"So, let me get this straight." Michael starts, taking his feet off of the table and looking over to everyone present. "We were attacked by some ships under the banner of a man called Miraak in Solstheim?" he asks the group of people in charge of Winterhold. The College of Winterhold, the Silentium Magia, the Winterhold Navy, the Gem Crafters Guild, even he and his friends had been called in despite their lack of any real positions.
"Aye, it sounds like you know of him?" Kunkka inquires.
Michael glances to his friends who'd played the Elderscrolls game. Megumin and Saya have immediate reactions, while Saeko and Tiffania take a while to recognise it. Charlotte and Maria were clueless as they'd decided to spend as much time as possible together, no video games allowed... "Yeah, I know a little about him. I'm sure Savos does too?"
"Hmm? No? I don't think I have?" the Arch-Mage ponders unsurely.
"Well, let me put it like this. The guy wasn't around in any recent eras. Before the Empire, even."
"How would that be possible? Not even an elf would live so long? Unless he's one of you, Eredar?" a representative of the Nord Tradition Preservation Society questions.
"I'd watch your tone, boy, some might take offence to it." Irarus cautions, less threatening and more warning. He himself had suffered Ennura's annoyance...
Savos raises his head in realisation, "Might it be a Dragonrpriest of old?"
Michael nods, "Miraak, the First Dragonborn."
"Again, how would that even be possible? He'd be a Nord, right?"
Michael shrugs, "He was trapped in Hermaeus Mora's realm til now. I'm not sure how he escaped given my Spire, but regardless he has to be dealt with. Him trying to attack likely means he's already prepared for war."
"The High King offered to fund our military endeavours should it come to that. I think he sees the value in our upcoming Navy." Ennura remarks.
Saeko scoffs but keeps her opinions to herself. She knew that Surtr wouldn't act so selflessly towards Winterhold without a goal in mind. He was still sore after her rejection and saw Michael as the reason for it, which he was come to think of it. She was glad Michael had swayed her enough to prevent her from falling to Surtr's wants.
Though... She glances at Charlotte. She wasn't exactly getting anywhere on that front.
"Well, if he wants to give you gold then take as much as you can. It's the King's word so who are we to argue?" Michael snickers, "Since he's paying us to build an army to fight Miraak, we need to make sure our soldiers are properly comfortable. Didn't the bathhouse need to be renovated?"
"Indeed it does Michael, the roads too, can't have a soldier stubbing his toe on march." Irarus notes.
"We need to support their families and wives too, building them new housing would help in that effort." Ennura joins in, smirking.
"And the reserve guard, they are just as important as everyone else."
"Doesn't everyone in Winterhold count as reserve guard?" one clueless man asks.
"Yep."
The room bursts into laughter and the meeting soon rounds up, leaving Ennura with an accountant to begin calculating the costs of their 'War Effort'.
Outside, Saeko catches Michael and asks to speak with him in private, dragging him to a secluded area near some greenhouses that had vegetables growing in them. "You needed something?"
"No, It's me who should be asking that. How long has it been since I declared my intentions?" she asks, letting irritation into her tone.
"Er, a while... What? I thought you had to hash it out with Tiff before anything else?" he says.
"Hmmhmm... And, has Tiffania not mentioned me at all to you?" she asks, knowing full well that she has.
"I mean, yeah. You were supposed to come to me though, right? I was just giving you time." he says, realising how big a douche he was sounding. "Alright, hearing myself now I get where you're coming from. So, how'd you wanna do this?"
Saeko shakes her head, "First I want to know what's up with you and Charlotte. You've been circling each other like angry dogs ever since she came back. I'm not great in this area but I know sexual tension when I see it."
"Sexual tension...? Saeko, she killed me in case you forgot?"
"And kissed you too from what I heard, strange thing to do while under a Daedric Lord's control?" she argues uncaringly. His death had been a contentious topic often brought up whenever he did something stupid, so much that it had little weight anymore.
His kiss with Charlotte however? Considering everything that happened, it made it seems that more was going on behind the scenes.
"She did that to put off balance and stab me..." he tiredly argues. "What's the problem anyway? Even if something was there, unlikely as it is, you're the one calling this a harem in the first place!"
Sakeo sniffs and turns away, knowing that he was right in that regard. "I just want to know what I'm dealing with. You've known her far longer than me, but no one's been willing to discuss your histories."
"You want our history? Fine. We met when she tried to kill me at her Uncle orders, I convinced her not to, we began adventuring together, bing-bang-bosh, we got to Skyrim, she got enslaved, killed me, and now she's back."
"You know that's not what I mean..."
"Yeah well, that's the best you're gonna get. Do you still want to do this or not?"
She folds her arms, "Yes, but you've gotta go through the proper, modern process."
"What, you want a date or something?"
She nods, "I want a full date, food, activities, the works. You've given Tiffania enough and I want to know what it feels like."
"You never had a date in your old world?"
"You know I haven't... Those Anime of me, you knew I was a virgin before ever meeting me..." she says with a small glare.
"Alright, alright, enough with the guilt trip, you'll get your date... Meet me in front of the Spire tomorrow at 2pm." he says before quickly retreating.
With him out of sight, Saeko performs a small fist pump before leaving, excited despite their rather contentious discussion.
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
If you like my content or want to read ahead please go to : https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Kingsprovince
Faruk Ereng
*Knock, Knock, Knock*
"Are you ready yet? We should've gone eight minutes ago." Michael asks through Saeko's door.
"A-ah, just a minute!" Tiffania surprisingly voices, "She's almost ready!"
Michael was halfway to asking why Tiffania was even in there when the door opens, revealing the room. Saeko had always been pretty utilitarian, which is why he was surprised to find the entire place decorated like an old Japanese tatami room. Of course, there was an abundance of stands that held the ridiculous number of swords Saeko possessed.
At the end of the room was Tiffania standing in front of Saeko who appeared to be sitting on a stool while having her hair braided. She moves out of the way and reveals the purple-haired girl in her entirety.
They'd brought out all the stops for this apparently, Saeko sporting a small yet extensive amount of makeup on her face. Powdered cheeks, eyeliner, lipstick... She was even wearing the sword-styled joke earrings he'd bought for her as a souvenir while traipsing through London.
Of course, she also had her sword, Kakonoitami, strapped firmly on his hip, neither elevating her appearance nor taking away. To be honest, it'd be weirder to see her without her weapon.
"You both look beautiful." he idly remarks, quickly noting that his words were apparently a mistake, judging by the disappointment in Saeko's eyes and the chiding look Tiffania was sending him.
He coughs into his fist and goes for the quick recovery. "I'm surprised you've managed to make yourself even prettier, Saeko. I hadn't thought it was possible..."
The smile on her face in response allowed him an inward breath of relief, "How'd you get your room like this too? I would've heard it if you were altering it?"
"Saya and Tiffania helped with it while you were gone. I prefer my homeland's Aesthetics to hard stone or the western look." she stands and makes small steps towards him, something about tradition or some such? "Did you plan our date?" she eagerly asks.
Michael nods, "Yeah, we're a bit behind schedule though so we better move." he nods to Tiff, "Try not to get into any trouble while we're gone."
She smiles warmly, "It's you who's always causing trouble."
"Thank you for helping me with this." Saeko says to her graciously, "It's difficult putting all this on with one person..." she pauses and shakes her head, "Don't mind me too much, if this is going to work then some understanding in necessary." she states diplomatically.
Tiffania nods, stepping forward and giving Michael a kiss goodbye, then lays one on Saeko's cheek, "You two have fun, I want to hear all about it when you get back!"
Michael and Saeko step out of the Spire, but he pauses his steps and glances at the girl hugging his arm, "Do you think we're a little..." he gestures down at his outfit, an expensive tan suit that fits snugly on him, a stark contrast to Saeko's colourful kimono.
She shrugs, "It doesn't matter, we'll look out of place regardless of where we go, and I doubt anyone could call out our jumbled fashion... So, where are we headed?"
"Cyrodil, I've made reservations at a very special place. If you don't like it then I'll spear myself." he jokes.
"I'll hold you on that." she smiles, but Michael couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not...
--------------------------------------------------------
A quick teleportation later and the duo found themselves standing before a rather large colosseum that sat not far outside the Imperial City. There were many areas scattered around the Empire, but this was the most famous and luxurious one... If you afford it.
"You didn't..." Saeko breathes, excitement rising up in his stomach.
"Luxury box that gives us full view of the arena, with some of the best food you can buy." he says, but falters slightly as she purses her lips. Huh, did she think he'd entered her into it? Yeah... That's probably the case. "If you get fired up we can go visit a few bandit camps nearby...?"
That does it, Saeko tightly holding his arm and humming as they make their way to their seats. He'd randomly stumbled onto one of the best days for this too, the reigning area champion was taking challengers today. Warriors would have to fight one another, and the few who win or survive, get to try their luck against the Champion.
Was it unfair that they'd have to fight him after tiring themselves out? Yeah, but no one ever said the area would be fair. After all, this place makes most of its gold through bets.
Michael and Saeko's table had been set up directly overlooking the area through a high-placed box, giving them the perfect view of everything, including those in the stands. It was most-likely designed this way so 'Nobles' could watch the 'animals' jump as they watch the carnage... Though...
Michael glances around and soon spots the royal box, which was even higher than the noble one and only housed the Emperor and his kin.
"Have you ever fought in an area before?" Saeko asks as they wait for their appetisers.
"No, I can't say that I have?" Michael hums in thought, the Blood Moon area where Daedric Champions fought didn't really count in his books, no one was watching other than the Daedric Princes after all.
"I have, back in Hammerfell, Raiden and I entered a 'friendly competition' in Sentinal, the Capital. Turned out it was rigged however, the best fighters were paid to dominate then throw it at the last second... I accidentally ended up killing those fighters and had to deal with constant assassination attempts until the tournament ended."
"Did you win?"
"Of course. It was a close match between me and Raiden, I think he may have gone easy on me though... When I asked him he said it was dishonourable to fight me when I hadn't slept or eaten in two days."
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Kingsprovince
Faruk Ereng
Paragraph comment
Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.
Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.
GOT IT