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It's Destana again. Since that day, I read a few books on Dragon Breaks. Many times, it is caused by things related to Lorkhan, like the Numidium. That might've been it. But, I believe me killing Alduin was what really caused time to go all wibbly-wobbly. I was in Sovngarde for about five days. Five months passed in Skyrim. "What?? Five months? How is that possible?" I asked Serana, in shock. "Well," Serana started, still clearly emotional, "Alduin was Akatosh's child. Maybe his death had some effect on time. Maybe Akatosh did it." "Anything weird happen while I was gone?" She leaned in and kissed me, then took me in her arms, completely ignoring what I was saying. She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the study. So, we had sex, which she desperately needed. While we were laying there in her bed, we dozed off for a while. A while later, she started talking. "What do you mean by weird?" She asked. I opened my eyes, "Well, I would've never predicted time dilation, so I guess... did anything interesting happen while I was gone?" "The last six months (since the moot) have been pretty fruitful. They opened up another clothes/armor shop. And like ten roadside Inns. Riften built more houses and stores to the south, just like you asked. And a little town sprung up just across the channel from Volkihar!" She said. "Wow. They've been busy here," I said, "Got your ear to the ground?" "Well, I think the people took what you said to heart. The Jarls started including me in their planning meetings. The Stormcloaks built up their forces for the upcoming conflict. Strangely, most the Imperial Troops stationed here have defected and joined the local armies. A lot of them even started living here! And there are lot of refugees, though they stopped a few months ago." "Wow, I guess it's pretty bad south." "Yeah," Serana said, "We thought the empire or the Thalmor were going to bother us, but they seem to be leaving us alone for now. Come to think of it, even trade from the south has stopped. Though, it seems like ships are coming in." "Oh! I didn't realize this, but you haven't seen all the new additions to the castle!" She sat up, pulling me out of bed. "Whoa!" I said, as she led me out of the bedroom, "I did see you got nice new carpets and tapestries, and cleaned up the common area." We passed by some draugr, just patrolling the halls. "I see you got guards," I said. "Yeah," she led me to the entrance, and pushed me onto a new, glowing pad, which teleported me to a room high in the tower. There were five similar teleporters in this room: Windhelm, Solitude, Winterhold, Riften and Markarth. And a spell tome to travel back to Volkihar! I grabbed a copy to learn at my leisure. "Oh wow! Do these go to all the big holds (and Winterhold)?" "Yeah. This is how I've been communing with them. I wasn't sure if it was the best idea, seeing as how historically humans hate vampires, but they're all one-way. On the bright side, the Windhelm portal allows you to travel back and forth at your leisure and see both of us," she said. Then she led be down a spiral set of stairs into a Cathedral, with a few vampires going about their daily tasks. I continued to be in awe as we then passed into a Tavern-like structure, filled with vampires. Serana smiled smugly, "These are some of the new converts to the New Way." I smiled back, "Well, color me proud." We then passed into Valerica's Tower, which had been refurbished. And down a set of stairs was a meeting room and a small library. "Wow, this is very nice. You finally got your own library," I commented as we walked back up to Valerica's lab, "So did your mom move back in?" Serana's eyes grew wide, "Ah shit. You know we should probably go to the Cairn and get her." I laughed out loud, "Before we go to a horrible land of death, mind if we finish the tour? And I want to go tour some of the changes in Skyrim." "Eh, sure. She's been in there a thousand years. What's another day?" She commented, "You DO owe me a few dates." I chuckled as she led me down a familiar path. When we found Valerica's tower the first time, we'd fought our way up this ruined path. Now, it was completely clean and refurbished, and patrolled by friendly draugr. We walked out the final door and before me was a small shipyard! "Wow! I am so impressed by you right now!" "Hey, you went and fought a dragon god. I had to keep myself busy," she smiled. We passed back through the main hall and grabbed some blood potions. Also, I randomly came upon Hestla (the Nord warrior vampiress) kneeling between Ronthil (wood elf vampire) and Dexion (the blind moth priest), giving them some 'attention,' if you know what I mean. Good to know my little thrall is making friends and assimilating here. We traveled to Seapoint Settlement, the small town across the channel, with a much larger shipyard. A great number of boats dotted the sea a little bit downstream. We went to the Inn. I grabbed drinks and we sat at the table in the corner. A bard started to play and sang, "We drink to our youth, and to days come and gone... For the age of aggression is just about done." "Wait, aggression?" I asked. I think he means oppression... "We'll drive out the Stormcloaks and restore what we own. With our blood and our steel we will take back our home. Down with Ulfric! The killer of kings!" "Whoa whoa whoa!" I said aloud, "I have a request." "What's that?" The bard turned. "Could you stop?" "Uhh... sure," he said. He walked off somewhere. I turned to Serana and we drank. One thing vampires can still enjoy is a good flagon of mead. "What you thinking about?" I asked. "Aside from you being safe and sound, I was just thinking about how much the world changed while I was asleep. All this stuff changing in the blink of an eye while you were gone - same thing. When I was put to sleep, Cyrodiil wasn't even an Empire." "Well, seems like it won't last much longer," I said. "Every great empire has its rise and fall. The Alessians, the Remans, the Septims, and now the Medes." "Someone's been reading," I said. "Always," she downed the rest of her drink, "Want another? What do you want?" "How about some nice milk? I'm a milk drinker and I'm not afraid to admit it!" I shouted jokingly. She laughed and got me a drink. "Little quiet in here," I said, "Maybe I should play. Get an actually good bard in here." "Sorry friend," a man said, "What did you just say?" I turned, and it was the bard, standing over me. "I'm not going to pull my punches. You should go back to the college," I chuckled. The bard reached out and pushed over my milk, "What do you have to say to that?" Serana was immediately on her feet, charging up a frost spell. "Whoa! Calm down, tiger!" I said, getting to my feet. "Probably better that you stand down, though," he said, "A couple rude whores couldn't take me on." Curbing my rage, I decided I turned to him and slammed the crown of my head into his forehead. I tripped him and kicked him in the side. "You're an idiot," I said, "Lay down there for a while." But, of course, he stood up and drew his sword. I rolled my eyes. Maybe I shouldn't kill this idiot. "TIID!" I moved behind him in a flash, then suplexed the guy, kicking his sword away and taking his pocket change. Then I tied his hands behind his back, "Again, you're an idiot. Stay down and I won't kill you." We stood, and I grabbed the bard's glass, "A toast, to strong, independent women!" Serana had been laughing the whole time. We downed the drinks and walked out. We took a little walk to the lighthouse and looked out over the countryside. "You can see Volkihar from here," I smiled, "This counts as a date, right?" "Yeah. I liked how you hurt that guy," Serana smiled, kissing me. I turned to my left, "Oh hey, it's the border with High Rock. Just a stone's throw away from his town." We walked over towards the border and I heard a roar, "Ah, Shor's bones." Serana sighed, "Go, take care of it." The dragon landed at the edge of the shipyard, threatening to burn the boats, and I fired arrow after arrow at it. After it took a few shots, it started to run! I jumped from boat to boat, continuing to shoot it. And the sailors joined in. Eventually, I ran out of boats to shoot from and I dove into the ocean. It was icy cold. After a few minutes, I reached an island with two towers and the dragon landed on top of one of them. "Son of a," I said, then I casted Doom Draw, teleporting to the top of the tower. An not-often used spell I know that transports me to the most dangerous foe nearby. Surprisingly helpful. When I got there, I realized it was a different dragon I teleported to. The dragon I'd been chasing was soaring overhead. I fought this one off in melee and he fell from the tower. I summoned Serana, and she used magic to take down the already-weakened one. "You call this a date?" She said, but she was smiling. "Ugh, no. Sorry," I replied, "Maybe we can hop a boat back to Volkihar and take the portal to Markarth and go to that clothes store." "Oh! Markarth! I want to show you something there!" Serana said. Not gonna tell huh? After I absorbed the souls, we made our way across the island and to the next. There was a heavily overgrown island with a small wrecked ship on it. We fought our way through the skeletons inside, and there was a random sailor who attacked us. I swam the short distance to Haafstad, a small island/shipping town a quick swim to Volkihar. I said hi to a few sailors there, and a man named Captain One-Eye said he'd been wanting to hire somebody to take care of that nest of undead. He gave me a small septim reward, and I swam back to Volkihar. I summoned Serana and we took the portal to Markarth. She pulled me to the Temple of Dibella, still not open to the public. And we walked around to the locked side-door. "What's this?" I asked. "Look at the sign," she said. I read, "Dibellan Baths. Huh. Sure this is okay?" "Since when have you been worried about following rules?" She asked. "Good point," I picked the lock and we headed inside. The baths were beautiful. Statues, big warm pools, and Serana, already undressing. "This is amazing, why have I never heard about this?" I asked. "It was in a state of disrepair until recently. SOMEbody made a sizeable donation to the Temple. Also, they asked if you would do something for them so they could open. They asked for you specifically," Serana asked, "But later. You're mine for now." We were undisturbed for a while, and of course, we made good use of the baths. When we were done, it was afternoon. We traveled to the Divine Elegance store and tried on dresses for a while. When I put on a white dress, it was clear what I was looking for (among other things). "Hey," Serana said, "You're still going through with your plan, right?" "Yeah," I said, "My first wedding dress was kinda meh. This one is a lot prettier." "I know you've known him for almost ten years and me for only a few months, but we're basically family, right?" "Yeah." "You know, I visited him," she said, looking like she was testing the waters, "Is that okay?" "Of course. That's great," I replied. "All the stuff everybody says about him - you know, that he's a racist and such. It's not true," Serana said. "Well, you kinda have me to thank for that. I think falling in love with me did a lot of it. Could say I trained it out of him," I said, then I muttered, "Or fucked it out of him." Serana smiled, "What I said back to my mother in the Soul Cairn, you are basically my sole reason to keep on living." "My, my," I said, "I love you too." "Don't you make fun of me. I'm serious," she said, "Don't you bring this up in front of anyone. I have an image to project." "Oh, don't worry, vampire queen. I will," I said. "You'd better not be surprised if your next tomato soup tastes like Hagraven toes." "Oh no! Not the soup!" I joked. "What I was trying to say is I want to spend the rest of my life with you, even if it is forever," she said. "Are you proposing to me?" "Well, yeah. I guess I am. And... I don't want to push you into anything you don't want to do," she said meekly. "Stop being so dismissive of yourself," I said, "You're an immortal badass." But she continued, sounding a little frantic, "I think it could really work, you know? Maybe I wouldn't make such a bad wife, you know?" "Stop. Yes. I'll marry you," I said, "As long as you accept polyamory. Polygamy?" "Yeah, well. Both him and I have a lot to do outside of you," Serana was all smiles. We each bought a few clothing items and walked outside. "Ugh," I said, "You know what was really cool?" "What's that?" "Flying on that dragon was awesome. If there's one reason I would want to be a true dragon, it's that. You know I heard there used to be flight spells a few hundreds of years ago." Serana smirked at me for a moment. I looked at her, "What are you smiling about?" "Now you get to be impressed by me again. Do you know who you're talking to?" I raised an eyebrow. "Remember that I learned magic hundreds of years ago." I blinked in disbelief, "Are you... serious?" "Yeah. I can show you." And yes, she taught me an ancient flight spell. "Oh my gods! This is amazing!" I shouted, "Even better than flying on that dragon!" Serana laughed, "I'm glad you like it." "Why have you never told me about this?" I asked. "To be honest, I forgot about it. I had to piece it together. But I've had a lot of free time recently." We flew around a little bit, and about that time we were attacked by some Dawnguard. We responded with ranged attacks from the air. "I'm starting to think there can be no peace with these guys," I said. And we flew to Riften and looked at some of the new buildings. Of course, people had immediately bought up (or were renting from Maven) all the homes. Finally, we teleported back to Volkihar and I went into the Cairn to pick up Serana's mom. It was a great reunion, and her mother was immediately as impressed as I was at the refurbishments. I had to tell her that all this was Serana, and in the few months since Harkon's death. And then we had to apologize to her about forgetting to come get her. Valerica acknowledged Serana as the Master of the castle. "I'm content with my new, improved garden and alchemy lab. And now there's not a random Vampire Lord hanging out in the garden!" I nodded, "Yeah we got rid of it." I decided more of a vacation was in order, though I did kill quite a few dragons over the next couple days. They seemed to be vying for dominance since Alduin's death, and the holds were paying the price. So, I guess my original assertion that me taking care of Alduin would stop the dragon attacks was incorrect. On the bright side, I assumed at this point the dragons' numbers were finite. I also decided I would tour the holds and let them know Alduin was vanquished - a task made much easier by Volkihar's teleportation. I visited Ulfric first. "Destana!" He yelled from his throne. As was customary, I walked up and sat on his lap like no time had passed. But really, many times in our friendship this happened - he didn't see me for months at a time and I just walked in. But this time, a lot was new! "So I killed Alduin," I said, nonchalantly. "So can I finally call you THE dragonborn?" "Excellent." "Yes," I said, "But only in bed." He chuckled. "I heard you had a visitor," I said. "Yes, Serana has been visiting me a lot lately. And that one time..." He blinked, "Was it okay that..." "Yes, yes," I waved it off, "You know when we get married you have my leave to bed whomever you wish. Just don't get anybody pregnant." "I'm glad you haven't reconsidered," Ulfric said, "You know, a man can wonder. You're still young. I wish I was a young, strong warrior like in my old days." "Psh, what are you talking about? You don't look a day over thirty! Somebody's having a mid-life crisis!" I snickered. "Anyway," I got off him and pulled a white dress out of my pack, "Here's my dress. You're making the arrangements, right?" He blinked, "Jorleif, you're making arrangements, right?" "Of course, my Jarl. The wedding will be at the Shrine of Talos." Ulfric sighed in relief. "So when's the wedding?" I asked. Jorleif replied, "We were waiting to see when or if you'd come back. How's two weeks from now sound?" "Sounds good. So where's Fenrir?" I asked. Ulfric scratched his head, "The kid went off on an adventure a few months ago. Left a note." Ulfric handed it to me from his pocket. Dear Dad (and maybe Mom). I'm going on an adventure. Don't look for me, as I will not be in Skyrim. Don't worry, I'll be safe, and I'll be back when the time is right." -Fenrir Okay...? With that I left Windhelm. When I went to Dawnstar, hoping to see another child, I went to the Sanctuary. "Where's Runa?" "She's been in Bruma the last few months, gathering information about the old guild," the man named Stabby said, "Too bad too." "Too bad? Why?" "Oh, you haven't been around, have you? Heard about your escapades in the Nord dead world. So hey, there's some kind of barrier to the south, around the southern border. I think the Winterhold mages have been studying it." So I went to Winterhold. Also, Damien wasn't there. Nobody knew where he'd gone, and it didn't seem like it was Manantis this time. (What the fuck?) "Hey Tolfdir!" I said, walking up to the Alteration Master, "Do you know anything about this barrier to the south?" "Why yes. And no. It seems to be some sort of temporal distortion," he scratched his beard, "Though manipulating time is a form of magic that is far beyond perhaps any mage living today." "What do you mean by temporal distortion?" I asked. "If you think of time like a river..." He said, lapsing into teacher mode, "It's as if a dam was built in a river. A small branch diverges and rejoins the larger river farther down the line. In the interim, the smaller branch flows much slower." "In this analogy, is Skyrim the smaller, slower branch?" "Yes," Tolfdir said, "And like a river, it takes someone of great personal power to ford against the current, chronomancy or not. Thus, what appears a barrier to us is dense time." "I may not be following..." Tolfdir scratched his head, "Imagine trying to push into a space that moves many times slower. It would be agonizingly slow, but doable if you have the tenacity, power and will. By the same token, trying to get into Skyrim would be even harder. You'd have to struggle not to have your arm (or whatever appendage you sent in first) ripped off and your body ripped apart." So, I dunno. I figured I'd finish my tour before I went and looked at that barrier. I went to Solitude, which was probably not a great idea, since I DO hate Solitude and I was not in the best mood. Walking up to the front gate, as I have dozens of times before, the sky suddenly turned red and a giant Oblivion portal opened. "NOW WHAT?!" I yelled, and four daedra wearing black armor popped out. "You better not be here to attack Solitude or something. I have a lot on my plate right now," I growled. "I smell weakness!" One of them yelled. I sighed, and pulled out my blades. I engaged, and two guards backed me up. There were several innocent bystanders that scattered. Two of them converged on me; one slashing me with a sword and the other bashing me with a mace. "FUS!" I knocked them back, dodging and weaving. Two more daedra came out of the portal: one with a helmet, and another who looked like a mage. "Shit, this is getting bad," I exclaimed. The two in front of me knocked me to the ground. I crouched as they stood over me. The hungry look in their eyes I was all-too-familiar with. Where the hell did these guys come from? "What do you want?!" I shouted. And to my surprise, a crescent-shaped beam of light passed by me and rebuffed the daedra, a woman helping me up. She was just slightly taller than me, and heavily armored in a mix of ebony and other motley pieces, carrying a lightly green-glowing greatsword. "C'mon! Let's take care of these guys, Averna!" She shouted, and the voice sounded familiar. Two more daedra popped out. The two guards were now dead and it was eight-on-three? I couldn't see anyone else with the woman. Though I remember Averna was the name of a woman in the Dark Brotherhood... "I'm right behind you, Listener!" Averna's invisibility dropped as she stabbed one of the newest daedra through the chest. Listener? This was happening way too fast. Wait! One of the daedra was carrying one of the newer Stormcloak Shields. "What the hell is going on here?" I said. The caster spoke from under a Dragon Priest mask, "You needed us, so we came!" He threw his hand forward and shouted, "Black Winter!" A deafening, arctic burst of subzero wind materialized from his hands, blowing the two daedra who'd been vexing me off their feet, freezing them and shattering them into pieces. The daedra (?) holding the Stormcloak shield raised his daedric axe and buried it in a Daedra. And the woman with the greatsword stabbed the last daedra through the chest. Everyone eyed each other warily for a second, and then put away their weapons, except me. With that, the Oblivion Portal closed. "Okay, somebody needs to start talking," I said, "Thanks for saving me, by the way, but who are all you people, and why are you friendly?" "Damn guys, I was trying to have a dramatic reveal here," the woman who'd been called the Listener said, "I'd been following her for a bit, searching for the right moment. But you two upstaged me." "Oh my gods," I put my hands over my mouth, "Runa?" "You haven't changed a bit," she said. "You changed a lot," I said, "You're taller than me now! And who are these men you seem to recognize?" The Stormcloak Daedra took off his helm, the caster taking off his Dragon Priest mask. "Fenrir and Damien? You all got tall!" "Sorry about the ruckus. They targeted you specifically, and we followed them through the portal. We knew we needed to act," Fenrir said. In my disbelief, they led me to the Winking Skeever in a patronizing way. They all ordered drinks, including one for me. "So, catch me up. I was in Sovngarde, killing Alduin. Which... seems like not the biggest story going on anymore," I said, swirling my ale, "It took me five days. Five months passed here in Skyrim. And there's some kind of time shield south of Skyrim...?" "Well..." Runa said, "I went to Bruma to explore some contacts and contracts south of the border. I was trapped down there with Averna here (she won't stop following me). While five months passed in Skyrim, five years passed in the rest of Nirn." "Five years?? You're twenty now?" "Nineteen. Haven't had my birthday yet. But, I mean, I don't even know what month it is here." "Well, I guess I'm 28 now for real (we passed Last Seed and are now in Hearthfire, 210). Not that my age really matters at the moment. Still a vampire," I said. "Our story is a little darker. You know how dad said he was off fighting a war in Oblivion?" Damien asked. "Yeah," I replied. "Well, one night, he came to me in the library at Winterhold and asked for my help." "I was in my room in Windhelm," Fenrir said, "When we got to Oblivion, he said we had both gotten a lot stronger, but we could get stronger still. We trained for a year with daedric tutors, and dad himself." "We were given a mission," Damien continued, "He set us down in a realm, and we'd seek and destroy a target. We did this a few times before we realized we were taking out hidden weapons the daedra use against each other, disarming them. Of course, there were a lot of daedra and monsters in our way." "We became pretty strong," Fenrir said, "But, as you might imagine, time passes differently in some Oblivion realms." "So how old are you guys?" I asked. "Seems like about ten years passed for us. I'm eighteen," Damien said. "Seventeen," Fenrir added. "Yeah, well, I thought my story was cool until I heard that," Runa said. "Me too!" I said, "I killed a dragon god and partied with Ysmir, Jurgen Windcaller and his lot!" I paused for a second, taking a long drink, "Gods, I feel like it was only a few weeks ago I came and saw you guys and you were boys. I missed so much." "But, mom. You gave us all the tools we needed to survive in a harsh world," Damien said, "You should be proud." "Of course I am," I put my hands on the boys'. "Speaking of tools," I said, "Give me a rundown on your new stuff." Damien started, "After ten years, I'm a master of destruction, conjuration, alteration, restoration, illusion and alchemy. And I've been studying time magic. Though not much to report yet. Even in Oblivion, there aren't many tomes on the subject. I have a few staves and decent robes and equipment, but nothing really special." Fenrir said, "I feel like I can call myself a master of onehanded weapons, shields, heavy armor, archery. I've been working on smithing also. I got myself a set of enchanted daedric armor and axe. I also have a shield, but my Stormcloak shield has a much better enchantment. Oh! And with Smithing I've been tinkering with Dwemer stuff. Since I'm back in Skyrim I hope to find some new blueprints here." Runa said, "I'm wearing a mix of ebony and other plate types. I learned how to cast basic spells with no hands, allowing me to heal myself. I also broke into a secret school called, 'Antimagic,' for disrupting mages. Also, this is the Moonlight Greatsword." "I sense a strange energy from that blade," Damien said, "Because of the Dragon Break, the walls between our world and other worlds has grown thinner, allowing strange creatures and powerful objects to creep inside (so says the daedra). Is that object from another world?" Runa shrugged, "I dunno. I found it lying around in a ruin. It makes a cool energy blade when I swing it really hard." Damien rolled his eyes, then he turned to me, "The Dragon Break was felt pretty much throughout Mundus, by sensitive creatures like the Daedra." "So are you guys here to stay?" I asked. "Yeah, dad said we were needed here," Fenrir said, "And after our last mission we should return to Skyrim. He had a means to get us here, but I guess we skipped a step." "So how is he?" I asked, folding my arms. "He misses you. And Tamriel," Damien said, "He said he understands you getting remarried." "Huh, well... maybe I should go see him someday," I said to myself. Finally I asked, "So how'd you get through the barrier, Runa?" Runa said, "Through a deep tunnel. And from what the Bruma Mages' Guild said, the barrier is weakening and time is lining up again." "Well, that's good news!" I said. "Not... exactly," Runa said. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Well, the Thalmor know they have the Empire subdued and out of the way. Most of the Empire's army is decimated because of their Civil War (I tried to help a little, but didn't end up working out very well). Only Bruma still stands in opposition. The Thalmor have been waiting for the barrier to come down to attack... and conquer Skyrim." "How long do we have?" I asked. "About a month," Runa said. "That is bad," I said, downing the rest of my drink and ordering another, "If we only have a month, I need to figure out exactly what to do to get ready for the invasion. Fenrir, can you let Ulfric know? He'll probably have some instructions for you, so I'll leave you to him." I patted him on the shoulder, "Might even get to command something." "Damien?" "Mom, I think I know what could occupy my time," he interrupted, "Figuring out how the Eye of Magnus can be used as a weapon." "That's a good thought," I said, "Runa." "What do you have in mind?" "For now, I think I need help with something." We ate and parted ways after a while, then I took Runa aside. "So what did you need help with?" She asked. "Well, does Averna need to keep following you?" "She... never stops following me. No matter what I say. Watch this," Runa turned to her, "Hey Averna, would you go back to the Sanctuary?" "Sure. We'll meet up later," Averna said, turning invisible. I looked in her direction noting the subtle wave pattern of somebody invisible. After a moment, she didn't move, and I said, "I can see you. Why won't you go away for a bit?" No response. Bah! "In order for Ulfric to be High King, we need to have a wedding. This might seem like a weird time to ask for this, but would you be my maid of honor?" She blinked, "Sure I guess. I hope that doesn't involve me doing anything beyond showing up. I don't want to get married, I don't have any interest in marriage. So, I don't know anything about marriage. Couldn't you make Serana do it?" "Meh, yeah probably. And that frees you up to do it during my marriage to her. Either way, come with me," I said, "You can help me make the timetable. And maybe do some of the stuff." New Mods Added