Chapter 40: The Teenage Mutant Gaping Dragon Side Quest
Subaru groaned, as he woke up with his head aching like crazy.
Solaire yawns as he addresses his friend. "Good morning, Subaru."
"Ughh… killer hangover…"
Oscar nodded at that. "That's what happens when you drink too much ale."
"Well, I may have been trying…" Subaru said with annoyance.
"He always drinks too much when he gets the chance." Patches walks in the room.
"Helps me numb myself." Subaru grumbles to himself.
"You know even Reid doesn't approve of this, right?" Patches said in a rather disapproving tone.
"Ahh, stuff a sock in it."
Oscar then took the opportunity to speak up. "Actually, Sir Subaru, that does help me realize that I have not heard about your past. The others have told me about theirs."
Subaru realized that Oscar and Serana still didn't know his past. "Oh, right. Sure, why not? Bring Serana here while you're at it."
"Very well." Oscar obliged and left to fetch the vampire.
As Oscar leaves, Erik turns to Subaru in concern, to which he noticed. "Aight, what's with that look?"
"Are you sure about this? Oscar and Serana are good people, but... it's a lot to take in. Hell, I'm still having trouble grasping it." Erik asked to make sure Subaru was okay with it.
Subaru snorted at that. "What's there to have trouble grasping? I'm a centuries-old disgraced Hero that turned his lover into a monster that destroyed half the world, and soon I'm gonna burn for a thousand years to make up for it. Seems pretty straightforward to me."
The other men in the room thought otherwise, but didn't voice their opinions. A few minutes later, Oscar and Serana walked in.
"Hey, I'm here. So, Oscar said there's something you wanna tell us. What's up?" The Vampire princess was ready to get down to business.
"Oscar asked about my past and I thought it would be best to tell you now."
Serana raised her eyebrows at that. "You're the Chosen Undead, isn't that it?"
Subaru did the "so-so" gesture with his hand. "Yeah, but it's a bit more than that."
"Oh? This should be interesting," Oscar said, sitting down.
So, Subaru explained everything. About arriving to Nirn from Earth, meeting Satella, becoming the Great Sage, Pandora cursing Satella, Subaru forcing the Envy Witch Factor into his lover to save her life but it caused the Great Calamity and forced him to seal her away, entering the Covenant that would force him to go through with fueling the First Flame when it starts to wane or Satella gets sacrificed instead, spending the last four hundred years tracking down Pandora and her Sin Archbishops with little success, and finally meeting Emilia and beginning their party in Helgen.
Needless to say, Oscar and Serana were stunned.
"Wow." Serana didn't even know what to say, "I have… several questions."
Subaru couldn't help but laugh at that. "Completely understandable."
"It does explain your bizarre outfit," Oscar said, pointing at the tracksuit.
"Yep, it's honestly amazing it lasted this long," the Japanese man said.
"Unlike your sanity," Patches added.
"So... you only have three years to save your girlfriend or wife or whatever before you have to fuel the First Flame?"
Subaru nodded at Serana's summarization. "Yeah, pretty much."
The Vampire fell back on her seat. "Damn... and I thought I had it rough…"
"It's best not to think about it," the nasty-eyed Undead said.
"But... why would Pandora do all this just to have you burn? Didn't you say that she wanted you for herself?" That didn't make any sense to Oscar.
"Maybe she's just crazy?" Erik suggested.
Serana rolled her eyes at that. "Obsessed is more like it…"
"But her scheme does seem brain dead," Solaire grumbled.
The room was quite for a bit, before Oscar asked, "So... how do we stop her?"
"Don't know," Siegmeyer threw his hands up for effect. "Does anyone?"
Subaru had pondered that same question for centuries. "Trying to physically kill her doesn't seem to work. We need to affect her mind or soul."
"Such magic is unknown to J'zargo."
"The Greybeards said there existed certain Shouts that could affect the mind and soul."
Subaru nodded at what Soliare said. "Yeah, but that's Emilia's forte."
Serana was about to offer a possible suggestion, but Emilia slammed open the door, hanging herself off Sieglinde, wearing a dopey smile.
Subaru, somewhat concerned, waved at her. "Uh… Hey, Emilia… what's going on?"
Emilia's "smile" grew bigger when she saw her best friend, rushing over to his lap. "Subaru! Heeeeey! How are ya? Wow, I never realized how lovely your eyes are…"
Seigmeyer looked over to his daughter. "Uh... Sieglinde?"
"I don't know how much she had," the female onion knight said.
"Has she been drunk all night?!" Subaru yowled.
"No! Well, not all night, exactly. She woke up like that this morning."
Emilia, meanwhile, was now petting the top of the Chosen Undead's dark hair like he was some kind of really ugly puppy. "Su. Ba. Ru! Your hair is so fluffy~!"
Subaru didn't know how to respond to that. "Uh, yeah… I guess..."
"Note for the future, do not let Emilia have ale," Solaire noted.
Subaru sighed. "Someone get some cold water."
Emilia smiled and created a giant ice shard. "YES, SIR!"
Subaru quickly grabbed Emilia's hands, to stop her from creating any other weapons-grade spells, while Solaire went ahead and got rid of the ice crystal by chucking it out a window.
"Okay… who wants to splash her?"
Suddenly, Emilia was doused in a torrent of water, as if a Waterfall had come crashing down on her. The culprit was J'zargo using Water Magic to pour a torrent of water on the half-elf.
"You are welcome."
Emilia took a big gasp and got into a fighting stance, thinking they were under attack. "AHH! Where?! Who?! Is it Pandora?! Back off, bitch, I'm armed with vocal cords!"
"Relax, Emilia! It's just us!" Subaru yelped, his hands up in surrender.
"Subaru?!" The silver-haired woman shook her hair dry. "What's going on?"
"You barged in here with Sieglinde all drunk," Erik explained.
Emilia blushed a bit in embarrassment. "Really? Oh, I'm sorry…"
"Don't bother, I'm sure Subaru enjoyed all the sweet talk you were givin' him," Patches laughed.
The half-elf responded with a slap to the thief.
"Are you feeling alright, Emilia? Any headaches?" Solaire asked, making sure she was alright.
Emilia shook her head. "No, I'm much better now, thanks."
Subaru smiled a bit. "Good. We best keep you away from alcohol from now on."
"So, what's on today's schedule?" Sieglinde asked.
Solaire pulled out Auriel's Bow. "Perhaps some testing? If Auriel's Bow is as powerful as legends say, then we should see for ourselves."
Subaru's face slowly morphed into a smile. "I might know a good testing ground."
Erik gulped. "Oh, I don't like that look…"
And so, a few hours later, and a few miles west…
"Are we there yet?" Patches asked.
"Yep. This place should be familiar."
"Wait, isn't this where we found that Stone Dragon?" Aela asked.
"Close. This is actually where we fought that Taurus Demon."
Erik looked back at Subaru with confusion. "Taurus Demon?"
"Big, red monster with horns," Patches filled him in.
"Wait, was this when we were still looking for Words of Power for my shouts?"
Subaru snapped his fingers. "That's exactly right."
"Well, what are we doing here?" Erik asked.
"Breaching the lower levels," the Japanese man said.
That was all Subaru said before moving forward, with the others following close behind. Those who were there last time at the Undead Burg remembered having to fight the Dragon and several other enemies.
However, they had more members and they were stronger now. They could do this.
They kept walking, until they eventually came to a part of the bridge where a crevice was shrouded by fog.*
"Well, this brings back memories," Patches sarcastically quipped.
Subaru nodded at that. "Yeah, something's behind that."
"We didn't see anything last time though," Erik said.
"That's because we didn't come to this part of the Undead Burg last time."
Emilia, meanwhile, conjured two ice swords. "Then let's explore what we missed."
Subaru walked in first, as the others followed, entering a really small hallway-like room with a staircase in the corner, with foliage covering the walls and floors.
"Anything?" Erik whispered from behind.
SHUNK!
In response, Subaru was instantly skewered by a massive sword from a demon.
"SUBARU!" Emilia screamed in panic. She knew he would revive, but that didn't make it any less disturbing.
As the black-haired man turned to dust, the cow skeleton-like demon charged the others, followed by two zombie dogs. Emilia, Erik, and J'zargo immediately acted, shooting a barrage of El Huma icicles towards the Demons. As they were dealing with the demon, the sword-wielders were having a hard time with the dogs, due to the room's size. Aela instantly assumed her Werewolf form and charged one of the demon dogs, intent on ripping it apart.*
"I can't swing my sword!" Siegmeyer shouted.
"Get down!" Solaire barked.
Solaire took aim with Auriel's Bow to the largest demon, and loosed a Sunhallowed Arrow from its string. Once the arrow made contact, it released a blinding flare of light that set the demon on fire, causing it to howl in pain. "RRRUUUUURRR!"
"Don't do that in such a tight space!" J'zargo shouted at Solaire.
"Just kill them!" Serana launches a Chain Lightning spell towards the demons. It manages to stun them for a second, giving the group a chance.
"And risk friendly fire?!" Sieglinde yelled.
"We need some ideas now!" Oscar barked.
Patches looked around. It was true. The room was too small and there were too many of them. All he could see were the… stairs. The stairs that lead up.
BAM!
Suddenly, a large multi-colored barrier appeared between the Party and the demons.
Subaru smiled. "You guys miss me?"
"About time you came back!" Serana shouted.
"Had to run across the whole bridge again," the Japanese man argued.
"Subaru! Lower the shield and keep the big bastard occupied! I have an idea!"
Subaru nodded, and kept the Demon's attention on him while Patches ran by.
Patches ran up the stairs, reaching up to the top, before he jumped off, his spear aimed right at the Capra Demon. "Is he crazy?!" Erik shouted.
The answer was "Yes," as Patches rammed his spear through the monster's chest, killing it and letting it collapse into souls. "Huh, J'zargo did not think he had it in him."
Subaru chuckled, as he took back his souls, while the other Undead split the demon' Erik made sure the others were well, Emilia walked towards Subaru.
"How are you feeling?" the amethyst-eyed woman asked.
"I'm fine. It was rather quick, so there's that."
"Hey, guys, check this out," Erik called out to the others.
"What is it?" Serana asked.
"A key," Erik said, lifting up the small item.
"Seems rather traditional for dungeons," Oscar said.
"Hand it over here," Subaru ordered.
Erik did so, tossing it over to the Chosen Undead.
Subaru nodded, before walking out of the room, as the others followed him.
"Should I... start checking for enemies with Aura Whisper?" Emilia asked.
"Wouldn't hurt. If this key goes where I think it does, we're gonna need it."
So, Emilia began to periodically check Aura Whisper, noting any enemies trying to surprise attack them. Unlocking a door, the party went down into a place that resembled a dark sewer, as Subaru knew exactly where they were.
Erik felt like puking. "Ugh... this place reeks."
"Yep. Welcome to the Depths."
Serana, covering her nose, gave Subaru a funny look. "The Depths?"
"A subterranean system that spans all across the continent. Some think that if you go deep enough, you'll find the First Flame, or better yet, the Od Laguna itself," Subaru explained.
Emilia's eyes widened at that. "Wait, these span across the entire continent?!"
The nasty-eyed Great Sage gave her a big smile. "Yeah. From volcanic ruins to sewers like these, to even the Ash Lake itself, it's an entire world unto itself. Just don't get lost."
"Like the Hollow Earth."
"The what?" J'zargo had no idea what Patches was referring to.
"An idea in my world that the Earth had hollow pockets deep beneath the surface that could have its own ecosystem separate from the surface," Subaru explained.
"Was it accurate?" Solaire asked.
"I don't think so, but things can change over the years," Subaru said, "I found out about the Hollow Earth idea from some of the recent Godzilla movies."
Another word Serana and the others didn't understand. "Movies?"
"You know how you imagine a story in your head while you're reading it?"
Sieglinde wasn't sure where Subaru was going with this. "Yes?"
"It's basically that, while showing you a constantly moving image."
"So it's a form of entertainment?" Oscar asked.
"Big time."
"And this "Godzilla" thing?" Aela asked.
Subaru smiled as he reminisced watching old Godzilla movies. "The most famous fictional Monster in history. The God of Destruction, Ruler of the Earth, and King of the Monsters. He's been around for nearly seventy years, I think."
"Fictional? Why not real?" Oscar asked.
Subaru knew the supernatural was natural here, so it made sense. "Because my world doesn't have any supernatural elements like Mana, Demi-humans, Undead, Dragons, or anything like that."
Siegmeyer couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What?! Nothing at all?!"
Subaru shook his head. "Nope. Compared to Nirn, Earth is rather... mundane."
For the next few hours, Subaru continued explaining to the others about parts of his world, as they traveled through the sewers, slaying every foe they came across, from giant rats to Hollow.
"-And that's how North America got dragged into World War 2."
"Your country dun' fucked up," Patches joked.
Subaru could only sigh in disappointment. "Oh, big time."
The others were amazed by Subaru's world, but as they kept talking, Subaru stopped.
"What is it?" Emilia asked.
"Do you hear that? Running water."
Aela, still in werewolf form, sniffed the air. She could smell fresh water nearby. The two of them led the others, as they entered what could best be described as a chasm with a floor. A room far bigger than the one they fought the Capra Demon in, and far bigger than the earlier sewers.
"Boss room?" Patches asked.
Subaru didn't say anything as he investigated the room further. The water was running underneath them, going from their feet all the way to the bottomless pit in front of them. Then… something popped up. It looked like a tiny black snake.
"The hell is that?" Serana asked.
"It looks like a tiny lizard," Solaire said, while Subaru smacked his own face.
"It's a snake... Does Nirn not have snakes? Well… besides the Black Serpent."
However, the head rose up, being attached to a bigger body…
…One that eclipsed the entire room. One with four massive black wings, multiple limbs, and a mouth that went from the neck all the way to the stomach, filled with rows of sharp teeth.
While the others looked in shock, Subaru and Patches were just staring blankly.
Subaru groaned. "Yeah, that tracks."
Patches, meanwhile, laughed. "Giant mutant dragon? Sure, why not?"
Emilia could only grin like a maniac at seeing a dragon. "Good."
Erik snapped his head towards her. "Good?!"
Emilia didn't say anything as she leapt forward and created a giant ice hammer to bring down on the Dragon's head.
"RAAAWWWRRR!"
Seiglinde couldn't believe that Emilia would just rush in like that. "Has she gone crazy?!"
"Don't hog all the fun!" Subaru laughed.
As the others charged in, screaming, the Gaping Dragon tried to stomp on them. Aela had gotten on its back and began to tear into its flesh with her claws and teeth. The black reptilian creature's massive lanky arm near the base of its head grabbed the werewolf, throwing her to the wall hard. Aela gasped in pain as she turned to her human form, clearly suffering from several broken bones.
Erik gasped in shock. "AELA!"
"ERIK, LOOK OUT!" Siegmeyer screamed.
Erik turned around to see the Dragon about to devour him whole, but a powerful burst of light blinded the Dragon and set it ablaze.
"GO!" Solaire shouted. "Attend to our comrade!"
Erik nodded and ran towards Aela, while Solaire kept shooting arrow after arrow at the dragon.
"Hey…" the red-haired woman groaned. "What are you doing here…?"
Erik began to apply his Water Magic to heal her. "I'm patching you up!"
"No… go… help the others…"
"No way! I'm not letting you stay hurt! Besides... I'd probably just get in the way…" Erik knew that he was a lousy fighter. It was only sheer luck and his magic that allowed him to stay with them.
The werewolf shook her head. "No… you wouldn't…"
"Yes, I would! I'm the least experienced person here! I'm only good with Healing and my Water magic! I just... I've tried to improve as much as I can... but I feel like I'm getting nowhere."
Aela shook her head. "No… you've done… great things…"
"Like what?! What's one thing I've done that actually contributed to the team?!"
Aela stayed silent for a minute before saying something. "You… made me… smile…"
Erik gasped at that. He… did what?
Aela elaborated "Months before... I met you all... I lost someone... close to me…"
"You did?"
"Skjor... He was like me... we hunted together... trained together... we had something... special... but... he was killed by the Silver Hand…"
Erik had heard of them: A group of Werewolf hunters that didn't have the same morals as the Dawnguard did. All they cared about was killing the "beasts".
"If it hurts, you don't have to keep —"
Aela grabbed Erik's hand. "But you helped me... you all did... I retreated into myself... letting no one see the real me... but now... I can be myself around you, Erik... around them…"
Erik didn't really know what to say. "Uhm… glad I could help?
Aela chuckled painfully. "For how smart you are... you can be an idiot sometimes…"
"AAAHHHHH!"
"RAAAWWWRRR!" Meanwhile, back with the others, things had gone from bad to worse, as Solaire had been eaten alive by the dragon.
Patches had to hold back the bile. "Ugh, that's a bad way to go…"
It also didn't help that Oscar had been stomped on repeatedly, being turned to ash.
"That is it! Stop! Killing! My! FRIENDS!" Emilia screamed, unleashing her fury on the dragon. From her right hand, Emilia created dozens of El Huma icicles, while dozens of Ul Goa fireballs were conjured from her left.
Subaru couldn't help but be impressed. "Whoa…"
Serana had never seen something like that before. "Two Primal elements at once?!"
"Is it even possible like that?!" Seigmeyer asked.
J'zargo merely smiled in a bit of pride at his student while Subaru chuckled a bit. I guess anything's possible.
Emilia launched the two elements of fire and ice at the dragon, intending to keep shooting until it was dead. The dragon, in response to the attack, threw up a wave of acidic bile.
"EEWWW!" Seiglinde screamed.
"Oh, that ain't right!" Patches yelled.
"WHAT THE FUCK?! HAVE SOME DIGNITY!" Subaru roared.
The dragon grabbed Subaru, before swiping away Patches with its tail.
"Do it, pussy!" Subaru dared the beast. "No balls! Literally!"
"NOM!"
The silver-haired Dragonborn watched her friend get consumed by the black abomination. With another death for Subaru, Emilia has had enough. "DUR NEH VIIR!"
"What are you doing?!" Siegmeyer shouted.
Once Durnehviir was fully summoned, he immediately took notice of the other Dragon and reeled in disgust, "What is this poor excuse of a Dovah, Qahnaarin?"
"I don't know, I don't care, JUST KILL IT!" Emilia commanded, wanting this thing dead.
Durnehviir could see the rage in the Dragonborn's eyes and obliged. "With gladness. FO KRAH DIIN!"
Durnehviir unleashes a massive blast of ice and cold air which begins to freeze the dragon. The Gaping Dragon was writhing from the parts where it wasn't frozen, as the entire creature teetered over the edge. Emilia unleashed a powerful Unrelenting Force as well.
"FUS RO DAH!"
And with that, the creature fell over. It was helpless, defenseless against them
"Now, Qahnaarin, rip out his soul and devour it. It is time to learn "Soul Tear."" Emilia's eyes widened at that, but she nodded her head.
Sieglinde looked at her friend with concern. "Emilia…?"
Emilia tapped into the knowledge Durnehviir shared with her. She now knows the Words of Power for Soul Tear, and she unleashes her dark fury on the dragon.
"RII VAAZ ZOL!"
A purple wave of energy was released from Emilia, which washed over the Dragon and forced its soul to be ripped out of its body and devoured by Emilia.
Serana couldn't help but be mesmerized. "Whoa…"
Aela, meanwhile, had bigger concerns. "Is it... over...?"
Erik's shoulders shrugged. "I think so…?"
Several footsteps were heard from behind the group, as Subaru, along with Oscar and Solaire, had arrived back to the dungeon. "We're back to –! Oh… Is it over?"
Solaire nodded. "It appears we arrived too late."
"Yeah…" Oscar scratched the side of his helmet. "Our bad."
Subaru coughed, before asking, "Soo… what's with the dragon?"
"I think Emilia just... ripped its soul out to kill it?" Siegmeyer guessed.
Subaru's eyes went wide at that. "Oh. Cool."
Durnehviir looked down at Emilia and praised her. "An excellent first use of Soul Tear, Qahnaarin."
"You really think so?" Emilia asked.
Durnehviir nodded. "Indeed. Practicing it will make you more proficient with this Thu'um."
Patches chuckled. "Well, ain't that ominous?"
"A small price to pay for a possible way to kill Pandora for good," Emilia hissed.
Subaru sighed as he knew it was time to go. "Right… let's get out of here."
"That's it?!" Erik shouted. "We nearly died just to kill a Dragon?!"
"Yep. And I'm ready to go home," Subaru said, giving Erik a thumbs-up.
"Erik, do you need help carrying Aela?" Emilia asked.
Aela shook her head, as she stood up. "No, I've got this…" The werewolf tried to stand up, but she was clearly struggling.
"Yeah, I — Hurk!" Aela collapsed down into the water.
"Aela?!" Erik reached down to catch her, careful not to hurt her.
"Okay, it still hurts," she groaned. "Need help."
"Here, I'll carry you."
"Thanks."
Erik picked up Aela and carried her on his back, which was very... intimate for the young man.
Subaru sighed. "Welp, there goes all of today."
"Okay, Subaru… Warp us home," Emilia said.
"Aye-aye, captain. Hopefully we'll get some actual R this time."
"And no drinking," Soaire said.
Subaru just laughed that off. "No promises."
Author's Note: Oh? You thought we were gonna wrap up the Dawnguard arc in this chapter! Ha! Sorry, but we gotta squeeze this for everything it's worth!
Welp, the Capra Demon and the Gaping Dragon have been taken care of! I wanted to have our heroes take down some of the more side quest-esque Dark Souls bosses before the Royal Selection rolls around, because there won't be any time between dealing with Pandora, Gwyn, Alduin, and all of their minions. Okay, now it's time for the comments.
5queso: It's cool, dude. I know anime has skewed everyone's perceptions of fantasy worlds (just look at Japan's version of a kobold). Seranna has a lot of justifiable beef, and it will be settled soon. (Indeed. Serana has a lot of issues with her family, and I felt that her reaction in Skyrim felt too… tame, considering Vyrthur indirectly ruined Serana's family. I want to add more emotion to it.) Hope you enjoy what comes next!
Sndi Krm: Recuérdame otra vez quién es este tipo "killerman."
Kifhjoofff: Uf, asado.
DelusionaryDon: We actually both debated over what sort of weapons everyone would get. (We have a list of who will get what weapons.) But you can place your bets now!
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.
If you want more content, visit my Discord, the link is /3PFYSt8Dqz. You can chat with others, post memes, fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, fan art, and we even have a writer's corner now! I'll also drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! Just please make sure to follow the rules.
Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!
- Ernalore