176 Chapter XXXIX: Family Matters
"Think they will know what happened to him?" I ask Tolfdir as we finally manage to stop guffawing.
The old man shakes his head, still lightly chuckling "No, I do not believe so. The Psijik Monks are an awfully arrogant lot thinking they should only interfere 'when the times are most dire' or something equally inane" He explains with only light disdain lacing his words "The one that arrived here was probably working on his own and the wards shattered him to the point of near non-existence."
"Shame about the artifacts..." I cannot help but mutter, an order of ancient Altmer no doubt had some mad runework in their pockets "What about divination and the like?" I asked him just to confirm.
Tolfdir shakes his head "Have no worries, Shalazar has already made sure that scrying in this area will be exceedingly difficult if you aren't certain what you are looking for."
I raise an eyebrow "Something like a mystical fog then?"
He shrugs calmly "You know better than I, mysticism was never a talent of mine and I do not have the predisposition for it." As if he suddenly remembered something he raised an upward finger "Speaking off, he told me that you shouldn't worry about his protections as he made sure you were 'keyed in' so to speak."
"How considerate of him" I quip but internally still thank the mad lizard "Just in case you didn't notice I took the amulet off of the guardian." I tell him and flip the ancient necklace into my hand, twirling it around my finger "I am working on finding the Gauldur amulet and this is one of the fragments, I hope you don't mind me taking it in return for everything else down here?"
He waves me off with a satisfied chuckle "Go on ahead Reyvin, I appreciate the honesty but there is no need to be so considerate of this old man." The lightly jovial atmosphere around him changes into a more serious one as he speaks again "I will remain here and make sure no one touches the orb, you go on and plan things out with Savos."
"Will do Master Tolfdir" I bow lightly "But just in case a certain Thalmor ends up down here, do make sure the Draugr have a nice meal."
His expression doesn't change but his eyes do glint with hidden malice.
Good enough for me. I turn around and yell out "Minthara!" Eliciting a surprised yelp from the Dragonborn who was still engrossed in reading the ancient tale carved upon the word wall "Stop staring at the chicken scratch and let us go!"
Moments later she joins me, mumbling some very creative expletives all the way.
We left the tomb in short order, and as I walked through the ancient halls I could notice the absolutely ungodly amount of wards Tolfdir had layered over the place in the short time he had to do it.
I could easily deduce that anyone entering down here with even a hint of malicious intent would likely have their guts forced through their nostrils if they weren't powerful or skilled enough to survive.
Even better was the fact that they would have to permanently partition some of their power to survive making them all weaker even if they did manage to enter without turning to paste.
Soon the dour air of the burial grounds was replaced with the excited atmosphere of a bunch of explorers unearthing ancient history. While most of the older students were very serious about their work, the newbies all felt a bit awkward as this was their first time doing anything of this sort.
So it was to very little surprise that we attracted their attention quickly the moment we left the blown-out passage and stepped out into the great cavernous hall.
Most were merely curious where we were while the two beast-men were ineffectually sniffing in our direction, likely detecting something but not enough to guess what we were doing.
Only Marco had any idea what was happening and all he could do was let out an exasperated sigh at the fact we were once more elbows deep in Draugr guts within barely any time of entering the place.
Minthara got rather pouty at me when I told her to remain with the rest and wait this whole situation out while the big leagues dealt with it. She had grown strong, unsurprising considering her burgeoning diet of dragon soul, but she was nowhere near prepared enough to face what was likely waiting for us at our next destination.
It took some convincing but she 'let me go' after I promised to help her with inventing some new and creative shouts. The whole song and dance had become something of a game for us at this point as she knew damn well that she didn't need me when it came to the voice but she still bothered me about it all the same. Maybe she is just bored?
Really should recommend her a hobby of some kind.
I let out an annoyed sigh as I was finally alone, dealing with what was coming next was going to be a massive hassle but needs must and all that... So after informing Neloren that everything was in order I recalled myself back into my mansion and quickly left for the college.
It was time to finally confront an old man.
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(Savos' POV)
The Archmage of the College of Winterhold was having an incredibly hard time for the past couple of days. During his early forays into mysticism he had predicted his death would happen not long after Saarthal was unearthed. Though instead of being afraid of such a fate he welcomed it, his failures as a friend and even worse his failures as a father left his life filled with little more than regret.
Oh he still very much enjoyed delving deep into the mysteries of magic and teaching those with more reason to live than himself but it was always enough to at the very least temporarily drag his thoughts from the abyss.
He yearned for redemption, to strike out against those that took away his friends and family but even after all these years a deep fear was seeped deep in his heart and all he could do was mourn his past, unable to move forward.
He was happy to finally be freed from the shackles of life... but recently he had started feeling conflicted. The battle against Potema had served to reignite some of his desire for power, the reminder that he could still do good for many even though he failed the few reinvigorated him like very little could.
Even that would not have been enough if not for one person... He had believed that his entire family had been extinguished when the attack in the Imperial City happened, that he was left all alone in the world after three whole centuries of life.
And then the most surprising of people had appeared on his college's doorstep.
"What am I to do Elynea?" He asked aloud before the small family shrine in his opulent chambers, his voice laced with pain and strained with three centuries of suffering.
He had tried to summon his daughter many times in the past couple of years, they were estranged when she died, her refusal to follow in his footsteps forever severing their bond due to his insistence. Yet he still hoped against hope that she would answer, she was not ritually adopted into the house she had married into as her husband cared very little about such traditions. So every month he tried over and over again to summon her spirit in hopes of getting closure.
Once more his prayers went unanswered.
He sighed and turned to leave the small room before an annoyed voice pierced his ears "Maybe you should stop moping like a child longer than most Mer are alive and move on instead of living in the past like a coward."
Savos stilled completely and then mechanically turned around, his eyes widening as he beheld the scowling face of his daughter's spirit.
The very annoyed ghost rolled its eyes as she beheld her pathetic father "My child comes to your doors and all you can do is mope, I swear if Vyren saw this kwama shit he would knock your teeth out and make you choke on them." Savos is completely stunned by her words but she cares not and continues with her tirade "I swear, if Lady Azura didn't deign to inform me how much of an idiot you were being I would not have met you even in the afterlife."
Savos flinches and reflexively asks "Why would Azura..."
A loud scoff interrupts him "Because my brat decided to go and play champion and she wanted to prove a point."
"What kind of point would she even need to prove to him?" The tired Archmage asks.
"Apparently he inherited my 'uncouth mannerisms'" The sourly ghost rolls its eyes again "And she wanted to show him she did not want him ill in the most convoluted way possible."
Savos sweatdrops "But how would you speaking to me show him anything?"
"Oh you don't need to worry about that" Elynea smirks annoyingly.
Before he can ask anything he feels the wards of his door allow someone in... someone he was supposed to be expecting. Savos has no time to panic as he realizes he left the door to the shrine open with perfect line of sight to what he was doing.
"So we found something rather interesting below Saar-" Reyvin stills completely as he enters the Archmage's quarters and then trails off "...thal."
Three pairs of eyes stare at each other in constantly shifting between each other before the silence becomes to frustrating and youngest person present irritably blurts out "What the fuck?!"
(Reyvin's POV)
"Oi, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" The ghost of my fuckmothering mother in this life asks irritably.
Unconsciously I fall back into my inherited memories and blurt out "Oh come off it you hag, the only way anyone would kiss you is you guilting them into doing it." My brain to mouth filter finally kicks in as I realize what I have just said and I snap my mouth shut... and stare at the snickering ghost with a twitching eyebrow.
"Getting cocky I see you damn brat" Elynea Dagoth smirks "Think me being dead will stop me from kicking your arse if you don't behave?" She pops her knuckles intimidatingly.
A small part of me shivers, my mother tended to be rather... violent in her education... but I raised a curious eyebrow instead "Sure, go on ahead, maybe your weak ass punches will feel like a relaxing spiritual massage, you always did say I should try new things."
Her eyes snap to Savos "Told you all your magic crap will get to your heads."
The Archmage merely chuckles awkwardly while sending me a pleading look.
"So" I interrupt her ensuing tirade "What exactly are you... doing here?" I ask awkwardly. I could easily surmise the whole situation but getting some confirmation is always a good thing.
She points at Savos while visibly annoyed "This twat of a father of mine kept crying at the family altar like a little girl for me to show myself" Ignoring her father's pained twitch she goes on while giving me a very judgmental stare "Imagine my bloody surprise when Lady Azura of all gods yanks my spirit for a short conversation and tells me to show myself as a show of faith to my child."
"Fucking Daedra" I mutter.
"Ain't that right?" She smirks "Since when does my brat deal with Daedra of all things?"
I scratch my cheek awkwardly "Since I could do it without fucking things up?" I ask more than answer.
My mother huffs and crosses her arms "Cheeky little shit" She mutters and then her glare softens as she asks "Are you doing alright?" The motherly instincts kicking in even while she was in ghost form.
I nod with a smile and bow playfully "Royal Thane of Skyrim and Lord of Dagoth, Reyvin the Flame-tongue at your service madam."
She snorts loudly "At least Vyren will be happy to hear that" Her ghostly form starts flickering and she tosses something at me, a small bolt of grey-ish matter launching itself into Azura's Star. Before I can ask anything she mutters "Toss that thing into your shrine and we will talk again, I must go now."
Savos goes to say something but she is already gone, causing the old Mer's shoulders to slump.
"So... grandfather" I drawl, the word feeling rather unnatural in my mouth.
Savos chuckles awkwardly while looking at anywhere but me.
I snort at his behavior and summon two bottles of high quality mead "Want one?" I ask.
He sighs and nods "Yes, I'd like that very much."
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