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🕑 Added 2022-09-25 19:36:24 +0000 UTC701: To the Summit
For all that it's worth, the Skeleton Key was a troublesome artifact even when it was in Jon's hands. It may have not caused too much trouble for him but it was always demanding to be used and sending out too many whispers.
Even if Jon would ever try to lock it in a containment chest, it would never work since the Key can never be locked away. Still, Jon grew attached to the Key and actually missed it when it wasn't in his position, however, he knew that this feeling is the Key messing with his mind.
So when he was offered an alternative key, Jon accepted despite being hesitant. Still, Nocturnal said that it is a Key that will benefit Jon more than the Skeleton Key would, the statement which made Jon wonder about its nature.
So when Jon and Nocturnal were done with their "exchange", Jon went out to check his reward.
It was a normal-sized Key and it was made of gold. Additionally, its design was that of a Dragon standing on top of the key shaft with its tail revolving around the shaft until the scales of the Dragon tail form the teeth of the key and its wings forming the bow of the key.
While the key was beautiful enough on its own accord to be considered a marvelous work of art, there was a strange arcane pearl-like bead of dark energy resting in the hole of the key's bow without being physically attached to the body of the key.
Jon gathered a small bit of his Magicka and used it by his consciousness alongside the help of the Augur's System to explore the inside of the dark pearl-like bead. Still, his result was…
< Error! Insufficient Energy! >
"Huh?"
Jon opened his eyes and looked at the key left and right before trying to analyze it with more Magicka this time. The result was…
< Error! Insufficient Energy! >
"Nocturnal, you gave me a defective product?"
< Hardly! >
The voice of the system changed and a dark shade appeared over Jon's shoulder.
"Shadow? I was wondering when you'd show up." Jon's eye turned and spotted the dark incomplete figure of a man.
< It has been a while, I see you have acquired a relic of the shadows. > Shadow said.
"It's Nocturnal who gave this to me." Jon said, "Any idea what it is?"
< It's a key. > Shadow said.
"No shit!" Jon retorted.
< A key opens something, you moron. > Shadow retorted back, < If it is a key that has this much shadow energy to the point where I can make myself an incomplete figure around it, it definitely has a tremendous amount of power. >
"Shadow energy?" Jon frowned before searching his head thoroughly.
He wasn't an expert regarding shadow magic but once he put shadow and key together, a word came ringing in his head.
"A Shadowkey!"
Without putting a space between the two words, something terrifying popped up in Jon's head. The Shadowkeys and the Shadow Gates of the Shadow Magic and obviously the name Azra Nightwielder, the original Shadow Mage.
What's too important to miss in this whole thing is the fact that one of the Elder Scrolls franchise games was called "Shadowkey" which refers to the might of the key that Jon now possesses.
What Shadowkeys mainly do is that they open Shadow Gates. From this point onward, the possibilities are limitless and unnervingly both unpredictable and uncontrollable.
A Shadow Gate may lead someone to a designated place or a designated time even. Still, whoever uses the key has no control over the process unless they really know what they are doing and these keys were at least tested and proved not to be leading towards certain doom.
The whole process in itself is the very definition of shady.
But according to the Tomes of Shadows, the Shadowkeys should have different functions that aren't any less of a danger than their original function.
But Jon has an expert in this field with him all the time.
"Nefertiti." Jon called his kitty cat and handed her the key, "You can take it."
"…"
She stared silently at the Key and started hitting it with her paws a few times before deciding to ignore it.
"Is it not to your liking?" He asked.
"It's… average." She said.
"She says it is average." Jon turned to shadow.
< I bet she sees a lot of shadowy things where she stays all the time. It's not of interest to her as it is to you… >
"I see."
< However… >
"There is always a however?"
< Unlike you who are not adept at the shadows, your cat can make full use of that key. >
"As I always say, cats are pretty damn awesome." Jon said while puffing out his chest with pride.
< I am more of a Fox guy myself and I know a couple of guys who would argue for snakes and hawks! >
"Fucking furries, scalies, and birdies! We need to rid the world of you."
< Look who's talking! >
As Shadow lashed out at Jon, the latter scoffed him off with the back of his hand.
Now that he knows that Nefertiti can use the Shadowkey, Jon immediately started convincing her to have this "not interesting" item which she eventually accepted by twisting her tail around it and carrying it around from its bow.
"Darn, you're cute!" Jon reached out to pat her head and she seemed welcoming at first but immediately twisted her body and dissipated into the shadow of his hand.
Looking around, Jon could no longer see Shadow and apart from his own thoughts, two sets of voices were drawing closer.
"I can't believe it… it can't be… I must be dreaming."
"Hey, Jon! Are we going to pretend that what just happened never happened?"
The first was Karliah, who was suffering from the reality she just witnessed, and the second was Jullanar, who seemed to be grinning widely.
"What are you talking about?" Jon asked while looking at the two ladies who were acting rather weird.
"You slept with a Daedric Prince!" Karliah screamed at her wit's end.
"It was nothing special… really." Jon waved at her with the back of his hand.
"Really?" Jullanar asked, "I thought it was going to be an incredible experience for you."
"It was not. I prefer my women."
"Oooooh!"
Jullanar climbed Jon's body with a small hop and the two of them started kissing like crazy.
"For real? You'd act like that after what he just did?" Karliah was disgusted by her two Nightingale companions.
"Fuck off!" Jullanar turned away while Jon was kissing her neck and flipped the bird at Karliah's face while the two found an empty room and closed it behind them.
"They… they actually got a room!"
While Karliah was baffled, she couldn't afford to waste time looking after the two psychos. For her, the reward of finishing off Mercer was to finally meet someone she dearly missed for 25 years.
Right at the end of the tunnel, she could see the specter of that man standing there with a content smile. He may have left this world but now he is in peace knowing that despite being flawed, smelly, and a little bit outdated, the Thieves Guild is finally going to get back on its feet and its dark days are over.
***
Despite his busy schedule, Jon found a way for himself to get a little bit of free time to make sure that his affairs are in order.
The Company's Business, the War with the Dragons and their Cult, the Political Dilemmas of Skyrim, the situation with Skyrim's major guilds, the War of the Dawnguard and the Vampires, and finally the threat from Solstheim.
Once Jon got news from Alina that two children of the Skaal have come seeking his help with the eldritch evil that was consuming their land and that his outpost on Solstheim was attacked, he sent back a reply that he will be there after he is done resolving his last minor dilemmas.
Still, that wasn't the only piece of news Jon got. His agents were flocking him to the town of Ivarstead where he was waiting alone for a couple of days.
First, he got news from Jullanar, who returned to Riften in order to sort out the situation with the Thieves Guild as the new de facto leader of the underground operations. With Mercer's head being shown to them, it was only understandable for those who once belonged to Mercer's faction to fall in line or disappear from the guild. Still, the Guild's grasp over Riften started to return and soon to the rest of Skyrim.
Second, Jon got news from Wulfur. He was posted in Whiterun for most of his time and had managed to get a new order in the Inner Circle of the Companions as the new Harbinger after the death of Kodlak Whitemane. Wulfur started to eradicate the opinion which stated that to be a member of the Circle, one has to be a werewolf. While most of the Circle members were against it, Kodlak's last will shifted the opinions of many Companions. The only one who stated a different voice was Aela, who was embracing her wolf side more than her human side.
Third, Jon got news from Serana. Even he had to admit that the way Serana handles business within the Dark Brotherhood was sketchy but as Speaker for the Listener, she had to show minimal effort in handling business. Still, the other Speaker, Cicero, has reported a few incidents where Serana was going AWOL more than she should and her Silencer (personal assassin assistant) seems to be doing more leg work and covering for her. Jon became interested in what Serana was doing but since he was busy at the moment, he preferred to guess that Serana was doing some personal vendetta against Clan Volkihar.
Finally, in Alina's letter, Jon got a report on the College of Winterhold and how it fully assimilated to the new policies which Alina was pushing forward.
With these four reports, Jon put the Four Major Guilds of Skyrim in his pocket and amassed more power and resources than anyone else would even imagine. He can finally say that he built a high and sturdy wall to cover his own back. With the fighting force the Companions possess, the Magic and resources of the College, the Influence of the Thieves, and the Reputation of the Brotherhood, he can achieve anything he wants within Skyrim.
But one last problem remained and he had to close it before he would make himself free to deal with the main threats. In order to flourish, peace is needed. The only way to achieve such peace is to put a definitive pause on the Civil War.
With the letter Wulfur sent, there was a package from the Companion's latest expedition in the Pale. This package would surely sway many people into his peaceful faction. Still, he had to go gather those people and meet them in the place where they could all answer his summons.
Below the seven thousand steps leading up the Throat of the World to the monastery of High Hrothgar, Jon put on his famously horned Dragonborn Helm and walked up the steps alone towards the summit.
