Chapter 34: A Worthy Steed

"Ready to go in?" Serana asked the silver-haired girl.

Emilia took a deep breath before answering. "Yeah, I think I'm ready."

Patches grabbed his spear. "Alright, let's go in."

"Be careful."

Aela put her hand on the young Nord's shoulder. "They will."

The trio entered the Soul Cairn once again, allowing Emilia to see and examine the bleak extra-dimensional world it was with her own eyes.

"This... this place... it's…"

"Probably better than Detroit," the bald thief jokes, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Let's keep moving, and take it slow. We can't risk Emilia exhausting herself before we come across that Dragon." Serana said, walking down the path to the castle.

"I thought my joke was funny…"

"More Earth stuff?" Emilia guessed.

Patches nodded happily. "Yeah, Subaru taught me a bit."

"We think that Mother will be in that Castle in the distance," Serana said.

"Mmm… where's the dragon?"

Serana looks around for a minute. "I don't see it, but it's possible it could come back around."

Patches started walking. "Then let's hurry it up."

"NEEIIGH!"

The trio was surprised to see a... Skeletal horse run by?

"Arvak! Come back!"

"Arvak…?" Emilia repeated, as the trio's attention turned to a spirit running up to them. He looked like an armored man, but… his entire body was glowing blue. And see-through.

"Did anyone see a horse run by just now?"

"Yeah, you just missed it…" Patches said, pointing in the opposite direction.

"Oddammit! I'm never gonna be able to catch him at this rate…"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Serana asked the blue man.

The glowing ghost shook his head. "Sorry, I'm afraid I don't remember my name... it's been so long since Arvak and I were sent to this hellscape…"

Emilia winced in sympathy. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that."

"Do you think you can help him?" the ghost asked.

"Huh?" Patches gave the nameless ghost a funny look.

"He's a good steed, and he doesn't deserve to be in this awful place anymore. Unfortunately, his skull has bound him to this place. I know where it is, but it's guarded by more of those... things. They look like Skeletons, but... wrong."

"Draugr?" the orange-eyed woman asked.

The ghost shook his head. "No, not Draugr... no flesh at all, but there's a dark energy among them. It must be because of the Soul Cairn."

"Charming."

"If you'll be so kind as to help me, I can teach you a spell that will allow you to summon him. He can be as loyal of a steed to you as he was to me."

Emilia turned to the vampire. "What do you think, Serana?"

Serana thought about it for a minute. "Well... as important as it is to find Mother, we also need you to conserve your energy. Having a steed to carry you around until we get out of here would be helpful."

"Guess we're going horse-hunting," sighed the bald man.

The nameless ghost smiled. "Thank you so much! Please, follow me."

The mystery ghost went the opposite direction, with the other three following.

"So, why do you venture to the Soul Cairn? I can't imagine any reason one would want to come here?" The ghost asked out of curiosity.

"We're looking for my mother," the Vampire answered.

"Mother?... She wouldn't happen to be wearing similar clothes to you, would she?" That caught the attention of the others.

Serana's eyes narrowed at that. "Possibly. Why?"

"Wait... your name is Serana, right?" The ghost asked, which surprised them.

"Yes, but… how did you know that?"

"Well, aside from your Elven friend speaking your name, I suppose that means you must be Valerica's daughter."

In an instant, Serana dashed towards the spirit, and grabbed him desperately.

GRAB!

Emilia was shocked at what she saw. "S-Serana?!"

"YOU KNOW MY MOTHER?!" Serana shouted. "Where is she?!"

Thankfully, the ghost couldn't feel the negative effects of motion and remained calm. "She's... at the Castle. Though, If you're here to rescue her, I'm afraid you won't have much success."

"And why is that?" Serana asked, letting him go.

"The castle is covered in an impenetrable field of energy. No one can get in or out."

"What sort of energy?" Emilia asked.

The ghost shook his head as Serana let him go. "I'm afraid I couldn't tell you. I was a warrior in life and rarely touched Magic."

"Lead us to it," Serana said, before Patches coughed into his hand.

"Shouldn't we go after the horse first? We kinda need our dragon killer in tip top shape as we can get. Besides, it sounds like your Mom ain't going anywhere." The bald thief pointed out.

Serana groaned but ultimately relented. "Rrrrr… fine."

"Don't worry, after we rescue Arvak, I'll be happy to lead you there."

Serana sighed before asking, "Alright, sure. Where's the horse?"

"The skull should be right over... there." The ghost points to a pedestal with a horse Skull, surrounded by several black skeletons.

"Well, ain't that ominous?" the thieving Undead joked.

Serana prepared to fight. "I'll deal with this."

"Are you sure?" the amethyst-eyed girl asked.

"Trust me…" Serana smiled. "I'm not the one you need to worry about."

"Hell has no fury like an angry woman," Patches spoke aloud, which caused Emilia to look at him incredulously.

Serana walked up to the Skull which caused the Skeletons to take notice of her and charge. The Vampire Princess was unfazed and let loose a Chain Lightning Spell which jumped to them all and caused a great amount of damage to them.

KRAK-BOOM!

"Okay, that actually was scary."

Serana summons two Bound Swords and begins slashing the skeletons to pieces with expert precision, and in just under a minute, they were all in pieces.

"Think they'll reassemble?" Emilia asked.

In response, Serana launches two Fireballs towards the remains of the skeletons which promptly destroyed what remained.

Patches snorted. "No, I don't think so."

"Wow, she really is just like Valerica." The ghost remarked.

"I can still hear you," Serana called out to the ghost.

"Anyways, thank you for your help." The ghost runs up to Arvak's Skull and picks it up.

"You're welcome, but we are on a time crunch."

"Arvak! Come here boy!" In response to his owner's call with his skull, the horse trotted forward. This time, the trio was able to get a good look at him.

Avark was a complete skeleton of a Horse. The bones were an obsidian color with blue ethereal flames where its mane and tail would be. Arvak trotted up to them, standing beside his owner.

"There you are, boy," the ghost said, petting his steed.

Patches didn't know what to make of it. "Looks… healthy?"

"Fear not, he's still as strong as ever. He'll be able to give your friend a ride to keep her off her feet."

"Thank you." Emilia said before walking to Arvak and petting him, something he clearly appreciated. With some help, Emilia was able to get on Arvak's back, who had no trouble carrying her.

"Now… where is my Mother?" Serena asked.

"Of course, follow me."

The three still-living (technically) adventurers, and the horse, followed the dead man through the void. It wasn't long before they arrived at the entrance of the castle where the energy field was becoming visible to them.

"Okay... she usually stays by the entrance, so it's likely she'll be there now."

"Mother?" Serena shouted into the ruins. "MOTHER?"

With Serana screaming, a woman with similar clothes to Serana heard her name being called.

"It... it can't be... Serana?"

"MOTHER!" Serana tried to run up to Valerica to hug her, but she was stopped by the energy field.

"So... that's her?" Patches asked.

"I suppose she is," Emilia said.

"Serana! What are you doing here?! Where is your father?!" the mother asked, clearly a bit paranoid.

"I came here to rescue you! And Father doesn't know we're here!"

"I must have failed... Harkon's found a way to decipher the prophecy, hasn't he?!"

"He doesn't have the scrolls yet! My friend and I have-"

Valerica interrupted Serana. "Wait... you've brought Strangers here with you?! Has all reason abandoned you?!"

Serana shook her head. "Not strangers. Comrades."

Valerica narrowed her eyes towards them. "Is that so? You two! I would speak with you."

"Uhh… okay?" Emilia said, as she stepped forward.

Valerica crossed her arms, examining every inch of them for ill intent. "I want to know who you are, and what your intentions are regarding my Daughter?"

"Umm, I'm Emilia, and I guess we want to help her help us save the world?"

"Hi." The next person to step up was pretty obvious. "Name's Patches, and same as her. Trying to stop your crazy ex-husband from killing everyone."

Serana figured it could have been worse. "As you can see —"

Valerica, however, didn't see it that way. "Then it would seem you know nothing of our struggle. Has Serana explained nothing to you?"

Emilia nodded. "She told us enough."

Valerica was not convinced. "Has she? Then you would know that the Scrolls are merely a means for an end. The true key to the Prophecy... is Serana herself."

The eyes of the two widened as they heard that, with Patches speaking up. "She did not tell us enough."

"Like myself, Serana was once human and the clan we belonged to were devout followers of Molag Bal. Tradition dictates the females be offered to Molag Bal on his summoning day. Few survive the ordeal, but those who do emerge as pure-blooded Vampires. We call such confluence the "Daughters of Coldharbour"."

"Yeah…" Emilia grimaced as she was reminded of that. "We know that much."

"If Harkon obtained Auriel's Bow and used Serana's blood to taint the weapon, the Tyranny of the Sun would be complete. In his eyes, she'd be dying for the good of all Vampire-kind." "Why would you go against it?" Patches asked, "Seems like a massive dub, err, I mean, a massive victory for Vampires everywhere." "Because you are only looking at it from the Vampire perspective. Imagine you are a regular soldier or even civilian, and one day the sky is as back as the night. The entire world would be plunged into chaos and once the world realizes that Vampires are the culprit, every nation in the world would be hunting us down relentlessly. It is that fact that Harkon shrugs off, believing that having Auriel's Bow and eternal night will put the odds in his favor. The fool would only be dooming us all." "And that's not even mentioning the damage it would do to crops and all plantlife, which would eventually deprive Nirn of food," Serana also pointed out. "Okay… that is bad for everyone," Patches agreed with those statements. "Is there a way to stop it?"

"Do you two honestly think I put my own Daughter down in that tomb just to protect the Scroll?" Valerica asked. "I was trying to keep her away from Harkon all along."

Serana's heart stopped as she heard what her mother said. "It… it was you…?"

"It was for your own good, Serana. Harkon would have had you killed as soon as he got what he wanted. Your life means nothing to him any longer," Valerica said, attempting to instill the stakes of the situation.

Serana remained silent at the revelation.

Emilia, however, wasn't silent. "But... that's just wrong! Throwing away her whole life in some stupid form of "protection"?! She's your daughter for Od's sake!"

"What choice did I have?! Let Harkon engulf the world in darkness?! At least with my idea, there was a chance that Serana would be able to live a long happy life if she were ever to be released in an era without that monster! I did it for her!"

"But he doesn't age! Did you seriously just expect to wait until Harkon was killed by someone?! And how would you even know if he died?!" Emilia continued to question the logic of Valerica's decision.

Valerica was about to say something. "I —"

"So, to protect me, you shut me away from everything I ever cared about?"

Valerica was about to interject but Serana kept talking.

"You never asked me if hiding me in that tomb was the best course of action, you just expected me to follow you blindly. Your motivations may have been different, but in the end... I'm still just a pawn to you, too…" Serana said, as she walked away with tears in her eyes.

"Serana, wait!"

Valerica attempted to bring her daughter back, but Serana didn't listen.

She needed to be alone.

"What happens now?"

"You wanna go talk to her?" Patches asked.

The silver-haired Half-Elf looked at her comrade. "What could I even say to her?"

"Anything would be better than what I can come up with."

Emilia had to admit, Patches was right. Shaking her head, she followed Serana.

Serana was curled up, crying that everything she thought she knew about her Mother was a lie. All she cared about was stopping her Father's plans... that was apparently more important than her own daughter...

"Serana."

Serana looked up to see her team's leader. "Not now, Emilia."

"No. Now, more than ever."

"I…" Serana grumbled, before she sighed. "Fine."

Emilia sat down next to the vampire. "I know it's not the same thing, but… I know what it's like to lose your parents."

Serana turned her head to Emilia, with the look she gave made it clear she was wanting an explanation.

Emilia sighed, as she began to explain. "When I was a little girl, the Witch Cult attacked my home… my mother was killed, and my father was as good as dead."

"Witch Cult?" Serana asked.

"Insane cultists who claim to worship the Witch of Envy… but Subaru knows better," the Half-Elf explained. "So do the rest of our party."

"I guess I can ask later... what happened?"

"My father was forced to take on a cursed power… It drove him insane… Pandora, the leader of the Witch Cult, made my father see my mother as the enemy, and… he killed the woman he loved. When he realized what he did… it broke him."

Serana didn't know what to say. "I... that's... horrible…"

Emilia nodded. "I know. But… I'm not alone now."

"What are you saying?"

"I was alone for the longest time, but now… I have Subaru," the silver-haired girl said, smiling. "And Erik, and Aela, and Solaire, and the rest of our party… even Patches."

Serana was starting to get an idea of what Emilia was suggesting. "... And... you want me to...?"

"Be a part of our party. Our family."

Serana didn't know what to say.

Emilia was... offering her a place in their "family"... to her?

"You really want someone like me?" the orange-eyed woman asked.

"Of course," the amethyst-eyed girl said, smiling as she nodded. "Most of us are people with nowhere else to go. So, you'd be perfect there."

"But… I'm a Vampire…"

Emilia was unfazed. "And I'm a Half-Elf, Aela is a Werewolf, and five of us are Undead."

Serana depressingly chuckled to herself. "Huh. I guess we're all monsters."

Emilia shook her head at that statement. "Monsters are those who kill innocent people without remorse or care. Alduin, Pandora, Harkon... they're all monsters. You're just Serana, and that makes you one of us."

Serana teared up, as she hugged Emilia.

"Thank you, Emilia."

Emilia softly smiled, as she hugged Serana back. "Of course, Serana."

Serana chuckled a bit. "You know, if I was into girls, you might have just won my heart there."

Emilia couldn't help but blush a bit. "Flattering."

Standing up, Serana said, "Alright... I think I'm ready."

Emilia nodded, as she also stood up. "Then let's go."

Serana walks back with Emilia, confronting her Mother once again.

Valerica looked at her daughter with sadness. "Serana…"

"Mother... I don't think I can ever forgive you. You locked me away for centuries and just hoped Father would die. If not for these people, I would still be there, and continue to be robbed of my freedom."

Valerica remained silent.

"However, we still need the Elder Scroll," the orange-eyed woman said. "We're going to stop Father, and we need Auriel's Bow to do that."

"So start talking," Patches chimed in.

Valerica exhaled softly. "I have the Elder Scroll in my possession. I've been keeping it safe to make sure Harkon couldn't get his hands on it even if he could get here. However, as long as the barrier is up, you won't be able to enter."

"Then the barrier has to go," Serana surmised.

"There are three guards that power the barrier," the older Vampire told her daughter. "If you kill them, then you'll be able to enter and take the Scroll."

Patches shrugged. "Sounds easy enough."

"They're scattered about this valley. You'll have to find each of them and kill them."

"Then we better get started," the group's Half-Elf said.

"What about the Dragon that nearly froze our asses off?" Patches pointed out.

"We do our best to avoid him," Serana simply said.

Valerica explained what she knew. "His name is Durnehviir. You could say he's my "jailor", so to speak. The Ideal Masters put him in charge over me, to make sure I can't leave."

Emilia never heard of such beings. "The Ideal Masters?"

"The Rulers of the Soul Cairn. Very little is known about them, though they wield great power over souls. Word of advice: Never strike a bargain with them. They will find a way to turn it to their favor."

"They're bankers, got it," the bald man joked.

"Once you kill the guardians, Durnehviir will most definitely take notice." Valerica warned them.

"Any possible weaknesses?" Emilia asked.

"Like with most reanimated undead, Fire will be your best bet. Other than that, I'm afraid there's nothing more I can tell you."

Serana sighed. "Better than nothing, I suppose."

"Alright, let's go," Emilia said, as she and the others headed out.

Author's Note: The horse says, "FOR THE LOVE OF TALOS, SHUT UP AND LET'S GET THIS OVER WITH!" Wait, they don't say that? Well, I'm sure at least one has to…

(The Good Boy is here! I know that usually is reserved for dogs, but dog companions are very limited in Skyrim to my knowledge. In all seriousness, Arvak is the best steed you can have in the vanilla game, even better than Shadowmere since Arvak is only around when you want him. The first time I got Arvak, I just stumbled on the shrine by accident. Been going back for him in every run.) Now, it's time for some late comments!

Wicked.A: Unfortunately, the Elden Ring storyline takes place in another world, while this one only has elements of Dark Souls within its world (along with the Elder Scrolls and Re: Zero), so, while Glintstone Sorceries are indeed cool, they'd be impossible here.

5queso: Glad you saw MatPat's video. But, yeah, the self-criticism will always be there, especially this week, as I got swamped with sudden problems, (And I'm being forced to go back to college.) meaning that most of my stuff had to be posted a whole twelve hours (or a whole day) later than usual. I have also been embarrassed by some of my own cringe writing from my high school days, so you're not alone on that front. Also, a fun fact, we did consider giving Emilia vampirism! (It was a tough decision.) Laters!

Kifhjoofff: Bueno, el canon Patches es un poco más idiota, al igual que el fanon Kazuma, así que supongo que tener lo inverso en este fic y en el canon de Konosuba lo equilibra...

Anyways, back to the regular old shilling…

I'm pretty sure as you all know now, I have also made a Twitter account to post my art, so if anyone is interested in checking it out, /ErnaloreProf is the link.

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

- Ernalore & Infinite the Celestian