Chapter 59: The Black Star
The first things J'zargo noticed when he woke up was the cold wind and the snow. He knew this snow from anywhere. He was back near Winterhold, but at a different spot.
He looked around and noticed he was up on the mountains south of Winterhold, and turning around, he noticed the massive Shrine of Azura that had been around the town for ages.
J'zargo huffed. "If this is an illusion, it is well done…"
Remembering that there were Daedric Lords involved in this, J'zargo summarized that they probably wanted him to go to the Shrine. What did he have to lose?
Flying up to the Shrine, J'zargo noticed a Dunmer woman praying in front of it.
"Excuse me." J'zargo made himself known, causing the Dark Elf to turn to him.
"Azura has seen your coming, traveler. It was not curiosity, but fate has led you here." The Dunmer courteously stated.
J'zargo paused, before asking, "Azura?"
The Dumner nodded. "She is a Daedric Lord, a powerful being who watches from beyond our mortal plane. She has chosen you to be her champion. "
"Is that so…? Hmm… why?"
"That is for Lady Azura to know and her alone. I am Aranea, one of Lady Azura's many priestesses, who has given me the gift of foresight. I had a vision of you walking up the steps to this altar long before you were born. You have been chosen to be her champion. I know it is unexpected, but do not worry. It will all unfold as she has predicted."
"That is… somewhat disturbing."
Aranea quickly spoke up regarding the claim. "Fear not. Azura is a benevolent being. Like a caring mother tending to her children. She means you no harm."
J'zargo grimly nodded at that. "Right…"
"Will you accept Azura's task? If so, you will be greatly rewarded."
"J'zargo accepts." Like he had any other choice?
Aranea smiled as she explained. "Excellent. You must go to a fortress, endangered by water, yet untouched by it. Inside, you will find an elven mage who can turn the brightest star as black as night. It is cryptic, I know, but Azura's signs are never wrong. I believe the fortress may refer to Winterhold. Ask if they know this elven enchanter."
"Endangered by water, yet untouched by it...?" J'zargo surmised, before realizing what it meant. "Ah, J'zargo understands now.
"That is all I can say. Azura will guide you."
"Mm. Thank you."
J'zargo flew back to Winterhold and landed in the town. He used Clairvoyance to track down the Elven mage, and it surprisingly led him to the Inn instead of the College.
"Hello?" he called out, opening the door. "Is anyone here?"
"Come on in, it's nice and warm in here," the bartender said.
Looks like they're open for business, J'zargo thought to himself. Closing the door behind him, he walked up towards the bar, while scanning the room for any other patrons. "Thank you…"
"J'zargo? Well, this is a surprise. You don't usually come to the Inn."
"Agreed. A question, do you happen to have an Elf as a current patron here?"
"An Elf? Yeah, he's in the back," the bartender said, pointing to an elf in the corner of the building. J'zargo nodded, going to the back, while the elf noticed J'zargo approaching.
"Oh, J'zargo, right? Can I help you?" The High Elf asked, wondering what such an accomplished student at the college was doing here.
"J'zargo is looking fo an elven mage who studies stars." The Altmer actually looked a bit spooked.
"Who sent you? Was it the College? The Jarl? We agreed there would be no more questions."
The cat-like man was silent for a moment, before admitting, "…Lady Azura sent J'zargo."
The Altmer paled as he realized the gravity of the situation. "Azura? Gods, it's all finally coming back to haunt me."
"So, you do know her."
"...What do you know about Soul Gems?"
J'zargo raised an eyebrow at the seemingly random question. "They can be used to capture souls upon someone's death. But J'zargo knows of someone who knows more about them."
"Then you know that Soul Gems were used in enchanting before being outlawed, but they broke afterwards," the Altmer explained. "Well, all of them… except for one."
"Is it in your possession?" J'zargo asked.
"No. Haven't seen it in years."
How reassuring, J'zargo thought to himself. "Do you know where it might be?"
"You don't understand what you're getting into. It's best you just walk away and forget about whatever you're asking for." The High Elf seemed to plead to the Khajiit.
"J'zargo has no choice in the matter."
The Altmer then sighed, realizing that convincing J'zargo was pointless. "Then you should know about what you're getting into before it kills you."
J'zargo nodded. "Sound advice."
"It's called Azura's Star. A Daedric artifact that allows any number of souls to pass through it. Some of us wanted to find out how. I was working under Malyn Varen, then. If only we knew what he was really planning."
J'zargo swore that the name sounded somewhat familiar, but he didn't say anything. "Something malicious?"
The Altmer shook their head. "Not really. Malyn wanted to alter the Star. He was dying. Disease of some kind. It couldn't be cured. He thought he could store his own soul inside and become immortal, but… It drove him mad. Students started dying. Eventually, the College exiled him. He took a few loyal disciples to Ilinalta's Deep north of Falkreath and vanished. Look, I don't care who asked you to find the Star, but don't take it back to Azura. The Daedra are evil. They're the reason Malyn went insane."
"How so?" J'zargo asked.
"Azura is no ordinary Daedra. She's a Daedric Prince; the equivalent of a God. She commands an entire realm inside of Oblivion. The more Malyn worked on the Star, the more she was able to damn him. It started slowly at first. Malyn would see things that weren't there. Then he would yell at students over words they hadn't said. Then one day I walked in and Malyn had... killed a student, and in a horrific moment of inspiration, he started using her soul for his work." J'zargo now remembered this incident. It had already happened by the time he joined the college, but it was still fresh in the minds of everyone there. Malyn was the reason the College doubled down on preventing harmful practices.
If Malyn had stolen the Star, then obviously Azura would seek retribution for the theft. It seemed like his own damn fault.
"And that's when you left?" J'zargo asked.
"It was shortly after that. I knew the truth while the rest of the College refused to believe me."
"Were you deemed insane?"
"No, thank the Divines," the Altmer said, slouching back on his seat. "They just thought I was trying to cover for Malyn. They thought I was biased and an unreliable source."
"So you just gave up?" J'zargo asked, somewhat disappointed.
"What else could I do? I wasn't going to support a college that turned their backs on someone who was driven insane from a Daedric Prince."
"And the Star? What happened to it?"
"Malyn took it with him. I think he went to Ilinalta's Deep. It's a flooded fort in the northern part of Lake Ilinalta. By then, he was determined to make it work," the Altmer said, his face becoming grim. "Either he's dead... or he figured it out."
"So, J'zargo must find it."
"Then... may the Divines protect you."
"And may they have mercy on you," J'zargo said, getting up.
After a couple of drinks (for courage) J'zargo walked out of the Inn and activated his flight. J'zargo took off at high speeds to Illinalta's Deep. It took almost half an hour, but he arrived.
In all honesty, the place looked like a children's playground. Or, at the very least, as Subaru would say, "be a prime summer camp material." The castle was half-submerged, but J'zargo figured that some people would be adventurous enough to swim around there.
Hopefully, there were no traps around this place.
"Might as well get started…" J'zargo made his way into the sunken building. It was definitely flooded, but the water didn't reach any higher than his boots. Still, that didn't mean he wanted them to get wet.
"Great," he grumbled. "This is quality leather…"
He could fly, but that would waste mana. He needed to conserve all the mana he could for this.
"Hopefully the boots do not smell after this…" J'zargo made his way through the hideout and activated the occasional Detect Life spell to scout out for any hostiles. "Huh. Quite empty…
However, it wasn't long before the Khajiit mage detected some life signs.
"Let's see who you are…"
Sure enough, they were hostile mages. J'zargo tried to stay hidden, as he figured out what to do next. Hmm, ask them questions or kill them on sight? Decisions, decisions…
"Hm? INTRUDER!"
"KILL THEM!"
Unfortunately, the mages noticed J'zargo and began to attack.
Kill, it is! Using Fireball and Ice Spear, J'zargo was able to easily incapacitate and kill the other mages. This continued until J'zargo came across the end of the maze. Killing mage after mage. Coming to what looked like a throne room, J'zargo found some kind of strange soul gem that looked like a star, but it was clearly damaged. "That's not a good sign…"
J'zargo grabbed the soul gem and made his way back outside. Once he was out, the Khajiit mage flew back to the Shrine of Azura.
Nearly half an hour later, J'zargo had landed back at the Shrine, where he walked towards it to see the Dunmer still there and praying. "Huh. You're still there…"
Aranea noticed J'zargo and was relieved to see him back and well. "I am. Do you have it?"
J'zargo tossed the gem towards him, causing Aranea to quickly and carefully grab the star. "Azura's Star! I knew the Lady of Twilight had sent you for a reason. Now, I will ask Azura to restore the Star to its original purity."
J'zargo raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. "Much appreciated…?"
Aranea laid the broken Star on the stone and prayed to Azura to fix the star. "Azura. Mother of Roses. Goddess of Dusk and Dawn. Your chosen champion has returned your Star to you. "
After a minute of listening, she spoke to the Khajiit."She wishes to speak to you herself. Please. Place your hands on the altar, and you will hear her voice."
J'zargo reluctantly did so, and surprisingly, J'zargo did hear a gentle female voice that the mage could only assume to be Azura.
"Greetings, mortal. You have followed my guidance through the veils of Twilight and rescued my Star from Malyn Varen. But his soul still resides within, protected by his enchantments. Until he is purged, my artifact is useless to you."
"Hm," he hummed, playing it cool. "What must J'zargo do?"
"Eventually, the Star will fade back into my realm in Oblivion, but I doubt you have the hundred or so years it would take to wait. No, only one option remains. I will send you inside the Star. You will banish Malyn's soul there."
J'zargo did not look comfortable. "Will it be painful?""
"Worry not, you will not feel any pain."
"Reassuring," the cat-like demi-human deadpanned.
"Are you ready, mortal?"
J'zargo sighed and prepared himself. "Ready as J'zargo will ever be…"
"Have faith, mortal. I will be watching over you."
With those last words, J'zargo felt himself get pulled into the Soul Stone.
When J'zargo open his eyes, he noticed that he was no longer in the outside world. This "world" was just a massive crystalline structure surrounded by energy swirling around it.
A short distance away was a mage that held a malicious aura. It didn't take a genius to figure out this was Malyn Varen.
"Ah, my disciples have sent me a fresh soul. Good. I was getting…" Malyn then starting to sense something strange about the Khajiit."...Hungry... Wait, there's something different about you."
"Yes," the catman agreed, narrowing his eyes. "J'zargo is not your meal."
"You... you would dare challenge me?! I have conquered mortality itself! I've spat in the eyes of the Daedric Lords! This is my realm now, and I have sacrificed too much to let you take it from me!"
"Your "realm" is a rock," J'zargo deadpanned.
"AND IT IS MINE!" Now sufficiently enraged, Malyn summoned two Dremora mages while he retreated further into the crystalline structure.*
"Ah, shit." J'zargo ducked for cover behind the crystals as the Dremora launched Fireballs at the Khajiit's direction. J'zargo decided to return them in kind, as he launched his own Fireballs at them. The resulting explosion actually launched them off the structure, allowing J'zargo to follow the insane mage. "Where did he go…?"
As it turned out, the path was rather linear as there was nowhere else besides a throne room available to tread.
"I will not succumb to death!" Malyn roared. "YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"
"YOU HAVE NO CHOICE!"
Malyn began launching Fireballs and Ice Storms to try and kill J'zargo, but the Khajiit went on the defensive.
"Huma Ward!" Combining a Ward with Huma, J'zargo was able to completely block the spells sent his way.
"WHAT?!" Malyn screamed, seeing the Khajiit combine two spells from two different groups of magic. "IMPOSSIBLE!"
"J'zargo has been training with Magic his entire life! This is nothing! Incinerating El Goa!" Combining Incinerate with El Goa, J'zargo created a massive fiery beam of destruction upon the mage.
"Combined magics?! Disgusting!" Malyn desperately put up a ward to block the attack, but it was quickly burning through his mana.
"No, strong!" J'zargo refuted. "Stronger than you!"
The fiery beam of death kept burrowing into the mage's ward, as he kept screaming "NO!"
FWOOOOOM!
It finally broke through and began to incinerate Malyn's body. This continued until only Malyn's skeleton remained.
"Huh," J'zargo said, admiring his handiwork. "Half-expected a rock."
"The Star is free to purify itself. Don't worry, mortal. I will return you before you are cleansed. My Star has been restored and Malyn's soul has been consigned to Oblivion. You have done well, mortal. As was destined, you are free to use my Star as you see fit."
"Uhh… Thank you, my lady," J'zargo said, bowing nervously.
Azura then realized something regarding her chosen mortal. "Hmmm... However, given your affinity for Magic, it appears that my Star will not be able to be utilized by you with its primary purpose. Along with restoring my Star, I will alter it to become a better tool to use for you."
"So… no need for souls?"
"No. Instead, I shall allow it to absorb Mana from the atmosphere over time, and you can draw on this mana inside the Star to fuel your magic. I believe that will be a better purpose for my Star given your skillset."
Wow. Having a backup Mana pool was… actually super handy. "That is excellent to hear."
"Farewell, mortal. Know that Azura will be guarding over the threads of your fate in the Twilight."
The next thing J'zargo knew, he was back in the Mansion (it had very easily-identifiable ceilings), in his hand was Azura's Star, fully restored to its former glory.
"THAT'S FOUR!" Otto shouted.
The catman looked up, to see the young merchant, vampire, Siegmeyer's daughter, sun-lover, and the annoying bald prick in the room with him, as if they were expecting him to show up.
Serana crossed her arms at this. "So, that leaves Subaru, Emilia, and Oscar unaccounted for…"
"What are you talking about?" J'zargo asked as he got up off the floor.
"They're the only ones still not back yet," Sieglinde said.
Patches, meanwhile, smiled cheekily. "Welcome back, Cat-Man."
All Solaire could do was sigh. "I can only hope the others are alright as well."
Author's Note: And so, J'zargo's trial has been completed! We're halfway there!
(So, as many of you who played Skyrim know, Azura's Star is an infinite-use Soul Gem, same with the Black Star. However… that doesn't really help our heroes, since soul trapping is technically now illegal. Not counting whatever Undeads do to souls. So, that's why we decided instead to have Azura change how the Star works. She's a Daedric Prince, so she could probably do it. Now, Azura's Star acts as a backup source of mana that a mage like J'zargo can drain for a quick recharge.)
Billsazguard: No.
5queso: I'm pretty sure there's gonna be one more chapter with a side character before we switch back to Emilia and Subaru. I don't have much to say about the Skinner other than I think he's a creep. But don't worry about not being able to respond every time a chapter shows up, it does save me the effort of having to reply to you guys.
Kifhjoofff: Extrañarás a Subaru por bastante tiempo. (Pero no te preocupes. Pronto volveremos a Subaru).
Anyways, back to the regular old shilling…
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Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!
- Ernalore & Infinite the Celestian