The Gardener of Men

"Apocrypha is the realm of Hermaeus Mora, the Daedric Prince of Fate and Knowledge. Many who come here seeking forbidden knowledge remain forever."

Chapter 7: The Gardener of Men

His vision returned to him as well as his hearing. When his vision fully came to, he found himself on a strange island made from the same odd, black architecture plaguing Solsthiem. The skies were a shade of jade green while the seas around him were black and murky.

"Holy shit, this is the same place as last time." Gajeel realized. But as he looked around, he noticed the way the area was different "Must be in a different fucking area." as he studied the area around him, he noticed a black tentacle jut out of the murky black water and slap the surface before returning to the waters.

"Better avoid the water." Gajeel muttered to himself. As he looked around, he noticed an odd object that was a combination between an angler fish and a plant. Unsure about what to do, Gajeel gently touched it with his fingertips, causing the little light in the center to retract and make a nearby bridge unfold, allowing Gajeel to walk onto the next island. As Gajeel looked around, he spotted a moving passage that moved back and forth. Noting how this was, Gajeel timed himself and jumped onto the moving passage and dashed through the hall before tumbling off a platform. He then found another one of those weird plants.

"The fuck are these things?" Gajeel pondered "Guess I better do the same thing as last time." he touched the object, watching a similar reaction from last time as it lowered a second bridge on the other side.

"Shhhhhhhit." he grouched. Gajeel turned himself around to the moving passage way and rode it back to that bridge. Once Gajeel reached the other side, he climbed the bridge and came across a book on a pedestal. The book looked exactly the same as the one that got him here in the first place, as he studied it, he saw a message appear that said:"Turn the page to go to Chapter II."

"Chapter II?" Gajeel wondered "Hmm, book brought me here, so I guess everything has to be book themed in this fucking place." he turned the page on the book and soon, a vortex of book paper surrounded him and transported the Dragonborn to a different area: Chapter II.

Chapter II was a vast corridor that soon unfurled into a large room where four creatures stood to greet him. Gajeel recognized them all immediately; three were the same creatures that surrounded God Serena when Gajeel faced him the first time, and the second was just like the one controlling the Wind Stone. The creatures made their way to the Dragonborn, ready to skirmish at any second. Gajeel took a deep breath and let out a Shout.

"Yol...TOOR SHUL!" he breathed out. Fire spewed from his mouth and hit one of the creatures that was found with God Serena (Seekers Gajeel for some reason felt like calling them.) The other one (a Lurker Gajeel decided to call it) roared in anger at the sight of it's ally being torched and began to race to Gajeel to try and end his life.

"Not today asshole!" Gajeel cockily smirked. He swung his sword and hit an artery inside the Lurker's leg, killing the creature instantly. One down, three to go. The Seekers teamed up and began to throw orbs of a green light at Gajeel, planning to attack him only to have Gajeel dodge their attacks, charge at them and stab one of them. Moment he did, another Seeker appeared "What the fuck?!" the new Seeker began to attack Gajeel, trying to protect the one that was near death. Seeing he had no choice, Gajeel quickly ended the life of the Seeker that was nearing its end but was shocked to see that the one that appeared out of no where turned to ash. Not going to think about it until later, Gajeel decided the best course of action would be to just destroy the last two quickly and get a move on. He quickly pulled his two one-handed swords, swung the blades and cut them in their veins (Or at least he thought it was) he watched as black colored blood spewed out of their necks and soon, they turned into a pile of rags.

Gajeel scraped the blood off his two blades before putting them away and searching the remains. Right before he could even touch them, he hesitated. These vile creatures worked for Hermaeous Mora, a Daedric Prince. He was going to try and get Gajeel to grab something from his realm. Not wanting this Prince to win, Gajeel backed away from the remains and began to try and find an exit. He eventually found it and made his way to Chapter III.

Chapter III was more spacious than the last two chapters and seemed to have a more elegant design (if it was possible). Gajeel gunned the area before spotting a path nearby. He followed the pathway around and up several sets of stairs, eliminating the seekers guarding the area as he went. The journey was a long one through this chapter, and quite brutal; but Gajeel was determined to get to where he needed to be. As he looked up at the jade green sky, he wondered about his wife and how she was and if everything was ok back in Tamriel. Snapping out of his thoughts, Gajeel suddenly spotted a platform above him with a pedestal and a large book on it. That had to be his destination! Needing to get up there as soon as possible, Gajeel began to frantically search for the exit until he found it. The book he found then took him to Chapter IV.

When he arrived to Chapter IV, he scoured the place and discovered it was the platform above his previous location. Ahead of him was a gate that was locked, he found one of those weird plants again and like the rest of the ones he came across, it receded and opened the gate, revealing a large black book. Gajeel cautiously made his way to the book and noticed something different with this one; not only was this book closed, but it was pulsing. Pulsing like a a heartbeat as a green light omitted from it.

"This must be what I'm here for." Gajeel thought to himself. He carefully took his hand and opened the book, expecting to find the information he was there for. Instead, he just saw the words and pictures on the pages begin to move on their own.

"The fuck is this shit?!" as Gajeel tried to make sense of this, he was unaware that holes began to rip through the sky of Apocrypha and large black tentacles began to pop out of the holes. Along with the tentacles, came a mass of multiple eyes, each creepier than the last. Gajeel looked up and was horrified at the sight before him; it was Hermaeus Mora, the Daedric Prince of Knowledge and Fate.

"All seekers of knowledge come to my realm, sooner or later..." he explained to Gajeel in an oh so slow, regal, monotone voice. His figured of speech slightly irked Gajeel, which just added to the feeling he got in his stomach from just looking at the Daedric Prince.

"I don't need your fucking help." Gajeel scowled at the monstrosity before him "I'll learn that bastard's secrets on my own!"

"No, look around. You have done nothing here on your own. You could spend a hundred lifetimes searching my library, and you will never find what you seek."Gajeel gritted his teeth and growled at Hermaeus Mora. He hated to admit it, but he was right; this place was behemothic. Gajeel could literally spend his whole life span in this place just to find what he needed and by the time he did, God Serena would've taken over all of Tamriel.

"I know what you want: to use you power as Dragonborn to bend the world to your will..." opined Hermaeus Mora "Here then is the knowledge you need, although you did not know you needed it. The second Word of Power. Use it to bend the wills of mortals to your purpose." the moment he said those words, Gajeel suddenly felt a rush of power enter his body, and soon the word "Hah"- Mind reverberated in his head "But this is not enough... God Serena knows the final Word of Power. Without that, you cannot hope to surpass him. God Serena served me well, and he was rewarded. I can grant you the same power as he wields, but all knowledge has its price." Gajeel cocked his pierced eyebrow at the Daedric Prince before letting out a sigh.

"Ain't God Serena your ally?" he cross-examined "Why the fuck are you helping me defeat him?"

"He has served me long and well." Hermaeus Mora waved off "But he grows restless under my guidance. His desire to return to your world will spread my influence more widely; but it will also set him free from my direct control. It may be time to replace him with a more loyal servant. One who still appreciates the gifts I have to offer."

"In your dreams ya weird tentacle monster." Gajeel thought to himself before sighing "What the hell do you want for the last Word?"

"Knowledge for knowledge. The Skaal have withheld their secrets from me for many long years. The time has come for this knowledge to be added to my library."Gajeel's eyes widened in horror at that request, the Skaal?! What the hell did they have that this Son of a Bitch wanted?! Keeping his composure, Gajeel looked at Hermaeous Mora.

"How the hell do I know I can trust you ya damn demon?"

"My word is as true as fate," Hermaeus Mora assured"as inevitable as destiny. Bring me what I want, and I will give you what you seek." he suddenly began to disappear in front of Gajeel before saying: "Send the Skaal shaman to me. He holds the secrets that will be mine." as he disappeared completely into nothingness, Gajeel flipped him off. The book in front of Gajeel suddenly began to glow again and three green orbs appeared before him. It looked like Hermaeus Mora was trying to reward him for completing his journey through this book.

"Just get me the hell home!" he screamed at the book. With his request made, the book began to glow bright and Gajeel's vision faded.

"Gajeel?" he heard a voice call to him "Can you hear me?" his vision began to return to him, he found his wife Levy staring at him with curiosity. He looked around the area and found himself back at Nchardak. Jose walked over to the Dragonborn with curiosity on his face.

"What happened?" he needled "What did you see? Different people have very different experiences when reading these books." Gajeel took a deep breath before getting straight to the point.

"I saw Hermaeus Mora." Gajeel confessed. Both Levy and Jose's eyes widened larger than Sweet Rolls.

"Y-You saw Hermaeus Mora?!" Levy gulped. Her husband nodded to her words.

"You're still acting surprisingly sane, too." Jose pointed out "What did he have to say? He must have wanted something from you."

"He taught me the second Word of Power for Bend Will." Gajeel spoke partially truthful.

"But I assume there's some bad news? It would be unlike Hermaeus Mora to allow anyone to gain such knowledge without exacting a price."

"He- He wants the Secrets of The Skaal." silence.

"The Secrets of the Skaal?" Levy questioned.

"Hmmph." Jose huffed "What secrets could they have worth keeping from old Mora?"

"Are you sure you can do this?" Levy asked her husband with concern.

"I got no choice." Gajeel admitted "Either I give the fucking secrets or let Tamriel suffer."

"It sounds like a bargain to me." Jose shrugged "Hermaeus Mora learns some fascinating new ways to skin a horker and you become the second most powerful Dragonborn that ever lived." the Nord couple squinted their eyes in disgust at Jose's words "Well, that gives me a lot to think about. I need to get back to Tel Mithryn. I have some ideas about how to locate more of these Black Books..." sighing a sigh of relief. Gajeel picked up the book, threw it into his bag and tied his bag shut.

"Why are you taking that?" Levy questioned.

"Might come in handy." Gajeel admitted "Besides, I think it's best we take it instead of some thief coming along and letting it get into the wrong hands." Levy nodded at Gajeel's point and the two walked out of the Dwemer ruins with Jose.