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Arc 8 Chapter LVIII: Come And Look Upon The Heart
🕑 Added 2024-12-30 15:17:06 +0000 UTCIn an instant, everyone except for Junior and myself are shoved outside the protective bubble, the very air within slowing down to a crawl before time itself seemed to stop.
No, it did not stop I realized as I used my third eye to look behind me and noticed Savos' expression ever so slowly twisting into a panicked fury as his Magicka went into full battle mode.
But I could not pay too much attention to his inevitably late reaction as the ash and dust of the once Heart of Lorkhan condensed just above the precipice of the mountain's very core.
The ash swirled around itself before with a soundless yet loud snap congealing into a figure, one I could not possibly fail to recognize as I found myself staring into a facsimile of the body of Dagoth Ur, dressed only in loincloth and mask and three triangular eyeholes glowing with contained power.
Did he seriously scry my fucking nickname just to catch me off guard? I expected better.
"Stunned, my descendant?" He asks with confident arrogance, though I do notice the slightest hint of shock at the fact I was still moving within his little time dilation spell "Unsurprising, you are gazing upon the visage of a God."
So that is how we are going to play this...
"Voryn." I greet him flatly, guess I could rant at him a bit before murdering his disgusting ass "I thought I might find you here."
"That name is useless to me now." He finally faces me, turning away from curiously staring at his hand "I am Dagoth Ur, the sole rightful God of the Dunmer people."
I chuckle and roll my eyes, feeling oddly at ease "I don't care about your made up names, Voryn."
"Your willful ignorance avails you nothing, but I will indulge you" He doesn't look all that bothered, his voice sounding almost indulgent "Why have you come here, child of my creation?"
"To make this mountain my bitch and stop it from ruining Morrowind of course" I answer flippantly "You certainly haven't done shit to save 'your' people, so it falls to me."
"Curious" He mutters "What could have possibly caused you to come, away from the homeland your traitorous father escaped to?"
"The spat between you and the rest of the traitors has cursed the land to suffer" I smirk at him, looking down both figuratively and literally "I have come to clean the place up and become the master of Morrowind the proper way."
"Do not speak of me and the false gods as one and the same" He commands coldly "They were the traitors, and I the avenger of our people's souls!" His posture relaxes ever so slightly "Still, it pleases me that my blood remains that of ambition."
"Whatever you say" I wave him off with an eyeroll "What I am really curious about is the fact you yet remain here even after Nerevar's ascent, and not in the afterlife where you belong?" No doubt an act of Azura, something I would be miffed about if I didn't agree Ur deserved all the suffering he got.
"Moon and Star would not begrudge me" He states, full of assurance "He would wish me returned to the world."
"Ah but he did begrudge you, did he not?" I ask as I lazily point at him "Did you not fall by his own hand? Were your plans not scattered by your friend?"
His endless arrogance seems to buckle for a split second "A moment of weakness, that is all. My plans shall soon come to fruition and I alone will speak for the law and the land and the Dunmer will take the world as its righteous overlords!"
With smugness bordering on the shiteating, I ask "How many times did you rehearse that line?"
Another twitch, though not nearly enough "I see" He sighs dramatically "I had thought my own descendants would have the sight to see but the insidiousness of the n'wah is too great for even my own blood to resist. You have been corrupted by those fools, child."
"N'wah corruption?" I deadpan "Seriously?"
"It is the sole explanation" Dagoth Ur speaks as if it were the most obvious thing in the world "How else would my own creation's creation speak such treason? What a fool you must be to not realize what has been done to you."
I feel my lip twitch and before I realize it I am grinning "Ha! What a grand and intoxicating innocence!" He stills for a moment more "To think that the most corrupted of all would so bravely speak of corruption."
He goes to speak again but I cut him off "I do wonder how your constant betrayal must feel? To think that even after Nerevar honored our house and forgave your sins you would still be stuck in your own delusions." I take on step forward the suddenly much smaller feeling spirit "The prison of Azura seems to be taking its toll on you, grandfather."
His arrogant posture remains for a but a moment longer before his shoulders slump and the distinctive shudder of false power disappears from his voice "Your sight is indeed far more powerful than I suspected."
"Finally done with your posturing?" I quirk an eyebrow, guess we are moving onto flattery now. He knew how to act, I will give him that. Likely could have even managed to instill some doubt or sympathy into me if I didn't already super hate him.
"Such impiety" His voice is flat "But yes, I will permit you to speak to me openly, for the sake of expediency."
Scratching my chin and pausing just long enough to annoy him a bit I ask "So what was that entire show for? Trying to lull me into a false sense of superiority now that you have failed to awe me?" Not that it would be false in this case, not even close.
"Must there be a hidden goal behind my deeds, child?" He asks, lazily waving his hand and summoning a magnificent throne, or at least the illusion of one "As you have said, Azura's cruelty is great indeed."
My eyes narrow "I've seen the effects of the Corprus you insidious fuck, there is not a single positive thought I have of you so kindly do not treat me as if I was born yesterday."
"Ah, my Divine Disease." He speaks with genuine fondness "My greatest creation, besides Akulakhan of course. A simple act of divinity to permit all those worthy to ascend."
"Ascend as slaves to you, you mean?" I drawl.
"Are not all servants slaves to their masters?" He asks, no doubt having spoke that very same justification a thousand thousand times "Those lesser to ourselves should know their place in life, and we as their righteous shepherds should not waste time on their foolish whims."
"The words of a weakling" I roll my eyes and my own seat appears below me "One too cowardly to face a true challenge in his theft of godhood."
"Theft?" Voryn asks "All I did was take what was rightfully mine. Neither the Dwemer nor the false gods of the Tribunal were worthy of such power. I even sense it within yourself you know, this stolen divinity you so curse."
"It is inherited in my case" I grin "The sin lies solely on yourself."
"Sophistry? In my Heart Chamber?" He scoffs "What disgrace."
"After seeing what you did to the poor people serving you?" I drawl lazily "Simply being in your presence feels violently disgraceful. Honestly, what true Mer has to rely on mind control to earn the loyalty of his servants? Mind control inserted into their very bloodlines so that even their children may not know peace of mind?"
"I offered them ascension!" He nearly stands up "And I was cursed for it by all!"
"You offered naught but slavery" I sneer "Fear not though, for I have set them all free."
"You-" He pauses, his gesticulating right hand freezing in place "You did what?"
"I set them free" I fold my hands in front of my mouth to hide my vindictive grin "While your stolen power may have resulted in my own minor divinity, I have been guiding that power to break all curses of the Aedric and the Daedric, no imposed will shall be placed upon my subjects ever again, especially not one to make them loyal to myself."
He just stares at me for a few very silent moments, before slowly speaking up "How?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" I grin "A weakling such as yourself would not be able to use my answer anyway."
"Speak, child!" He stands up, his throne disappearing as he pointed his almost clawlike finger at me "How did you get around my gift? How did a mere infant take from Dagoth Ur?!"
"It is rather simple, Voryn." I lean forward, still completely ignoring his made up divine title "I did not base my life on shortcuts and easy power. I challenged myself, unlike you, and grew from said challenge. A true god lay dead below my feet already, and you think I will be impressed by your own thievery?"
"Explain." He commands, the slightest shake entering his voice.
Remaining completely silent, all I do is raise an eyebrow.
The power around me shimmers but he does nothing except shifting his posture to a more friendly one and asking "Would you kindly enlighten me as to what you meant?"
'And there is the diplomat' I frown 'Kind of jarring honestly' "Quite simple really, Alduin returned mere months back, and a Dragonborn and myself slew him. Too bad you weren't there to see it, Vyren was quite happy to see our house raise beyond its cursed origins."
"Vyren, that fool" Voryn spits out, or at least pretends to, and proceeds to completely ignore my deed "His enthrallment with the Imperials has almost ruined our house! I awaited his return for two centuries and yet he never came as he was told to do, he never returned to his place and took up his duties, and for what? To waste his life for a corrupt empire and its corrupt humans?"
All I say is one word "Spite."
His now fully clawed hand clutches, his increasingly monstrous form revealing itself to me as an image of an eldrich horror in the making, all that remained of the Dunmer was the shape, everything else was unnatural.
"See, Voryn" I speak as I stand up, Blasphemy and the Razor appearing sheathed on my belt as Void's Blink now stood before my right eye "The sole feeling he had for you in life was spite, and like for him, all your actions inspired within me, was spite."
"Spite for your madness" Surge snaps into existence within my grip "Spite for your arrogance" My armor too is summoned "Spite for your evil." The war-crown now covers my face.
A long dark chuckle leaves the now monstrous once-Voryn as he sneers down at me, an expression so absolute I could feel it through his mask "Very well, child." The once powerful voice was now a scratchy growl "Had you been wiser, I may have spared you in the end, but it would seem you have chosen the path of pain."
I roll my eyes with a scoff "Oh please, I knew you would try something underhanded the moment you teleported everyone outside."
"And yet you still chose to indulge me." Dagoth Ur points out "What a fool you are."
Many things happen at once the moment he finishes his monologue.
First, my golden firestorm slams into his now far more solid body, grinding it down a fair but but not instantly killing him.
Second, my very blood screams at me to cease and offer myself in supplication to the master of all and offer him my body so that he may leave his imprisonment...
...for all about one nanosecond as my divinity promptly banishes the filthy thought out of my psyche where it damn well belongs.
Thirdly, my other hand grasps onto the Mortal's Razor as the Void's Blink reveals an appropriate target, causing me to throw the knife straight into the leg of the now charging monstrosity and blow it up in an instant.
A wave of power attempts to slam into me, spears of fire ice and lightning assailing me from all sides only for most of their Magicka to be absorbed by my armor while the rest was deflected away by a ward I cast just under the armor itself.
He attempted to bombard me once more, summoning the ashen outlines of his once closest advisors only to have the undead completely incinerated by my mere presence and his admittedly potent cursed fire be redirected to the ceiling with only minor difficulty.
'How low the mighty have fallen'
The fallen body housing his soul twitches upwards, growing in size even as the surrounding ash and rock failed to restore his leg. With a bestial growl he launches himself at me, still casting increasingly potent spell all the while.
Only for his form to suddenly be slammed into the ground below him as Akulakhan Jr. becomes visible, completely bodying the poor madman and practically slamming the meager energy he managed to gather during our conversation out of him.
That he did not spend on anemic spells anyway.
With mentally tired sigh, I approach the barely held together corpse still housing the soul of what was once Dagoth Voryn, and unsheathe Blasphemy, my other hand absently catching the razor and sheathing it once more.
The cracked mask of Dagoth Ur looks up to me, revealing to disfigured creature below. He let out a few pained coughs "All I wanted... was to be free."
Grinning from ear to ear I summon an item I had prepared exactly for such an occasion, making the poor fucker's sole eye widen as he realized what was about to happen and I swung out with Blasphemy.
In an instant, the heavily modified and comparatively massive soul gem within my grasp grabs onto the soul of Dagoth Voryn, even as I use both Blasphemy and my divinity to shear his stolen corruptive powers from him, throwing all of it back into the protective bubble of AK Senior.
Grin still on my face, I look to the gem now holding within it three smoldering embers "Aren't I a good grandson, to free you from Azura even after what you tried?" The embers flicker "Though I wouldn't exactly call it free..." I lean in and hiss "More like under new management."
The embers blaze with fury but I stop paying attention to him and clasp the lantern looking gem to my belt as I turn back to the bubble just in time to see Savos burst through it with panic in his yes and flames in his hands "Re!- yvin..." He stops himself, looking rather comical as he floated in place.
Frowning deeply, my sane grandfather looks around and sniffs the air as the rest come in "What happened in here?"
I unsummon my crown "Dumbfuck tried possessing me" The four Dagoths who yet followed me all flinch "He got exactly what he bargained for." I pat the lantern on my belt almost gently.
"That is..." Savos blinks "Great."
"Exactly" I clap my hands "Now how about you help me set up the most massive ritual ever made before I go berserk and start slurping the fucking dust off the damn floor?"
The manic look in my eyes got him and the lesser mages present going quite quickly.
(General POV)
He held back a hiss as an ember flew from the cursed fires around him, the pain was easy to ignore though as he climbed on, his hands grasping on near boiling stone with the surety of centuries of experience.
Soon his patience would pay off, and he would be able to free himself from both prophesy and powerlessness.
