my mother was hiding somewhere, it's there. Everything is starting to make sense. This would explain where she's been all these centuries."

"Whoa! You saying you want to go there?! You want to go to the Soul Cairn?!"

Serana replied stoically, "Yes."

Mimzi shook her head and rejected the idea, "Forget it. No way. There is no way we are going to a damn plane of Oblivion; not a damn chance."

"Mimzi…"

"No!" Mimzi barked, "You don't even know what is in there! You don't even know if that's where your mother is! Besides… how are we even supposed to get there? Looks kind of sealed up, don't you think? Is there a 'magic' lever for the portal, too?"

"There's a recipe," Serana added, "It's in this journal, she had all her notes and depictions written down. It's no coincidence she left the journal here. She knew I was going to come some day! This is the answer. She's telling us to go there! We need the Elder Scroll, she has it. She's the only one who can help us and if she's in the Soul Cairn, why would that stop us? We've made it this far. You said it yourself; we are in this together. Who else is going to get that scroll if not us?"

Mimzi bobbed her feet, trying to think of another solution, but all of this was far beyond her comprehension. Mimzi cursed, "Damn it!" She relented angrily, "Fine, whatever let's just get it over with."

Serana sighed and read from the writings once more, "Alright. It says we need some ground bonemeal, shards of soul gems and fine void salts. Those will be easy to find in here. It also calls for… damn it."

"What?"

"The original caster's blood. My mothers blood. Which if we had on hand, we wouldn't be doing this in the first place."

Mimzi flexed a brow, "You share her blood…"

Serana's eyes went vacant, "Not bad… I guess that'll have to do. I hope it works, mistakes with these kind of rituals can be… gruesome."

The two scattered to different parts of the laboratory for the items. Mimzi grabbed a bowl and began gathering soul shards into it, with Serana carrying a bowl of bonemeal to the altar. She went up to the higher balcony and found finely grounded void salts in a bowl under a bookshelf. Serana brought them over to the offering table then dumped all the ingredients together.

"So…" Mimzi hushed as she watched Serana stir the dusts together, "You are a necromancer, then? Like you find this stuff… fun?"

Serana smirked, "Fun is an interesting term. I would say more fascinating than fun."

"That's basically what I said. Can't say I agree with any of it."

"And that's why I like you. You're the first person I've ever met who has made me feel even the slightest bit ashamed for my craft. You brought awareness, I guess. You're like this… big ball of light. You're almost so innocent I feel weird doing this in front of you."

"That's… weird."

"I'm saying you're a good person and I respect it. You may as well be a Divine lovechild, because you have all their ideals inherently. Despite our differences, I think it makes us a great team… I hope you can at least agree with that," Serana explained in a friendly tone.

"See… you say that, but you are a good person, too. I mean you're not digging to hurt or torture people like other vampires… so... Why are you a vampire?"

Serana looked up from the bowl, "What?"

"Why are you a vampire? I mean, were you turned against your will? Did your father force you? Or your mother?"

"That's none of your business."

"You're asking me to go to a plane of Oblivion where souls are trapped for eternity, least you can do is tell me why you wanted to be a bloodsucker."

"Noticed how easily we got into this place? Or how skilled I am in magic? Or why I don't need to sleep or eat? It's a boon. I actually get something from this 'curse' you detest so much. The things I had to do, the sacrifices I've made, I earned this. You think I'd make a choice like this without wanting it first? I was raised to be a vampire, and when my time came on Molag Bal's summoning day, I didn't shrink from it. What I went through to get this would be that much worse if I resented it. I'll never give it up, despite how guilty your innocence makes me feel."

"You hear 'vampire' you think a blood-thirsty bastard who enjoys murdering people, and you're not that. You think Molag Bal, who is also a murdering bastard, yet you worshipped him. How can someone like you, be someone who wants to be a vampire?"

Serana scoffed a laugh, "What? You think I need to be born a psychopath to want this kind of power? You'd be surprised how many people would hone this gift if they were given the chance. I was an only child, raised to believe in Molag Bal's power, and promised incredible power if I followed him. For a little girl living constantly in fear of the elders above me, and the helplessness of being torn in the middle between my mother and father, why wouldn't I accept this gift? Not everyone is like you, Mimzi. Some of us just want to feel safe. Being a vampire is far more comfort for me than being mortal. Now please… let's just drop it."

Mimzi pressed her lips together and stood quietly as Serana casted the mixture over the circle. The flames began to flicker and a shift of wind blew just below their feet from the altar. Serana sighed as it ceased, "Now my turn…" She held her hand out over the circle and pried out her dagger. Mimzi stood back from the altar, scared of what would happen as soon as Serana offered her blood. She sliced the knife down her palm, and the trickling blood went into the centre of the circle.

Suddenly the floor began to shake, and a terrible shrieking was heard from the centre, where a pure white light erupted. Mimzi looked away and ran to the far side, with Serana staring into the centre in amazement at the portal opening. There was a large blast that sent things flying from the shelves and tables, and pulsed Mimzi and Serana's hair back. The light faded and revealed a descending step into the circle, which was now a purple, storming abyss of clouds and lightning. The air suddenly went cold and stale, and a scent of static filled the room. Mimzi lowered her hand from her face and approached the portal, with Serana still standing over it in shock.

She uttered, "It's… it's actually here. The portal. The Soul Cairn. I can't believe we opened it."

Mimzi tried to steady her breath as she came closer to the horrible abyss. Even as she stepped closer, she felt weaker. "You… want to go inside that?"

Serana looked to Mimzi earnestly, "This is the way to find my mother. To find the Elder Scroll. I don't think it's a matter of 'want' as it is a need."

Mimzi rattled in her skin. She stared into the pit in fear, praying to the Divine's they would be with her now.

Serana held her hand out to Mimzi, "You won't be alone. We can do this together. Trust me."

Mimzi reflected her moments in the blink of an eye. She once sat in the belly of Alduin the World Eater, she survived the depths of Blackreach, and nearly died as she was drained by vampires. She looked down at the portal and demeaned it, underestimated it. In order for her to conjure the courage to pass through the portal's eye, she needed to belittle the portal and its contents. She looked up at Serana, whose eyes and face were so full of certainty and trust. Mimzi felt reassured in Serana's steady gaze. She knew she would not be taking this venture alone.

"Alright… I'm ready when you are."

Serana smiled and took Mimzi's hand. Together they walked down the steps into the abyss. The closer Mimzi walked, she started to feel a pull at her insides. Her nerves jangled, and then a crippling pain. Mimzi's knees buckled, and she cried out in agony. Serana grabbed her and pulled her up from the portal and back to the laboratory. Mimzi clenched her teeth and cried, clutching at her insides. The pain left suddenly as she escaped the clutches of the portal.

Serana panicked, "Mimzi! Mimzi, what's happening? Why are you… oh no. No… no, no, no." Serana's eyes glazed over in a frightening realization that made her thud to the floor with Mimzi.

Mimzi picked herself off her back, "I… I can't do that again… gods… it was trying to kill me."

"I know… I should have seen this. I'm an idiot for not catching it earlier. I'm so sorry I made you go through that."

"What are you talking about? You knew it would do that to me?"

"No! I mean… I didn't and I did. The Soul Cairn is… hungry… for lack of a better word. It wants to take your soul as payment. Think of it as the bottomless pit of a starved animal that can never get its fill. It knows you have a soul and want entry, but it won't stop trying to kill you as long as you're alive and trying to enter… there's no way you can get in."

"So what can we do? We can't go in then we're screwed! This was all for nothing."

"I can. I can gain entry because I'm a vampire. My soul is already owned by Molag Bal. But…"

"There's no way you are going in there by yourself… Serana, you don't know what's in there. You could die."

Serana helped Mimzi up, "What else are we supposed to do? There's nothing else we could do but…"

A sudden thought struck Serana again, and the idea chilled her cold, white skin. Serana's eyes wilted at the thought, and she hesitated to share it, but knew it was their only option.

Mimzi pressed, "What is it? Why do you look like that?"

"Unless you become a vampire, yourself."

Mimzi listened to the words in slow motion, firstly getting angry at the very idea, but her eyes glossed at realizing the choices they had before them, and the only option that made sense. "No way… no… there has to be another way."

"There isn't. This is the only way you can enter the Soul Cairn with me."

She uttered, "Serana. You're saying… in order for me to find that scroll, to stop your father… I need to become a vampire?"

Serana whimpered, "I'm so sorry, there… may be something I can do. But only after I turn you. I can soul trap you as soon as I turn you, and your soul will be with me. I've heard rumours of warlocks that can cure vampires in Skyrim. Maybe if we find one, we can cure you. "

"Those are rumours!"

"There were rumours about a Moth Priest, too. This isn't what you want, I know that. I don't want this for you, either. If I go alone, I risk being trapped there forever. I've got your back, right? I'm your shield-sister, and I've got your back. I promise I won't stop until I find you the cure, but first we need that scroll and there's only one way to get it."

Mimzi wiped her tears and whispered, "By becoming a vampire…"

Serana laid her hands to Mimzi's shoulders, "I'm so sorry, Mimzi. I would do anything to protect you from this, and I won't let this consume you. I'll be there every step of the way. I'll make you my family. My sister. I'll sooner die than let you stay a vampire for eternity. I will find you a cure. I promise you this on my life, you can trust me to save you. But I need you to save me and everyone else now. We need that scroll."

Mimzi walked from Serana, shaking her head in a desperate fight against the idea. All her life she followed the Divine's and followed their teachings. Now she was being asked to abandon her very soul for this mission. She weighed the greater good in her head, but the crippling fear of becoming the very thing she swore to destroy made her physically sick. The cackling of static from the portal was all that was heard as Mimzi silently contemplated her options. Her face winced as tears dipped down her cheeks. In the moments Serana stood waiting for Mimzi's answer, she was relenting her own honour for the sake of the mission. For the sake of Skyrim. The greater good was clear. Mimzi slowly turned to Serana. Her blue eyes were sparkling in fresh tears.

"Turn me."

"Are you completely sure you want to do this?"

"No… But turn me, anyway…"

Serana stepped closer to Mimzi, who shuddered at her approach. She kept her eyes to the floor. As she came face to face with her, Mimzi silently wept again. Serana gently moved her red locks from her neck, making Mimzi whimper and squeeze her eyes shut.

"Mimzi…" She hesitated. The disturbing thought of sinking her teeth into Mimzi's neck.

Mimzi opened her eyes, "Do it!"

"I don't… I can't do this to you."

"Yes, you can! Just do it, now!"

Serana grabbed Mimzi by the throat, making her gasp. Serana whispered, "I'm sorry." Then sunk her teeth into Mimzi's neck with such speed it froze Mimzi solid. A sudden pain through her neck, then it enveloped her body. In an instant her blood went cold. Her sight hazed and turned blood red. Every sound intensified and smell putrid. Mimzi could hear the heart beneath her chest shudder and stop dead, yet she kept breath. The pain then lessened, and the sting dissipated. Serana kept her teeth into Mimzi's neck as she conjured a purple spell which trapped her soul into a black gem. Mimzi's eyes squinted, and she inhaled sharply as her eyes reopened, revealing blood red irises and golden pupils. Her skin turned pale as ice, and a sudden euphoria took hold. Mimzi was light as air, and every ache in her body left her. The cold was soothing. The relief of no pulse granted her a sweet silence. Serana released her teeth from Mimzi's neck, where breath came to Mimzi far deeper than it ever had before.

[A/N: So, I went a different route with entering the Soul Cairn then the canon. I know she can trap your soul partially so you can enter without becoming a vampire. But, let's raise the stakes a little! Mimzi is now something she has always despised. It'll definitely aid her in the Soul Cairn, but not without a catch. Thank you to everyone who is still reading! It means a lot and keeps me going! Will be posting them more frequent now as a lot of time has been missed!]