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Flame-Child: Part Two: Chapter Thirty Two - Fifth Cycle(?)


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Flame-Child: Part Two
Chapter Thirty Two: Fifth Cycle(?)

 

Last: http://www.loverslab.com/blog/156/entry-3605-flame-child-part-two-chapter-thirty-one-taking-the-castle-2/
Next: http://www.loverslab.com/blog/156/entry-3625-flame-child-part-two-chapter-thirty-three-the-final-battle-1/

 

 

 


“Wake up my Thane! You’re having one of your nightmares again!”

 

After a few minutes the thane finally opened her eyes and sat up, causing whoever it was that jarred her awake to finally stop. “Gods… what happened to me…” The thane rubbed her head and tried to get a grip on things, but to no avail. “Y-you there, can you tell me who you are? No… who am I?”
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“Again with the memory loss?” The person said to the thane. She smiled at the thane, and little by little the thane could feel something within her unraveling. “I’m surprised that you’re actually the thane considering how you can’t seem to remember where you are half the time.”

 

There was something about this person, something familiar but at the same time mysterious. Their relationship seemed a bit odd, but it wasn’t odd of them to have one at all. As the thane mulled over this, she was engulfed in pain until what she could only call her ally was able to soothe her.
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“Dear me, I forgot that once you’re like this you become useless until I fill in the gaps for you,” the thane’s ally said with a smirk on her face. “Well, we’ve got a busy day ahead of us, let me be quick about this. My name is Veronica. I am the housecarl to one Thane Niyleen Flame-Child of Morthal…”
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The rest of what she said and what Niyleen did for a few weeks was a blur. From how people talked about her, it seemed that she was once a respected figure in Morthal that would love to see return to her former glory, but with her random bouts of/with amnesia it wasn’t likely that she’d ever become the woman they were hoping she would. It was odd that none of this sounded familiar, and that it also pained her deeply when people said these things, but Niyleen attributed that to the amnesia. If that was just it, the Halfling thought she could get on with her life in peace. Sadly it wasn’t.Pt2_Chp32_004.png

 

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With each passing day there was a voice in her head that kept calling to her, and if she hadn’t been trying to drown it out with alcohol, she would have soon become mad. Although the mead quelled her madness, it only fueled an anger deep within her until one day she lashed out and killed a man for trying to hit on her while she was belligerently drunk.Pt2_Chp32_007.png

 

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Luckily for Niyleen the man turned out to be a wanted criminal who was trying to lay low in Morthal until his bounty decreased, so there was no jail time. However, her actions made her swear off the spirits… and then the voice returned.Pt2_Chp32_012.png

 

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Unable to subdue the voices any longer, Niyleen succumbed to it and eventually was shunned by everyone except for her housecarl. However, even loyalty such as hers wasn’t eternal…Pt2_Chp32_014.png

 

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Three months after Veronica announced to Niyleen that she was thane…

 

Wake up… You’re living a lie…

 

(Shut up!) Niyleen reached for a potion she had created made from blisterwort, swamp fungal pod, and various other ingredients and downed the whole vial. The concoction had the risk of containing various side effects every time she drank it such as complete paralysis, frenzy, and more, but the main effect was always true: it made her feel numb and fuzzy, and the voice went away. (Stop trying to manipulate me you son of a bitch!)Pt2_Chp32_016.png

 

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Niyleen was so consumed with trying to get rid of the voice in her head that she was oblivious to what was happening around her. However, she was able to hear something that sounded like buzzing and it was infuriating her. Without hesitation she shot a fireball towards where she heard the buzzing and the buzzing ceased.
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“Damn it all, can’t I just get some fucking peace?” At her words, the buzzing started again and Niyleen dropped to her knees from the pain that took hold of her. “I… I see that this is how you want to play…” She concentrated a fireball in each of her hands and turned towards the source of the buzzing. “Well prepare to be doused in—!!”Pt2_Chp32_019.png

 

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Niyleen cut herself short and stared in disbelief at the sight before her: Veronica was on the ground covered in flames gasping for air as her shrieks filled Windstad Manor. Quickly, Niyleen doused the flames and cast Healing hands on the Nord, and within seconds Veronica was cured. However, by the look on her face, Niyleen wasn’t so sure this would be a good thing for her.Pt2_Chp32_021.png

 

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“Are you happy now,” said Veronica as she got to her feet. Her tone was low and sounded more hostile than her usual perky self.

 

“H-happy?” The last few months had been so antagonizing for Niyleen, that she’d almost forgotten how it felt to be happy. “No… not really. I’m happy you’re alive, but—”

 

“So let me get this straight,” Veronica interrupted. She stood up and looked down at her thane. “Saving the town from an impending vampire attack, no good. Becoming the thane, getting a house, and earning the respect of all the townspeople, no good. Killing someone in broad daylight, no good. Becoming an abusive drunk, no good. Becoming a raving mad woman, no good. Being shunned by everyone, save me, no good. And now, almost killing and then subsequently reviving the only person in the Hold, heck probably the whole province, who gives a damn about you…”
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“I-I-I didn’t mean to!” Niyleen knew that whatever she said now was going to sound like naught but excuses. Then coupled with the fact that the fuzziness she was feeling was also impairing her thoughts, the Halfling knew that there was no way that her words to her housecarl were going to hold any weight… but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to try. “I… Veronica, it was the voices! The buzzing! I would have never done this if they hadn’t—”
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“You were never like this,” Veronica said somberly. “Even at your very worst you’d at least take responsibility for your actions instead of running away from them like a coward.”
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“Me? A coward?” Niyleen stood and glared at her housecarl. “I’ve taken a bunch of shit from the townspeople, and my so called friends, but you?” She gestured at the Nord. “Are you not sworn to protect me and all I own with my life?”

 

Veronica returned the Halfling’s glare with an icy stare of her own. “Indeed I am…”

 

“Then why haven’t you protected my honor? My sanity? You’re a worthless fucking housecarl! I wish I killed you with my flames you rotten bitch!” (Stop! Stop saying these things! I don’t mean it! Know that I don’t mean it Veronica!!!) Niyleen expected the Nord to lash out at her verbally or physically it didn’t matter, she was ready for it. Heck, she knew that she deserved it. However, what happened next the Halfling wasn’t able to prepare her heart for.
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Veronica sighed and turned her back on her thane. “I… I was so proud to have been able to be at your side. You… you rescued my ma and pa from those vampires, and showed that even the little guy mattered… You were haughty, sure, but you were fair and just. I believed in you, and the good you could do for Morthal. Even when your memories went away, even through the drinking, through us being ostracized, you making enemies out of everyone in the entire Hold… I believed in you. I took you to the best healers, I tried to be someone you could lean on…”
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Niyleen could hear Veronica’s words get stuck in her throat and remained silent as the Nord regathered her composure.

 

“I’m sure that these voices you’re hearing seem real enough to you, and the proof is evident that they’re plaguing you badly due to your actions… But it’s all in your head,” Veronica finally said. “All of it! The memory loss, the voices… I don’t know what you’re running away from, but until you do, I can’t help you. I can’t be the one to stand with you as all of Tamriel stands against you. I’m… I’m not that strong…”
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“Wait… w-what are you saying?”
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Veronica said nothing and proceeded to head to the door.
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(NO! I can’t lose her!!) “Veronica!!!” Niyleen started to run after her, but stopped herself just as the Nord got to the door. (Move dammit, move! Say something! Do something! Don’t let her leave like this! Please—)

 

“Thank you, my thane for being the best thane I could possibly ask for… You were right. I was a terrible housecarl to you,” and with those words Veronica left and Niyleen finally had no one left.Pt2_Chp32_033.png

 

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Niyleen thought that she’d at least feel a bit of sadness at her housecarl’s departure, but her concoction was in full effect and she was at last mentally and emotionally numb, but it didn’t feel right. Normally Niyleen would indulge herself with a good book, some well rested sleep, or exchanging stories with Veronica, however with Veronica out of the picture she wasn’t up to either of the former options and opted for a fourth. Niyleen took out two vials, and one after the other consumed all the liquids within them, and then before her head hit the ground she was fast asleep.Pt2_Chp32_035.png

 

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*

 

Darkness… eternal darkness. Niyleen dreamt of a sight such as this almost everytime she laid her head to rest. Darkness as far as the eye could see, a chill down her spine, and then red eyes that would scare anyone into submission, accompanied by a splitting headache and a deep pain in her chest, this is what the Halfling had to look forward to every night. It’s why along with that terrible concoction, Niyleen had started medicating herself with another mixture that would give her increased stamina and reduce her tiredness. It’d been weeks since the Halfling had last slept. She didn’t know why she was experience the pain… having these nightmares, and if she was indeed running from something she didn’t know what, but she’d keep on running if she could just escape it all.
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Niyleen sighed and closed her eyes. (So this is when I feel a chill and see those demonic crimson eyes?)
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Rejoice Halfling, for you’ve finally done it! You’ve really done it!
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Niyleen’s eyes snapped open, and she gathered a fireball in each hand while looking about cautiously. “Who are you? And what in Oblivion is going on?”

 

Who am I? Well… I’m a bit different from all the other voices in your head thus far. They were other versions of yourself that have received less than fortunate ends. I’m an outside influence.

 

Niyleen shot out several fireballs into the darkness, but they all disappeared into the void. “I… I don’t understand what you’re talking about! ‘Outside influence?’ ‘Other versions of myself?’ I’m Niyleen Flame-Child, Thane of Morthal! That’s who I am, who I’ve always been—”Pt2_Chp32_040.png

 

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Who you’ve always been? That’s a joke at best, but if you wish to continue to drown in your sorrows then I can let you repeat this vicious ‘cycle’ that you’ve chosen for yourself. But when you finally decide to ‘wake up’, call for Sythinel and take that sleeping potion again. Then, and only then will I show you the truth…
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*
 

(I chose… this?) Niyleen thought as she laid on her bed, with a blank expression on her face. With Veronica’s departure occupying her, it took Niyleen a few days to come to grips with what the voice had said to her. Other versions of herself? It sounded like a preposterous idea, but then again… (It called this a Cycle… But why did it feel like that word carried more weight than it ought to have?)
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Niyleen closed her eyes and tried to sleep but to no avail. It seems that finally the mixture that she’d been using to stay awake had altered her body to the point that she didn’t need to sleep for days. However, toll it was taking on her sanity was tremendous. At the top of every hour, something be it a creak, the wind, or just a feeling would make Niyleen feel as if she were being watched, and for about five minutes Niyleen would search for this ‘watcher’. Ninety six hours of this with no rest had finally gotten to the Halfling.
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(Damn it all!) Niyleen got up from her bed and went over to her alchemy station and began brewing another sleeping potion. It annoyed her so that in order to have a chance to regain her sanity, she’d have to play into the hand of what made her insane in the first place. She didn’t believe the voice’s words, nor did she think anything would be changed by her doing what it said. (But if I can just get a few moments of rest, it’ll all be worth it.)

Pt2_Chp32_046.pngAfter completing the potion, Niyleen mixed it with some Honningbrew mead; it was the only way she could take the stuff now without vomiting. Resolved, Niyleen took a deep breath and steeled herself. “Alright Sythinel, here goes nothing.” She then drank her sleeping potion and fell into a deep slumber…Pt2_Chp32_047.png

 

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