The very beginning and the end… during my time, it began with Sanguine and ended with Sheogorath.

 

Niyleen: Debauchery and Madness…

 

I… you… Niyleen was an ex-assassin being chased by her former comrades. After outwitting and out smarting four of her pursuing assassins, she found refuge in Rorikstead and rested up there for a few weeks. Everything was good. The people didn’t care about her circumstances and treated her well, like one of their own and in turn Niyleen did well by them. She worked the fields, helped out at Frostfruit Inn, protected the livestock from predators, and changed the attitudes of any outsiders that tried to make trouble. This peace could have probably continued for a while, however everything changed when a fellow named Sam came to town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Niyleen: Sam? Sam what?

 

Sam Guevenne. He was handsome, charming, and an annoyance like no other. He made passes at every woman in town, and challenged everyone he could to drinking contests winning them all. Niyleen tried to avoid dealing with him. She sparsely went to the inn at night whenever he was there, but one night it was unavoidable.

 

Niyleen had done it all that day. Dealt with bandits, harvested crops, stopped a drunk Rorik from trying to go going the Civil War, settled a love dispute between father and daughter, harvested more crops, killed several wolves that got bold and ventured into town, and harvested more crops. She was tired, aching, and in need of a hard drink to sooth her pain and let her drink the night away. She went up to Mralki and I’ll never forget what happened between them.

 

“Mralki,” she said.

 

“Gods girl, you sound worse than Ragnar looks.”

 

“Cut the crap and give me the hardest drink you’ve got.” She slammed her fist on the counter and glare at him. “And don’t give me that no bartering crap. I’ve done well by you. Whether or not that matters to you, it will count towards this drink! So start pouring before I make you.” It was the first time she had threatened someone, and it made her feel ill.

Mralki said nothing and handed her a bottle and a mug and walked off. Niyleen downed the ale and was about to go rest her head, but suddenly Sam appeared in front of her. Sore, angry, and tipsy, his was the last face she wanted to see and yet it was the only face she could have imagined.

However, truth was that Sam had never made a pass at her and this was before she had started avoiding him. Niyleen had taken glances at him then, and couldn't help it when her heartbeat rose. There was something irresistible about him, something that drew her to him. So when he challenged her to a drinking contest, even if her pride had allowed her to say no, her heart wouldn't have listened.

 

To this day I don’t know whether or not he let her, but Niyleen won against him easily and then after a few more rounds he said something to her with a voice that wasn’t his own that she wouldn’t remember until months later, “Welcome to sin and debachery.”

Niyleen: Wait… Sam was—

 

He was Sanguine. Daedric Prince of Debauchery, the Lord of Sin, Master of Sins. He was my first, and my last…

 

 

 

* * *

 

Niyleen looked at the Second and could see she was on the verge of tears. She said nothing, for nothing could be said. There was no comforting her, no… nothing. Niyleen can’t even remember her first time, and coupled with how she was treated by the Forsworn and always being on the run, relationships had been the farthest thing from her mind.

 

Niyleen could see she needed a minute, and granted her that. Whether any of this was real, or if it were a dream or some elaborate hoax, the Second had done right by her and she would return the favor.

 

“I defeated him,” the Second said far sooner than Niyleen had imagined. “By finding Sam… finding Sanguine again and putting a dagger in his chest. Can you believe it? He laughed when i did that. Laughed!” Niyleen could see her visibly shaking, but said nothing.

 

“Now,” the Second said with more strength her voice. “About how it ended…”

Everything happened too fast. I was separated from everyone and Eolrianna’s cold body rested in my arms. I had killed her, but there was no blood. No sign of the fierce battle that had transpired, and yet she laid there peaceful, as if in a dream, and I prayed to all the Gods for their blessings. For them to forgive her and guide her safely into the afterlife.

 

Niyleen: Eolrianna… I wonder what type of woman she was.

She had become Jyggalag’s Champion because I was weak, I was feeble, because I thought I needed power that never was to be mine. She was stronger, more beautiful, more elegant… she didn’t deserve it. She should have lived a long life! I should have become Jyggalag’s Champion. I should have died. And yet… she was smiling. Even in death she was smiling at a wretch like me. I felt sick, I wanted to leave, but I couldn’t just leave her there, not alone not like that. But I was drowning in my own guilt and could barely breathe.

 

It was then that she appeared. All smiles and deserving of death. She had taken her 200^th life and was still unsatisfied. She looked at me, venomous eyes latching on to its prey and smiled. “Long time no see, partner.”

Ruby and Light they had called us. Hers was for her hair, eyes, and the red clothes she frequently enjoyed wearing. Mine was patronizing, but fit. They called me light because I wore all black, was, at the time, the only Redguard in the group, and because I always took missions where the targets were more than deserving of death. I was the light among the shadows. The pure dagger that cleansed tainted souls. “It has been a long time,” I said, not containing my malice.

“Don’t be like that Light. We all stumble here and now. Who else was supposed to take the fall if not you?”

That smile… those words… if Eolrianna wasn’t in my arms, I would have killed her then and there. Sheogorath’s puppet. The bitch had failed a huge assignment and I had covered for her and made sure it got done. No one was supposed to know, she was supposed to get away clean, but then she betrayed me. Told everyone that I had forced her to do an assignment that was beyond her depth and when she, as she thought she would, failed I went back to cover my ass. Normally no one would have believed her, but the proof was undeniable. No one in the Brotherhood could have screwed up that badly, especially not Ruby. And seeing as everyone knew that I was the better pure assassin out of the two… I began to get targeted.

 

“You’re right. I was careless. I thought I had a real friend in you… I won’t make that mistake again.” I gently laid Eolrianna’s head down and attacked and killed Ruby.

 

 

She didn’t put up a fight. In fact, just like Eolrianna, she was smiling as my blade slit her throat. It irritated me to no end, but I would later learn that by the time I had met Ruby, she was already broken. Ruby knew, and has always known what was going down at the end… at the start of each cycle. She accepted her role as the Mad-god’s Champion and simply played the part for as long as she could before eventually letting herself be killed by either Sorerica or myself. However, this time was different.

 

 

When I killed her, she rose again, adorned with another Daedra’s garb and mace. She opened her eyes and glared at me. “Domination,” she said in a voice that was not her own. “Has come!”

 

 

* * *

 

“I… would rather not go into details about how that fight went.”

 

“Did you win?” (She had to have right? Otherwise, I should be here…)

 

“One, does it matter? Whether or not I lost is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things,” Second said angrily. “If I won, the cycle would have reset. If I had lost, Sorerica was still alive. I knew it. And no matter how powered up a Daedric Prince might have made her, Ruby could not fight me to the death and won without sustaining major if not fatal injuries.” That would have seen like a simple boast if it had come from anyone else, but that look… that tone… they both spoke volumes. “And two,” she said frowning. “Life and death is irrelevant until the final cycle.”

Niyleen cocked an eyebrow. “The final cycle? What’s that?”

 

The Second shook her head. “We don’t have time for that.”

 

(Right. Focus on the important thing Niyleen.) “Alright. So, what’s next?”

 

The Second closed her eyes for a moment. “I believe that it would be appropriate to discuss the third cycle next.” She opened her eyes and looked Niyleen up and down. “Yes… I believe I’m right. Now then…”