Anima di Nerezza Chapter 4, Haste Options

[Sirin]

Anima di Nerezza
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Part 1-Names for faces

I stood in absolute darkness. Or, more correctly, I hovered in absolute darkness. I felt no ground, but nor had I any feelings of weightlessness. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face, but I could see for miles in front of me. Mass confusion clouded my thoughts. Through my mental discord, however, a voice spoke.

“Mortal, you have done more than you know,” spoke Mehrunes Dagon. “By setting forth in a quest to restore balance to your precious little faction, you have embarked on a journey to rival the greatest of heroes, or the most notorious of villains. You have made me glad that I have restored the gift of life unto you. Continue to do so, and you will be granted many things.”

Feeling somewhat bold with the Daedra’s compliments at my back, I asked a question of the Daedra. “My lord, I have encountered several obstacles in my path, yet I know nothing about them. Can you tell me anything of them?”

As if thinking for a moment, the Daedra paused before he spoke again. “I know of these obstacles. The Redguard, be wary of him. You may never truly know of his allegiances. As for the mysterious woman whom you despise, she is… a servant of another. Sheogorath is her master.” Having satisfied my meager wishes, the voice of Dagon vanished, as did the darkness. When my vision cleared, I was still seated at the Leaping Lion, staring at my half-empty mug. The conversations still continued. Nothing seemed to have changed. But as I gazed into the dark liquid of my mug, my reflection showed something different.

My eyes: one red, another blue. I hoped that it was just the alcohol, but after staring for some time, I concluded that it was real. Ah, but another sign of the Daedra’s control of my life. Angry, but at the same time excited, I got up and left the tavern.

Can’t you see? He’s helping you. He has given you gift after gift, said one side of my mind.

No, what he’s given me is multicolored eyes! What help is that? said the other half.

People don’t have to see you eyes. You could wear a hooded robe all of the time, and no one would know the difference.

No, if I wore a hooded robe, someone might mistake me for the Thing, the servant of Sheogorath.

Plenty of people wear robes and cover their faces. She isn’t the only one.

Maybe… maybe you have a point. After finally ending the psychological warfare going on in my head, I walked over to the nearest clothier. The shop was a small, bright haven of clothing. The shop keeper was a short Imperial woman. The radiance of her blonde hair was only magnified by her ruby red lipstick.

No…no… it can’t be her… it isn’t! I stared for a moment at the lady, until the mirage faded into the actual shop keeper, who had brown hair and no make up whatsoever. I really needed to quit drinking.

“Are you alright, miss?” she asked worriedly. “You look… by the Nine! What’s wrong with your eyes?”

“Er… just a problem from when I was born,” I lied, and ducked my head. My face must have turned shades redder than the Thing’s lipstick, for I certainly felt humiliated. I hastily picked out a midnight blue robe, for they had no black, and took it to the keeper. I persisted in locking my eyes to the floor, but I could still feel her curious stare.

I dashed out of the store and ducked into a dark alley to put on my cloak. Pulling it on over my head, and consequently blinded, I was nigh helpless when the rough hands grabbed me. They picked me up, slung me over the shoulders that they were connected to, and took me into a vacant building.

I was rudely dropped on a table while the robe was ripped off from over my head. The face that hovered above me can only be described as hated. Despised, loathed, reviled. Anything would do the trick. But still, for a minute, words escaped me. The hands tied me to the table with strong ropes, and finally I yelled out.

“It’s you, the Thing!” I screamed with the anger rising in my voice.

“My, my, you could at least call me Maria,” said the Thing, or Maria, as she wished to be called. She raised a jagged dagger above her head without another word. As she curved it towards me, I found myself squeezing my eyes shut.

This post has been edited by Sirin: Mar 8 2006, 11:37 PM

[Sirin]

Part 2- Truth Unveiled

I didn’t scream. I didn’t even do as much as open my mouth. It would have been wasted breath, for the only noise that prevailed was a faint ripping. No pierced flesh, not even a cut. My body was unharmed. I opened my eyes and raised my head to observe the scene. My shirt was cut straight down the middle. Maria was pulling it off.

“You lousy little…” I started, but wasn’t allowed to finish, for the Thing threw my head against the table. She succeeded in throwing it away from me. Bracing myself for the worst, I struggled against the ropes. As I did so, Maria grabbed the dagger, which she had tossed away earlier, and cut a thin line directly below my bare chest. Her eyes lit up with immoral delight as she licked the oozing blood off of me. She raised her head and moaned as a starving man who had only recently reacquired the taste of food. Opening her mouth to lick the spare blood off of her teeth, I realized why.

I brought to mind the disturbing happenings of the night before. I remembered the murdered guards lying in oceans of blood. Maria had been completely unarmed, with not even a rock at her disposal. I recalled lunging at her, with intent to kill, and completely missing, though she had stood right before me not a second earlier. Then she had dropped me like a stone with a punch to the back. She had disappeared. She was not even human. She was a vampire. I revisited the tavern before I had left on my failed mission. I look so delicious… not in the appearance… I’m her food. Maria was a bloodsucker, a night walker. A vampire.

Having satisfied only part of her thirst on my chest, she went for my neck. She had barely laid her fangs on my throat, though, before she stopped. Her eyes gave off the all-familiar look: the distant gaze, the dimming light. Her face slumped on my neck, and I saw an arm protruding from her back. I was relieved, to say the least, but not so much when I recognized the face.

“Why can’t you just leave me alone,” I muttered, completely aggravated. The Stranger was elbow deep in vampire. He had stuck his hand straight through her stomach. As he retracted his arm, he also through the body off of me and cut my ropes. Turning respectfully, he threw me my newly purchased robes. After I was finally changed and hooded, I got my first true look at him.

He wore a tattered black cloak, with matching clothing underneath. His hands and arms were gauntleted, but other than that, he wore no armor. At his side hung, quite loosely, an arched blade: a katana. It was an odd thing, indeed, for the Stranger to wield a katana. Such weapons were the symbols of warriors who lived by a code of honor, but were rare in the Cyrodiil province.

“I’m finished,” I said, after which he turned to face me. He stood there for quite some time, as if deciding what to say and how to say it.

“I’m… sorry for the other night. I probably should have helped you, but I had… other things to do,” he finally said.

“Well, in spite of your lovely little apology, this doesn’t change things between us. The fact still remains that you left me to die in Gallias’ home. I won’t forgive you for that.”

He was still for a moment, taking this in. He eventually said, “Fine then. I’ll be leaving.” With a brisk turn of the heel, he stepped outside and was gone.

“Wait!” I cried hastily. “What’s your name?” Silence. I had cried in vain. I felt like an idiot.

“Sirin. Sirin Kalimian,” came a voice from the alley. Ah, so he was a stranger no more, nor did I feel so ashamed. I sat in quiet for some time before I decided to go back to my room.

I sat on my bed for the better part of an hour, contemplating my second chance at life thus far. Many were pleased in my efforts to lead a “normal” life. Vercindelle would certainly be happy. I hoped Kerric was happy. Mehrunes was happy. Ah, the Daedra surfaced again! I realized how much I was coming to think about him. Regardless, I had also made quite the list of foes. Geryss the Breton was my non-aggressive enemy. Maria was obviously my enemy, for though she had met her very brutal end, I had no doubt that the vampire would be back for more. She was a very persistent enemy. With her was the entitled ‘Mad God’ Sheogorath, a rather strange enemy, but an enemy nonetheless. The Stranger… Sirin, I knew not what to think of him.

You may never truly know of his allegiances. Indeed, I would never know. One night, he was throwing me off of a ledge; the next, he was apologizing for such crimes. I would still have counted him an enemy. What did Mehrunes know about him, I wondered? He obviously knew enough to caution me against Sirin. The anticipation invigorated me, but I knew I would need patience to uncover the carefully laid sands of secrecy.

I promptly decided that no progress would be made in idleness, so I left my room and made my way to the Leaping Lion again. I left the warm inn, venturing into the cold night. There were few civilians wandering the streets of the Imperial City that particular night. There was only me and the city guard. With my own interests in mind, I pulled my hood over my head. I had no wish to draw attention.