A New Sun Rises - Maxical's Adventures, The Truth Behind The Oblivion Crisis Options

[mALX]

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A New Sun Rises

This story covers the daily events in the two years leading up to the Oblivion Crisis. It begins following the life of a semi-typical Khajiit girl who inadvertently finds herself the pawn of a powerful necromancer just as factions and forces begin moving into position.

When motivations are revealed it drives out the secrets of forgotten pasts, and another Khajiit girl whose life was an intertwined mirror of her own till both were altered irrevocably by the same necromancer in whose power they both found themselves.

The diverse paths their lives took merge once again in an explosive revelation that leaves one wondering how much of her skills and personality were ever her own; the other in a desperate struggle to keep control of her life, keep from being used against the Emperor as the crisis that will change Cyrodiil and the rule of Tamriel forever begins.

Maxical

Prologue

Sun's Dusk ( 3rd Era, year 432 )
Ma�Thjizzrini Qa
15 years after her parent's deaths

Fate is an invincible enemy in a battle you�ll never leave unscathed. It stalks you as prey and strikes regardless of shields or armor. The gods and other realms can find entertainment in manipulating your path on a whim; or ancient vampires dabble with your life, alter your mind without you even knowing it. Sometimes you don�t find out till it is too late.

I�d like to blame the gods for where I found myself, but the truth is that somewhere between the void and the Dreamsleeve lies fate; a place where time and space meet; where even the blackness of the void doesn�t reach, and the gods make wagers on the outcome of lives caught in the �tween.

Wedged into that fold are damned souls, souls that have been marked for paths they can�t change, to destinies they can�t escape. Ancient vampire's eyes see them as beacons, follow them as scents, control their minds without their ever knowing.

They are targets for revenge of an enemy they don't even know exists, pawns in a game they didn't even know was being played; whose contestants their worst nightmares couldn�t envision.


That�s where I found myself fifteen years after the game started. That was the day I found out that everything I�d ever known about myself had always been�her. Amiela.

Amiela was a 137 years old demon of a vampire that thrived on destruction and usurped whatever she could from others. She died a century before I was born, but the wars being fought over her didn�t end with her death. Her soul was marked�and inside me.

For me, fate was my parents bringing me through the heavy forested area of the Gold Road just outside Skingrad at the same time the second worst necromancer of our time was in a battle for the soul of Amiela. And there I was, a convenient hiding spot.

That was the day my parents died. All I ever knew of them was where they died and what killed them. I was twenty years old before I even learned my mother's name. I was twenty years old before I remembered Nisaba. Nissy.

*******



Nisaba

Nissy�s beginning didn�t just match mine, it was mine; though neither of us knew it before we�d both turned twenty years old. That was the year our paths crossed again and we learned the only scraps of our histories anyone was ever able to recover. That's when we learned our destinies were intertwined long before our lives began.

Nissy and I were born within a month of each other in the year 412, both born in the 'no-man's' land of wild mountain passes between Vvardenfell and Cyrodiil. Our parents were traveling together and we were born en route, but our histories began long before that.

From early childhood our parents were owned by Hlormaren, a Dunmer Stronghold on the Bitter Coast of Vvardenfell. Before that they were housed in the same children's slave pen on the mainland. Maybe our histories began long before that, but that was the furthest back any information went that we were able to find.

Nissy�s mother died giving birth to her. Her father dropped her off at the Imperial Legion Orphanage for the un-adoptable when she was two. Three years later a Legionnaire dropped me off there when my parents were killed in a minotaur attack.

Fate once again found Nissy and me four years later in the middle of the night, right there in our room at that orphanage. We were both nine years old when our destinies were wrenched into the hands of the worst necromancer Tamriel has known since the King of Worms. Both of us have been in his power in one way or another since. Dagoth-Malan.

That was eleven years ago, eleven years that Nissy waited for me to keep a promise to save her...eleven years that all my memories of her were stolen by Dagoth-Malan so I couldn�t keep that vow. Until fate brought us together again when we both turned twenty.

Nissy and me, we were both in the wrong place at the wrong time. Fate.

** The Beginning **



Where Memories Begin And End

Legion Office, Imperial City
3rd Era, year 417 (memories of events that occurred when Maxical was five years old)

The earliest memory of my lifetime begins and ends in the Legion headquarters in the Imperial City. I�ve never been able to remember a single moment of my life before finding myself in that office.

It was a coming awake. A dark void of nothingness, and then in a blink my eyes were open and there I stood in that office with no idea where I was or how I got there.

An odd putrid odor I couldn't name seemed to be clinging inside my nostrils and roiling my stomach, even the pungent stench of sweat emanating from the large man behind the desk was a welcome relief in comparison.

There was an odd feeling of having forgotten something important that niggled irritatingly, a barb that probed against my mind to remember, but there was nothing to answer its incessant prodding. Nothing. It was like a journey through a maze with only dead ends at every turn. I didn't know where I had come from, where I belonged, or who I belonged to.

At first I barely understood what they were saying; strange sounding words spoken so harshly and rapidly that it was impossible to grasp even one to decipher. They couldn�t understand me at all when I spoke.

Somewhere deep inside me in a place as unconnected to me as the lost memories of my life before that office there was the oddest sensation; a stirring, as if that part of me was just now waking. Suddenly their words were striking a chord of recognition It almost felt as if I could speak their tongue, but when my mouth opened the words still came out in the only language I knew.

*******

The large sweaty man behind the desk pointed at me. "What is that?"

"Don't know, only that it's the get of some beasts killed by a minotaur up on the big curve of the Gold Road in County Skingrad. Couldn't tell what they were either. The mother was a bloody mess; but the male...fur black as coal soot, and the same flattened face as that one's." He indicated my face, then added, "Too big for a cat, never seen anything like him. Both bore slave tattoos so they can't be from Cyrodiil. No travel papers or identification on either body."

The large sweating man's chair groaned loudly as he leaned over and gave me an intrusive and extended eyeing. "That ain't no Khajiit, not with that white coloring. That face gives me the creeps, you said the male looked the same? This one must be an albino then. No telling what you'll find in those other Provinces, all barbarians." He spat a large wad of brown cud into the urn beside him.

"The male had been looted; they even took his clothes, naked as a jaybird he was. Found this in the brush near the female's body." He held out a blood spattered travel pack. "When I moved her body this silver dagger was underneath her, and this gold locket fell off her neck. Chain was broken, likely in the attack."

The rotund man tossed him a cloth to wrap the items in, then pointed at me. "How old do you think it is?"

"Too small to be very old. Can't be much more than a couple years. It walks well enough, though. And mark it as female, it squatted to relieve itself on the way here."

"Two year old female." The large man wrote something down.

"And a bad tempered one at that. She scratched me up good trying to get her on the horse." That was met with raucous laughter from the men gathered.

"It's that red hair!" Someone called.

The mocking laughter and insulting treatment I understood without the help of that strange place within me that seemed to know this language. I didn't know anything about myself or how I got here, I was confused and up till that moment terrified. But at that moment I learned that I had a temper. I could feel it building inside me like a fire about to go out of control.

In my rage I nearly missed that their odd contortions and rudimentary gestures to communicate were attempts to get my name. My name. That would be important to find out who I was.

�Ma'Thjizzrini Qa.� A girls voice squealed from behind me. I turned to see a Khajiit girl in the doorway staring at me wide eyed.

"Ma'Thjizzrini Qa!" She started running toward me, but one of the armored men grabbed her and pushed her back out the door.

As soon as she said it I knew that was my name, it struck a familiar chord immediately. I repeated it, imitating their miming gestures by pointing to my chest. �Ma'Thjizzrini Qa.�

"Name, Maxical." The rotund man wrote something down, then stamped his seal on the document.

*******

They said I was found beside my parents, was there when they were killed. I didn't remember any of it. It felt like they talked abstractly about strangers. The greatest shock for me that day and so many days since was that I didn't even know my mother's name; wasn't able to bring an image of her to my mind, or even a glimpse of a moment with her or the sound of her voice. It was like she disappeared into the void, taking every remembrance of her.

That day in the Legion office though, that I will never forget. The smell of pipe smoke and tobacco, male sweat and steel; those odors bring back the memory of that day as if it was still alive within me, still happening to me.

It has stayed fresh in my mind all these years; but not because I wanted to remember it. It was that haunting memory that was just out of grasp beyond it, the sheer number of times I�d come to that stopping point in my memory and tried to force beyond it to find something, anything of who I was; of my life before that Legion office. Of my mother.

That day, those men staring at me as if I were an insect as they tried to determine what I was, what I was saying...what to do with me. All through it my mind burned with trying to figure out who I was and how I got there. I'll never forget that day.

*******

This post has been edited by mALX: May 4 2019, 07:13 PM

[mALX]

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@ Acadian - I liked it better too, I was trying to stay away from it being overly ooky. Not sure if I accomplished that, but it is still less than the first, lol. Thank you so much Acadian!
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@ Olen - Thank you very much! I am trying to revamp the original, it is just too long, and there were some parts that on re-read months later just seemed...sappy. So I am attempting to cut them out and slim down the size some, lol. Thank you Olen!
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@ Destri Melarg - I have been putting a lot of Alix into the latest chapters due to him having no role for so long - and now there is Barbas, who mysteriously likes Alix for something other than a meal, lol. I'll have to wait a bit to post them and re-read them to see if they will fly, lol. Thank you so very much Destri!
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@ Winter Wolf - Lol, I can get a screenie of her on the roof easily enough, I wonder...maybe using the duplication glitch to roll potatoes down and quick jump back for a screenshot, lol. I'll see what I can do. Couldn't have the story without the dagger, lol. Thank you so much Wolf !!!!!











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The Orphanage

Chapter 5: The Day Of Fathis Aren



The fourth good thing that came out of my time at the orphanage was a matter of perfect timing, although I didn't consider it a good thing at the time.

Being a ward of the state you are sometimes given the opportunity for a benefactor to pay for schooling. Fathis Aren comes annually to choose one orphan to receive a year paid tuition at the Arcane University, the school of magic. It is a real opportunity for a needy child who would not else get the chance, at least that is what we were told.

Eavesdropping netted me much more information than that. I was sneaking through the Legion dorms to pull a prank, but midway in several guards entered through the opposite door. I dove under a bed and froze, not able to leave without being seen. What I overheard; I really didn't know what it meant, but guessed it must be forbidden knowledge. My eyes nearly popped from my head listening.

"What [censored] bee got into Phillida's butt?"

"It's that [censored] rich Court Mage from Castle Bravil, Fathis Aren. He comes early tomorrow. Phillida always gets like this when a big purse comes."

"Aren? Isn't he that Dunmer that always looks like he's ate bad meat?"

�That's him. His expression is perpetual boredom, as if he'll die of ennui at any given moment if his age doesn�t get him first.� He made his voice airy and drawled his words mockingly.

�He isn�t bored, he just thinks he's better than the working class.�

�True there.� A deep voice grunted.

�He is bored. Court life will drag the life out of you.� An older voice sounded.

�All the women he gets? He sure ain't bored!� A younger man scoffed.

�Pilus is right, he can�t be bored. Fathis gets it more than Uriel Septim, women come looking for him. If you ask me, he donates to the orphans because he fathered over half of them. The rest are Uriel�s so he considers it his patriotic duty to care for them.� Raucous laughter followed that.

�He�s a womanizer all right. He could repopulate Cyrodiil single-handed if the need arose. I've heard stories..."

"Married women hound him, I know that for a fact.� Someone interrupted.

�Get out of here!� Something was thrown and hit the wall with a thud.

�He�s not exaggerating, I�ve heard them. You forget I used to work the gates. You hear and see everything there.� The older voice said.

�That's truth, I worked them for a while myself. You wouldn�t believe some of the things I heard.� Another piped in.

�I worked mounted for five years; you can't take a step in Cyrodiil without tripping over one of Uriel�s bastards, and there's always two of Fathis�s right behind them.� The older voice said. A roar of loud laughter and jeering followed.

"How many of your own did you trip over Leland?" Someone called out. I took advantage of the noise to slip out.






***


The paperwork was still in the process of being completed for Alix and S�Jirra to adopt me; so I was there the day Fathis Aren came.

Only the beautiful human children were put on display when rich people showed up with their gold pouches opened, beast races were kept out of sight. My window overlooked the row of immaculate children being lined up for Fathis to interview, so my room quickly filled with children wanting to watch.

The magic arts didn't interest me anyway, and my future was already secured with my adoption in the works. The idea of climbing out the window and dropping into the line with the others was merely for a prank, to shock the rich Court Mage when he saw a cat within the ranks of Imperial children.

When I climbed out on the ledge though, it frightened what must have been all of Tamriel�s pigeon population into flight at once. They circled back to defend their roosting spot and chaos followed.

Some of them made a bee-line for the window I had opened, frightening the other children that had been banned from attending Fathis Aren�s arrival. They barreled down the steps and burst screaming out the door.

An air attack of no small proportions began on the row of immaculate children; they were shrieking as they dodged the pigeon attacks.

Some windows were broken in the melee that ensued, and the office of Commander Phillida was compromised. He charged out of his office followed by several Imperial Guards with the flock of angry birds in hot pursuit. Fathis Aren arrived just in time to see the pandemonium.

Commander Phillida was bellowing curses while he and two guards were chasing me across the quad. I glanced back to see if they were gaining on me and was mesmerized by the enormous glob of pigeon poop splashed across Phillida�s brow that looked like it might drip down into his open mouth. Not wanting to miss the moment it did, I continued to run forward while craning my head behind to watch.

At the last second before crashing into him, I glanced forward to see a Dunmer watching the scene with a look of unholy amusement on his face. I leaped onto his chest and wrapped my arms around his neck, clinging tightly.

�Save me!� I gasped in Ta'agra as Phillida and the Imperial Guards came roaring up.






***


My motto is �when in doubt, fake a faint� so I did, letting my head loll back and my arms droop down limply.

�Little minx. It rather looks like they need saving from you.� Fathis said quietly, and in perfect Ta'agra.

I stiffened, opening one eye to see if I'd heard right. He was watching my face and caught me. His slanted red eyes were laughing. I quickly veiled my eyes again, letting the long lashes close down with just a slit left open to watch the action.

When they saw it was Fathis Aren, Phillida and the guards ground to a halt, trying to act dignified. That is hard to do with angry red faces covered in pigeon poop.

�Sir, we apologize for this disruption. I can�t imagine what you must be thinking, I assure you�� Phillida broke off, pulling a hankie out and wiping the bird droppings from his face.

�Am I to assume by this greeting that you were not expecting my arrival today?� Fathis asked, his voice inscrutable.

�No sir, I mean yes sir. We expected you. That is, you were expected. We have some candidates over here, if you would like to�Guards! Get Maxical and take her and the others back inside so Fathis can meet the children we have selected for his�that is the children that show promise.�

Commander Phillida pointed to the once immaculate children, who were now a mess. Their hair and clothing was askew and covered in bird droppings, as was the lawn around them.

�I have never asked for a selection, you were to show me all. Have I been wrong in assuming you followed my instructions, and that the determination of promise would be left up to me?� Fathis sounded stern. If fiery red eyes can look cold, his did.

�No sir. Well, to be honest sir, we were under the�that is to say we thought you only meant the human children.� Phillida corrected himself.

�I never said that.� Fathis sounded angry.






***


While still trying to give the appearance of being blacked out, I had buried my face in Fathis�s neck and was sniffing loudly. He was scented! I had never smelled a man wearing scent before.

The guards were trying to pull me out of Fathis�s arms and I clung tighter around his neck, giving up my fake blackout.

�Is this child to be punished?� Fathis�s voice indicated no preference in the matter, but the guards stopped tugging at me.

�Yes sir!�Er, what would you have us do sir?� Phillida hemmed and hawed.

�When they said you were a womanizer, was it because you wear scent like a woman?� I asked in Ta'agra. Fathis nearly choked.

�Where did you hear that?� He asked, speaking in Ta'agra.

�I hear talk. They said you could repopulate Cyrodiil single-handedly if the need arose. Is that true? What does it mean?� I leaned closer and sniffed him some more.

Fathis did choke. �I don't want to know anything more you have overheard. You should never repeat what you hear eavesdropping, which I'm sure you did to have heard that.� He sounded stern, but his red eyes looked amused.

�But if I don�t know what something means, how can I know not to repeat it? Is it something�shocking?� I tried to sound innocent, but was intrigued. Was it forbidden knowledge? I was determined to learn what it meant now.

�You are too young to be overhearing these things. That should be a lesson not to eavesdrop.� Fathis was struggling to sound stern. There was laughter behind it, and his eyes held the same.






***


�I didna' set out to eavesdrop. I was sneaking through the men�s dorms while they slept.�

�What were you doing in the men�s dorms then?�

�If you dip their hands in warm water while they sleep, their bladders loose in their beds. It's boring here, there's nothing to do. If I can�t stand it another second, sometimes I pull pranks.�

Fathis barked a laugh, but then got serious. �I understand boredom very well. But you must never go in those dorms at night again. Men can be dangerous, you could be harmed. Give me your word you'll not sneak into the dorms again. Do I have it then? And no crossed fingers behind my neck, I felt that.�

�Do I have to spit on my hand?�

�I hope you won�t. I may drop you quickly if I see spit.�

I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck and sniffed him some more. �You sure smell good Fathis Aren. When I'm grown, I want to marry a man who smells just like you.�

�You, my girl, are a little minx!� Fathis said. �Remember what I said, never go in there again.�

Khajiit read people through their eyes, I found Fathis to be not what I expected at all. He gave orders that I not be punished.






***


The guard Pilus popped his head in the door. �You have a visitor, Maxical.�

I was surprised to see Fathis Aren below. �Fathis!� I ran toward him with a smile, then looked around. �Where's Alix? They said I had a visitor.�

�I�m the visitor.� Fathis said, smiling. �You looked glad to see me, come. Take a turn in the yard with me, I have something to talk to you about.�

�Am I in trouble for those things I said? I didn�t know what they meant�then.� I flushed red as a tomato. I'd found out what they meant since.

�Nae, you're in no trouble. I came to tell you about a plan for your future. I'm giving a full scholarship for you to attend the Arcane University.�

�But I�m getting adopted, I don�t need to know anything now.� The fear hit me that the adoption had fallen through.

�I talked to Alix and S�Jirra before coming here. They are thrilled for you to have this opportunity. You'll have five years before your studies begin, but I'll be visiting to bring you elementary spell lessons to practice at home."

I wasn't thrilled to have the opportunity, but breathed relief that I had five years to talk Alix and S'Jirra out of it. I nodded, trying not to show my lack of enthusiasm. Fathis touched my cheek, leaving a hint of his scent behind. I rubbed the back of my hand against my cheek and sniffed it, waving goodbye with my other hand.

Fathis no sooner walked out when Alix walked in. Now that I was sure they'd be adopting me, I had to ask about Nissy. I hemmed and hawed, not knowing how to start.

"Er...remember my best friend Nissy I told you about? She's been crying a lot because I'm leaving, I'm her only close friend here." It wasn't a lie, she had cried; worried they wouldn't take her too. "Er...would you like to meet her?"

Alix nodded. I took his hand and led him up to our room. It was empty. I glanced under each bed, surprised; then peeked into the schrank. Nissy wasn't there.

"I don't understand, she was just here. But you'll really like her. We're like sisters, except she's really well behaved. She'll be so lonely when I'm gone..."

Alix understood, he nodded. "I'll have to ask S'Jirra first, you know that."

"She'll say yes, right? She prayed and prayed for a child...right?"

Alix scooped me up into his arms and squeezed me tight. "Yes, she sure did."









***


The next morning a guard pounded on my door. "They're here for you."

I grabbed my mother's pack off the bed, glancing around the room. I couldn't shake the feeling there was something I was forgetting.

S'Jirra hugged me first. "Where's your friend Nissy? I'd like to meet her. Alix is talking to Audens Avidius right now about adopting her."

I stared blankly at her. "Who?"

"Your friend Nissy, the one you've been telling us about."

Somewhere deep inside me that sickening feeling of not remembering something important was like an incessant needle pricking at me, but my mind kept coming up blank.

"I don't know who you mean, are you adopting someone I know?"

S'Jirra looked stunned and confused. Alix walked up then, shaking his head and giving S'Jirra an odd look.

"Avidius said they've never had anyone named Nisaba here. He looked through the files right in front of me. He said they've had no other Khajiit in the four years Maxical has been here."



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******* Me And Fathis Aren







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This post has been edited by mALX: May 4 2019, 06:37 PM