Chapter 30: The Horrors of the Mind
At the College of Winterhold, Emilia and J'zargo were in the library, looking for any information regarding the location of the two remaining Scrolls.
"Nothing but dust here…" The Khajiit groaned in disappointment.
"Same over here," Emilia said, putting away another book. Though, she was considering tossing them to the floor, at this point. "No rumors, no "lost locations", Nothing."
"Well, what now, O mighty Dragonborn?" the cat-like man jokingly asked.
Emilia sat back in a chair and rubbed her face in frustration. "I don't know... Why did no one ever make an Artifact to track other Artifacts?"
J'zargo raised an eyebrow. "That sounds somewhat redundant."
"Not in this case…" Emilia groaned with her hands covering her face.
"Still, who knows? Maybe it does exist. And is also currently lost, as well."
Suddenly, the Librarian, an Orc named Urag gro-Shub, walked up to them after noticing their distress.
"You two need help finding something? I know this Library better than anyone." The Orc asked.
"Oh, thank you! Um, do you perhaps have anything on Elder Scrolls?" Emilia asked.
Urag raised an eyebrow. "Elder Scrolls? Does this have something to do with that Moth Priest you were asking about a few days ago?"
"Umm… yes?" Emilia was honestly surprised that anyone else knew about that.
J'zargo decided to explain. "J'zargo and friends are trying to stop Vampires from taking over the world, and we need two other Scrolls."
Urag looked quite surprised before regaining his composure. "Well… that is quite the predicament."
"Do you have anything we could use to find these Scrolls?" Emilia was looking desperate at this point.
"And preferably easy-to-read?" the cat-like demi-human added on.
"No, but I do have an idea who you could go to," the orc said. "His name is Septimus Signus. A mage working with the College to find lost artifacts of magical properties, including Elder Scrolls. He's your best bet."
"Thank you so much!" Emilia said, bowing to the librarian.
"He's been in an iceberg north of the College for the last few months, said he found something in the ice. Though, do be warned, his mind is... not the most stable." Urag explained.
Emilia and J'zargo looked at each other, wondering what they were in for.
After leaving the College, J'zargo flew ahead to scout, and soon came back.
"J'zargo saw a wooden entrance into one of these icebergs, must be him."
Emilia nodded. "All right, let's go meet him."
The two slowly made their way down to the beach and J'zargo used his flying magic to lead Emilia to the iceberg, with the half-elf making an ice bridge to freeze the already cold waters and follow the Khajiit. Upon reaching the iceberg, the two quickly made their way inside and were met with a large, steampunk looking cube, and a man in wizard robes standing in front of it, seemingly studying it.
J'zargo hummed at the strange machine. "Huh. Odd aesthetic choice."
"It's... Dwemer-made," the amethyst-eyed girl said. "I read about them in the library. The Dwarven race that disappeared over a thousand years ago."
"Maybe Subaru knows something?" J'zargo suggested.
Emilia shook her head. "I doubt even Subaru knows anything. They vanished long before he ever came here."
"Huh? Who goes there?!"
Emilia and J'zargo jumped back, as the man in front of them took notice of their presence.
"Are the eyes deceived? Does life yet walk here, or illusions casted to tell lies?"
It was an elderly man, wearing the robes of a Wizard. This had to be Septimus Signus. Who… happened to be speaking in riddles. Wonderful.
"Uhh… do you require help, sir?" J'zargo asked the possibly deranged man.
"Help? Yes! Help would be much beloved! The ice entombs the heart! The bane of Kagrenac and Dagoth Ur! To harness it is to know. The fundaments. The Dwemer lockbox hides it from me!" The old man spouted what seemed to be nonsense.
Emilia had no idea what the man was saying. "Okay, whaaat…?"
"The Elder Scroll gives insight deeper than the deep one, though. To bring about the opening."
Now, that got Emilia's and J'zargo's attention.
"Wait, you know about the Elder Scroll?! Do you have one on you?!" Emilia quickly asked.
Septimus shook his head. "I have seen enough to know their fabric. The warp of air, the weft of time. But no, it is not in my possession."
"Do you know where they might be?" J'zargo asked.
The wizard hummed in response. "Here. Well, here as in this plane. Mundus, Ali'rasi. Nearby, Relatively speaking."
Emilia's shoulders slumped at the response. "That's… not very helpful."
"One block lifts the other. Septimus will give you what you want, but you must bring him something in return."
"Oh? What do you want in return?" the demi-human asked.
Septimus turned to emphasize the massive box he had been trying to open. "You see this masterwork of the Dwemer? Deep inside their greatest knowings. Septimus is clever among men, but he is but an idiot child compared to the dullest of the Dwemer."
Emilia's eyes widened at that. "Wait… are you saying that… you knew the dwarves? Personally?"
Septimus, once again, shook his head. "No one knows personally. Dwemer disappeared many of many years ago. Machines and cities in the earth are all that remains. Lucky then they left behind their own way of reading the Elder Scrolls."
J'zargo raised an eyebrow at that. "Their own way?"
Septimus nodded. "In the depth of Blackreach, one yet lies."
Emilia's eyes widened as they finally had a location. "Blackreach! That's wonderful!"
"J'zargo knows where an entrance can be found. It isn't far from Winterhold." The Khajiit said.
"Great, we can call the others!"
"Not all can enter there, only Septimus knows the hidden key to loose the lock to jump beneath the deathly rock," the deranged wizard warned them.
That confused J'zargo. "Deathly rock? What is that?"
Emilia merely shrugged in confusion.
"Guess he's coming with us, then."
Septimus stepped back as he held his hands up. "No, Septimus must stay here. Take these keys, one round, the other edged."
Septimus handed over a Dwemer sphere and a cube.
"Oh, uh… which goes in which hole?" the half-elf asked.
"The round one, for tuning. Dwemer music is soft and subtle, and needed to open their cleverest gates," Septimus said. "The edged lexicon, for inscribing. To us, a hunk of metal. To the Dwemer, a full library of knowings. But... empty."
Emilia was completely lost at that. "I'll… you know what? I'll just ask Subaru what those words mean."
Septimus continued. "Find Mzark and its sky-dome. The machinations there will read the Scroll and lay the lore upon the cube."
"Yep. Definitely asking Subaru," Emilia deadpanned.
"Much thanks, Septimus. We'll be back." J'zargo thanked the wizard as they prepared to leave.
As Emilia and J'zargo prepared to leave, they immediately felt an absolutely overwhelming pressure behind them. The two turned around to find their exit was blocked by what can only be described as a green and black mass of tentacles and eyeballs.
"That is probably a bad sign." For one of the few times in his life, J'zargo was terrified.
"Come closer. Bask in my presence."
"Huh? What…?" Emilia couldn't help but feel… different. Like the concepts of physics and color became mere suggestions before that thing's presence.
"I am Hermeaous Mora. I am guardian of the unseen, and knower of the unknown, and I have been watching you, Dragonborn. I am... impressed." The eldritch entity, now known as Hermeaous Mora, spoke. Its voice was… chilling to the core of their souls.
"Watching me? Like a pervert?" Emilia asked, if only to try and buy them time to find a way out of here.
The Daedric Prince merely gave a light, if unsettling chuckle. "Such... simple desires are beneath me. My only attraction... is to knowledge."
"Oh, so you're like me," J'zargo said, which earned him a displeased look.
"You merely desire knowledge that will grant you strength. I desire all knowledge. All that is, all that can be known." It insulted J'zargo, who was actually scared for the first time in his long time.
"Like… Echidna." Emilia remembered Subaru talking about that Witch. A woman who would do everything and anything to get her hands on more knowledge.
"Indeed. Echidna was the ideal disciple. One of the best I have ever had. Warlock Hector made a grave mistake in robbing me of such a… magnificent specimen." Emilia was actually surprised to hear a Daedric Prince… actually praise someone. In its own way, but still.
"What do you want with us?" the cat-like man asked.
"Your aid of Septimus renders him increasingly obsolete. He has served me well, but his time is nearing its end. Once that infernal lockbox is opened, he will have exhausted his usefulness to me."
The half-elf gasped. "You're going to kill him?!"
Hermeaous Mora merely chuckled darkly. "His end will come by his own hands. When that time comes, you shall take his place as my emissary. What say you?"
"I'll do it."
Emilia gasped in shock. "J'zargo!"
"What? Would you rather have the shady creature form a pact with you, the Dragonborn? You know, our key to saving the world? J'zargo thinks not."
"Your presence is insignificant to me. However, Dragonborn, I understand you have many trials you struggle to find an answer for. Answers I will find acceptable to provide."
"But… why?" the silver-haired Dragonborn asked.
Hermeaous Mora continued. "You, and your Undead friend, Subaru Natsuki, strike my interest. Two warriors of destiny "chosen" by gods, attempting to save the world from ruin and decay. For your service, I can provide you with all the answers you could possibly want. How to save Elior Forest and those trapped within. How to end the existence of the Witch, Pandora, for good. How to save Subaru and his lover from suffering from the First Flame. These answers and more are all but a... contract away."
"What would I have to give you?" Emilia asked.
"Your eternal loyalty to me."
"Yeah, no, that sounds… How did Patches put it? Oh, yes! Sus."
Hermeaous Mora, however, remained undeterred. "My offer will still stand, should you change your mind. But make no mistake, the Last Dragonborn and the Chosen Undead will belong to me, so I have decreed."
That was all Hermeaous Mora said before disappearing back into his plane of Oblivion.
"Well, that was… unsettling."
Emilia couldn't help but nod in agreement. "Definitely."
"Shall we meet up with the others?" J'zargo asked.
Emilia nodded. "Let's."
The two of them left the caves of the iceberg, their minds trying to ignore the eldritch horror that just appeared before them, demanding the loyalty of two of the World's Heroes.
Hopefully, that would never come to pass.
Hopefully.
Author's Note: Looks like we've been introduced to our first Daedric Prince, Hermeaous Mora, the Prince of Knowledge and Fate, and it looks like he's taken an interest in our two protagonists.
(As we mentioned in the chapter, Echidna was indeed a follower of Hermeaous Mora, and he even looked on her favorably. I like to imagine Echidna's intelligence and sociopathy made her one of the best followers a Daedric Prince ever had.)
5queso: You'll have to wait for the Julius fight just like everyone else. Yeah, Patches is technically committing a modern-day war crime. But that's for later! See you then!
Kifhjoofff: Todos aparecerán ... eventualmente.
Jaymezians: Reinahard will show up, but not for something so… below him.
VinHD15: I have no idea if that would even do anything.
Anyways, back to the regular old shilling…
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- Ernalore & Infinite the Celestian