Chapter 20: Boss Battle Interrupted by the BBEG

Soon, the group began searching the area for the secret entrance to the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary. They split up in teams of two to cover more ground and stay protected.

Emilia whispered, "Sneak, sneak, sneaky-sneak…"

Subaru looked at the Half-Elf. "Hm? You say something, Emilia-tan?"

"I'm being sneaky," the Dragonborn answered.

Subaru chuckled a bit. "Heh. You do that often?'

Emilia nodded. "Ever since I was a little girl."

Subaru looked down a bit before asking. "...If you don't mind me asking, what was life like in Elior...? You know, before Pandora came in and screwed everything up."

Emilia was silent for a few moments before speaking. "It was… interesting. I was treated like a princess by everyone, especially by my parents. But… it was like a gilded cage,"

Subaru gave her a funny look. "A cage?"

"I was sometimes placed in my room for a long time, as if I was supposed to hide. And to not go anywhere near the Seal. And to be a good girl and do as they say," the Half-Elf explained.

Subaru could see where Emilia was coming from. "Yeah, I can see how that would make you feel a bit cramped."

"Then again, I suppose they had a good reason. Couldn't let Pandora find me out of the forest, and all."

Subaru grimaced a bit. "But then she tricked you into leaving…"

"Yeah. I was a stupid kid." Emilia said, obviously letting out a tone of self-hatred.

"Well, I've learned that's not actually a bad thing."

Emilia looked at Subaru, confused. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, think of it like this. If you looked back on your childhood and didn't think you were a stupid kid, have you really learned anything at all?" Subaru's words made Emilia think about it for a few moments.

"No, I suppose not," Emilia answered honestly.

Subaru stayed silent for a few seconds. "...Well, I think you've come a long way. You're some kind of Dragon/Elf/Human hybrid, We're gonna end an assassin organization, and we're gonna stop Alduin."

"I see…" Emilia smiled. "Thank you, Subaru."

"Just remember, you're not in this alone," Subaru said. "We all have your back... even Patches."

"Sneak, sneak, sneaky-sneak…"

Speaking of Patches… he was mimicking what Emilia was doing, and soon found a ditch on the side of the road. Walking down it, he soon found their objective.

"FOUND IT!"

"Keep your voice down, man!" Solaire hissed.

"Well, I needed to let everyone know somehow, and no one here has a Divine Protection of Telepathy," Patches defended himself.

"That doesn't mean shouting out loud!" Aela whispered, her tone filled with anger.

Subaru sighed. "Let's just get in there."

The Group walked up to the door, which was glowing an ominous pale red, and had a Skull and bones sculpted into it.

"What is the music of life?" The Group was taken a bit aback that the door… "spoke".

Siegmeyer stepped up and cleared his throat. "Ahem… Silence, my brother."

"Welcome Home." The door slowly opens itself, allowing the group to enter.

"Thanks, buddy…" Siegmeyer awkwardly said.

Subaru turned to the group. "Alright, who's good at stealth other than Patches?"

"I could try my hand at it," Aela suggested.

"J'zargo prefers to blow enemies up. Not the stealthy approach, no?" J'zargo opted out.

"My armor is too bulky, sorry," Sieglinde said.

Erik cringed. "Yeah... that's a no for me too…"

Solaire shook his head. "I'm a crusader, not a rogue."

"I'm in the same boat as Seiglinde, sorry," Siegmeyer apologized to his team leader.

Subaru sighed. "I know I can do it, so I guess it's just me, Patches, and Aela."

"Okay, we'll be here as backup," Emilia said.

Silently, Subaru nodded as he snuck off with Patches and Aela right behind him, ready to stab some guys.

"So, what do the rest of us do?" Siegmeyer asked, somewhat both anxious and bored.

"We'll stand guard by the entrance in case the Sin Archbishop returns, so stay on guard."

Sieglinde nodded her head. "Understood."

After entering, Subaru took notice of a room to the right with a blonde guy in it, looking at some notes.

"Remember Patches, don't kill anyone," Subaru whispered.

Patches just looked disappointed. "Yeah, yeah, I know the drill."

"I would say we should make them stand trial." Aela grumbled to herself.

Subaru picked up a loose rock off the ground. "Murak."

After removing the rock's gravity, Subaru chucked the rock at high speeds and hit the man's head, knocking him out.

Patches smiled. "One down… plenty more to go."

Shortly after, the two entered what looked to be the main lobby. There was an Argonian, a Redguard, two mages, and two young girls.

"Now what?" Patches whispered to Subaru.

Subaru thought about it for a minute. "Hmm... Go get J'zargo."

Patches nodded, and ran off to fetch the Khajiit.

Patches returned after a minute with J'zargo in tail.

"You called?" the cat demi-human said.

Subaru nodded. "Blast these fools."

J'zargo raised an eyebrow at the word choice. "J'zargo assumed you wanted J'zargo to paralyze them all, but very well."

Subaru sighed, "I mean, it's just an expression…"

Patches thought about it for a second. "Well, if he paralyzes them all, we can just knock them all out with no resistance."

Subaru threw his hands in the air in frustration. "I know, I just wanted to sound cool!"

J'zargo casted an Invisibility spell, before sneaking up on them.

This is going to cost a lot of J'zargo's mana, the magical cat man thought to himself.

After quickly charging up, J'zargo unleashed a "Mass Paralysis" spell, paralyzing everyone in the room and causing them to fall over.

"Any of them the top assassins?" Subaru asked.

J'zargo looked around for the "Big Three," as they were called. "J'zargo sees no one fitting a "mad man" description, but the two children look to be the ones."

Subaru nodded. "All right, let's move them somewhere safer, and move on."

After calling the others inside, the group move the assassins into a single room and use Emilia's ice to make improvised hand and feet cuffs for them, making sure they don't go anywhere.

"So, how many are left?" Erik asked.

J'zargo used a quick "Detect Life" spell. "Hmm... there are no others nearby."

Subaru smiled and gave everyone a thumbs up. "Great! Let's keep moving forward."

Moving further into the Sanctuary, the group come upon a large room with a statue of a half-woman, half-spider being in the back. Clearly, the room was some kind of Shrine.

Patches hummed, "Hmm… to tap or to not tap?"

Aela gagged at that. "Gross…"

"Yeah, wolf girls are clearly better," Erik mumbled under his breath.

Subaru decided to ignore that. "Anyways, does anyone recognize who Spider-Woman here is?"

"One of the Daughters of Chaos?" Solaire suggested. He heard of their legends before.

Erik took a better look. "I... don't think so. Astrid said that Capella held a Daedric Artifact, so this has to be one of the Daedric Princes."

"Sounds lovely," Siegmeyer sarcastically said.

Erik mentally went over "female" Daedric Princes. "Let's see... there's Meridia, Azura, Boethiath, Nocturnal, Vaermina, and... Oh…"

"What? What is it?" Sieglinde asked.

"Mephala."

"That's a bad thing, isn't it?" Patches said.

"She's the Daedric Lord of Murder, Betrayal, and…" Erik's face went red. "Sex."

Subaru sighed. "Because of course she is."

"She's often depicted as a human-spider hybrid."

"Anything else worth noting down?" Solaire asked, ignoring the previous statement.

Erik nodded. "Yeah. If Mephala is the Daedra that Capella is worshiping, then there's a good chance that the Daedric Artifact she has is –"

"BEHIND US!" J'zargo suddenly shouted.

FWOOM!

SHIIIIINK!

Emilia reacted just in time to put up a wall of ice to block a wave of black fire.

"Ohh, that's a really bad sign," Subaru whispered to himself, recognizing the flames.

"Well, well, well... What do we have here? Nine meatbags decided to show up uninvited?"

Subaru growled as she recognized who that voice belonged to. "Capella Emerada Lugnica…"

The group got a good look at the Sin Archbishop. She had the appearance of a petite young woman, looking to be in her early 20s. She had blonde hair, red eyes, and a very skimpy outfit that left little to the imagination.

"Aww, look at that. One of you piles of filth knows me? Have we met? Did I slaughter your family or rape a sibling?" Capella asked sadistically.

"Pandora," Subaru simply said. "Where is she?"

That caused Capella to drop her smile, and growled, "How do you know about her?"

"The Sanctuary. Ring any bells?"

Suddenly, it clicked for the Sin Archbishop. "Oh... I get it now. You're the meatbag Pandora-sama wants. I can't wait to see what reward she gets me for bringing your sorry ass in."

Subaru smiled. "So you do know where she is."

Unfortunately, not everyone was as calm as Subaru, as Emilia shouted, "WHERE IS PANDORA?!"

Capella chuckled a bit. "Oh, you know. Here, there… everywhere. Kinda comes with her territory."

"ANSWER ME!" Emilia yelled as she fired off a barrage of El Huma icicles. Capella transformed her right arm into a massive Dragon arm to swat them away, but one managed to embed itself into her right eye.

SHUNK!

The Sin Archbishop merely growled as she pulled the icicle out, and healed the injury in mere seconds.

"Okay! What do we do?!" Erik asked.

"Her healing has to have limits," Subaru said. analyzing Capella, and then answering with, "Which means… we have to surpass them."

Patches saw where this was going. "Complete disintegration?"

"And make it slow." Subaru said that last part with a sadistic smile on his face.

"HAHAHA! Oh please! You think you meatbags stand a chance against me!" Capella suddenly pulls out a long katana from behind here, resembling a Kanmuri-Otoshi style Nodachi.

Solaire paused at that. "Umm… that's new."

Erik, meanwhile, recognized what he saw. "That... is the Ebony Blade... Mephala's artifact."

"Charming loot," Patches said.

Emilia growled as she summoned dozens more icicles. "Your fancy sword isn't going to save you!"

"No, but it will skin you alive!" Capella exclaimed.

Suddenly, Patches appears behind Capella, and stabs her with his spear.

"Leeroy Jenkins, bitch!" the bald man shouted.

The Sin Archbishop, in return, grabs the spear, and drags Patches along with it.

Capella then pinned Patches against the wall, and shoved the Ebony Blade right into his chest. Suddenly, the blade begins to glow red, and drains some kind of red energy from Patches and transfers it to Capella.

Capella moaned a bit. "Mmm... Juicy."

J'zargo, meanwhile, blasted Capella with the most lethal magic he has while she was still distracted with Patches.

"ELEMENTAL BLAST!" J'zargo fires a combined ball of Fire, Ice, and Lightning, and the spell blasts Capella to the other side of the room.

BAM!

The Sun Archbishop growls, as her hand begins to extend towards him.

J'zargo then creates a wall of electricity, preventing the Sin Archbishop from getting closer.

Subaru summons black flames, and flings them towards the vile woman.

Meanwhile, Erik pulls out the Ebony Blade from Patches' chest, and immediately gets to healing him.

"Everyone! Be careful! The Ebony Blade saps your life with every strike, and it heals the wielder in the process!" Erik shouted to the others.

"What about the Undead?!" Aela asked.

Patches gasping for air as he picked himself back up. "Yep... works on us too…"

Siegmeyer thought something over, before deciding to charge towards Capella.

"SEIGMEYER! WAIT!" Subaru shouted.

"PATHETIC!" Capella yelled, attempting to throw or push Seigmeyer off of her, but she found herself unable to do so.

"AHA! MY THEORY WAS CORRECT! SHE CAN'T TOUCH ME!" the onion knight cheered.

Solaire was baffled at the sight. "Wait, what?!"

"Whatever her little power is, it has to make contact with my skin, right? But behold, my FULL-BODY ARMOR!"

"THAT WON'T PROTECT YOU FROM ME!" Capella shouted, as she shrank into a fly to escape her hold, and flew to the middle of the room, transforming into a large Dragon.

"Okay, now that's just cheating," Patches said.

Using all of strength, Capella slams Seigmeyer under foot, crushing him.

BOOOOOM!

"FATHER!" Sieglinde cried out.

Seigmeyer soon turns to ash, causing Capella to turn her attention to the others.

"We need to get out of here!" Subaru shouted.

The group ran back towards the entrance, and headed above ground once more.

Reaching the surface, Erik panting, asked, "Think we lost her?"

BOOOOOM!

Capella, still in Dragon form, bursted out of the ground, ready to end the pests.

"I'm gonna say no," Aela answered.

"EMILIA-TAN, DO YOUR THING!"

Emilia nodded as she shouted to the sky "OD AH VIING!"

At Emilia's call, Odahviing came flying out the clouds, charging at Capella.

"ROOOAAAAARRR!"

"All right, time to finish her off," Subaru said.

Odahviing took notice of the Dragon, sniffing the air and growling in disgust. "What manner of mockery is this?! A mere jor pretending to be a mighty Dovah? How revolting!"

Subaru smiled. "Yeah, but as long as she's a Dovah, she's got the weakness of one, too."

Emilia realized what Subaru was implying. "Oh, I see where this is going…"

Subaru smirked. "Yep. SOLAIRE, WITH ME!"

"I'm with you!" the bucket-helmeted knight said.

The two of them ran towards the monster, charged their Lightning Spears, and threw them at the black dragon.

BOOOOM!

While the lightning did successfully peeled her scales off, the damage rapidly healed itself, before dive-bombing down to the group.

"BLAST HER AGAIN!"

While Subaru and Solaire were charging another attack, Odahviing got above Capella, and unleashed a powerful, Unrelenting Force.

"FUS RO DAH!"

The force pushed Capella down to the earth, allowing her to be an easy target.

Gwyn's spears were thrown again, piercing the scales, even more than before.

Both Emilia and Erik fired off El Humas, while J'zargo was unleashing an El Goa spell, bombarding the dragon with a constant stream of fire.

"Aela, think you can grab that sword off of Capella and use it against her?" Subaru asked.

Aela nodded, having brought the Ebony Blade out with them. The werewolf ran up to the Dragon and stabbed her with her own weapon.

"AIIIEEEEE!"

The dragon shrieked, as her body shrank down, returning her to a woman.

"Ready to start talking while you can?" Subaru asked, as he stepped on Capella's body.

"I'll… violate… all your corpses!"

Capella prepared to attack again, but... she just vanished in an instant. She didn't shrink down or anything, but it was like she just blinked out of existence. Even the Ebony Blade was gone.

"Huh? Where'd she go?!" Erik shouted.

Solaire looked around. "She didn't turn invisible, did she?!"

"No…"

The rest of the group turned to Subaru and Emilia who both looked scared out of their minds.

Then, a new voice broke through the silence.

"We meet once more, my treasured one."

Both Subaru and Emilia drew and created their own respective weapons on the spot, turning around to see a petite woman with platinum hair, and wearing a single cloth. Even Odahviing snarled, sensing something very wrong with this woman.

Subaru grimaced in hatred and disgust. "Hello again, you fucking bitch."

Pandora merely smiled.

"Hello again… my beloved."

Author's Note: And thus, one of our three main antagonists has appeared.

(So, I'm sure some of you are… rather disappointed with how we handled the Dark Brotherhood, but worry not, they will return eventually. This isn't the last we've seen of them.) Now, quickly, let's read the comments before new ones inevitably flood in!

5queso: Subaru is gonna do a lot more slipping from now on. And we do apologize for the last chapter being so short, so, behold! This one is not only longer, but full of juicy lore and factoids for the story! Hope you enjoyed the EMT, and see you next time!

Kifhjoofff: Bueno, técnicamente tienes a Meili. Pero no hay adopciones. Al menos no todavía. (Ella regresará con el resto de la Hermandad Oscura).

SenSlice: Who said Parthanax was at the Throat of the World? (He may hang around there, but he isn't confined there.)

And now for the last bit of shilling…

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

- Ernalore & Infinite the Celestian