Mantling

Michael gives a dim smile, "I know exactly what this is... Has anyone tried to Mantle since Sheogorath? I doubt it... But unlike him, I won't succeed, and fail at the same time." he growls, thinking of Hero of Kvatch who'd ended up becoming Sheogorath and losing himself... He would not have that fate!

"You bloody idiot! This won't work for either of us! We'll both go insane if you do this, and I AM NOT becoming like that daft clown Sheo!" Clavicus exclaims, knowing that Michael's powers would send them into an internal conflict for who knows how long.

Due to how Mantling works, even if Michael won, he'd turn into another Clavicus eventually. But that didn't mean Clavicus was winning in that situation either! That would be a new Clavicus, a clone!

But since Michael was absorbing half of his soul, there was a good chance that would be the case!

"I WILL MAKE A DEAL! A DEEAAL! JUST CEASE THIS NOW!"

Michael shakes his head, "It's too late to back out, you shoulda thought about fucking with me and my friends!" he states, pulling harder on the souls and finally wrenching free of the artifacts, pulling them into himself.

"HHiiyyghk!" He grimaces at the feeling of agony penetrating him, even with his various pain reduction abilities it was very pronounced, the pain coming from his soul instead of his body. He felt his blood instantly begin to boil and his flesh start to disintegrate. Wisps of glowing power shrouded his body.

"B-BRRING IT YOU PONCED UP USED-CAR-SALESMAN!" he roars just as his body completely collapses into itself, turning to dust and leaving the frozen cave empty aside from Charlotte...

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!" Clavicus' voice shouts within Michael's mind, no, his soul. Michael wasn't even sure where he was anymore, he certainly wasn't in Nirn that was for certain, he couldn't concentrate on that however as his mind and will battled the ancient, titanic presence known as Clavicus.

"IT MEAN, I'M GOING TO STUFF YOUR SOUL IN A FLESHLIGHT AND FUCK IT UNTIL IT'S SCRAMBLED! THERE'S NO ESCAPING THIS FOR YOU! YOU'RE MINE!"

"TWO CAN PLAY AT THAT GAME, BOY! I HAVE LIVED SINCE BEFORE THIS WORLD WAS BIRTHED! YOU WILL NOT WIN THIS!"

Michael quickly realised that he wasn't just outside of Nirn, but also outside of Oblivion... He and Clavicus were fighting within Aetherius, their battle shaking the realm and attracting the attention of every god.

None interfered however, knowing that in the end, the result would be meaningless... Mantling was essentially just cloning yourself after all, so nothing would change from their perspective.

Except, that wasn't how Michael wished it.

While he had around the same amount of power as Clavicus, the battle was definitely not even. The Daedric Prince had far more experience and memories to pull on, his will dwarfed whatever Michael could muster, with even his feelings of care and love for his friends acting as a flimsy cardboard door against Clavicus' nukes.

That's why it wasn't surprising for him to lose the battle not even an hour into it. His soul shrivelling up and dissipating... Just before Clavicus could absorb it into himself however, Michael's consciousness somehow reappears and continues the battle...

[Dead God...?] would not let him die, even in this battle.

Clavicus continued his internal assault despite his confusion at what'd just happened, soon killing Michael once more... Yet the same strange event repeated, reviving the foolish mortal and allowing him to do battle once more.

Most of Michael's abilities were useless in this fight, it wasn't a physical one, or even a magical one. He and Clavicus' souls were melding, and right now they were just deciding who's consciousness remained.

Time passes. Michael dies. Revives. Dies. Revives. Fights.

His mentality had become somewhat broken in this, having his consciousness snuffed so many times had made him completely apathetic to everything except his goal of defeating Clavicus... His current existence only strived to defeat the god.

[Dead God...?] (142)

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[Dead God...?] (302)

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[Dead God...?] (563)

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[Dead God] (10000)

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Michael had no idea how long he'd been fighting for... Everything was blurring together... Had he been alive longer than he'd been dead? He didn't know... Not that it mattered...

...

"W-WHY WON'T YOU, JUST, DIE!" Clavicus helplessly roars as he rips Michael's consciousness apart once more... Except, it doesn't happen like usual.

After every death, the mortal got stronger, somehow, and just now was the first time his assault had failed...

Michael's thoughts pause at not being dead, slowly realising that Clavicus wasn't as strong as he remembered. "Die." he internally whispers, forcing the concept at the Daedra.

"AHAAARGH! W-WHAT!? NO! YOU DIE!" Clavicus screams, putting his full power into this attack and blowing Michael's consciousness apart.

He reforms for the N'th time...

"Die." Michael repeats, causing Clavicus' will to buckle at the attack.

"Die." Clavicus shrieks as the word burrows into his mind, annihilating some of his memories...

"Die." Clavicus' conciseness blacks out momentarily before recovering itself, but by then it was already too late.

"Die." Michael says for the last time, the concept shredding Clavicus' consciousness and rapidly sucking it into Michael's collective.

...

He'd won... Yet...

"Die." Michael repeats with no target in particular. He halts, unable to do anything as if his mind had frozen in time.

...

Then, after who knows how long, the concepts that Clavicus' presented force themselves on him like vultures to rotten flesh.

The concept of Deals, Pacts, Power, Bargains, Moon, Khajiit, and Gratification. All of them strike at him, attempting to force Michael into the shape most suited to them, the shape of Clavicus Vile...

Something halts this change of self however, THE Book appears despite the location not having such a concept of 'place'. Two shadowy hands emerge from it, one cupping Michael's soul while the other guides the concepts into it, forcefully melding them without allowing the Mantling to complete in its entirety...

Clavicus Vile was dead. And from the ashes of his soul, Mikhail Tahlin Vile, God of Deals, Pacts, Power, Bargains, Moon, Khajiit, Gratification, and Death, emerges.